The Woman in the Spotlight (JR Lonie, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
In JR Lonie’s newest historical thriller, The Woman in the Spotlight, a young performer must outwit the oppressive control of the Nazi regime. Monika Varády, a Bavarian actress newly arrived...
Red Star Rebels (Amie Kaufman, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 9 December 2025
Amie Kaufman is a well-known name in young adult speculative fiction, particularly for the bestselling Starbound and Illuminae Files series (co-authored with Megan Spooner and Jay Kristoff respectively). Red Star...
Bugger (Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Hachette)
Tuesday, 9 December 2025
Bugger by Michael Mohammed Ahmad (The Lebs, The Tribe) is a heart-wrenching investigation into child sex abuse. Its protagonist, Hamoodi, is an isolated 10-year-old who adores Power Rangers and lives...
Muttonfish Magic (Ruth Simms & Lucy Robertson, illus Jasmine Seymour, Magabala)
Tuesday, 2 December 2025
Muttonfish Magic honours the Kameragyl and Bidjigal people, the traditional custodians of the land around Kamay (Botany Bay) and Guriwal (La Perouse). With sensory lyricism, Bidjigal Elder Ruth Simms and...
The Last Resort (Amanda Hewitt, Echo)
Tuesday, 25 November 2025
Amanda Hewitt’s debut, The Last Resort, opens with Abbey, newly divorced and reeling from the end of her marriage, as she seeks solace in the Maldives. During a late-night swim,...
How to Get Home (Deborah Frenkel, illus Karen Blair, Affirm)
Tuesday, 11 November 2025
How to Get Home is a charming collaboration between author Deborah Frenkel (The Truck Cat) and illustrator Karen Blair (When I’m BIG, Train Party) that revels in the everyday words surrounding...
Might Cry Later (Kay Kerr, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 11 November 2025
In Kay Kerr’s adult fiction debut, Might Cry Later, Nora Byrne is burnt out and struggling to reclaim herself after blowing up her life in Melbourne. By Christmas, she’s back...
Vampire Squid (Prema Arasu, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 4 November 2025
Prema Arasu’s debut poetry collection, Vampire Squid, is a profound exploration of mysterious deep-sea creatures and the humans who observe them. Written over 3 years during Arasu’s time at the...
The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder Trial (Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper & Sarah Krasnostein, Text)
Tuesday, 21 October 2025
The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder Trial by Helen Garner (This House of Grief), Chloe Hooper (The Arsonist) and Sarah Krasnostein (The Trauma Cleaner) brings together 3 of...
Not Quite White in the Head (Melissa Lucashenko, UQP)
Tuesday, 16 September 2025
Melissa Lucashenko’s Not Quite White in the Head shines a light on the beauty and pain that exist simultaneously in Australia as a colonised nation. Spanning 20 pieces, the book...
Elizabeth Harrower: The Woman in the Watch Tower (Susan Wyndham, NewSouth)
Tuesday, 19 August 2025
In Elizabeth Harrower: The Woman in the Watch Tower, journalist and author Susan Wyndham offers a sympathetic and illuminating exploration of the life and work of one of post-war Australia’s...
Catch (Sarah Brill, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 5 August 2025
Sarah Brill’s Catch is a heartfelt and quietly thrilling coming-of-age novel. The story follows 16-year-old Beth as she navigates the upheaval of her older sister’s surprise pregnancy, the quiet chaos of...
The Eagle and the Crow (JM Field, UQP)
Tuesday, 17 June 2025
The Eagle and the Crow is a work of many layers – lyrical, intellectual and political – all grounded in Gamilaraay knowledge and resistance. JM Field (Etta and the Shadow...
Cure (Katherine Brabon, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Katherine Brabon’s Cure is a natural extension and companion to her novel Body Friend; both are introspective literary works centred on women living with autoimmune diseases – conditions Brabon herself...
Moonlight and Dust (Jasmin McGaughey, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 13 May 2025
Jasmin McGaughey’s debut YA fantasy Moonlight and Dust is set in Cairns and follows 16-year-old Zillah, a responsible Torres Strait Islander who always thinks before she acts – unlike her...
Wait Here (Lucy Nelson, S&S)
Tuesday, 29 April 2025
Lucy Nelson’s debut short story collection, Wait Here, is a striking reflection on women’s lives in all their beautiful complexity. Through narratives of varying lengths, Nelson deftly incorporates many perspectives...
Foreign Country (Marija Peričić, Ultimo)
Tuesday, 22 April 2025
In Marija Peričić’s lyrical and haunting third novel, the foreign country is the site of dislocation and alienation wrought by migration, grief and trauma. Croatian-Australian nurse Eva, who resides in...
My Name Is Jemima (Olivia Muscat, illus by Allison Colpoys, Scribble)
Tuesday, 8 April 2025
My Name Is Jemima is a heartwarming and informative picture book that introduces young readers to the life and work of guide dogs and teaches children about disability, independence and...
Rise of the Witch (Everglade #1) (Kitty Black, illus Rebecca Crane, Affirm)
Tuesday, 8 April 2025
Take one part Enid Blyton’s The Enchanted Wood, add a sprinkle of Diana Wynne Jones and a dash of Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a...
Bombard the Headquarters! The Cultural Revolution in China (Linda Jaivin, Black Inc)
Tuesday, 8 April 2025
Chairman Mao’s decade of terror is the subject of Bombard the Headquarters!, Australian sinologist Linda Jaivin’s excellent primer on China’s Cultural Revolution. In 1966, Peking University’s Nie Yuanzi created a...
Our Dance (Jacinta Daniher & Taylor Hampton, illus by Janelle Burger, Lothian)
Tuesday, 25 March 2025
Our Dance by Jacinta Daniher and proud Ngiyampaa/Wiradjuri man Taylor Hampton celebrates Australian First Nations culture through the joy of movement as children dance and sing in the corroboree. The...
Nightingale (Laura Elvery, UQP)
Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Grounded in history and buoyed by Laura Elvery’s elegant, moving prose, Nightingale is a fictional reimagining of the near-mythic figure of Florence Nightingale, told in three parts. The first and...
Little World (Josephine Rowe, Black Inc.)
Tuesday, 11 March 2025
Josephine Rowe’s Little World is a compact, lyrical read that feels both mythic and frighteningly current. When the perfectly preserved body of a child is brought to Western Australia, it...
Consider Yourself Kissed (Jessica Stanley, Text)
Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Consider Yourself Kissed is a romance set in London against the backdrop of the UK’s escalating political crises of the 21st century: Tory leadership struggles and re-election and Brexit, culminating...
How to Be Normal (Ange Crawford, Walker)
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
Ange Crawford’s debut novel, How to Be Normal, is a visceral and compelling read. It centres on Astrid, who is returning to high school after five years of homeschooling. She...
The Colours of Home (Sally Soweol Han, T&H)
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
As the title The Colours of Home suggests, colour plays a central role in this beautiful picture book by Korean-Australian artist Sally Soweol Han (Nightsong, Tiny Wonders). The story follows...
Washpool (Lisa Fuller, Lothian)
Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Lisa Fuller’s Washpool is a fun, heartwarming and insightful exploration of family and kinship that takes the portal fantasy genre to a new level. When Murri sisters Bella and Cienna...
This Stays Between Us (Margot McGovern, Penguin)
Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Margot McGovern’s second young adult novel, This Stays Between Us, may have taken seven years, but it’s worth the wait. This gripping thriller, set in the year 2000, is a...
Sunny at the End of the World (Steph Bowe, Text)
Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Steph Bowe’s Sunny at the End of the World, published posthumously, provides clear evidence of Bowe’s creative skills levelling up. The book is set across dual timelines in 2018 and...
Geraldine (Andrea Thompson, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 21 January 2025
In this heartwarming debut novel, spanning the 1960s to the early 2000s, music journalist and artist manager Andrea Thompson tells the story of Geraldine, a fierce protagonist who remains true...
