Are you counting the days until your annual leave kicks in and you can switch on your 'out of office', shove the work-appropriate attire to the back of the wardrobe and finally get some reading done? Me too! And if you're unsure of what books to read in that sweet, sweet time off, then I'm here to help!
Whether you're looking for a summer-themed romance, something more literary or a cosy crime, I've got you covered!
Problematic Summer Romance
Ali Hazelwood
You know I had to start off with a summer-themed romance! And no one does fun romance reads like Ali Hazelwood! So let her whisk you away to Sicily for a summer of romance!
Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life. Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him. It's such a cliche (much like me including this in the summer reading blog), it almost makes her heart implode: older man and younger woman; successful biotech guy and struggling grad student; brother's best friend and the girl he never even knew existed.
When Maya's brother decides to get married in Taormina, she and Conor end up stuck together in a romantic Sicilian villa for over a week. There, on the beautiful Ionian coast, Maya realizes that Conor might be hiding something from her. And as the destination wedding begins to erupt out of control, she decides that a summer fling might be just what she needs – even if it's a problematic one.
Chosen Family
Madeleine Gray
This was my favourite book of the year, so obviously I had to include it! But it's also a great book to devour over your break! From the award winning author of Green Dot, this is a darkly humourous, compassionate and witty modern classic for the ages.
Set in Sydney over eighteen years, Chosen Family follows Nell and Eve as they grow into themselves, as they both love and destroy each other. From school, to university, to careers, to motherhood, Nell’s and Eve’s is a relationship that is a life-raft that is also a poison apple that is also a Medusan stare, frozen in time. Together, Nell and Eve are a double helix. Love, guilt, shame, joy – these emotions twist and turn between them. Can the wounds of adolescent betrayal ever really heal? Can we ever really understand what is going on in someone else’s head? And what’s love got to do, got to do with it?
Heart Lamp
Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi
Have you been meaning to pick up some of this year's literary prize winners, but life kept getting in the way? Well, now you don't have any excuses not to read them! May I suggest you start off with the winner of the 2025 International Booker Prize?
In the twelve stories of Heart Lamp, Banu Mushtaq exquisitely captures the everyday lives of women and girls in Muslim communities in southern India. Published originally in the Kannada language between 1990 and 2023, praised for their dry and gentle humour, these portraits of family and community tensions testify to Mushtaq's years as a journalist and lawyer, in which she tirelessly championed women's rights and protested all forms of caste and religious oppression.
Discover more literary prize winners here.
Every Day I Read
Hwang Bo-reum, translated by Shanna Tan
Are you planning to take a few quiet moments to simply read for pleasure over your break? Well then this cosy collection of essays about reading, language and life is the book for you. It may even inspire you to take more quiet moments to read throughout your busy year.
In this gentle, philosophical collection celebrating books, reading and language, Hwang Bo-reum doesn't just tell us, but shows us what living a life immersed in reading means. Every Day I Read encourages book lovers to explore what reading means to each of us. While this is a book about books, at its heart is an attitude to life, outside capitalism and climbing the corporate ladder. Readers and non-readers will take away something from it, including a treasure trove of book recommendations.
The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder Trial
Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein
Regardless of whether you're like me and didn't pay much attention to the trial of the year, and now you're feeling a little left out, or if you couldn't stop typing Erin Patterson into the search bar, then this true crime book is for you!
For this extraordinary book, the lone wolves became a team. Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein tracked Erin Patterson’s preliminary hearings and trial, joined the media scrum at the Latrobe Valley Law Courts, slept over in Morwell and spent countless hours in fervent discussion of the case and the themes it raises: love, hate, jealousy, revenge, marriage, money, mycology and murder.
It's an unputdownable record of the writers’ private conversations about their impressions from inside the courtroom. If you read one book about how Erin Patterson was convicted of triple murder, make it The Mushroom Tapes.
Best Offer Wins
Marisa Kashino
Do you prefer your crime reads to be purely fictional? Well then I have a great recommendation for you! We all know the horrors of house hunting, especially in this climate. And this darkly funny domestic thriller takes house hunting hell to another level!
How far would you go to get the perfect home? There was a time when Margo thought she knew. But that was before a soul-destroying eighteen months of house-hunting hell. Now she's not sure. Her life, her marriage, her family, her career are dangerously out of control and all she needs is a new home to get them all back on track.
So when the ideal house comes up, desperate measures are called for. A little online stalking. Some sneaky surveillance of the property in question. Befriending the owner. All reasonable enough, right? But soon it's clear that nothing is off limits, because when your best offer might not win, then you need to do whatever it takes …
Cannon
Lee Lai
Not up to reading anything dense during your precious time off? Why not sink your teeth into a graphic novel instead? And there's no one who does graphic novels better than Stella-Prize-shortlisted Lee Lai!
In Cannon, Lee Lai's follow-up to the critically acclaimed and award-winning Stone Fruit, we arrive to a wreckage – a restaurant smashed to rubble, with tables and chairs upended riotously. Under the swampy nighttime cover of a Montreal heatwave, we meet our protagonist, Cannon, dripping in beads of regret sweat. She was supposed to be closing the restaurant for the night, but instead, she destroyed it. The horror-scape left in her wake is not unlike the films Cannon and her best friend, Trish, watch together.
Lai's sharp sense of humour and sensitive eye produce a story that explores the intimacy of queer friendship and weight of family responsibility, and breaks open the question of what we owe both to each other and to ourselves. Cannon is a funny, dark, emotionally turbulent slice of friendship strife.
How to Survive Camping: The Man with No Shadow
Bonnie Quinn
Camping, for me, is worse than death. But I'm not here to judge if you disagree with me! And if you're heading to the great outdoors for your break, then here's a fun read for you – just make sure to stay alive!
This spooky, funny horror novel follows campground manager, Kate. Goat Valley Campground has killed generations of Kate's family; passed down through her family the land has become old and it calls to creatures of horror and folklore who make it their home and their hunting ground. Soon decapitated and exsanguinated campers are the least of Kate's worries; one of the most dangerous inhabitants of the campground is determined to wrest control and claim the land for himself. Meanwhile, something in the land is shifting, the tides are turning, and the curse that hunts members of Kate's bloodline begins to close in …
As We Wander: Road Trip Australia
Luke Riddle & Jessica Caldwell
Thinking of hitting the road for your Summer break, but not sure where to go? Well Jess and Luke Riddle of @_aswewander are here to help!
After spending many years travelling around Australia, photographers and content creators Jess and Luke have gained a wealth of knowledge about life on the road. In As We Wander: Road Trip Australia, Jess and Luke have put together 34 of their favourite Australian road trips ranging from weekenders to month-long journeys. Each chapter features a map with their suggested itinerary, driving tips, must-see destinations including nature walks and swimming spots, the best campsites and other stays, plus recommendations for great food and coffee. Filled with beautiful travel photography, this book is guaranteed to inspire your own road trip adventure.
Hot Desk
Laura Dickerman
No one ever wants their annual leave to end! The dread of returning to an inbox full of emails marked 'urgent!', the stack of work you left for your future self to deal with and the endless small talk with your colleagues in the lunch room! So here is a book to prepare you for the end of your break, that may just get you excited to return to the office. (I said 'may' … no promises!)
Hot Desk follows two rival editors fighting for the career opportunity of a lifetime … while sharing the same desk. What starts as a battle of passive-aggressive post-it notes escalates with the death of literary titan Edward David Adams, A.K.A. The Lion. His estate is up for grabs, and Rebecca and Ben are thrown into a fierce competition to land it. But when secrets about the Lion emerge, they are forced to ask – what role do they want to play in his legacy? And most importantly, is their post-it war actually … flirting? You've Got Mail meets The Hating Game meets The Office, what more could you possibly want?
