Bookseller Annie Condon shares five books that left her quietly awed in 2014.

The Shock Of The Fall by Nathan Filer

The Shock Of The Fall, which won the UK’s Costa First Novel Prize, seems to have missed out on publicity in Australia but I’d highly recommend you seek it out. Nathan Filer presents a realistic portrayal of young man’s battle with mental illness. I liked how there was no romantic notion of mental illness – no easily fixed analytic breakthroughs – but rather, a likeable character who experiences the worst kind of loss and tries to recover.

Life Drawing by Robin Black

If Robin Black wasn’t an author I would probably suggest she become a psychologist because her characterisation is so spot-on. Augusta and Owen are artists who have moved to the solitude of the country to repair a marriage tainted with infidelity, as well as focus on their respective work. However Owen has writer’s block and Augusta is missing her muse. Then the house closest to theirs is rented out and the initially welcomed neighbour brings complications… This is a beautifully written book that is also a page-turner and a meditation on producing art.

Laurinda by Alice Pung

I like a good young adult novel, and Alice Pung’s most first foray into this readership is a cracker – an exploration of personal and ethnic identity, of class and privilege. I read the whole book in one sitting. Lucy receives a scholarship to an exclusive girls’ school where she finds the cultural and social dynamics fraught with difficulty – unlike the easy multicultural mix at her previous school. I was pleased to see that Pung didn’t resort to generalising and malign private schools as a whole, but instead focused on unpackingg the dynamics of a small, unpleasant group of ‘mean girls’, who use their power to control the status quo.

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

I came upon this book while shelving and was intrigued by its opening: ‘Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet’. Set in the 1970s in an American college town, this is the story of a mixed race family (Chinese-American) in a time and place where such diversity stood out. This debut novel (which has been widely acclaimed in the USA) takes the reader back in time to understand how Lydia – the sixteen-year-old middle child of the Lee family – could have died. The writing is taut, persuasive and evocative and I predict great things for this author’s career.

Remember Me like This by Bret Anthony Johnston

Ever since I read The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard some years ago, I’ve been fascinated by stories of missing persons. This novel is different from the usual story however as it begins when Justin is found, four years after going missing. His parents, brother and grandfather have all developed coping mechanisms in the meantime – fearing the worst they have all internalized the pain and loss. Now they must redevelop their relationship with him as a teenager, whilst refraining from talking about his kidnapper and what he endured in order to maintain the police case against the offender. Another evocative page-turner of a book, the author is a Creative Writing Professor and, more importantly, one of my new favourites.

Annie Condon