Exciting New Releases This May!

May has come roaring down upon us with some of the biggest releases we’ve seen so far this year! There’s new work by homegrown storyteller Nikki Gemmell, crime miracle-worker Jeffrey Deaver, and the long-awaited, bone-crunching second novel from Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train. John Safran comes out swinging with his latest book Depends What You Mean By Extremist, and if you’re a fan of awesome Australian fiction, then look no further than this list for a range of debut voices and well-loved favourites.

Here are just some of our most-loved picks this month:

After by Nikki Gemmell: Nikki Gemmell’s memoir is already on the shelves at your local bookstore, and man, what a book. It tells the story of Nikki’s mother, exposing with unbridled honesty the tensions inherent to a complicated mother/daughter relationship. It is a love letter, a murder mystery, and a blazingly beautiful reminiscence all at once. Not to be missed by anyone.

The River Sings by Sandra Leigh Price: Beautiful, dazzling storytelling from a wonderful debut Australian voice. Birth and death, love and sadness, love knots and cut ties, quicksilver and shine, old worlds and new beginnings, Sandra Leigh Price weaves a gritty and beguiling story that will enchant and delight readers.

Walkaway by Cory Doctorow: In a world wrecked by climate change, in a society owned by the ultra-rich, in a city hollowed out by industrial flight, Hubert Etc, Seth, and Neville have nowhere else to be and nothing better to do. So, like thousands of others in the mid-21st century, the three of them turn their back on the world of rules, jobs, the morning commute and . . . walk away.

Beyond the Rock by Janelle McCullough: Beyond the Rock looks at not just the myth of Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsey but also the story behind it.

The Red Hunter by Lisa Unger: New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger is back with a buzzworthy new stand-alone thriller that asks: What is the difference between justice and revenge? Claudia Bishop’s perfect life fell apart when the aftermath of a brutal assault left her with a crumbling marriage, a newborn daughter, and a constant sense of anxiety about the world around her.

Jewel in the North by Tricia Stringer: The third instalment in the bestselling Flinders Ranges series, Jewel in the North is a novel of a longstanding feud of land and love, a family torn apart and a quest for the ultimate prize.

Silly Isles by Eric Campbell: From the bestselling author of Absurdistan comes a hilarious tour through small but very strange places. In more than a decade of international reporting, Eric Campbell has covered wars, famines, presidencies, and revolution. In the islands surveyed here he finds microcosms of society, complete with enduring blood feuds, hidden wars, and bizarre histories; all the vanities, hopes, and rivalries of great powers. Eric Campbell is the Bill Bryson of the small, odd, forgotten places around the world.

Based on a True Story by Delphine de Vigan: Translated from French, Delphine de Vigan’s novel Based on a True Story won the Prix Renaudot and Prix Goncourt Des Lyceens, and is a chilling novel of suspense that will leave you questioning the truth and its significance long after you have turned the final page.

Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig: Ginny Moon is a compulsively readable and touching novel about being an outsider trying to find a place to belong and making sense of a world that just doesn’t seem to add up.

The Hot Guy by Mel Campbell and Anthony Morris: Written by film critic duo Mel Campbell and Anthony Morris, and packed with movie-related humour, The Hot Guy is a funny, warm, savvy, and genuine romcom, with characters you won’t want to kick out of bed.

The Good Girl Stripped Bare by Tracey Spicer: Tracey Spicer was always the good girl. In this frank and funny femoir – part memoir, part manifesto – Tracey ‘sheconstructs’ the structural barriers facing women in the workplace and encourages us all to shake off the shackles of the good girl.

The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve: 1947. After a summer-long drought, fires are racing along the coast of Maine, ravaging two hundred thousand acres – the largest fire in the state’s history.

Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito: Quicksand is an incisive courtroom thriller and a drama that raises questions about the nature of love, the disastrous side effects of guilt, and the function of justice.

Stars Across the Ocean by Kimberley Freeman: The powerful new novel from Kimberley Freeman. A rich and satisfying story of two women with indomitable spirits and the high costs they have to pay for being strong-minded, from the author of the bestselling LIGHTHOUSE BAY and EMBER ISLAND.

The Lucky One by Caroline Overington: As three generations of the well-respected Alden-Stowe family come in for scrutiny, detectives will discover a twisted web of rivalries, alliances, deceit, and treachery. Set amidst the rolling hills of the California wine district, and featuring gold-digger wives, a frustrated housekeeper, a demented patriarch and forbidden love, police must decide: who has died? Who has survived? And who, amidst all this horror and betrayal, is the lucky one?

The Romance Reader’s Guide to Life by Sharon Pywell: A haunting, darkly funny and compelling tale of sisterhood that deftly weaves together shades of The Lovely Bones with a pirate romance, The Romance Reader’s Guide to Life proves that sometimes the guiltiest of pleasures contain some essential kernels of truth about life. And you should always be kind to dogs.

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins: From the bestselling author of The Girl on the Train comes this brand new thriller. Into The Water is an addictive novel of psychological suspense about the slipperiness of the truth, and a family drowning in secrets.

Depends What You Mean By Extremist by John Safran: Drinking shots with nationalists and gobbling falafel with radicals, John Safran was there the year the extreme became the mainstream.

Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami: Across seven tales, Haruki Murakami brings his powers of observation to bear on the lives of men who, in their own ways, find themselves alone. Here are vanishing cats and smoky bars, lonely hearts and mysterious women, baseball and the Beatles, woven together to tell stories that speak to us all. Marked by the same wry humor that has defined his entire body of work, in this collection Murakami has crafted another contemporary classic

The Boy on the Bridge by M. R. Carey: In The Boy On The Bridge, M. R. Carey returns to the world of The Girl With All The Gifts,the phenomenal word-of-mouth bestseller which is now a critically acclaimed film starring Sennia Nanua, Glenn Close, Gemma Arterton and Paddy Considine.

Keep your eye on the Better Reading Facebook page for reviews, recommendations, and even more new release titles!