Reviews
Adult fiction
The Price of Two Sparrows (Christy Collins, Affirm)
Released February 2021
Christy Collins’s The Price of Two Sparrows is an elegantly structured study of migration and community in Australia. A burgeoning Muslim community on the outskirts of Sydney has made plans to build a mosque on edge of a nature reserve. Meticulously designed following extensive consultation, the building is to serve as the community’s centre. But… Read more
Most viewed adult fiction
- Stone Sky Gold Mountain (Mirandi Riwoe, UQP)
- Mammoth (Chris Flynn, UQP)
- Sheerwater (Leah Swann, HarperCollins)
- The Adversary (Ronnie Scott, Hamish Hamilton)
- The Rain Heron (Robbie Arnott, Text)
- All Our Shimmering Skies (Trent Dalton, HarperCollins)
- A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing (Jessie Tu, A&U)
- The Hunted (Gabriel Bergmoser, HarperCollins)
- The Animals in That Country (Laura Jean McKay, Scribe)
- Rural Dreams (Margaret Hickey, MidnightSun)
Adult nonfiction
Buried Not Dead (Fiona McGregor, Giramondo)
Released February 2021
Outsider art, as critic Roger Cardinal once wrote, is ‘immune to the polarisations of culture and the copycat spirit of cultural art’. It’s fair to say that Fiona McGregor’s new essay collection Buried Not Dead exists in this realm. Written over 25 years, McGregor draws from her experiences as a performance artist, writer, queer and… Read more
Most viewed adult nonfiction
- The Trials of Portnoy: How Penguin brought down Australia’s censorship system (Patrick Mullins, Scribe)
- Father of the Lost Boys (Yuot A Alaak, Fremantle Press)
- Come (Rita Therese, A&U)
- Fathoms: The world in the whale (Rebecca Giggs, Scribe)
- Into the Suburbs: A migrant’s story (Christopher Raja, UQP)
- Soar: A life freed by dance (David McAllister, Thames & Hudson)
- Under the Rainbow: The life and times of E W Cole (Richard Broinowski, MUP)
- How to Win an Election (Chris Wallace, NewSouth)
- Living on Stolen Land (Ambelin Kwaymullina, Magabala)
- The Details: On love, death and reading (Tegan Bennett Daylight, Scribner)
Children's picture books
Iceberg (Claire Saxby, illus by Jess Racklyeft, A&U)
Released February 2021
There is no absolutely question as to why Claire Saxby and Jess Racklyeft are both multi-award-winning creators, and this book is a perfect partnership, eliciting the very best from both of them. Suited to mid-primary readers, Iceberg loosely follows the life cycle of an iceberg through the seasons, and will draw children to a glorious… Read more
Most viewed children's picture book
- Respect (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, illus by Lisa Kennedy, Magabala)
- Who’s Your Real Mum? (Bernadette Green, illus by Anna Zobel, Scribble)
- Mum’s Elephant (Maureen Jipiyiliya Nampijinpa O’Keefe, illus by Christina Booth, Magabala)
- All Bodies are Good Bodies (Charlotte Barkla, Little Hare)
- Henry Turnip (Chloe Jasmine Harris, Walker Books)
- Found (Bruce Pascoe, illus by Charmaine Ledden-Lewis, Magabala)
- Anisa’s Alphabet (Mike Dumbleton, illus by Hannah Sommerville, MidnightSun)
- Beautiful Eggs (Alice Lindstrom, Scribble)
- Wolfred (Nick Bland, Hardie Grant Egmont)
- Tiger & Cat (Allira Tee, Berbay)
Younger readers
Lola Online: #TheSecretUpstairsFanClubParty (Shannan & Tayla Stedman, Omnibus)
Released February 2021
Sisters Shannan and Tayla Stedman, children’s entertainers turned authors, try their hands at junior fiction with Lola Online, which comes after the 2018 release of their picture book Harlow and the Lost Laughter. Aimed at the 8–11 age group, the novel tells the story of nine-year-old Lola, a chocolate-loving burgeoning gymnast and YouTube sensation. She… Read more
Most viewed younger readers
- The Year the Maps Changed (Danielle Binks, Lothian)
- The January Stars (Kate Constable, A&U)
- Eloise and the Bucket of Stars (Janeen Brian, Walker Books)
- Bindi (Kirli Saunders, illus by Dub Leffler, Magabala)
- Shoestring, the Boy Who Walks on Air (Julie Hunt, illus by Dale Newman)
- Lola Online: #TheSecretUpstairsFanClubParty (Shannan & Tayla Stedman, Omnibus)
- The Republic of Birds (Jessica Miller, Text)
- The Lost Soul Atlas (Zana Fraillon, Lothian)
- Landing with Wings (Trace Balla, A&U)
- The Secret Library of Hummingbird House (Julianne Negri, Affirm Press)
Young adult
The Boy From the Mish (Gary Lonesborough, A&U)
Released February 2021
Jackson is an Aboriginal teen who lives with his mum and little brother; he has a girlfriend, good mates and the local men’s group. Then his aunty from the city comes to stay, along with a new person, Tomas, who stirs feelings in Jackson that he doesn’t quite understand. Despite their growing affection and intimacy,… Read more
Most viewed young adult
- The End of the World is Bigger Than Love (Davina Bell, Text)
- How to Grow a Family Tree (Eliza Henry Jones, HarperCollins)
- Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal (Anna Whateley, A&U)
- Please Don’t Hug Me (Kay Kerr, Text)
- Deep Water (Sarah Epstein, A&U)
- The Long Distance Playlist (Tara Eglington, HarperCollins)
- This One is Ours (Kate O’Donnell, UQP)
- The Dark Tide (Alicia Jasinska, Penguin)
- The Vanishing Deep (Astrid Scholte, A&U)
- Taking Down Evelyn Tait (Poppy Nwosu, Wakefield)
Recently released titles
Boy on Fire: The young Nick Cave (Mark Mordue, Fourth Estate)
Released November 2020
After 35 years of communication with Nick Cave, 10 of them actively spent researching a biography which eventually grew to Moby Dick proportions, Mark Mordue has fashioned this expertly detailed account of the prodigious entertainer’s early years. All the relevant voices have their say, creating a wonderfully alive picture of this tumultuous time in modern… Read more
Most viewed reviews of all time
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