Reviews
Adult fiction
Spring Clean for the Peach Queen (Sasha Wasley, Pantera)
Released April 2021
Sasha Wasley’s latest novel marries small-town fiction and Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up in a gentle exploration of what really matters. After her boyfriend dies of an overdose at a party and scandalous photos are splashed across magazine covers throughout the country, Lottie returns to her hometown of Bonnievale. Her mother is… Read more
Most viewed adult fiction
- All Our Shimmering Skies (Trent Dalton, HarperCollins)
- Rural Dreams (Margaret Hickey, MidnightSun)
- The Hunted (Gabriel Bergmoser, HarperCollins)
- It’s Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake (Claire Christian, Text)
- A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing (Jessie Tu, A&U)
- The Rain Heron (Robbie Arnott, Text)
- The Women and the Girls (Laura Bloom, A&U)
- Sticks and Stones (Katherine Firkin, Bantam)
- New Animal (Ella Baxter, A&U)
- Infinite Splendours (Sofie Laguna, A&U)
Adult nonfiction
The Shape of Sound (Fiona Murphy, Text)
Released April 2021
Just like any relationship, even our relationship with our own body can be fraught with difficulty and denial. Fiona Murphy kept her deafness secret for 25 years, compensating for her hearing impairment by ‘just working harder’, taking extra coaching from her mum lest she fall so far behind in school that moving her to the… Read more
Most viewed adult nonfiction
- The Trials of Portnoy: How Penguin brought down Australia’s censorship system (Patrick Mullins, Scribe)
- Soar: A life freed by dance (David McAllister, Thames & Hudson)
- Boy on Fire: The young Nick Cave (Mark Mordue, Fourth Estate)
- Father of the Lost Boys (Yuot A Alaak, Fremantle Press)
- Just Money: Misadventures in the great Australian debt trap (Royce Kurmelovs, UQP)
- Loss Adjustment (Linda Collins, Awa Press)
- Into the Suburbs: A migrant’s story (Christopher Raja, UQP)
- How to Win an Election (Chris Wallace, NewSouth)
- Under the Rainbow: The life and times of E W Cole (Richard Broinowski, MUP)
- Living on Stolen Land (Ambelin Kwaymullina, Magabala)
Children's picture books
The Katha Chest (Radhiah Chowdhury, illus by Lavanya Naidu, A&U)
Released April 2021
In Radhiah Chowdhury and Lavanya Naidu’s book, elegant textile patterns are patchworked together with descriptive snapshot stories of young Asiya’s family members and their histories. Asiya delights in every one of her grandmother’s kathas (quilts), each one representing the life and experiences of the women whose saris they’re made of; Asiya loves to feel them… Read more
Most viewed children's picture book
- Respect (Aunty Fay Muir & Sue Lawson, illus by Lisa Kennedy, Magabala)
- Wolfred (Nick Bland, Hardie Grant Egmont)
- Found (Bruce Pascoe, illus by Charmaine Ledden-Lewis, Magabala)
- Piper Picks the Perfect Pet (Caroline Tuohey, illus by Nicky Johnston, Ford St)
- Henry Turnip (Chloe Jasmine Harris, Walker Books)
- Wonder Earth (Zanni Louise & Tiff Bollhorn, illus by Sophy Louise Smith, Five Mile)
- The Snowman’s Wish (Sophie Masson, illus by Ronak Taher, Dirt Lane Press)
- With a Little Kelp from Our Friends (Mathew Bate, illus by Liz Rowland, Thames & Hudson)
- Tiger & Cat (Allira Tee, Berbay)
- Dog (Shaun Tan, A&U)
Younger readers
You’ve Let Them In (Lois Murphy, Transit Lounge)
Released April 2021
Scott is not happy when his hippy stepmum convinces his dad to buy a house straight out of The Amityville Horror. A far cry from their comfortingly overcrowded flat, the new place is smelly, old and filthy—and the grungy garden gnome in the backyard won’t stop talking. When Scott’s mate convinces him to hold a… Read more
Most viewed younger readers
- The Year the Maps Changed (Danielle Binks, Lothian)
- Bindi (Kirli Saunders, illus by Dub Leffler, Magabala)
- The Tunnel of Dreams (Bernard Beckett, Text)
- Lola Online: #TheSecretUpstairsFanClubParty (Shannan & Tayla Stedman, Omnibus)
- Eloise and the Bucket of Stars (Janeen Brian, Walker Books)
- Aussie STEM Stars: Fiona Wood (Cristy Burne, Wild Dingo Press)
- The Lost Soul Atlas (Zana Fraillon, Lothian)
- The Secret Library of Hummingbird House (Julianne Negri, Affirm Press)
- The Odds (Matt Stanton, ABC Books)
- Tricky Nick (Nicholas J Johnson, illus by Russell Jeffery, Pan)
Young adult
The Prison Healer (Lynette Noni, Penguin)
Released April 2021
Lynette Noni, the winner of the 2019 Gold Inky for her dystopian sci-fi novel Whisper, returns to fantasy with The Prison Healer. Kiva’s daily life as prisoner and prison healer at Zalindov Prison is disrupted when two new prisoners arrive. One will be her mysterious love interest, the other is the deathly ill rival claimant… Read more
Most viewed young adult
- The End of the World is Bigger Than Love (Davina Bell, Text)
- This One is Ours (Kate O’Donnell, UQP)
- Peta Lyre’s Rating Normal (Anna Whateley, A&U)
- The Ghost Squad (Sophie Masson, MidnightSun)
- Please Don’t Hug Me (Kay Kerr, Text)
- The Boy From the Mish (Gary Lonesborough, A&U)
- The Dark Tide (Alicia Jasinska, Penguin)
- Future Girl (Asphyxia, A&U)
- Indigo Owl (Charlie Archbold, Wakefield)
- The F Team (Rawah Arja, Giramondo)
Recently released titles
The Missing Among Us (Erin Stewart, NewSouth)
Released March 2021
The Missing Among Us is instantly enthralling. Erin Stewart profiles a number of missing persons cases, deftly and confidently straddling the line between reportage and personal response. Balancing the interviewees' stories with her own thoughtful responses, Stewart paints a picture of the research process that feels inclusive of the reader, detailing her interviews with her… Read more
Most viewed reviews of all time
- Barracuda (Christos Tsiolkas, A&U)
- The Feather (Margaret Wild, illus by Freya Blackwood, Little Hare)
- Deadly Kerfuffle (Tony Martin, Affirm)
- Ten Doors Down: The story of an extraordinary adoption reunion (Robert Tickner, Scribe)
- Room on Our Rock (Kate and Jol Temple, illus by Terri Rose Baynton, Scholastic)
- Whisper (Lynette Noni, Pantera Press)
- Three (Stephen Michael King, Scholastic)
- The Amulet of Athlone: The Chronicles of Jack McCool Book One (R E Devine, Bauer Media)
- Excuse Me! (Dave Hughes & Holly Ife, illus by Philip Bunting, Scholastic)
- When I Grow Up (Tim Minchin, illus by Steve Antony, Scholastic)
