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Last-Place Lin (Wai Chim, illus Freda Chiu, A&U Children’s)
Released August 2023
Last-Place Lin is Wai Chim’s first picture book. Known for her young adult novels (The Surprising Power of a Good Dumping, Freedom Swimmer), Chim was inspired by her experience on... Read more
The Fortune Maker (Catherine Norton, HarperCollins)
Released August 2023
Catherine Norton’s first book, Crossing, was awarded the 2015 NSW Premier’s Literary Award for children’s literature and was a CBCA Notable book in the same year. The Fortune Maker is... Read more
Jawsome (R J Timmis, Albert St Books)
Released August 2023
The best graphic novels need to be action-packed with an engaging interplay of text and illustrations. Ideally, they should also be funny. Rebecca Timmis’s Jawsome ticks all these boxes and... Read more
God Forgets About the Poor (Peter Polites, Ultimo)
Released August 2023
God Forgets About the Poor is an endearing chronicle of a migrant mother’s life from 1945 to the present. Vivid descriptions bring the locations to life, from being born amid... Read more
The Caretaker (Gabriel Bergmoser, HarperCollins)
Released August 2023
Gabriel Bergmoser’s The Hunted and its series follow-up, The Inheritance, has earned the award-winning playwright and bestselling author a reputation for writing savage and compelling thrillers. His new stand-alone thriller... Read more
But the Girl (Jessica Zhan Mei Yu, Vintage)
Released August 2023
Set in the ‘undecided and hazy spring’ when MAS370 disappeared, Jessica Zhan Mei Yu’s debut novel But the Girl transports us to London, where an Australian narrator of Chinese Malaysian... Read more
Granbad (Penny Tangey, illus Peter Baldwin, UQP)
Released August 2023
Grandad is a rebel who breaks so many rules the family call him ‘Granbad’. He gives his grandchild lollies instead of healthy food, reads stories way past bedtime and flouts... Read more
Carnage (Mark Dapin, S&S)
Released August 2023
Having just completed a book on criminals, author Mark Dapin wasn’t looking to write another. When he received a phone call from Jack Karlson, a man he’d never heard of,... Read more
Follow the Rainbow (Juliet M Sampson, illus Anne Ryan, Ford St)
Released August 2023
Follow the Rainbow is Juliet M Sampson’s latest picture book, set against beautifully coloured illustrations by Anne Ryan. Ruby is daydreaming with her best friend and dog, Tavish, as she... Read more
Hello Twigs, How Are You Feeling? (Andrew McDonald, illus Ben Wood, HGCP)
Released August 2023
Author Andrew McDonald and illustrator Ben Wood, who together have earned fame with the Real Pigeons series, have branched out with a new early reader graphic novel series. In Hello... Read more
Nothing Alike (Zewlan Moor, illus Peter Cheong, Bright Light)
Released August 2023
Nothing Alike, a picture book by Zewlan Moor and illustrated by Peter Cheong, is impressive on many levels. The clean, playful and dynamic illustrations and design keenly reflect the substance... Read more
The Sitter (Angela O’Keeffe, UQP)
Released August 2023
There is a sentence halfway through Angela O’Keeffe’s second novel, The Sitter, that says: ‘A character, when they enter a story, must be willing to drop their preconceptions of what... Read more
The Shrinking Nation (Graeme Turner, UQP)
Released August 2023
Few would disagree that the Australian cultural and political landscape has undergone a seismic shift since the Howard era. In his new book, Graeme Turner argues that the result has... Read more
Twelve Steps to a Long and Fulfilling Death (Sarah Smith, Ultimo)
Released August 2023
Few books are narrated by their murder victim, but Stacey, who has just died in a car crash in sunny Los Angeles, is determined to find out what really happened... Read more
You Called an Ambulance for What? (Tim Booth, Macmillan)
Released August 2023
In You Called an Ambulance for What?, former Top Gear Australia journalist Tim Booth has penned a series of entertaining stories depicting the craziness and drama of his six years as... Read more
Honey and the Valley of Horses (Wendy Orr, A&U Children’s)
Released August 2023
Wendy Orr, the bestselling author of Nim’s Island, has written a new magical story that reads like a classic in all the best ways. In Honey and the Valley of... Read more
I Am The Mau & Other Stories (Chemutai Glasheen, Fremantle)
Released August 2023
Chemutai Glasheen delivers a powerful and vibrant collection of short stories in I Am the Mau & Other Stories. Inspired by her upbringing in Africa, each brilliant tale is infused... Read more
Sit, Stay, Love (Amy Hutton, S&S)
Released August 2023
As a pet rescue shelter owner, Sera often finds herself in messy situations. However, she didn’t expect her potentially messiest situation to start with a ‘drop-dead, stop-you-in-your-tracks, gorgeous’ actor standing... Read more
Ballet Confidential (David McAllister, T&H)
Released July 2023
Ballet Confidential is not a no-holds-barred expose but rather a joyfully led and personal guide into the world of ballet. David McAllister is the former artistic director of the Australian... Read more
Monet Chases the Light (Jenny Gahan, illus Patricia Ward, Little Pink Dog Books)
Released August 2023
There is a particular aesthetic challenge to nonfiction picture books about artists: they must do more than simply emulate the artist’s style, yet they risk alienating readers if the illustrations... Read more
