My Mother’s Invisible Shield (RA Stephens, illus Jasmine Berry, Wombat)
Tuesday, 18 February 2025
Mothers have special powers, and RA Stephens’s My Mother’s Invisible Shield explores this idea in a light and humorous way. The story follows a curious school-aged child who conducts a...
See How They Fall (Rachel Paris, Hachette)
Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Rachel Paris’s debut novel, See How They Fall, is an artfully plotted thriller that masterfully delivers unexpected twists to keep readers hooked until its satisfying conclusion. Set in the privileged...
Desert Tracks (Marly Wells & Linda Wells, Magabala)
Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Desert Tracks is a young adult time travel novel set in central Australia and written by daughter-mother duo Marly Wells, a proud woman of Warlpiri and white Australian descent, and...
The Sun Was Electric Light (Rachel Morton, UQP)
Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Haunted by a pervasive sense of unreality, Ruth leaves her life in New York to return to the last place she loved: a lake in southern Guatemala. In the small...
No Time for Make Up (Elizabeth Green, Exisle)
Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Dr Elizabeth Green’s No Time for Make Up is a compelling memoir chronicling her life as a member of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). The book is told in...
One Word and a Bird (Stephen Michael King, Scholastic)
Tuesday, 11 February 2025
One Word and a Bird is an earnest picture book by author and illustrator Stephen Michael King, whose previous titles include the award-winning Three and Leaf. Known for his masterful storytelling and distinct watercolour...
Hatch (Heidi Cooper Smith, CSIRO Publishing)
Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Australia has many fascinating egg-laying animals. Hatch introduces readers to a wide variety, from turtles, frogs and crocodiles to tarantulas, cicadas and monotremes such as echidnas and platypuses. The book...
Library Dreams (Luna’s World #1) (Hayley Gannon, illus Michelle Conn, Affirm)
Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Library Dreams is the first book in Hayley Gannon’s debut junior fiction series, Luna’s World. It centres around 10-year-old Luna and her main goal to become the library monitor for...
Unsettled (Kate Grenville, Black Inc)
Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Two decades after The Secret River, Kate Grenville sets out on a truth-telling road trip in Unsettled, reflecting on many versions of this critical question: ‘What do we do with...
An Invisible Tattoo (Suellen Dainty, Echo)
Tuesday, 11 February 2025
Suellen Dainty (The Housekeeper, After Everything) deftly transforms her literary novel An Invisible Tattoo into a gripping mystery, social exposé and moral dilemma by skilfully concealing then revealing how a...
How to Be Normal (Ange Crawford, Walker)
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
Ange Crawford’s debut novel, How to Be Normal, is a visceral and compelling read. It centres on Astrid, who is returning to high school after five years of homeschooling. She...
So Many Ways to Be Curious (Jayneen Sanders, illus Clare Elsom, Educate2Empower)
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
So Many Ways to Be Curious is a nonfiction picture book that lives up to its title – a practical guide to nurturing curiosity in children. Jayneen Sanders, a passionate...
Shift (Irma Gold, MidnightSun)
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
Shift has cemented Irma Gold (The Breaking) as a standout voice in Australian contemporary fiction. The novel follows Arlie, an up-and-coming photographer on the precipice of success, who leaves his...
Time Together (Luke Horton, Scribe)
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
Phil’s mother has passed away and, in an attempt to feel closer to her in this period of mourning, he invites his friends – Bella and Tim, Jo and Lucas,...
An Onslaught of Light (Natasha Rai, Pantera)
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
Natasha Rai’s debut novel, An Onslaught of Light, delivers on the high expectations set by its recognition in multiple manuscript awards (the 2017 Richell Prize, the 2018 KYD Unpublished Manuscript...
Better Days (Claire Zorn, Atlantic)
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
Claire Zorn’s Better Days is a gem of a novel that lingers in your mind, leaving you thinking about its characters and eager to return to their world. This is Zorn’s...
Unbury the Dead (Fiona Hardy, Affirm)
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
Fiona Hardy’s Unbury the Dead is a masterful blend of fast-paced crime and Australian noir, balancing grit and dry humour with effortless skill. Set against the vivid backdrops of rural...
Spirit of the Crocodile (Aaron Fa’Aoso & Michelle Scott Tucker with Lyn White, A&U)
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
Spirit of the Crocodile is a memorable upper-middle-grade novel by Torres Strait Islander actor and director Aaron Fa’Aoso and Michelle Scott Tucker (who previously collaborated as co-writers of Fa’Aoso’s adult...
The Food of Bharat: A Chef’s Journey Through India’s Rich Culinary History (Helly Raichura, Hardie Grant Books)
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
Self-taught chef Helly Raichura started her career in 2018, hosting a supper club called Enter Via Laundry out of her Melbourne home, and she quickly gained national popularity. Raichura set...
The Colours of Home (Sally Soweol Han, T&H)
Tuesday, 4 February 2025
As the title The Colours of Home suggests, colour plays a central role in this beautiful picture book by Korean-Australian artist Sally Soweol Han (Nightsong, Tiny Wonders). The story follows...
First Name Second Name (Steve MinOn, UQP)
Tuesday, 28 January 2025
In Steve MinOn’s debut novel, First Name Second Name, the story spans four generations of the Chinese Australian Bolin family, whose roots in Australia date back to the late 19th...
The Buried Life (Andrea Goldsmith, Transit Lounge)
Tuesday, 28 January 2025
In The Buried Life, Andrea Goldsmith – renowned for her sharp insights into contemporary life and relationships – once again delves into the complexities of human connection. Known for The...
Washpool (Lisa Fuller, Lothian)
Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Lisa Fuller’s Washpool is a fun, heartwarming and insightful exploration of family and kinship that takes the portal fantasy genre to a new level. When Murri sisters Bella and Cienna...
Misfit: The Unravelling of Samantha X (Amanda Goff, Echo)
Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Amanda Goff was a successful journalist in London and Sydney before leaving her corporate career at 38 to become Samantha X, an escort. She later founded her own escort agency...
Melanesia: Travels in Black Oceania (Hamish McDonald, Black Inc)
Tuesday, 28 January 2025
As a foreign correspondent, Australian journalist Hamish McDonald (Demokrasi) frequently flew in and out of Melanesian hotspots during his career. Fascinated by the region’s complexity, he traversed it slowly by...
The Thrill of It (Mandy Beaumont, Hachette)
Tuesday, 28 January 2025
The Thrill of It is the latest crime novel by Mandy Beaumont, author of the Stella Prize–longlisted The Furies. The story follows Emmerson Kerr, whose grandmother was brutally murdered in...
SoXiety (Tamlyn Teow, Riveted Press)
Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Tamlyn Teow’s SoXiety offers a thought-provoking, immersive experience that mirrors the anxiety of today’s world. Teow’s graphic novel, the first in a new collection called The Book of Kin, is...
Love Unedited (Caro Llewellyn, Picador)
Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Reading Caro Llewellyn’s debut novel, Love Unedited, is like reading someone’s diary entries on life and love, which is fitting for this story within a story. Set predominantly in New York...
Soaring with the Sugarbird Lady (Dianne Wolfer, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 28 January 2025
Soaring with the Sugarbird Lady is based on the true story of Robin Miller, who single-handedly flew life-saving vaccines to remote Western Australia in the late 1960s. This new middle-grade novel...
Ariana Treasure: The Missing Book (Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern, illus Karen Erasmus, Wombat)
Tuesday, 21 January 2025
Ariana Treasure: The Missing Book is the first in a new series for beginner readers by Jacqueline de Rose-Ahern. Ariana’s family own the Treasure Chest, a local thrift shop filled...
