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One Dark Night (Hannah Richell, S&S) 

Fiction

Released January 2025, reviewed by Kate Frawley.

One Dark Night is Hannah Richell’s sixth novel. Like its predecessor, The Search Party, the story is a gripping, tangled...

Saltwater Cure: True Stories of the Transformative Power of the Ocean (Ali Gripper, Murdoch) 

Nonfiction

Released December 2024, reviewed by Jess Lomas.

In Saltwater Cure: True Stories of the Transformative Power of the Ocean, journalist Ali Gripper (The Barefoot Surgeon) explores the...

Revenge of the Toxic Space Potato (First Dog on the Moon, A&U Children’s) 

Younger readers

Released December 2024, reviewed by Anthony Morris.

Finding a fresh angle on superheroes in 2024 is no easy task—unless you’re the Indefatigable EnviroTeens, who effortlessly revitalise a...

Every Rock Has a Story: An A to Z of Australian Geology (Kitty van Cuylenburg, illus Cher Hart, CSIRO Publishing) 

Nonfiction

Released January 2025, reviewed by Nadia Heisler.

In Every Rock Has a Story: An A to Z of Australian Geology, Kitty van Cuylenburg invites readers to experience...

Yayoi Kusama (ed by Wayne Crothers & Miranda Wallace, NGV) 

Nonfiction

Released December 2024, reviewed by Hannah Cartmel.

The book Yayoi Kusama from the National Gallery of Victoria captures the extraordinary 80-year legacy of the enigmatic artist, as...

Costa’s Garden (Costa Georgiadis, illus Brenna Quinlan, ABC Books) 

Children’s picture book

Released December 2024, reviewed by Bohdi Byles.

Costa’s Garden follows an illustrated Costa Georgiadis as he shares his expansive garden and flowers with a group of children,...

Tomorrow There Will Be Sun (A Hope Prize Anthology, S&S) 

Fiction

Released December 2024, reviewed by Sonia Nair.

Armed with a mandate to celebrate hope, courage and resilience, the 20 stories in the anthology Tomorrow There Will Be...

Robert Manne: A Political Memoir (Robert Manne, La Trobe) 

Nonfiction

Released December 2024, reviewed by Becca Whitehead.

In 2024, amid widespread political polarisation, Robert Manne’s memoir, Robert Manne: A Political Memoir: Intellectual Combat in the Cold War...

Tigg and the Bandicoot Bushranger (Jackie French, HarperCollins) 

Younger readers

Released December 2024, reviewed by Alida Galati .

Jackie French once again showcases her meticulous research in an engaging historical fiction novel that will captivate upper middle-grade readers....

The Bogan Book Club (John Larkin, Larrikin) 

Fiction

Released December 2024, reviewed by Katy Briggs.

When James Larwood is released from prison, his career is in tatters and his marriage is broken. His brother, Larry,...

Murriyang: Song of Time (Stan Grant, Bundyi) 

Nonfiction

Released December 2024, reviewed by Eman Mourad.

In May 2023, journalist Stan Grant (Talking to My Country) stepped away from his role as host of ABC’s Q+A....

The Dream (Iain Ryan, Ultimo) 

Fiction

Released December 2024, reviewed by Kate Frawley.

Iain Ryan plunges the reader into a seedy underworld of police corruption and political scheming in his latest novel, The...

Special Delivery (Leesa Ronald, A&U) 

Fiction

Released December 2024, reviewed by Charlotte Callander.

Leesa Ronald’s debut novel, Special Delivery, is an enemies-to-lovers rom-com with some hilarious side characters, steamy love scenes and a...

The Wild Reciter: Poetry and Popular Culture in Australia 1890 to the Present (Peter Kirkpatrick, MUP) 

Nonfiction

Released November 2024, reviewed by Anthea Yang.

Now a forgotten species, the wild reciter was once an entertainer who frequented small local parlours and music halls, reciting...

The Five Rules of Friendship (Jess Sanders, illus César Barceló, Affirm) 

Children’s picture book

Released December 2024, reviewed by Emma Pei Yin.

The Five Rules of Friendship by Jess Sanders (Life Lessons for Little Ones: You Are Enough) is a thoughtful and...

Train Japan (Steve Wide & Michelle Mackintosh, Hardie Grant Explore) 

Nonfiction

Released December 2024, reviewed by Marissa Kyriakopoulos.

In today’s world, where information is instantly available, travel guides may seem less appealing. However, there are times when expert...

Black Convicts (Santilla Chingaipe, Scribner) 

Nonfiction

Released November 2024, reviewed by Anthony Morris.

In recent years, historians have increasingly shown that the past, especially in the West, was more multicultural than the monoculture...

Noble Fragments (Michael Visontay, Scribe) 

Nonfiction

Released November 2024, reviewed by Becca Whitehead.

Noble Fragments examines the nature of value and the role of perspective in shaping it, as journalist and author Michael...

Thunderhead (Sophie Beer, A&U Children’s) 

Younger readers

Released November 2024, reviewed by Clare Millar.

Thunderhead is the debut middle-grade novel by award-winning author and illustrator Sophie Beer. Thunderhead (the titular character’s online username—their name...

Tilly in a Tangle (Margrete Lamond, illus Monty Lee, Dirt Lane Press) 

Children’s picture book

Released November 2024, reviewed by Karys McEwen.

Tilly in a Tangle, written by Margrete Lamond (The Sorry Tale of Fox and Bear) and illustrated by Monty Lee...