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The Chocolate Promise (Josephine Moon, A&U)

Released April 2015

The Chocolate Promise offers a Tasmanian twist on the movie Chocolat; its heroine Christmas Livingston—who is more fairy godmother than seductress—runs a boutique chocolate shop outside of Launceston. Staunchly single,... Read more

Down to the River (S J Finn, Sleepers)

Released March 2015

S J Finn’s second novel is a timely and thoughtful piece of work. Joni Miller is a newspaper journalist living in a small country town with her restless girlfriend Tiff... Read more

Hot Little Hands (Abigail Ulman, Hamish Hamilton)

Released March 2015

There is intermittent gold to be found in this slightly uneven collection of short stories from debut author Abigail Ulman. Think Bret Easton Ellis meets Lena Dunham: Hot Little Hands is the... Read more

Panthers and the Museum of Fire (Jen Craig, Spineless Wonders)

Released March 2015

The year 2015 is only in its early days, but already I know that Sydney writer Jen Craig’s novella, Panthers and the Museum of Fire, will be among my top... Read more

A Short History of Richard Kline (Amanda Lohrey, Black Inc.)

Released March 2015

A Short History of Richard Kline is Amanda Lohrey’s first full-length novel in a decade, all the more welcome for the wait. This is at once a quiet, searching novel,... Read more

The Wonder Lover (Malcolm Knox, A&U)

Released May 2015

John Wonder is, on the surface, a very ordinary man. However, his work, as an assessor of remarkable facts and feats, sees him travel a lot and the reader discovers... Read more

Bloodhound: Searching for My Father (Ramona Koval, Text)

Released May 2015

Journalist Ramona Koval has carved a reputation as a consummate book critic and interviewer. Her passion for storytelling and sharp analysis is turned inwards in Bloodhound: Searching for My Father,... Read more

Black Rock White City (A S Patrić, Transit Lounge)

Released April 2015

Short-story writer A S Patrić’s first full-length offering is a slow-burning tale about a couple worn out by war but trying desperately to carve out a brighter future for themselves.... Read more

Fallen: A Memoir (Rochelle Siemienowicz, Affirm Press)

Released May 2015

Best known for her film criticism, Melbourne-based writer Rochelle Siemienowicz explores her personal life in this thought-provoking memoir about religion, marriage and sexuality. As its title suggests, Fallen charts Siemienowicz’s... Read more

Lion Attack! (Oliver Mol, Scribe)

Released May 2015

Creative nonfiction, which straddles the line between reality and make-believe, has been growing in profile as a genre. When an author consciously writes something that is mostly true but sometimes... Read more

Mannix (Brenda Niall, Text)

Released April 2015

‘A disruptive force in Australia, an anti-British agitator in the United States, and a nightmare to the British government,’ writes biographer Brenda Niall of her subject, Archbishop Daniel Mannix. Born... Read more

The Most Good You Can Do (Peter Singer, Text)

Released April 2015

Forty years on from Animal Liberation, Peter Singer is still challenging our complacency with his advocacy for new ideas and movements. ‘Effective altruism’—doing the most good with the available resources—is... Read more

Motherhood & Creativity: The Divided Heart (ed by Rachel Power, Affirm Press)

Released April 2015

In 2008, Melbourne-based freelance writer and editor Rachel Power released The Divided Heart: Art and Motherhood, a collection of interviews with Australian artists, writers and actors juggling the competing demands... Read more

Mothermorphosis (ed by Monica Dux, MUP)

Released April 2015

Australian women writers, including Kathy Lette, Kate Holden, Jo Case and Catherine Deveny, have contributed essays on their experiences of motherhood and birth to this collection. Edited by Monica Dux,... Read more

One Life: My Mother’s Story (Kate Grenville, Text)

Released April 2015

In One Life, Kate Grenville takes the story of her mother’s life and makes it quite mesmerising. Her mother left behind fragments of memoir, and Grenville uses her magic writerly... Read more

Ransacking Paris (Patti Miller, UQP)

Released April 2015

This delightful recollection of the rewarding year that writer Patti Miller spent in Paris completing a challenging manuscript is that rare object—a book for anyone who believes we don’t need... Read more

Thea Astley: Inventing Her Own Weather (Karen Lamb, UQP)

Released May 2015

Born in Brisbane in 1925, Thea Astley grew up in a family where her parents were not close. Karen Lamb describes how her strict Catholic upbringing and later work in... Read more

Windsor’s Way (Tony Windsor, MUP)

Released April 2015

‘I strongly believe the world is run by those who turn up,’ writes Tony Windsor in this memoir, which covers his 22 years as an MP at state and federal... Read more

The Adventures of Holly White and the Incredible Sex Machine (Krissy Kneen, Text)

Released May 2015

I have long been an admirer of the work of Brisbane writer Krissy Kneen, who I believe is one of Australia’s hidden literary gems. With each new book, I find... Read more

The Good Greek Girl (Maria Katsonis, Jane Curry Publishing)

Released April 2015

Harvard graduate Maria Katsonis is an accomplished public servant whose successful self-image is disrupted when she falls into depression. In this memoir, we follow her self-medication, suicidal thoughts and a... Read more