Feast (Emily O’Grady, A&U)
Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Like her Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award-winning debut The Yellow House, Emily O’Grady’s Feast is a compelling but often uncomfortable work of literary fiction. In a secluded manor house in the Scottish...
Anam (André Dao, Hamish Hamilton)
Tuesday, 4 April 2023
Winner of the 2021 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, Anam is a remarkable debut novel exploring memory, family, colonialism and displacement. The narrator, a young Vietnamese-Australian man...
We Could Be Something (Will Kostakis, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 21 March 2023
Will Kostakis’s first novel Loathing Lola was published when he was 19 years old. This uncommon experience inspires his latest book, a semi-autobiographical YA novel for readers aged 14–17. We...
The Sideways Orbit of Evie Hart (Samera Kamaleddine, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 14 March 2023
When 12-year-old Evie’s mum and stepdad Lee announce their separation, it feels like her whole world has been turned upside down. What’s more, Lee—the only father Evie has ever known—is...
Obsession (Nicole Madigan, Pantera)
Tuesday, 7 March 2023
When journalist Nicole Madigan starts dating single dad Adam, it seems like the beginning of an exciting new chapter for her and her children. But as the relationship progresses, something...
Hunger of Thorns (Lili Wilkinson, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 28 February 2023
Lili Wilkinson’s new YA novel is a dark and twisting tale that draws on a history of persecution and celebrates the power of women, even as it interrogates society’s fear...
Quiet Time with My Seeya (Dinalie Dabarera, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 14 February 2023
Quiet Time with My Seeya is the debut solo picture book by Dinalie Dabarera, whose previous illustrations in The Cat With The Coloured Tail were nominated for the CBCA Award...
Thirst for Salt (Madelaine Lucas, A&U)
Tuesday, 7 February 2023
Madelaine Lucas’s debut novel opens with the unnamed female narrator, now 37 years old, recalling a past lover. Twenty-four years old at the time and holidaying with her mother, the...
Philomella and the Impossible Forest (Doris Brett, HGCP)
Tuesday, 7 February 2023
Philomella is having a perfectly ordinary terrible day when she stumbles across a door that shouldn’t be there that leads to a library which is, frankly, impossible. Sick of being...
Country Tells Us When… (Tsheena Cooper, Mary Dann, Dalisa Pigram-Ross & Sheree Ford, ILF)
Tuesday, 7 February 2023
Country Tells Us When… follows the feelings, smells, sights, tastes and sounds of Yawuru Country changing with each season, written and illustrated by educators Tsheena Cooper, Mary Dann, Dalisa Pigram-Ross,...
The Anniversary (Stephanie Bishop, Hachette)
Tuesday, 7 February 2023
The Anniversary is a book that’s hard to describe: the writing is quiet, meandering, full of thoughts on art and the act of creative expression. And yet, it is also...
Love & Autism (Kay Kerr, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Apart from the obvious audience—fans of the award-winning TV series Love on the Spectrum—Love & Autism by CBCA nominee Kay Kerr will also appeal to readers who like to be...
The Quiet and the Loud (Helena Fox, Pan)
Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Helena Fox, author of award-winning debut How It Feels to Float, returns with another powerful, heart-tugging YA novel. Nine years after her dad disappeared under the lake, 18-year-old George is...
Glass Houses (Anne Coombs, Upswell)
Tuesday, 31 January 2023
Glass Houses is Anne Coombs’s (Sex and Anarchy: The life and death of the Sydney Push) posthumous final novel. Perched on a ‘neglected hillside’ near the fictional town of Glaston...
Fed to Red Birds (Rijn Collins, S&S)
Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Rijn Collins’s novel Fed to Red Birds is beguiling and moody. Our heroine, Elva, is an Australian–Icelandic woman in her mid-20s. She’s living in Reykjavik to learn Icelandic, connect with...
Nightbirds (Kate J Armstrong, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 24 January 2023
Magic is illegal in Simta, punishable by death, but that does not mean it does not exist. Matilde, Æsa, and Sayer are nightbirds: privileged girls who have the ability to...
The Glow (Sofie Laguna, illus by Marc McBride, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 17 January 2023
The Song of Lewis Carmichael brought us the excellent pairing of author Sofie Laguna and illustrator Marc McBride. The Glow is their latest collaboration, a thrilling sci-fi adventure with a...
The Wakes (Dianne Yarwood, Hachette)
Tuesday, 17 January 2023
When Clare’s husband tells her one night that he’s unhappy, she’s not sure what to do—but helping her new friend Louisa start a funeral catering business is the last thing...
The Hotel Witch (Jessica Miller, Text)
Tuesday, 6 December 2022
With a cast of larger-than-life characters that almost pop off the page, The Hotel Witch is the wonderfully imaginative new adventure from Jessica Miller, who previously brought us The Republic...
Viking Women (Lisa Hannett, Thames & Hudson)
Tuesday, 6 December 2022
Literature academic and speculative fiction author Lisa Hannett has written an evocative account of the varied lives of women during the Viking era. Hannett uses her vast knowledge of Vikings...
The One Thing We’ve Never Spoken About (Elfy Scott, Pantera)
Tuesday, 29 November 2022
In The One Thing We’ve Never Spoken About, Sydney-based journalist and podcast presenter Elfy Scott uses her talent for explaining complicated issues in accessible ways to examine the myths and...
Easy Peasy (Ky Garvey, illus by Amy Calautti, EK Books)
Tuesday, 22 November 2022
When Ruby is given a pair of fabulous sparkly red roller skates for her birthday, she expects to be able to skate, equally fabulously, immediately—easy peasy. Of course, it isn’t...
Two Can Play That Game (Leanne Yong, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 22 November 2022
Leanne Yong’s debut Two Can Play That Game is a joyful and fun addition to the growing Asian-Australian Own Voices YA movement, joining the likes of Tiger Daughter and The...
A Man of Honour (Simon Smith, Echo)
Tuesday, 22 November 2022
When debut novelist Simon Smith was a child he was told, ‘Someone in our family shot a prince.’ That man was Henry James O’Farrell, whose failed attempt in 1868 to...
Smashing Serendipity (Louise K Hansen, Fremantle Press)
Tuesday, 15 November 2022
Proud Binjareb Nyoongar woman Louise K Hansen unfortunately passed away before her profound memoir, Smashing Serendipity: The story of one Moordtj Yorga, was published. But the strong stories from her...
Hedgehog the Wonder Dog (Dannika Patterson, illus by Ross Morgan, Ford Street)
Tuesday, 15 November 2022
Hedgehog the Wonder Dog is a picture book with a beautiful aura around it, both visually and figuratively, telling a tender and soul-soothing story of the power of connection—in this...
Tumbleglass (Kate Constable, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 15 November 2022
Rowan is helping her big sister Ash with painting her room when suddenly they find themselves in 1999, at a party in the very same house. While Ash wants to...
This Time it’s Real (Ann Liang, Penguin)
Tuesday, 15 November 2022
Ann Liang’s This Time it’s Real is a vibrant young adult romantic comedy with its heart in the right place. When 17-year-old Eliza Lin’s school essay about her fabricated love...
The Matchmaker (Saman Shad, Viking)
Wednesday, 19 October 2022
Playing cupid for the Sydney Pakistani community is Saima Khan in The Matchmaker. Pairing lovers is second nature for Saima until the handsome, young white-collar Kal (Khalid) Ali unwittingly saunters...
Tell Me Again (Amy Thunig, UQP)
Tuesday, 6 September 2022
Amy Thunig is an academic and social commentator on shows such as ABC’s The Drum. She also grew up in poverty, the child of parents battling drug addictions who provided...
