Dark Mode by Ashley Kalagian Blunt

Once you’re online, there’s nowhere to hide. Is it paranoia – or is someone watching?

For years, Reagan Carsen has kept her life offline. No socials. No internet presence. No photos. Safe.

Until the day she stumbles on a shocking murder in a Sydney laneway. The victim looks just like her. Coincidence?

As more murders shake the city and she’s increasingly drawn out from hiding, Reagan is forced to confront her greatest fear. She’s been found.

A riveting psychological thriller drawn from true events, Dark Mode delves into the terrifying reality of the dark web, and the price we pay for surrendering our privacy one click at a time.
 

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer

Put your heart out there. Let it get broken. Take chances. Make mistakes . . . Let yourself live.

Clover Brooks has always felt a stronger connection with those at the end of their life than in the middle of it. She dedicates herself to ushering people peacefully though their final days, working as a death doula in New York City. Her client's last words are collected in three treasured notebooks, neatly labelled: ADVICE, CONFESSIONS and REGRETS.

Then she meets Claudia: a woman who has had the kind of life that Clover hasn't dared imagine for herself. But even Claudia has one regret.

Now, with only an old love letter, a road map and a leap of faith, Clover begins her first adventure...


 

Around The Bend I Go by Max Beck

After World War II, Reg Beck buys The Crown Hotel, then one of 72 pubs in Bendigo, 12 of which were within 300 metres.

In the days before motels, his wife Madge manages the accommodation side of the business catering for many important VIPs including County and Supreme Court judges. Their children Max (aka 'Mickey'), then aged four, and his sister Zelda, five and a half, are engulfed by the hotel environment leading to exciting adventures, close shaves, trouble, funny times as well as sorrow and miscellaneous other benefits and detriments.

The book is a rollicking tale written with an eye for the detail of history. Author, Max Beck, is a retired Magistrate and Coroner. Funny, challenging, potent and profoundly tragic, discover the boyhood influences that would shape a man determined to improve others lives through the law.

The Queen Is Dead by
Stan Grant

The Queen reigned for seventy years. She came to the throne at the height of Empire and died with the world at a tipping point.

What comes next after the death of what Stan Grant calls 'the last white Queen'?
From one of our most respected and award-winning journalists, Stan Grant, The Queen is Dead is a searing, viscerally powerful, emotionally unstoppable, pull-no-punches book on the bitter legacy of colonialism for indigenous people.

Taking us on a journey through the world's fault lines, from the war in Ukraine, the rise of China, the identity wars, the resurgence of white supremacy, and the demand that Black Lives Matter, The Queen is Dead is a full-throated, impassioned argument on the necessity for an end to monarchy in Australia, the need for a Republic, and what needs to be done - through the Voice to Parliament and beyond - to address and redress the pain and sorrow and humiliations of the past.

Only Love Can Hurt Like This by Paige Toon

Neither of them expected to fall in love. But sometimes life has other plans.

When Wren realises her fiance is in love with someone else, she thinks her heart will never recover.

On the other side of the world, Anders lost his wife four years ago and is still struggling to move on.

Wren hopes that spending the summer with her dad and step-family on their farm in Indiana will help her to heal. There, amid the cornfields and fireflies, she and Anders cross paths and their worlds are turned upside-down again.

But Wren doesn't know that Anders is harbouring a secret, and if he acts on any feelings he has for Wren it will have serious fall-out for everyone.

Walking away would hurt Wren more than she can imagine. But, knowing the truth, how can she possibly stay?

The Redgum River Retreat by Sandie Docker

Single mother Sarah is guilt-ridden when an accident leaves her young daughter Melody seriously injured and their once music-filled lives silent. When she discovers her grandmother Rosalie's war correspondence, she thinks she might have found a way to save her family, but it will require a leap of faith ...

In 1945 Rosalie is desperate to forge a career as a journalist, and taking photos for soldiers serving in the war might just lead to the job of her dreams. But when two brothers she's been corresponding with come home to Redgum River, her life is turned upside down, and she flees, vowing to never return.

Decades on, the hope that a music retreat can help Melody lures the three generations of women to Redgum River, where Sarah draws together the threads of Rosalie's past.

Vegemite by Jamie Callister

Today Vegemite is recognised around the world, but when the salty black paste was first produced in 1923 the public wasn't interested. In fact, it took another 15 years and a world war before we embraced it.

Vegemite shares the fascinating tale of Cyril Callister, the man who invented what would become Australia's most beloved consumer product, along with the story of its rocky road to acceptance. Spanning the Gold Rush, the Depression and two world wars, it opens a window on the evolution of modern Australia.

Published to coincide with Vegemite's 100th anniversary, this revised edition features a collection of photographs, a new introduction and an epilogue that shares the little-known story of how Vegemite returned to Australian hands in 2017.

Man Made by
Tracey Spicer

Walkley Award-winning journalist Tracey Spicer exposes the next frontier of feminism. Man-Made aims to open readers’ eyes to a transformative technological shift in society and give them the tools to make positive change.

'Mum, I want a robot slave.’

Broadcaster Tracey Spicer had an epiphany when her young son uttered these six words. Suddenly, her life’s work fighting inequality seemed futile. What’s the point in agitating to change the present, if bigotry is being embedded into our futures? And so began a quest to uncover who was responsible and hold them to account.

Who is the ultimate villain? Big Tech, whose titans refuse to spend money to fix the problem? The world’s politicians, who lack the will to legislate? Or should we all be walking into a hall of mirrors and taking a good, hard look at ourselves…?