Here’s our recommend reading list for this year’s Melbourne Writer’s Festival. (You can find the full program of MWF here.)

Feminist read

We recommend: The Wife Drought by Annabel Crabb
Runner up: Dietland by Sarai Walker

Anti-bullying

We recommend: So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
Runner up: Bad Behaviour: A Memoir of Bullying and Boarding School by Rebecca Starford

Historical fiction

We recommend: The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters
Runner up: The Dust That Falls from Dreams by Louis de Bernières

Economics

We recommend: This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate by Naomi Klein
Runner up: The Extreme Centre: A Warning by Tariq Ali

Crime fiction

We recommend: The Monogram Murders: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie Hannah
Runner up: Through the Cracks by Honey Brown

Anthology

We recommend: The Moth: This is a True Story edited by Catherine Burns
Runner up: Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean edited by Kirsty Murray, Payal Dhar and Anita Roy

New release from a book club favourite

We recommend: The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows
Runner up: A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman

Book and film cross-over

We recommend: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Runner up: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham

Literary fiction

We recommend: Shark by Will Self
Runner up: Death Fugue by Sheng Keyi

Inspiring true story

We recommend: Shining: The Story of a Lucky Man by Abdi Aden and Robert Hillman
Runner up: From India with Love by Latika Bourke

Fast-paced teen fiction

We recommend: The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Gir by Melissa Keil
Runner up: Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier