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Whenever You’re Ready (Trish Bolton, A&U)
Released February 2024
Trish Bolton’s debut is a reckoning with grief. An exploration of ‘those feelings [that are] impossible to separate, a great tidal wave of loss and remorse, of love and longing’.... Read more
Darkness Runs Deep (Claire McNeel, Macmillan)
Released February 2024
Gerandaroo, 1993: population 723, winner of 24 football premierships since 1899. A place where AFL is a non-negotiable part of life and where everyone is a friend—until an act of... Read more
Your Brain Is a Lump of Goo (Idan Ben-Barak, illus Christopher Nielsen, A&U Children)
Released February 2024
Your Brain Is a Lump of Goo is a colourful and lively exploration of the brain from Idan Ben-Barak, the bestselling and award-winning author of Do Not Lick This Book.... Read more
Monument (Bonny Cassidy, Giramondo)
Released February 2024
In an author’s note, Bonny Cassidy explains that Monument, her genre-bending literary memoir, structured around the branches of her White Australian family, began as a private project, but in clarifying her... Read more
Lani and the Universe (Victoria Carless, HarperCollins)
Released January 2024
For young readers who enjoyed Gus and the Starlight (2022) comes another heart-warming and captivating story by Victoria Carless. Lani and the Universe tells the story of Lani Scrub, who... Read more
The Roadmap of Loss (Liam Murphy, Echo)
Released January 2024
Liam Murphy’s debut novel, The Roadmap of Loss, has all the hallmarks of sad girl (or, in this case, sad boy) literature: a self-destructive 20-something narrator and a vitriolic rage... Read more
Chico the Schnauzer (Taryn Brumfitt, illus Levi George, Puffin)
Released January 2024
One day, Chico’s owners leave the gate open, and he embarks on an epic playdate with his doggy friends, including Gary the Greyhound and Penelope the Poodle. Chico soon discovers... Read more
Life Skills for a Broken World (Ahona Guha, Scribe)
Released January 2024
Like having a therapist in your pocket, Life Skills for a Broken World is a guide to positive mental health, leading readers through potential pitfalls and prevention strategies. Ahona Guha,... Read more
A Dance with Murder (Elizabeth Coleman, Pantera)
Released January 2024
A Dance with Murder is the second outing for private investigator Edwina ‘Ted’ Bristol and her sidekick, Miss Marple, an intelligent and perceptive miniature schnauzer, following A Routine Infidelity (February,... Read more
Birdsong by the Billabong (Maura Finn, illus Cate James, Affirm)
Released January 2024
Birdsong by the Billabong—the third picture book in Maura Finn and Cate James’s Billabong series—revisits the tone, style and structure of By the Billabong and Babies at the Billabong. All... Read more
The Strip (Iain Ryan, Ultimo)
Released January 2024
Iain Ryan plunges readers into the gritty, seedy underbelly of the 1980s Gold Coast in his latest noir crime novel, The Strip. Brimming with corruption and seduction, illicit meetings held... Read more
The Long Lede Anthology (Judith Neilson Institute, Vintage)
Released January 2024
The Long Lede Initiative, a partnership between the Judith Neilson Institute, Penguin Random House, and Copyright Agency, pairs experienced Australian journalists with emerging writers to mentor them in crafting impactful... Read more
Roger the Wrasse and the Itchy Fishes (Sue Pillans, Little Pink Dog)
Released January 2024
Roger the wrasse is a tiny fish with a big job. Each morning, Roger—a sprightly fish with a penchant for singing songs to get through his day—opens his cleaning station.... Read more
Politica (Yumna Kassab, Ultimo)
Released January 2024
Politica is set in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. It explores the impact of war on those directly involved—as well as those indirectly impacted, but whose lives war forever changes.... Read more
The Trees (Victor Steffensen, illus Sandra Steffensen, Hardie Grant Explore)
Released December 2023
The Trees: Learning Tree Knowledge with Uncle Kuu is the second picture book by the team behind Looking after Country with Fire, author Victor Steffensen and illustrator Sandra Steffensen, descendants of the... Read more
The Fires Next Time (ed by Peter Christoff, MUP)
Released December 2023
The world watched in horror from July 2019 to February 2020 as bushfires raged across Australia. The Black Summer fires directly killed 33 people, while hundreds more died from fire-... Read more
The Italian Marriage (Jenna Lo Bianco, Macmillan)
Released January 2024
In Jenna Lo Bianco’s debut romance novel, The Italian Marriage, Sarah and Matthew marry over Zoom so that Matthew can fulfil the requirements of a 15th-century inheritance clause. In return,... Read more
All You Can Be (Angela Casabene, illus Michelle Conn, Affirm)
Released January 2024
Described as a love letter to children everywhere, encouraging them to embrace their true selves and live their lives to the fullest, All You Can Be, written by Angela Casabene... Read more
The Flirtation of Girls/Ghazal el-Banat (Sara M Saleh, UQP)
Released December 2023
The Flirtation of Girls/Ghazal el-Banat, Sara M Saleh’s first published poetry collection, is a cathartic personal and political journey. Saleh sets the tone with the first few poems, saying in... Read more
How to Be a Friend (Sarah Ayoub, illus Mimi Purnell, HarperCollins)
Released December 2023
How to Be a Friend aims to inspire children to be the best friends they can be and teaches them how to recognise true friendship in their lives. In their... Read more
