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Gunpowder Creek (Alex Dook, Echo) 

Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Alex Dook’s debut novel, Gunpowder Creek​, explores the question of how far a parent would go to save their child. Emily is a single mother whose teenage son, Zach, is...

Desolation (Hossein Asgari, Ultimo) 

Cover of 'Desolation' by Hossein Asgari. Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Desolation, the latest novel from Miles Franklin–shortlisted author Hossein Asgari (Only Sound Remains), is a taut and haunting exploration of trauma, memory and meaning. It traces the psychological unravelling of...

Once I Was a Giant (Zeno Sworder, T&H) 

Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Zeno Sworder’s Once I Was a Giant is a poetic and richly drawn picture book about memory, connection and renewal. In a dim apartment, a ‘picture-book maker’ has run out...

Books in the media this weekend, 19–20 July 

Friday, 18 July 2025
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend.  National The Saturday Paper Dead Ends (Samantha Byre, UQP) The Immigrants (Moreno Giovannoni, Black Inc.)...

Readers seek cosy, crime 

Wolf Girl 13 Friday, 18 July 2025
Top 10 bestsellers Cozy Corner (Coco Wyo, Penguin) The Let Them Theory (Mel Robbins & Sawyer Robbins, Hay House) Cozy Cuties (Coco Wyo, Penguin) We Are All Guilty Here (Karin...

Promises and Other Lies (Sue Whiting, Walker Books) 

Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Set one year after a devastating bushfire, Sue Whiting’s Promises and Other Lies is a compelling middle-grade novel that explores the lingering impact of disaster on a close-knit coastal community....

Black River (Ruby Jean Cottle, Atria Australia) 

Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Ruby Jean Cottle’s debut, Black River, is a strong addition to the young adult paranormal romance genre. Dusty is a 17-year-old introvert who finds comfort in books and nature. After a...

Discipline (Randa Abdel-Fattah, UQP) 

Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Discipline asks urgent questions about who gets to speak, who stays silent and what we owe our communities. Randa Abdel-Fattah (Does My Head Look Big in This?) chronicles the experiences...

Latest McEwan, Do titles debut in top 10 

the cover for A Forbidden Alchemy Friday, 11 July 2025
Top 10 bestsellers Cozy Corner (Coco Wyo, Penguin) The Let Them Theory (Mel Robbins & Sawyer Robbins, Hay House) Cozy Cuties (Coco Wyo, Penguin) The White Crow (Michael Robotham, Hachette)...

Book Club – this month’s reads

Friday, 11 July 2025
Looking for your next great group read? Our monthly Book Club rounds up new release titles that are perfect for sparking conversation and perhaps even some debate. From compelling fiction to...

Books in the media this weekend, 12–13 July 

Friday, 11 July 2025
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend.  National The Saturday Paper Honour's Mimic (Charmain Clift, New South) John and Paul: A Love...

Slashed Beauties (A Rushby, HQ Fiction) 

Tuesday, 8 July 2025
Slashed Beauties is a lush historical fantasy and an adult debut by A Rushby (The Wish Sisters, The Ghost Locket). The novel is by turns macabre and emotional but always...

Sing to Me (Jelena Curic, WestWords) 

Tuesday, 8 July 2025
Jelena Curic’s debut novel Sing to Me follows drinking, smoking and womanising anti-hero Pero Petrović on a reluctant hero’s journey to confront family secrets, betrayal and the legacy of his war-torn...

Junior Book Club – this month’s reads

Friday, 4 July 2025
Searching for your next great read to share with kids? Our Junior Book Club highlights 10 new titles each month that are perfect for classrooms, libraries and family reading time....

Books in the media this weekend, 5–6 July 

Friday, 4 July 2025
A round-up of the books being reviewed and mentioned in key media this coming weekend.  National The Saturday Paper Cure (Katherine Brabon, Ultimo) Notes to John (Joan Didion, Fourth Estate)...

The Man Who Planted Canberra (Robert Macklin, NLA) 

Tuesday, 1 July 2025
The Man Who Planted Canberra examines the life and legacy of Charles Weston, an Englishman whose extraordinary foresight and dedication transformed the landscape of Australia’s capital city through planting three...

The Farm (Jessica Mansour-Nahra, Hachette) 

Tuesday, 1 July 2025
Atmospheric and quietly unnerving, The Farm is a haunting debut by Jessica Mansour-Nahra. The psychologically taut novel steadily draws the reader into its isolated setting and the protagonist’s unravelling reality....

Fierceland (Omar Musa, Penguin) 

Tuesday, 1 July 2025
Fierceland is a spellbinding novel by multi-hyphenate artist Omar Musa (Killernova), following his widely acclaimed and Miles Franklin–longlisted debut, Here Come the Dogs. In this self-proclaimed ghost story set across...

Tenderfoot (Toni Jordan, Hachette) 

Tuesday, 1 July 2025
In Tenderfoot, Toni Jordan returns to the literary style of her earlier novels, Addition and The Fragments, shifting away from the light tones and commercial narratives found within more recent...