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Beyond Words: A Year with Kenneth Cook (Jacqueline Kent, UQP)
Released February 2019
On the face of it, Jacqueline Kent’s memoir feels like a simple story, a May to December romance between editor Kent and author Kenneth Cook. Like most of us, Kent... Read more
Man at the Window (Robert Jeffreys, Echo)
Released December 2018
In the mid 1960s at a boarding school in Western Australia, a boarding master is shot dead. The shooting is deemed an accident and Detective Cardilini is sent in to... Read more
Saving You (Charlotte Nash, Hachette)
Released February 2019
Following The Paris Wedding and her series of romantic rural medical dramas, Charlotte Nash’s novel Saving You features a woman crossing the US on an emotionally fuelled odyssey to find... Read more
I Can’t Remember the Title but the Cover Is Blue (Elias Greig, A&U)
Released December 2018
Sydney bookseller Elias Greig thought writing down his customer interactions would make for a nice creative outlet in between part-time work and his PhD thesis. The resulting book, similar in... Read more
Imperfect: How Our Bodies Shape the People We Become (Lee Kofman, Affirm Press)
Released January 2019
Lee Kofman turns her eye to bodies that ‘defy the natural order of things’ in her latest book, blending memoir with cultural criticism to delve into what bodies that contravene... Read more
The Finest Gold (Brad Cooper, Scribe)
Released December 2018
Australian swimmer Brad Cooper won gold at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972. The Finest Gold is a coming-of-age memoir that looks at Cooper’s teenage years and the amazing route... Read more
The Tales of Mr Walker (Jess Black, illus by Sara Acton, Puffin)
Released November 2018
Mr Walker is a golden labrador who has been hired as the Melbourne Park Hyatt’s canine ambassador. Based on his real-life counterpart, this middle-grade chapter book comprises four beguiling vignettes... Read more
The Slightly Alarming Tale of the Whispering Wars (Jaclyn Moriarty, A&U)
Released November 2018
Though this middle-grade fantasy chapter book shares the same world as Jaclyn Moriarty’s earlier book, The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone, this is not really a sequel. While Bronte... Read more
Midnight at the Library (Ursula Dubosarsky illus by Ron Brooks, NLA)
Released November 2018
This outstanding book by two acclaimed Australian creators is thought-provoking and informative. Ursula Dubosarsky’s text, combined with Ron Brooks’ illustrations, refers to the fascinating story of books—how they are created, preserved and connected... Read more
Mamie (Tania McCartney, HarperCollins)
Released November 2018
This year marks the 100th anniversary since the publication of May Gibbs’ beloved Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. Joining the centenary celebrations is Tania McCartney’s latest picture book Mamie, which explores Gibbs'... Read more
Liberty (Nikki McWatters, UQP)
Released November 2018
Three women, three centuries, three threats against freedom: Australian author Nikki McWatters’ new YA novel is an ambitious and timely exploration of power, politics and the sisterhood. In 1472 France,... Read more
Vanishing (Mike Lucas, illus by Jennifer Harrison, MidnightSun)
Released November 2018
Vanishing, an evocative picture book from author Mike Lucas and illustrator Jennifer Harrison, delivers a sharp warning about the growing dangers of humanity’s impact on the natural environment and the... Read more
The Spite Game (Anna Snoekstra, HQ Fiction)
Released October 2018
Anna Snoekstra's thriller The Spite Game opens with protagonist Ava confessing to the cops everything she knows about the disappearance of her former high school friend Mel, beginning with when... Read more
My Sunbeam Baby (Emma Quay, ABC Books)
Released October 2018
My Sunbeam Baby is a sweet picture book written and illustrated by Emma Quay. Combining playful illustrations with rhyming text, the narrator explores all the ways she loves her baby... Read more
Two Old Men Dying (Tom Keneally, Vintage)
Released November 2018
Tom Keneally’s latest novel is a dual narrative shared between Shelby Apples, an Oscar-winning documentary maker in the present day, and Learned Man, thought to be a link to early... Read more
Table for Eight (Tricia Stringer, HQ Fiction)
Released October 2018
The cover for Table for Eight noticeably lacks two mainstays of Tricia Stringer’s usual book covers: a woman in a hat, and a landscape in the background. This is because... Read more
Preservation (Jock Serong, Text)
Released November 2018
Jock Serong's Preservation is based on the true story of the shipwrecked merchant vessel Sydney Cove in 1797. A stranded group of 17 men set out on the arduous trek... Read more
Sisters of No Mercy (Vincent Silk, Brio)
Released October 2018
In Vincent Silk's debut ‘cli-fi’ novel, scenes of destruction and desperation are artfully crafted in a city that seems like most metropolises in the western world. It's an unnamed, yet... Read more
Best Summer Stories (ed by Aviva Tuffield, Black Inc.)
Released November 2018
When Black Inc. announced this year that it would discontinue the annual ‘Best Australian’ anthologies, readers and booksellers alike were disappointed. However, the announcement of a one-off anthology of short stories... Read more
Any Ordinary Day (Leigh Sales, Hamish Hamilton)
Released October 2018
In her third book, Leigh Sales explores—with great clarity and intelligence—how tragedy and loss can affect people. In doing so, she confronts some of the most profound questions about being... Read more
