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The Oldest Song in the World (Sue Woolfe, Fourth Estate)
Released August 2012
The Oldest Song in the World is quite an incredible book. The story, with its mix of themes, is full of tension and interest. Kate is sent to a town... Read more
Nine Days (Toni Jordan, Text)
Released September 2012
We first meet the Westaway family through the character of young Kip, brother to Francis and Connie, son to a grieving mother Jean and a recently deceased father. It is... Read more
The Midnight Promise: A Detective’s Story in Ten Cases (Zane Lovitt, Text)
Released September 2012
The Midnight Promise crashes straight into Temple, Corris and Chandler territory—just like the blurb promises. It involves a Melbourne PI, interlinked stories (if this worries you, just consider them TV... Read more
Midnight Empire (Andrew Croome, A&U)
Released September 2012
Andrew Croome’s debut novel, Document Z, looked at the world of Australian diplomats during the Cold War using the prism of the Petrov case. His second novel, Midnight Empire, is... Read more
Mazin Grace (Dylan Coleman, UQP)
Released September 2012
Winner of the 2011 David Unaipon Award for Indigenous Writing, this is a remarkable novel. Based on the author’s mother’s recollections of growing up on a South Australian Lutheran Mission... Read more
Black Mountain (Venero Armanno, UQP)
Released August 2012
This intriguing novel takes you from a small coastal Queensland town to the sulphur minefields of Sicily. There are elements of Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind and... Read more
Fishing for Tigers (Emily Maguire, Picador)
Released September 2012
Fishing for Tigers is Emily Maguire’s fourth novel, and a departure from the darkness of the most recent Smoke in the Room. Maguire’s exploration of unconventional relationships—her critically acclaimed first... Read more
Fire in the Sea (Myke Bartlett, Text)
Released July 2012
Sixteen-year-old Sadie is growing tired of spending her summer days lounging on the beach with her tedious cousins and her wants-to-be-more-than-a-friend Tom. She can’t wait to bid farewell to her... Read more
Friday Brown (Vikki Wakefield, Text)
Released September 2012
I don’t know whether it was icy weather or the sheer emotional tension of the story, but the night I stayed up to finish Friday Brown I was shivering. Every... Read more
Girl V the World: Waiting for It (Chrissie Keighery, Hardie Grant Egmont)
Released August 2012
For my generation, answers to the question ‘Am I normal?’ and the unspoken mysteries of adolescence often had to be ferreted out of an old Judy Blume (which would always... Read more
Louis beside Himself (Anna Fienberg, A&U)
Released August 2012
Readers looking to move on from the Wimpy Kid and challenge themselves more forcefully with the written word will enjoy Anna Fienberg’s latest offering for boys aged 10-13 years—a comical... Read more
S.C.U.M. (Danny Katz, A&U)
Released August 2012
Australians of all ages ought to be aware of Danny Katz by now. If you have not heard the name before, go immediately to the Age/SMH website and look up... Read more
Unforgotten (Tohby Riddle, A&U)
Released September 2012
This amazing book demands several readings. Although the text is a simple poem, the illustrations are so densely layered that the reader is slowed, exploring the haunting images as if... Read more
Word Hunters: The Curious Dictionary (Nick Earls & Terry Whidborne, UQP)
Released September 2012
Nick Earls and Terry Whidborne’s new book for children brings to life the past by indulging the word nerd in all of us. When twins Lexi and Al find a... Read more
Thirst (L A Larkin, Pier 9)
Released September 2012
L A Larkin’s debut The Genesis Flaw was a fabulous eco-thriller with tight storytelling that stretched—but didn’t break—credibility, so readers will come to her second novel with high expectations. Thirst... Read more
Hannah & Emil (Belinda Castles, A&U)
Released September 2012
Hannah & Emil is the third novel from Vogel Literary Award winner Belinda Castles, and is inspired by the events of her grandparents’ lives. In a similar style to Anna... Read more
Pilgrimage (Jacinta Halloran, Scribe)
Released September 2012
Jacinta Halloran’s debut novel Dissection, about a female GP embroiled in a negligence suit and the personal devastation that followed, was published to critical acclaim in 2008. Pilgrimage again features... Read more
Bridge of Swords: Empire of Bones Book 1 (Duncan Lay, HarperVoyager)
Released September 2012
Duncan Lay’s latest book offers something for new and old readers. While it’s set in the same world as his previous ‘Dragon Sword Histories’ and features some of the same... Read more
American Stories: Tales of Hope and Anger (Michael Brissenden, UQP)
Released September 2012
ABC TV’s Michael Brissenden has written a sharply observed and hugely entertaining collection of essays on contemporary American life. He covers the expected turf—healthcare, the war on drugs, asylum seekers,... Read more
The Two Frank Thrings (Peter Fitzpatrick, Monash University Publishing)
Released September 2012
The rise of commercial cinema in Australia and the nascence of our independent film industry provide a fascinating backdrop to this meticulous academic biography of the two Frank Thrings, father... Read more
