Inside the Australian and New Zealand book industry

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Family Tree (Josh Pyke, illus by Ronojoy Ghosh, Scholastic)

Released January 2022

Family Tree shares the beauty of life through the growth of a tree, one that unites families and communities around the world, spreading joy, love and spirit—and it all starts... Read more

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens (Shankari Chandran, Ultimo)

Released January 2022

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens immerses the reader in the microcosm of the Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home. Against the backdrop of the heartbreaking trauma of the Sri Lankan Civil War, the... Read more

Twelve Summers (Adam Zwar, Hachette)

Released December 2021

Twelve Summers is a memoir by actor and writer Adam Zwar, structured around the retelling of several memorable performances by the Australian men’s cricket team during the author’s formative years.... Read more

Killernova (Omar Musa, Penguin)

Released December 2021

The latest collection from slam poet champion Omar Musa is a raw and muscular combination of poetry and woodcut art that uses the visual and literary capacities of each form... Read more

The Freedom of Birds (Stephanie Parkyn, A&U) 

Released December 2021

For the charming, self-absorbed Rémi Victoire and his faithful companion, Pascal, the life of itinerant storytellers allows them to forget the staggering betrayal that first caused them to flee Paris.... Read more

The Midnight Girls (Alicia Jasinska, Penguin) 

Released December 2021

Alicia Jasinska’s The Midnight Girls will be eagerly devoured by fans of her dark fantasy YA debut The Dark Tide. In Lechija, a kingdom much like 18th-century Poland, three witches rely on their... Read more

My First Book of Aussie Birds (Gordon Winch, illus by Stephen Pym, Catch a Star)

Released December 2021

Bright and colourful, lively and engaging, lift-the-flap board book My First Book of Aussie Birds contains a magical menagerie of unique native birds waiting to be discovered by little hands. Much-loved author Gordon Winch,... Read more

The Long Weekend (Fiona Palmer, Hachette) 

Released December 2021

Four strangers meet for a weekend writing retreat in an idyllic location south of Perth. While this might sound like a familiar premise for a work of commercial fiction, the individuality of the characters, and the... Read more

Buying and Selling the Poor: Inside Australia’s privatised welfare-to-work market (Siobhan O’Sullivan, Michael McGann & Mark Considine, SUP) 

Released December 2021

When Paul Keating put elements of Australia’s ‘welfare to work’ system out to tender in the mid-1990s, he could scarcely have imagined the system we have in place today: one... Read more

Canticle Creek (Adrian Hyland, Ultimo) 

Released December 2021

When Daisy Baker’s body is discovered on her outback property the case appears to be straightforward. Daisy’s boyfriend Adam Lawson, new to the Victorian town of Canticle Creek from the... Read more

Kill Your Brother (Jack Heath, A&U) 

Released December 2021

Kill Your Brother by Jack Heath is a taut thriller brimming with suspense and secrets. In regional NSW, a sister’s desperate search for her missing brother becomes a devious game of... Read more

I Really Dig Pizza! (Candy James, HarperCollins)

Released December 2021

Australian husband-and-wife team Candy and James are a creative powerhouse whose designs have been stocked at institutions including MoMA. Writing under the pseudonym Candy James, they have now turned their... Read more

Between the Last Oasis and the Next Mirage: Writing on Australia (Guy Rundle, MUP)

Released December 2021

Guy Rundle lives off his wits. Correspondent-at-large for Crikey, a founding editor of the left-wing journal Arena, former sketch comedy show producer and famed writer of lives, Rundle produces writing... Read more

The Beautiful Words (Vanessa McCausland, HarperCollins) 

Released December 2021

Sylvie is a lover of words who lives a quiet and solitary life after an accident as a teenager robbed her of her memories. When her best friend from that... Read more

Fancy Meeting You Here (Michelle Kalus & Ali Berg, A&U) 

Released December 2021

Fancy Meeting You Here is a breezy, fun escapist novel that any romance lover would surely pick up at the airport. At a time when international travel is unlikely though, this... 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

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

Hometown Haunts: #LoveOzYA Horror Tales (ed by Poppy Nwosu, Wakefield Press) 

Released November 2021

To the library of #LoveOzYA anthologies (Begin, End, Begin; Meet Me at the Intersection; Underdog; Kindred) comes Hometown Haunts, a new collection featuring 12 short stories and two graphic novels united... 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

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