It’s 2024, baby. A year that will bring a US election, the Paris Olympics, and four supermoons. What’s more, it’s a year where you’re going to read at least one complete book.
But why do we believe with such confidence that you’ll finish a book this year? Well, it’s because there are some fantastic Australian books set for release in 2024. Books that are riveting, local, hilarious — ones that you won’t be able to put down.
So, it’s time to stop scrolling on the internet and embrace your destiny. Here are five of the best Australian books to grace 2024.
The Best Australian Books: 2024 Edition
We All Lived in Bondi Then by Georgia Blain
Georgia Blain was an Australian novelist who was stolen from our planet too soon. Best known for penning The Secret Lives of Men and Between a Wolf and a Dog, her work grapples with the unhealthy relationships that plague us and the pliable nature of grief. Tragically, Blain died of brain cancer on December 9, 2016.
Blain’s We All Lived in Bondi Then is a collection of nine previously unpublished short stories. In this body of work, Blain unpacks the drama of a mother losing her memory, a house party gone sideways, and everything between. If you want to dive into the crystal clear waters of modern Australiana, then this book was written for you.
We All Lived in Bondi Then is being published by Scribe Australia. To pre-order this book, click the link here.
No Church in the Wild by Murray Middleton
In Melbourne’s inner west, a young and idealistic teacher named Anna is in perpetual disarray. The police keep racially profiling her students. The school system keeps failing her classes. Her community may collapse, as it stands on a knife’s edge. This is the story of No Church in the Wild.
From the voice of Murray Middleton comes a story about migrant families, prejudice, the police, and Victoria’s education network. Middleton is a Melbourne-based writer who’s very familiar with these topics, as he spent eight years working inside Melbourne’s school system. In 2015, his debut book, When There’s Nowhere Else to Run, won the prestigious Vogel’s Literary Award.
No Church in the Wild is being published by Pan Macmillan Australia. To pre-order this book, click the link here.
Gawimarra: Gathering by Jeanine Leane
Jeanine Leane is a Wiradjuri writer, poet, and one of the best artists in the game. In 2023, she won Australia’s richest poetry prize, the David Harold Tribe Award for Poetry. Leane has also taught Creative Writing and Aboriginal Literature classes at the University of Melbourne, where she is currently their First Nations Writer in Residence.
Gawimarra is a collection of poems dedicated to strong First Nation matriarchs. It unpacks their language, history, and relationships with colonial settlers. In this book, Leane layers the personal upon the political to tell stories of both hope and grief.
Leane’s work shouldn’t be relegated to the back of our bookstores. If you’re going to buy a poetry book in 2024, make it this one.
Gawimarra: Gathering is being published by the University of Queensland Press. To pre-order this book, click the link here.
The Skeleton House by Katherine Allum
In a small town in the Nevada desert, Meg is a mother of two, a Christian, and the holder of a secret. However, when Meg puts her foot down on having a third kid and instead gets a job, her marriage begins to implode. The Skeleton House is a story of resilience, a story that will resonate everywhere.
Written by Western Australia’s Katherine Allum, The Skeleton House is one of the most anticipated books of 2024. This book has already won the 2023 Fogarty Literary Award, a distinguished prize in the Australian literary scene.
The Skeleton House is being published by Fremantle Press. To be notified of when this book will become available, click the link here.
Vortex by Rodney Hall
Rodney Hall is one of Australia’s most stunning, prolific writers. He has won The Miles Franklin Award on two separate occasions, authouring both Just Relations and The Grisly Wife. In 1990, he was ordained a Member of the Order of Australia for his “service to the arts, particularly in the field of literature.”
What’s more, Hall has no plans of slowing down. His book Vortex is debuting this year.
Hall’s Vortex is a novel that explores the plight of Australia’s refugees. Set in 1954, his story details the first boat of people escaping from Vietnam to Australia. According to Hall, this book is nonlinear, so he’s encouraging his readers to tackle each chapter in any order they wish.
Vortex is being published by Pan Macmillan Australia. As it stands, it’s not available for pre-order, but we’ll let you know when it is.
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