Finding the Bones (Natalie Conyer, Echo)
Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Finding the Bones by Ned Kelly Award–winning author Natalie Conyer is a gritty, slow-burn Australian crime thriller that exposes the fine line between belief and obsession – and the lengths...
Genie Snail (Bethany Loveridge, illus Chris Kennett, Little Book Press)
Tuesday, 27 January 2026
In Genie Snail, author Bethany Loveridge (Renegade Timeline Officer) and illustrator Chris Kennett combine forces to deliver a bright, engaging and hilarious story about a young child who meets a...
The Last Poem (Courtney Peppernell, Atria)
Tuesday, 27 January 2026
Courtney Peppernell’s The Last Poem is a tender, modern work of fiction infused with poetic sensibility, echoing the emotional gentleness of writers such as Robyn Carr. With a slow, deliberate...
The Feathers of Farwood and the Gripps Curse (Jayne McIntyre, Riveted Press)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Jayne McIntyre’s debut novel, The Feathers of Farwood and the Gripps Curse, is the first in a new trilogy. Set in the small Australian town of Farwood, the story blends...
Haze (Sam Elliott, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Samuel Elliott’s debut novel, Haze, introduces constable Dahlia Turner, newly returned to her coastal hometown of Broughlet – a place defined by terrible surf, an ice problem and the unsettling...
Nature Knows (Yvette Farmer, illus Chloe Jasmine Harris, T&H)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Nature Knows is a gentle picture book that steps quietly into the growing conversation around children’s wellbeing and the restorative power of time outdoors. Yvette Farmer, a primary school teacher with...
Ruby’s Web (Ellen van Neerven, Magabala)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
In Ruby’s Web, Ellen van Neerven (Heat and Light, Comfort Food) situates a coming-of-age story against the backdrop of the 2023 Voice referendum, highlighting the severity of online abuse faced...
The Belfast Express (Brigid Carrick, Ventura)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Centring on an aspiring nurse in 1970s Ireland, Bridid Carrick’s The Belfast Express examine the impact of the Catholic Church and chronic underemployment on the lives of Dubliners. After 18-year-old...
The Boy and the Dog Tree (Fiona Wood, UQP)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Fiona Wood (How to Spell Catastrophe), a 3-time CBCA winner, returns to middle-grade fiction with a heartfelt tale of the magical bond between animals and humans. Mitch has spent his...
Vow of Eternal Night (Lily Crozier, Penguin)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Lily Crozier’s debut, Vow of Eternal Night, reads as if it were written with a deep love for the romantasy genre and for those who consume it. (A Mr Darcy–like hand...
Poster Boys (Scott Woodard, Lothian)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Poster Boys follows Edward, a “try-hard” who navigates school life alongside space cadet Nolan and popular jock James when their paths collide at Highview Grammar. Each boy has his own...
On Not Climbing Mountains (Claire Thomas, Hachette)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Claire Thomas’s On Not Climbing Mountains is a slyly restless work. It treats travel less as a physical movement and more as an intensity and state of heightened attention. The...
How to Die in the 21st Century: A Whole New Way to Talk About Death (Hannah Gould, T&H)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
For something that will affect all of us, death is a topic that’s difficult to bring up. Enter Hannah Gould, whose How to Die in the 21st Century seeks to bring...
The House of Blue Grass (Alan Atkinson, NewSouth)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Alan Atkinson’s The House of Blue Glass is ostensibly a biography of Penelope Lucas, “the first well-educated woman to travel from Europe to Australia without the ‘protection’ of a husband...
A Far-flung Life (ML Stedman, Penguin)
Tuesday, 20 January 2026
From the acclaimed author of The Light Between Oceans comes A Far-flung Life, ML Stedman’s much-anticipated second novel. Set in rural Western Australia in 1958, the story follows the MacBride...
Oh Brother (Georgina Chadderton, Penguin)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Oh Brother by Georgina Chadderton is a warm, perceptive middle-grade graphic memoir about growing up alongside a sibling with high support needs. Set in the early 2000s, the book follows...
Bird Deity (John Morrissey, Text)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Shorter novels have made a strong resurgence in recent years – particularly in science fiction – and John Morrissey’s (Firelight) debut fiction novel, Bird Deity, sits squarely within this zeitgeist....
Side Character Energy (Olivia Tolich, Text)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Olivia Tolich’s Side Character Energy is a lively debut romantic comedy with a strong focus on self-discovery. When Bee starts dating William, Gertie is happy for her – instinctively so....
Trials of Hope (የተስፋ ፈተና)(Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes’s Trials of Hope is a hybrid memoir in poetry and prose that feels less like a linear life story than a lived cosmology. Winner of the 2024...
Milly Meelyu (Holly Bradley & Darryl Fogarty, illus Corinne Fogarty, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Milly Meelyu is a thoughtful exploration of environment and wildlife protection, written by conservation biologist Holly Bradley and Badimia Elder Darryl Fogarty. Milly Meelyu is a skink who lives in...
How Do You Hide a Hippo? (Rebecca Grant, illus Jedda Robaard, Little Book Press)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Rebecca Grant’s How Do You Hide a Hippo? is a playful picture book that invites young readers to join a child’s increasingly silly attempts to conceal a hippo in unlikely...
Growing Up Digital: Helping Your Kids and Teens Navigate Life Online (Susan McLean, A&U)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Growing Up Digital, by Australia’s leading cybersafety expert, Susan McLean, is a grounded and genuinely useful guide for parents navigating life online with their children in an increasingly complex digital...
The Woman in the Spotlight (JR Lonie, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
In JR Lonie’s newest historical thriller, The Woman in the Spotlight, a young performer must outwit the oppressive control of the Nazi regime. Monika Varády, a Bavarian actress newly arrived...
Freddie Jones: The Mystery of the Troublesome Trees (Kate Foster, Walker)
Tuesday, 13 January 2026
Freddie Jones is an adventurer at heart. The first in a new series by award-winning author Kate Foster (Harriet Hound), Freddie Jones: The Mystery of the Troublesome Trees is a...
Meltdown (Lauren Novak, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 9 December 2025
Meltdown is a heavily researched yet highly accessible examination of “mum rage”, the gendered term the book uses to describe anger experienced in motherhood, exploring why it happens and how...
Red Star Rebels (Amie Kaufman, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 9 December 2025
Amie Kaufman is a well-known name in young adult speculative fiction, particularly for the bestselling Starbound and Illuminae Files series (co-authored with Megan Spooner and Jay Kristoff respectively). Red Star...
Romeo v Juliet (RA Spratt, Penguin)
Tuesday, 9 December 2025
Bestselling author RA Spratt’s Romeo v Juliet is a light-hearted time-travelling comedy that will appeal to older middle-grade and younger YA audiences aged 12 and up. When 16-year-old Selby, a...
My Brother Otto (Ingrid Laguna, Text)
Tuesday, 9 December 2025
In My Brother Otto, Ingrid Laguna (Edie Tells a Lie) explores the emotional upheaval of welcoming and losing a new sibling. Quinn is 11 years old and happy being an...
The World from Here (Cassy Polimeni, illus Mel Armstrong, CSIRO Publishing)
Tuesday, 9 December 2025
Cassy Polimeni, whose junior fiction novel Ella and the Amazing Frog Orchestra won the Wilderness Society’s Environment Award, brings her gift for accessible science to The World from Here. In...
Saving Shark Pup: The Incredible True Story (Sharon Dalgleish, illus Amandine Thomas, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 9 December 2025
Saving Shark Pup: The Incredible True Story is an intriguing and emotive retelling of a great white shark pup’s dramatic rescue from Manly Beach, sure to captivate readers aged 4...
