22007_Spring Reading Guide_V09_FA_Web_Antipodes

Booksellers’ Choice
YOUR
READING
GUIDE
The best books this season as chosen
by Australia’s leading booksellers

Australian Fiction
Welcome to the new edition of the
Booksellers’ Choice Your Reading Guide!
We are excited to share a selection of the
best new books for the season chosen
for you by Australia’s leading booksellers.
There is something to suit everyone—
new Australian and international fiction,
biographies, history and science books,
along with a great selection of children’s
and YA titles.
Support your local bookshop! We are here
to help you find the right book for you and
the best gift for family and friends.
Happy reading!
The Diplomat
Chris Womersley
Picador Australia
TPB $32.99
Five years after his
involvement in the theft
of Picasso’s The Weeping
Woman, Edward Degraves
is out of detox and heading
to Melbourne for a fresh start. He needs to make
one last visit to The Diplomat, a seedy site for drug
addicts and eccentrics, and take stock of the grief
and regret that dwells within. A deft take on failure
and redemption by the award-winning author of
Bereft and Cairo.
Enclave
Claire G. Coleman
Hachette Australia
TPB $29.99
Christine cannot sleep,
wake or think. She was
told the Agency was
keeping them safe from the
dangers outside. She never
questioned what she was told, allowed to know
or permitted to think. The enclave was the only
world she knew. Staying or leaving was not a
choice she had, but then one day she dared to
start thinking. A masterful new novel from the
critically acclaimed author of Terra Nullius.
Wildflowers
Peggy Frew
Allen & Unwin
TPB $32.99
September release
Three sisters, close as
children, are on a trip to
North Queensland as
grown women. Nina and Meg are hoping to help
youngest sister Amber with her addiction, a plan
that could easily go awry. With flashbacks that
reveal the sisters’ paths to who they are, we
witness a family unravelling amidst the love and
loss that binds three sisters together. From the
Miles Franklin shortlisted author of Islands.
Nimblefoot
Robert Drewe
Hamish Hamilton Australia
TPB $32.99
At the age of ten, Johnny
Day became Australia’s first
sporting hero. Masterfully
brought to life by Robert
Drewe, Nimblefoot is
an adventure story, a coming-of-age classic, a
manhunt and a thriller, laying claim to the young
Ballarat horseman’s rightful place in Australia’s
illustrious sporting history. What befell Johnny
Day isn’t known, but Drewe’s imagination and
craft has done him justice.
This Devastating
Fever
Sophie Cunningham
Ultimo Press
TPB $32.99
September release
Alice Fox has been
writing her novel about
Virginia Woolf’s husband, Leonard, for
years. Her determination to finish takes her
to Sri Lanka, where Leonard worked as an
administrator in then-Ceylon. From Alice’s
contemporary world we move back and
forth from Leonard’s in a beautiful narrative
of love, art, and loss.
Available in an exclusive-cover edition
at participating stores. * While stocks last.
Marshmallow
Victoria Hannan
Hachette Australia
TPB $29.99
September release
In this follow up to Kokomo,
Victoria Hannan interrogates
the ripple effects of grief.
Five friends celebrating a birthday have their
lives and relationships upended, and the aftereffects
of their guilt and sorrow change things
forever. The life they had changes so abruptly
and so completely that they are confronted with
a terrible question: can they find a way to live
with what they have lost?
Sixty-Seven Days
Yvonne Weldon
Michael Joseph Australia
TPB $32.99
Evie has been raised in the
heart of Aboriginal Redfern
by a proud trailblazing
Wiradjuri family. She
remembers so much about
the previous world, but also harbours a dark
pain. When Evie meets James, a young man
radiating pure love, they travel to Evie’s beloved
country—there, they are whole together—until
a sudden event leaves them seeking answers to
one of life’s most eternal questions: is love strong
enough to withstand anything?
Jesustown
Paul Daley
Allen & Unwin
TPB $32.99
In disgrace after the death
of his son, Patrick Renmark
flees London for his family
home in remote Australia.
A self-proclaimed ‘story-ist’
(a historian who plays up the myths of white
colonial legends), he tackles his grandfather’s
legacy who brokered ‘peace’ between the local
Aboriginal people and white settlers. In writing his
grandfather’s story, Renmark must confront the
many uncomfortable truths that lie at the heart of
Australia’s colonial past.
Electric and Mad
and Brave
Tom Pitts
Picador Australia
TPB $34.99
An incredible and moving
debut that observes the
tortures of all-consuming
young love. Recovering from a breakdown in
a mental health facility, Matt Lacey writes the
story of his adolescence and the pain and love
that shaped his life. A beautiful exploration
of the passion of youth, the attendant
helplessness of love and the realisation
that the past never really leaves us.
All That’s Left Unsaid
Tracey Lien
HQ
TPB $32.99
Ky Tran returns home to
Cabramatta for the funeral
of her younger brother who
has been brutally murdered.
With the police stumped,
Ky tracks down witnesses herself, determined
to find answers. This compelling debut is both a
study of the effects of inherited trauma and social
discrimination, and a compulsively readable literary
thriller that expertly holds the reader in its grip until
the final page.
Hydra
Adriane Howell
Transit Lounge | TPB $29.99
When her career goes awry,
young ambitious antiquarian
Anja feels adrift. With the
last of her inheritance,
she leases an old derelict
cottage, needing its wildness
and solitude. Yet a presence—human, ghost, or
other—seemingly inhabits the grounds. A novel of
dark suspense and mental disquiet, told through
the female lens of freedom and constraint.
Marlo
Jay Carmichael
Scribe
PB $24.99
Two men fall in love in ‘50s
Australia; Christopher who
moved from the country to
escape persecution, and
Morgan who helps breath life
back into Christopher’s soul. Drawing on archival
materials from newspaper articles, Jay Carmichael
brings to life the inhospitable society these men
had to live and love in. A stunning novel from a
time not long ago, from the author of Ironbark.
Forty Nights
Pirooz Jafari
Ultimo Press
HB $32.99
This magical, haunting debut
follows Tishtar as he helps
a neighbour seek asylum
for her extended family, and
in turn begins to reflect on the experiences that
led him to leave Iran and seek refuge in Australia.
Deftly moving between continents and centuries,
Forty Nights is a profoundly human story about
migration, war, family, and finding home, wherever
that may be.
Blue Hour
Sarah Schmidt
Hachette Australia
TPB $32.99
Following her award-winning
debut See What I Have
Done, Sarah Schmidt’s
second novel, is an
emotionally charged journey
through motherhood and trauma. The novel
moves back and forth between the stories of Kitty
and her daughter Eleanor in the 1930s and 1970s
as they travel through the different stages of their
lives. Schmidt explores the beauty and violence in
the world and the brutal cost when we allow grief
and trauma to reach down generations.
A Recipe for Family
Tori Haschka
S&S Australia
TPB $29.99
Things are getting slippery
for Stella. With her husband
away she’s juggling a full-time
job, a tricky stepdaughter and
a relentless four-year-old–all while trying to find
her footing in her spouse’s shiny world. Joining
the throng of local mothers, she reluctantly hires
an au pair, Ava, in the hope that it will lighten the
load. With her family recipes in her hand and hope
in her heart, Ava she sets off to reinvent herself in
a place far away.
Salt and Skin
Eliza Henry-Jones
Ultimo Press | TPB $32.99
Following the death of her
husband, Luda Managan
decides to relocate with her
two teenagers Min and Darcy
to live on a remote Scottish
island in the North Sea. While they each deal with
the loss and subsequent move in different ways,
their lives end up becoming entwined with the
myths and histories of the area, including witch
trials and magic.
Grimmish
Michael Winkler
Puncher and Wattmann
PB $29.95
Pain was Joe Grim's selfexpression,
his livelihood
and reason for being. In
1908-09 the Italian-American
boxer toured Australia, losing fights but amazing
crowds with his showmanship and extraordinary
physical resilience. Michael Winkler braids
the story of Grim in Australia in this hybrid
of experimental fiction and biography.
Coming Soon - Pre-orders Welcome
Short stories
Late September
release
Jonathan Cape
Late September
release
Viking Australia
November
release
Picador
December
release
Picador
November
release
Allen & Unwin
October
release
4th Estate
Here Be
Leviathans
Chris Flynn
UQP
TPB $32.99
September release
These stories take us from the
storm drains under Las Vegas
to the Alaskan wilderness; the
rainforests of Queensland to the
Chilean coastline. Narrated in Chris
Flynn’s unique and hilarious style by
animals, places, objects and even
the (very) odd humans!
Cautionary Tales
for Excitable Girls
Anne
Casey-Hardy
Scribner
TPB $29.99
These gem-like
stories are about the desire to rush
out and meet life; about getting
in over your head; about danger,
and damage, and what it means to
survive—and not always survive—
the risk of being young. A masterful
debut from a rare new voice.
Everything Feels
Like the End of
the World
Else Fitzgerald
Allen & Unwin
TPB $29.99
An impressive debut short story
collection, from the winner of the
Richell Prize. These speculative
fiction stories explore the possible
future of Australia and what it means
to be human from our present day to
thousands of years into the future.
An Exciting and
Vivid Inner Life
Paul Dalla Rosa
Allen & Unwin
TPB $29.99
Shifting between
euphoria and
despair, the characters in this short
story collection wrestle with what it
means to live, work, and love. Paul
Dalla Rosa explores an extremely
contemporary existential malaise that
seems to overwhelm young people
in this brilliant debut.
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YOUR READING GUIDE
03

International Fiction
The Unfolding
A.M. Homes
Granta | TPB $32.99
September release
2008. America is
changing. Obama is
elected president and
a group of wealthy
men come together
to pave a way for a
super conservative
candidate to serve their agenda. The Big Guy,
the focal point for this conservative group,
has his own family challenges, his wife, an
alcoholic, is falling apart, his daughter is starting
to discover unpleasant truths about her world...
A masterful new novel by one of the best
contemporary American writers.
Shrines of Gaiety
Kate Atkinson
Doubleday
TPB $32.99
September release
By the award-winning
author of Case Histories
and Life After Life
comes a mesmerising
new novel. London 1926, with the country still
recovering from the Great War, has become
the focus for a delirious new nightlife. Nellie
Coker is the notorious queen of this glittering
world, but success breeds enemies, and
Nellie’s empire faces constant threats. Beneath
the dazzle of Soho’s gaiety lurks a world in
which it is all too easy to become lost.
Haven
Emma Donoghue
Picador
TPB $32.99
September release
In seventh century Ireland,
a scholar and priest called
Artt has a dream telling him
to leave the sinful world
behind. Taking two monks—young Trian and
old Cormac—he rows down the River Shannon
in search of an isolated spot on which to found
a monastery. Drifting out into the Atlantic,
the three men find an impossibly steep, bare
island, inhabited by tens of thousands of birds,
and claim it for God. In such a place, what will
survival mean?
Carrie Soto Is Back
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Hutchinson Heinemann
TPB $32.99
September release
Carrie Soto, who TJR fans will
recognise from Malibu Rising,
is a fierce, competitive tennis
player and her determination to win at any cost did
not make her popular. In this riveting, unforgettable
novel, 37-year-old Carrie makes the monumental
decision to return to the game for one epic, final
season in an attempt to reclaim her recently
broken records.
The House of Fortune
Jessie Burton
Picador
TPB $34.99
In this long-awaited sequel
to The Miniaturist, set in
Amsterdam in 1705, Thea
Brandt is turning eighteen
and is ready to welcome
adulthood with open arms. But at home, in
the house on the Herengracht, winter has set
in, and her Aunt Nella is desperate to save
the family and maintain appearances. On
Thea’s birthday, also the day that her mother
Marin died, the secrets from the past begin
to overwhelm the present…
The Marriage Portrait
Maggie O’Farrell
Tinder Press
TPB $32.99
September release
Following her success
with Hamnet, Maggie
O’Farrell reimagines the
life of another historical
woman in a glittering portrait of Renaissance
Italy: Lucrezia de’ Medici. In 16th century
Florence, the duke’s third daughter lives in
wealthy obscurity. But when she is thrust into
marriage following the death of her elder sister,
Lucrezia must quickly adjust to the unfamiliar
customs and expectations of her new role.
Act of Oblivion
Robert Harris
Hutchinson Heinemann
TPB $32.99
Late September release
The new thrilling novel by
the master of historical
fiction. 1660, General
Edward Whalley and Colonel William Goffe,
father- and son-in-law, cross the Atlantic. They
are on the run and wanted for the murder of
Charles I. Under the provisions of the Act of
Oblivion, they have been found guilty of high
treason. In London, Richard Nayler, secretary of
the regicide committee, is tasked with tracking
down the fugitives. He'll stop at nothing until
the two men are brought to justice.
Cult Classic
Sloane Crosley
Bloomsbury Publishing
TPB $29.99
A smart, sharp and hugely
entertaining tale of luck and
love. For Lola, New York
has become awash with
ghosts of heartbreaks past
when night after night she bumps into past
loves. As memories swirl and converge, Lola is
forced to decide if she will surrender herself to
the conspiring of one very contemporary cult.
Sloane Crosley spins a wry literary fantasy that
is equal parts page-turner and poignant portrayal
of alienation.
Isaac and the Egg
Bobby Palmer
Headline Review
TPB $32.99
A young man walks into
the woods on the worst
morning of his life and finds
something there that will
change everything. It’s a tale
that might seem familiar, but how it speaks to you
will depend on how you’ve lived until now. This
hopeful, compelling and imaginative novel shows
that sometimes, to get out of the woods, you
have to go into them.
The Last White Man
Mohsin Hamid
Hamish Hamilton
HB $32.99
Anders wakes to find that
his white skin has turned
brown and experiences an
immediate change—both
overt and covert—in the
way friends and strangers react to him. Reports
surface of other white people turning darkskinned,
and society falters as fear and anger
spread. ‘Otherness’ and our reactions to it fuel this
powerful reflection on bigotry, enduring structures,
and our fear of change.
All The Broken Places
John Boyne
Doubleday
TPB $32.99
Mid-September release
All the Broken Places is the
masterful sequel to the
classic bestseller The Boy in
the Striped Pyjamas, where we reunite with a
character from that novel who takes a journey
to a place she never goes—the past. Through
her story, Boyne explores the aftermath of the
war and the effects of a lifetime of guilt.
Watersong
Clarissa Goenawan
Scribe | TPB $29.99
A mesmerising novel
about a young man
trying to escape his
past in Japan. When
Shouji Arai crosses one
of his company’s most
powerful clients, he must
leave Akakawa immediately or risk his life. But
his girlfriend Youko is nowhere to be found.
Haunted by dreams of drowning and the words
of a fortune teller who warned him away from
three women with water in their names, he
travels to Tokyo, where he tries in vain to track
Youko down.
Babel
R.F. Kuang
Voyager UK
TPB $32.99
A stand-alone fantasy from
the author of The Poppy
War trilogy, Babel is an
ambitious novel of dark
academia set in Oxford University in the 1830s.
The obsessions and brutality of academia are
portrayed within the world of the Royal Institute
of Translation, where language is a tool of
colonial power and repression. A novel of
extraordinary ambition and intelligence.
Ithaca
Claire North
Orbit | TPB $32.99
September release
Seventeen years after
King Odysseus sailed to
war with Troy, taking all of
the men from Ithaca, none
have returned, so the women are left to run the
kingdom. His wife Penelope, so young when
they married, is fending off suitors, while trying
to maintain a balance of power. Time for the
women of Ithaca to tell their tale in this masterful
re-imagining of the Greek legend.
The Pachinko Parlour
Elisa Shua Dusapin
Scribe | PB $24.99
September release
Crisp and enigmatic,
Franco-Korean author Shua
Dusapin’s writing glows in
this slice-of-life exploration
of diaspora and displacement. Claire visits her
grandparents in Japan, where they established
a Pachinko Parlour after fleeing Korea’s civil war
decades earlier. Desperate to learn more about
her heritage, stunted by cultural barriers, Claire
bonds with her tutoring student Mieko who
becomes determined to visit the Pachinko Parlour.
Joan
Katherine J. Chen
Hodder & Stoughton
TPB $32.99
It’s 1420s and France is
mired in a losing war against
England. Yet out of the chaos,
an unlikely heroine emerges.
Reckless, steel-willed and
brilliant, Joan has survived a childhood steeped
in both joy and violence to claim an extraordinary
position at the head of the French army. The
battlefield and the royal court are full of dangers
and Joan finds herself under suspicion from all
sides... A stunning feminist reimagining of the life
of Joan of Arc.
After Sappho
Selby Wynn Schwartz
Text Publishing
TPB $29.99
Told in a series of cascading
vignettes, featuring a
multitude of voices, After
Sappho reimagines the
lives of a brilliant group of feminists, sapphists,
artists and writers in the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century as they battle for
liberation, justice and control over their own
lives. Lush, poetic, furious and funny, After
Sappho celebrates the women and trailblazers
of the past—and offers hope for our present,
and our futures.
Amy and Lan
Sadie Jones
Chatto & Windus
TPB $29.99
Best friends Amy Connell
and Lan Honey grow up on a
farm in southwest England:
three families, a couple of
lodgers, goats, dogs, and an orphaned calf called
Gabriella Christmas. The adults are far too busy
to keep an eye on Amy and Lan, and Amy and
Lan would never tell them about climbing on the
high barn roof, or what happened with the axe
that time, any more than their parents would tell
them the things they get up to–adult things, like
betrayal–that threaten to bring the whole fragile
idyll tumbling down…
Psalms For The End Of The World
Cole Haddon
Headline | TPB $32.99
Life Ceremony
Sayaka Murata
Granta | TPB $29.99
Lapvona
Ottessa Moshfegh
Jonathan Cape | HB $32.99
Girlcrush
Florence Given
Brazen | TPB $32.99
September release
Ambitious in its scope and wildly genre crossing, Psalms
For The End Of The World crosses the multiverse in
this highly original novel. Grace Pulansky runs away with
Robert Jones after the FBI accuses him of being a bombplanting
mass-murderer. Everything she has known about the universe and
the nature of reality is undermined as they are pursued across America.
This is the eagerly anticipated story collection from
the wildly bizarre and fantastically talented author
of Convenience Store Woman, Sayaka Murata.
Mixing taboo-breaking body horror with feminist
revenge fables, old ladies who love each other, and
young women who find empathy and transformation in unlikely places,
Life Ceremony is an exhilarating read from contemporary Japan.
In the land of Lapvona, lord Villiam is cheating
the local villagers of their food, their water, their
livelihoods. Grotesque and ridiculous, he marries the
pregnant and tongueless ex-nun Agata, whom he
believes will make him God, and his son will be the
second Christ. This anti-fairytale within a fairytale is
simultaneously funny, horrifying and entertaining.
Girlcrush is a dark feminist comedy by bestselling
author Florence Given, author of Women Don’t
Owe You Pretty. We follow Eartha on a wild,
weird and seductive modern-day exploration as
she commences life as an openly bisexual woman
whilst also becoming a viral sensation on Wonder
Land, a social media app where people project
their dream selves online.
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YOUR READING GUIDE
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Crime & Thrillers
Indigenous Voices
The Unbelieved
Vikki Petraitis
Allen & Unwin
TPB $32.99
When Senior Detective
Antigone Pollard has a case
go catastrophically wrong,
she requests a transfer to
her hometown of Deception Bay. A month into
her new life she is targeted by a would-be rapist,
but when she reports the incident no one believes
her. Antigone finds the women of Deception Bay
are scared and no help is forthcoming. But that is
about to change because, this time, Antigone is
not going to make any mistakes.
Denizen
James McKenzie Watson
Viking Australia
TPB $32.99
On a remote property in
western NSW, nine-year-old
Parker fears that something
is wrong with his brain. His
desperate attempts to control
this internal chaos spark a series of events that get
way out of his control in deadly and devastating
ways. Winner of the 2021 Penguin Literary Prize,
this is a gothic thriller exploring rural Australia’s
simultaneous celebration of harsh country and
stoic people.
The Settlement
Jock Serong
Text Publishing
TPB $32.99
September release
Jock Serong returns to bring
us this stunning historical
novel, based on the story
of George Augustus Robinson and his decision
to ‘help’ the last Indigenous Tasmanians at his
Friendly Mission. It was a place to ‘civilise’ the
Indigenous people taking them from the traditional
lands to the settlement of Wybalenna on Flinders
Island. A tragic tale of colonialism and cruelty.
The Wrong Woman
J.P. Pomare
Hachette Australia
TPB $32.99
From the award-winning
author of Call Me Evie,
comes a new literary thriller
with nerve-wracking twists
and turns that never let up
until the end. Reid left his hometown to become a
PI with no intention of ever returning to the place
which caused him such anguish and pain growing
up, but when an insurance firm offers him good
money to look into a suspicious car crash, he finds
himself back home and taking on the town again.
Black River
Matthew Spencer
Allen & Unwin
TPB $32.99
Matthew Spencer is an
exciting new talent in
Australian crime writing. His
first novel starts with a body
found in the grounds of an elite private school
in Sydney. Adam Bowman is a second rung
journalist, who grew up in the school grounds,
and he is soon deeply involved in the case. Is this
young woman one of the victims of a serial killer?
A gripping page-turner.
Lying Beside You
Michael Robotham
Hachette Australia
TPB $32.99
Twenty years ago, Cyrus
Haven’s family was
murdered. Only two
survived: Cyrus, who hid,
and his brother Elias, who was the killer. Now
Elias is being released from a secure psychiatric
hospital and Cyrus, a forensic psychologist, must
decide if he can forgive him. As he prepares
for the homecoming, Cyrus is called to a crime
scene—a man is dead and his daughter missing.
Then a second woman is abducted…
Dreaming the Land
Marie Geissler
Thames & Hudson Australia
HB $100.00
September release
Spanning more than fifty
years, Dreaming the
Land: Aboriginal Art from Remote Australia
profiles over one hundred Indigenous artists.
With an introductory essay by Dr Marie Geissler
presenting a summary and chronological overview
of the history of the visual culture of Aboriginal
Australia, beginning with the rock art of over
40,000 years ago, this is a comprehensive and
visually stunning introduction to remote Australian
Aboriginal culture and the evolution of the
contemporary art movement.
The Boy from
Boomerang Crescent
Eddie Betts
S&S Australia
TPB $49.99
Eddie Betts is admired both
on and off the football field
and this is his story. How
does a self-described ‘skinny Aboriginal kid’
overcome a legacy of family tragedy to become
an AFL legend? Sometimes funny, sometimes
tragic, and always honest, The Boy from
Boomerang Crescent is an inspirational life story
of a champion, in his own words.
The Wonder of
Little Things
Vince Copley and
Lea McInerney
ABC Books | TPB $34.99
First Nations Elder
Vince Copley shares his
extraordinary story, beginning
on a government mission in 1936. By the time
he was fifteen, five of his family had died, but at
a home for Aboriginal boys he befriended future
leaders Charlie Perkins, John Moriarty and Gordon
Briscoe—friendships that would last a lifetime.
Vince’s love of life will make you smile, his
heartache will make you cry, and his determination
to enjoy life in the face of adversity will inspire you
to find the wonder in little things—every day.
My People’s Songs
Joel Stephen Birnie
Monash University
Publishing
TPB $34.95
Joel Stephen Birnie shares
the history of his earliest
known ancestral grandmother,
Tarenootairer (c.1806-58) and her two daughters,
Mary Ann Arthur and Fanny Cochrane Smith. The
fierce determination and strength of three women
who fought not just to survive but to change the
course of history. Stories of activism and resilience
from early Bass Strait sealing-industry days.
We Come with
This Place
Dr Debra Dank
Echo | PB $29.99
Debra Dank, a Gudanji/
Wakaja woman, has
written a personal history
of ancestral knowledge,
connection to family, community and Country.
We Come with This Place is not only a love
letter to her people and Country, it is also a
piercing look at the cruelty and injustices of
a deeply racist Australia.
WIN a $500
voucher from
nardurna
Purchase a copy
of We Come with
This Place for your
*Sample artwork
chance to win
a $500 voucher to spend on an artwork
of your choice from nardurna.
For full details go to the Competition page at
www.booksellerschoice.com.au.
Competition closes 31 October 2022.
*Terms and conditions apply.
The Whispering
Veronica Lando
HarperCollins
TPB $32.99
Callum Haffenden swore he
would never return to Granite
Creek but thirty years later
when a man goes missing in
the rainforest he is drawn back to the small town
and forced to face the tragedy he thought he had
left behind. A cleverly plotted page-turner full of
white-knuckle tension from the winner of the
2021 Banjo Prize for Fiction.
Paper Cage
Tom Baragwanath
Text Publishing
TPB $32.99
Two children have gone
missing in the close-knit town
of Masterston and the police
don’t seem to know where
to start looking. Lorraine, a
police records clerk, spends her days among the
piles of paper making connections and working
things out that the actual police don’t want to hear
about. That is until the new investigator arrives
and realises Lorraine is the only person there with
answers to any of his questions. Can they save the
children of Masterton? A nail-biting literary thriller.
The Invisible
Peter Papathanasiou
MacLehose Press
TPB $32.99
September release
Detective Sergeant George
Manolis flies from Australia
to Greece for a holiday
after being burnt out from police work. He
hopes simply to reconnect with his roots, only
to become embroiled in an investigation of an
‘invisible’–a local who lives without a scrap of
paperwork and has disappeared and may not have
even existed. This is Australian noir at its best.
My Father and
Other Animals
Sam Vincent
Black Inc.
TPB $32.99
Sam Vincent is scrabbling
to make ends meet as a
young inner-suburban writer.
When his mum calls to say dad stuck his hand in
a woodchipper, but “not to worry—it wasn’t like
that scene in Fargo or anything!”, Sam’s life takes
an unexpected direction. Affecting, hilarious and
utterly surprising, this memoir melds humour and
fierce honesty in an unsentimental love letter to
family and farming.
Raised by Wolves
Jess Ho
Affirm Press | TPB $29.99
Jess Ho is best known for
their ‘take-no-prisoners’
opinions on the Australian
hospitality industry. In this
powerful memoir, Jess
reflects on growing up Cantonese in the racist
outer suburbs, emerging from childhood with
a major psychological complex and a kick-arse
palate, traits that would help them fit right into
the messy world of Melbourne’s food scene.
Biographies and Memoirs
The Summertime
of Our Dreams
Michael Pascoe
Ultimo Press | TPB $34.99
This is a moving memoir
by Michael Pascoe about
his relationship with Jim,
his friend since boarding
school in Queensland, as he faces up to terminal
illness. We see a group of friends as they meet
occasionally to talk about their shared youth and
their mortality. Eloquent, profound–and sometimes
funny–these encounters, as well as Michael and
Jim’s correspondence about living, dying, memory
and family, will resonate deeply with readers.
Blood & Ink
Brett Adams
Fremantle Press
TPB $32.99
September release
Literature professor Jack Griffen has recently suffered
a nervous breakdown. His wife has divorced him, and
she and their adult daughter have moved to the USA.
Into the void steps exchange student Hieronymus Beck, claiming to be the
professor’s greatest fan. But everything changes when Jack finds Hiero’s
list. Five sheets of paper. Five ways to commit a murder. His student has
told him he’s writing a crime novel, but is that all he is doing?
06 YOUR READING GUIDE
The Carnival is Over
Greg Woodland
Text Publishing
TPB $32.99
Greg Woodland, author of The Night Whistler,
returns with another nail-biting rural thriller. 1971—
Hal is seventeen, with dreams of escaping from
Moorabool to a life in the city. But right now, he’s
on a good behaviour bond and stuck in a job he
hates. The friendship of the older, more worldly, Christine is all that
makes each day bearable. So when she doesn’t turn up for work, he’s
on the alert. So is Sergeant Mick Goodenough who suspects there’s
something sinister going on behind the scenes at the abattoir...
The Man Who Loved
Pink Dolphins
Anthony Ham
Allen & Unwin | TPB $34.99
Chris Clark spent his life
trying to save a pristine
corner of the Amazon
rainforest as rampant
clearing destroyed the lungs of the Earth.
Acclaimed travel and nature writer Anthony
Ham tells the story of a stubborn Scotsman
from Glasgow who, aided by the isolated
Waimiri-Atroari people, fought for thirty years
to save a natural wonderland.
Stronger
Dinesh Palipana
Macmillan | TPB $36.99
A catastrophic car accident
changed Dinesh Palipana’s
life forever. With strength
and determination Dinesh
completed medical school—
becoming the second graduating doctor with
quadriplegia. Dinesh takes us on his incredible
journey from moment of the accident to the
present. From being the patient to now being
the doctor has made Dinesh a better doctor;
happier, stronger, more compassionate, and
capable. An incredible journey.
Desi Girl
Sarah Malik
UQP | TPB $32.99
September release
In these memoir-style essays,
Walkley Award-winning
Pakistani-Australian journalist
Malik dissects the many
layers of identity that have shaped her, from faith,
to feminism, race and class. She shares stories of
working in a newsroom as a Muslim feminist in
the age of Islamophobia, and how to find and take
your place in the world.
YOUR READING GUIDE
07

Biographies and Memoirs
History
Telltale
Carmel Bird
Transit Lounge
HB $32.99
Carmel Bird uses the
enforced isolation of
the pandemic to reread
a wide collection
of books from her
past. Her library is comprehensive, and
each book chosen enables an opening,
a connection to people, time, place, myth,
image, and the experience of a writing
life. Original, lyrical and hugely enjoyable,
this is the most intimate of memoirs.
Provocateur
Clive Hamilton
Hardie Grant Books
TPB $34.99
September release
Clive Hamilton has spent a
lifetime agitating on issues
that affect us all. He has
been banned by the CCP, received multiple
death threats, and been denounced in Federal
parliament, all the while driving public debate on
issues such as climate change, authoritarianism,
air quality and public education. A fascinating
celebration of the power of ideas and the
importance of challenging the status quo.
Faith, Hope
and Carnage
Nick Cave and
Sean O’Hagan
Text Publishing
HB $45.00
September release
Faith, Hope and Carnage
is a book about Nick Cave’s inner life. Created
from over forty hours of intimate conversations
with Sean O’Hagan, it is a profoundly thoughtful
exploration, in Cave’s own words, of what really
drives his life and creativity.
The Story of Russia
Orlando Figes
Bloomsbury Publishing
TPB $32.99
September release
A sweeping, suspenseful
and masterful history of
Russia. Beginning in the
first millennium, when Russia’s lands were first
settled by the Slavs, and ending with Putin’s
Russia, Orlando Figes takes us on an intimate
and enthralling journey through the stories that
have shaped Russia—from the first saints of the
Russian Church to the crowning of sixteen-yearold
Ivan the Terrible; and from Catherine the Great
to the bitter last days of the Romanovs.
Empire, War,
Tennis and Me
Peter Doherty
MUP | PB $32.99
In this unusual part-memoir,
part-history, Nobel Laureate
Peter Doherty reflects
on the history of modern
tennis and the unlikely connections between
the sport, the players and national militaries.
Doherty personalises the narrative of tennis
as a tool for internationalism with stories of
his tennis-loving uncles, who fought and were
imprisoned during WWII.
Forgotten War
Henry Reynolds
NewSouth Publishing
PB $29.99
Henry Reynolds makes
it clear, in this updated
landmark history and
winner of the 2014 Victorian
Premier’s Award for non-fiction, that there can
be no reconciliation without acknowledging
the wars fought on our own soil. A powerful
scholarly history of the forgotten frontier
wars between white colonialists and our First
Australians, from a pioneer that has given
reconciliation a historical underpinning.
The Patient Doctor
Dr Ben Bravery
Hachette Australia
TPB $32.99
Dr Ben Bravery was
diagnosed with cancer
at 28 years old. Over 18
months of treatment, he
often felt confused, overwhelmed and often
alone—abandoned by the system that was
meant to be caring for him. After his recovery,
he began medical training to enter the system
and try to change it from within. This is his
memoir and a manifesto for compassion and
patient-centred care.
Birdgirl
Mya-Rose Craig
Jonathan Cape
HB $35.00
Mya-Rose Craig, also known
as Birdgirl, is a 20-year-old
British-Bangladeshi birder,
environmentalist, and
diversity activist. This is her story, one that is
defined by her love and wonderment of birds
and the environment. Birdgirl says we are all
intrinsically linked, every single bird is a treasure,
every sighting is cherished. ‘Lyrical, poignant and
insightful.’ Margaret Atwood.
The Strength of Hope
Abram Goldberg with
Fiona Harris
Affirm Press
TPB $32.99
September release
Now 97 years old, Abram
survived the Holocaust and
has remained dedicated to Holocaust memory and
education since arriving in Australia over 70 years
ago. This memoir is a fitting tribute to someone
who lived through such horrific events and has
found a way to live with joy and optimism and
maintain an unwavering commitment to ensuring
future generations do not forget the past.
Shortest History
of the World
David Baker
Black Inc. | TPB $26.99
A revealing and
compelling bird’s eye
view of 13.8 billion years
and a fascinating journey
through life, the universe and everything. How
we came to be on the planet, how we evolved
and where we are going? A history and science
writer, David Baker takes us beyond the chaos
of human affairs and interrogates questions of
how we have transformed into complex human
societies, and how humans will keep evolving.
Australia’s Secret Army
Michael Veitch
Hachette Australia
TPB $32.99
September release
Established after WWI,
the Coast Watchers were
a loose organisation of
several hundred European settlers, missionaries
and patrol officers whose job was to observe
and report on the enemy. Mostly unpaid
volunteers, it was never envisaged they would
do any fighting, but when the WWII came to
the Pacific, that is exactly what they ended up
doing. This is the story of these unsung heroes.
The Shipwreck
Larry Writer
Allen & Unwin
TPB $34.99
On August 20, 1857, the
Dunbar, an 1186-tonne
three-masted ship—en route
to Sydney from Plymouth,
England—was swept by a
gale onto the rocks at South Head. All but one
of the 123 crew and passengers perished. The
wreck was one of Australia’s worst ever maritime
disasters. It shocked the city and its aftermath
saw enormous changes to navigation and
maritime safety. Using a wealth of contemporary
sources The Shipwreck recounts the story of the
Dunbar with narrative pace and excitement.
Smart, Stupid and Sixty
Nigel Marsh
William Heinemann
TPB $34.99
Twenty years on from Fat,
Forty and Fired, Nigel
Marsh gazes inward once
more. He notices how long
it has been since he was
unceremoniously fired and began to look at life
and work anew. He contemplates aging and sex,
his parents’ death, parenting of his adult children
and the possibility that his happiest days lie ahead.
Gloriously life-affirming.
I Want to Die but I Want
to Eat Tteokbokki
Baek Sehee
Bloomsbury Publishing
TPB $29.99
A depressed social media
manager working at a
publishing house begins
to record her sessions with her psychiatrist in
this bestselling Korean memoir that counts BTS
amongst its fans. Sincere, funny, and painfully
relatable, this book offers a glimmer of hope to
anyone who has ever felt alone or unjustified in
their everyday despair.
Weekends with Matt
Peter Coleman and Matt
Fowles
Affirm Press
HB $35.00
Matt and Peter first meet
during a course on European
renaissance history in
Florence. Years later with
families of their own, their friendship deepens
as they find common ground discussing life, love,
philosophy, and nature, all while appreciating a
few glasses of wine—who knew that just like a
novel can transport you to another place, so can
the humble grape! This is a delightful story that
readers will love to sip and savour.
The Scrap Iron Flotilla
Mike Carlton
William Heinemann Australia
TPB $34.99
Five Australian Royal Navy
destroyers operated in the
Mediterranean and Pacific
during WWII providing
supplies of food, medicine
and ammunitions and removing wounded
soldiers. With old worn-out engines, their crews
joked about being held together by string and
chewing gum. Known as the Scrap Iron Flotilla,
a name given to them by Joseph Goebbels, they
are an immortal part of Australian naval legend.
This is their story.
Lessons from History
Edited by Carolyn Holbrook,
Lyndon Megarrity,
David Lowe
NewSouth Publishing
PB $39.99
Leading historians bring a
historical perspective to the
challenges faced by Australia and the world and
use that context to enhance our understanding
of the present. Climate change, migration,
social cohesion, trade relations and China’s
place in the world are amongst the many issues
covered in this erudite and timely collection.
The Cowra Breakout
Mat McLachlan
Hachette Australia
TPB $32.99
During WWII, in the town of
Cowra in central New South
Wales, Japanese prisoners
of war were held in a POW
camp. By August 1944, over a thousand were
interned. On August 5th they staged one of the
largest prison breakouts in history, launching the
only land battle of WWII to be fought on Australian
soil. Five Australian soldiers and more than 230
Japanese POWs would die during what became
known as The Cowra Breakout. This book vividly
traces the full story of the breakout.
So Far, So Good
Aaron Fa’Aoso
Pantera Press | TPB $32.99
September release
Aaron Fa’Aoso’s memoir
is a wonderful look back
at an incredible life. From
the death of his father and
grandfather when he was six, to a career in
football then television, Fa’Aoso’s story is of an
Indigenous man facing up to racism, ignorance
and intergenerational trauma with strength and
pride in his Torres Strait community. A big book
from a proud warrior.
Holy Woman
Louise Omer
Scribe | PB $29.99
A Pentecostal preacher
whose faith wavered when
her husband left, Louise
Omer travelled the world
asking women how they can
exist in a patriarchal religion,
and can women be holy? A combination of travel
writing, feminist theology, and a confessional
memoir that interrogates modern religion, this is a
powerfully written, raw and personal exploration.
Don’t Look Away
Danielle Laidley and
Konrad Marshall
HarperCollins
TPB $34.99
For the best part of five
decades, Danielle Laidley
harboured a dark secret. As
a boy growing up in the backblocks of Perth, as a
young man playing AFL, and as a married father
of three, she knew she was female, regardless
of the gender she was assigned at birth. This is
an unflinching account of what it’s like to know
you don’t fit the body you were born into, and the
desperate measures taken to mask the fear of
being outed and of losing those you love.
08 YOUR READING GUIDE

Nature & Science
Non-Fiction
The Compact
Australian Bird Guide
Jeff Davies et al.
CSIRO Publishing
PB $34.99
Ideal for field identification,
The Compact Australian
Bird Guide takes the
CSIRO’s best-selling bird
guide and puts it in your pocket. Whether you
are new to birdwatching or a seasoned pro,
this guide will enable you to identify the birds
you see in the bush or your backyard quickly
and accurately. It includes up-to-date species
descriptions, distribution maps and full colour
illustrations throughout.
The Hidden
Kingdom of Fungi
Keith Seifert
UQP | TPB $32.99
Fungi are everywhere,
making connections across
the planet and enriching our
lives. Not all fungi are good,
though, with fungal deaths estimated at over
a million per year, but the positives are almost
infinite. Fungi transmit information between
trees, provide vitamins and flavour in food,
produce lifesaving medicines, and remarkably,
share almost a quarter of human genes!
The Age of Seeds
Fiona McMillan-Webster
Thames & Hudson Australia
TPB $34.99
Plants evolved seeds to hack
time. Thanks to seeds they
can cast their genes forward
into the future, enabling
species to endure across
seasons, years and occasionally millennia. In The
Age of Seeds, Fiona McMillan-Webster tells the
astonishing story of seed longevity, the crucial role
they play in our everyday life, and what that might
mean for our future.
So You Want To Live
Younger Longer?
Norman Swan
Hachette Australia
TPB $34.99
Deeply researched and
written with wit and common
sense, Dr. Norman Swan
brings together what’s known, not known, hopeful
but not harmful about what we can do to stay
as young as possible for as long as possible. No
matter what your age, this book gives you the
information needed to make your own choices
based on science and evidence.
Chasing Wrongs
and Rights
Elaine Pearson
Scribner | TPB $34.99
The Australia Director of
Human Rights Watch shares
her experiences defending
human rights—from human
trafficking in Nepal to the ‘drug war’ in the
Philippines to treatment of detainees in Papua
New Guinea and in Australia. Deeply informative
and inspiring, Elaine Pearson’s story will leave you
understanding how much needs to change, and
how individuals can make a difference.
Wild Things
Sally Rippin
Hardie Grant Children’s
Publishing
PB $29.99
What does a best-selling
children’s author do when
she discovers that learning
to read is not something
that comes easily to all children? Based on
the experiences of parenting a child with
dyslexia and ADHD that went unsupported
for years, Rippin has produced a book for
parents about how we learn to read, how we
can help children find the joy in reading and
how to advocate for those getting lost in the
mainstream school system.
Grounded
Alisa Bryce
Text Publishing
TPB $34.99
Life on land could not
exist without soil. Almost
everything we need can be
traced to the soil—food,
fibre, medicines—even
oxygen produced by plants. Aussie scientist
Alisa Bryce digs up some dirt about the history
and science of soil; how it affects the sports
we play, the food we eat and even the crimes
we get away with—or don’t.
A Guide to the
Creatures in Your
Neighbourhood
The Urban Field
Naturalist Project
Murdoch Books
PB $32.99
What is an Urban Field
Naturalist? This fabulous book explains all and
should inspire you to become a naturalist too.
Filled with advice on how to chronicle your nature
encounters and minimise the harm you can cause.
These pages contain a wide range of personal
observations of the creatures in our urban spaces.
Join the movement.
Right Here,
Right Now
Natalie Isaacs
ABC Books | PB $34.99
Natalie Isaacs, the founder
of global climate change
action movement One Million
Women, writes that women
will be most adversely affected by climate change.
She calls on women to lead and live responsibly
and to engage their skills and power in driving
change. Individually and collectively women have
inspired Isaacs—and can inspire us all to do better.
Humanity’s Moment
Joëlle Gergis
Black Inc.
TPB $34.99
September release
When climate scientist
Joëlle Gergis set to work
on the United Nations’
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) report, the research she encountered
kept her up at night. In Humanity’s Moment,
Joëlle takes us through the science in the IPCC
report with clear-eyed honesty, explaining what it
means for our future, while sharing her personal
reflections on bearing witness to the heartbreak
of the climate emergency unfolding in real time.
Investing with
She’s on the Money
Victoria Devine
Penguin Life Australia
TPB $32.99
September release
With a background in
behavioural psychology,
her own financial advisory business and a charttopping
podcast, Victoria Devine understands what
makes her generation tick and she knows how to
make hard-to-understand concepts fun, fresh and
relatable. Investing with She’s on the Money,
gives you everything you need to know to get
started investing and building your future wealth.
A Question of Age
Jacinta Parsons
ABC Books
TPB $34.99
ABC radio journalist Jacinta
Parsons has written a book for
every woman experiencing the
unavoidable process of aging.
Parsons looks at what it means in today’s society
for a woman to age and how we adjust to our new
place in a world that tries to make us invisible.
Parsons suggests instead of going quietly into our
dotage this is the time we should take stock and
look to the future.
Farm
Nicola Harvey
Scribe | TPB $32.99
September release
In 2018, Nicola Harvey and
her husband, Pat, left their
careers and inner-city Sydney
life to farm cattle in rural
New Zealand. They soon found themselves in the
middle of heated arguments and deep divisions
about food, farming, and climate change. Harvey
takes readers into the heart of the industrialised
global food system to share what life on the land
is like when you’re a new farmer just trying to
survive–and change the status quo.
Evergreen
Tim Entwisle
Thames & Hudson Australia
TPB $39.99
September release
Professor Entwisle has
been a director of some of
the finest botanic gardens
around the world, including the Royal Botanic
Gardens in Kew (London), Sydney and Melbourne.
A passionate promoter of science, plants and
gardens, Entwisle believes gardens can help us
conquer climate change, plant extinction, and
provide respite from the stress of modern life.
Of Marsupials and Men
Alistair Paton
Black Inc. | TPB $32.99
Sports journalist and wildlife
enthusiast Alistair Paton
takes us on an entertaining
romp through the history
of Australia’s weird and
wonderful naturalists,
who were, on the whole, a bunch of bumbling
amateurs, in this compelling read that will appeal
to fans of David Hunt’s Girt and Bill Bryson. Paton
celebrates the skill, passion, and dedication of his
subjects whilst also acknowledging the darker side
of their endeavours.
Black Lives, White Law
Russell Marks
La Trobe University Press
TPB $34.99
Combining case studies
with deeper history, Russell
Marks examines Australia’s
criminal justice system and
its interaction with First Nations people. How
is it that Indigenous Australians are the most
incarcerated people in the world, and why does
it seem so inevitable? Marks grapples with this
shameful history and the possibility of change.
What We Owe the Future
William MacAskill
Oneworld
TPB $32.99
Philosopher William MacAskill
asks what our unwritten
future could be, arguing
for longtermism as a moral
priority in our thinking and planning. To ensure
our civilisation remains extant we must move
beyond our instincts for personal gratification
and seek to eliminate the inequity and selfdestructiveness
of our systems—a thought
provoking and timely thesis.
Nothing to Hide
Sam Elkin, Alex Gallagher,
Yves Rees and Bobuq Sayed
Allen & Unwin
TPB $34.99
September release
Here the personal
experiences of trans and
gender diverse Australians from many different
backgrounds are bravely laid bare. There
are contributions from extraordinary writers,
artists, filmmakers, academics, poets, activists
and others, in the form of memoir, verse and
illustration, each expressing the individuality
of their trans experiences.
Travel
Epic Hikes of Australia and New Zealand
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet | HB $44.99
Epic Hikes of Australia and New Zealand covers
fifty of Australia and New Zealand’s most rewarding
treks and trails. From the Routeburn Track in New
Zealand’s South Island to the Cape to Cape walk in
Western Australia’s Leeuwin-Naturaliste National
Park, this must-have guide covers a huge variety of
themes and experiences across routes that range from one-day walks to
multi-day treks. For experienced hikers and novices alike.
Offbeat
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet | HB $44.99
September release
Lonely Planet’s Offbeat will inspire you to take
the road less travelled and discover incredible
experiences away from the tourist trail. Full of
wonderful photography about each of the 75
recommended areas, it provides everything you need to know about the
place–from history of the area, why you would go, the best time to travel,
how to get there, hints and tips and, most importantly, sights to see.
August in Kabul
Andrew Quilty
MUP | PB $34.99
Afghanistan was a moral and foreign policy
disaster for America, culminating in the Taliban and
al Qaeda coursing through the country, toppling
the proxy government and setting fire to another
failed conqueror. The humiliating end to America’s
longest foreign incursion is told through the stories
of Afghans whose lives were upended, by multi-Walkley award winner
Andrew Quilty.
Living Democracy
Tim Hollo
Sumo Laser is an environmentally responsible paper manufactured under the ISO14001
Environmental Management System, using elemental chlorine free pulp. Sumo Laser is
FSC Certified Mix pulp.
NewSouth Publishing | PB $32.99
Extinction is in the air. There’s a mounting sense of
desperation in the face of ecological crises, gaping
economic inequality and racial injustice, and a posttruth
in politics that’s divorced from reality. But what
if it were possible for us to not just survive, but thrive,
in the 21st century? In Living Democracy Greens activist Tim Hollo offers
bold ideas and a positive vision for the future.
10 YOUR READING GUIDE
YOUR READING GUIDE
11

Picture Books
Junior and Middle Fiction
What to Say When
You Don’t Know
What to Say
Davina Bell
Lothian Children’s
Books | PB $24.99
We all know young
ones who have to
negotiate new experiences and big emotions
like moving house, a sick pet, learning a new
skill and feeling left out. This heart-warming
guide from the author of All The Ways to
be Smart shows how just a few words of
encouragement, understanding and support
can make all the difference.
Big World,
Tiny World: Reef
Jess Racklyeft
Affirm Press
HB $19.99
Dive down to the
reef and explore the
many worlds that exist
underwater, from dolphins that soar up above
to nudibranchs that skim the ocean floor. Swim
through the big worlds and tiny worlds of
the reef, observe the beauty of the colourful
coral, and delight in the busy lives of all who
live above, below and within. This book is a
stunning ode to our natural treasures and the
interconnectedness of our worlds.
The Shop Train
Josie Wowolla Boyle
Magabala Books
HB $24.99
The Shop Train tells
the story of Rosie and
her mum, and the
rickety journey in their
old car to pick up supplies from the shop train.
This heart-warming picture book is inspired by
the Tea and Sugar train that provided supplies
and services to the people living in remote
communities between Port Augusta in SA and
Kalgoorlie in WA and which ceased operations
in 1996.
Little Ash: Perfect Match/
Friendship Fix It/Tennis
Rush/Goal Getter
Ash Barty, Jasmin McGaughey
and Jade Goodwin
HarperCollins Children’s
PB $9.99 each
Australian tennis superstar
Ash Barty has teamed up with
Jasmin McGaughey and Jade
Goodwin to create a fun new
illustrated series for young
readers. Each of the four
books covers topics kids will
be familiar with like finding a
sport you love to play.
Miss Penny Dreadful and
the Midnight Kittens
Allison Rushby
Walker Books Australia
PB $15.99
Penny Pickering is feeling
stifled and misunderstood
at Miss Strickland’s School
for Girls of an Enquiring Mind. That is until her
famous authoress aunt turns up and whisks
her away on the adventure of a lifetime.
A delightful tale of midnight tea parties,
bewitched kittens and decidedly unusual
museums. This is a glorious adventure with
a very engaging heroine.
Solomon Macaroni and
the Cousin Catastrophe
Ashleigh Barton
UQP | PB $16.99
Solomon Macaroni is the
sweetest vampire you’ve
ever met. When his parents
go on a one-hundred-year
cruise without him, Solomon is not impressed.
Especially because it means having to stay in
creepy Transylvania with his six cousins, the
rudest and naughtiest vampires in existence.
When his cousins venture into the spooky
Wildwood, Solomon must draw on all he
knows to save them and possibly the world.
Be Careful
Xiao Xin
Alice Pung and
Sher Rill Ng
Working Title Press
HB $24.99
In the perfect marriage of words and illustration
Author Alice Pung and Illustrator Sher Rill Ng
bring to life a beautiful and tender story about
learning to conquer your own fears—as a child,
and as an adult, in both English and Chinese.
Backyard Buddies
Andy Geppert
Lothian Children’s
Books | HB $19.99
This is a gorgeously
illustrated fact book and
field guide for children so
they can identify the creepy crawlies that are living
in their backyard. It provides information about
size, when to find them, interesting facts and
most importantly, whether they are safe to touch.
Jigsaw: A Puzzle
in the Post
Bob Graham
Walker
HB $27.99
Bob Graham’s story
of a family that
receives a jigsaw from
an unknown sender
perfectly reflects the wonder, chance, inspiration
and perseverance that can be encountered in any
one day. A perfect story to share with the young
or young-at-heart in your family.
The Book of Wondrous
Possibilities
Deborah Abela
Puffin | PB $16.99
Arlo Goodman lives with his
Uncle Avery in a run-down
flat above their bookshop. He
keeps to himself, and his only friend is a pet
mouse, Herbert. That is until a girl called Lisette
bursts into the shop and begs him to hide
her from a murderer. Arlo is swept up into an
adventure involving kidnappers, car chases and
a battle against a dragon. A fast-paced magical
adventure story full of possibilities!
Guardians: Wylah the
Koorie Warrior
Jordan Gould and Richard
Pritchard
Albert Street Books
PB $15.99
Wylah is the First Nations
hero we’ve been waiting for. When dragons
attack her village Wylah must prove that she
is the Koorie Warrior she is destined to be.
Set thousands of years ago and grounded in
Culture, this adventure sees Wylah embark on
a hero’s journey of transformation as she learns
to believe in herself and save her people.
August & Jones
Pip Harry
Lothian Children’s Books
PB $16.99
At its heart, this is a story
of friendship, love and
resilience. Outdoor-loving
Jones has moved to Sydney
from her country farm and meets shy, awkward
August. They couldn’t be more different but
when Jones’ eyesight fails and August’s family
starts to fracture their friendship, a bold plan
proves that anything is possible.
Dancing with
Memories
Sally Yule/ Cheryl
Orsini/ Maggie Beer/
Ralph Martins
ABC KIDS
HB $24.99
A moving and heartfelt
picture book for
young children and their families, to help them
navigate the changes that come with living with
Alzheimer’s disease. Meet Lucy. Lucy lives with
dementia. She wishes she didn’t, but she does.
Her brain has changed, but she is still Lucy.
Thank goodness she has a brain AND a heart.
Flipper and Finnegan
Sophie Cunningham
and Anil Tortop (Illus)
Albert Street Books
HB $19.99
Flipper and Finnegan
live on a beautiful
island. Every evening
they waddle up the
beach together with all their friends. But one
day, when Flipper comes up for air, she gets
covered in something that is black and smelly
and sticky—and Finnegan is nowhere to be
seen... This is the miraculous true story of how
a viral knitting campaign helped save the lives
of Phillip Island’s Little Penguins.
Ella and the
Useless Day
Meg McKinlay
Walker Books
Australia
HB $25.99
When Ella and her
dad decide to have
a clean-up, they declare everything ‘useless’.
It’s all junk to them until they begin to realise
that their junk may just be another person’s
treasure! Ella and the Useless Day is a heartwarming
picture book that explores sustainable
living—a timely message, gently executed.
The Detective’s Guide
to New York City
Nicki Greenberg
Affirm Press
PB $17.99
Pepper, Sol, Norah and a
reluctantly recruited Elliott
are facing an even bigger
challenge than the Saffron Diamond mystery,
and the stakes have never been so high. Set in
1920s New York and full of glitz and glamour
and fabulous characters, this page turner will
delight readers of the previous The Detective’s
Guide to Ocean Travel, but can equally be read
as a standalone.
No Words
Maryam Master
Pan Australia
PB $16.99
Aria is a newly arrived
refugee who does not
speak—EVER! Hero and
her best friend Jaz are
determined to find out why and hopefully
help him to fit in to his new life in Australia.
A touching story about the power of friendship
and one boy’s journey to heal and find his place
in the world.
Act
Kayla Miller
Walker Books Australia
PB $17.99
Olive is excited to start sixth
grade and she is especially
looking forward to the field
trip to the big city. But when
Olive finds out that a school policy is keeping
some kids from going on the trip, she decides
to act by participating in the school elections.
A graphic novel for fans of Raina Telgemeier
about taking a stand for the things you believe
in because we can all make a difference.
A Job for Kingsley
Gabriel Evans
Hardie Grant
Children’s Publishing
HB $24.99
Kingsley has
decided to get a
job. This is not a
decision to be taken lightly. After all, a job is
a big responsibility. But it’s hard to find a job
that’s suitable for a dog. Will Kingsley ever
find the perfect job for him? A funny and
tender story about belonging and the power
of friendship.
Floof
Heidi McKinnon
Albert Street Books
HB $19.99
Heidi McKinnon is
back with another
irresistible picture
book especially for
cat lovers. Floof the cat is VERY floofy and he
is having a VERY busy day. Great fun to read
aloud while kids will delight in noticing all the
things that the mischievous Floof gets up to
throughout the day.
Tangki Tjuta –
Donkeys
Tjanpi Desert
Weavers
Allen & Unwin
HB $24.99
An endearing dual
language story
about how donkeys came to be a rich part of
life for families in the desert community of
Pukatja (Ernabella) in the APY Lands of northern
South Australia. Told in Pitjantjatjara and English
and featuring the distinctive sculptures that
have made Tjanpi Desert Weavers famous, this
story offers warm and humorous insights from
an Anangu perspective.
What About Thao?
Oliver Phommavanh
Puffin | PB $16.99
The story of a city kid in a
two-teacher country town
school enjoying being the
new kid, that is until Kadir
arrives. Oliver creates
a fabulously diverse
and heartfelt duo in Thao and Kadir and their
sometimes hilarious and sometimes heartwrenching
dilemmas of culture and belonging
in a remote rural community. From the author
of the bestselling Thai-riffic, Con-nerd and
The Other Christy.
How to Be Prime
Minister and Survive
Grade Five
Carla Fitzgerald
UQP | PB $16.99
Can two sisters run the
country when their dad
goes AWOL from his
Prime Ministerial duties?
Harper’s sincerity and earnestness in the face of a
daunting task gives this book real heart, while her
sister Lottie is an environmental champion and a
firecracker. Together they will make you wonder
why we haven’t always put the kids in charge.
The Deadly Daylight
Ash Harrier
Pantera Press
PB $16.99
12-year-old Alice England is
curious, truthful and smart,
but when you work in your
father’s funeral home and
you get messages from the
dead, it can be difficult to make friends. When
she comes across the peculiar case of George
Devenish, who was allergic to sunlight, Alice is
convinced there’s more to his death than meets
the eye. With the help of George’s niece, Violet
the vampire, and a boy named Cal, who has
secrets of his own, Alice begins to investigate.
12 YOUR READING GUIDE
YOUR READING GUIDE
13

Young Adult
Food
My Spare Heart
Jared Thomas
Allen & Unwin
PB $19.99
Phoebe’s non-Indigenous
mum and her dad, an
Aboriginal man, have split up
and she’s moved to a sleepy
town with him and his new
health-obsessed girlfriend. Her new school is
full of hippies, but some of the kids are cool,
and the local basketball team is tight, so before
long she’s fitting in. But as her mum becomes
increasingly unreliable, her world begins to
crumble again. How can she help her mum
without tearing her family apart?
A Little Spark
Barry Jonsberg
Allen & Unwin
PB $16.99
Barry Jonsberg is back with
another tender and quirky
book for middle grade
readers. Every second
weekend, Cate looks forward
to time with her dad. Often, these weekends are
filled with special and surprising experiences that
she channels into her writing. When Cate’s mum
and step-dad decide to move to London, she has a
difficult choice: which parent will she live with?
Friends Like These
Meg Rosoff
Bloomsbury
PB $16.99
Who needs enemies
when you’ve got friends
like these? When eighteenyear-old
Beth moves to
Manhattan in the summer
of 1983 for a prestigious internship she
quickly finds herself navigating more than
just a new city as she becomes entangled in
a web of heady relationships with her fellow
interns. Written with lean, sharp prose, this
gritty and intoxicating novel is perfect for
fans of Sally Rooney and Naoise Dolan.
Cook
Karen Martini
Hardie Grant Books
HB $100.00
Karen Martini shares a
lifetime of cooking, eating
and learning about food
in Cook. This deeply
personal collection
bursts with dishes reflecting the richly diverse
world of food, as told through Karen’s unrivalled
understanding of how we eat today. Always a
favourite for her approachable style and delicious
recipes, this is the perfect kitchen companion both
for new and experienced cooks.
Ottolenghi Test Kitchen:
Extra Good Things
Noor Murad and
Yotam Ottolenghi
Ebury Press
TPB $49.99
September release
Ottolenghi’s Test Kitchen
makes the joy of his
incredible cooking a possibility in the home on
any night. The addition of one spice or herb, or
of an ingredient not usually considered can bring
alive any dish and add new flavours and textures
to your everyday meals. Fill your cupboards with
adaptable home-made ingredients and elevate
your home cooking!
Around the Table
Julia Busuttil
Nishimura
Plum | PB $44.99
The latest cookbook
by beloved home
cook Julia Busuttil
Nishimura. With
recipes ranging from
quick, flavourful meals for busy weeknights
to simple indulgences for summer feasts,
Around the Table perfectly matches dishes
to time and place. It demonstrates yet again
Julia’s knowledge and understanding of the
power food to bring people together!
Kill Joy
Holly Jackson
Farshore
PB $16.99
Pippa Fitz-Amobi, serious
student and true crime
podcast obsessive, isn’t
that keen on dressing up
for a 1920’s murder mystery party, but as the
evening unfolds, she finds herself right in her
element. Meet Pip in this twisty novella, before
she investigates the murder of Andie Bell in the
thrilling bestseller A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder.
Sadie Starr’s Guide
to Starting Over
Miranda Luby
Text Publishing
PB $22.99
Sadie Starr really wants to be
a better version of herself.
So when the family moves
interstate for her dad’s work, she sees this as
the perfect opportunity to start over and this time
she’s going to be perfect. She quickly discovers
that life at her new school might be just as messy
as the high-school dramas she’s left behind. This
Aussie young-adult novel celebrations all the
imperfections that make us human.
Completely Normal
(and Other Lies)
Biffy James
Hardie Grant Children’s
Publishing | PB $19.99
Stella Wilde is in love
with the hottest guy in
school and he seems to
feel the same way. There’s only one problem:
he has a girlfriend. When he’s suddenly killed
in an accident, Stella must navigate a private
grief that she cannot acknowledge. Witty and
sarcastic yet tender, Completely Normal (and
Other Lies) is a delicate exploration of mental
health, friendship, first love, and grief.
Persiana Everyday
Sabrina Ghayour
Aster HB | $39.99
An all-new collection of
more than 100 crowd
pleasing recipes for
everyday eating from the
award-winning author
of cookbook Persiana.
Designed to ensure maximum flavour with the
greatest of ease, Persiana Everyday is full of
generous, inviting and delicious recipes to cook
again and again for both family and friends.
Chinese-ish
Rosheen Kaul and
Joanna Hu
Murdoch Books
HB $39.99
From Rosheen Kaul, head
chef at Melbourne’s Etta
restaurant, and illustrator
Joanna Hu, comes Chinese-ish, a cookbook
celebrating the confident blending of culture and
identity through food centred around the mantra
of take what you love and ignore what doesn’t
work for you. This accessible and enticing
selection of in-authentic Chinese-influenced
dishes pulled from all over South-East Asia
is filled with fun, flavour and personality.
WIN all three of Julia Nishimura’s
cookbooks
Purchase a book from this guide from
your local bookshop for your chance to
WIN one of five sets of Julia Nishimura’s
cookbooks—Ostro, A Year of Simple Food
and Around the Table—valued at $127.97.
For full details go to the Competition page at
www.booksellerschoice.com.au.
Competition closes 31 October.
*Terms and conditions apply.
Snow Laundry
Mette Jakobsen
HarperCollins Children’s | PB $19.99
Lovers of dystopian fiction will enjoy this new series
where in a world not too far in our future, homeless
children and teens are given a home and food in
exchange for their work in The Towers, a repurposed
old airport hotel. It is just not made clear to them, what
else they are giving up…
Children’s Non-Fiction
The Not So Chosen One
Kate Emery
Text Publishing | PB $19.99
Sweltering in the Perth summer, Lucy is worrying
about the usual things: what to wear to this
weekend’s party, if she’s going to be late home,
and how to tell her mum she’s unexpectedly
pregnant. When she is whisked away to another
dimension and enrolled at a magical college,
Lucy’s new double life only adds to her stress. Teens will love this
clever and funny take on portal fantasy.
MEZCLA
Ixta Belfrage
Ebury Press
HB $55.00
In Spanish, ‘mezcla’
means mix, mixture or
blend, and is used to
describe music and art
as well as cooking. In her first solo book, the
co-author of Ottolenghi Flavour, Ixta Belfrage
shares her favourite mezcla recipes, drawn
from her family connections in Italy, Brazil and
Mexico. The recipes are impactful, fuss-free and
foolproof, designed to entertain your friends or
treat yourself.
Japanese Home Cooking
Maori Murota
Murdoch Books
HB $49.99
Learn to cook authentic
Japanese food from
scratch at home, with
step-by-step recipes for the
traditional classics like ramen noodles, broth, sushi
rice or homemade tofu as well as recipes for more
contemporary fusion dishes. Maori Murota takes
you to the heart of today’s Japanese family home
cooking, sharing the recipes she learned while she
watched her own mother and grandmother cook.
Pasta Grannies:
Comfort Cooking
Vicky Bennison
Hardie Grant
HB $45.00
September release
After the success of
the hugely popular Pasta
Grannies Cookbook comes Comfort Cooking.
This wonderful collection shows you how to
make authentic Italian food that everyone will
enjoy and brings you more heart-warming stories.
Who better to take inspiration from than the
people who have spent a lifetime cooking for
love, not a living: Italian grandmothers!
The Amazing
Night Sky Atlas
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet Kids
HB $29.99
A wonderful guide
exploring the mystery
of the night sky. History,
telescopes, maps, the solar system, stars,
galaxies and much more. Many informative
and detailed diagrams blended with dazzling
images. Intriguing facts mixed with stories of the
astronomical pioneers. This book takes you on
a wonderous journey of the night sky and is the
ultimate star gazing guide!
How to Survive
on Mars
Jasmina
Lazendic-Galloway
CSIRO Publishing
PB $29.99
Have you ever imagined
living on Mars? Join
scientists, engineers, archaeologists, ethicists
and science-fiction writers for a space exploration
adventure of the Red Planet and discover natural
wonders like ancient polar ice caps, the highest
volcano in the solar system and a 45-kilometrewide
impact crater that was once a Martian lake.
Packed with stunning photographs, fun activities
and quizzes.
What’s the Big Idea?
Sue Lawson
Wild Dog | HB $24.99
Some of the most
important inventions
have been created by
Australians. From the First
Nations people through
to the hi-tech creations of today, Australians
have been at the forefront of these inventions.
This book highlights some of those important
discoveries and pays tribute to the Australians
that are responsible for them.
The Italian Home Cook
Silvia Colloca
Plum | PB $44.99
September release
The Italian Home Cook
is your essential guide to
shopping, cooking and
eating like an Italian. Using
only a handful of the humblest of ingredients and
the simplest of equipment, these are the dishes
made lovingly in homes around Italy every day.
This book will bring an authentic slice of Italy into
your own home.
From Scratch
Fiona Weir Walmsley
Hardie Grant Books
HB $48.00
From Scratch is a guide
to making your own food
and staples–from basic
pantry items and essential
dairy products to decadent
cakes, tasty dips, crackers, ferments and more.
Fiona Weir Walmsley guides you through more
than 200 straightforward recipes. Complete
with stunning images, From Scratch is all about
kitchen time being fun and the deep satisfaction
of being able to make all the things yourself.
The Kitchen Garden
Lucy Mora
Thames & Hudson
Australia | HB $45.00
Featuring fifty-five plant
profiles, Lucy Mora
shows us how and when
to sow and harvest
plants destined for the
dinner table. The book focuses on seasons and
covers the importance of planting distance,
companions and dislikes, soil pH, and different
climate zones. With the cost of food increasing,
it’s time to get growing and healthy with this
beautiful, practical guide.
14 YOUR READING GUIDE
YOUR READING GUIDE
15

Gift and Illustrated
Mulganai:
A First Nations
Colouring Book
Emma Hollingsworth
Thames & Hudson
Australia | PB $24.99
Let Emma Hollingsworth, aka Mulganai, take you
on a journey through Country. Emma invites you
to discover the places where she grew up and
the stories that she was told by her ancestors,
and the animals, people and plants that bring
her world to life. Featuring 45 artworks to colour
paired with stories and descriptions, Mulganai is
the celebration of a contemporary First Nations
artist and her community.
You’ll Be a
Wonderful Dad
Alisa Wild
Hardie Grant Books
HB $19.99
A collection of ‘high
expectations’ for new
fathers that began as
a letter Alisa Wild wrote to a friend.
You’ll
be a Wonderful Dad addresses many of the
challenges and changes that accompany the
arrival of a baby. From supporting your partner
through birth to taking on emotional labour, this
book offers sensitive, tangible advice to new
dads in a beautiful gift-worthy format.
Cocktail Botanica
Elouise Anders
Smith Street Books
HB $29.99
September release
This gorgeous gift
book features over
60 recipes for creating
infused cocktails and punches that use the very
best floral, herbaceous, and fruity ingredients,
all beautifully illustrated by Annabelle Lambie.
Easy-to-follow recipes to make at home with
a cocktail for every occasion.
Garden of Your Dreams
Charlie Albone
Murdoch Books
PB $39.99
This inspirational and
practical garden guide
covers a wide range
of gardens—from the
smallest urban courtyard through to rural gardens.
Charlie Albone profiles all different garden styles
from drought-resistant through to formal gardens.
Garden of Your Dreams provides in-depth
information regarding garden design, soil
preparation, plant propagation, no-dig garden
beds and compost.
With Nature
Fiona Brockhoff
Hardie Grant Books
HB $70.00
Fiona Brockhoff’s name
has become synonymous
with environmentally
sustainable garden design
in Australia. In this beautifully photographed
book, she takes us through her gardens with
tips, design guidance and inspiration to help
you create your own sustainable, naturalistic
and holistic gardens. From small-space innercity
gardens to coastal and rural properties,
Fiona’s work is full of new and creative ideas.
Reclaimed
Penny Craswell
Thames & Hudson
Australia
HB $65.00
September release
Featuring 24 unique
houses and apartments,
from a barn-inspired house made entirely with
reclaimed bricks to a semi-detached Edwardian
with recycled benchtops and cabinets, this
inspiring book focuses on contemporary
homes made with reused components or
materials. Every home showcases design
ingenuity and award-winning architecture.
Moonage Daydream:
The Life & Times of Ziggy Stardust
David Bowie
Genesis Publications | HB $89.99
A stunning 20th anniversary edition of the original
Moonage Daydream, the photographic record of
David Bowie’s time performing as Ziggy Stardust.
The lush, candid and staged photography,
interspersed with Bowie’s own commentary,
captures not only a defining period of Bowie’s legendary career, but
also of 1970s culture. An absolute MUST have for all Bowie fans.
Life Unhurried
Celeste Mitchell
Hardie Grant Explore | HB $50.00
September release
Life Unhurried features fifty of the best slow and
sustainable stays hidden across Australia. Found in some
of the country’s most underrated destinations, these are
places where you can truly slow down and reconnect
with yourself and nature. Melding design, sustainability and travel, you'll find
everything from off-grid shacks to luxurious glamping spots and architecturally
designed cabins—all sure to stoke wanderlust for your next adventure.
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