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Cold Coast (Robyn Mundy, Ultimo)

Released November 2021

It's 1932. Ivanna ‘Wanny’ Woldstad longs to enter the male-dominated world of hunting and trapping. An independently minded woman, she runs her own taxi in Tromsø, in Northern Norway. A... Read more

How Decent Folk Behave (Maxine Beneba Clarke, Hachette)

Released November 2021

How Decent Folk Behave is an exploration of the systemic failures that have led to lockdowns, massacres, violence against women and worsening natural disasters over the past decade. This collection... Read more

Terciel and Elinor (Garth Nix, A&U) 

Released November 2021

Garth Nix’s ‘Old Kingdom’ books have been a perennial staple of YA sections in bookstores for the past 25 years, and I couldn’t even guess how many copies of Sabriel... Read more

The Greatest Mistakes That Went Right (Maddy Mara, illus by Cheryl Orsini, Affirm Press)   

Released November 2021

Many kids are afraid to try new things because they are scared of not getting it right the first time; niggling insecurities and latent perfectionism can often mean they miss... Read more

Another Day in the Colony (Chelsea Watego, UQP) 

Released November 2021

Chelsea Watego’s debut essay collection Another Day in the Colony documents the sustained racism First Peoples suffer in this continent. Through critical race scholarship, memoir and archival imagery a powerful assemblage is... Read more

Marcie Gill and the Caravan Park Cat (Monica McInerney, illus by Danny Snell, Puffin) 

Released November 2021

With a dozen adult novels under her belt, Monica McInerney is now turning her hand to children’s fiction and her first foray into middle-grade territory is just as full of heart and laughter as her... Read more

The Younger Wife (Sally Hepworth, Macmillan) 

Released November 2021

Readers won’t be shocked to learn that Sally Hepworth’s new novel The Younger Wife features a May–December romance between a younger woman and an older man, and the effects the relationship has... Read more

The One That Got Away: Travelling in the time of Covid (Ken Haley, Transit Lounge) 

Released November 2021

The One That Got Away documents journalist and travel writer Ken Haley’s year evading the pandemic. While many of us were kept in captivity as Covid-19 raged across the world,... Read more

Tomorrow is a Brand-New Day (Davina Bell, illus by Allison Colpoys, Scribble)

Released November 2021

Tomorrow is a Brand-New Day is an ode to making a mistake and then making things right. It follows two children—friends with different styles—who come into conflict with each other... Read more

Skimming Stones (Maria Papas, Fremantle Press) 

Released November 2021

Thrombolites—living rocks made from microbes—exist in only a few places on Earth, including Lake Clifton, south of Perth. Here, the thrombolites are thousands of years old and incredibly fragile. This... Read more

Danged Black Thing (Eugen Bacon, Transit Lounge) 

Released November 2021

Lyrical, rich, oftentimes dark and sometimes hopeful, Danged Black Thing is a speculative fiction collection that takes the reader on a journey from Africa to Australia. The cities and villages the stories are set... Read more

Big Love (Megan Jacobson, illus by Beck Feiner, Walker Studio) 

Released November 2021

This sweet picture book debut draws an immediate comparison with children’s bookshelf classic Guess How Much I Love You. As the borders of Big Love’s world unspool, from house to entire universe, the lyrical... Read more

The Last Woman in the World (Inga Simpson, Hachette) 

Released November 2021

Inga Simpson’s fourth novel asks who we would choose to become in a catastrophic near-future Australia. Ray, short for Rachel, is a glass artist who sequesters herself deep in the... Read more

Wiradjuri Country (Larry Brandy, NLA Publishing)

Released November 2021

In Wiradjuri Country, Wiradjuri author Larry Brandy (along with several Indigenous artists, and with many photographs), offers a wealth of detailed information about flora, fauna, habitat, history, culture and storytelling in the... Read more

Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)

Released November 2021

Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief is a historical novel for middle-grade readers set during WWII. Young Sasha lies in a hospital in Berlin, recovering after the end of the war. His... Read more

Doing Politics: Writing on public life (Judith Brett, Text) 

Released November 2021

The state of the humanities in Australia today fills Judith Brett with despair. If she had a child considering a liberal arts degree now, and she had the money, she... Read more

The Boy and the Elephant (Freya Blackwood, HarperCollins)

Released November 2021

After almost 20 years of her books on our shelves, a new Freya Blackwood is always cause for delight. The Boy and the Elephant—Blackwood’s first wordless picture book—allows her quiet... Read more

Stellarphant (James Foley, Fremantle Press)  

Released November 2021

One of the best things about picture books is that anything is possible; there are no restrictions on imagination. Author–illustrator James Foley’s latest book plays with a totally outlandish concept:... Read more

Devotion (Hannah Kent, Picador)  

Released November 2021

When Hanne meets Thea, her life suddenly makes sense. They live in Kay, a tight-knit community of devout Lutherans who have been shunned for their beliefs. Both girls, on the... Read more

Caught in the Act (Shane Jenek aka Courtney Act, Pantera Press) 

Released November 2021

Shane Jenek’s drag queen alter ego Courtney Act has been in the public eye for almost 20 years, beginning with her groundbreaking appearance on the first series of Australian Idol. As... Read more