At the top of our bestsellers this month is a big-hearted novel about the places and people we call home.

Coming in second is the next instalment of the beautiful and cosy graphic novel series, Lightfall.

Other highlights are the latest YA thriller by Mike Lucas, our children's picture book of the month, a new release by Morris Gleitzman and a fun new series about a squad of frogs.

1. A Way Home by Emily Brewin

2. Lightfall:…

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Lili Wilkinson is a national treasure in the Love Oz YA world, but when an author has so many books out, it can often feel overwhelming. Wilkinson has dipped her toes in multiple genres including fantasy, dystopian and contemporary, but there are common threads throughout every book. Every story centres around a strong female protagonist, includes complex characters and there are always queer elements. So what book do you read first? Of course, I would say read every.single.one but you…

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Australian fiction | Safe Haven by Shankari Chandran

After arriving in Australia seeking asylum, Fina dedicates herself to aiding the refugees held in a detention centre at Port Camden, a remote island outpost. Appalled by the mistreatment of those in custody, Fina speaks out to the media about the poor conditions within the facility, as a result she is arrested, taken from her home in the small country town of Hastings and threatened with deportation.

When a security officer dies…

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Whether you’re a lover of magical worlds, intriguing mysteries, rollercoaster romances, or — like me — all of the above, there’s a new book waiting to be your next favourite! So if you’re struggling to choose your next read, here’s a round of up of my favourite new releases.

Fantasy

The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick

Personally, I always have a soft spot for retellings of Beauty and the Beast and the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone, and this…

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1. The Scarlet Shedder (Dog Man, Book 12) by Dav Pilkey

2. Taylor Swift (Little People, Big Dreams) by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara

3. Gus and the Missing Boy by Troy Hunter

4. A Way Home by Emily Brewin

5. The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

6. Wrong Answers Only by Tobias Madden

7. I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang

8. Tweet by Morris Gleitzman

9. Wurrtoo by Tylissa Elisara & Dylan Finney (illus.)

10.…

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Australian fiction | Dirt Poor Islanders by Winnie Dunn

Meadow Reed used to get confused when explaining that she had grandparents from Australia, Tonga and Great Britain. She'd say she was full-White and full-Tongan, thinking that so many halves made separate wholes. Despite the Anglo-Saxon genetics that gave Meadow a narrow nose and light-brown skin, everybody who raised her was Tongan. Everybody who loved her was Tongan. This was what made her Tongan.

Growing up in the heat-hummed streets of…

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1. Taylor Swift: A Little Golden Book Biography by Wendy Loggia & Elisa Chavarri (illus.)

2. The Scarlet Shedder (Dog Man, Book 12) by Dav Pilkey

3. I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang

4. Outlaw Girls by Emily Gale & Nova Weetman

5. Friday Barnes 12: Collision Course by R.A. Spratt

6. Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

7. Bluey: Hooray, It’s Easter! by Bluey

8. Waverider (Amulet, Book 9) by Kazu Kibuishi

9. Where is Cheeky Monster?…

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Australian fiction | Compassion by Julie Janson

From the acclaimed author of the Miles Franklin longlisted Madukka: The River Serpent and the Barbara Jefferis Award shortlisted Benevolence, Compassion continues Julie Janson’s emotional and intense literary exploration of the complex and dangerous lives of Aboriginal women during the 1800s in colonial New South Wales, which she began in Benevolence as a counter narrative to colonial history in Australian literature.

Compassion is the dramatised life story of one of Julie Janson’s…

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The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced its Shortlisted Books for 2024. Congratulations to all the authors, illustrators and publishers! The CBCA presents annual awards to books of literary merit, for outstanding contribution to Australian children’s literature. The CBCA Awards were first presented in 1946 and are the longest-running book awards in Australia.

Below are links to the shortlist titles for each category.

Older Readers

Books in this category may be fiction, drama or poetry and are appropriate…

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1. Taylor Swift: A Little Golden Book Biography by Wendy Loggia & Elisa Chavarri (illus.)

2. Waverider (Amulet, Book 9) by Kazu Kibuishi

3. Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

4. The Essential Taylor Swift Fanbook

5. Blank Spaces: An Unofficial Taylor Swift Fan Journal

6. Artichoke to Zucchini by Alice Oehr

7. Heartstopper: Volume Five by Alice Oseman

8. Winter Turning (Wings of Fire Graphic Novel, Book Seven) by Tui T. Sutherland

9. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by…

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