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Wandering Wild (Lynette Noni, Penguin)
Released May 2025
Wandering Wild, the latest novel from Lynette Noni (The Prison Healer), is the perfect cosy romance read. The dual-perspective narrative follows Zander, a Hollywood ‘bad boy’ desperate to rebuild his... Read more
Painting Portraits of Everyone I’ve Ever Dated (Joseph Earp, Pantera)
Released May 2025
Painting Portraits of Everyone I’ve Ever Dated is both surprisingly tender and hilariously acerbic, with Joseph Earp’s writing effortlessly drawing the reader in. The novel follows Ellie Robertson, an artist... Read more
I Am Not an Owl (Rhonda Ooi, illus Mel Corrigan, Woodslane)
Released May 2025
A small child who does not want to have a nap is a challenge. In this charming picture book for children aged 4 and up, Alexander turns the tables on... Read more
Super Sweet! (Kenneth & Queenie #1) (Raymond McGrath, Affirm)
Released May 2025
The first book in Raymond McGrath’s whimsical new junior graphic novel series, Kenneth & Queenie: Super Sweet! lives up to its name and includes three stories in one volume. Kenneth,... Read more
Grandmother from the East, Grandmother from the West (Jacinta Liu, illus Freda Chiu, Lothian)
Released April 2025
Jacinta Liu’s debut picture book is a comforting story about a young girl reflecting on the individual personalities, traits and experiences of her two grandmothers while looking at photos of... Read more
Goodnight Sheep (Sally Barton, illus Cherie Dignam, Fremantle)
Released April 2025
For some parents and carers, nothing is more anxiety-inducing than bedtime. Sally Barton’s Goodnight Sheep, illustrated by Cherie Dignam (The Pen series), embraces this universal challenge, inviting readers to find... Read more
Orpheus Nine (Chris Flynn, Hachette)
Released April 2025
When a boys’ soccer game in the regional town of Gattan is interrupted by a grotesque supernatural event that ushers in a new world order, residents of the town –... Read more
The Sex Lives of Married Women (Saman Shad, Penguin)
Released April 2025
Meet Rani, Sophie and Meena – three Sydney women in their late 30s who are confronted with the realisation that their lives aren’t what they had hoped for. Saman Shad’s... Read more
The Colt from Old Regret (Dianne Wolfer, illus Erica Wagner, NLA)
Released April 2025
Dianne Wolfer (Soaring with the Sugarbird Lady) decentres the human perspective of Banjo Paterson’s ‘The Man from Snowy River’ in The Colt from Old Regret, recounting the escaped colt’s experience... Read more
I Ate the Whole World to Find You (Rachel Ang, Scribe)
Released April 2025
While the world is in flux, the emotional realities remain firm in Rachel Ang’s collection of graphic short stories, I Ate the Whole World to Find You. Across five tales... Read more
Mother Tongue (Naima Brown, Macmillan)
Released April 2025
Naima Brown’s cleverly titled second novel Mother Tongue is a gripping, exquisitely layered story that deals with extremes and challenges conventional morality. The protagonist, Brynn, upends the assumption that mothers... Read more
The Confidence Woman (Sophie Quick, A&U)
Released April 2025
Christina Swales is a single mum, a business coach – and a blackmailer. Using incriminating information gleaned from her one-on-one online coaching sessions, Christina blackmails her clients to save enough... Read more
The Great Chocolate Caper (Heist #1) (Joel McKerrow, Penguin)
Released April 2025
The Great Chocolate Caper is the first in the middle-grade Heist series by performance poet Joel McKerrow. Andy McGee is struggling to fit in and make friends in his first... Read more
How to Sail to Somewhere (Ashleigh Barton, Lothian)
Released April 2025
In a coastal holiday town where ‘the land kisses the sea and the children grow up with salt in their hair’, Bea, a lonely only child who has never set... Read more
Quarks, Sparks and Quantum Mysteries: A Cosmic Guide to the Building Blocks of our Universe (Lisa Harvey-Smith, illus Aidan Ryan, T&H)
Released April 2025
Astrophysicist professor Lisa Harvey-Smith has created another brilliant book as part of her mission to open up science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to children at a time when they... Read more
She Shapes History (Sita Sargeant, Hardie Grant Explore)
Released April 2025
At the heart of Australia’s geography and history lies a wealth of stories about women who have helped shape the nation – yet many remain untold and underexplored. Sita Sargeant’s... Read more
All About Love (Amy Dunjey, illus Giorgia Clerico, Five Mile)
Released April 2025
Amy Dunjey’s latest picture book All About Love is a playful, rhyming exploration of how love is expressed through actions. The story encourages young readers aged 3–8 to recognise love... Read more
Nature’s Fool (Timothy Doyle, Melbourne Books)
Released April 2025
Challenging traditional conceptions of early Australian settler history, Nature’s Fool examines the intricate relations between the Kaurna peoples and early Irish settlers. A longtime academic and conservationist, Timothy Doyle (Dyandi)... Read more
The Passenger Seat (Vijay Khurana, Ultimo)
Released April 2025
Beginning mid-jump and barely letting up the tension, Vijay Khurana’s debut novel, The Passenger Seat, is an unusual and deftly written literary thriller. It follows the uneasy friendship between two... Read more
The Distance Between Dreams (Emily Paull, Fremantle)
Released April 2025
Emily Paull’s The Distance Between Dreams is a poignant and meticulously crafted historical romance, rightfully shortlisted for the 2023 Fogarty Literary Awards. The novel beautifully captures an era of conflict... Read more
