For book clubs who love dining out…

Raised by Wolves by Jess Ho

Growing up Cantonese in the racist outer suburbs was hard enough for Jess Ho, but add in a dysfunctional family who only ever made peace over food (and then only until the bill arrived), and it was clear that a normal life was never on the menu. She emerged from her childhood with two important traits: a major psychological complex, and a kick-arse palate. Both would help her fit right into the messy world of Melbourne’s food scene.

In hospitality Jess found her new family, a bunch of outsiders who shared her lust for life and appetite for destruction. But over time she realised that the industry she loved had its own dysfunctions, and Jess wasn’t one to hold her tongue.

For book clubs interested in a powerful dystopian allegory…

Enclave by Claire G. Coleman

Christine could not sleep, she could not wake, she could not think. She was told the Agency was keeping them safe from the dangers outside, an outside world she would never see. She never imagined questioning what she was told, what she was allowed to know, what she was permitted to think. She never even thought there were questions to ask.

The enclave was the only world she knew, the world outside was not safe. Staying or leaving was not a choice she had the power to make. But then Christine dared start thinking … and from that moment, danger was everywhere.

For book clubs who love books about books…

Telltale by Carmel Bird

In Telltale, Carmel Bird seizes on an enforced isolation to re-read a rich dispensary of books from her past. A rule she sets herself is that she can consult only the books in her house, even if some, such as the much-loved Thornton Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey, appear to be stubbornly elusive. Her library is comprehensive, and each book chosen - or that cannot be refused - enables an opening, a connection to people, time, place, myth, image, and the experience of a writing life.

For book clubs who love a good cry…

This Is Gonna End in Tears by Liza Klaussmann

Growing up, it was always the three of them: Miller and Olly and Ash. They stuck together, like they were keeping a secret. As teenagers, they drove to LA, lived in a ramshackle place on the beach in Malibu, set up a record label. Before it fell apart, it was beautiful.

Over a long, hot summer of Chardonnay and Chicken, Olly, Miller and Ash try to work out what it is that exists between them. They’re so consumed with their love, losses and longing and the possibility of a redemptive third act, they barely notice what’s going on between Miller’s son, his best friend and the girl who lives next door.

For book clubs searching for a gothic horror set in Australia…

Denizen by James McKenzie Watson

On a remote property in western NSW, nine-year-old Parker fears that something is wrong with his brain. His desperate attempts to control this internal chaos spark a series of events that gallop from his control in deadly and devastating ways.

Years later, Parker, now a father himself, returns to the bushland he grew up in for a camping trip with old friends. When this reunion descends into chaos amid revelations of unresolved fear, guilt and violence, Parker must finally address the consequences of his childhood actions.

For book clubs who enjoy queer genre-bending…

Bootstrap by Georgina Young

Jackson Sweeney is stewing in his tiny hometown, feeling stuck as he spends his days working at Al’s Takeaway and fending off homophobic losers. His childhood friend Marnie returns to Ginsborough on her family’s annual visit, but she’s reeling from a break-up and is determined to lie low. After all, nothing ever happens in this part of the world.

But then one night an odd-looking stranger shows up: he has long black hair, a leather trench coat and the improbable name of Bootstrap. Soon, Sweeney and Marnie find themselves swept up in an adventure they never could have dreamt of-with a fugitive from the future.

For book clubs on the search for incisive short stories…

Women I Know by Katerina Gibson

A young woman tries to cheat her algorithm, creating a wholesome online persona while her ‘real’ life dissipates. A grandmother speaks to her granddaughter through the fog of generations. Two lovers divide over alternative meat options. A factory worker fits eyes in companion dolls until she is called on to install her own.

The women I know are sharp, absurd, sly, wrong, wry, repressed, hungry, horny, bold, envious, dominating, uncertain, overdetermined, underpaid, bored, smart, crystalising, themselves.

For book clubs with nostalgia for the 90s…

The Diplomat by Chris Womersley

1991, Fresh out of detox and five years after his involvement in the theft of Picasso’s masterpiece The Weeping Woman from the NGV, Edward Degraves - art forger and drug addict - returns to Melbourne for a new start. All he needs to do is make one last visit to The Diplomat, a seedy motel renowned for its drug dealers and eccentrics.

But Edward’s new-found sobriety is both a torment and a gift. As he revisits old haunts, he is confronted by reminders of the past: ruined relationships, a stalled career as an artist and - looming over everything - the death of his beloved wife Gertrude.