The One Remaining (Paula McLean, Fearless Press)
Tuesday, 19 August 2025
Paula McLean’s The One Remaining is a quiet, affecting novel about memory, silence and the long shadow of a sister’s disappearance. When successful novelist Hilary Mason discovers a stack of...
Spud and Snowball and the Fancy Fish (Spud and Snowball #1) (Judith Rossell, ABC Books)
Tuesday, 12 August 2025
Mischief abounds in Spud and Snowball and the Fancy Fish, Judith Rossell’s new illustrated junior fiction chapter book, which introduces us to the adventures of two charming but chaotic cats. When...
The Worst Thing I’ve Ever Done (Clare Stephens, Atlantic)
Tuesday, 12 August 2025
The Worst Thing I’ve Ever Done is a sharp and unsettling novel that makes you reconsider every online interaction, bad review, snarky comment or quick judgment. Journalist Ruby Williams wants...
I’d Rather Be a Cat (Laura Bunting & Philip Bunting, Scholastic)
Tuesday, 12 August 2025
Laura and Philip Bunting’s charming I’d Rather Be a Cat is a fun, rhyming addition to the corpus of picture books about being comfortable in your own skin. With a...
Do We Deserve This? (Eleanor Elliott Thomas, Text)
Tuesday, 12 August 2025
Do We Deserve This? by Eleanor Elliott Thomas (The Opposite of Success) follows twenty-something underachiever Bean Halloway, who buys a lottery ticket for her mother, only for it to win...
Boobs (Lisa Portolan & Amanda Goff, Echo)
Tuesday, 12 August 2025
Boobs is an exploration of all things breasts. Combining personal insight with research, Amanda Goff (Misfit: The Unravelling of Samantha X) and Lisa Portolan examine the ways that breasts are perceived, augmented...
Arsenic Flower (Dakota Feirer, Hachette)
Tuesday, 12 August 2025
Dakota Feirer’s Arsenic Flower carves meaning from masculinity and memory. Tender and intimate, this debut poetry collection finds harmony in two contradictory realities: the harm of the Australian colony and...
Be(wilder): Journeys in Nature (Darryl Jones, NewSouth)
Tuesday, 12 August 2025
Ecologist Darryl Jones (Curlews on Vulture Street) travels across Australia and the world to study the lives of wild animals in urban environments and how humans and non-human animals can comfortably...
A Great Act of Love (Heather Rose, A&U)
Tuesday, 5 August 2025
Heather Rose's A Great Act of Love follows Caroline, an upper class widow who leaves London in the late 1830s to undertake a long and dangerous journey to Van Diemen’s...
The Legend of Jessie Hickman (Mark Greenwood, illus Frané Lessac, NLA)
Tuesday, 5 August 2025
The Legend of Jessie Hickman is a beautifully crafted nonfiction picture book that tells the remarkable true story of a 20th century Australian circus performer turned bushranger. Written by Mark...
Seed (Bri Lee, Summit Books)
Tuesday, 5 August 2025
Bri Lee’s Seed is a suspenseful literary thriller that asks urgent, existential questions: What does it mean to leave an impact on the world? Is it too late to halt...
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 Peach King (Inga Simpson, illus Tannya Harricks, Lothian)
Tuesday, 5 August 2025
Nature writer Inga Simpson (The Thinning, Willowman) and award-winning artist Tannya Harricks (Mallee Sky) have created a modern classic in The Peach King – an exquisite book destined to be...
Average at Best (Astrid Jorgensen, S&S)
Tuesday, 5 August 2025
Average at Best is one of those rare books that sneaks up on you with its funny and effortless voice, as well as its emotional depth. It doesn’t try to...
The Underworld (Sofie Laguna, Penguin)
Tuesday, 5 August 2025
Sofie Laguna’s The Underworld is an introspective, bittersweet coming-of-age tale that follows a 15-year-old Martha Mullins in 1970s Sydney from adolescence through to university, focusing on her female friendships, her...
Very Impressive for Your Age (Eleanor Kirk, A&U)
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
In Very Impressive for Your Age, Eleanor Kirk brings insight, wit and dark humour to her sharply drawn portrait of a young woman whose carefully imagined future vanishes overnight. Evelyn...
The Watervale Ladies’ Writing and Firefighting Society (Mette Menzies, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Mette Menzies’ debut novel, The Watervale Ladies’ Writing and Firefighting Society, is a charming and layered exploration of unexpected friendship, personal reinvention and the quiet strength of women who show...
Maisy Hayes Is Not for Sale (Allayne L Webster, Text)
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Maisy Hayes Is Not for Sale is a big-hearted read that balances emotional depth with laugh-out-loud moments. Told from the perspective of 14-year-old Maisy, the middle child in a single-parent family...
Mega Rich Guinea Pigs (Kate & Jol Temple, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
In Mega Rich Guinea Pigs, the first laugh-out-loud book in a new illustrated series by Kate and Jol Temple (Frog Squad), four pampered pets unexpectedly become billionaires. When tech tycoon...
A Catalogue of Love (Erin Hortle, S&S)
Tuesday, 29 July 2025
Erin Hortle’s A Catalogue of Love is a powerful work of Australian literary fiction. Set against the salt-sprayed wilderness of Bruny Island, the novel follows Neika, a surfer tracing her life...
The Vanishing Place (Zoë Rankin, Moa Press)
Tuesday, 22 July 2025
If you’re after a sad girl novel wrapped in a family saga and delivered as a fast-paced thriller, Zoë Rankin’s near-flawless debut, The Vanishing Place, delivers it all in spades....
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...
Train of Thought (Jess Horn, illus Hayley Wells, Bright Light)
Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Concentrating can be hard, especially when you have an active imagination! Jess Horn’s Train of Thought is a whimsical and beautifully illustrated picture book that explores a common problem with...
Renegade Timeline Officer (Harper Wells #1) (Bethany Loveridge, Wombat)
Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Harper Wells: Renegade Timeline Officer, the first book in the Wollemi trilogy by Bethany Loveridge, introduces a reluctant young time traveller thrust into a world of missing persons, mysterious portals...
Desolation (Hossein Asgari, Ultimo)
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...
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...
Going for Pippies (Wilaaran Hunter Laurie, illus Tori-Jay Mordey, Magabala)
Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Going for Pippies is a joyful celebration of First Nations culture created by debut Yaegl author Wilaaran Hunter Laurie and established Torres Strait Islander illustrator Tori-Jay Mordey (Our Flag, Our...
Role Model (Samantha Harris & Myrna Davison, Murdoch)
Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Role Model: Taking up space in the fashion world is an inspiring and deeply personal memoir by model Samantha Harris and her mother, Myrna Davison. Blending fashion, family and First...
