Wait until you see what Better Reading has done this weekend…

If you happen to pick up a copy of Good Weekend magazine today, you’ll notice a familiar, purple logo – Better Reading have paired with Good Weekend to deliver the ultimate list of this year’s reading highlights: ‘8 Books You’d Better Read.’

There’s something for everyone – books to delight, to thrill, to make you laugh and cry, to stimulate your mind, and to encourage you to sit back and relax. Whatever your plans this summer, be sure to spoil yourself and set aside some alone time with any (or all) of these titles. You won’t be disappointed.

Rachael Johns: Lost Without You

Rachael Johns writes with warmth and heart, her easy, fluent style revealing an emotional intelligence and firm embrace of the things in life that matter, like female friendships. Her latest book, the poignant story of four women and a wedding dress, involves a sentimental search into the past that ends up uncovering a life-changing secret.

Fiona McIntosh: The Pearl Thief

Fiona McIntosh’s thrilling page-turner transports readers from post-war Prague, to Paris and the Yorkshire Moors, as the beautiful Frenchwoman, Severine, tracks down an old enemy. Tense and atmospheric, like all good fiction it asks an important question: can love and hope ever overcome the poisonous legacy of war?

John Purcell: The Girl on the Page

The literary blockbuster that has everyone talking, and not only because it is an uncensored look at book publishing written by an insider. Addictive, smart, wickedly funny and dark, with musings on the nature of ambition and integrity, it’s also an unabashed tribute to great literature. Try putting it down.

Tea Cooper: The Woman in the Green Dress

The truth behind a young woman’s inheritance leads to an intriguing mystery that revolves around Australia’s first opal and a woman in a green dress. Fans of beautifully written historical fiction that resurrects time and place with grace and authenticity, will love this latest book from an author acclaimed for crafting enthralling, richly textured stories from little known chapters of Australian history. 

Christian White: The Nowhere Child

A taut, deliciously dark tale bristling with suspense and some genuine, jaw-dropping moments. A stranger investigating the disappearance of a young girl from Kentucky 28 years ago, believes an Australian teacher is that girl. Set against a frighteningly well painted backdrop of small-town life in the Bible Belt, there’s shock after shock in easily one of the year’s best mysteries.

Alice Nelson: The Children’s House

A beautiful, bitter-sweet novel about a chance encounter with a child that changes a woman’s life. Alongside its intimate, detailed depiction of family and the power of motherly love, its fearless exploration of the moral ambiguity of the west and the savagery of war and displacement is not easily forgotten. A big emotional experience.

Kristina Olsson: Shell

1960s Australia is a potent backdrop to two people meeting and falling in love in turbulent times. There’s protests against conscription and the heavy beat of rock and roll as the Opera House rises like a shining beacon in a cultural desert and passionate arguments divide a nation. An enthralling read that reminds us it’s more important than ever to take a stand – and to go raging into the night.

Shaun Micallef: The Uncollected Plays

Catch Australia’s comedy genius in full flight as he returns to his first love, with laugh-out-loud sketches and plays and a running commentary on his life as ‘a world-famous playwright’ which he says is the closest thing to a memoir he’ll ever write. You’ll laugh yourself silly and feel more cultured with this unique collection from Australia’s one-man Monty Python.