The Dry by Jane Harper

Barkskins by Annie Proulx

The Paper House by Anna Spargo-Ryan

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Firing Line – Australia’s Path to War (Quarterly Essay 62) by James Brown

Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner

The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith

A Hero in France by Alan Furst

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)

Three Australian novels…

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Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.

Angela Crocombe is reading Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina

I loved reading this atmospheric young adult novel set in Queens, New York during the infamous summer of 1977 when a serial killer was on the loose, a spate of arson attacks were plaguing the city, and a blackout turned the entire city…

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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…

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For a night of dysfunctional family stories…

The Healing Party by Micheline Lee

We recently included this fantastic debut from Australian author Micheline Lee in a list of brilliant new novels featuring dysfunctional families, and our reviewer writes that Lee ‘breathes new life’ into these kinds of narratives. A young woman returns home to her estranged family to care for her sick mother. One day her father says he has received a message from God that his…

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CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH

Sunset City by Melissa Ginsburg

Short and anything but sweet, Sunset City paints a neon-soaked picture of Houston’s grimiest places, visited by a drunk and bereaved Charlotte Ford, trying to find solace after the death of her oldest friend. Danielle was murdered – beaten to death in a hotel room – and the cops are wondering why, after years of distance, Charlotte spoke to her just days before she died. Charlotte wonders the same thing…

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The Dry by Jane Harper

Saved to Remember by Frank Vajda

The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood

The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith

Dead Men Don’t Order Flake by Sue Williams

Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)

The Vegetarian by Han Kang (translated by Deborah Smith)

The Course of Love by Alain de Botton

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Our bestselling book of…

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The World’s Worst Children by David Walliams and Tony Ross

The Bad Guys: Episode 1 by Aaron Blabey

Tom Gates: Super Good Skills (Almost) (Book 10) by Liz Pichon

Circle by Jeannie Baker

In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek and Christine Roussey

The Other Side of Summer by Emily Gale

New Guard (Book 17) by Robert Muchamore

Run, Pip, Run by J.C. Jones

The Treehouse Fun Book by Andy Griffiths, Jill Griffiths and Terry Denton

The…

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We’re co-hosting two special events at this year’s Emerging Writer’s Festval!

LET’S TALK ABOUT LITERARY AWARDS

Join literary prize managers Bronte Coates (Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction), Kirsty Wilson (The Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing), Aviva Tuffield (The Stella Prize) and Robert Watkins (The Richell Prize for Emerging Writers) with chair Christine Gordon to discuss literary awards: why are they important, how do you win one, what happens next, what do the judges really think, and…

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Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.

Chris Gordon is reading Fine by Michelle Wright

This debut collection of stories is due to be released in July, and it’s one to get excited about. With her words, Michelle Wright has managed to pin to the page that very particular emotion that comes to the surface when we tell ourselves that…

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Our staff recommend some of their favourite feminist memoirs and essay collections.

Nina Kenwood recommends…

Roxane Gay’s essay collection Bad Feminist is full of thought-provoking essays on race, inequality and gender. Gay is particularly brilliant at writing about pop culture from a feminist perspective, and many of her best pieces in the collection are on film and literature. From her love letter to Sweet Valley High to her shockingly powerful and very personal essay on The Hunger Games, Gay’s…

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