October/November Gleaner 2025

October-November 2025

Gleebooks turns 50

Celebrating books and authors since 1975

We’re having a party and you’re invited! See p2

Plus: Our staff pick their favourite books of the year

Read: An extract from Drusilla Modjeska's A Woman's Eye, Her Art

Shop Talk

From David’s desk

Phew, it’s been quite a year, and Christmas, our busiest time, is not even upon us yet. But this is our final Gleaner for the year (keep your eyes and ears out for the annual Summer Reading Guide, in early November) so please accept our earliest of the coming season’s best wishes. And thank you for your support across not just this year, but for the past 50 years. Couldn’t have happened without you, as they say. We’ve a few treats in store for a Glebe anniversary celebration later in October, see below and look out for details on our socials or in store.

The subject of best (favourite?) books of the century so far has been a wildly popular exercise which the ABC has encouraged its listeners to take part in. Encouragingly hundreds of thousands have (my lists were topped by Wolf Hall and Don Watson’s The Bush). Meanwhile we’re working on a five-decade breakdown of the books which we believe have been the most significant for our neck of the woods since we opened 50 years ago. It’s a stretch for the memory, and still subjective, but it’s a collective endeavour that is producing a marvellous snapshot of our literary and cultural history since 1975. We would be delighted if this prompted any of our customers to submit their most memorable books of (any part or all of) the last 50 years. We’ll announce this on our socials (Instagram: @gleebooks), but give us one (or more) of the best books of each of those decades, starting with 1975, and we’ll

come up with some prizes for the most inspiring or entertaining of your offerings.

Incidentally, thinking of our own Glebe shop history, someone has dug out a photo from 1985 (I know the date as that’s my infant son I’m holding). But the point of the photo is the UNBELIEVABLE clutter that we invited you into, in our original premises at 191 Glebe Pt Road. Rows of books permanently on the floor, no space for anyone to pass, and mess and chaos abounding. And no computer to tell us if a book was actually in there or not. And yet no one seemed to mind. I can’t begin to imagine what the reaction would be now. Guess they were the old days all right. Happy reading across the summer. If you’ve not read Seascraper by Benjamin Wood or Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy, make sure you do. They’re my picks of the year.

Finally, in her column this month (see p12), Janice Wilder announces her retirement as a bookseller. I have known Janice since the 1980s and worked with her for decades since. As sad as I am to see her go, I would like to acknowledge and salute her for the fabulous contribution she has made to our lives at Gleebooks, and, I know to many of you also. She has been a bookseller for well over 50 years – a mighty achievement. A prodigious and dedicated reader, a great communicator about writing and writers, and someone blessed with a magic touch when dealing with the general public (and that’s a rare gift, believe me).

Celebrate 50 years of Gleebooks with us

We have been fierce champions of books and authors since 1975 and we thank you for being just as passionate and supporting us for five decades. Join us and guest authors for our special 50th anniversary celebrations to toast the next 50.

SATURDAY 25 OCTOBER

10am: Special storytime with Jodie McLeod and Eloise Short (The 12 Birds of Christmas)

2pm: Announcement of the children’s short story competition winners

6pm: Poet’s Choice: 10 Sydney poets, including Judith Beveridge, Peter Boyle, Pam Brown and Joanna Burns, read their work

SUNDAY 26 OCTOBER

5pm: Writers’ and readers’ party. Gleeclubbers and loyal customers are invited to celebrate with some of our favourite Sydney authors, including Michelle de Kretser, David Marr and Anna Funder

RSVP to fiftieth@gleebooks.com.au. See the website for more details.

LUCKY DIP ALL WEEKEND

Spend $50 and get a free, random book.

YOU AND GLEEBOOKS: A PERSONAL STORY COMPETITION

Write 200 words about a particular, personal experience with Gleebooks – the first book you bought, an amazing secondhand find, a meeting with the famous or infamous, a love affair begun or ended – and be in the running to win (more) books to add to your collection. Send entries to fiftieth@geebooks.com.au by 17 October. Winners will be announced at Sunday’s party (see above).

KIDS’ COMPETITION

Write a short story of any format (maximum 500) – it must include the words “50” and “books”. Age categories are 5-8, 9-12, and 13-15. First prizes are $75 gift vouchers, and runner-up prizes $50 gift vouchers. The closing date is Saturday 18 October. Winners will be announced Saturday 25 October. Send your entries to rachel@gleebooks.com.au or drop them at the children’s desk.

Clockwise from above: celebrating bookseller of the year; co-owner Roger Mackell; Melissa Leong signs copies of her book Guts; and shop cat Winton.

AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE

Unequal Loves

Xavier Hennekinne

A middle-aged man journeys through Japan with his wife, drifting between Kyoto’s hushed temples and Tokyo’s incandescent streets, while traversing the more elusive terrain of his own restless mind. Encounters with art, literature, and fleeting strangers awaken buried desires and long-dormant regrets, pulling him into a reckoning with the ghosts of youthful passion and lost friendships. Unequal Loves is a profound and atmospheric novel, unafraid to linger in the silences between people, the impermanence of connection, and the bittersweet shimmer of what we almost had.

$35, Gazebo. Out November

Chosen Family

Madeleine Gray

Set in Sydney over 18 years, Chosen Family follows Nell and Eve as they grow into themselves, as they both love and destroy each other. From school, to university, to careers, to motherhood, emotions twist and turn between them. Can the wounds of adolescent betrayal ever really heal? Can we ever really understand what is going on in someone else’s head? This is a sexy, romantic, queer, epic literary novel for all readers by the author of Green Dot

$35 $30, S&S/Summit Books. Out October

The Hiding Place

Kate Mildenhall Lou buys an abandoned mining town, convincing her sister and friends to join. But their first camping trip quickly goes wrong: a rogue deer, a neighbour dispute, squatters, and by the first night, a death. Hiding the body seems easier than other secrets – a lost job, illegal crops, an affair, embezzlement. But secrets surface, even in the bush. This sharp thriller, akin to White Lotus meets The Slap, explores deception and the lengths people go to protect what they feel they deserve.

$35 $30, Scribner. Out October

The Underworld

Sofie Laguna

Martha Mullins is a misfit. Her mother is glamorous, aloof and judgemental. Her father, mostly absent. Academic and shy, Martha finds herself fascinated by the underworld, a place she learns about in Roman mythology classes at school. But Martha also finds joy in friendship. It’s Martha’s band of friends who show her the value in spontaneity, fun, laughter. Until things go wrong. How will Martha find her way in the world where she cannot be herself? The Underworld is a wondrous novel from an author who wields her considerable powers with assuredness and grace.

$35 $30, Penguin. Out October

Crimson Velvet Heart

Carmel Bird

It is 1696. Louis XIV, absolute monarch in his sunset years, with his secret wife by his side, believes his grandson will succeed him. As part of the spoils of war, he brings home a child, a youthful bride for that grandson. But the king gets more than he bargained for. She is enchanting, and he is bewitched. Has the king fallen madly in love with this Princess Marie-Adelade of Savoy? What exactly is the bond between these two? Carmel Bird’s exquisite language and rich understanding of history and human nature capture the spirit and the mystery of love and loss.

$35, Transit Lounge. Out November

The Transformations

Andrew Pippos

In the fading glow of Australia’s print journalism era, The National is more than a newspaper: it’s an institution, and the only place that George Desoulis has ever felt at home. A world-weary subeditor with a bookish sensibility and a painful past, George is one of nature’s loners. As the decline of the newspaper enters a desperate stage, a late-night encounter with an unorthodox and self-assured reporter, Cassandra Gwan, begins to unravel both of their carefully managed worlds. With a deft wit and a sharp eye for emotional complexity, Pippos examines the ways people handle grief, guilt and generational change.

$35 $30, Picador. Out October

A Great Act of Love

Heather Rose

Van Diemen’s Land, 1839. A young woman of means arrives in Hobart, with a young boy in her care. Leasing an old cottage next to an abandoned vineyard, Caroline Douglas must navigate an insular colony of exiles and opportunists to create a new life on this island of extreme seasons and wild beauty. Soaring from the champagne vineyards of revolutionary France to London and early colonial Australia, A Great Act of Love is a spellbinding novel of legacy, passion and reinvention.

$35 $30, Allen & Unwin. Out now

Gravity Let Me Go

Trent Dalton

Noah Cork has just published the scoop of a lifetime: a white-hot true crime book about the cold-blooded killer who slipped an unfolding murder mystery into his mailbox. But if this is his moment of triumph, then why is the tin roof being ripped from the walls of his reality? And why does his wife keep writing a cryptic message across the bathroom mirror? Dark, gritty, hilarious and unexpected, Gravity Let Me Go is Trent Dalton’s deeply personal exploration of marriage and ambition, truthtelling and truth-omitting, self-deception and self-preservation.

$35 $30, 4th Estate. Out now

Stag Dance

Torrey Peters

Soren (Dulwich Hill): Stag Dance (Serpent’s Tail) is an innovative and addictive collection of novellas by Torrey Peters, each written in a different genre, and each one a strong candidate for my best read of the year. My favourite was the satirical science fiction story Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones, which hooked me from the second that I pulled it out of the box. I love the way that Torrey Peters writes about people and transitioning as messy and complicated, both beautiful and ugly. I have given a copy to everyone I know.

Clare (Glebe): In this collection Peters transports us to four utterly different worlds; a post-gender dystopia, a boarding school romance/tragedy, an enticing (yet dangerous) Las Vegas, and the titular novel that follows Babe, the illegal lumberjack who is preparing to attend their winter festivities as a woman. Each story is as captivating as the last, exploring different elements of gender identity and expression that kept me hooked and wishing they wouldn’t end.

Picture: Natasha Gornik

Staff Picks 2025

VICTORIA (BLACKHEATH)

Ocean Vuong has a gift for writing hard gritty stuff with tenderness and empathy. The Emperor of Gladness (Jonathan Cape & BH) tells the story of a young man battling with finding his path in life and pleasing his mother, and who forms an unlikely, but beautiful friendship with an elderly lady. An amazing book. I also loved Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Penguin) – a compelling story full of mystery, love and tragedy of a family who are caretakers of the world’s most precious seeds on a remote island near Antarctica.

ANNA (GLEBE)

Join Papa and two of his very different daughters adjusting and struggling to embrace each other and life in Australia in Salsa in the Suburbs (Puncher & Wattmann) by Alejandra Martinez. It’s a sad, funny and life-affirming tale brimming with a distinct Latin American flavour.

INGRID (GLEBE)

Gather Up Your World in One Long Breath (Powerhouse), a memoir by playwright S. Shakthidharan, is so beautifully written I want to put it in every reader’s hands. Patrick Ryan’s novel, Buckeye (Bloomsbury), set in a small American town before the Second World War, follows two families through to the bicentennial. It belongs to a different era, character driven, chronological, a pleasure to read.

JAMES (GLEBE)

The recent translations by Lauren Elkin of two of Simone de Beauvoir’s novellas – The Inseparables (released 2023) and now this year’s The Image of Her (both Vintage Arrow) – have gone a long way to revivifying this always fascinating but sometimes syntactically thorny philosopher’s reputation as a writer of fiction.

With its mid-60s Parisian setting and distillation of de Beauvoir’s great feminist classic The Second Sex, The Image of Her is a stylish and biting examination of the effect of the male gaze on three generations of women. Precise, revealing and slyly funny.

DAVID (GLEBE)

Banu Mushtak’s Heart Lamp (Scribe) is a compelling collection of stories written in Kannada language between 1990 and 2023, freshly translated, and winner of the International Booker Prize. The stories leaven the chronicle of difficult lives for women in south-west India with sharp and wry humour. Utterly original. And coincidentally, from the same part of the world, a raw and heartfelt story of her mother (and a memoir containing so much more) from Arundhati Roy’s Mother Mary Comes to Me (Hamish Hamilton). Written with disarming directness and great insight, a real treat.

RUBY (DULWICH HILL)

Catherine Chidgey’s Book of Guilt is an incredibly unsettling and captivating book. Following three identical boys as they unravel the chilling secrets surrounding their lives, this book kept me guessing until the very end. A truly magnificent and unique mystery that I couldn’t put down.

ARWEN (DULWICH HILL)

I am a wax child. I am a child made of wax. Hypnotically gothic, seeping blood and soil, Olga Ravn’s The Wax Child (Viking Nonfiction) is based on an infamous witch trial from the fastnesses of Denmark in the 17th century. Combining folklore and historical fact, this novel is a candlelit vision in the night; interred in its lengthening shadows one will find the bitter thorn of forbidden love, the cruelty of men, and the death knell of hate. Alchemical, brutal and beautiful. Out November.

TIFF (BLACKHEATH)

A TIMELY DEBUT NOVEL FROM AN EXCITING NEW VOICE IN WOMEN’S FICTION ABOUT CANCEL CULTURE AND APPEARANCE VERSUS REALITY.

‘I couldn’t stop thinking about it after I turned the last page. Clare Stephens keeps you on the hook—and doesn’t let you off!’

LIANE MORIARTY, author of Here One Moment

REFLECTIONS ON PROFOUND SAYINGS, ANCIENT AND MODERN, BY ICONIC SOCIAL RESEARCHER HUGH MACKAY.

‘Hugh Mackay is one of this country’s most perceptive social commentators.’

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

It has been raining in San Francisco for seven years. Many have left and those who choose to stay have no other choice but to watch as the earth gradually reclaims their city. Susanna Kwan’s Awake in the Floating City (Simon & Schuster) is a gorgeously written meditation on nature, beauty, art, family and belonging.

TATJANA (GLEBE)

A middle aged son and his 80-year-old mother embark on an absurdist road trip in Christian Kracht’s Eurotrash (Serpent’s Tail). She has been released from a psychiatric facility and self medicates on vodka and barbiturates. She wants to go to Africa and give away her millions; he’s dealing with childhood sexual abuse and general 20th century white privilege. They start their half-baked journey in the back of a taxi and never get beyond their native Switzerland. Despite their spiky relationship, there is a real love and tenderness between them. By the end of the book we get a poignant insight from Daniel about the frailty of ageing.

MARGARET (BLACKHEATH)

A story of individual creative vision, desire and power, set in the world of Italian Cinema in the mid-1970’s. We see the personal and political struggles faced by each of Laing’s characters as they set about the making of Fellini’s Casanova and Pasolini’s final film Saló. Olivia Laing’s The Silver Book (Hamish Hamilton) is a brilliantly written re-imagining of the time.

MORGAN (GLEBE)

Plestia Alaqad’s The Eyes of Gaza (Macmillan) is a brilliant, excoriating account of the first few months of the Israeli assault on Gaza by a young Palestinian journalist now living in Australia. It’s all very well to read newspaper reports but to read a diary written in real time is an eye-opener. Flashlight by Susan Choi (Jonathan

Cape & BH) is a beautifully written book about a Korean family in America. Love, politics, family – the section set in North Korea is also an eye-opener.

LACHLAN (DULWICH HILL)

In non-fiction I can’t go past Hampton Sides’ The Wide Wide Sea (Michael Joseph), a gripping account of James Cook’s final voyage, based on contemporary sources and the oral traditions of the people he encountered. For fiction I loved Maria Reva’s Endling (Virago), which begins with a lonely Ukrainian researcher attempting to breed critically endangered snails – and funding her lonely work by dating Westerners on “romance tours”. Brimming with ideas, dark humour, self-awareness and emotional heft, it’s the most interesting and playful experiment in fiction I’ve read this year.

MO (GLEBE)

Yael van der Wouden’s The Safekeep (Penguin) tackles complex socio-historical issues without losing any of its interpersonal intimacy. The characters are as vibrant, complicated and troubled as their environment (the Netherlands post-World War II).

DAVE Mc (GLEBE)

I recently discovered the brilliant Austrian author Marlen Haushofer, specifically her 1968 novel The Wall (Vintage Arrow). Hard to pigeonhole this one. A deceptively simple story of a woman trying to survive in the alps after an invisible wall descends nearby, cutting her off from society. A tense, gripping read. Doris Lessing and Elfriede Jelinek were fans.

SCOTT V (GLEBE)

It’s hard for me to pick between the two Niall Williams’ books I read this year, This Is Happiness and Time of the Child (both Bloomsbury). Both are amazing. Each is set in the small village of Faha in Ireland, four years apart. Most of the beloved and eccentric characters appear in both novels.The first book revolves around a friendship between a young man and an older man Christy, who arrives with the electricity that is finally being rolled out in the village. The second book sees the local doctor and his

On the Calculation of Volume I & II

Solvej Balle

Bronwyn (Blackheath): What would you do if you woke up on the 19th of November, only to discover it was still the 18th? And what would you do if you had day, after day, after day of the 18th of November? Welcome to Tara Selter’s life. Each time loop story has its own philosophy of time, space, matter and memory – a big part of the pleasure of reading the On the Calculation series (Faber Fiction) is working out the rules for this particular one. Book three is due in November 2025.

Renee (Dulwich Hill): I still have not emerged from my Calculation of Volume trance-like state; I was mesmerised by its beautiful meditations on time, memory and love. A special shoutout goes to the totally unhinged, completely bonkers Australian workplace satire Stinkbug by Sinead Stubbins (Affirm). These books had me ignoring my family and friends for days on end which is always the sign of a great read.

daughter take in an abandoned child. Each sentence Williams writes is so packed with imagery and emotion. I relished every word.

LETITIA D (DULWICH HILL)

Tender and profound, Toni Jordan’s Tenderfoot (Hachette) is a thoroughly absorbing and satisfying novel. Set in 1970s Queensland and told from the perspective of a 12-year-old-girl, this book feels like an instant Australian classic. Every page has the ring of truth and I absolutely loved it.

DASHA (DULWICH HILL)

Jennifer Trevelyan’s A Beautiful Family (Allen & Unwin) is a nostalgic, mystery-filled coming of age story, set in 1980s New Zealand. Told through the eyes of a 10-year-old girl, it perfectly captures the magic of childhood summers and the weight of family secrets. Atmospheric, heartfelt and hard to put down. I loved it!

GABRIEL (THE GLEANER)

38 Londres Street (W&N) is named for the building in Santiago de Chile where Augusto Pinochet’s secret police tortured and killed people. In this remarkable blend of court drama, investigation and memoir, Phillipe Sands sets out to connect the dictator with Walter Rauff, the inventor of Nazi Germany’s deadly mobile gas vans. After the war, Rauff settled in a small town in Patagonia, where he managed a crab meat cannery and evaded prosecution for his crimes. Based on countless interviews and impeccable research, 38 Londres Street is a gripping saga spanning continents, generations and labyrinthine legal systems.

AMY (GLEBE)

Three different realities dictated by the choice (or lack there of) of a child’s name are interwoven into Florence Knapp’s The Names (Phoenix). Domestic violence and the ramifications of it echo throughout with a beautiful mother trying to survive and protect her children. I was completely drawn into the tale of Gordon/ Julian/Bear. For anyone who has thought about the importance of a name and what bearing it has on a life.

Picture: Fredrik Sandberg

Staff Picks 2025

IMOGEN (GLEBE)

I got ankle-deep into Mother Mary Comes to Me (Hamish Hamilton) before I knew that it’d be the best book of the year, and I’m so convinced of my opinion that it feels like fact. I’d been telling everyone I knew for months before its publication about how much they were going to love it, which probably drove a few people nuts. It is impossible to exaggerate the quality of Arundhati Roy’s writing. I wanted to make a bath of her words so I could soak in it. What I will say to any customer who makes the smart decision to pick up a copy is: “Enjoy.”

AMELIA (GLEBE)

After absolutely devouring Evelyn Araluen’s 2022 poetry collection Dropbear earlier in the year, I was happy to so swiftly be able to follow it up with her latest collection The Rot (UQP). It is intimate, satirical and has a dark edge – Araluen’s voice is loud and clear, as it should be! I am also beyond excited to read Mariana Enriquez’s Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave (Granta), a reflection on her visits to cemeteries around the world. The tone and quality of Enriquez’s fiction promises this will be a macabre delight.

JACK (GLEBE)

For me, this year was about Stephen Grosz’s thoughtful, rewarding exploration of the complex realities of love and desire in Love’s Labour (Chatto & Windus), and Dylin Hardcastle’s brilliant essay (in Griffith Review 89), about their breast removal surgery, and the unexpected conversation with their great-aunt when she says to Dylin: “You listened to that boy inside of you. And now, for the rest of your life, you can be rest assured that you can trust yourself.” The examined life (and the courage to live it) feels so alive in these pages.

ISABEL (GLEBE)

I found Emma Pei Yin’s When Sleeping Women Wake (Hachette) to be beautifully crafted and an intensely atmospheric read. One becomes quickly absorbed in the lives of three women living under the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong during the early 1940s. Two of these women become involved in the resistance which is drawn from an ancient proverb: “When Sleeping Women Wake, Mountains Will Move.” It is ultimately an exploration of how romantic and familial relationships are irreversibly reshaped and redefined during periods of unrest. An impressive debut.

ALEX (GLEBE)

What do you do when the world ends, but then goes on anyway? I don’t know the answer and neither, it turns out, does the undead protagonist of Anne de Marcken’s It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over (Giramondo). A deeply moving and disturbing portrayal of someone (or something?) trying to find an answer for themselves about what makes life worth living, or life at all, after the loss of their beloved wife and the end of the world. Incredible prose. If I could have only read one book this year, this would be it.

JENNIFER (GLEBE)

I loved everything about Benjamin Wood’s Seascraper (Viking Fiction), particularly the way that Thomas Flett, a 1960s estuary shanker – read shrimp scraper – describes the landscape he inhabits. Add to this two mothers each precisely vicious in their own fashion, an unmoored film director and a drifting dreamscape world that transfixed me. Perfection.

JANE (GLEBE)

Why did people accept the Nazi regime? Why didn’t people do more to stop it? Why didn’t people do more about the persecution

This Place Kills Me

Mariko Tamaki, illus Nicole Goux

Ella (Glebe): A beautifully written graphic novel with gorgeous artwork, This Place Kills Me (Abrams Fanfare) follows the story of a queer teenage girl solving a mystery while navigating high school at a time when being queer wasn’t accepted. Tragic and bittersweet, this book is unforgettable with its alluring prose and detailed illustrations.

of the Jewish population? How did the German people let it happen at all? In Laurence Rees’ The Nazi Mind (Viking Nonfiction) he gets into the mass psychology of sophisticated propaganda and our susceptibility to it. The answers to this are more relevant than ever. This book is a stern reminder of our own urgent need for accountability in modern times.

ANDREW (GLEBE)

It almost got pipped by the exquisitely atmospheric Seascraper by Benjamin Wood (Viking Fiction) but I will plump for Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Theft (Bloomsbury). The story of three teenagers in East Africa in the 1990s. Wonderfully observed, it is also a super read that gathers pace as it moves to its stonking climax.

AUGUST (GLEBE)

In Universality (Faber Fiction), Natasha Brown has expertly synthesized the strange moment in history we find ourselves in. Instead of asking who the villain is, Brown interrogates why and how the public receives one. A sharp look at identity politics against the backdrop of post-Brexit Britain.

JODY (BLACKHEATH)

As a child raised in Pakistan, Raaza Jamshed was raised on her grandmother’s stories traced by folklore and the brutality of displacement caused by the British partition. She migrates to Australia to escape the constraints of living in Lahore but is forced to confront the violence that haunts her. What Kept You? (Giramondo) is blistering, beautiful, poetic and filled with language that shape-shifts between English, Urdu and Arabic. My other favourite was The Book of Records by Madeleine Thien (Granta) – original, mind-blowing, extraordinary.

KOKO (DULWICH HILL)

Heap Earth Upon It (Verve) is another enthralling book from Chloe Howarth, who has an unrivalled talent for capturing primal obsession. It is intense in a slow, claustrophobic kind of way, and you don’t know who or what to trust. It’s haunting.

SCOTT D (GLEBE)

Martin Thomas delves again into the murky history of anthropology in his new book Clever Men: How Worlds Collided on the Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land of 1948 (Allen & Unwin). From chaotic beginnings, interpersonal and political intrigues and the wholesale plunder of local flora and fauna to the desecration of sacred sites and theft of human bones, this joint Australian/US led expedition represents a particularly dark episode in the history of Australian anthropology. Thomas’s detailed and fast-moving account is a powerful indictment of a science largely unchecked at the time and a fascinating catalogue of the competing agendas of the various expedition members and backers.

The Four Spent the Day Together

Chris Kraus

SUMMER

In northern Minnesota, three teenagers killed an older acquaintance. Catt Greene, living nearby, becomes obsessed with the murder case. This leads her to explore the lives of the teenagers and, in turn, her own parents’ past in the Bronx and Milford, Connecticut. Written in three parts, The Four Spent the Day Together examines generational patterns in American lives and the pressures of living on the edge.

$35 $30, Scribe. Out now

On the Calculation of Volume III

Solvej Balle

Tara Selter has lived the 18th of November 1,143 times when she notices a break in the pattern: a man has changed his shirt. The man is Henry Dale, and he remembers all the days that have come before. Henry does not think that time will put itself back together and he does not think that the future will come around. But he makes Tara realise that she is no longer the same person she was before this fault in time. And he makes her believe that there may be others to find within it. The third volume in Solvej Balle’s landmark European masterpiece about a woman lost in time.

$27, Faber. Out November

The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny

Kiran Desai

Sonia, an aspiring novelist who recently completed her studies in the snowy mountains of Vermont, has returned to her family in India, haunted by a dark spell cast by an artist to whom she had once turned for intimacy and inspiration. Sunny, a struggling journalist resettled in New York City, is running from his imperious mother and the violence of his warring clan. The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is the sweeping tale of two young people navigating the many forces that shape their lives –country, class, race, history.

$35 $30, Hamish Hamilton. Out September

Songs of No Provenance

Lydi Conklin

Songs of No Provenance tells the story of Joan Vole, an indie folk singer forever teetering on the edge of fame, who flees New York after committing a shocking sexual act onstage. With the threat of an internet storm looming over her, Joan seeks refuge at a writing camp for teenagers in rural Virginia, where she’s forced to question her own toxic relationship to artmaking while finding new hope in her students and a deepening intimacy with a nonbinary artist and fellow camp staff member. Lydi Conklin boldly explores kink, shame, queer appropriation, fame hunger, cancel culture, trans nonbinary identity in this profound debut novel.

$35, Chatto & Windus. Out October

Venetian Vespers

John Banville

1899. As the new century approaches, English hack writer Evelyn Dolman marries Laura Rensselaer, the daughter of a wealthy American plutocrat. But in the midst of a mysterious rift between Laura and her father, Evelyn’s plans of a substantial inheritance are thrown into doubt. As the unhappy newlyweds travel to Venice at Palazzo Dioscuri – the ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarigo – a series of seemingly otherworldly occurrences exacerbate Evelyn’s already frayed nerves: is it just the sea mist blanketing the floating city or is he losing his mind?

$35 $30, Faber. Out now

A Guardian and a Thief

Megha Majumdar

Set over the course of one week, A Guardian and a Thief tells two stories: the story of Ma’s frantic search for the thief who stole treasured immigration documents – the key to escaping the collapsing city of Kolkata for Michigan – and the story of Boomba, the thief, whose desperation to care for his family drives him to commit a series of escalating crimes. With stunning control and command, Megha Majumdar paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of two families, each operating from a place of ferocious love and undefeated hope in the face of encroaching catastrophe.

$30, Scribner. Out October

Summer at Mount Asama

Masashi

Matsuie

In 1980s Japan, newly-graduated Toru Sakanishi joins a small, prestigious architecture firm founded by a former student of Frank Lloyd Wright. As the sweltering summer months approach, the team migrates from the bustling centre of Tokyo to the beautiful rural surroundings of Mount Asama, where several love stories are woven together and Sakanishi encounters four remarkable women who change the course of his life. Summer at Mount Asama offers a moving and elegant portrait of the clash of modernity and tradition.

$30, Indigo. Out October

ALSO OUT

Sympathy Tower

Tokyo

Rie Qudan

A propulsive, prophetic novel about the beauty of language and the nature of identity in the age of AI.

$27, Penguin. Out November

Secrets

Judi Morison

Morison’s compassionate family saga spans more than 50 years, exploring lives marked by racism, trauma and addiction.

$35, S&S Bundyi. Out now

Heap Earth Upon It

Chloe Michelle Howarth

In January 1965, the orphaned O’Leary siblings – Tom, Jack, Anna, and Peggy –arrive in Ballycrea, seeking a new beginning and concealing a troubled past. Initially met with suspicion, they find solace and acceptance with their neighbors, Bill and Betty Nevan, who offer them work and friendship. However, one of the O’Learys forms an intense attachment to this new bond, creating a dangerous dynamic proving that while secrets can be buried, feelings are far more challenging to hide. Like Howarth’s acclaimed debut, Heap Earth Upon It explores rural Irish life, claustrophobic relationships, and tangled identities, keeping readers guessing until the very end.

$33, Verve. Out October

Soyangri Book Kitchen

Kim Jee Hye

The book kitchen is more than just a place to eat or read – it’s a place which offers its guests a true escape, not just inside the pages of its many books, but in the warm embrace of an overnight bookstay. Over the course of a year, seven individuals, all at a crossroads in their lives, find their way to the kitchen. As they arrive in Soyangri, each of them will find their life subtly transformed by the magic of its books and the kindness of its people.

$35, Harvill Secker. Out October

ALSO OUT

Australian literature Pictures of You

Tony Birch

The best of acclaimed writer

Tony Birch’s short fiction from the past two decades.

$45, University of Queensland. Out now

Super-Frog Saves Tokyo

Haruki Murakami

A fully illustrated and beautifully designed special edition of Murakami’s celebrated short story.

$35, Harvill Secker. Out October

Seed

Bri Lee

Biologist Mitchell and colleague Frances dedicate one month each year to their egalitarian, scientific utopia in Antarctica. They’re completing the Anarctos Project, a secret seed vault, to insure biodiversity against humanity’s impact. When their helicopter fails to arrive and strange events occur, their faith in science wavers. If they don’t reach McMurdo Station, they face a long, dark polar winter alone. As days shorten, their perfect social experiment reveals fault lines. This is an astonishing new novel from the author of Eggshell Skull and The Work

$35 $30, S&S/Summit. Out now

A Long Winter

Colm Tóibín

After a marital argument, Miquel’s mother disappears from their Pyrenean home. With his brother away and his father ostracised, Miquel and his father must brave the winter and their mutual resentment alone. Miquel’s search for his mother is interrupted by Manolo, an orphaned servant, who offers the potential for new love and a different life as Miquel confronts his mother’s absence. A Long Winter is a poignant story of seeking love and companionship.

$30, Picador. Out now

The Long Shoe

Bob Mortimer

Matt has lost his job as a bathroom salesman and now the tenancy on his home is about to expire. To top it all off, his partner Harriet has left him. He’s hoping for a change of luck when out of the blue he is offered a job that comes with a cheap luxury flat in Harriet’s favourite building. He hopes this might be enough to tempt her back. But is she just taking a break – or is something far more sinister occurring? Fuelled by beer, soft boiled eggs and loneliness, The Long Shoe is a tour de force and Bob Mortimer’s most thrilling adventure to date.

$35 $30, Gallery. Out October

The Menu of Happiness

Hisashi Kashiwai

The Kamogawa Diner doesn’t just serve food – it revives the essence of forgotten recipes and rejuvenates cherished memories. This unique establishment is run by a father-daughter duo who act as “food detectives”, delving into the past to produce nostalgia-infused dishes for their hungry clientele. Each dish is a portal to the past, serving not just sustenance but solace and reconnection through the miracle of delicious food.

$23, Pan. Out October

Do We Deserve This?

Eleanor Elliott Thomas

Bean Halloway, the overlooked sibling in an ambitious family, is still figuring out her life. She says she has no interest in money, but that’s tested when she finds herself with a winning lottery ticket meant for her charismatic but problematic mother, Nina. Before Bean can hand it over, Nina falls into a coma after an accident. Bean and her siblings, pop star Jeremy and lawyer Genevieve, initially agree to hold the ticket until Nina wakes, but soon reconsider. With an old flame, gambling debts, an ex, and family secrets surfacing, the Halloways’ lives are about to get seriously complicated.

$35 $30, Text. Out October

One Story

Pip Finkemeyer

In the sun-drenched chaos of 2010s Silicon Valley, a tech company’s meteoric rise culminates in a devastating fall. Dot Van Jensen, the trailblazing CEO-turned-fugitive, narrates her story from a hidden corner of Indonesia. A scandal has painted her as the villain, a puppet-master who fractured democracy and paved the way for a darker future. But is the truth as cut and dried as the headlines seem to imply? One Story is a captivating look at ambition, betrayal, and the power of narrative in a world hungry for answers.

$35, Ultimo. Out now

Heart the Lover

Lily King

She was in her senior year of college when star students Sam and Yash swept her into an intoxicating world of academic fervour, rapidfire banter and raucous card games. Their lives became quickly intertwined – with friendship but also with unpredictable passions. Decades later, she is a successful writer, living a comfortable life with her husband and children, when a surprise visit brings the past crashing into the present. Heart the Lover is a celebration of literature and the life-long echoes of young love.

$33, Canongate. Out October

Will There Be Another You

Patricia Lockwood

The world might be in disarray, but for one young woman, the very weave of herself seems to have loosened. Time and memories pass straight through her body, she’s afraid of her own floorboards, and the lyrics of What Is Love play over and over in her ears. Tearing through the slippery terrains of fiction and reality, the possibility for human connection seems to beckon to her. Will There Ever Be Another You is a wild and profound investigation into what keeps us alive in unprecedented times.

$33, Bloomsbury. Out now

The Silver Book

Olivia Laing

It is September 1974. Two men meet by chance in Venice. One is a young English artist, fleeing London. The other is Danilo Donati, the magician of Italian cinema, the designer responsible for realising the spectacular visions of Fellini and Pasolini. Donati is in Venice to produce sketches for Fellini’s Casanova. A young –and beautiful – apprentice is just what he needs. The Silver Book is at once a queer love story and a noirish thriller, set in the dream factory of cinema.

$35, Hamish Hamilton. Out November

Girl Dinner

Olivie Blake

Nina Kaur, a sophomore eager to escape a difficult freshman year, seeks acceptance into The House, an exclusive sorority. She believes this will ensure her future and protect her. Meanwhile, adjunct professor Dr Sloane Hartley struggles with motherhood and a demanding husband. Invited to be The House’s academic liaison, Sloane is drawn to the sorority’s perceived perfection. As both women delve deeper into The House’s rituals, they uncover the sacrifices behind its power. Girl Dinner is a powerful and darkly fun novel about ambition, lust and eating your fill.

$35, Mantle. Out October

The School of Night

Karl Ove

Knausgaard

Kristian Hadeland, newly arrived in London, seethes with ambition and contempt. His family in Norway never understood him; his fellow photography students bore him. But he knows he and his art are destined for more. Then he meets Hans, an eccentric Dutch artist. With Hans, the future Kristian yearns for is tangible. But success comes at a price. And when Kristian does the unthinkable, will he be prepared to pay it? Electrifying and unflinching, The School of Night is a singular novel about artistic creation and human corruption.

$35, Harvill Secker. Out November

Frankie

J.M. Gutsch & Maxim Leo Meet Frankie the cat. He’s a stray who belongs to no one, and that’s just how he likes it. But one day, he crosses paths with Richard. Richard isn’t doing so well. Grieving the loss of his wife, he’s turned his back on hope and is ready to end it all. But his plans are halted when Frankie the cat is injured on his doorstep. Frankie needs help. But then, so does Richard. What Richard doesn’t know is that Frankie is no ordinary cat. This is a heart-warming and hilarious tale of grief, love, redemption and a very naughty cat.

$35, Michael Joseph. Out October

The Eleventh Hour

Salman Rushdie

Two quarrelsome old men in Chennai, India, experience private tragedy against the backdrop of national calamity. Revisiting the Bombay neighbourhood of Midnight’s Children, a magical musician is unhappily married to a multibillionaire. In an English university college, an undead academic asks a lonely student to avenge his former tormentor. These five dazzling works of fiction move between the three countries that Salman Rushdie has called home and explore what it means to approach the 11th hour of life.

$35, Jonathan Cape. Out November

ALSO OUT

Queen Esther

John Irving

A survival story and a profound exploration of identity, belonging, and the enduring impact of history on our personal lives.

$37, Scribner. Out November

Australian literature

The Soldier’s Daughter

Fiona McIntosh

Violet Nash and her father, Charlie, move to Tasmania to open a whisky distillery. As WWII begins, Charlie returns to Champagne, while Violet fights to claim his legacy.

$35, Penguin. Out now

The Wilder aisles

Janice Wilder started working in the book trade in Brisbane in the 70s. She began working at Gleebooks 27 years ago, and is now finally retiring at the age of 83. Here are her recollections on a life well-read.

My first time as a bookseller was in a small shop called the Book Nook in an arcade in Brisbane. I was at lunch at a friend’s house when someone mentioned that a friend of his was opening a bookshop and needed someone to run it. Someone suddenly said, “Get Janice – she reads a lot.” That was the start of my book-selling career.

The arcade led to a railway station. In some ways a great location, in others not so much, as people were either going to work or going home, mostly in a hurry. Nevertheless, the shop worked, and I had two happy years there. I remember my first best seller, it was Chariot of the Gods? by Erich von Daniken, which was an amazing best seller. I didn’t have time to unpack it, I just sold it from the carton! When I look back at this time I can’t believe that I did this, working in a bookshop when I was so young and inexperienced. Remember there were no tyros, people mainly used cash, so that was another thing to learn, handling money! All in all, I think I was very lucky to have this opportunity.

After that I worked at a couple of different places, including Brisbane’s first feminist bookshop, before beginning work at Barkers, run by George Barker, Charles Conlan and David Ferrett. George was very involved in selling, always on the floor, chatting to regular customers. I enjoyed working there as it was my first time working in a large shop. Two things stand out in my memory. One day a rep asked me to lunch, and after making sure there were enough people around to look after customers I accepted. I had barely taken my seat when George walked in and saw me. He said in a very loud voice across the restaurant, “Janice who’s on the floor?” After assuring him that it was covered, we sat down to eat! The other is when, during the devastating floods of 1974,

The one place I had never thought I would work was Gleebooks, but there I was, sitting in my place, under the stairs, doing customer orders and finding books for customers. It was very exciting “

he expected us to work with battery-powered lamps and torches. I remember going into the city and standing on a bridge looking at West End completely covered in water, like a great big lake. I was one of the lucky ones: apart from some rain getting into my cookbook collection, I was fine.

The last bookshop I worked at in Brisbane was Angus & Robertson. They had two stores, one in the city, and one in Fortitude Valley. I seemed to spend my day on trams, going up and from shop to shop, as I was the manager of both shops. It was a really great place to work. Times were different then and we had a lot of freedom to run the shop the way we thought best. Five staff members, including myself, lived together in a big house in Ascot, a rather upmarket suburb. It was rather like being in college; we shared everything and had lots of fun. If we were bored in the evening someone would say, let’s go into the shop and change

Janice and her children (from left) Gabriel, Timothy and Jane in Brisbane in the 70s and at Grahame’s books in Sydney in the 80s.

the windows and the displays, so off we would go. After a while, I moved back to Sydney, where I grew up, and began looking for a job. I knew exactly where I wanted to work, so gathered up my courage, and I went to the Pocket & Technical Bookshop and asked the remarkable Jim Thorburn if he needed anyone. It was a very short interview, mainly consisting of: when can you start? This job was an altogether different experience for me. For a start there was Jim. An amazing character, he had such an incredible memory. The back room was full of books stacked high, and I remember that if a title wasn’t on the shelf. Jim would go out the back and find a copy.

It was a non-fiction bookshop, which was very new to me, and if the lovely Barbara Otton hadn’t taken me under her wing, I don’t think I would have survived. There was so much to learn and we had some rather daunting customers, including Barry Jones, the politician quiz king, whose driver circled the block while Barry made his choices, and Angus Young of AC/DC, who bought a thesaurus. Some younger people couldn’t believe that I had served him. They were quite envious! As I said, this was a great experience, and again my book selling knowledge was vastly improved.

One day a rep told me that I should apply for a job at Grahame’s, a bookshop on the corner of Pitt and Hunter streets in Sydney, so another remarkable experience began. Another amazing boss, Selwa Anthony, another very good general bookshop.

At one stage there were three stores on Pitt Street and I worked in all of them at one time or the other. We had quite a lot of visiting authors, including Warwick Capper who played for the Sydney Swans, that was a bit of fun. Also the lovely Lauren Bacall, looking so relaxed and so friendly. I must say that I enjoyed my time there and again I increased my knowledge.

Gleebooks comes calling

After this happy time, I became quite unwell and didn’t work for some time. One day my phone rang and it was David Gaunt asking me if I would like to talk about working at Gleebooks. I thought if I was going to work again this would be the place to start. I knew Gleebooks of course, everybody did and I knew some of the people that worked there. A group used to go to the Forest Lodge Hotel for a drink on Friday nights and sometimes I would meet them there. The one place I had never thought I would ever work was Gleebooks, but there I was, sitting in my place, under the stairs, doing customer orders and finding books for customers. It was a very exciting place to work, and my time at the Pocket and Technical was not wasted, as we had so many academic customers and people with various specialties.

Working at Gleebooks was like a badge of honour. I remember once sitting at high table, in a borrowed gown, in the dining hall at Trinity College, Melbourne University, thinking why was I having dinner with these people, and not knowing what to talk about. When someone asked me what I did, and I said that I worked at Gleebooks – then it was a different story. David’s comment when I told him, was very blunt: “I wish they would buy some books.”

I could write a lot about how my time at Gleebooks has been so very special. I am so thankful to David for rescuing me from a life on the sofa in front of the television, and I am grateful for all the wonderful people I worked with over the many years. I also thank Roger Mackell for always being so helpful when I was so new. Working at Gleebooks was like a dream come true, although I didn’t really know I had that dream until I started.

There are so many stories to tell about Gleebooks, and when I have my retirement gathering, maybe I will tell some.

Happy 50th birthday Gleebooks!

Janice Wilder

This woman’s work

Drusilla Modjeska’s A Woman’s Eye, Her Art examines how six extraordinary women artists of the 20th century reframed the narrative through their art and lives. In this extract, she examines the life of surrealist Claude Cahun, born Lucy Schwob, who exposed the masquerades of femininity in her groundbreaking work.

During their first years in Paris, Claude Cahun – set on a future as a writer for the future – rewrote the stories she’d been told as a child: the women of myth and bible and fairy story who coaxed girls into becoming the women society wants. Eve and her apple, Beauty and her beast, Cinderella and her prince. She used her pen to lift the masks from Judith and Penelope, Delilah and Salomé, giving them each a voice, speaking in the first person to take control of their stories. A warning to girls – ‘To all young girls, past, present and future’ – against being taken in by the tales they’ve been told. And certainly not by a prince.

Tricksters, all of them.

Looking back to look forward, it was a project that leapt her beyond her performing aunt, who had taken the role of Sappho in a garden performance of a play by Natalie Barney, back when Lucy Schwob was still at school. Sappho of Lesbos, beloved of that generation for her love of women. It was a preference that had been tempered in literature all the way back to Ovid by giving Sappho taste also – or instead – for men. In Ovid’s version, Sappho’s love shines on Phaon the ferryman, and when he turns her down for another, she throws herself from the Leucadian cliffs. Natalie Barney wasn’t having any of that, and instead has Sappho kill herself not because of Phaon but because her true love is Hira, the one he chose in her stead.

She died for the love of a woman. Claude Cahun’s Sappho the Misunderstood is a proud artist who attracts the attentions of both women and men. When adulation becomes a distraction, she decides on Phaon, only to find that he is critical not only of the women who admired her, but also of her art. When he complains about her androgynous choice of clothes, Sappho – “the arbiter of lesbian elegance” – is furious. So furious that Phaon, “afraid” and “intimidated”, promptly leaves the country. An abandonment of a different order.

Instead of throwing herself into the “violet sea” – as expected of an abandoned woman – Claude Cahun’s Sappho stages her death with all the props of modern cinema, appearing to vanish into the watery beyond – living on, not for the sake of love, as myth expects, but for her art, her poetry.

Who can a woman be without love? What can she become? A creator! A poet!

Gertrude Stein – that mighty presence in 1920s Paris – said that the problem with most writers and artists was that they were 40, 50 years behind where they were, caught in old ways in order to please the market. Contemporariness. That was Stein’s word, and she prized it. It took the artist of the moment, the exceptional artist, to know it, paint it, write it – and then they have to wait 40, 50 years for everyone else to catch up. Like Picasso. Like her they were the geniuses; Stein used the word of herself, she didn’t suffer from feminine modesty, or any modesty at all. Only Picasso could rival her – and when it came to him, no one was laughing at Les

Desmoiselles d’Avignon 10 – or even five – years after her brother Leo had turned it down, foolish man.

Gertrude Stein regarded herself as the Cézanne of the word, breaking up the sentences, getting rid of nouns; if there was to be movement – it was all about movement – then she’d do without commas, she didn’t like them, they stopped the flow of the sentence. Her idea of her own contemporariness was in her words.

And so was Claude Cahun’s. To be contemporary was her aim, so contemporary she’d be out the front of contemporary – though for her it wasn’t a matter of commas; she liked them, and used a lot, despite Gertrude Stein’s preferences – and Albert-Birot’s, whose novel Grabinoulor was written without punctuation at all.

In a crowning irony, Claude Cahun’s self-consciousness as a writer, a writer for that exact moment, her contemporariness, had the reverse effect, and Aveux non avenus is now rarely read. But her photo-compositions, hers and Marcel Moore’s, did have to wait 50 years, more, to be “seen”, when a small selection was shown in private exhibitions in New York and Paris in 1992, and at London’s ICA in 1994, alongside Tacita Dean and Virginia Nimarkoh.

The first major retrospective of Claude Cahun’s work was at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1995.” Claude Cahun was totally unknown to all of us,” Lucy Lippard writes in an essay for Inverted Odysseys, an exhibition – and accompanying book – that brought Cahun to view in the company of Cindy Sherman and Maya Deren. It was there, in the exhibition catalogue, that Heroines English. It was 1999.

Drusilla Modjeska’s A Woman’s Eye, Her Art (Penguin) is a Gleebooks summer special, $50 (rrp $55). Drusilla appears at Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe on Wednesday October 29, from 6pm. Tickets are $15; bookings are essential, phone 9660 2333.

Legacy

Chris Hammer

Someone is targeting Martin Scarsden. They bomb his book launch and shoot up his hometown. Fleeing for his life, he learns that nowhere is safe, not even the outback. The killers are closing in, and it’s all he can do to survive.

Martin finds his fate linked to the disgraced ex-wife of a football icon, a fugitive wanted for a decades-old murder, and two 19th-century explorers from a legendary expedition. This is Martin Scarsden’s most perilous, challenging and intriguing assignment yet.

$35 $30, Allen & Unwin. Out now

My Grandfather, the Master Detective

Masateru Konishi

As a lover of classic crime stories, it’s perhaps no surprise that 27-yearold schoolteacher Kaede encounters everyday mysteries more often than your average person. Solving them is another matter, though, and the person she always heads to for guidance is her beloved grandfather – who, despite having dementia, retains a keen sharpness of mind. From impossible locked-room murders to confounding missing person cases, the granddaughter and grandfather team up to solve mysteries. All the while, a shadow slowly closes in on Kaede, posing a more insidious threat.

$23, Macmillan. Out November

Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief

Benjamin Stevenson

I’ve spent the last few years solving murders. But a bank heist is a new one, even for me. I’ve never been a hostage before. The doors are chained shut. No one in or out. Which means that when someone in the bank is murdered, hostages become suspects. Turns out, more than one person planned to rob the bank today. You can steal more from a bank than just money. Who is stealing what? And are they willing to kill for it?

$35 $28, Penguin. Out now

Murder in the Cathedral

Kerry Greenwood

When Phryne Fisher is invited to Bendigo to witness the investiture of her old friend Lionel, who is being made a bishop, her expectations of the solemn and dignified ceremony do not include a murder. Applying her quick wits and magnetic charm, Phryne and her expanding team of sleuths discover murky layers of church politics, social scandals, business scams and blackmail. Soon, various suspects begin to populate a long list, each with excellent motives to kill.

$35, Allen & Unwin. Out November

Mischance Creek

Garry Disher

Hirsch isn’t usually called on for emergency roadside assistance. But with all the other services fully stretched, he’s the one who has to grind his way out beyond the Mischance Creek ruins to where some clueless tourist has run into a ditch. But Annika Nordrum isn’t exactly a tourist. She’s searching for the body of her mother, who went missing seven years ago. And the only sense in which she’s clueless is the lack of information unearthed by the cops who phoned in the original investigation.

$35 $30, Text. Out September

The Widow

John Grisham

Simon Latch is a small-town lawyer struggling with debt, gambling issues and an impending divorce. But when Eleanor Barnett, an 85-year-old widow, visits his office to secure a new will, it seems his luck has finally changed: she claims she’s sitting on a $20 million fortune. But when she is hospitalised after a car accident, Eleanor’s story begins to crack. As events spiral out of control, Latch finds himself on trial for a crime he swears he didn’t commit: murder. The Widow is a classic Grisham courtroom drama combined with a baffling murder mystery.

$35, Hodder & Stoughton. Out October

Franz Josef

Alan Carter

The tiny South Island town of Franz Josef is perched precariously on New Zealand’s Alpine Fault. It already faces devastating earthquakes, floods and landslides. And now it harbours a killer. When a body is discovered suspended in a glacier, detectives Nick Chester and Latifa Rapata are sent to investigate. More victims surface, as does a web of corruption stretching from the international aid industry to the blood-steeped fields of a civil war. This atmospheric thriller plunges readers into a blood-soaked crevasse of natural disasters, international intrigue and calculated murder.

$35, Fremantle. Out November

ALSO OUT

The Lake

Jørn Lier Horst

Detective William Wisting is back on the case in the latest instalment in Jørn Lier Horst’s Scandi noir series.

$35, Michael Joseph Out November

Silent Bones

Val McDermid

DCI Karen Pirie untangles a web of lies that connects murder cases with Scotland’s rich and powerful.

$35, Sphere. Out October

SUMMER SPECIAL

SUMMER SPECIAL

O’Keefe

David Whish-Wilson

Fresh from his exploits on the high seas, undercover operative Paul Cutler assumes a new identity to become Paul O’Keefe. Paul is tasked with stepping into the shadows to reveal the mysteries surrounding a surge of Mexican cartel meth flooding Australian streets. Assigned to infiltrate a newly appointed security company at Fremantle Port, he discovers a clandestine world of off-the-books operations, and a business front that goes far beyond mere security. There’s a dangerous game afoot over who gets control of the port’s smuggling operations, and O’Keefe is caught in the crossfire. $35, Fremantle. Out now

Benbecula

Graeme Macrae Burnet

On the 9th of July 1857, a 25-year-old labourer named Angus MacPhee bludgeoned to death his parents and aunt in the crofting community on the remote Hebridean island of Benbecula.

Five years later, Angus’s older brother Malcolm recounts the events leading up to the murders while trying to keep a grip on his own sanity. Malcolm is ostracised by the community and haunted by this gruesome episode in his past, but is he as innocent as he seems? Benbecula is a tale of darkness, violence and madness, leavened by moments of black humour and absurdity. $33, Text. Out November

ALSO OUT

The Samurai Detectives: Volume 1

Shotaro Ikenami

A twisting, page-turning portrayal of one of the most intriguing, evocative periods in the history of Japan. $27, Penguin. Out November

The Final Score

Don Winslow

Six all-new short novels written with Winslow’s trademark literary style, trenchant wit, and incisive characterisation. $35, Hemlock. Out January

Shadow Ticket

Thomas Pynchon

PI Hicks McTaggart has been tasked with locating and bringing back the heiress of a Wisconsin cheese fortune. By the time he catches up with her he will find himself entangled with Nazis, Soviet agents, British counterspies, swing musicians and outlaw motorcyclists. Surrounded by history he has no grasp on and can’t see his way around in or out of, the only bright side for Hicks is that it’s the dawn of the Big Band Era and as it happens he’s a pretty good dancer. A riotous and continenthopping journey from a visionary storyteller.

$35, Jonathan Cape. Out October

The Killing Stones

Ann Cleeves

When a violent storm descends upon Orkney, the body of Archie Stout is left in its wake. An unusual murder weapon, a Neolithic stone bearing ancient inscriptions, is found discarded nearby. Detective Jimmy Perez counted Archie as a childhood friend, so this case is more personal than most. Now living in Orkney with his partner, Willow, and their son, Perez is soon drawn into the lives of the islanders, many of whom harbour dark secrets. Here, in these ancient lands where history runs deep, Perez must discern the truth from legend before a desperate killer strikes again.

$35 $30, Macmillan. Out September

The Detective

Matthew Reilly

For 150 years, women have been going missing. And all of the investigators who went in search of them – from 1877 to the present day – have disappeared, too. Now Sam Speedman is on the case. Brilliant, direct and disarming, Sam is not your average private detective. But then again, this isn’t your average case. Set in the darkest corners of the American South, tapping into hot-button issues that simmer beneath the surface of the modern United States, this is Matthew Reilly writing faster and bolder than ever before.

$45, Macmillan. Out October

Last One Out

Jane Harper

In a dying town, Ro Crowley waits for her son on the evening of his 21st birthday. But Sam never comes home. Five long years later, Ro returns to Carralon Ridge for the annual memorial of Sam’s disappearance. The skeletal community is now an echo of itself, having fractured under the pressure of the coalmine operating on its outskirts. Only a few people remain. If the truth is to be found in that town, does it lie among them?

A dazzling new thriller from the author of The Dry

$35 $30, Macmillan. Out October

The Watchnight

Michael Burge

In 1852, aspiring lay preacher Charles Muncey records the sins of a remote NSW Methodist community during a week-long revival. Pardoned convict Thomas Gunson guides them, Irish emigre Oona Farry makes candles, and even righteous hosts Jacob and Anne Temple harbour secrets. When Californian preacher Charisma Groom’s watchnight mass on the edge of wild country reveals illicit sex and sudden death, the congregation hunts the devil through the dangerous Fish River Caves. Muncey must use his fledgling moral compass to uncover the killer.

$30, Histria. Out now

Sharp Force

Patricia Cornwell

Scarpetta receives a chilling call. The Phantom Slasher has struck again. The serial killer has terrorised Northern Virginia for months. His pattern is to stalk with a sophisticated technology that enables him to invade his victims’ homes. They wake up to a ghostlike hologram before being murdered in their beds. Scarpetta is summoned to a notorious psychiatric hospital where two people have been brutalised, one of them from Scarpetta’s past – and it soon becomes apparent that she could be next.

$35, Sphere. Out October

Exit Strategy

Lee Child and Andrew Child

Jack Reacher will make three stops today. Not all of them were planned. First, a Baltimore coffee shop, where a swift interruption from customers and a brushing encounter in the doorway leave him checking his cash and passport and finding nothing missing. Second, buying a coat, he discovers a handwritten plea for help in his pocket. Third, intrigued, he follows the message wherever the road leads, determined to find out more.

$35, Bantam. Out November

Mad Mabel

Sally Hepworth

In 1959, at just 15 years of age, Mabel Waller became the youngest Australian in history to be convicted of murder. In 2025, on a quiet Melbourne lane, an elderly man is found dead by his neighbour, 81-year-old Elsie Fitzpatrick. No one suspects any foul play. Until they discover Elsie’s past. When the police open a new investigation and the media descend upon her, the elderly Mabel decides it’s time to set the record straight. In a world first, at the age of 81, Mabel Waller is speaking. $35, Macmillan. Out now

The Murder at World’s End

Ross Montgomery

In 1910 Cornwall, the Viscount of Tithe Hall, obsessed with an impending apocalypse via Halley’s Comet, seals up his home, only to be murdered by his own ancestral crossbow. All suspicion falls on Stephen Pike, the new under-butler just out of Borstal. His unlikely ally is the foulmouthed, sharp 80-year-old matriarch, Miss Decima Stockingham. Together, they must navigate secrets and grudges to find the killer.

$35, Viking. Out November

The Midnight Timetable

Bora Chung

The acclaimed Korean horror and sci-fi writer’s goosebump-inducing new book follows an employee on the night shift at the Institute. They soon learn why some employees don’t last long at the centre. The handkerchief in Room 302 once belonged to the late mother of two sons, whose rivalry imbues the handkerchief with undue power. The cursed sneaker down the hall is stolen by a live-streaming employee, who later finds he can’t escape its tread. A cat in Room 206 reveals the crimes of its former family. Equal parts bone-chilling, wryly funny, and deeply political, The Midnight Timetable is a masterful work of literary horror.

$30, Scribe. Out now

Cinder House

Freya Marske

You think you know Cinderella’s story: the ball, the magical shoes, the handsome prince. You’re halfway right, and all-the-way wrong. Ella is a haunting. Murdered at 16, her furious ghost is trapped in her father’s house, invisible to everyone except her stepmother and stepsisters. And at the stroke of every midnight, she finds herself back on the staircase where she died. Until she forges a wary friendship with a fairy charm-seller, and makes a bargain for three nights of almost-living freedom. Freedom that means she can finally be seen.

$30, Tor. Out October

The Sky of Sacrifice

Rosalia Aguilar Solace

Suttaru has been defeated, and the forces of evil have retreated. As the Great Library of Tomorrow prepares for a momentous celebration, Nu embraces newfound love and her role as the Sage of Truth. But when a savage act sends shock waves through the Great Library, the return of an old friend brings to light a hidden relic from the Book of Wisdom’s past. Nu and Robin must travel the realms in search of a mysterious figure from the past. Meanwhile, Veer and his companions brave a realm of darkness and despair. The highly anticipated sequel in the stunning epic fantasy series.

$35, Text. Out November

ALSO OUT

Fantasy

Alchemised

SenLinYu

A woman with missing memories fights to survive a war-torn world of necromancy and alchemy – and the man tasked with unearthing the deepest secrets of her past.

$37, Michael Joseph. Out now Horror

Darker Days

Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Chilling new folk horror from the author of Hex $35, Bantam. Out February

Children

Staff Picks

Rachel’s books of the year

Into the Bewilderness

Gus Gordon

$25, Figment Books

Luis is happy living in the woods but wonders if there is more to life, and so sets off on an adventure with his friend Pablo to the bright lights of the city. This is visual storytelling at its very finest, it’s a work of art, an intro to philosophy and an absolute comedic masterpiece. Perfect for seven-year-olds and 99-yearolds and everyone in between.

Other delights

It has been a super year for children’s publishing, so even though Gus Gordon book is my very favourite there are a host of books for all ages that have been standouts for the year.

There have been some awesome books to get reluctant readers excited about reading and Mega Rich Guinea Pigs by Kate and Jol Temple ($17, HarperCollins, out October) and Worst Pets Ever by Matt Cosgrove and Eva Amores (see listing) have all the appeal, all the LOLs and can be shared with the whole family!

Fav picture books have been Marc Martin’s Dawn ($28, Walker Books), for its stunning artwork and the reminder to stop and notice the beauty around us and James Foley’s BigFoot vs Yeti ($25, Fremantle) for talking about

PICTURE BOOKS

Bowerbird Bloom

Aura

Parker

I am a dancer. Flitting, floating, in the purple rain. Growing, changing, and collecting blue. But what happens when you want too much? Join the bowerbird chicks in this tale of family and forgiveness, from the best-selling author of Bowerbird Blues This is a story of love and tenderness with universal themes of growing up, making mistakes and making peace. $20, Scholastic. Out November

conflict in a fun and fabulous way. Run by Sarah Armstrong ($19, Hardie Grant) leads the crowd of awesome books that have been released for tweens and Kate Emery has nailed the Funny YA murder mystery brief with her magnificent A Murder Is Going Down ($20, Allen & Unwin).

And finally the perfect gift to recommend to anyone who loves books is the Gifts of Reading for the Next Generation by Jennie Orchard ($35, Scribe) a wonderful collection of essays on nurturing a passion for reading from some of the worlds best literary legends.

Subscribe to the children’s mailing list by reaching out to rachel@gleebooks.com.au and check out our Insta @gleebooks_kids

A Song for the King

Katrina Nannestad, illus Freya Blackwood

Netta the donkey loves to sing with her friends, Esther the sheep and Uzi the camel. They frolic around town from dawn till dusk, braying, bleating and gurgling. But sadly, not everyone likes to listen. A heartwarming and humorous retelling of the traditional nativity story, told from the viewpoint and “singing voices” of the baby animals at the inn.

$25, ABC. Out now

The Great Bear

Annie Booker

Since the dawn of time, the Great Bear has patrolled the oceans, protecting the Earth and her animals and overseeing the delicate balance of life. But now, one creature is changing everything. And the Great Bear cannot stand by. Debut author and illustrator Annie Booker has created a breathtaking work of art with the feel of a timeless myth.

$30, Two Hoots. Out December

A full house for the launch of This Bird Launch with Astred Hicks and Holly Parsons.

PICTURE BOOKS

Everyday Bean (Tiny Bean’s Big Adventures, Book #1)

Stephanie Graegin

Meet Bean, a very tiny hedgehog. She loves ghosts, swings and a stuffie called Clem. Meet Bean’s grandma. She loves strawberries, sweaters and tiny Bean burritos. In 10 tiny stories we follow Bean and her grandmother through adventures of the everyday. Bean loses her bad mood in a meadow and Grandma thinks she sees a ghost (don’t worry, it’s just Bean!). There’s even a story with giant strawberries. This is the perfect gift for little (and big) readers and hedgehog admirers everywhere.

$33, Tundra. Out now

My Friend, Billy Whiskers

David Litchfield

My Friend, Billy Whiskers is a playful, heart-warming tale about the magic of imaginary friends, brimming with energy and adventure. Celebrate the fun, mischief, and comfort of friendship with awardwinning author-illustrator David Litchfield.

$25, Frances Lincoln. Out November

EARLY READERS

Adventures of Pongo and Stink

Lisa Nicol, illus Karen Blair

Pongo and Stink are FED UP with living in a pigsty. They want to live a life of luxury, all cosy in the farmhouse, getting loving pats from Farmer Nic while eating scones and jam on toast – just like their tormentor, Rollo the dog. When Pongo has the audacious idea of dressing up as pups, the two piggies set out to chase their dreams. But will the wily fox scupper their plans? A roll-in-the-mud adventure story about two piggies who LOVE food, but bite off more than they can chew.

$20, Penguin. Out October

Locked Up! (Worst Pets Ever! Book 1)

Eva Amores, illus Matt Cosgrove

Captain Fluffykins, Nickers and Brutus are the newest recruits locked up at the Worst Pets Ever Obedience School. There are so many rules! The daily schedule is a nightmare. The teachers are terrible. Don’t even mention the food! And the other students are all kinds of disturbing. The only option for the trio is to team up and make a great escape!

$16, Scholastic. Out November

AGES 9-12

Lost Evangeline

Kate DiCamillo, illus Sophie Blackall

A shoemaker adopts tiny Evangeline, but his wife, fearing a bewitchment, abandons her. Lost but resourceful, Evangeline, aided by various encounters (including a disdainful cat), seeks her way home. A captivating original fairy tale set in The Puppets of Spelhorst and The Hotel Balzaar universe, with a colour illustration and gilded edges. $25, Walker. Out November

The Experiment

Rebecca Stead

The Experiment is a fast-paced adventure –with aliens – that asks universal questions about how we figure out who we want to be, whether it’s ever too late to change, and the importance of friendship. This fast-paced coming-of-age story is ideal for any kid who’s ever felt like the odd one out. $18, Text. Out now

Neighbourhood Nest

Sarah Jane Lightfoot

Maggie the magpie is very surprised when she finds an extra egg in her nest. Whose egg could it be? Does it belong to the kookaburras at the end of the path? Or the galahs by the oval? Or maybe the rainbow lorikeets in the gum trees? Maggie is on a mission across the sky and through the neighbourhood to find the egg’s family. Neighbourhood Nest is a celebration of nature and an invitation to bird-watch in our own backyards.

$25, Affirm. Out now

NONFICTION

Mega!

Laura Holloway, illus Liz Duthie

A long time ago, Australia looked very different. Known then as Sahul, it was home to giant venomous lizards, marsupial lions and everything in between. Mega! delivers megafauna facts, changes to Australia’s landmass, and the role of palaeontology in a casual, playful narrative. Rendered in painterly detail, these enormous creatures will spark the curiosity of old and young readers alike. $25, Wild Dog. Out October

TEEN

What Have they Done to Liza McLean

Amy Doak

Scholarship student

Meg McLean attends elite Douglas College with her younger sister, Liza. But Liza’s erratic behavior jeopardises Meg’s success, until one day it’s so extreme Meg knows something is wrong. Wealthy student Benedict Hargreaves (the Fourth), seemingly immune to the school’s strict code, might help Meg, or he might be part of the mysterious “they” controlling everything. Dark academia meets The Stepford Wives in this new YA mystery thriller from the author of Eleanor Jones Is Not a Murderer $20, Penguin. Out October

Nonfiction

BIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIR

Average at Best

Astrid Jorgensen

As the creator of Pub Choir®, Astrid has performed on stages around the world, rubbed shoulders with prime ministers and celebrities, and has taught hundreds of thousands of people how to work together in literal harmony. Along the way, she low-key became the best at something, while sometimes feeling the worst. This joyful, inspired memoir traverses the divide between confidence and doubt, performance and authenticity. It’s an imperfect perfectionist’s account of how all of it counts in the end.

$35, Simon & Schuster. Out now

What Have I Done?

Ben Elton

Sixty-five years in the making, this frank, forthright and hugely entertaining autobiography takes a deep dive into Ben’s life and times. He reveals the true stories behind iconic hits such as The Young Ones, Blackadder and Upstart Crow, recounting his life from his Catford childhood and being the BBC’s youngest ever sitcom writer at 21 right up to the present day. Alongside unique insights into his ground-breaking work, Ben talks honestly and compellingly about his personal and professional relationships with two generations of brilliant friends, inspiring contemporaries, occasional foes, and the times in which they all lived. $37, Macmillan. Out October

ALSO OUT

Quentin Bryce

Juliet

Rieden

Tracing the triumphs and the barriers as Quentin shattered glass ceilings, this biography reveals the woman behind the high offices she held.

$55, Penguin. Out October

Crash of the Heavens

Douglas Century

The remarkable story of Hannah Senesh and the only military mission to rescue Europe’s Jews during WWII.

$37, Scribe. Out November

Book of Lives

Margaret Atwood

Raised by scientifically minded parents, Atwood spent most of each year in the wild forest of northern Quebec – a vast playground for her entomologist father and independent, resourceful mother. From this unconventional start, Atwood unfolds the story of her life, linking key moments to the books that have shaped our literary landscape, from the cruel school year that would become Cat’s Eye to the unease of 1980s Berlin, where she began The Handmaid’s Tale. In pages alive with the natural world, reading and books and major political turning points, we meet poets, bears, Hollywood stars and larger-than-life characters straight from the pages of an Atwood novel.

$70 $53, Chatto & Windus. Out November

Funny Thing, Getting Older

Michael Morpurgo

One of our most beloved novelists shares his reflections from a lifetime of writing stories about the world. Here, collected for the first time on Michael’s 82nd birthday, are his thoughts on nature, childhood, writing, peace and war, and getting older. Some are deeply personal, some political, others in between. And woven in amongst them you will find a play, a poem or two, and even a few stories. Full of wonder, gentle humour and sharp observation, Funny Thing, Getting Older is a book to treasure. $35, Hodder. Out October

Vagabond

Tim Curry

Actor, rock‘n’roll singer, the prince of Halloween, confusing sex symbol. Many labels have been given to the inimitable Tim Curry over the years. All are true, and yet none are quite right. Here, for the first time, Curry reveals the raucous and true story of the man who has captivated audiences on stage and screen for over 50 years. From iconic roles as Frank N Furter, Wadsworth, and Pennywise the Clown, to brushes with the likes of Ian McKellen, Andy Warhol and even Kermit the Frog, Vagabond is a fascinating and riotous portrait of one the most enigmatic performers of our time.

$55 $45, Century. Out October

How to End a Story

Helen

Garner

Spanning two decades – from the publication of her lightning-rod debut novel in the late 70s, to the throes of a consuming affair in the late 80s, and the messiness and pain of a disintegrating marriage in the late 90s – Helen Garner’s diaries reveal the life of one of the world’s greatest writers. Devastatingly honest and disarmingly funny, How to End a Story is a portrait of loss, betrayal, and the sheer force of a woman’s anger – but also of hard work and resilience, moments of hope and joy, the immutable ties of motherhood, and the regenerative power of a room of one’s own.

$60 $50, Text. Out November

Destination Moon

Kate Reid

At 13, Kate Reid already knew exactly where she was headed: a career in Formula 1. But after earning a degree in aerospace engineering and taking up a coveted position at one of the top F1 teams in the UK, Kate discovered that the reality didn’t live up to the dream. The pursuit of perfection that had once made her reach for the moon now sent her spiralling into a lifethreatening battle against depression and anorexia. From Monaco to Melbourne via Paris’s patisseries, Destination Moon is an open-hearted memoir about her journey from Formula 1 to opening the worldfamous Lune Croissanterie.

$50 $40, Simon & Schuster. Out now

BIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIR

The Man Who Changed the Way We Read

Jeremy Lewis

By founding Penguin Books in 1935 and popularising the paperback, Allen Lane not only changed publishing in Britain, he was also at the forefront of a social and cultural revolution. Lane’s books gave millions of people access to what had previously been the preserve of a wealthy few; they alerted the public to the threat of Nazi Germany, and Penguin itself became a cherished national institution, much like the BBC, while at the same time challenging the status quo through the famous Lady Chatterley case. This is the spellbinding story of how a complex, highly fallible man used his vision to change the world.

$25, Penguin. Out October

Bread of Angels

Patti Smith

The most intimate of Smith’s memoirs, Bread of Angels takes us through her teenage years where the first glimmers of art and romance take hold. Arthur Rimbaud and Bob Dylan emerge as creative heroes and role models as Patti starts to write poetry, then lyrics, merging both into the iconic songs and recordings such as Horses and Easter. As Smith suffers profound losses, grief and gratitude are braided through years of caring for her children, rebuilding her life after the death of her husband, Fred Sonic Smith.

$35 $30, Bloomsbury. Out November

Defiance

Bob Brown

For half a century, Bob Brown has been standing up to the powerful interests who would put profit before the planet. In Defiance, he draws on this experience to inspire a new generation of individual and collective action. He reflects on the people and places that have shaped him, celebrates the irreplaceable beauty and value of nature and shares what motivates him to keep fighting. He considers the challenges facing nature’s defenders – hostile corporate lobbyists, vilification in the press, the powerful pull of consumerism – and shows how courage, persistence and community can defeat them all. Told with Brown’s trademark warmth and humour, these stories will galvanise, uplift and inspire.

$37, Black Inc. Out September

Finding My Way

Malala Yousafzai

Thrust onto the public stage at 15 years old after the Taliban’s brutal attack on her life, Malala quickly became an international icon known for bravery and resilience. But away from the cameras and crowds, she spent years struggling to find her place in an unfamiliar world. In Finding My Way, Malala traces her path from high school loner to reckless college student to a young woman at peace with her past. Through candid, often messy moments like nearly failing exams, getting ghosted and meeting the love of her life, Malala reminds us that real role models aren’t perfect – they’re human.

$35 $30, W&N. Out October

Joyride

Susan Orlean

Joyride chronicles Susan Orlean’s life and career, from her early journalism days in alt-weeklies to her work alongside media icons. The book explores her curiosity, taking readers from the ordinary to the extraordinary, such as profiling a 10-year-old boy or a woman with 27 tigers. More personal than previous works, Orlean shares her journey through marriage, parenthood, loss, and confronting mortality, while also touching on Hollywood adaptations of her work. Infused with her signature warmth and wit, Joyride is a must-read for anyone seeking to build a creative life.

$35, Atlantic. Out November

Oliphant

Roland Perry

Australian physicist Sir Mark Oliphant led the lab that discovered how to build the atomic bomb. He shared this research with J. Robert Oppenheimer – a decision both regretted. Oliphant also developed radar, crucial for Britain’s defence during the war. Post-war, facing KGB scandals within his team, his anti-US nuclear stance led to CIA suspicion and a US entry ban. Roland Perry’s Oliphant: the Australian genius who developed radar and showed Oppenheimer how to build the bomb traces his life from Adelaide, academic success, the Manhattan Project and establishing the Australian National University, to his controversial role as governor of South Australia. The book reveals Oliphant’s moral reckoning after the bomb, his advocacy for peace and disarmament.

$35, Allen & Unwin. Out now

Raise Your Soul

Yanis Varoufakis

Yanis Varoufakis’ Raise Your Soul is an intimate portrait of three generations caught up in the whirlwind of history. It is also a remarkable narrative spanning one hundred years, beginning in post-colonial Egypt in the 1920s, and then tracing Greece’s tumultuous century through Nazi occupation, communist resistance, civil war, Cold War fracture, fascist dictatorship, socialist revival and present-day economic crisis. At its heart are the women whose resilience, defiance and courage inspired the visionary economist most. Through their lives, Varoufakis lays bare his own political soul and confronts the dark forces of authoritarianism that still haunt the world, reigniting hope that we can rise once more. $37, Bodley Head. Out now

SUMMER SPECIAL

SUMMER SPECIAL

Newcastle

Scott Bevan

In Newcastle Scott Bevan examines the character and the soul of the city he grew up in, its past and where it finds itself. He journeys between early contact with the Awabakal people and missionary Lancelot Threlkeld, Newcastle’s convict and industrial past, and its famous children (from Silverchair and the Knights to William Dobell), and explores how the city now juggles a range of roles, including as the world’s largest coal export port and a hub of creative talent.

$40, NewSouth. Out October

ABORIGINAL STUDIES

The Australian Wars

Rachel Perkins et al

The Australian Wars tells the story of the continental sweep of massacres, guerilla warfare, resistance and the contests of firearms and traditional Aboriginal weaponry as Indigenous nations resisted colonial occupation of their lands. Black and white writers tell the stories of these battles across three crucial time periods all across the country. It notes the lands that were unconquered, as well as the role of disease, weapons and tactics. The Australian Wars brings what for too long has been considered the historical past into the present so that we might know the truth of the origins of this nation.

$60, Allen & Unwin. Out November

Ankami

Debra Dank

Debra’s family seemed to be one of the very few Aboriginal families who had escaped having children stolen – and they viewed the horror from a seemingly safer distance. Then she learned that her paternal grandmother had given birth to 10 children. Four had been taken from her. Ankami is a searing, unforgettable and deeply human account of sorrow and incomprehensible loss, and the power of memory.

$33, Echo. Out November

Looking from the North

Henry Reynolds

Henry Reynolds turns Australian history on its axis in this exploration of colonisation north of the Tropic of Capricorn. He explores the stories of the European, Chinese, Japanese and Pacific Islander people who were vital to the settlement of the north, and the experiences of First Nations peoples, from employment on stations and as native police, to the land rights and homelands movements. Reynolds shows how the colonisation of the north, beginning in 1861, was a very different venture to settlement in the south, and argues that it provides profoundly important lessons for the world we live in today.

$35, NewSouth. Out November

Unfinished Revolution

Virginia Haussegger

In 1975, the United Nations declared International Women’s Year as a marker of progress and aspiration. Fifty years on, award-winning journalist Virginia Haussegger shines a light on the feminist revolution in Australia, capturing its spirited momentum and a fatigued lag. She tells a fresh story of feminist action in this country, from the the dynamic Australian Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1970s to the largest women’s protest rally March4Justice in 2021. This book is an exploration of what feminist change looks like.

$37, NewSouth. Out October

Human History on Drugs

Sam Kelly

Did you know that Alexander the Great was a sloppy drunk, William Shakespeare was a stoner, and George Washington drank a spoonful of opium every night to staunch the pain from his fake teeth? Or how about the fact that China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, ingested liquid mercury in an attempt to live forever, or that Alexander Shulgin, inventor of no less than 230 new psychedelic drugs, was an employee of the DEA? In Human History on Drugs, historian Sam Kelly introduces us to the history we weren’t taught in school, shedding light on some truly shocking aspects of the historical characters we only thought we knew.

$43, Icon. Out October

Frostbite

Nicola Twilley

A century ago, the introduction of artificial refrigeration overturned millennia of dietary history. We could now overcome not just rot, but seasonality and geography. In Frostbite, Nicola Twilley takes readers on a tour of the cold chain from farm to fridge, from subterranean cheese caves to banana-ripening rooms. In the developed world, we’ve reaped the benefits of refrigeration, but the costs are catching up: refrigeration is one of the leading contributors to climate change. Frostbite makes the case for a recalibration of our relationship with the fridge – and how our future might depend on it.

$35, Penguin. Out now

Shattered Lands

Sam Dalrymple

Shattered Lands presents the whole story of how the Indian Empire was unmade. How a single, sprawling dominion became 12 modern nations. How maps were redrawn in boardrooms and on battlefields, by politicians in London and revolutionaries in Delhi, by kings in remote palaces and soldiers in trenches. Its legacies include civil war in Burma and ongoing insurgencies in Kashmir and Baluchistan, and the Rohingya genocide. This stunning history is based on deep archival research, previously untranslated private memoirs, and interviews in English, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Konyak, Arabic and Burmese.

$40, HarperCollins. Out November

POLITICS HISTORY

Maps, Annotated

Immerse yourself in ancient Chinese star charts, decipher medieval Mappae Mundi, and marvel at intricate surveys of the ocean floor and the lunar surface. Discover how Polynesian navigators used sticks to chart their way across the Pacific, what a rhumb line is, and where dragons were once said to lurk. Organised chronologically, the book includes the most celebrated examples of maps spanning more than 5,000 years, combining stunning reproductions with precise annotation, visual analysis, and pull-out details.

$65, Dorling Kindersley. Out now

Sparta

Andrew Bayliss

Sparta traces the story of Ancient Greece’s most iconic citystate, from its humble beginnings as a hamlet in the Peloponnese to its meteoric rise as the foremost military superpower of the Classical world. Andrew Bayliss uncovers the eclectic quirks that set Sparta above its rivals: its famous double monarchy, the harsh methods for raising children as soldiers and the unique role of women in Spartan life. Sparta was the world’s first superpower and its legacy is still shaping popular culture and politics today. This is the story of its rise and fall. $40, Profile. Out now

Legenda

Janina Ramirez

In Legenda, Professor Janina Ramirez explores how medieval women like Joan of Arc, Lady Godiva and Isabella of Castile have had their identities co-opted and their stories twisted to craft national narratives. Meanwhile, ground-breaking 18th and 19th-century women who blazed a trail through revolutionary Europe have been forgotten, their legacies too easily dismissed or ignored. Ramirez questions established narratives, seeking the real women behind the legends, and investigates how history is often hijacked to serve present ideological and political interests.

$37, WH Allen. Out November

For the People

A. C. Grayling

Around the world the foundations of democracy, freedom, civil liberties are being eroded. While democracy once seemed the bedrock of Western societies, the past few decades have revealed a fragile reality. Once liberal countries are turning to authoritarianism, wealthy individuals and corporations are interfering with elections evermore flagrantly, and faith in democracy has plummeted. From gerrymandering and partisanship to corporate interference and tainted donations, A.C. Grayling reveals the forces undermining our democratic ideals and offers bold solutions.

$35, Oneworld. Out November

AUSTRALIAN POLITICS

When Australia

Became a Republic

Esther Anatolitis

We’ve shed British ties – no longer subjects, dependent on their military/trade, or looking to London for guidance. We’ve stopped allowing UK parliamentary overrides, accepting vice-regal representatives, and singing God Save the Queen. The King’s recent visit went largely unnoticed. This makes sense for a multicultural federation on First Nations lands, yet our democracy operates “at His Majesty’s pleasure” due to a flawed constitution hindering reform. Esther Anatolitis explores this journey, proposing paths to genuine independence, including neutralising national conversation toxicity, civics education for empowered citizenship, and constitutional change. $20, Monash University. Out October

Turbulence

Clinton

Fernandes

Turbulence: Australian Foreign Policy in the Trump Era is an indispensable manual for understanding the present and navigating the future. Trump wants to create an illiberal order of reactionary states with undemocratic political systems committed to weakening non-Western international associations that seek a more democratic order. Fernandes investigates how Australia is trying to remain on the winning side of the global confrontation between a US-led West and an increasingly dissatisfied rest of the world, to whom China’s outreach seems enticing. $30, Melbourne University. Out October

Search for Security

Mark Beeson, Kanishka Jayasuriya, Sian

Troath

In September 2021 the Morrison government committed Australia to the single greatest security investment in the nation’s history: the AUKUS partnership with the US and the UK to build nuclear-powered submarines and collaborate on advanced technologies. Yet there are doubts about who will build the submarines and whether they can be delivered at all. Search for Security explores the development and implications of AUKUS at a time of great international uncertainty. It is a timely contribution to a crucial debate about Australian foreign and domestic policy in a period of intensifying militarism.

$40, Melbourne University. Out November

Hooked

Quentin Beresford

Australians lose around $32 billion on legal forms of gambling each year, the most of any country in the world, while the industry rakes in $244 billion through poker machines, lotteries, casinos and the exponential rise in sports betting. In Hooked, Quentin Beresford explores how gambling expanded from a highly restricted recreational activity to a mega industry. With a cast of questionable characters, iconic corporate brands, eye-watering greed and the many state and federal politicians who have sold out to the gambling industry, Hooked: Inside the Murky World of Australia’s Gambling Industry exposes the underbelly of gambling in Australia.

$40, NewSouth. Out November

Nonfiction

ESSAYS

Calendar

Vanessa Berry

For a year Vanessa Berry paid attention to her encounters with objects over the course of the day, and every night wrote an essay based on one object, and drew an illustration of it. Combining the narrative of a year and stories of the 365 objects themselves, Calendar is about tuning in to the unexpected, playful and solemn lives of the objects around us.

$35, Upswell. Out September

Not Quite White in the Head

Melissa Lucashenko

This timely collection of essays and journalism – published together for the first time – spans two turbulent decades. With her trademark wit and wisdom, Lucashenko reflects on being caught in a siege, on the marginalised lives of prisoners and the urban poor, on Blak identity, Australian literature and on meeting her writing idol. Not Quite White in the Head offers unprecedented access to one of the nation’s greatest writers as she invites us into the conversations that truly matter.

$45, University of Queensland. Out November

POETRY

Best of Australian Poems 2025

Edited by Nam Le and Jill Jones

Best of Australian Poems is an annual anthology collecting previously published and unpublished poems to create a poetic snapshot and barometer of the year that was. Capturing the richness and diversity of Australian poetry across a timeframe of 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025, and edited by respected poets Nam Le and Jill Jones, the series, now in its fifth year, explores how poetic responses to the contemporary moment develop with each passing year.

$35, Puncher and Wattmann. Out November

Dead and Alive

Zadie Smith

In her new collection of essays, Zadie Smith explores diverse subjects, from artists Toyin Ojih Odutola, Kara Walker, and Celia Paul, to films like Tar and events like Stormzy’s performance at Glastonbury. She reflects on her beloved Kilburn High Road and mourns the loss of literary figures such as Joan Didion, Martin Amis, and Toni Morrison. Smith also considers political changes and the meaning of “the commons”. This thrilling collection showcases her critical and humane insights into our troubled times.

$37, Hamish Hamilton. Out November

Griffith Review 90: Best Dressed

Carody

Culver and Maggie Zhou

No matter how much or how little you care about what you wear, your sartorial choices are inextricably stitched into your social, cultural and personal identities. Clothing not only dictates how we define ourselves and relate to others throughout history, it’s also been a mode of expression, resistance, revolution and disruption. Put on your Sunday best for Griffith Review 90: Best Dressed, which goes behind the seams to unpick the many paradoxes of fashion.

$28, Griffith Review. Out November

The Land of Sweet Forever

Harper Lee

The Land of Sweet Forever combines Lee’s never-before-seen short stories and published nonfiction in a volume offering an unprecedented look at the development of her inimitable voice. Covering territory from the Alabama schoolyards of Lee’s youth to the luncheonettes and movie houses of mid-century Manhattan, it invites still-vital conversations about politics, equality, travel, love, fiction, art, the American South, and what it means to lead an engaged and creative life.

$50, Hutchinson Heinemann. Out October

PHILOSOPHY

On Bullshit

Harry G. Frankfurt

One of the most prominent features of our world is that there is so much bullshit. Yet we have no clear understanding of what bullshit is, how it’s different from lying, what purposes it serves, and what it means. Frankfurt was one of the world’s most influential moral philosophers. In his acclaimed bestseller, he explores one of the most serious problems of our politics and our world. This 20th anniversary edition features a postscript in which Frankfurt emphasises that “indifference to the truth is extremely dangerous”.

$20, Princeton University. Out November

The Future of Truth

Werner Herzog

The Future of Truth is a compelling meditation on the relationship between fact and fiction –evidence and imagination – by one of today’s most fascinating and idiosyncratic thinkers. Written in Herzog’s inimitable style, these stories, anecdotes and reflections take us from present-day deep fakes and the opportunities and perils of AI to ancient Egypt and Rome, where rulers resorted to lies and propaganda in the same way as governments do today; from Scott and Amundsen’s race to the South Pole to alien abduction claims and the making of Herzog’s own films.

$35, Bodley Head. Out October

The Art of Spending Money

Morgan Housel

Can money buy happiness? Yes. Can spending it make you happier? Absolutely. Yet, many of us struggle to unlock its full potential – either by spending on things that don’t bring as much joy as they should, or by avoiding investments that would truly enhance our mental well-being.

The Art of Spending Money explores the emotions, biases, and social forces that drive our financial decisions. It will help you avoid common spending pitfalls, make smarter financial choices, and use money with intention – to not just build wealth, but to actually enjoy it

$37, Harriman House. Out October

The Tesla Files

Sönke Iwersen & Michael Verfürden

Elon Musk is one of the wealthiest people on the planet. But a whistleblower, a 100GB-leak of confidential Tesla documents and two investigative journalists reveal the frightening truth behind the facade – a high number of workplace accidents in Musk’s factories, dangerous errors in Tesla’s autopilot software and a culture of deception. The Tesla Files is a chilling analysis of leaked internal Tesla data and court documents set alongside the astonishing first-hand accounts of employees, customers and their bereaved families.

$40, Michael Joseph. Out now

LITERARY STUDIES

Toni at Random Dana Williams

While Toni Morrison’s literary achievements are widely celebrated, her editorial work is little known. Drawing on extensive research and firsthand accounts, this comprehensive study discusses Morrison’s remarkable journey from her early days at Random House to her emergence as one of its most important editors. During her tenure in editorial, Morrison refashioned the literary landscape, working with important authors, including Toni Cade Bambara, Leon Forrest, and Lucille Clifton, and empowering cultural icons such as Angela Davis and Muhammad Ali to tell their stories on their own terms.

$60, HarperCollins. Out October

In Love with Love

Ella Risbridger

Why do we read? Why do we write? What makes some books last forever, and others vanish from memory? And what does it mean that love is the one subject of which we never seem to tire? Part literary criticism, part investigation, In Love with Love is a wild tour from the very beginnings of kissing in books, from Jane Austen to Jasmine Guillory, Jilly Cooper to Georgette Heyer, from the depths of the ocean to the the outer galaxy. This is an ode to a beloved genre and a brilliantly insightful piece of cultural criticism.

$35, Sceptre. Out November

History

Atlas of Borders

Xemartin Laborde et al

Two experts in geopolitics reflect on the modern world and its borders through maps and infographics

$66, Thames & Hudson. Out November

Essays

Silence is my Habitat

Jessica White

Deaf since she was four, Jessica White details how deafness encouraged and shaped her relationship with the natural world.

$30, Upswell. Out now

Every Screen on the Planet

Emily Baker-White

TikTok boasts 1.6 billion active users worldwide and wields unprecedented power over our culture. Its crown jewel is the most addictive algorithm ever invented. In Every Screen on the Planet, investigative journalist Emily Baker-White charts TikTok’s rise and examines its potential value as a surveillance and propaganda tool for strongmen. Based on explosive reporting that caused TikTok to track the author and led to an ongoing criminal investigation, Baker-White’s engrossing narrative takes us inside the company as the US government seeks backdoor access to observe and influence TikTok’s data stream.

$37, Macmillan. Out October

MIDDLE-EASTERN STUDIES

Israel on the Brink Illan Pappe

Israel can’t go on like this. 7 October and Israel’s subsequent invasion of Gaza laid bare the cracks in its foundations. It was unveiled as a country unable to protect its citizens, divided between messianic theocrats and selective liberals, resented by its neighbours and losing the support of Jews worldwide. While its leaders justify bombing campaigns and manmade famine, Israel is becoming a pariah state. Its worst enemy is not Hamas, but itself. Ilan Pappe paves a path out of the Jewish state, rooted in restorative justice and decolonisation, showing that the future can be one of peace, not endless war.

$35, Oneworld. Out now

History A Short History of the World in 50 Lies

Natasha Tidd

Reveals the secretive side of history and shows that the truth really is stranger – and more dangerous – than fiction.

$25, Michael O’Mara. Out now

Nonfiction

Unseen

Penelope Jackson

From the many offences committed against William Dobell’s work to the mysterious re-emergence of Rupert Bunny’s Girl in Sunlight 23 years after it disappeared, from fraudulently sold Aboriginal art to climate activists spraypainting a famous Frederick McCubbin, Australian art has been a hotbed of revolt, recrimination and robbery since European contact. This is the story of art at the nexus of culture and commerce: art plus money can lead to deceit and dashed dreams. $40, Monash University. Out December

Fawlty Towers

John Cleese

Written by and starring John Cleese and his then-wife Connie Booth, the first series of Fawlty Towers aired in 1975, with a second series broadcast in 1979. It won three BAFTAS and, despite having only 12 episodes in total, continues to be regularly voted the best sitcom in British history. Now, for the first time, Cleese tells his stories from behind the scenes, alongside gorgeous commissioned illustrations and archival imagery. $55, Headline. Out October

ALSO OUT

Visual art

Monet

Jackie Wullschläger

An enthralling biography, based on thousands of neverbefore translated letters and unpublished sources. $85, Allen Lane. Out October

Textiles

Narrative Threads

Joanna Barakat

Narrative Threads reveals the power of Palestinian embroidery as a visual language that recounts the past, connects us to the present and envisions a different, hopeful future. $80, Saqi. Out November

The Art of Kaylene Whiskey

Natalie King and Iwantja Arts

Kaylene Whiskey’s paintings dazzle with brightly coloured pop stars rendered in dots and set among her own community in remote Central Australia. She depicts female pop culture icons, including Dolly Parton, Tina Turner, Catwoman, Cher and Wonder Woman, partying at Iwantja Art Centre in Indulkana, South Australia. Her joyous, comic-book style and text bubbles are hilarious yet potent symbols of female power in an Aboriginal setting. This richly illustrated book features an in-depth interview with Whiskey, along with contributions from notable creatives Taika Waititi, Jazz Money, Zoé Whitley, Clothilde Bullen and April Phillips. $90 $75, Thames & Hudson. Out November

Rakuen

Yuji Moriguchi

Yuji Moriguchi’s works, which evoke a sense of Japanese nostalgia and eroticism, are characterised by vivid colours, fine details, fantastic images and originality. They offer a glimpse of his knowledge of modern culture, history and mythology, as well as Japanese art, such as ukiyo-e, and Western art. Heavily based in Showa, mystery, eroticism, and the supernatural, stories unfold within each work, inviting us to explore the fine line between reality and fantasy.

$123.50, Seirin Kogeisha. Out now

PHOTOGRAPHY

Dear New York

Brandon Stanton

Stanton created the groundbreaking first volume of Humans of New York in 2013, only three years after beginning his photography career. Its unique combination of intimate portraiture and on-the-spot interviews spawned a style of storytelling that has become a hallmark of our digital age. Twelve years later, having now interviewed more than 10,000 people around the world, comes Dear New York. containing nearly 500 full-colour pages of portraits and stories from the streets of New York, with more than 75 per cent previously unpublished.

$65, Macmillan. Out October

Giants

Jem Cresswell

Over a five-year period, photographer and filmmaker Jem Cresswell took more than 11,000 images of one of nature’s largest mammals, the humpback whale, in Tongan waters. In Giants, Cresswell selects the most striking of these images to document the awe-inspiring behaviours of the humpback whale in a powerful combination of photography and storytelling. This is a photographic celebration of one of nature’s most majestic creatures.

$50, NewSouth. Out October

Exposure

Greg Weight

Exposure: A Photographic Memoir is an intimate journey through Australia’s bohemian art world, told by acclaimed photographer Greg Weight. With wit and candour, Weight shares his encounters with Martin Sharp, Brett Whiteley, Reg Mombassa, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, John Olsen, Margaret Olley, Tracey Moffatt, Jeffrey Smart and others, bringing them to life in personal, often poignant settings. He creates a vivid chronicle of Australia’s art scene from the 1960s to the 2000s: its immense talent, tragedies, absurdities and hilarities. With more than 65 photographs.

$45, Piper. Out December

Chanel Haute Couture

Sofia Coppola

At the age of 15, Sofia Coppola took up a summer internship at the Chanel studio in Paris, moving from her family home in Northern California. This indelible experience initiated a relationship with the fashion house which has flourished over decades. This 450page tome encompasses the distinct eras of Chanel’s lead designers – Gabrielle Chanel, Karl Lagerfeld, Virginie Viard –their teams, their famous clientele, and the models of each period, as captured by renowned photographers.

$210, MACK and Important Flowers. Out now

ARCHITECTURE

Her Eye

Willemijn de Leeuw

From classic to modern, from minimalist to eccentric, Her Eye showcases the leading female Dutch interior designers you need to see and know. Get to know each of them through personal interviews and an overview of their best work, photographed by Space Content Studio. Featuring Lisca van Everdingen (Inside Stories Interiors), Leonie Hendrikse (Stock Dutch Design), Ellen ten Hove (Studio Ocean) and Mariska Jagt (Yume Atelier), among others. With 190 colour and 20 b/w illustrations.

$125, Lanoo. Out now

The Architect’s House

Stephen Crafti

Featuring 20 architects from around the world, The Architect’s House will truly inspire those contemplating building a new home or renovating an older style of residence to take on the adventurous spirit. The properties featured here are diverse – from apartments through to large detached homes surrounded by hectares of native forest. However, what connects them is the architects’ determination to create homes that perfectly suit the way they choose to live, both in the present and in the future.

$65, Quadrille. Out now

AD at Home

Amy Astley

The leading design authority for the last century, AD under Amy Astley is more popular and far-reaching than ever before. Spanning the worlds of fashion, music, film, art, and design, the people inhabiting these pages come from around the globe, showing us there are so many ways to create a beautiful home, including artist Mariko Mori’s minimalist white pod on a Japanese island, performer RuPaul’s glamorously over-the-top LA villa, and producer and screenwriter Shonda Rhimes’s classically elegant New York City apartment. With beautiful photography by AD’s top photographers, and thoughtful, illuminating texts by Astley and her team of editors.

$250, Rizzoli. Out November

TEXTILES

Textiles x Art

Ramona Barry and Beck Jobson

Textile art has surged into the spotlight, shedding its long-standing association with domesticity and craft to take centre stage in galleries, biennales and critical discourse. This global survey of 44 artists reveals the shifting boundaries between craft and fine art, and the expressive power of cloth in the hands of today’s most boundary-pushing creatives. Far from decorative or nostalgic, these works speak to urgent contemporary themes: identity, gender, migration and environment.

$70 $55, Thames & Hudson. Out November

Rivers Flow

Various authors

With a foreword by Amos Roach, Rivers Flow honours the profound musical and cultural legacy of Archie Roach AC AM, a Gunditjmara, Kirrae Whurrong / Djab Wurrung and Bundjalung man, and Ruby Hunter, a Ngarrindjeri, Kokatha and Pitjantjatjara woman. Curated and introduced by two-time Miles Franklin winner, Noongar man Kim Scott, this special volume brings together 23 First Nations writers to share stories and poems that resonate with the legacy of two beloved singer-songwriters.

$35, Fremantle. Out November

Rumours of My Demise

Evan Dando

After Kurt Cobain’s passing in 1994, everyone expected Evan Dando to be next. Rising to fame in the 90s as frontman of the Lemonheads, he was infamous for his decadent lifestyle, from his extensive drug-taking and partying with Keith Richards and Kate Moss to sleeping on floors in his punk days and crashing at Johnny Depp’s house in Hollywood. Following decades of the press wanting to label him and fit him in a box, Rumours of My Demise sees Dando tell his own story, in a candid and exuberant autobiography that encapsulates the spirit of the era.

$35, Faber. Out October

ALSO OUT

Visual art

J.W. Power

Ann Stephen and A.D.S. Donaldson

A celebration of the life and work of Australia’s most accomplished interwar avantgarde artist.

$60, NLA. Out November

Music Wings

Paul McCartney

The story of the band that came to define a generation, in their own words.

$80, Allen Lane. Out November

Nonfiction

2026 Australasian Sky Guide

Nick Lomb

This popular guide by astronomer and author Nick Lomb provides stargazers with the perfect companion to the southern night sky. Opening with an essay by Ki Tahu woman

Victoria Campbell on the cultural significance of the heliacal rising of Matariki in winter, this book features monthly sky maps, with details of the movement of the planets, stars and constellations. It also offers the latest information on the solar system and its history, as well as tips for optimal viewing. $25, NewSouth. Out October

(Be)wilder

Darryl Jones

Acclaimed urban ecologist Darryl Jones explores how people around the world interact with wildlife. He spends time with bearded pigs in Borneo, rock ptarmigans in the Arctic, birdwatchers in Iowa and conservationist farmers in Australia’s Snowy Mountains. Along the way, Jones asks, is it possible for farming and conservation to work together? How can urban landscapes be redesigned to enhance biodiversity? And can birdwatching help save the planet? $33, NewSouth. Out October

Liars, Cheats and Copycats

James O’Hanlon

James O’Hanlon reveals the science behind camouflage, mimicry and masquerade. Taking readers on a journey from tropical rainforests to the darkness of deep ocean trenches, he explores how animals and plants use deception to avoid predators, lure in prey and even reproduce. From creatures that disappear in front of your eyes to ones that misdirect their foes like masterful magicians, there are endless ways that animals can swindle their way to survival. $35, NewSouth. Out November

The Best Australian Science Writing 2025

Zoe Kean et al

The Best Australian Science Writing 2025 anthologises another landmark year in science. From AI to the climate crisis and the changing nature of what science looks like, there’s been plenty of ground to cover. Science writers have been vital in decoding these sometimes worrying glimpses of the future, and the many solutions that scientists are working on. This anthology, now in its 15th year, selects the most riveting, entertaining, poignant and fascinating science stories from Australian writers, poets and scientists.

$33, NewSouth. Out November

The Breath of the Gods

Simon Winchester

Our atmosphere faces escalating challenges: devastating hurricanes, tornadoes, and fires are becoming more frequent. Scientists warn that winds, the driving force behind these events, will intensify. While this concerns many, the energy industry sees rising wind strength as a boon for clean power. Simon Winchester’s The Breath of the Gods explores this dichotomy, from wind as a malevolent force to a potential saviour. He delves into its impact on our daily lives and the increasing natural disasters. This portrait of wind reveals its essential goodness while cautioning against its destructive potential when unleashed.

$38, 4th Estate. Out November

Three Rivers

Robert Winder

Europe’s three great rivers – the Rhine, Rhone, and Po – originate from a single Alpine ice patch in central Switzerland. These rivers were crucial to the development of French, German, and Italian cultures, shaping landscapes, societies, economies, and cultural diversity. However, the glaciers feeding these rivers are rapidly disappearing, threatening this vital water source. Three Rivers explores this dramatic landscape, the story of the glaciers, and the immense cultural consequences of their potential loss.

$25, Elliott & Thompson. Out November

Ecology Matters

The Ecological Society of Australia and Grace Heathcote

What do ecologists do? How do they end up studying strange and obscure species? What is it like to work in remote and unusual environments? What happens when disaster strikes? And what are their hopes and concerns for the future? Featuring interviews with students, Indigenous rangers, restoration ecologists and leaders in the field, this collection of conversations spans the breadth and diversity of Australian ecology. Learn about crayfish and climate change, seed banks and seagrass restoration, floods and fire ecology, ants and Antarctic mosses, whales, waterways and wallabies, and frogs, feral cats and fungi.

$55, CSIRO. Out November

Baking & the Meaning of Life

Helen Goh

No one knows the “why” or “how” of baking better than recipe tester and food columnist Helen Goh. In her first solo cookbook, Helen draws on her upbringing in Malaysia and Australia, her work with Yotam Ottolenghi and her psychology training to share her distinctive approach to baking, with 100 delicious sweet and savoury bakes. With recipes like Chocolate Tahini Cake with Sesame Brittle, Plum and Pistachio Bars, Pandan and Coconut Chiffon Cake, and many other shareable treats, this book is a celebration of community, connection and pleasure through baking.

$55 $50, Murdoch. Out now

Silk Roads

Anna Ansari

Weaving together essays, family photography and 90 recipes, Anna Ansari brings life to the flavours of the Silk Roads – from the walnut groves of her father’s Iranian childhood, to central Asian markets brimming with fragrant melons and thronged with fat-tailed sheep, and into the neighborhoods of modern-day Chinese cities. Discover delectable dishes from Baku to Beijing: Azeri-Iranian stews served with crispy-bottomed rice, dill-infused noodles from Western Uzbekistan, Uyghur lamb chops and all kinds of dumplings. Plus, you’ll find refreshing drinks and sharbats, and Americaninspired desserts like apple pie with quince and sticky persimmon pudding. $50, Dorling Kindersley. Out October

The Talisman of Happiness

Ada Boni

Known in Italy as Il Talismano Della Felicita, this compendium of definitive regional recipes quickly became the perfect wedding gift: a talisman of luck for newlyweds beginning their life together and passed down for generations as the definitive source for classic dishes. It has sold more than one million copies over the last century. Now, finally, there is this first ever English edition of the complete work, which includes more than 1,700 recipes that catalogue all the flavours and traditions that define Italian cuisine from every region in the country.

$110 $90, Thames & Hudson. Out November

Vegetables: The Indian Way

Camellia Panjabi

A treasury of India’s most delicious, exciting, easyto-prepare and unexplored vegetable dishes, inspired by a lifetime of experience.

$100, Michael Joseph. Out November

Christian

Petracca

On Trac

Christian Petracca

Discover the recipes that keep an elite athlete performing at his best and learn how he integrates food and exercise into his own routine.

$45, Hardie Grant. Out now

Somebody Is Walking on Your Grave

Mariana Enriquez

Mariana Enriquez blends journalistic rigour and her fascination with the macabre through a journey of famous graveyards steeped in history, such as Montparnasse in Paris, Highgate in London, and the Jewish cemetery in Prague, as well as more remote, decrepit, hidden, or secretly beautiful ones. Mariana’s personal journey weaves through haunting narratives, transforming burial grounds into spaces of reflection, obsession, and emotional discovery between the living and the dead. $35, Granta. Out now

Thessaloniki

Meni Valle

With more than 70 carefully curated recipes, Thessaloniki brings to life the complex flavours and traditions of the region’s food. Meni’s research and collaborations with local experts reveal the untold stories behind each dish, presenting an authentic taste of Northern Greece’s culinary legacy. Complemented by Stephanie Stamatis’s evocative photography, the book captures the essence of the region’s modest, homey kitchens and the slow food philosophy that defines its cuisine. $50, Hardie Grant. Out now

Lankan Filling

O Tama Carey

Building on her deeprooted knowledge of Sri Lankan culinary traditions, Carey invites readers to explore her diverse and imaginative creations. Each recipe reflects her passion for flavour and her commitment to making delicious food. From breakfast staples like kade paan and milk buns to an array of short eats, pies and curries, Lankan Filling offers a fresh perspective on Lankan cooking, blending authentic ingredients with innovative approaches. It is a testament to the joy of cooking and eating and offers a delicious exploration of Sri Lankan-inspired flavours.

$55 $50, Hardie Grant. Out now

The Japanese Pantry

Emiko Davies

Emiko explores the pantry items essential to Japanese home cooking. Simple, easyto-find ingredients that can be combined with fresh produce and a few other basics like tofu, rice and noodles to create delicious and authentic Japanese food no matter where you are. Each chapter explores one of these essential ingredients – soy sauce, miso, rice vinegar, seaweed, sake, sesame and tea – including information about the history and production of these in Japan, as well as Emiko’s thoughtful and approachable recipes.

$55 $45, Smith Street. Out November

Super Agers

Eric Topol

More than a quarter of the adult population lives with two or more chronic diseases, with that figure increasing to over half in individuals aged 65 and older. Dr Topol explains the power of the new approaches to the worst chronic killers – diabetes/ obesity, heart disease, cancer, and neurodegeneration – and how treatments can begin long before middle age, and even long after. In this breakthrough moment in the history of human health care, Super Agers is an evidenced-based guide to the revolution transforming human longevity.

$37, Cornerstone. Out now

SPORT

Great Running Events

James Knight

Great Running Events showcases the top 26 most challenging marathon and running routes nationwide. It will take you on a journey through Australia’s most iconic and diverse running courses – from the urban intensity of the Sydney Marathon to the rugged beauty of the Great Ocean Road. Each course is detailed with insider information on the route’s signature stretches, its unique history, and what makes it a must-run. Accompanied by stunning colour photography, this book will inspire runners to lace up and start planning their next marathon adventure. $40, Gelding Street. Out now

Self help

How to Live An Artful Life

Katy Hessel

Find daily inspiration for every day of the year in this joyful collection of quotes and ideas from artists.

$37, Hutchinson Heinemann Out November

Always Remember

Charlie Mackesy

Charlie Mackesy’s four unlikely friends are wandering through the wilds again. They’re not sure what they are looking for. They do know that life can be difficult, but that they love each other, and cake is often the answer. When the dark clouds come, can the boy remember what he needs to get through the storm? The hugely anticipated new book from Charlie Mackesy, revisiting the much-loved world of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – the bestselling adult nonfiction book with more than 10 million readers around the world.

$50 $40, Ebury. Out October

The Seeker and the Sage

Brigid Delaney

A traumatised journalist is assigned to find the mayor of Silver Springs, a remote town where citizens are reportedly the happiest people on Earth, living by Stoicism. After a challenging journey, she arrives, granted three days to interview the mayor. She seeks wisdom for a good life amid chaos; he aims to protect his community from the modern world. In this follow-up to her bestseller Reasons Not to Worry, Delaney explores how ancient Stoic philosophy can apply to communities and create modern utopias.

$33, Allen & Unwin. Out now

Thinking for Yourself

Michael Parker and Fiona Morrison

In a world flooded with information, the ability to think clearly, question deeply, and make sound decisions has never been more essential. Thinking for Yourself is a guide to confident and independent thinking that highlights why, in the age of AI, this skill is more important than ever. Full of almost 100 critical thinking techniques, tips and methods, Thinking for Yourself is more than just a book – it’s a roadmap to sharpening your mind, challenging assumptions and making smarter decisions.

$33, Ventura. Out now

The Plant Book

Tammy Huynh

Many plant parents are frustrated by conflicting advice online, or simply don’t know why they keep ending up with plant casualties. Awardwinning horticulturist and Gardening Australia presenter Tammy Huynh covers the essentials of indoor plant care in this stunning book featuring an abundance of colourful photos and illustrations. She offers detailed descriptions and growing tips for 50 of the most-loved houseplants as well as general tips on lighting, potting mix, watering, fertiliser, humidity, pests and diseases, buying plants, hydroponics, and pots and planters.

$45 $40, Murdoch. Out November

The Weed Forager’s Handbook

Adam Grubb and Annie Raser-Rowland

An astonishing number of the plants we call “weeds” are either edible or medicinal, and have deep and sometimes bizarre connections to human history. But how do you distinguish a tasty sandwich-filler from its dangerous look-alike? Which weeds are among the most nutritious vegetables ever tested? And how do you cook with delicious nettles without fear of being stung? Discover the answers to these questions and more in The Weed Forager’s Handbook, a field guide to the most common and useful edible weeds in Australia. This second edition includes additional weed profiles, updated research, extra facts and new photos.

$30, CSIRO. Out October

Reid All About It

Books of the year

FICTION

Shoot the Moon

Ava Barry

$50, Pegasus. Out now

Who says I don’t read crime fiction? This is a hefty 457 pages. Yet the opening chapter which sees Los Angeles PI Rainey Hall summoned by anxious parents to investigate their artist daughter’s disappearance had me hooked.

Ava Barry’s assured style smoothly drives a dialogue-rich plot of dark, twisty, surprises. The reader learns a great deal about Los Angeles County: the geography; history; dangerous beaches; abodes of the rich and famous; the art scene glamour and glitz; the drug and vice underground; as well as botany.

Add to all this are Rainey’s haunted memories of her teenage petty criminal escapades – the consequences of which return to complicate the present-day investigation.

This is the second in the Rainey Hall mysteries series –following Double Exposure (2022). Barry promises a third and possibly even five books in total.

I await the next volume with pleasurable anticipation.

Honourable mentions

Colm Tóibín’s Long Island, $23 (Picador)

Michelle de Kretser’s Theory & Practice, $33 (Text)

Miranda July’s All Fours, $25 (Canongate)

NONFICTION

Mariners on the Margins: Plundering Seals in Colonial Australia

David Prior

$35, Glass House. Out November

Which do you think was Australia’s first industry? Wheat? Sheep? Gold mining? Guess again. Seal hunting – for both skins and oil.

In November 1820, Captain Thaddeus von Bellingshausen (1778-1852) of the corvette Vostok arrived at Macquarie Island –a subantarctic speck of land 1500km southeast of Tasmania.

There the Russian explorer recorded encountering a community of sealers – and their dogs – living in mud huts with fixed doors. The islanders subsisted on seal meat, penguin eggs and wild cabbage soup. The mariners began hunting and killing sleeping elephant seals then melted down the blubber in metal containers. The oil from this process was then poured into barrels and shipped to Port Jackson and then onto London.

David Prior’s engagingly written narrative charts the rise and decline of the colonial sealing industry, from 1798 to 1840, using oral traditions, archaeological discoveries, notes and sketches from explorers and sealer adventurers.

Honourable mentions

Paul Cooper’s Fall of Civilizations, $27 (Duckworth)

James Lacey’s The Year God Died, $60 (Bantam Dell) Paul Thomas Chamberlin’s Scorched Earth $37 (Basic)

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BEST SELLERS

Fiction

1. Ghost Cities Siang Lu

2. The Names Florence Knapp

3. Clown Town: Slough House 9 Mick Herron

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5. The Impossible Fortune Richard Osman

6. Katabasis R. F. Kuang

7. The Emperor of Gladness

Ocean Vuong

8. Seascraper

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9. Lonely Mouth

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10. The Safekeep

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1. Mother Mary Comes to Me

Arundhati Roy

2. Walking Sydney Belinda Castles

3. The Eye of the Dragonfly Tracey Holmes

4. Dead Centre

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5. Righting Wrongs

Kenneth Roth

6. Abundance

Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson

7. Saffron Incorporated

Stuart Coupe

8. Quarterly Essay 99: Woodside vs the Planet

Marian Wilkinson

9. Inside Out

Kathleen Folbigg

10. The Gift of Not Belonging Rami Kaminski

1. Mega Rich Guinea Pigs Kate and Jol Temple

2. Into the Bewilderness

Gus Gordon

3. Alpacas In Space Matt Cosgrove

4. This Bird, Noticing Our Urban Birds Astred Hicks and Holly Parsons

5. Jane Doe and the God of All Hours Jeremy Lachlan

6. Hedgehog or Echidna Ashleigh Barton and Amandine Thomas

7. How To Sail To Somewhere Ashleigh Barton

8. Hello Cocky

Hilary Bell and Antonia Pesenti

9. Run

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10. The Locked Room

Adam Cece

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