Six Irresistible New Releases to Wind Down with This Long Weekend

Six Irresistible New Releases to Wind Down with This Long Weekend

As we approach the Queen’s Birthday Weekend in most of Australia and it starts to get a little chilly outside, we’re looking forward to retreating indoors and hibernating with a great book. Here’s what the Better Reading team is excited to be reading this long weekend:

Todd: Palace of Tears by Julian Leatherdale

Why I’m excited: Palace of Tears is the promising debut novel from a local author with a theatre background.  It’s set in a grand hotel, the Hydro Majestic in the Blue Mountains, and it’s steeped in history, with some beautiful prose.

Jess: My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises by Fredrik Backman

Why I’m excited: I have a soft spot for stories about eccentric families, because I come from a mismatched pair of families who don’t always see eye to eye. My grandmothers also both looked after me a lot when growing up and, while not quite as eccentric as Elsa’s granny, they definitely had some quirks of their own!

Charlie Anderson’s General Theory of Lying by Richard McHugh (It is a long weekend and Jess is a fast reader)

Why I’m excited: I love homegrown Australian fiction (rural romances not so much!), and Richard McHugh is a friend of Cheryl’s so I’ve been hearing about this book for months. Apparently it’s fantastic!

Liz: Frog Music by Emma Donoghue

Why I’m excited: I had avoided Emma Donoghue’s bestseller Room for a long time. I had two very young children at the time and I simply couldn’t face the subject matter. When I finally did pick it up, I read it in one night – I literally couldn’t move until I’d read the last word. So I can’t wait to read Donoghue’s latest Frog Music and thankfully it’s entirely different from Room in subject matter. I’m going away camping for the long weekend – it will be freezing so I’m hoping to spend most of the time snuggling in the tent with this one.

Karen: The Sunlit Night by Rebecca Dinerstein

Why I’m excited: This sounds like such a beautiful, lyrical novel, and is partly set 95 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle in a Norwegian artists’ colony. Sounds perfect for a long weekend inside.

Cheryl: The Blue Between Sky and Water by Susan Abulhawa

Why I’m excited: Abulhawa is an American Palestinian and a human rights activist, and author of the moving Mornings in Jenin. She depicts the plight of the Palestinian refugees through tales of ordinary people and families over generations. I can’t wait to get my teeth into her second novel, though I suspect I’m going to find it heartbreaking.

Let us know what you’re excited to be reading on the long weekend…

See more June New Releases here

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