From lush operatic mysteries and erotica, to a heartwarming tale about a squirrel and hilarious travel writing – here are ten books to keep you warm during the colder months.

The Wonder Trail by Steve Hely

Here’s a book that will make you laugh so hard that you’ll forget about the temperature completely. The very funny Steve Hely has been a writer on shows such as 30 Rock, Late Show with David Letterman, The Office and American Dad!, and was also the 2010 winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor. The Wonder Trail is the story of his riotous journey from Los Angeles to the bottom of South America – part travelogue, part pop history, and 100% snort-laughingly-hilarious.

Sunset City by Melissa Ginsburg

Melissa Ginsburg’s debut is a tautly-bound literary noir set in Houston, Texas. When a woman reconnects with an old high school friend just days before this same friend is violently murdered, she descends into the city’s underbelly. Here she meets the strippers, pornographers and drug dealers who surrounded her friend in the years they were estranged. Our reviewer likens reading this novel to ‘a heady night out’, and suggests you may like a cup of calming chamomile tea to follow.

The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee

Set in Belle Époque Paris, The Queen of the Night is the kind of novel that you can climb inside, immersive and spellbinding. As our reviewer writes: ‘This opulent operatic opus is an over-the-top-of-the-top rags-to-riches postmodern picaresque adventure stuffed full of plot, more plot, plot twists, melodrama, and lots of costume changes.’ In the story, a legendary soprano is invited to appear in a new opera, and is horrified to learn that the story is based on her own hidden past. Only four people knew her secret, so she sets out to learn which one has betrayed her.

Hot Milk by Deborah Levy

Deborah Levy’s new novel is a richly mythic, colour-saturated exploration of female rage, sexuality and motherhood. Two women arrive in a Spanish village – a dreamlike place of oppressive heat, caught between the desert and the ocean. They are seeking medical advice and salvation. One of the them suffers from a mysterious illness: spontaneous paralysis confines her to a wheelchair. The other, her daughter, has spent years playing the reluctant detective in this mystery. As her mother undergoes strange treatments, the daughter waits for the cure to reveal itself.

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

Truly Madly Guilty is another big, immersive read to lose yourself in. Employing her razor-sharp observational skills, Liane Moriarty traces the fall-out of an ‘ordinary backyard BBQ’ in the suburbs of Sydney – one that has gone horribly awry. Moriarty switches back and forth between the BBQ itself, and the present-day where the six adult attendees are struggling to come to terms with the BBQ’s repercussions. You can read about how much our staff love Moriarty’s addictive novels here.

Thus Bad Begins by Javier Marías (translated by Margaret Jull Costa)

Javier Marías is one of Spain’s most celebrated contemporary writers, known for crafting smart, elegant psychological thrillers that thrill with an erotic charge. Thus Bad Begins is set in 1980 Madrid. Franco’s long rule has finally come to an end, but people are still struggling to free themselves from the snares of old secrets, lies and betrayals. Our young narrator, Juan de Vere, takes a job that will haunt him for the rest of his life, and thus begins a tale of revenge, obsession and lust.

The Girls by Emma Cline

This sun-drenched debut is inspired by Charles Manson and the grisly murders his followers committed. It’s the summer of 1969 and empty days stretch out under the California sun. The smell of honeysuckle thickens the air, the sidewalks radiate heat and Evie Boyd is desperate to be noticed. When she sees a group of girls in the park, her imagination is immediately captured by them – by their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon. As Evie becomes obsessed with Suzanne, a mesmerising older girl, she is drawn into the circle of a soon-to-be infamous cult and the man who is its charismatic leader.

Summer Skin by Kirsty Eagar

Kirsty Eagar’s most recent YA novel, Summer Skin, is an up-close look at university residential college life, complete with all its messy relationships from hook-ups to ‘love-hate volcanic explosion’. A neo-riot grrl with a penchant for fanning the flames meets a rugby-playing sexist pig – are they sworn enemies or two people who happen to find each other when they’re at their most vulnerable? Clementine Ford praised this book for its piercing look at modern day intimacy: ‘Kirsty Eagar has written the feminist love story that girls have been waiting for.’

Captive Prince trilogy by C.S. Pacat

This sexy fantasy trilogy from Melbourne author C.S. Pacat is packed with intrigue, political machinations, adventure and romance. Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the rightful heir to the throne of Akielos. But, when his half brother seizes power, he’s captured, stripped of his identity, and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave. Thrust into the lethal political web of the Veretian court, Damen must work together with his beautiful but deadly new master, Laurent, to survive.

The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie

If you’re looking for something to warm your heart then try Elizabeth McKenzie’s funny, exuberant novel. A young couple on the brink of marriage – the charming Veblen and her fiance Paul, a brilliant neurologist – find their engagement in danger of collapse. Along the way, they weather everything from each other’s dysfunctional families, to the attentions of a seductive pharmaceutical heiress, to an intimate tête-à-tête with a very charismatic squirrel. This highly original novel was shortlisted for this year’s Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction.