Rosemarie and Amy have graciously shared eight of their top recommendations, covering a range of genres from crime to rom coms and biographies. The Newcastle Writers Festival returns in April 2025, and if you’re lucky, you might get the chance to see one or two of these authors speak. So, get a headstart and dive headfirst into these Swell summer reads.
Amy's top picks
Every Last Suspect
Nicola Moriarty
As soon as I heard the premise of this book, I knew I would devour it immediately. On the evening of her 40th birthday party, Harriet Osman is lying in a pool of her own blood. She knows she’s about to die, and wants to use her final precious minutes to figure out whodunnit. Was it her devoted husband, who has a violent past and wasn’t super happy with their ethically non-monogamous relationship? The new mum at her daughter’s school who she’d publicly shamed at a recent girls’ night out? Or her best friend and lover, the only one who knows the secret of their past? Every Last Suspect is fun, dark and totally gripping.
Experienced
Kate Young
Friend and colleague Rosemarie brought this book to my attention when she saw Aussie-born, London-based author Kate Young speaking at Edinburgh Book Festival. She brought me a signed copy back to Australia and said it sounded ‘right up my alley’. Bang on the money! Experienced is a delicious, delightful rom-com you’ll relish. Bette has fallen in love with a woman for the first time and her girlfriend, Mei, thinks she needs more ‘experience’ before they settle into monogamy. That leaves Bette heartbroken, but on a casual dating odyssey that’s sexy, cringe and hilarious. It’s just for three months… or is it? Loved this book!
Cold Truth
Ashley Kalagian Blunt
If you’re a fan of twisty thrillers, look no further than Ashley Kalagian Blunt’s Cold Truth, due for release in February 2025. Set in Winnipeg, Canada, dubbed one of the world’s strangest cities, Harlow Close is an influencer-slash-tour-guide whose father goes missing in mysterious circumstances. Convinced the police aren’t doing enough, Harlow puts her detective skills to the test and with the help of her sister, Blaise, tries to figure out what really happened. She then finds herself in the middle of a dark web conspiracy, on the run from people who want her dead, in a freezing cold (minus 40 degree!) winter. The plot, the setting and the exploration of how technology makes us so vulnerable, combine to make this book utterly unputdownable. Check out her bestselling Dark Mode while you’re waiting for Cold Truth to hit shelves.
You Don’t Have to Have a Dream
Tim Minchin
Tim Minchin is Australia’s favourite musical comedian (among other things) and now you can read his playful and profound wisdom in book form. You Don’t Have to Have a Dream is a beautiful, slim hardcover book presenting three of his most iconic commencement speeches alongside adorable illustrations. He calls himself a science-loving, reality-romantic, but there’s a touch of whimsy and a bucketload of compassion for humankind in this book. Ultimately, it’s a rallying cry for creativity, kindness and critical thinking in an increasingly chaotic world. You’ll want to read this book again and again, then gift it to everyone you know.
Rosemarie's top picks
Dropping the Mask
Noni Hazelhurst
‘I’m a storyteller – that’s my job’. Award-winning actor Noni Hazelhurst is also a dedicated diarist, and her memoir provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse of the golden years of Australia’s film, stage and television history. While she chooses not to delve too deeply into her personal life, in particular her long-time relationship with fellow actor John Jarratt which ended because of his infidelity, Hazelhurst provides detailed observations and asides about the characters she encounters among the writers, cast and crew. She’s a straight shooter with strong political beliefs and her life story ripples with passion.
Juice
Tim Winton
This is a Tim Winton novel, but not quite as you know it. Yes, there is a family at the heart of the narrative and vivid natural imagery, but the action is set against the backdrop of a future Australia ravaged by climate change and environmental catastrophe. People eke out an existence on the edge of obliteration, enduring summers underground to escape the fatal heat. Winton is a masterful storyteller and even if dystopian novels aren’t your jam, it is impossible not to be swept along by the nameless protagonist’s account of his extraordinary life story and his attempts to right a litany of world-threatening wrongs.
Dirrayawadha (Rise Up)
By Anita Heiss
Anita Heiss is breaking new ground with her recent novels. The proud First Nations writer is bringing Aboriginal language and culture to life with her interpretation of past events. Here, she focuses on a fictionalised account of the Wiradyuri wars in Bathurst in the 1820s, which historian Henry Reynolds has called the Forgotten Wars. The narrative unfolds via four points of view; ngurambang (the land), Aboriginal resistance fighter Windradyne, and two fictional characters, Windradyne’s sister Miinaa, and Irish convict Daniel O’Dwyer. Heiss offers the reader a bold love story, essential history lesson, and an opportunity to consider the impact of truth-telling.
Wing
Nikki Gemmell
It’s a simple plot: Four teenage girls from a top Sydney private school go missing on a school bush trip and the male teacher who attempts to locate them also fails to materialise. Yet, under Nikki Gemmell’s control, this compelling novel also adroitly captures generational, family, and class tensions. Written in the second person from the perspective of the ambitious and fiercely feminist headmistress, the action centres on the long four days of waiting at the campground where the girls were last seen, as parents, police and media gather. Gemmell has a lot of fun exposing the inner-Sydney milieu of wealth and privilege. Unputdownable.
As seen in Swell Issue 22. Grab your copy here.
