Hottest books to binge throughout summer for all ages
From poolside page-turners to bestsellers for the beach, these are this summer’s best books for readers of all ages.
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From poolside page-turners to bestsellers for the beach, these are this summer’s best books for readers of all ages.
ADULTS
HONEYBEE by CRAIG SILVEY
ALLEN & UNWIN, RRP$33
There are not enough superlatives to describe what a brilliant read this coming-of-age story is.
Honeybee is equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming. The masterful Silvey has bought to life each character in vivid detail, so much so they quickly become real. A compelling, unputdownable page-turner.
IS THIS ANYTHING? by JERRY SEINFELD
SIMON & SCHUSTER, RRP $50
Arguably the world’s most suucssful comedian, Seinfeld has taken the unusual step of compiling almost 50 years of comedy gold into one mighty book. All of Jerry’s best “bits” from the 1970s to now are laid bare. Amazingly, even material decades old is still fresh today.
THE COCONUT CHILDREN by VIVIAN PHAM
VINTAGE, RRP $33
Vivian Pham was just 16 when she began writing this love story based in Sydney’s rough-and-tumble Cabramatta in the 1990s. Pham draws on her Vietnamese heritage in building the foundation for the romantic tension between conscientious schoolgirl Sonny Vuong and brash Vince Tran, straight out of juvie.
CONSOLATION by GARRY DISHER
TEXT, $32.99
In this sequel to last year’s best-selling Peace, Constable Paul Hirschhausen now faces a winter of discontent in small-town South Australia. Mud has replaced dust on the roads Hirsch patrols in his pursuit of a snowdropper, the suspected neglect of a student, and a parent going rogue. Disher again proves a better guide than GPS to the bush.
THE LAST LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER by JOHN COOK WITH JON BAUER
ALLEN & UNWIN, RRP $33
With mature prose and evocative imagery, Cook recalls his years of isolation tending the last manually-operated lighthouses in the remote Tasmanian wilderness. It’s a thoughtful apology from a man who sought solitude as an escape from a life of responsibility.
PLAYING NICE by J.P. DELANEY
QUERCUS, RRP $33
At its most basic level, this is a custody battle between two couples over two little boys
mixed up soon after birth. That’s heartbreaking in itself, but with master thriller writer J.P. Delaney at work, it’s so much more complex — and addictive.
APEIROGON by COLUM McCANN
BLOOMSBURY RRP $38
The deaths of two girls — one Israeli and one Palestinian, each at the hands of the other side — turned their grieving fathers into close friends and powerful activists for peace. This moving and beautiful book explores this friendship and these tragic deaths in 1001 ways.
TRUTHS I NEVER TOLD YOU by KELLY RIMMER
HACHETTE, RRP $30
With the often overwhelming topic of post-partum depression at its heart, this is no cheery read. Australian author Kelly Rimmer draws out emotion as she follows two new mothers from one family coming to terms with debilitating depression. Rimmer’s novel implores us to recognise and respond to this condition that has been a weight across generations of women.
THRIFTY HOUSEHOLD
COUNTRY WOMEN’S ASSOCIATION OF VICTORIA
MURDOCH BOOKS, RRP $25
This pocket-sized collection of more than 1000 budget-friendly hints and tips for almost any problem inside and outside the home is a must for any household. The advice is simple and the wisdom is tested. Who knew you could do so much with bicarbonate of soda, vinegar and lemon juice.
PIRANESI by SUSANNA CLARKE
BLOOMSBURY RRP $28
Piranesi’s world is simple and solitary — it includes one other living person, 13 skeletons, a vast architectural maze filled with statues, and an ocean that regularly floods the lower areas. But then everything changes. The beginning of this book is disorienting, but Clarke’s story is gripping.
THE ANIMALS IN THAT COUNTRY by LAURA JEAN MCKAY
SCRIBE $30
There’s a flu pandemic sweeping the country that allows people talk to animals — though what they have to say is deeply disturbing. Hard-drinking grandmother Jean, who is a guide in a northern Australian wildlife park, joins forces with dingo
Sue on a road trip across Australia to
rescue her granddaughter.
A THEATRE FOR DREAMERS by POLLY SAMSON
BLOOMSBURY, $30
When 18-year-old Erica arrives on the Greek island of Hydra in 1960, she becomes part of an artistic expat community that includes Charmian Clift and her husband, George Johnston, a young Canadian poet, Leonard Cohen, and the woman who becomes the subject of one of his most haunting songs, Marianne Ihlen.
WEATHER by JENNY OFFILL
GRANTA, $28
Lizzie Benson worries. She worries about her God-bothering, yet kind-hearted mother, her addict brother (even when he’s recovering), her husband and son, climate change … and the world in general. But it is Lizzie’s humour and empathy that give the reader the slim hope there may yet be a way out of this mess.
CHRISTMAS TALES by WILLIAM MCINNES
HACHETTE, RRP $33
The much-loved Herald Sun columnist, actor and writer has penned yet another cracking read, this time it’s a joyous collection of wry observations, poignant reflections and amusing anecdotes all focused on everyone’s favourite time of the year, Christmas. Yule love it!
FATHOMS by REBECCA GIGGS
SCRIBE, RRP $35
This remarkable study of whales examines much more than the magnificent creatures of the deep. Through brilliant detective work, Giggs explores the habitats and migratory patterns of whales to reveal a great deal about them, and even more about the human impact on the oceans.
THE GOLDEN MAZE by RICHARD FIDLER
ABC BOOKS, RRP $40
Fidler’s sprawling biography of the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague, is, in many ways a history of Europe itself. It is the story of a city observed through windows, which at different times have been opened to everything wonderful in life, or shuttered against tyranny.
KIDS
THE ICKABOG by J.K. ROWLING
LITTLE, BROWN BOOKS, RRP $45
J.K. Rowling fans will devour this hardback fairytale adventure about a mythical monster whose presence near the kingdom of Cornucopia is enough to scare kids to behave. Two kids test the myth and their own bravery in a tale of hope and friendship.
BRICKMAN’S FAMILY CHALLENGE BOOK by RYAN McNAUGHT
MURDOCH BOOKS, RRP $35
The Melbourne Lego guru known around the world as Brickman is challenging your family to a block party. Ryan McNaught, seen on TV’s Lego Masters, has set up 30 creative tests for Lego fanatics of all ages and skill levels.
SHINE YOUR MAGIC TORCH: MAGICAL CREATURES AND MYTHICAL BEASTS
PROFESSOR & MILLIE MORTIMER, ILLUSTRATED BY VICTO NGAI
MAGIC CAT, RRP $45
Junior explorers can switch on a magic torch to shine an ultraviolet light on a hidden world of natural and man-made wonders and magical and mythical figures. Check out Northern Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway, hunt for goblins in Amsterdam and try to spy Scotland’s Loch Ness monster.
HOLLOWPOX: THE HUNT FOR MORRIGAN CROW by JESSICA TOWNSEND
LOTHIAN, RRP $18
In this third book in the hit Nevermoor series, Morrigan Crow faces her biggest challenge as a strange illness takes hold of Nevermoor, turning its Wunimals into mindless, vicious unnimals. As Hollowpox victims multiply, panic spreads. Timely pandemic reading.
THE GRANDEST BOOKSHOP IN THE WORLD by AMELIA MELLOR
AFFIRM, RRP $20
Voice-changing sweets and talking parrots are among the delights that entrance Pearl and Vally in Cole’s Book Arcade, the Melbourne bookstore owned by their eccentric father in 1893. But when Pa does a deal with mysterious Obscurosmith, a high-stakes game will keep readers entranced.
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS 2021
GUINNESS, RRP $45
Fill in lazy summer days thumbing through the latest record-breaking feats. Look for the weird and wonderful, plus Aussies such as the Oakleigh wall of 1075 doughnuts and Sam Newstead and Julian O’Shea, owners of the altitude skateboarding record of 5700m at the Sairecabur Volcano in Chile.
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Originally published as Hottest books to binge throughout summer for all ages