25 summer books recommended by five authors for Australian readers

Steph Vizard, Jeffrey Archer, Julia Baird, Tania Blanchard and Trent Cotchin reveal what should be on every Aussie book lover’s reading list this summer.

It’s a summer Sunday. Ready to sit back with a page-turner?

Before you do, check out part two of our Top 50 Summer Reads series.

It’s the ideal holiday books from all sorts of genres, as recommended by the people who know best: authors from the HarperCollins and HQ publishing houses.

Tania Blanchard.

Escape into the past: Tania Blanchard

War Of Hears – Tania Farrelly

This is my favourite historical fiction read this year. An epic tale of courage, duty and devotion, the search for truth and redemption, set in WW1. The threads of two very different stories weave their way through the last stages of a brutal war, tied by a tiny music box, deeply held secrets, and a simmering mystery that slowly unravels to expose its truth with the powerful crescendo of the climax and the revelations that follow. A delicious mystery that is riveting and very satisfying.

The Armour of Light – Ken Follett

This is the fifth instalment of the Knightsbridge series which began with Pillars of the Earth. I love these novels which are sweeping, epic historical tales and this latest release is set in 1792 in England, at a time of revolution in Europe and the rise of Napoleon Bonapart. I’m looking forward to reading this one over summer and following the very human stories of the locals of Knightsbridge, set against the huge historical events of their time! Put your feet up for a journey back in time.

The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard – Natasha Lester

This is quintessential summer reading! France, fabulous settings, fashion, glamour and strong women – Natasha Lester’s classic signature combination. Three unforgettable women behind powerful and famous men of fashion. Their intertwined stories of bravery, heartbreak and sacrifice are woven seamlessly through time – from modern and edgy New York of the 1970s, to France in 1917 and the present day. The mystery of Astrid Bricard’s disappearance simmers beneath, gathering pace with each twist and turn, until the crescendo of the masterful conclusion.

After the Forest – Kell Woods

This was an absolute winner for me, joining history and fantasy in an adult retelling of famous fairy tales – what could be better? Set in the Black Forest in the 1600s, after the Thirty Year War in Germany, the story of Hans and Gretel resumes fifteen years after the encounter with the witch and the gingerbread house in the forest and is interwoven with the story of Snow White. However, this is a world where magic does exist! The result keeps you on the edge of your seat.

At the Foot of the Cherry Tree – Alli Parker

If you like stories like mine, based on family stories, then you’ll love this. A sweeping story of hope and joy among the ashes of post war Japan and the David and Goliath battle against Australian government policy and racism, in the face of the nation’s bitter memory of war. This is the story based on Alli’s grandparents who met in Japan at the end of WWII and how her grandmother became Australia’s first Japanese war bride. Absolutely fascinating!

Tania Blanchard is a best-selling historical fiction writer whose most recent title is A Woman Of Courage.

Trent Cotchin. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

Sport and Leadership: Trent Cotchin

Open – Andre Agassi

Without doubt, this is one of my favourite books for the way Andre lets us right inside his physical and mental struggles with just about everything to do with playing tennis. It’s like he invented vulnerability. If you’ve ever struggled to be your true self, or railed against being defined by what you do, I recommend this is a great personal journey to unexpected success and happiness and a testament to resilience. It’s a wild ride that’s also thoughtful and funny.

Shoe Dog – Phil Knight

If Open is the best sports memoir I’ve read, Shoe Dog is the best memoir by a business person. I’m becoming more involved in businesses these days, so I found Phil Knight’s creation of the Nike brand really inspirational. He is a true entrepreneur who is not afraid to share the risks he took and his fears as well as the highs. I particularly loved how he got people on board with his vision – a great book for anyone interested in genuine teamwork and leadership. Just read it – you won’t be sorry.

The Four Agreements – Don Miguel Ruiz

I was given a copy of this brilliant book in 2018 and I still hold myself accountable to the four agreements almost every day. The premise is that everything comes back to four behaviours that can help you to live a happy and productive life. The principles behind each of the four pillars are deceptively simple; the meaning behind each is telling. I highly recommend this ‘practical guide to personal freedom’ if you’re looking for something concise and powerful to help you get off to a great start in 2024.

Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom

This is the true story of Mitch rediscovering his old college professor, Morrie, who is dying from ALS (we’d call it MND). Most Tuesdays Mitch visits to discuss life and writes down the lessons. I’m really big on the power of storytelling and the way Morrie shares his wisdom with Mitch resonates with me. It’s about appreciating what you have, thinking about what really matters, connection with others, why we’re here – all the big questions in a perfect small book.

My Dreamtime – Ash Barty

Another tennis story! Like Open, Ash’s story is about so much more than playing the game. Ash is a good friend and I got to know her in a different way by reading her book. Like so many of us, she struggled with whether she was good enough, with what other people thought of her and how out of whack being an elite tennis player was with being her true self. It’s such a joy to read how she works towards everything coming together, doing life her own way. Such a courageous human being.

Trent Cotchin is a former three-time premiership captain of Richmond Football Club and the author of From the Heart: The inspirational memoir of how a captain became a leader. He is now a business owner and corporate speaker.

Steph Vizard. Picture: David Caird

Trending Must-Reads: Steph Vizard

Good Material – Dolly Alderton

I would read Dolly Alderton’s shopping list so a whole novel is the perfect summer treat. Good Material is the story of a break-up from a male perspective and is full of Dolly’s genius wit and a lot of heart. This is the kind of book you know you’ll re-read as soon as you finish it.

Not Here to Make Friends – Jodi McAlister

This is the third book in the Marry Me Juliet trilogy and it’s a smart and sexy romance with sizzling chemistry between the two leads, Murray and Lily. If you’re obsessed with the new season of The Bachelor or enjoy clever romantic comedies, you’ll love this series.

Green Dot – Madeleine Gray

I cackled many times while reading this razor sharp, laugh out loud sad girl millennial story. Warning: you will feel the occasional need to share the particularly pithy and witty parts with your friends. If you love Diana Reid or Monica Heisy I think you’ll love this.

Happy Place – Emily Henry

I have a confession … I read this book while I was in labour – that’s how entertaining and engrossing Emily Henry, the queen of romantic comedies, stories are. This second chance romance is set during a friends’ annual trip to a loved holiday house so is the perfect book to sling into your beach bag.

Never Ever Forever – Karina May

Never Ever Forever is right at the top of my TBR list. I inhaled Karina’s May’s last book Duck a L’orange for Breakfast, a homegrown wanderlust-y rom com, so I can’t wait to read her newest book, set between Mudgee and India. I’d recommend this to anyone having a staycation but who’s in the mood for a bit of armchair tourism.

Steph Vizard – daughter of TV legend Steve Vizard – is a writer, lawyer and connoisseur of salt and vinegar chips. Her debut romantic comedy, The Love Contract, won the 2022 HarperCollins Banjo Prize.

Julia Baird. Picture: Alex Vaughan

Real People: Julia Baird

Question 7 – Richard Flangan

This book defies genre and simplification. In a blend of history and memoir, Flanagan explains how the bombing of Hiroshima was directly linked to his birth, swooping from the Japanese prisoner of war camps to settlers in Tasmania and his own near-death experience kayaking through the rapids of the Franklin. A quiet urgency infuses this book as he writes of the tenderness and love of his parents, and muses that, hard as it is to fully understand the past and comprehend our own stories, what we can be certain of, in the end, is that we have each other.

The Sound Of a Wild Snail Eating – Elisabeth Tova Bailey

This story is a charming account of how a woman who was confined to her bed by illness began to pay close attention to a snail that arrived in her room on a plant a friend gave her. It’s about how that snail came to not just distract, but in a way rescue her and provide quiet yet reassuring company during some of her more isolated moments. It’s beautifully written and observed, and I often think of this as an example of how the smallest windows into wonder can sustain us in ways we frequently underestimate.

The Life And Myth Of Charmian Clift – Nadia Wheatley

I adored this biography, it’s sad at times but so insightful and gripping – the story of a woman with a stunning ability to write, who, enviably, lived in London and Greece in the 1950s, crafted singular columns for Sydney newspapers and shaped and endured a complicated marriage and literary partnership with George Johnston. Wheatley superbly dissects the myths that have shrouded this talented woman, and significantly adds to her legacy.

Killing For Country – David Marr

As both investigative journalist and biographer, David Marr here is at his most masterful, as he probes the brutality of the Native Police during some of the most bloody years of the Australian frontier, and the structures that protected them and their criminal behaviour. After discovering his ancestors had been involved in this group – responsible for the deaths of what is conservatively estimated to be 40,000 Aboriginal people – and digging into archives, he recounts stories of horrors the original custodians of this land have known of for many decades. Enlightening and compelling.

Tell Me Again: A Memoir – Amy Thunig

A remarkable memoir by Gomeroi woman Amy Thunig – academic, author and commentator – who records her experience of growing up in a family where profound love was chequered with poverty and addiction. She writes with an eye that is both sharp and sympathetic, explaining: “My parents have experienced high levels of trauma – generational and individual – and all without the supports needed to actively heal. And when you carry high levels of pain – in your body, in your mind, in your heart – to suddenly be released into a state of quiet is like nothing else. They weren’t choosing heroin over me; they were choosing quiet over the overwhelming noise.” An important story, and important voice.

Journalist and host of the ABC’s The Drum, Julia Baird is the author of critically acclaimed titles including Victoria, Media Tarts and the multi-award-winning international bestseller, Phosphorescence. Her latest book is Bright Shining: How Grace Changes Everything.

Jeffrey Archer.

Lucky Dip: Jeffrey Archer

Lessons in the Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus

I’ve been married to a chemist for 57 years and she can’t cook, or to be more accurate, she claims she hasn’t time to cook. This is a story of a strong and independent woman (I am used to them) and her battle against lesser men. But this book is so much more because Garmus is not only a fine writer but an incredible storyteller. This is my novel of the year.

Colditz – Ben Macintyre

Like every schoolboy of my generation (I was born in 1940) I was brought up to believe that Colditz was full of remarkably fine and decent human beings who had the right to be called heroes. How wrong can you be? Macintyre’s remarkable book digs deep and isn’t always pleasant which makes it even more fascinating. Don’t miss it.

Artemisia Gentileschi – Jean Lodger

Who’s she, I hear you ask. Art aficionados consider her the equal of her great renaissance contemporaries with a difference – she is a woman. Her brilliant work in the 17th century heralds Artemisia as one of the all-time greats. She was fortunate to be the daughter of the great Orazio Gentileschi and a friend of Caravaggio. Art lovers – this is for you.

Reunion – Fred Uhlman

If you, like me are puzzled by antisemitism, you will find Fred Ahlman’s novella a gem in a sad world. It is not only a masterpiece of story telling (remembering he was more famous as an artist), but it is beautifully written. There would be no antisemitism if everyone read this touching story of two school mates in Germany in 1940 because like all children, they have no prejudice. The ending will move you to tears. It is a book that has remained in my memory for 50 years.

Beware of Pity – Stefan Zweig

I end on a masterpiece by arguably the greatest writer of the 20th century, not least because his nonfiction (The World of Yesterday) is considered by critics to be in the same class as his fiction. Sadly, he only wrote two novels before committing suicide – he feared Hitler would win the war. When I grow up (I am 83) I want to be Stefan Zweig.

Lord Archer is an international bestselling author, former politician and art collector. His latest thriller Traitors Gate conjures up an extraordinary bid to steal the Crown Jewels.

Originally published as 25 summer books recommended by five authors for Australian readers