For some years now, my first Monday Musings of the year has comprised a selected list of new Australian book releases for the coming year. And, for many years, the bulk of this post came from a comprehensive list prepared by Jane Sullivan for the Sydney Morning Herald. However, this year’s SMH’s list, prepared by Melanie Kembrey, is highly selective, comprising just fifteen fiction and fifteen nonfiction titles. Further, it only covers the first half of the year, and as usual includes non-Australian books – meaning it has only a handful of Aussie titles.
So, I did a lot more research than usual. I checked many publisher websites, and found a couple of publisher emails useful. I also found The ArtsHub’s list prepared by Thuy On, which is a little longer than Kembrey’s and comprises selected Australian new releases for the first half of the year. I gleaned my list from these disparate sources, which varied in how well and thoroughly they shared their forthcoming titles.
The information I provide for each title varies a little, depending on what information I found easily. Links on the authors’ names are to my posts on those authors.
Fiction
As always, I have included some but not all the genre fiction I found to keep the list manageable and somewhat focused. Here’s my selection:
- Mandy Beaumont, The thrill of it (March, Hachette)
- Ashley Kalagian Blunt, Cold truth (February, Ultimo)
- Tara Calaby, The spirit circle (historical fiction, January, Text)
- Jane Caro, Lyrebird (April)
- Shankari Chandran, Unfinished business (January, Ultimo)
- Madeleine Cleary, The butterfly women (historical crime, April, Affirm Press)
- Rachel Coad, Stray cats and bad fish: Silence of the eels (graphic novel, September, Upswell)
- Anna Dombroski, After the great storm (February, Transit Lounge)
- Laura Elvey, Nightingale (genre-bender, May, UQP)
- Beverley Farmer, The seal woman (repub. of 1992 edition, March, Giramondo)
- Irma Gold, Shift (March, MidnightSun)
- Andrea Goldsmith, The buried life (March, Transit Lounge)
- CE Grimes, The Guts (literary thriller, April, Puncher and Wattman)
- Joanna Horton, Catching the light (April, Ultimo Press)
- Luke Horton, Time together (March, Scribe)
- Catherine Jinks, Panic (crime, January, Text)
- Gail Jones, The name of the sister (June, Text)
- Yumna Kassab, The theory of everything (March, Ultimo Press)
- Vijay Khurana, The passenger seat (April, Ultimo Press)
- William Lane, Saturation (May, Transit Lounge)
- Zane Lovitt, The body next door (crime, March, Text)
- Charlotte McConaghy, Wild dark shore (March, Penguin)
- Nadia Mahjouri, Half truth (February, Penguin)
- Steve MinOn, First name second name (March, UQP)
- Debra Oswald, One hundred years of Betty (March, Allen & Unwin)
- Jacquie Pham, Those opulent days (February, Upswell)
- Sophie Quick, Confidence woman (April)
- Diana Reid, Signs of damage (March)
- Madeleine Ryan, The knowing (February, Scribe)
- Josephine Rowe, Little world (April, Black Inc)
- Ronni Salt, Gunnawah (historical rural crime fiction, January, Hachette)
- Gretchen Shirm, Out of the woods (April, Transit Lounge)
- Anna Snoekstra, The ones we love (June, Ultimo Press)
- Jessica Stanley, Consider yourself kissed (April, Text)
- Sinéad Stubbins, Stinkbug (May/June, Affirm Press)
- Marion Taffe, By her hand (historical fiction, HarperCollins)
- Hannah Tunnicliffe, The pool (January, Ultimo Press)
- Madeleine Watts, Elegy, southwest (March, Ultimo Press)
- Chloe Elisabeth Wilson, Rytual (May, Penguin)
- Sean Wilson, You must remember this (January, Affirm Press)
- Ouyang Yu, The sun at eight or nine (February, Puncher and Wattman)
Short stories
- Peter M. Ball, What we talk about when we talk about brains: The Red Rain stories (January)
Nonfiction
I am sorting these into two broad categories …
Life-writing (loosely defined)
- Clem Bastow and Jo Case, Someone like me: An anthology of nonfiction by autistic writers (anthology, March, UQP)
- Bron Bateman (ed), Women of a certain courage: Life stories (anthology, no month, Fremantle Press)
- Brooke Boney, All of it (memoir, April)
- Judith Brett, Fearless Beatrice Faust: Sex, feminism and body politics (biography, April, Text)
- Geraldine Brooks, Memorial days (memoir, January)
- Kerrie Davies, My brilliant career, Miles Franklin undercover (autobiography, March)
- Robert Dessaix, Chameleon: A memoir of art, travel, ideas and love (memoir, March, Text)
- Kate Grenville, Unsettled: A journey through time and place (Black Inc, April)
- Hannah Kent, Always home, always homesick (memoir, May)
- Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa, Fully Sikh: Hot chips and turmeric stains (memoir, February, Upswell)
- Josie McSkimming, Gutsy girls (memoir, February, UQP)
- Robert Manne, A political memoir: Intellectual combat in the Cold War and the Culture Wars (Black Inc, April)
- Dean Manning, Mr Blank (memoir/biography, March, Puncher and Wattman)
- Paul Marshall (ed), Raparapa: Stories from the Fitzroy River drovers (anthology, February, Magabala Books)
- Brenda Niall, Joan Lindsay: The hidden life of the woman who wrote Picnic at Hanging Rock (biography, February, Text)
- Sonia Orchard, Groomed: A memoir about abuse, the search for justice and how we fail to keep our children safe (memoir, January, Affirm Press)
- Lucy Sussex and Megan Brown, Outrageous fortunes: The adventures of Mary Fortune, crime-writer, and her criminal son George (biography, Black Inc, February)
- Grace Tame, The ninth life of a diamond miner: A memoir (memoir, repub., March, Pan Australia)
- Naomi Watts, Dare I say it (memoir, January)
- Jessica White, Silence is my habitat: Ecobiographical essays (memoir/ecoliterature, October, Upswell)
History and other non-fiction
- Vanessa Berry, Calendar (essays, October, Upswell)
- Anne-Marie Conde, The prime minister’s potato and other essays (June, Upswell)
- Stephen Gapps, The Rising War in the colony of New South Wales, 1838-1944 (history, April)
- Joshua Gilbert, Australia’s agricultural identity: an Aboriginal yarn (First Nations, Penguin, May)
- Robert Godfree, Drought country: The dry times that have shaped Australia (eco-literature, February, CSIRO Publishing)
- Alyx Gorman, All women want (women’s studies, March, HarperCollins)
- Tom McIlroy, Blue Poles: Jackson Pollock, Gough Whitlam and the painting that changed a nation (history/biography, February/March, Hachette)
- Alison Pouliot, Funga obscura: Photo journeys among fungi (photography/ecology, March, New South)
- Belinda Probert, Bill’s secrets: Class, war and ambition (narrative nonfiction, January, Upswell)
Poetry
Finally, for poetry lovers, I found these, almost entirely from publisher websites:
- Gregory Day, Southsightedness (April, Transit Lounge)
- Yvette Henry Holt, Fitzroy North 3068 (March, Upswell)
- Anna Jacobson, All rage blaze light (September, Upswell)
- Šime Knežević, In your dreams (February, Giramondo)
- Cameron Lowe, BliNk (February, Puncher and Wattman)
- Thuy On, Essence (February, UWAP)
- Helena Pantsis, Captcha (February, Puncher and Wattman)
- Omar Sakr and Safdar Ahmed, The nightmare sequence (April, UQP)
- David Stavanger, The drop off (April, Upswell)
So far I have read only three from my 2024 lists, though have several more on the TBR. How will I go this year?
Meanwhile, anything here interest you?
Whispering Gums 
Thank you. Are these books which are to be released in 25 for sale therefore if you have already reviewed them you got an advance copy ?
Thanks Moira … Good question …
I think most reviews come from Advanced Reader Copies sent to reviewers/influencers to build advanced interest. I didn’t check every book but I checked most of them, and, particularly on publisher websites, those I found had “pre-order” buttons. But, I saw some reviews (even back in October) on GoodReads. I don’t accept ARCs (as you may know they are called) because I don’t like the pressure, and because you are not allowed to quote from them (or you have to check back with the publisher if you want to). While I usually only include a couple of quotes I don’t like this restriction. There could be a couple of cases where the book ended up being published earlier (as I often found differences, usually just by a month, between a publisher site and one of those lists I found) but I tried to make sure that wasn’t the case.
Once I nearly included a book that was announced as coming this year, but I thought Mr Gums had read it! Indeed he had, and the announcement on the publisher site was just for the new cheaper pb format. I don’t think there were any of those in my list, except for the backlist republication of a Beverley Farmer novel, but there may have been.
This is a brilliantly comprehensive list. Thank you for all your research. Terrific!
(I have read Joan Lindsay by Brenda Niall. I think you will love it.)
Thanks Carmel … and thanks for your heads up re the Niall. I hadn’t found when you mentioned it in a comment, but it popped up a day or so later in the ArtsHub list.
You are as addicted to research as I am to coffee !
One of the “life writers” has stolen a chapter name of mine as her book title. I shall not forgive her.
Yes, MR, I do enjoy it … I could easily become obsessive except life gets in the way (probably fortunately).
Which title? I’m in the car and won’t be home until this afternoon to scan your book chapters. I have a couple of ideas but it’s not the first one, Someone like me, as there are two writers there
My opening chapter: “All of it”.
That was one of my thoughts. I didn’t think it would be Unsettled because that’s used a lot so it would be hard to be cranky about that one!!
The thing is that the chapter headings weren’t worked on at all: they just kind of came to me – popped into my head, you might say. So in my opinion, they’re MINE. 😉
Haha MR … love your thinking!
Thanks again whispering gums. So when you say link you mean link to a different, previous book by that author you havereviewed, I can now see. And at the end when you talk of tbr 2024 to be read you are referring to last year’s books, not this 2025 list ? All in all a mouth watering selection. I was listening to a Gail Jones novel audio book whilst gardening, from city of Sydney library on borrow box. The vast majority of audio books they have there are memoirs (some 300 versus 20 or so novels) but that isn’t the distribution in published book land, is it ?
Ah yes, you’ve got it. I wondered where you’d seen reviews for some books! In this annual post I always link the author’s name to my tag for that author if I have one. And yes, my final comment refers to my little calculation I do each year on what I’d read from the previous year’s list.
Memoirs are popular but no I won’t say that was anywhere near the distribution. Which Gail Jones we’re you listening to.
The Shadows. I liked it though think the listening of it could have been improved by a different reader.
That’s often the way with audiobooks isn’t it?
The title is Our shadows by Gail Jones about a mining family.
Thanks Moira … I must read more of her.
I understand how much work must have gone into this post but it’s a good feeling, that sense of knowing what’s coming and having titles/authors to anticipate.
The title for Hannah Kent’s non-fiction intrigues me. And I think Drought Country would make interesting reading. I was just listening to a report about how the recent COP went, on the topic of increased desertification/aridation (hosted, ironically, in Saudi Arabia) and so I suppose that’s added to my curiosity, from a climate-change/crisis perspective (though I see this is more of a historical volume).
Yes the Hannah Kent title intrigued me too. I think it might have something to do with the time she spent in Iceland and loving that place, so that both feel like Home but when you’re there you feel homesick for the other one. I think that might be the main thrust of it.
I nearly didn’t include Drought country because of its coming from a scientific/research organisation publisher, which can risk being a bit academic. But it sounded interesting, particularly the historical perspective.
I have Grace Tame’s latest book on my shelf so that is definitely out. You sure spent a lot of time and effort into this list. There are some tempting books.
Oh … that’s a repub that I missed … you are right. In fact the hardcover came out in 2022! I will update that.
Hi Sue, you do make life more difficult. More books to check out -(l0l). There are few books that do appeal, more so the life writing books. Also, Gregory Day’s poetry will be on my list.
Bwahahaha … that’s my aim Meg. I’m glad you are interested in the Gregory Day. And yes, quite a bit of the life writing appeals to me, particularly the literary biographies.
Jessica White is the only author in here that I’ve read, and her new memory sounds interesting. I’m currently reading a collection called Disabled Ecologies, which sounds in the same family as Silence is My Habitat: Ecobiographical essays
Thanks Melanie … I hope you will write up that collection as it sounds good to hear about.
Many interest me but the one that stands out is Tom McIlroy, Blue Poles: Jackson Pollock, Gough Whitlam and the painting that changed a nation. I read The Prime Minister’s Christmas Card: Blue Poles and Cultural Politics in the Whitlam Era by Lindsay Barrett a few years back. It was an interesting book without reaching great heights. The title was a little misleading as other than a few instances Blue Poles hardly got a mention. Maybe this one is better.
That does sound interesting doesn’t it fourtriplezed. I don’t know the Lindsay Barrett one.
Thanks for including my beautiful book cover!
I chose one for each section Irma, and why not yours for fiction I thought! Looking forward to reading it! Good cover, and goes well with Breaking doesn’t it.
Why not indeed! Abby Strout has done a fantastic job with the design. Can’t wait to hear what you think!
I’m certainly interested!
Bravo Sue! And I wish I had checked my Feedly feed a few days ago before spending ages on doing exactly the same website trawling you have obviously done, although my criteria was much touigher – I only selected books I thought I might read 🙂
But I did miss seeing the Gail Jones book, so thanks.
Thanks Brona … I think (it’s a couple of weeks ago now – haha – so my memory is fading a bit) I nearly missed the Jones one so I’m not surprised.
Yes, my criteria sounds a bit broader. I aim to choose books that I’d be interested in reading, or that I think roughly meet the interests of those who read my blog, plus a couple of ring-ins for other reasons! So, it’s a bit eclectic!
Ahhh that just highlights how behind I am with the reading and commenting on blogs atm. The new year has started off in a very busy fashion with a trip to Mudgee, visitors at home and now two weeks in Sydney. I’m looking forward to getting back into a more regular routine next week 🙂
Haha, yes, I’ve been watching you! You have been everywhere it seems over the last month. And having a lovely time I think. Good on you. We’ve had a nice mix of busy and quiet, but these few weeks back in Canberra, between the Christmas visit to Melbourne, and the early February birthday visit back there, have been blissfully quiet with nicely separated bright social spots. I love January in Canberra.
Glad you’re enjoying the peace and quiet there before all the uni’s go back. I’ve discovered that Blackheath is quite busy in January as a tourist destination, so it has been nice to get away from it for a little while, but now hankering to get back into my own space and for a misty walk along our beautiful tree lined avenues.
Ah yes, of course … I’ve never lived in a tourist place. Must be a very different experience. Enjoy your mistiness!
I recently read and reviewed Chandrans Unfinished Business, although I enjoyed it I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected to. Having said that, I saw her speak last week at the Sydney Writers Festival and in hearing her speak about her research process and what she hoped to achieve with the novel I appreciated it that little bit more.