Review search
Thirst for Salt (Madelaine Lucas, A&U)
Released April 2023
Madelaine Lucas’s debut novel opens with the unnamed female narrator, now 37 years old, recalling a past lover. Twenty-four years old at the time and holidaying with her mother, the... Read more
Philomella and the Impossible Forest (Doris Brett, HGCP)
Released April 2023
Philomella is having a perfectly ordinary terrible day when she stumbles across a door that shouldn’t be there that leads to a library which is, frankly, impossible. Sick of being... Read more
The Half Brother (Christine Keighery, Ultimo)
Released April 2023
Psychological thriller The Half Brother is the first adult novel by Christine Keighery, a prolific author of children’s and young adult books. The novel opens with alternating chapters from the... Read more
Pasta! (Felice Arena, illus by Beatrice Cerrochi, Affirm)
Released April 2023
Pasta! is a delightfully bright picture book celebrating the world’s favourite food: pasta. Inviting even from the title page, which features a tabby cat sitting in front of an open... Read more
Bowerbird Blues (Aura Parker, Scholastic)
Released April 2023
Bowerbird Blues follows a feverishly determined bowerbird on a mission to collect not just all the fabulous blue items he can possibly find but also something else he can’t quite... Read more
Country Tells Us When… (Tsheena Cooper, Mary Dann, Dalisa Pigram-Ross & Sheree Ford, ILF)
Released April 2023
Country Tells Us When… follows the feelings, smells, sights, tastes and sounds of Yawuru Country changing with each season, written and illustrated by educators Tsheena Cooper, Mary Dann, Dalisa Pigram-Ross,... Read more
The Anniversary (Stephanie Bishop, Hachette)
Released April 2023
The Anniversary is a book that’s hard to describe: the writing is quiet, meandering, full of thoughts on art and the act of creative expression. And yet, it is also... Read more
The Last Daughter (Brenda Matthews, Text)
Released April 2023
The Last Daughter might be one of the most important books an Australian could read. In particular, it counteracts misconceptions and disinformation about the Stolen Generations. Brenda Matthews, proud Wiradjuri... Read more
Democracy! (Philip Bunting, Little Hare)
Released April 2023
In his latest release, prolific children’s author Philip Bunting continues to display his talent for creating engaging and brightly hued nonfiction. In Democracy!, it is firmly asserted that ‘people power’... Read more
I Don’t Need Therapy (Toni Lodge, A&U)
Released March 2023
Podcaster Toni Lodge has garnered a following for her candid, confessional and always comical videos in conversation with co-host Ryan Jon. Yet, in her memoir, I Don’t Need Therapy (and... Read more
Love & Autism (Kay Kerr, Macmillan)
Released April 2023
Apart from the obvious audience—fans of the award-winning TV series Love on the Spectrum—Love & Autism by CBCA nominee Kay Kerr will also appeal to readers who like to be... Read more
A Joyful Life (Rosemary Kariuki with Summer Land, Hardie Grant Explore)
Released March 2023
During the summer break, I had the pleasure of reading A Joyful Life by Rosemary Kariuki in one day. As a woman of colour who has experienced trauma, I was... Read more
Anchored (Debra Tidball, illus by Arielle Li, EK Books)
Released April 2023
A sensitive tale of connection near, far and across the waters, Anchored is a hopeful, heartwarming story demonstrating to young children that no matter the distance between them and a... Read more
The Quiet and the Loud (Helena Fox, Pan)
Released April 2023
Helena Fox, author of award-winning debut How It Feels to Float, returns with another powerful, heart-tugging YA novel. Nine years after her dad disappeared under the lake, 18-year-old George is... Read more
The Prize (Kim E Anderson, Pantera)
Released April 2023
In 1943, artists William (or Bill, as he prefers) Dobell and Joshua Smith are friends and lovers, sharing intimacies at idyllic scenes on Lake Macquarie while working on their art.... Read more
Glass Houses (Anne Coombs, Upswell)
Released April 2023
Glass Houses is Anne Coombs’s (Sex and Anarchy: The life and death of the Sydney Push) posthumous final novel. Perched on a ‘neglected hillside’ near the fictional town of Glaston... Read more
The Rocket-Powered Racing Caravan (C E Hayes, Omnibus Books)
Released March 2023
Endless homework, out-of-touch teachers, imperfect parents, failed first dates and, of course, bullies. Grade Seven is a tough gig! How on earth is Earl Grey going to survive the year?... Read more
Return to Valetto (Dominic Smith, A&U)
Released March 2023
This is the sixth novel from Australian-American author Dominic Smith, perhaps best known locally for his 2017 ABIA-winning novel The Last Painting of Sara de Vos. The fictional Valetto, in... Read more
Fed to Red Birds (Rijn Collins, S&S)
Released March 2023
Rijn Collins’s novel Fed to Red Birds is beguiling and moody. Our heroine, Elva, is an Australian–Icelandic woman in her mid-20s. She’s living in Reykjavik to learn Icelandic, connect with... Read more
The God of No Good (Sita Walker, Ultimo)
Released March 2023
The memoir of Brisbane schoolteacher Sita Walker begins with divorce papers and a side of vanilla custard slice. But there are much more pressing things on Walker’s mind than the... Read more
