Our staff share the best books they’ve read so far this year, including new releases and older titles just discovered.

Mark Rubbo, managing director:

It’s always challenging to select the ‘best’ books when faced with so many wonderful offerings. However, the first book that comes to mind is Helen Garner’s latest collection of essays, Everywhere I Look. This collection of pieces from the last 15 years of her writing career is a pleasure to read – and a reminder of what a talent she is.

Alison Huber, head book buyer:

My reading year to date has been dominated by books I’ve been assessing for the Readings Prize, and so as not to offer any indication at all of where my thinking is for that task (which is still in progress), I am excluding all the eligible books from my reflection here. So it might look like my reading year has been completely devoid of Australian novels, but I can assure you that the opposite is true!

I thoroughly enjoyed The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage, another ‘lost classic’ published by Vintage (who brought us Stoner a few years ago), an absorbing portrayal of family dynamics and masculinity; Annie Proulx’s afterword is a wonderful inclusion in this edition and demands to be read (but contains spoilers, so don’t read it without finishing the book first). I devoured The Nest – a smart novel about the damage that money can do to relationships, plans and sense – in full, on a single day on my summer holiday. Work Like Any Other is one of those books I’ve continued to think about in spite of what I’ve read since. I absolutely loved reading my advance copy of The Girls by Emma Cline (published in July), a debut novel set in the Californian summer of 1969 that uses the cult of the Manson Family as loose inspiration for a story about adolescence and the desire to belong. I’ve also been dipping into Max Porter’s Grief is the Thing With Feathers (published last year) following its recent award of the Dylan Thomas Prize and its almost universal praise in the review press, and have found that yes, it is as good and as beautiful as everyone says it is.

Jan Lockwood, human resources manager:

I’ve read some cracking books this year. My absolute favourite so far is The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie. I can completely relate to the comment on the cover of my copy (from Karen Joy Fowler, the author of another favourite read of mine, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves) which says: ‘Man oh man, do I love this book!’ It’s chock-full of ideas and interesting information about things you’ve probably never even considered, such as squirrels, the pharmaceutical supplies industry, alternative lifestyles, consumerism, hypochondria, government bureaucracy, and the general strangeness of people and family dynamics. Yet all this fits seamlessly into the love story of Veblen and Paul, and it manages to be really funny too. I felt so happy after reading this novel, I read it again.

Honourable mentions also to Brooklyn by Colm Toíbín, a gorgeous and complex tale of a young woman’s emigration from a tiny Irish town to 1950s New York. Many will have seen the movie, which is also fabulous and, I think, does justice to the book. And, my pick for non-fiction is Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Under-Rated Organ by Giulia Enders, which informs and advises in an appetizing (forgive the pun!) way, along the lines of The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge.

Nina Kenwood, marketing manager:

The best book I have read this year so far is My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout. It’s such a heartbreaking, beautifully written story, the minute I finished it I immediately wanted to start over and read it again. It’s not a long book, and every word is carefully crafted and considered. I think Strout is one of the greatest writers working today, and this novel is testament to her skill.

Another favourite book of the year so far is The Nest, which is a buzz-y debut, a terrific book about New York, and an entertaining family saga all in one. Other stand outs were Girls on Fire and The Secret Place – both compelling novels that deal with intense female friendships in very different ways.

Finally, my favourite children’s book of the year is Emily Gale’s The Other Side of Summer, which is an immensely moving story about family, grief and finding your home that is perfect for 11- to 15-year-olds.

(Please note: I’m a judge for this year’s Readings Prize, so like my fellow judges in this post, I have refrained from mentioning all the Australian books I have been reading and loving, but rest assured, there are many!)

Stella Charls, marketing and events coordinator:

I’m thrilled that the best books I’ve read so far this year have all been debut Australian novels. My three standouts are vastly different, but all grapple with themes of grief, family and community.

Micheline Lee’s The Healing Party provides deep insight into the enormously complex issue of faith and conflicting beliefs within a loving family. I’m still thinking about her characters, the Chan family, weeks after I’ve finished reading, and the novel pushed me to empathise with those whose fundamentalism would’ve only elicited judgement from me previously. A stunning debut.

I’ve similarly not been able to shake Jennifer Down’s Our Magic Hour. I loved this book so much. As I wrote in my review, Our Magic Hour holds a mirror up to real life; plot, in a traditional sense, takes a back seat, allowing Down to explore the complexity of relationships with empathy and nuance. This is beautiful, gut-wrenching fiction and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Like so many of my colleagues, I inhaled Jane Harper’s The Dry over one freezing day home sick with the flu – I’ve yet to meet someone who’s read this gripping debut and hasn’t adored it. I would recommend buying a copy for yourself and anyone you live with, so you can debate all potential murder suspects while you read!

I also want to mention Georgia Blain’s most recent novel, Between a Wolf and A Dog, another rich depiction of family that I found mesmerising and unsettling, as well as two outstanding Australian non-fiction debuts from this year, Martin McKenzie Murray’s A Murder Without Motive and Elspeth Muir’s Wasted – both books that incorporate memoir with an analysis of Australian drinking culture in very powerful ways.

And finally, some other notable mentions from the year so far:

• My favourite picture book is I am Doodle Cat by Kat Patrick and Lauren Marriott.
• My favourite international fiction is You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott (released in August).
• My favourite international non-fiction is The Lonely City by Olivia Liang.
• My favourite cookbook is A Year in My Real Food Kitchen by Emma Galloway.

Holly Harper, bookseller at Carlton:

I put off reading Michael Grant’s Front Lines for months. I loved his post-apocalyptic survival series Gone, and it’s been my go-to recommendation for reluctant teen readers for years; there’s something about the way Grant writes that grips you from page one and doesn’t let go. But even knowing that, the concept of Front Lines just didn’t appeal to me: an alternate history of WWII in which women can enlist. I’m not a big fan of WWII lit, so Front Lines kept getting relegated to the bottom of my “to be read” pile.

Of course, when I finally did get around to reading the first few pages, I ended up finishing the book in two days because I couldn’t put it down.

Grant has this amazing way of building these fully-fleshed characters who get inside your head, and Front Lines may be his best effort yet. The story is told through the eyes of three very different girls who have enlisted in the war, and every moment of struggle and triumph feels so incredibly real. I highly recommend this one for boys or girls aged 13 and up, especially those who are having a hard time finding a book that engages them.

Angela Crocombe, bookseller at Carlton:

I absolutely adored reading Sloane Croasley’s The Clasp. Riffing off Henry James’ short story, ‘The Necklace’, this novel is a clever tale of four smart, contemporary people on the cusp of their thirties and trying to find their way in their careers and love lives. Riveting.

Lian Hingee, digital marketing manager:

After writing a beginner’s guide to Neil Gaiman, I reread Neverwhere for the umpteenth time – it’s as wonderful as I remember it; witty and clever with compelling characters and a brilliant storyline. I can’t wait for the upcoming illustrated version.

Also up there is Tana French’s most recent novel The Secret Place, which I’ve since been trying to force on everyone in the office (happily, with great success…). I recently read all the Dublin Murder Squad books in quick succession, and French’s approach to crime writing is one that reminds me how much I enjoy the genre when it focuses on strong world-building and characterisation, instead of gore and violence.

I adored Lindy West’s collection of essays, Shrill, and it’s been a while since a book hit me so hard in The Feels. Of all the books that I’ve read this year, it’s probably the only one that made me laugh out loud, and it’s definitely the only one that made me cry.

The world created by Malaysian author Yanhshe Choo in The Ghost Bride was one I would have loved to explore deeper, and I know I’ll be revisiting it when I get a chance. It was a pleasure to discover a fantasy book that took its inspiration from eastern mythology rather than western, and I’m still on the hunt for similar reads.

I’m going to pre-emptively add Justin Cronin’s The City of Mirrors to the list too. It’s been six long years since The Passage first hit the shelves, so I made the decision to reread the first two books in the series before I crack the spine on the third. I’m remembering the fervour with which I devoured these brilliant and complex novels, and if number three is of the same standards (reports from other staff members is that it well and truly is) then it’ll definitely be one of my favourites this year.

Amy Vuleta, shop manager at St Kilda:

Here are my top four picks, so far…

1. You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott

I let out a little squeal when I was handed an advance proof copy of this book a few months ago. I may have even done a little dance. I’ve been a fan of contemporary American literary (sometimes-crime) fiction writer Megan Abbott’s for many years and have read all of her novels. I have been waiting impatiently for this one for months. You Will Know Me is, I think, Abbott’s best yet. It is an incredibly tight, charged, and accomplished novel, and represents everything Abbott has been building up to with her previous work: it’s suspenseful, chilling, and dark; it’s about a star teenage gymnast, her mother, her father, and their suburban American community; it’s about all teenage girlhood, bodies and sex and sexuality, mothers, fathers, secrets, families and lies. I loved it, and I truly think it is going to be the one to put Megan Abbott firmly on the radar in Australia.

2. The Hate Race by Maxine Beneba Clarke

I’m only half way through Maxine Beneba Clarke’s forthcoming memoir of an Australian childhood, and it’s already one of the best things I’ve read this year. It is smooth and lyrical, but above all, fierce. Clarke turns the genre of nostalgic childhood memoir into a cutting, revealing, take-no-prisoners indictment of racism in Australia, and I can’t help but feel that it’s about bloody time. In this book, she approaches her experience of growing up in outer-suburban Sydney, one of three kids of English parents of Caribbean-via-African descent, with such perfect clarity, it made me wonder why everyone didn’t just see it that way. But that’s exactly her point. Everyone, please, read this book.

3. Where the Trees Were by Inga Simpson

I was struggling to get anything I read finished a few months ago, but Inga Simpson’s new novel fixed me right up. It was one of our book club titles for April here at our St Kilda shop, and it was a clear favourite. It is an intelligent, fast-paced, evocative read about a childhood in the bush and on the farm, an art heist in modern-day Canberra, indigenous history and lost cultural heritage, and how we live in Australia with knowledge of our fraught history and present-day politics.

4. The Sympathizer by Viet Than Nguyen

This book (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) is absolute genius – it’s witty and wiley and I loved it. Written in the first person as a confession by a Eurasian Vietnamese double-agent living in LA as a refugee following the Vietnam war in the 1970s, this novel is complex and satirical, funny and brutal, politically incorrect and politically frank. The Pulitzer winner is usually a pretty sure bet, and I highly recommend this book for anyone that likes an intelligent, funny, brilliantly-executed work of contemporary US fiction.

Bronte Coates, digital content coordinator:

I’ve read so many fantastic books this year already. Here’s a brief run-down of my favourites…

• The novel that delighted me the most: Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
• The strongest new Australian voice I’ve come across this year: Wasted by Elspeth Muir
• The crime read I’ve now recommended to every single person I’ve ever met: The Secret Place by Tana French
• The author who blew me out the water and who I now can’t stop reading: Svetlana Alexievich
• The novel I predict will win all the awards (deservedly so): My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
• The quiet book that took me by surprise in its power: The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
• The book I’ve already gifted to two children, and counting: The Other Side of Summer by Emily Gale
• My favourite graphic novel: If we all spat at once they’d drown edited by Sam Wallman

Okay, I’m stopping now because this list is getting out of hand…

Chris Gordon, events manager:

Similar to Alison and Nina, I can’t mention Australian fiction because I am fortunate enough to also be one of the judges of the Readings Prize. So, I will look to international fiction for my pick of the year, so far…

The Folded Clock by Heidi Julavits has been like a gust of fresh wind in my reading life. Here is a collection of musings from a woman in her 40s that has kids and a partner – and is happy. Julavits gives us her musings on her pedestrian life and I love it. I appreciate that there is no high stakes drama in its pages because every now and then I really do need a break from literary crises. Reading The Folded Clock felt like having drinks and conversation with a friend; some of my favourite parts include when Julavits talks about winners and ‘not winners’ in relationships, and when she is annoyed that her float did not come first in a parade. Most of all though, l like her writing style. She has a way of choosing her words that makes me believe I’m not reading, but rather listening.

I will be reading all of Julavits’ work over the next few months. I have that wonderful delicious feeling of anticipation just thinking about all those glorious stories that will be coming my way.

Alan Vaarwerk, editorial assistant for Readings Monthly:

Jennifer Down’s Our Magic Hour has hands-down been the highlight of my year so far – its depictions of the characters’ close friendships, and the personalised map of Melbourne it draws were so vivid and so true that I found myself almost longing for the same, despite the sadness at the heart of the book. Just this week I found myself passing the large rainbow sign in Richmond from which the book takes its name and feeling a surge of emotion at the memory of reading the novel.

I also read Martin McKenzie-Murray’s A Murder Without Motive and Emily Maguire’s An Isolated Incident in succession, and found them to be two sides of the same coin – McKenzie-Murray’s book a thorough and compelling piece of longform journalism around the aftermath of a horrible crime, and Maguire’s affecting and surprising novel looks at a similar crime from the perspective of those left behind, and interrogates the effect of vigils and media coverage, of knowing and not knowing.

Alicia Sometimes and Nicole Hayes’ anthology From the Outer: Footy As You’ve Never Heard It was a great surprise – pieces exploring Australian Rules football culture from the perspective of women, immigrants, LGBT and other marginalised voices, that captures the addictive nature of football and the sense of belonging and identity it can encourage.

Isobel Moore, bookseller at St Kilda:

I read quite quickly (76 books this year, and counting) and also quite widely (I read a lot of children’s and YA books as part of my work, but I’m also a big fan of crime fiction). So, I’m going to be a bit cheeky and break my top picks up into categories.

For kids… The amazing Kate DiCamillo is back with Raymie Nightingale – a bittersweet and funny story set in 1970s Florida that left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Bonus mentions to… Emily Gale’s The Other Side of Summer, which hit me in all the right places; and Anna Ciddor’s The Family with Two Front Doors, which is a Little Women -esque tale about an orthodox Jewish family in pre-WWII Poland.

For the YA crowd… I finally read Every Breath by Ellie Marney and it more than lives up to its hype. Thrilling, nail-biting fun, with two great characters and one heck of a plot.

Bonus mention to… The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis. You can read my (rave!) review here.

I’ve also been reading a lot of Australian crime this year, and my two highlights have been A Few Right Thinking Men by Sulari Gentill and The Digger’s Rest Hotel by Geoffrey McGeachin. I’m an immigrant and despite having lived in Australia (on and off) for over a decade now, there are still chunks of Australian history that I know nothing about. So both these reads are excellent examples of well-written crime, set in historical periods that are still quite alien to me. Both authors are superb world builders, and the actual stories are skilfully-plotted. In even more good news, both these novels are the first in series so I get to continue on with detectives Rowland Sinclair and Charlie ‘Isobel’s latest fictional crush’ Berlin in books to come.

And finally, even though I’m not at all a ‘sports’ person I read three amazing books about this very topic during this year. Night Games, Fever Pitch and The Fighter were all great reads but this is less a recommendation for them in particular, and more a general recommendation for reading outside of your comfort zone. Every year I pick a new topic, ask my amazing colleagues for recommendations, and then just read. The results are always highly enjoyable, and I totally recommend that you do the same.