With Australia Day recently celebrated, I thought I would point you to some Australian fiction and non-fiction coming up in the first half of this year.
I know – you’ve barely read your pile for 2024 and suddenly there is an avalanche of new titles!
Remember When by Bob Byrne
Do you remember Dennis Lillee charging down to bowl a bouncer?
Or the regular Sunday roast?
Or shaggin’ wagons?
If so, you will enjoy Bob Byrne’s nostalgic trip through the second half of the 20th century.
Packed with 180 photographs, Remember When is a sugar hit of nostalgia that brings lots of memories, both good and bad
From sporting moments to disasters to school days and achievements, such as the appointment of Neville Bonner as the first elected Indigenous Member of Parliament, it is a glorious reminder of how things were.
It’s a fun read.
Panic by Catherine Jinks
Jinks’ novels are noted for their exploration of pressing social issues while engaging the reader in an interesting story.
In Panic, she tackles the rise of the sovereign citizen movement in Australia.
After a drunken rant that went horrifically viral, Bronte is forced to lie low; she heads bush and agrees to look after a dementia sufferer on an isolated homestead.
The manager of the property, Veda, rejects the state’s authority over her and has gathered around her a collection of followers.
A tense, slow-burn thriller.
Three Boys Gone by Mark Smith
On a school excursion, three boys slip away into perilous sea conditions.
Will their teacher try to save them, and endanger her own life?
The ultimate moral dilemma in a breathtaking psychological thriller.
First rule of rescue: don’t create another casualty.
Grace Disher is about to face every teacher’s worst nightmare.
Should she have given her life?
The question haunts Grace as investigations begin and her decision not to attempt a rescue comes under scrutiny.
The Knowing by Madeleine Ryan
Camille is a young woman dealing with the chaos of working in a florist shop on Valentine’s Day, the pressures of modern life and a long commute from her country home.
She’s forgotten her phone, she’s taking the train to work, she’s got period pain and she can’t escape herself or her toxic boss Holly.
The Knowing is a day in the life of a woman who goes to work as usual while dreaming of more.
Best House on The Block by TR Ragan
Investigative journalist Shannon Gibbons and her family have moved into a beautiful house in the Fabulous Forties of East Sacramento, where Shannon finds a fast connection with a new neighbour.
Journalist Rosella Marlow has a genuine interest in giving Shannon’s career a boost.
Bitter, resentful and consumed by excruciating grief, Rosella is obsessed with wiping the smiles off her contented neighbours’ faces.
She’s watching closely, ready to expose secrets dark enough to destroy their lives.
As murders pile up and neighbour is pitted against neighbour, the truth is much scarier than anything they imagined.
Julie Chessman
