The Anniversary | Stephanie Bishop | $32.99 | Hachette
What an outstanding work, which explores what it means to be human and to create. When novelist JB goes on a cruise with her much older husband, all seems well and uneventful; that is, until JB’s husband falls overboard. The circumstances of the fall are strange and their marriage, which at first seemed idyllic, is revealed to be just as odd. This is a beautiful and curiously conceived book that lovers of digestible literary fiction will absolutely love (I know I did)!
- MatildaGirl in a Pink Dress | Kylie Needham | $27.99 | Penguin
Is it ever possible for two ambitious artists to thrive in one relationship?
Told across two time periods, Frances’ story wrestles with themes of power and privilege, womanhood and motherhood, artistic doubt, the male gaze, and the commodification of art. It looks at the fraught relationships between artists and their muses.
Homecoming | Kate
Morton | $32.99 | Allen & Unwin
An epic novel that spans generations, Homecoming asks what we would do for those we love, and how we protect the lies we tell. It explores the power of motherhood, the corrosive effects of tightly held secrets, and the healing nature of truth. Above all, it is a beguiling and immensely satisfying novel from one of our finest writers.
Where I Slept | Libby Angel | $32.99 | Penguin
In this startling work of autofiction the unnamed narrator plunges us headlong into 1990s Melbourne bohemia-a whirlwind of friends and strangers, decadence and despair, -through the places she slept- a boarding house with drugaddled landlord, share houses of aspiring artists and petty criminals, and roughing it on the streets. Angel’s brilliant new work is filled with characters you’ll wish you knew and those you’re glad you don’t.
Crushing | Genevieve Novak | $32.99 | Harper Collins
Serial monogamist Marnie is running late to her own identity crisis. After a decade of twisting herself into different versions of the ideal girlfriend, she’s swearing off relationships for good. Pretty inconvenient time to meet Isaac... This is a sparkling new novel!
The Fall Between | Darcy Tindale | $32.99 | Random House
On a hot November morning, the first body lies in a cattle trough...the slim fingers beckoning Detective Giles to come. From an exciting new voice in Australian crime fiction, a captivating and atmospheric rural thriller introducing Detective Rebecca Giles.
The Bookbinder of Jericho | Pip Williams | $32.99 | Affirm Press
In 1914, when the war draws the young men of Britain away to fight, it is the women who must keep the nation running. Two of those women are Peggy and Maude, twin sisters who work in the bindery at Oxford University Press in Jericho. Evocative, subversive and rich with unforgettable characters, The Bookbinder of Jericho is a story about knowledge who gets to make it, who gets to access it, and what is lost when it is withheld.
The Silk Merchant’s Son | Peter Burke | $32.99 | Penguin
Burke, his eclectic and fascinating prose as strong as ever, transports us to colonial Australia through the eyes of French Linguist, Fabrice Cleriquot, who bears witness to the folly of his travelling companions and their presumptuous attempts to rescue the colony. With a satirical eye yet a compassionate heart, Burke tales the damage wreaked in the name of good intentions.
- AngusPrettier if She Smiled More | Toni
Jordan | $32.99 | Hachette
Kylie discovers the local pharmacy where she works is being taken over by a huge corporation, which leads to a cascade of disasters as she tries to control her job, romantic life, a high energy Pomeranian - and her family. This novel will make you laugh and cry with empathy and asks the question: when is it too late to start over?
Anam | Andre Dao | $32.99 | Penguin
The Map of William | Michael Thomas | $32.99 | Penguin
WA, 1909. William Watson’s beloved father is set on an expedition to the north-west to map water sources in the Pilbara. Invited along, fifteen-yearold William embarks on the outback journey of a lifetime. A gripping, adventurous tale about the triumph of friendship, and the price of survival in a land with its own ancient story to tell.
My Father the Whale | Gina Perry | $32.99 | Harper Collins
For a young Ruby, travelling the country with her father was the only life she knew; then a huge rift forms. When he sweeps back into Ruby’s adult life, his arrival brings more questions as she grapples with the legacy of her childhood. A vivid, beautifully imagined story about the lengths we’ll go in order to belong.
Orphia and Eurydicius | Elyse John |
$32.99 | Harper Collins
DarcyWhat a beautiful, complex, arresting read. Moving between Melbourne, Cambridge, Paris, Ho Chi Minh city and Manus Island, Anam is a story about memory. Dao moves across time, between characters, through cultures and histories in an intimate exploration of colonialism, family, and forgetting. Half fiction, half theory, this is a very rewarding book. -
Orphia, daughter of Apollo, dreams of poetry and beauty. Her father has forbidden her these arts, insisting instead that she study the craft of the warrior. Orphia and Eurydicius is a tender and hearty, gender-bending retelling of the Greek myth and is a distinguished contribution to the canon of retold ancient stories. -
LeonaThe Days Toppled Over | Vidya
Madabushi | $32.99 | Random House
Set between Bangalore and Sydney, this evocative novel alternately follows Surya, who has moved to Australia, in the days leading up to his disappearance, and Malli, his sister who is mute, on a journey to find him. A rich sense of place, a memorable cast of characters, and a good dose of humour.
That Bligh Girl | Sue Williams | $32.99 | Allen & Unwin
Mary Bligh is no shrinking violet. After an horrific sea voyage from Britain, she proves as strong-willed as her bloodyminded father, the newly appointed Governor William Bligh. Despite being bullied, belittled and betrayed, Mary remains steadfast, even during the Rum Rebellion. An untold story of a women of colonial Sydney.
After She Wrote Him | Sulari Gentill | Ultimo Press | $34.99
Madeleine doesn’t know where Edward came from. He is simply a character in her next book. But as she writes, he becomes all she can think about. After She Wrote Him is a piece of meta-fiction with a wildly inventive twist on the murder mystery genre that takes readers on a journey filled with passion and obsession.
Chain-Gang All Stars | Nana
Kwame
Adjei-Brenyah | $32.99 | Random House
Welcome to Chain-Gang All-Stars - the highly popular, highly controversial profit-raising program inside America’s private prison system. Harkening back to the time of gladiators, but watched by millions of live-stream subscribers, prisoners compete for the ultimate prize- their freedom. An electrifying, page-turning near-future dystopia.
Romantic Comedy | Curtis Sittenfeld | $32.99 | Random House
Cuddy | Benjamin Myers | $32.99 | Bloomsbury
Cuddy is a bold and experimental retelling of the story of the hermit St. Cuthbert, unofficial patron saint of the North of England. Incorporating poetry, prose, play, diary and real historical accounts to create a novel like no other, Cuddy straddles historical eras from the first Viking invaders of Lindisfarne to a more contemporary England.
Enter Ghost | Isabella Hammad | $32.99 | Penguin
After years away from her family’s homeland, and healing from an affair with a director, stage actress Sonia Nasir returns to Palestine. A stunning rendering of present-day Palestine, Enter Ghost is a story of diaspora, displacement, and the connection to be found in family and shared resistance.
Yellowface | R F Kuang | $32.99 | Harper Collins
Sittenfeld is such an erudite writer! All about a comedy writer who falls for a superstar musician, the book tackles interesting questions about how fame creates class barriers and rules about the gender binary. It is sharp, self-aware and gleefully unselfconscious about being that most derided of genres: a romantic comedy.
The
- MatildaYellowface is a contemporary satire and a scathing work of metafiction! Juniper Song, a caucasian plagarist posing as an Asian-American author with a special interest in Chinese Labourers in WWI, was a fantastically unlikeable protagonist, and her journey was a wild ride. Kuang interrogates the entire book industry from the publishers to the readers in this timely read. - Steph
| Random House
Spanning 80 years of a changing America and culminating in the opening of the film, we meet a colourful cast of characters that create Hollywood magic. At once a reflection on America’s past and present, on the world of show business and the world we all live in.
The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa | Stephen Buoro | $32.99 | Bloomsbury
Andrew lives in Kontagora, Nigeria, where his days are spent about town with his droogs, grappling with his fantasies about white girls and wondering who his father is. Profound and original, this tragicomic novel is a stunning exploration of coming-ofage in contemporary Africa.
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson | $32.99 | Penguin
The one thing that can solve Stephen’s problems is dancing. But what becomes of him when the music fades? Set over the course of three summers in his life, from London to Ghana, Small Worlds is an exhilarating and expansive novel about the worlds we build for ourselves, the worlds we live, dance and love within.
Greek Lessons | Han Kang
| $35.00 | Penguin
The story of two ordinary people brought together at a moment of private anguish - the fading light of a man losing his vision meeting the silence of a woman who has lost her language - the very things that draw them to one another. A tender love letter to human intimacy and and a novel to awaken the senses.
- LexieOwlish | Dorothy Tse | $27.99 | Scribe Professor Q has the perfect wife, and he is a mediocre professor at a mediocre university. So why is he cheating on his wife with a mechanical ballerina? Set in an alternate Hong Kong yet incorporating allegorical colonialism, Owlish is both a wonderfully creepy fairytale, and a brutal commentary on China’s occupation of Hong Kong.
Shy | Max Porter | $24.99 | Allen & Unwin
Take a walk to the lake with Porter and his troubled, young protagonist, Shy. It is late and the night is murky and disorienting. Porter’s writing is agitated, fragmented and poetic. It is an evocative and deeply human portrayal of a young person struggling, and a return to form for Porter. Lyrical and strange.
- TahliaThe House of Doors | Tan Twan Eng | $32.99 | Allen & Unwin
It is 1921 and at Cassowary House in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Robert Hamlyn is a well-to-do lawyer and his steely wife Lesley a society hostess. Their lives are invigorated when Willie, an old friend of Robert’s, comes to stay. A masterful novel of public morality and private truth a century ago. Based on real events it is a drama of love and betrayal under the shadow of Empire in imperial China.
A wildly mischievous novel from an inventive and provocative writer. Protaganist Wala Kitu is a brilliant professor of mathematics who bands together with a brainy and brainwashed astrophysicist-turnedhenchwoman Eigen Vector to stop a villain!
A tale about absolutely nothing and a whole lot!
Set in and around the city of Veracruz in Mexico, This Is Not Miami delivers twelve devastating stories that spiral from real events. In these cronicas, blending reportage and fiction, Melchor uses a range of distinctive voices to evoke the smells, sounds and words of this fascinating world.
Big Swiss | Jen Beagin |
$32.99 | Allen & Unwin
A brilliantly original Greta spends her days transcribing therapy sessions for a sex coach who calls himself Om. She becomes infatuated with his newest client, a repressed married woman she refers to as Big Swiss. This is a funny novel about a sex therapist’s transcriptionist who falls in love with a client while listening to her sessions. When they accidentally meet in real life, an explosive affair ensues. Bold, outlandish, and filled with irresistible characters.
Brutes | Dizz Tate | $29.99
| Allen & Unwin
A deeply strange debut novel, Brutes is a darkly mythical coming-of-age story told in the first-person plural. This device causes the reader to feel like one of the “brutes” of the novel’s title, obsessively watching and cataloguing the movements of the other inhabitants of the small Florida town of its setting. The novel revolves around the disappearance of, and subsequent search for, a young girl –but the mystery is beside the point. What animates the novel is a swirling sense of unease woven of obsession, cruelty, and the pervasive sense of being constantly watched. - Connor
The Ferryman | Justin Cronin | $32.99 | Hachette
Welcome to Prospera, the island paradise created by the mysterious genius known as ‘The Designer’. An eerily pleasant dystopian world gives way to something altogether shocking, building to a climax that had me holding my breath and turning the pages as fast as I could.
- RobertDead Country | Max Gladstone | $29.99 | Macmillan
The first novel in a new a dark fantasy trilogy with an irresistible premise – a young woman, accused of witchcraft, being hounded into choosing exile or death. But she really does wield The Craft - the law and rights-based magic which is powerful enough to defeat god. Bring on books 2 and 3!
- ConnorShanghai
Immortal | A Y Chao | $32.99 | Hachette
Pawned by her mother to the King of Hell as a child, Lady Jing is half-vampire, half-hulijing fox-spirit. As the King’s ward, she has spent the past ninety years running errands, dodging the taunts of the spiteful hulijing courtiers, and trying to control her explosive temper. So when Jing overhears the courtiers plotting to steal a priceless dragon pearl from the King, she seizes her chance to expose them. A richly told fantasy debut teeming with Chinese deities and demons cavorting in jazz age Shanghai.
Fractal Noise | Christopher Paolini | $34.99
| Macmillan
Translation State | Ann
Leckie | $32.99 | Hachette
Qven was created to be a Presger translator –but he rebels. Merging space adventure and mystery, and a poignant exploration about relationships and belonging, Translation State is a triumphant new standalone story set in Leckie’s celebrated Imperial Radch universe.
Goliath | Tochi Onyebuchi |
$34.99 | Macmillan
In the 2050s, Earth has begun to empty and those left behind salvage what they can from the collapsing infrastructure. A primal epic flung into the future, Goliath weaves together disparate narratives into a richly urgent mosaic about race, class, gentrification, and who is allowed to be the hero of any history.
Witch King | Martha Wells | $34.99 | Macmillan
Fourth Wing | Rebecca Yaros | $32.99
| Hachette
Welcome to the brutal world of Basgiath War College. Violet was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, however her tough-as-talons mother has ordered her to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of dragon riders. A highstakes, enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance.
On the planet Talos VII, twenty-three years before the events of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, an anomaly is detected: a vast circular pit, with dimensions so perfect that it could only have been the result of conscious design. So a small team is assembled to learn more - perhaps even who built the hole and why. Their mission will take them on a hazardous trek to the very edge of existence. The thrilling prequel to the masterful space opera To Sleep in a Sea of Stars.
Wells has a real talent for writing charismatic main characters and world building. In Witch King, she has done it again with Kai, a demon from the Underworld. Kai has been part of a scheme whereby demons are brought up above to inhabit the bodies of members of high families. A wildly original and complex fantasy exploring how revolutions are won through trust, and destroyed through selfishness. Wells excels at brooding, powerful inhuman protagonists who just need a little kindness to be their badass best.
- RobertHachette
A Death in Denmark | Amulya
Malladi | $32.99 | Harper Collins
Detective Gabriel Præst investigates the murder of a right-wing politician. An exploration of Denmark’s Nazi-collaborator past and anti-Muslim present in a page-turning Nordic mystery with a cosmopolitan vibe.
A gritty, compelling story of a decades-long family feud in America’s deep South. It explores the ways that a single act of violence will echo through years and generations, refracted and strained through smalltown politics and ancient prejudices. Lifelong grudges, wizened patriarchs, meth-dealing skinheads – this book has it all.
The Interpreter | Brooke Robinson | $32.99 | Random House
Revelle is a court interpreter. When she spots an injustice is about to take place, and a guilty man about to be labelled innocent, she has the power to twist an alibi to get the verdict she wants... but she may not get away with it.
Blackwater | Jaqueline Ross | $32.99 | Affirm Press
A heavily pregnant Grace and her father travel to his childhood home, Blackwater, in a remote part of Tasmania. As she learns about its dark history, she begins to fear the house itself. A riveting Gothic story that twists present with a horrifying past.
A Disappearance in Fiji | Nilima Rao | $32.99 | Allen & Unwin
A charming mystery set in the tropical paradise of 1914 Fiji. A woman goes missing from a sugarcane plantation and Akal, who has been sent to the island as punishment for a professional mistake, is reluctantly assigned to the case. This story explores the complexities of identity, class and race through the impact of colonialism. - Ruby
Death of a Bookseller | Alice
Slater | $32.99 | Hachette
Roach – bookseller - has all the company she needs in her serial killer books, murder podcasts and her pet snail, Bleep. That is, until Laura joins the bookshop and it becomes clear that Roach is prepared to infiltrate Laura’s life at any cost.
She is the Earth | Ali Cobby Eckermann | $27.99 | Magabala
A luminous verse novel from a celebrated poet. It charts a journey through grief and celebrates the healing power of Country. We follow Eckermann’s soft footfalls in the open spaces between earth and sky; from sandstone to wetlands, from plains to mountains.
Content Warning: Everything | Akwaeke Emezi | $29.99 | Bloomsbury
Emezi imagines a new depth of belonging and distills the radiant power and epic grief of a mischievous and wanting young deity, embodied.. Crafted of both divine and earthly materials, these poems travel from home to homesickness, tracing desire to surrender and abuse to survival.
Couplets | Maggie Milner | $27.99 | Allen & Unwin
Millner’s seductive debut is a novelin-verse about a woman in her late twenties who leaves a long-term relationship with a boyfriend for another woman. The affair thrusts her from an outwardly conventional life into queerness, polyamory, kink, and unalloyed, consuming desire.
APRIL BOOK OF THE MONTH
The Prize | Kim E Anderson | $32.99 | Pantera Press | Leona’s Review
1943, Sydney. World War II rumbles in the distance, and Australian culture is still deeply conservative. William Dobell, an innovative artist, paints his lover and fellow artist Joshua Smith for the country’s most prestigious art prize, the Archibald. When the portrait of Smith wins the prize, both artist and sitter find themselves under cruel and intense scrutiny, putting them both at risk. Bill and Joshua viscerally and convincingly grapple with the difficulties of their situation, risking love, art, acceptance, and exile. Anderson’s prose is expansive and attentive, able to capture the smallest of gestures, as layers of paint on canvas.
APRIL ILF BOOK OF THE MONTH
Praiseworthy | Alexis Wright | $39.95 | Giramondo | Steph’s Review
Praiseworthy is an epic, multi-generational, complex story of Country - it has the cast of characters, the series of events and the strength of prose comparable to that of any great classic. Yet, it also has a fable-like quality - reminding us of the fundamental fact that this country has something very wrong with it. This seminal work is absolutely worth the time it takes to read it, and be part of the conversation for many, many decades to come
MAY BOOK OF THE MONTH
Gurawul the Whale | Max Dulumunmun Harrison | $35.00 | Magabala Books | Hugh’s Review
Delumunmun Harrison sublimely intertwines personal, natural, and cultural history to craft a powerful story of the science of whales, their cultural significance in Aboriginal culture, but perhaps most importantly, it’s about a promise. The book explores Harrison’s resolve to fulfil the promise he made to his grandfather and uncles – to travel to Tasmania to find ancient dreamtime paintings of the mythical Gurawal. The result is perfect for all ages from strong young readers to adults, delicately balancing itself between the informative and the deeply moving.
MAY ILF BOOK OF THE MONTH
Personal Score | Ellen Van Neervan | $34.99 | UQP | Lexie’s Review
Up until now, there was only one book that could possibly make me care about sport (come and see me in store for this discussion). It’s officially been beaten. This is not sports history. Except it is. It’s memoir, poetry, the injustice of pay discrepancies in sport (we’re looking at you, Matilda’s), and the fact that losers are called Aboriginal and winners are called Australian. This is about chest binding, how white faces are the face of sexual assault in sports clubs, gender pay gaps, watching the World Cup with your family, and how to come to grips with playing sports that have actually been played for tens of thousands of years on stolen land.
Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird | Agustina Bazterrica | $29.99 | Allen & Unwin | Connor’s Reviews
I love a dose of warped literary horror, and this short story collection is my favourite discovery of 2023 (so far!). Bazterrica is on a mission to lift up all the stones that we step over in the course of our ordinary lives and put a magnifying glass on all the weird little bugs that come running out. She is interrogating everyday phenomena like celebrity, body image, perfectionism, and desire, and what she discovers will deeply unsettle you. Not really a beach read.
JUNE BOOK OF THE MONTH
JUNE ILF BOOK OF THE MONTH
Bidhi Galing | Anita Heiss | $24.99 | Simon & Schuster | $24.99 | Ruby’s Review
Wagadhaany lives with her miyagan (family) by the river and loves nothing more than playing with her cousins, eating food and listening to stories from the elders around the fire. Her life is full of joy and dancing, which is her favourite thing to do - after all her name means ‘dancer.’ However, when the big rains come and flood the land, Wagadhaany is separated from her miyagan. This is a story that teaches the importance of family, culture and listening to advice. This book is perfect for any family and we can all learn something through its evocative writing and stunning artwork.
Courting India | Nandini Das | $34.99 | Bloomsbury
A profound and groundbreaking new history of the British arrival in India in the early seventeenth century. Courting India is a rich and radical challenge to our understanding of Britain and its early empire.
The Other Renaissance | Paul Strathern | $32.99 | Murdoch Books
A docent-style stroll through the pantheon of Northern Europe’s Renaissance Thinkers, Strathern elucidates the oft forgotten contributions of those outside the Mediterranean. The movable type printing press, the emergence of protestantism and a driver of humanism, as well as the move to heliocentric astronomy; Strathern walks us through the significance of all this. - Angus
Power of Trees |Peter Wohlleben | $34.99 | Black Inc.
Trees can survive without humans, but we can’t live without trees. The follow-up to the bestseller The Hidden Life of Trees, offering compelling insights into the lungs of our planet and the fragility of our intertwined futures.
Sensitive | Andre Sólo and Jenn Granneman | $35.00 | Penguin
Do you have a heightened sense of empathy? Do you often notice tiny details that others don’t? A groundbreaking look at the power of sensitivity to transform our relationships, career and life, from world-leading experts.
The Last Action Heroes | Nick de Semlyn | $36.99 | Macmillan
A no-holds-barred account of a period in Hollywood history when there were no limits to the heights of fame men like Schwarzenegger and Stallone achieved, or to the mayhem they wrought, both on-screen and off.
Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma | Claire Dederer | $32.99 | Hachette
Dederer has created a meaty book looking at the audience and their ability to forgive John Lennon and Picasso for domestic abuse but boycott Lolita, and interrogates the ‘we’ of the audience and ‘our’ insistence of cancelling artists. This was a truly intelligent and analytic deep dive into the role of the individual compelling look art in the #metoo age. - Lexie
Knowing What We Know | Simon Winchester | $34.99 | Harper Collins
From the creation of the first encyclopedia to Wikipedia, from ancient museums to modern kindergarten classes, here is Winchester’s look at how humans acquire, retain, and pass on information and data.
Wolfish | Erica Berry | $32.99 | Allen & Unwin
Wolfish blends science, history, and cultural criticism in a yearslong journey to understand our myths about wolves, and track one legendary wolf, OR-7, from the Wallowa Mountains of Oregon. For anybody trying to navigate an often scary world.
X Marks the Spot | Michael
Scott | $34.99 | Hachette
Through eight sensational stories of discovery, Professor Michael Scott traces the evolution of modern archaeology and reveals how much the discovery of our past is intertwined with the concerns of our present.
|
How to Think Like a Woman
Regan Penaluna | $34.99 | Murdoch Books
A timely critique investigating how four women philosophers - Lady Masham, Mary Astell, Catharine Cockburn and Mary Wollstonecraft - persevered in a field that often suppressed and disregarded their insights.
Macmillan
Kerr masterfully commemorates five true stories of neurodivergent love and life. Through these stories and with her salient compassionate perspective, Kerr offers profound insight into neurodivergence and love, an experience so often misunderstood. Heartwarming, necessary, and validating. - Carolina
Seafaring | Victor Briggs | $35.00 | Magabala Books
In Seafaring, Briggs shares an enriching journey into the past through research, story, vision and voice. He teaches us all about the role of seafaring by canoe in Aboriginal trade, astronomy and religion. A concise and captivating work which reminds us of the incredible ingenuity of our First Nations. - Steph
The
Veterans today are chronically overrepresented when it comes to PTSD, depression, homelessness and suicide. The Home Front is a fascinating and rousing indictment of the culture of war, the thinking of those who wage it, and the cost to those who experience it.
Inconceivable | Alexandra Collier | $34.99 | Hachette
When Alexandra Collier realised that her and her partner has different desires in regards to parenthood, she began to explore a controversial option: conceiving a baby with donor sperm. Insightful, moving and relatable, this is an uplifting memoir about taking hold of your own future.
Women
Whitlam
The Whitlam government transformed Australia. Women and Whitlam brings together three generations of women to revisit the Whitlam revolution and to build on it for the future.
Taking us on a journey through the world’s fault lines, from the war in Ukraine to Black Lives Matter, this is a fullthroated, impassioned argument on the necessity for an end to monarchy in Australia.
The Manual | Dr Kieran Kennedy and Scott Henderson | $36.99 | Macmillan
In a fast-paced and ever-changing world, the way young men see themselves, masculinity and men’s health is evolving. Psychiatrist Dr Kieran Kennedy and health journalist Scott Henderson provide a blueprint for modern manhood.
Portraits | W H Chong | $65.00 | Penguin
An artist and designer of truly iconic book jackets (The Rosie Project, we’re looking at you) W. H. Chong is the design director at Text and an artist in his own right- one of his portraits is in the National Portrait Gallery. Portraits is a stunning mashup of Australian artists, writers, and musicians with accompanying commentary from Michelle de Krester and Sophie Cunningham. With Les Murray over the years, and Amanda Lohrey after meeting her in a bookshop, this truly is one for the book nerds.
- Lexie
What’s for Dinner | Jill Griffiths | $34.99
|
Thames & Hudson
What’s for Dinner? delves into the way our food is grown and our responsibilities as eaters. Weaving together science, history and lived experience, Griffiths takes readers on a journey to meet the plants, animals and people who put the food on our plates.
Voice of the Fish | Lars Horn | $29.99 | Allen & Unwin
An interwoven essay collection that explores trans experiences through themes of water, fish, and mythology, set against the backdrop of travels in Russia and a debilitating back injury that left Horn temporarily unable to speak. Ocean-deep and brimming with beauty, this is a must-read for fans of Maggie Nelson. - Jimmy
Esther Simpson | John Eidinow | $34.99 | Hachette
Eidinow creatively travels through the story of Esther Simpson; the forgotten hero of WW2 academia. This book brings Esther into the light: who she was and how she lived, what moved her to take up and never to relinquish her calling, her impact on the world, and the historical context that helped shape her achievements. - Angus
Searching for Juliet | Sophie Duncan | $34.99 | Hachette Juliet Capulet is the heartbeat of the world’s most famous love story. She is an enduring romantic icon. Searching for Juliet takes us from the Renaissance origin stories behind William Shakespeare’s child bride to the boy actor who inspired her creation onstage. Duncan draws on rich cultural and historical sources and new research to explore the legacy and reach of Romeo and Juliet far beyond the literary sphere.
Pageboy | Elliot Page | $35.00 | Random House
The Oscar-nominated star who captivated the world with his performance in Juno finally shares his truth. Full of behind the scenes details and intimate interrogations on sex, love, trauma, and Hollywood, Pageboy is the story of a life pushed to the brink.
Forgotten
Girls
Lead Sister:
The Story
of Karen Carpenter | Lucy O’Brien | $39.99 | Allen & Unwin
Through fresh interviews with friends, musicians and co-workers, this fascinating profile explores Karen’s contributions in the studio as a singer, drummer, arranger and producer. A pioneering biography re-evaluating the life and legacy of a transcendent musician.
| Monica Potts | $35.00 |Penguin
The Tastemaker | Tony King |$39.99 | Allen & Unwin
From the Beatles to Elton John and the Rolling Stones, Tony King has been a confidante and creative muse for some of the world’s greatest artists. Now, for the first time, he tells his story. The Tastemaker charts the singular life of a man who has been at the beating heart of music’s most iconic moments.
A harrowing portrait of the middle ground between God’s will and the physical form, set in the southern ozarks of Arkansas. Monica Potts details a life she’s outgrown, watching her friends and community resign their lives to divine intervention. Well-researched and deeply emotional, this book breaks the stigma of rural substance abuse and sexuality, and points directly to the root causes of these cyclical traumas. A must read for anyone with preconceived notions about the American working class. - Adrien
Tell Me Good Things
| James Runcie | $29.99 | Bloomsbury
James Runcie’s wife Marilyn Imrie died in August 2020. Their 35 year marriage had been miraculously happy until, in the last two years of Marilyn’s life, she descended into the pain of motor neurone disease. Here, he tells the story of Marilyn’s illness and death in all its moments of tragedy, rage, farce and surrealness while painting a vivid portrait of her life and their marriage - a partnership defined by a shared love of beauty, conviviality and storytelling.
Sweet Enough | Alison Roman | $55.00 | Hardie Grant
Alison has written the book for people who think they don’t have the time or skill to pull off dessert. Here, the desserts you want to make right away, you can make right away. Finish any dinner, any party, or any car ride to a dinner party with a little something wonderful and sweet.
Malta | Simon Bajada | $45.00 | Hardie Grant
Malta is a richly photographed cookbook which takes you to the captivating archipelago between Sicily and the North African coast, with 70 recipes showcasing the country’s vibrant Mediterranean cuisine. Bajada captures the everyday food of Malta for the home cook.
Bao Family | Celine Chung | $45.00 | Murdoch Books
The Bao family run four Chinese restaurants in Paris that bridge the gap between two cultures, and between traditional and modern cuisine - here they share their love of bao and other Chinese classics, with eighty playful recipes that span the eight culinary regions of China.
Heartbake | Charlotte Ree | $39.99 | Allen & Unwin
The story about one woman’s journey of love and loss and how food helped to heal her. A cosy and insightful book containing memoir and recipes. This book drew me in straight away with its sentimentality and beautiful yet challenging portrayal of life.
- RubyAndaza | Sumayya Usmani | $45.00 | Murdoch Books
Usmani’s stunning memoir conjures a story of what it was like growing up in Pakistan and how the women in her life inspired her to trust her instincts in the kitchen. She learns that the flavour and meaning of a recipe is not a list of measured ingredients, but a feeling in your hands and an experience.
Pomegranates and Artichokes | Saghar Setareh | $49.99 | Murdoch
This has to be a highlight for me when it comes to cookbooks, the fusing together of two of my favourite cuisines Persian and Italian, I’m a gourmand in culinary heaven. Along with sumptuous photos and sprinkled through with her quick and thoughtful personal insights and experiences.
- RobertA
Splash of Soy | Lara Lee | $45.00 | Bloomsbury
A Splash of Soy is full of everyday family recipes you’ll love to eat. It is the simplicity and usefulness of soy that this book is named after, an ingredient so impressive it can transform a meal with just a splash. A delicious compendium of everyday Asian dishes!
Of Cabbages and Kimchi | James Read | $45.00 | Penguin
From the fiery funk of kimchi to the velvet tang of kefir, Read shares his recipes for recreating these delights in your own kitchen without specialist equipment. Alongside his recipes, Read investigates the extraordinary cultural and historic backgrounds of fermented foods.
Around the World in 50 Plants Jigsaw Puzzle | Jonathan Drori | $39.99 | Hachette
From the beech forests of southern Sweden to the North African argan trees - goats aloft in their branches - passing by India’s sacred banyan, the Hawaiian koa, and right down to Australia’s jarrah - piece together a living, breathing world of trees and fill the gaps in your knowledge as you go with a comprehensive poster guide. This gorgeous puzzle contains 1000 pieces.
Goddess | Bethan Johnson and Matt Millikan | $49.99 | Thames & Hudson Goddess examines cinema history through a feminist lens. Contributors, including film critics, actors, podcasters, journalists and academics, share behind-the-scenes stories and celebrate some of cinema’s most memorable female characters at a time when the film industry is undergoing a long-awaited reckoning.
Australian Abstract | Amber Creswell-Bell | $69.99 | Thames & Hudson
The Paper Dolls of Zelda Fitzgerald | Eleanor Lanahan
| $44.99 | Simon & Schuster
A gorgeous and unique keepsake and a perfect gift for book and art lovers, this delightful collection of Zelda’s paper dolls offers an intimate peek into the life of one of the Lost Generation’s most fascinating creative artists.
In Creswell-Bell’s fifth book, we take a deep dive into abstract art - its history in Australia (including the controversy around the purchasing of Pollock’s Blue Poles), the concept of abstract art, and a look at 40 contemporary abstract artists creating in Australia today. From their history, evolution as artists, motivations, and daily practices and favourite mediums, this is the perfect book for art afficianados and nosy parkers.
A Splendour of Cacti and Succulents | Caroline Ball | $34.99 | NewSouth Books
Succulents, especially cacti, are both the focus of serious ecological studies, medical use and the darlings of designers and style influencers. A stunning gift book of eighteenthcentury illustrations of succulents and cacti.
From rising early to walk barefoot on the grass, to afternoons and evenings spent sipping tea in her gazebo or watching fireflies as she recalls a childhood in Japan, Sakamoto shares observations from a life spent contemplating nature.
- Lexie
Welcome to your newest obsession: axolotls! Get inspired by the axolotl, aka the Mexican Water Monster, and discover what they can teach us about living life to the fullest in this adorably profound book of amphibian affirmations.
What were Montmartre and Montparnasse really like in their hey-day? This book is a vivid, quintessential account of the birth of cubism and contemporary developments in French and global artistry, and the lives and loves of the innovative minds behind such movements.
- AngusMy Little Barlaagany (Sunshine) | Melissa Greenwood | $24.99 | Harper Collins | 1+
Melissa Greenwood is an exceptional Gumbaynggirr artist, with strong ties to Bundjalung and Dughutti nations. This newest book is a loving bedtime story from mum to baby, with beautiful illustrative work throughout.
Big Cat | Jess Rackyleft | $24.99 | Allen & Unwin | 4+
Big Cat is mysterious. Big Cat is chaotic. Big Cat is lawless. Catherine is not. She likes things to be neat, tidy and orderly. But when the two meet, they discover they have more in common than they think and go on backyard adventures. A story about finding your inner wildness in unexpected places.
Democracy! | Philip Bunting | $26.99 | Hardie Grant | 4+
If there ever existed an engaging and accessible introduction to the fundamentals of our society and democracy, Bunting has hit the nail on the head! Told through an engaging interplay of illustrations, diagrams and writing, Bunting effectively educates upon the positive implications of advocacy and the necessity to have your voice heard. Soundly introducing younglings to the rights and liberties they have under our political system, Bunting’s book is an essential for all young intellectuals and miniature diplomats.
- AngusBackyard Footy | Carl Merrison | $19.99 | Hachette | 3+
Jy is playing football alone in his small backyard in the Kimberley, but when he accidentally kicks the ball over the fence, a footy adventure begins! Footy by yourself is fun but playing with mates is better. The first title in a joyful series, where the fun only grows with family and friends!
Etta and the Octopus | Zana Fraillon | $14.99 | Hachette | 7+
It all began when Etta decided to take a bath... And realised she wasn’t alone. In the bath sat Oswald. Etta had never had an octopus in her bath before. A hilarious, fully illustrated tale about an unlikely friendship between a girl and an octopus that is perfect for newly independent readers.
Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy | Angie Thomas | $17.99 | Walker Books | 9+
Nic and two friends find themselves on magical mission to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed. A new contemporary fantasy trilogy inspired by African American history and folklore.
Custodians: Wylah the Koorie Warrior #2 | Jordan Gould and Richard Pritchard | $15.99 | Allen & Unwin | 8+
Together with her megafauna friends, Wylah must travel through the treacherous and forbidden Valley of the Spirits to face off against the Dragon Army. Inspired by First Nations history and grounded in culture, this is great adventure!
Glow | Jennifer N R Smith |
$35.00 | Thames & Hudson
| 6+
It’s so pretty!!! This gorgeously illustrated book shines a light on the darkest corners of the earth, exploring the marvel of bioluminescence. From dark forests to sunless caves to the inky black depths of the ocean, Glow examines the animals and plants that glow in the dark and what we can learn from them. With UV ink that makes the book literally glow, this is the perfect book to read up under the covers. Fascinating and beautiful!
- Darcy
Snail Trail | Ziggy Hanaor |
$24.99 | Hachette| 3+
Marjorie is a snail like any other; cheery and adventurous with a zest for life! But even the zestiest snails need some time alone – to rest, to think, to recharge their social battery. A thoughtful, delightfully illustrated tale for the little introverts among us, Snail Trail gently and lovingly teaches us the language we need to communicate our needs! Marjorie the snail has stolen our hearts and we’re almost certain she’ll steal yours too.
- AllySpellhound: A Dragons of Hallow
Book #1 | Lian Tanner | $17.99 | Allen & Unwin | 7+
What do a minch-wiggin, a Queen, and a rather large magical pup have in common? They need to find the dragon that has turned their worlds upside-down… even if it means revealing all they want to keep hidden. A fascinating tale filled with falsehoods, fortitude and friendship (and just the right number of green jellybabies) for readers who love Cressida Cowell or Katrina Nannestad.
The Sun and the Star | Rick Riordan | $24.99 | Penguin | 10+
Nico will have to face demons both internal and external as his relationship with his boyfriend Will is tested to the core in this standalone adventure featuring two of the most popular characters in the Percy Jackson saga. Demigods Nico di Angelo and Will Solace must endure the terrors of Tartarus in their attempt to rescue an old friend in this thrilling adventure - set in the mythical and action-packed world of Percy Jackson.
Some Shall Break | Ellie Marney |
$24.99 | Allen & Unwin | 14+
Three months after the showdown with Simon Gutmunsson in St Elizabeths Hospital for the Criminally Insane, Emma Lewis has retreated to college life in Ohio. But Emma has a unique gift for hunting killers, and the FBI wants her back… Junior FBI consultants Travis Bell and Emma Lewis are swept into a compelling and dangerous new case that may unravel everything they’ve been working for. An electrifying sequel!
The Isles of the Gods | Amie Kaufman |
$24.99 | Allen & Unwin | 13+
We Could Be Something | Will Kostakis
|
$19.99 | Allen & Unwin | 14+
- MatildaFive hundred and one years ago, King Anselm sacrificed himself on the Isles of the Gods to protect his country. Half a century later, closer than ever to war, Prince Leander is overdue to make his own sacrifice. As talk of war intensifies, Leander crosses paths with a stubborn sailor, Selly, who may be key to his survival and to the salvation of their brawling universe. Kaufman has created a world full of myth and magic, humming with an undercurrent of class critique that I found thrilling.
In this wonderful story, Will Kostakis guides us through the streets of Sydney in a dual narrative: it’s a tale of family, of love, of personal dreams won and lost, of anticipation and love, pain, loss, joy, hope and acceptance. Harvey is 17 his Dads are breaking up – it’s been on the books for a while now. But now he’s being shaken awake by his Ba, who is taking him away to Sydney, to his Greek family’s café. A beautiful, sad but ultimately affirming family story. - Robert
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Mummy Time | Monique JamesDuncan | $27.99 | Walker Books | 3+ Delight the mother figures in your life on Mother’s Day with this warmfeeling-in-your-belly book Mummy Time. Written from the perspective of a starry-eyed bub, it is a generous and heartfelt reflection on the reverence and sacred specialness of time with mum in all its forms - be it bath time, snack time, sharing-mumwith-sister time or nap time.
- Ally
What Do You Call Your Grandma? | Ashleigh Barton | $22.99 | Harper Collins | 4+ Nonna, Bibi, Yia Yia, Kui - what do you call your grandma? Ashleigh Barton’s joyful and adorable book invites children to reflect on their grandmotherly relationships, contemplating the activities they enjoy together and the feelings they share. What Do You Call Your Grandma? celebrates the significance of the many wonderful names we give to the women in our lives who raise us, cuddle us, teach us and nurture us as we grow.
- Ally
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
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The books featured in the Better Read Than Dead Winter Reading Guide have all been hand-selected and many have been reviewed by our Better Read Than Dead and Better Read Kids booksellers. Prices, publication information, event dates and event details are correct at time of publication. Cover art by Jenna Vincent.