Once Upon Tomorrow (Karen Comer, Lothian)
Young adult
Released May 2026, reviewed by Clare Millar.
Once Upon Tomorrow is a complex young adult verse novel by CBCA-winning author Karen Comer (Grace Notes). The novel weaves...
The Ruiners (Ellena Savage, Summit)
Fiction
Released May 2026, reviewed by Ellie Fisher.
Ellena Savage’s debut novel, The Ruiners, introduces a narrator suspended between self-awareness and self-sabotage: a 29-year-old waitress, working at casino-adjacent...
The Prime Minister Problem (Brenton Cullen, Riveted)
Younger readers
Released May 2026, reviewed by Sophie Helfgott.
Brenton Cullen’s debut middle-grade novel, The Prime Minister Problem, is a tender story about loneliness and community, an ode to...
Women Who Win: Celebrating Courage, Conviction and Change (Antoinette Lattouf, Penguin)
Nonfiction
Released May 2026, reviewed by Eman Mourad.
Before “Lattoufed” entered the lexicon as shorthand for an unjust dismissal, Antoinette Lattouf (How to Lose Friends and Influence White...
Margaret, Are You Leaving? (Dianne Yarwood, Hachette)
Fiction
Released May 2026, reviewed by Lisa Schuurman.
Following her much-loved debut, The Wakes, Dianne Yarwood’s latest novel, Margaret, Are You Leaving?, is a contemplative exploration of mother–daughter relationships,...
Drawing Nudes While Making Other Plans (Zoe Gaetjens, Penguin)
Young adult
Released May 2026, reviewed by Andrea Kress.
Zoe Gaetjens’s Drawing Nudes While Making Other Plans is a tender, thoughtful young adult novel about self-discovery, first love and...
Mantle (Romy Ash, Ultimo)
Fiction
Released May 2026, reviewed by Ananya Thirumalai.
Romy Ash’s Mantle is a novel that settles slowly and irrevocably, like sediment. Set on a windswept Tasmanian coastline, it...
Edith: The Girl Who Was 100 Years Old (Catharina Valckx, trans Antony Shugaar, Gecko)
Younger readers
Released May 2026, reviewed by Sophie Pusz.
In Edith: The Girl Who Was 100 Years Old, French author and illustrator Catharina Valckx tells the bittersweet story of...
Bella Grows a Bicycle (Lellie Lopter, illus Chiara Franceschetti, Five Mile)
Children’s picture book
Released May 2026, reviewed by Nikki Taylor.
In Bella Grows a Bicycle, Lellie Lopter delivers a warm and imaginative picture book about creativity, sustainability and problem-solving. Bella...
The Northern Tomb (Isabelle Li, Puncher & Wattman)
Fiction
Released May 2026, reviewed by Emma Pei Yin.
Isabelle Li’s The Northern Tomb is a quietly powerful, deeply human novel that unfolds in 4 parts, blending personal stories...
The Thornbacks (Chloe Wilson, Hamish Hamilton)
Fiction
Released May 2026, reviewed by Kate Dunphy.
Chloe Wilson’s debut novel, The Thornbacks, follows stepsisters Gertie and Tabitha: a pair of morticians who – apart from a...
Don’t Let Them Leave (Mike Lucas, Penguin)
Young adult
Released May 2026, reviewed by A Kirk.
In Don’t Let Them Leave, Mike Lucas (What We All Saw) delivers a creepy and suspenseful historical thriller for readers...
Henry Goes Bush (Wayne Marshall, Picador)
Fiction
Released May 2026, reviewed by Katy Briggs.
Wayne Marshall blends fact and fiction (including time travel) to explore alternative versions of Henry Lawson’s 1892 trip to Bourke....
Fitzroy North 3068 (Yvette Henry Holt, Upswell)
Poetry
Released May 2026, reviewed by Chloe Cook.
Fitzroy North 3068 by multi-award-winning poet Yvette Henry Holt is more than a collection of poems – it is an...
This Is Where We Say Goodbye (Howard McKenzie-Murray, Fremantle)
Young adult
Released May 2026, reviewed by Karys McEwen.
This Is Where We Say Goodbye follows Maud Tarkington over the course of a single unsettling day in Fremantle: the...
The Farmer’s Pyjamas (Ruth Paul, Walker)
Children’s picture book
Released May 2026, reviewed by Kirsten Barich.
Ruth Paul’s The Farmer’s Pyjamas is a playful, light-hearted rhyming story that puts a humorous spin on daily life in...
The Missing Mother (Mali Cornish, A&U)
Fiction
Released May 2026, reviewed by Michelle Thomson.
In The Missing Mother, Mali Cornish (Judgement Day) crafts a gripping domestic thriller centred on Elspeth, who returns to Geelong...
Phantom Days (Angela O’Keeffe, UQP)
Fiction
Released May 2026, reviewed by Samantha Mylan.
“A book comes into the world knowing it is a saviour, of sorts.” So begins Phantom Days, the 3rd novel...
Running in Circles (Shivaun Plozza, UQP)
Younger readers
Released May 2026, reviewed by Tony Doyle.
In Running in Circles, Shivaun Plozza (The Worst Perfect Moment, The Boy, The Wolf and the Stars) brings climate science...
Cast Away (Francesca de Tores, Bloomsbury)
Fiction
Released May 2026, reviewed by Charlotte Callander.
Award-winning author Francesca de Tores’s Cast Away is a fascinating and exquisitely detailed fictionalisation of sailor and navigator Alexander Selkirk’s...
