Summer Reading List 2024

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

This is the Dymocks book of the year for 2024, which means that booksellers across Australia love it. A debut novel that the BBC is already adapting, it is a great book to read or give over Christmas because it combines intense reading pleasure and big ideas. With The Guardian describing the book as "50% sci-fi thriller, and 50% romcom", I just want to say if you like either of these genres, don’t hesitate.  

James by Percival Everett

James is a rich, complex, layered literary work that redefines an American classic, but to describe it in this way understates the verve of the book itself. It is a sparkling tale of adventure that will have you turning its pages until the very end. Whether you are familiar with  Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, or you come to reading James completely fresh, or as an Everett fan you will recognise it for the bold, dark, funny, tour de force that it is.

Always Was, Always Will Be by Thomas Mayo and Näku Dhäruk The Bark Petitions by Clare Wright

For anyone still grappling with the reverberations of the Voice Referendum, and all that has followed, there are two wonderful books to think about reading over Christmas. Thomas Mayo, who wrote the bestseller The Voice to Parliament Handbook with Kerry O’Brien, was an eloquent and tireless advocate for the Voice Referendum. He has written a personal and hopeful look at what the future could hold in Always Was, Always Will Be. Clare Wright’s Näku Dhäruk The Bark Petitions: How the People of Yirrkala Changed the Course of Australian Democracy is a brilliant account of a previous generation’s encounter with history that brings the story of the Yolŋu struggle to life in a way that cannot be ignored. It’s a wonderful read for the history lovers in your life.

Buy Always Was Always Will Be

Buy Näku Dhäruk The Bark Petitions

A Language of Limbs by Dylin Hardcastle

A queer classic in the making that pays homage to Australia’s LGBTQ+ history. Come for the propulsive account of two women’s lives told in a clever dual narrative, woven against the backdrop of the 70s and 80s. Stay for Dylin’s unique way with words and their evocative poeticism. If poetic language equals red flag to you – don’t let it! This is a book bursting with life, an unflinching celebration of queer existence, resilience, joy, tragedy, community, and love.

Entitlement by Rumaan Alam

This hotly anticipated new novel is a slow-burn tale of wealth, race and class in America today. Rumaan entices with the glitz of the mega-rich and the promise of altruism. He quickly pivots into an incisive, unsettling, thriller-like exploration of privilege and power, through an aging white billionaire and the ambitious young woman who works to do good with his money.

My Brother’s Ashes are in a Sandwich Bag by Michelle Brasier

Fans of cathartic comedy, look no further. Let actor, writer, singer, and self-professed idiot (her words, not mine) split your sides and heart open this summer. You may recognise Michelle from TV spots on Thank God You’re Here, Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, in Aunty Donna sketches, or on the comedy festival circuit with her award-winning shows. Her first book is a lolly bag of a memoir: deeply profound, refreshingly silly, and endlessly uplifting.

Ask Aunty: Bush Survival Skills by Aunty Munya Andrews and illustrated by Charmaine Ledden-Lewis

This is the second picture book in the Ask Aunty series, a delightful and educational series that introduces First Nations knowledge and traditions as passed down by Bardi Elders from the Kimberley area of Western Australia. This book operates as an encouragement for young readers to put down their digital devices, wander outside, and develop a deeper connection with our local land, waters and sky. Recommended for ages 5–10. 

Kev and Trev: Snot Funny Sea Stories by Kylie Howarth

This fun-filled graphic novel from talented Western Australian author and illustrator, Kylie Howarth, is a must read for all those kids out there craving more local graphic novel titles. Kev, a cockatoo, and Trev, a marine iguana, are best friends determined to write a hugely successful kid’s book to make enough money to repair their house. The book is written and designed to be accessible for all, including neurodivergent readers. Recommended for ages 6–12.

When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson

This contemporary Young Adult novel set in Northern California follows the complicated lives (both past and present) of the Fall family. The book is beautifully written with dynamic characters and mysteries that sink their hooks into the reader. Jandy's previous novels (I’ll Give You the Sun and The Sky is Everywhere) have been huge international bestsellers and deservedly earned her the Michael L. Printz Award, a Stonewall Honor, and a shortlisting for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. For ages 14+.