Five new release books you need to read right now

Looking for a fast-paced thriller, a relatable romance or Jodi Picoult’s latest that’s bound for bestseller-dom? Here are five new release reads to have on your radar.

In need of a new read? We’ve got you covered.

THE MOTHER FAULT

KATE MILDENHALL

SIMON & SCHUSTER, RRP $33

Mim and her kids are waiting for her husband, Ben, to make one of his regular trips home from his job with a gold mine in Indonesia. But then she gets a call from the Department – her husband is missing. Though all of the family are microchipped, as required, he’s gone off the radar. The department says she should stay put while they find him. But Mim is worried and heads to the country to see her family. When the Department lets her know she must return home, or her children might be taken away, she takes drastic steps to get out of their clutches. It begins a tumultuous drive across the country and an even more perilous boat trip in search of her husband, helped by an old flame. What she hears about Ben is disturbing: What has he really been up to? Victorian-based writer Mildenhall has created a near-future Australian dystopia that is frighteningly plausible. Some of Mim’s decisions are a bit dodgy, but it’s hard to ignore the urgency of the storytelling.

VERDICT: FAST-PACED THRILLER

– reviewed by Corinna Hente

The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult + Beach Read by Emily Henry.

THE BOOK OF TWO WAYS

JODI PICOULT

ALLEN & UNWIN, RRP $33

Egyptology, quantum physics, terminal illness, relationships and teen angst. Only a talent like Jodi Picoult could turn that list of seemingly unrelated concepts into an engaging love story. Picoult’s latest book expands her horizons to archaeological digs in Egypt, linking up with the ancient Book of Two Ways, depicting two routes to the afterlife – land and water. Picoult also takes her main character, Egyptologist and death doula Dawn, on two journeys, with two love interests. Death looms large, thanks to Dawn’s work with the dying and connection to ancient tombs. But it becomes more personal when Dawn is faced with her own mortality and starts to question some of her life choices. Picoult is a proven storyteller, however her quest for perfection means this tale gets a little bogged down in archaeological detail at times. But never fear, as with all her works, the loose ends tie in expertly to complete a story of lost and found, what-ifs, making wrongs right and getting things wrong.

VERDICT: ANOTHER BESTSELLER

– reviewed by Carina Bruce

BEACH READ

EMILY HENRY

PENGUIN, RRP $20

Don’t let the colourful cover or generic title fool you – Beach Read is a romantic tale of two very different writers, filled with humour, chemistry and true heart. January, an established romance author, lives for swoony contemporary stories that end with happily-ever-afters. While Gus, a published literary author, is intent on documenting all the hardships and hurt life so often dishes out.

When the two meet (or meet again given they were college rivals), January is wrestling with writer’s block after a family betrayal and Gus has long retreated into his own world to battle complications from his past. In order to tackle their problems, the pair issue each other a challenge – write a novel in the other’s genre.

Don’t let the heavier subject matter plaguing our protagonists put you off. Beach Read is exceptionally funny and grounded in authenticity, providing the perfect counterbalance to Gus and January’s life drama, and has all the light and bright interactions you expect from a love story. Beach Read is a fully formed romance that should be added to your to-be-read list yesterday.

VERDICT: RELATABLE ROMANCE

– reviewed by Elouise Tynan

From Snow To Ash by Anthony Sharwood + A Saint From Texas by Edmund White.

A SAINT FROM TEXAS

EDMUND WHITE

BLOOMSBURY, RRP $30

This latest book from the prolific American author of Our Young Man and Inside a Pearl is set in the 1950s and follows twins Yvonne and Yvette Crawford, whose father becomes extremely rich when oil is discovered on his land. It is told by Yvonne, who just wants to forget her origins as she makes her way into Parisian society, while Yvette takes a totally different path of helping the poor of Colombia as a Catholic nun. It can be read as the two sides of White’s own personality — the spiritual man and the hedonistic materialist who pursues good times, good food and wine, and good lovers. White makes great use of the decades he spent in Paris, taking aim at some of the more snobbish and ingrained attitudes of the French upper class, while showing sympathy for Texas twins who find they cannot completely lose all traces of where they came from.

VERDICT: IT TAKES TWO TO ENTANGLE

– reviewed by Barry Reynolds

FROM SNOW TO ASH

ANTHONY SHARWOOD

HACHETTE, RRP $33

Former News Corp journalist Anthony Sharwood was in need of some space — around him and inside his head — and Australia’s toughest hiking trail seemed to fit the bill. The 660km Australian Alps Walking Trail stretches from Walhalla in Victoria to the ACT but doesn’t always earn its name. The trail is so little used, more often than not it disappears into nothingness. Sharwood can read a compass, but this is his first long walk. He skips a few sections due to bushfire, loses his way, meets some characters, and finishes his walk in the most dramatic possible manner. Sharwood does an excellent job of conveying the constant sense of worry that solo hiking involves, and an equally excellent job of weaving in salient points about the threatened Alps environment and its history, without it ever feeling forced or taking us out of his story.

VERDICT: INTREPID

– reviewed by Claire Sutherland

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Originally published as Five new release books you need to read right now