Non Fiction
All the Wrong Moves
Anthony Scaramucci. Bodley Head. $36.99.
Anthony "the Mooch" Scaramucci is the potty-mouthed Wall Street financier whose controversial appointment as White House communications director in 2017 spectacularly imploded after only 11 days. Scaramucci has since parlayed his fame as a former Donald Trump insider into a successful new career as a podcast host and commentator. In his latest book he charts the origins of the crisis in American politics. Scaramucci argues that catastrophic decisions by both political parties destroyed postwar stability, deepened economic inequality and corroded public trust, ultimately fuelling Trump's rise to gilded, gauche and gaudy glory. But fear not, the Mooch has a plan.
(Almost) Killing It In Hollywood
Ash Williams. Echo. $34.99.
Australian comedian and broadcaster Ash Williams took a gamble on Tinseltown after a chance gym conversation snagged him a last-minute invite from the friend of a friend to an Oscars party. Heading overseas without ever having visited Los Angeles before, he stuck around and landed roles on TV shows like Anger Management and The Exes. But the steep price of celebrity life required saying yes to dodgy, dangerous and absurd gigs - from working as a topless waiter in a gay bar and posing for romance novel covers to starring in a tickling movie. His madcap memoir takes us through various dignity-sacrificing misadventures behind the scenes in Hollywood.
The Lonely Generation
Dr Michelle Lim. Pantera Press. $36.99.
Essential reading for all parents, this book sounds the alarm on a looming public health crisis within younger people - and provides empowering, practical steps to build a healthier, more connected world for our children. Younger generations are bearing the brunt of social media, big tech and rising costs. Their mental health has gone into freefall with higher rates of anxiety, depression and self-harm. How do we untangle the knots that keep them trapped? Associate professor Michelle Lim is Australia's leading expert on loneliness. She shows us how we got here and what can be done about this public health emergency.
The Last Best Place on the Internet: A Human History of Wikipedia
Richard Cooke. Black Inc. $36.99.
Journalist Richard Cooke examines the origins, remarkable growth, and modern vulnerabilities of Wikipedia, the massive human knowledge repository built entirely by unpaid, mostly anonymous volunteers across hundreds of languages. He investigates how the encyclopaedic phenomenon grew to shape literature, business, politics, and society and explores its role in sorting fact from fiction in an era when the truth is under siege. Cooke takes readers inside the platform's unique culture, highlighting fierce debates between "inclusionists" and "deletionists" over what merits preservation. Finally, he addresses pressing threats confronting the site's survival, including political division, automated bots and artificial intelligence.
Fiction
The Whitechapel Full Moon Society
Elizabeth DeLozier. Tor. $34.99.
Set in 1888 London, Elizabeth DeLozier's debut reimagines Jack the Ripper's killings with a supernatural twist. Targeting adult fans of paranormal mystery thrillers, the story follows bankrupt aristocrat Caroline Foster as she searches for her missing brother, Charlie. In exchange for shelter, she becomes a maid at the opulent Full Moon Society boardinghouse under strict rules, including staying locked away during full moons. When she discovers the previous maid was murdered, Caroline suspects her hosts hide beastly secrets. Landing just in time for some Halloween bedtime reading chills, DeLozier's novel subverts classic Ripper folklore with her atmospheric, monster-infused detective mystery.
Hollow Bones
Jodi Picoult. Macmillan. $34.99.
From the New York Times bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper, this is a riveting novel about the risks we take to protect those we love in a world where crisis is never far away. Molly Fitzgerald and her husband Jesse are no strangers to trauma. Molly's mum went missing on 9/11 - now she heads a disaster response unit. Jesse's family was torn apart by a court case that pitted his parents against his siblings - now he sees deception every day in his work as a police polygraph expert. They both keep the past behind them until a medical emergency exposes a secret.
Partita
Barbara Kingsolver. Faber. $34.99.
You know you're in for some full immersion when you pick up a book by Barbara Kingsolver, and her latest, Partita, is no exception. Livia finds solace in music and it helps her escape the grief-stricken family home. Life feels like it's finally beginning when she starts college as a scholarship prodigy, until or especially when she spies a particular figure across campus, and asks aloud, "Who is that man?" Sparks fly and the story takes a turn. Expect hope, pain, love, resilience and thwarted ambition, all within a fully realised Kingsolver world. It's absolutely engrossing - don't miss this one.
Gruffalo Granny
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Macmillan Children's Books. $26.99.
In 1999, The Gruffalo, Julia Donaldson's story about a monster, with illustrations by Axel Scheffler, became a runaway bestseller. Arriving two decades after The Gruffalo's Child, Gruffalo Granny revisits the same "deep, dark woods" with the same enchanting rhyming cadence and is said to be the final book in the picture book series. The plot follows the original Gruffalo and his child preparing a feast for their visiting grandmother, an elder monster with an enormous appetite. Naturally, the wily storytelling mouse faces danger as a potential meal. This year, it became the fastest-selling picture book ever in Donaldson's native UK.
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