For books clubs who enjoy genre-bending works…

Severance by Ling Ma

Candace Chen, a millennial drone selfsequestered in a Manhattan office tower, is devoted to routine: her work, watching movies with her boyfriend, and avoiding thoughts of her recently deceased Chinese immigrant parents. So she barely notices when a plague of biblical proportions sweeps the world. Candace joins a small group of survivors, led by the power-hungry Bob. But Candace has a secret she knows Bob will exploit.

For book cubs who want to delve into politics and history…

Dinner with the Dissidents by John Tesarsch

In 1970, the Kremlin is struggling to quell dissent and Alexander Solzhenitsyn is lauded in the West for exposing the underbelly of communism. The KGB turns to Leonid Krasnov and promises to make him Moscow’s next literary star if he can infiltrate Solzhenitsyn’s inner circle and uncover what he’s hiding. Years later, Leonid, now a recluse in Canberra, is haunted by his past and seeks one last, desperate chance to make amends.

For book clubs who read the Man Booker longlist…

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

Washington Black is based on an infamous nineteenth century criminal case. Two English brothers take over a Barbados sugar plantation and Washington Black – an eleven-year-old field slave – is aghast to be selected as personal servant to one, the eccentric Christopher Wilde. After introducing Black to a world of wonder, Wilde disappears on a disastrous voyage. Later, a man appears in Black’s new life, making claims. Is this truly the long-lost Wilde? And why has he returned?

For book clubs who don’t just want to read novels…

Blakwork by Alison Whittaker

A mix of memoir, reportage, fiction, satire, and critique, Blakwork is an original and unapologetic work from which two things emerge: an incomprehensible loss, and the poet’s fearless examination of the present. Alison Whittaker is unsparing in her interrogation of familiar ideas – identifying and dissolving them with idiosyncratic imagery, layering them to form new connections, and reinterpreting what we think we know.

For book clubs who like to solve literary mysteries…

The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah

Hercule Poirot returns in another stylish, diabolically clever mystery from Sophie Hannah. When a woman angrily accosts the famed detective for sending her a letter accusing her of murdering Barnabas Pandy, a man she has never met, Poirot is confused – he sent no such letter. Then a second person claims they were a recipient of a similar missive and Poirot starts to wonder what other letters have been sent in his name. Who sent them and why? Who is Barnabas Pandy? Is he dead and, if so, was he murdered?

For book clubs filled with Francophiles…

A Letter from Paris by Louisa Deasey

When Louisa Deasey receives a message from Coralie, a Frenchwoman who has found a cache of letters in an attic, neither woman can imagine the consequences. The letters, dated 1949, detail a passionate affair between Louisa’s father and Coralie’s grandmother in post-war London. From Louisa’s father’s secret service in World War II to his relationships with famous bohemian artists in post-war Europe, Louisa unearths a portrait of a man both at the epicentre and the mercy of the social and political currents of his time.

For book clubs who love reading about cults…

The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon

Phoebe Lin is a glamorous student at the prestigious Edwards University. She doesn’t tell anyone she blames herself for her mother’s recent death. Will Kendall is a misfit scholarship boy who transfers to Edwards from Bible college. Will loves Phoebe. Grieving and guiltridden, Phoebe is increasingly drawn into a secretive extremist cult connected to North Korea. When the group bombs several buildings in the name of faith, killing five people, Phoebe disappears.

For book clubs that long to be enchanted…

The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton

Told by multiple voices across time, The Clockmaker’s Daughter is a breathtaking new novel from Kate Morton. In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists descends upon Birchwood Manor on the banks of the Upper Thames. Their plan is to spend a secluded summer month in a haze of inspiration and creativity. Instead, there is murder, thievery and lives ruined. More than 150 years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel that draws her into the long-ago mystery of what happened that summer.