For an Autumn picnic surrounded by our national flora…

Georgiana Molloy by Bernice Barry

Entirely self-taught, Georgiana Molloy was the first internationally successful female botanist to work and live in Western Australia. Today, her collections of indigenous flora of the southwest, including type specimens, are archived in the world’s leading herbaria. In this fascinating biography/cultural studies mash-up, Bernice Barry tells Molloy’s story and describes some stunning geographical scenery along the way.

For inspiring a spontaneous group trip to Sydney Writers Festival…

The Bricks that Built the Houses by Kate Tempest

Slam poet Kate Tempest will be giving the opening address at this year’s Sydney Writers Festival, and we have no doubt she will be amazing. Her work as a writer and performer is electric. The Bricks that Built the Houses is her first novel and our reviewer calls it, “powerful, smart, mesmerising, and mind-bogglingly true”. Read his full review here.

For a serious, elegant gathering over wine and cheese…

The Notebook Trilogy by Ágota Kristóf (translated by Alan Sheridan, David Watson and Marc Romano)

Ágota Kristóf was a Hungarian writer who lived in Switzerland and wrote in French. Her award-winning work, The Notebook Trilogy, has only recently been released in Australia and this chilling story of a pair of ‘dangerously ethical’ twins is deeply unsettling. The moral quandaries posed by Kristóf will likely appeal to fans of Coetzee’s writing – particularly of his more slippery works, such as Waiting for the Barbarians and The Childhood of Jesus.

For philosophising about the existence (and benefits) of your book club…

The Art of Reading by Damon Young

If you’re part of a book club our guess is you like to read, and in The Art of Reading, philosopher Damon Young investigates the pleasures of this very activity. Each chapter is devoted to a literary virtue – curiosity, patience, courage, pride, temperance, justice – and throughout, the author traverses a rich sample of literature, from Batman comics to Virginia Woolf’s diaries. Reading this book will no doubt send you tumbling down memory lane into you own reading history.

For book clubs who also perform séances on the side…

Fellside by M.R. Carey

M.R. Carey’s earlier novel, The Girl with All the Gifts reimagined the zombie genre to deliver an emotionally-charged thriller of the highest order. This time he looks to ghosts, but as our reviewer says: “With issues of class, corruption, the failings of the legal system and the casual cruelty and abuse perpetrated by those in power, Fellside is much more than ‘just’ a ghost story.” Read her full review here.

For book clubs who have a decided fondness for Jane Eyre…

Reader, I Married Him edited by Tracy Chevalier

This month marks the bicentenary of Charlotte Brontë’s birth, and what better way to mark the anniversary than with this anthology. Edited by Tracy Chevalier, Reader, I Married Him presents 20 stories inspired by Brontë’s beloved classic. Contributors include a range of fabulous writers such as Lionel Shriver, Evie Wyld, Namwali Serpell, Jane Gardam, and more.

For encouraging everyone to reflect on romantic disasters…

Lust and Wonder by Augusten Burroughs

If your book club is partial to the confessional mode – in book form and conversations – then this new memoir from the author of Running with Scissors may be right up their alley. In chronicling the development and demise of the different relationships he’s had while living in New York, Augusten Burroughs examines what it means to be in love, what it means to be in lust, and what it means to be figuring it all out.

For a discussion about the media’s obsession with pretty dead girls…

An Isolated Incident by Emily Maguire

When beautiful 25-year-old Bella Michaels is brutally murdered in the small New South Wales town of Strathdee, the community is stunned and a full investigation gets underway as a media storm descends. Our reviewer describes this latest novel from Australian author Emily Maguire as “timely and gripping”. You can read his full review here.