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The Little Boat on Trusting Lane (Mel Hall, Fremantle Press)
Released May 2021
In this debut novel set in an exaggerated version of the alternative wellness industry, Richard, an ageing wellness guru, runs his alternative healing centre from a rundown houseboat in the... Read more
Common Wealth (Gregg Dreise, Scholastic)
Released May 2021
In light of the recent change to the lyrics of ‘Advance Australia Fair’, as well as the ongoing debate surrounding January 26, this impassioned plea for recognition and unity from... Read more
Fil & Harry (Jenny Blackford, illus by Kristin Devine, Christmas Press)
Released May 2021
This charming novel is the first book in a new list from Christmas Press aimed at that tricky age between picture books and middle fiction. Written by Jenny Blackford, whose... Read more
The Shape of Sound (Fiona Murphy, Text)
Released April 2021
Just like any relationship, even our relationship with our own body can be fraught with difficulty and denial. Fiona Murphy kept her deafness secret for 25 years, compensating for her... Read more
Spring Clean for the Peach Queen (Sasha Wasley, Pantera)
Released April 2021
Sasha Wasley’s latest novel marries small-town fiction and Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up in a gentle exploration of what really matters. After her boyfriend dies of an... Read more
Sunburnt Veils (Sara Haghdoosti, Wakefield)
Released April 2021
Sunburnt Veils is a debut Own Voices novel that feels very relevant, and author and political activist Sara Haghdoosti’s voice is fresh and edgy. At times it is uncomfortable to... Read more
You’ve Let Them In (Lois Murphy, Transit Lounge)
Released April 2021
Scott is not happy when his hippy stepmum convinces his dad to buy a house straight out of The Amityville Horror. A far cry from their comfortingly overcrowded flat, the... Read more
Tish (Edwina Wyatt, illus by Odette Barberousse, Berbay)
Released April 2021
Due to their very definition, imaginary friends can come in all shapes and sizes, and Tish is no exception. Resembling a woolly mammoth but with wings and an odour problem... Read more
No Document (Anwen Crawford, Giramondo)
Released April 2021
In this arresting book, Anwen Crawford reckons with the death of a close friend and comrade. Seeking a language suitable for grief, Crawford stitches together material from a wide range... Read more
The Katha Chest (Radhiah Chowdhury, illus by Lavanya Naidu, A&U)
Released April 2021
In Radhiah Chowdhury and Lavanya Naidu’s book, elegant textile patterns are patchworked together with descriptive snapshot stories of young Asiya’s family members and their histories. Asiya delights in every one... Read more
The Truth About Her (Jacqueline Maley, Fourth Estate)
Released April 2021
There is a lot to love about Fairfax journalist Jacqueline Maley’s debut novel, the ripped-from-the-headlines story of Suzy, a journalist who’s blamed for the shocking death of Tracey Doran, a... Read more
The Prison Healer (Lynette Noni, Penguin)
Released April 2021
Lynette Noni, the winner of the 2019 Gold Inky for her dystopian sci-fi novel Whisper, returns to fantasy with The Prison Healer. Kiva’s daily life as prisoner and prison healer... Read more
Love Objects (Emily Maguire, A&U)
Released April 2021
Pop culture representations of hoarding tend to paint a picture of unrestrained excess. Perhaps this is why, when Emily Maguire introduces Nic, a 45-year-old who loves her job at the... Read more
Tussaud (Belinda Lyons-Lee, Transit Lounge)
Released April 2021
Madame Tussaud is synonymous with wax figures of the famous and infamous and also with the uncanny-valley discomfort that such figures evoke. This book takes the documented strange life of... Read more
Huda and Me (H Hayek, A&U)
Released April 2021
When their parents make a sudden trip back to their home country of Lebanon, Huda and Akeal find themselves left with their fellow siblings under the care of a family... Read more
Paws (Kate Foster, Walker Books)
Released April 2021
Kate Foster is a literary agent and now, with her middle-grade novel Paws, a published children’s author. Eleven-year-old Alex loves dogs, sketching and computer games. But he doesn’t have any... Read more
Wonder Earth (Zanni Louise & Tiff Bollhorn, illus by Sophy Louise Smith, Five Mile)
Released April 2021
Wonder Earth is a slightly strange hybrid of science reference and imaginative meditation. The authors set out to help children connect with the Earth at both an emotional and a... Read more
Car Crash: A Memoir (Lech Blaine, Black Inc.)
Released April 2021
In 2009, 17-year-old Lech Blaine and six of his friends were driving home together in Toowoomba. The driver swerved and was hit by an oncoming car. Blaine, who was sitting... Read more
Smokehouse (Melissa Manning, UQP)
Released April 2021
Melissa Manning’s debut short story collection is an evocative and sometimes heartbreaking exploration of family, home and what it takes to build a fulfilling life. Bookended by two longer works... Read more
Like Mother (Cassandra Austin, Hamish Hamilton)
Released April 2021
It’s 1969 in small-town Australia and new mother Louise can barely leave her own house or step beyond the shadow of her controlling mother, Gladys. With a constantly crying baby,... Read more
