Reviews
Adult fiction
The Missing Mother (Mali Cornish, A&U)
Released May 2026
In The Missing Mother, Mali Cornish (Judgement Day) crafts a gripping domestic thriller centred on Elspeth, who returns to Geelong from New York when her mother Simone vanishes. The story unfolds through Elspeth’s first-person narration, interwoven with Simone’s letters across a dual timeline from 1986 to 2025, steadily building suspense as past and present converge.… Read more
Phantom Days (Angela O’Keeffe, UQP)
Released May 2026
“A book comes into the world knowing it is a saviour, of sorts.” So begins Phantom Days, the 3rd novel by award-winning author Angela O’Keeffe (The Sitter, Night Blue), a captivating meditation on the transformative power of stories. Narrated in part by a book itself, the novel unfolds through multiple perspectives: the book, its reader,… Read more
Adult nonfiction
When Words Fail Us: Truth Beyond Time (Stan Grant, NewSouth)
Released May 2026
In When Words Fail Us, Stan Grant steps fully into his role as a philosopher and public thinker after walking away from a long career in journalism. Following the turbulence of the Voice referendum debate, he chose to “create some soft spaces to put my soul to rest”. Even as he acknowledges that words are… Read more
Look After Your Feet: Some Keen Observations on the Unexpected Advantages and Indignities of Getting Older (Rosalie Ham, A&U)
Released May 2026
Rosalie Ham (The Dressmaker) turns her sharp wit toward the journey of ageing in her first nonfiction book, Look After Your Feet. Insightful, mischievous and often very funny, the memoir is arranged in 12 sections that trace moments from across Ham’s life, including her early work as a nurse, her path to becoming a writer,… Read more
Children's picture books
The Farmer’s Pyjamas (Ruth Paul, Walker)
Released May 2026
Ruth Paul’s The Farmer’s Pyjamas is a playful, light-hearted rhyming story that puts a humorous spin on daily life in the farmyard. After a hard day’s work tending to her animals, the farmer brushes her teeth and gets ready for bed, only to look in her drawer to find her favourite pyjamas are missing! And “without her… Read more
My Ball Is Broken (Rob Graves-Morris, Walker)
Released April 2026
My Ball Is Broken, written and illustrated by Rob Graves-Morris, is a playful picture book with hidden depth for readers aged 4 and over, told from the perspective of a dog. When his beloved red ball won’t bounce, the small dog becomes consumed by the mystery: It’s round and it rolls, so why won’t it… Read more
Younger readers
Running in Circles (Shivaun Plozza, UQP)
Released May 2026
In Running in Circles, Shivaun Plozza (The Worst Perfect Moment, The Boy, The Wolf and the Stars) brings climate science and extraterrestrial speculation together in a coming-of-age suspense novel set in the cane fields of Tully, North Queensland. Dell is a 12-year-old budding scientist who lives with her 3 sisters and their hard-working father. Life… Read more
Gross Things Animals Eat (Claire Stevens, illus Adele K Thomas, HarperCollins)
Released April 2026
Gross Things Animals Eat is packed with disgusting, bizarre and outrageous descriptions and illustrations that young readers aged 5 and up will absolutely love. Australian veterinarian Claire Stevens invites children to think like scientists, encouraging curiosity about strange animal eating behaviours and asking why creatures do such "revolting" things. Through this lens, readers come to… Read more
Young adult
This Is Where We Say Goodbye (Howard McKenzie-Murray, Fremantle)
Released May 2026
This Is Where We Say Goodbye follows Maud Tarkington over the course of a single unsettling day in Fremantle: the day after her 21st birthday and the day of her brother Lloyd’s funeral. Rather than going directly to the ceremony, Maud drifts through the city, encountering memories and moments that circle around grief without ever… Read more
The Escape Game (Marissa Meyer & Tamara Moss, Penguin)
Released April 2026
The Escape Game is the new, immediately captivating YA mystery by Marissa Meyer (Cinder, Renegades) and Tamara Moss (Lintang and the Pirate Queen), set in the world of reality television, where teens solve escape-room riddles for a cash prize. After Season 4 ended with the murder of a star contestant, Team Helsing – Sierra, Carter, Beck… Read more
Recently released titles
A Far-flung Life (ML Stedman, Penguin)
Released March 2026
From the acclaimed author of The Light Between Oceans comes A Far-flung Life, ML Stedman’s much-anticipated second novel. Set in rural Western Australia in 1958, the story follows the MacBride family, who have lived and worked on the sprawling sheep station at Meredith Downs for generations. Phil and Lorna MacBride and their three children, Warren,… Read more
Haze (Sam Elliott, Macmillan)
Released March 2026
Samuel Elliott’s debut novel, Haze, introduces constable Dahlia Turner, newly returned to her coastal hometown of Broughlet – a place defined by terrible surf, an ice problem and the unsettling presence of The People’s Cleansing Light cult. While evacuating homes ahead of an approaching bushfire, Dahlia discovers that her best friend and his husband have… Read more
