The Man Who Planted Canberra (Robert Macklin, NLA)
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
The Man Who Planted Canberra examines the life and legacy of Charles Weston, an Englishman whose extraordinary foresight and dedication transformed the landscape of Australia’s capital city through planting three...
The Farm (Jessica Mansour-Nahra, Hachette)
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
Atmospheric and quietly unnerving, The Farm is a haunting debut by Jessica Mansour-Nahra. The psychologically taut novel steadily draws the reader into its isolated setting and the protagonist’s unravelling reality....
Fierceland (Omar Musa, Penguin)
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
Fierceland is a spellbinding novel by multi-hyphenate artist Omar Musa (Killernova), following his widely acclaimed and Miles Franklin–longlisted debut, Here Come the Dogs. In this self-proclaimed ghost story set across...
Tenderfoot (Toni Jordan, Hachette)
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
In Tenderfoot, Toni Jordan returns to the literary style of her earlier novels, Addition and The Fragments, shifting away from the light tones and commercial narratives found within more recent...
The Style Secrets of Gareth McGreen (Kelly Brodie-Brown, illus Natasha Carty, Scholastic)
Tuesday, 24 June 2025
The Style Secrets of Gareth McGreen by Kelly Brodie-Brown, illustrated by Natasha Carty (Time to Rest, The Two-nicorn), is a vibrant debut picture book for readers aged 3+ who enjoy...
News Cowboys (Mike Amor, Echo)
Tuesday, 24 June 2025
In News Cowboys, veteran Australian foreign correspondent Mike Amor shares stories from a decades-long career covering some of the biggest news events of the 21st century. From the 9/11 terrorist...
Playing Nice Was Getting Me Nowhere (Alex Cothren, Pink Shorts Press)
Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Playing Nice Was Getting Me Nowhere is a collection of satirical stories by award-winning short fiction writer Alex Cothren and is one of the first releases from new independent publisher Pink...
Hailstones Fell without Rain (Natalia Figueroa Barroso, UQP)
Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Hailstones Fell without Rain is a rich, multi-generational debut that spans two continents and three generations, exploring memory, identity and the quiet revolutions of everyday women. In this semi-autobiographical familial story...
The Set-Up Girl (Sasha Vey, A&U Children’s)
Tuesday, 24 June 2025
The Set-Up Girl is a rollercoaster of awkward crushes and friendships set against the warmth and chaos of a tight-knit family and the bittersweet final year of high school. Amalia...
The Nanny’s Handbook to Magic and Managing Difficult Dukes (Amy Rose Bennett, Atria)
Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Amy Rose Bennett's The Nanny’s Handbook to Magic and Managing Difficult Dukes is a charming historical romance that defies expectations and blends genres with flair. The novel combines a Victorian-era...
This Bird: Noticing Our Urban Birds (Astred Hicks & Holly Parsons, CSIRO Publishing)
Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Created by author and illustrator Astred Hicks in collaboration with ecologist Holly Parsons, This Bird: Noticing Our Urban Birds is a vibrant celebration of Australian birdlife, designed to inspire wonder...
Isn’t It Nice We Both Hate the Same Things (Jessica Seaborn, PRH)
Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Isn’t It Nice We Both Hate the Same Things by Jessica Seaborn has a lengthy title that might be tricky to remember, but its characters are anything but forgettable. Seaborn...
Until the Red Leaves Fall (Alli Parker, HarperCollins)
Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Until the Red Leaves Fall is the second novel by Japanese-Australian author and screenwriter Alli Parker (At the Foot of the Cherry Tree). Set primarily in 1950s Melbourne, Emmy Darling...
The Locked Room (Adam Cece, PRH)
Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Adam Cece’s The Locked Room is built on an excellent premise: four teenagers trapped in an escape room must solve a series of puzzles – each on a one-hour countdown...
The Eagle and the Crow (JM Field, UQP)
Tuesday, 17 June 2025
The Eagle and the Crow is a work of many layers – lyrical, intellectual and political – all grounded in Gamilaraay knowledge and resistance. JM Field (Etta and the Shadow...
Starry Eyed (Katharine Pollock, Wakefield Press)
Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Katharine Pollock’s Starry Eyed is delightfully hard to categorise, combining romantic comedy and science fiction elements and loosely held together by a fan fiction narrative. Fundamentally, it’s a touching story...
The Wicked Ship (Oceanforged #1) (Amelia Mellor, Affirm)
Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Amelia Mellor follows The Grandest Bookshop series, her bestselling, award-winning historical fantasy trilogy, with the new swashbuckling Oceanforged series for readers aged 8–10. The Wicked Ship is the first of...
What Would Adam Smith Make of Modern Australia? (Joseph Healy, Major Street)
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Adam Smith, the 18th-century moral philosopher, is best known for coining the phrase ‘invisible hand’ to describe how the economic self-interest of an individual can lead to fair and efficient...
Our History: A House Divided (Clare Hallifax, Walker Books)
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
In Our History: A House Divided, Clare Hallifax places the political turmoil of the 1975 Dismissal of the Whitlam government within the everyday rhythms of family life in Canberra. The...
Stillwater (Tanya Scott, A&U)
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Tanya Scott’s debut, Stillwater, masterfully weaves together the past and present in a suspenseful, emotionally charged crime thriller. Luke Harris returns to his hometown of Melbourne seeking a 'normal life'...
In Spite of You (Patrick Lenton, Pantera)
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Genuinely funny and smartly observed, In Spite of You channels the charm of classic rom-coms – idealistic and entertaining – but adds a fresh twist with a plot driven by...
Run (Sarah Armstrong, HGCP)
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Sarah Armstrong’s latest middle-grade novel, Run, is a fast-paced survival tale that explores themes of trust, resilience and complicated families. It follows Armstrong’s previous titles for younger readers, Big Magic and Magic Awry, and her...
How to Train a Dad (Sally Barns, illus Noémie Gionet Landry, Affirm)
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
How to Train a Dad, written by Sally Barns and illustrated by Noémie Gionet Landry, is a funny and imaginative picture book that presents itself as a manual for kids...
Plastic Budgie (Olivia De Zilva, Pink Shorts Press)
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Olivia De Zilva’s autofiction debut Plastic Budgie is a sharply funny, sad and sentimental reflection on the people, places and cultural forces that shape us as we grow up. In the novel,...
The Ghost Walk (Karen Herbert, Fremantle)
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
Ruby Rose Gillespie lives with cystic fibrosis and is admitted to the hospital for a fever on the same day the body of Dr Gabriel Beaufort – her high school...
Yilkari (Nicolas Rothwell & Alison Nampitjinpa Anderson, Text)
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
Yilkari is a book that resists easy categorisation – it’s part character study, part travel narrative, part history lesson and part meditation on the connection between people and place. This...
A Gift from the Birds (Caroline Stills, Text)
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
A Gift from the Birds is the first middle-grade novel by picture book author Caroline Stills. Winner of the 2024 Text Prize – and the final recipient before the prize...
The Giant (Sophie Masson, illus Lorena Carrington, MidnightSun)
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
The award-winning duo of author Sophie Masson and illustrator Lorena Carrington reunite for The Giant. Their previous title, Satin, was a 2024 CBCA Notable book. In this mystical and poignant...
The Golden Sister (Suzanne Do, Macmillan)
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
The Golden Sister is a fast-paced mystery set in a small fictional NSW coastal town, exploring complex and dysfunctional family dynamics and the impact of grief. Suzanne Do’s prose is...
Death at Booroomba (AL Booth, Ventura Press)
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
On the eve of his deployment to the Western Front in 1915, Jack O’Rourke has a chance encounter with an elderly Russian man, Samuel Lomond, that will profoundly impact his...
