Mother Waters (Lisa Nan Joo, Affirm Press)
Fiction
Released August 2026, reviewed by Emma Pei Yin.
Lisa Nan Joo’s debut, Mother Waters, is an atmospheric, quietly unsettling novel that explores ambition, grief, inheritance and the emotional...
A New Kind of Beautiful (Suzy Zail, Walker Books)
Young adult
Released August 2026, reviewed by Heidi Maier.
In Suzy Zail’s A New Kind of Beautiful, 16-year-old Paige Wilding has her future mapped out: win the coveted school...
Once Upon a Breakfast Show (Stephanie MacFie, Text Publishing)
Fiction
Released August 2026, reviewed by Lisa Schuurman.
Stephanie MacFie’s debut, Once Upon a Breakfast Show, is a charming second-chance romantic comedy set in the dynamic world of...
Bandoola (Beverley McWilliams, illus Kate Jones, UWA Publishing)
Younger readers
Released August 2026, reviewed by Karys McEwen.
Bandoola by Beverley McWilliams (Spies in the Sky) follows the life of a Burmese logging elephant, blending fictional storytelling with...
Cass and the Beast (Claire Mabey, illus Jill Calder, Gecko Press)
Children’s picture book
Released August 2026, reviewed by Joy Lawn.
In Claire Mabey’s Cass and the Beast, a young girl, Cass, fears the townsfolk more than the creature they call...
Blue Giant (Jordan Prosser, University of Queensland Press)
Fiction
Released August 2026, reviewed by Stefen Brazulaitis.
A Danish tech billionaire announces he’s seeking volunteers for the first colony on Mars. Abby Horne, a 30-something woman in...
Juicy: How to Live a Life in the Wreckage of Expectations (Sheree Joseph, Pantera Press)
Nonfiction
Released August 2026, reviewed by Steph Beck.
In her debut memoir, Juicy: How to Live a Life in the Wreckage of Expectations, Lebanese Australian journalist and writer...
Sophie, Standing There (Meg Mason, 4th Estate)
Fiction
Released August 2026, reviewed by Michelle Atkins.
Sophie, Standing There is the long-awaited new novel from Meg Mason (Sorrow and Bliss). Newly single 37-year-old sound technician Sophie...
Us in the Bright Lights (Zanni L Arnot, Lothian)
Young adult
Released August 2026, reviewed by Nadia Heisler.
Zanni L Arnot returns with Us in the Bright Lights, a romantic adventure that builds on the promise of her...
Dying Days (Anthony Byrt, Affirm Press)
Fiction
Released August 2026, reviewed by Katy Briggs.
Anthony Byrt’s debut novel, Dying Days, is a fast-paced, assured espionage novel that expertly weaves compelling fiction with real historical...
The Festival of Ice and Snow (Angie Cui, illus Anna Wilson, University of Queensland Press)
Children’s picture book
Released August 2026, reviewed by Fay Helfenbaum.
In The Festival of Ice and Snow, Angie Cui (My Mum Is a Bird) and illustrator Anna Wilson (A Taste...
Theodora’s Tea Shop (Christy Anne Jones, Hachette)
Fiction
Released August 2026, reviewed by Kathryn Wheaton Grierson.
Christy Anne Jones has brewed a bewitching concoction in Theodora’s Tea Shop, her first adult fantasy novel. Dot, a timid...
Stuck in the Middle (Anton Clifford-Motopi, Allen & Unwin)
Younger readers
Released August 2026, reviewed by Andrea Kress.
Anton Clifford-Motopi’s Stuck in the Middle is a lively, heartfelt comedy for readers aged 8 to 12, capturing the chaos...
A Bigger Book (Hannah Sommerville, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
Children’s picture book
Released August 2026, reviewed by Joy Lawn.
In A Bigger Book, Hannah Sommerville’s first solo picture book for readers aged 4 to 8, the author-illustrator captures the...
Alice’s Dreaming (Tom Griffiths, Black Inc.)
Nonfiction
Released August 2026, reviewed by Anthony Morris.
Historian and author Tom Griffiths was 14 when he discovered Alice Duncan-Kemp’s Where Strange Paths Go Down at his school...
Funny Fairytales (Tim Harris, illus Christopher Nielsen, Penguin)
Younger readers
Released July 2026, reviewed by Erin Wamala.
Funny Fairytales by Tim Harris, illustrated by Christopher Nielsen, sees the creator of the Mr Bambuckle’s Remarkables series turn his...
Rat Daniels (Alex Sawyer, Hachette)
Fiction
Released July 2026, reviewed by Sophie Helfgott.
Rat Daniels, the debut novel by Alex Sawyer and winner of the 2023 Richell Prize, is a coming-of-age story of...
Parramatta: A Dictionary of Place and Memory (Yumna Kassab, Giramondo)
Nonfiction
Released July 2026, reviewed by Sonia Nair.
Written during her time as the inaugural Parramatta Laureate in Literature, Yumna Kassab (Politica, The Lovers) turns her eye to...
Neighbours: Australia and the Pacific (Joanne Wallis & Jack Corbett, La Trobe)
Nonfiction
Released July 2026, reviewed by Jess Lomas.
Neighbours: Australia and the Pacific by Joanne Wallis (Girt by Sea) and Jack Corbett examines Australia’s relationship with the Pacific...
Tight Lines (Allee Richards, Summit)
Fiction
Released July 2026, reviewed by Chloe Cook.
Set in a small coastal town in regional Victoria, Allee Richards’s Tight Lines is a literary coming-of-age novel steeped in...
