Darren Groth. Hawkeye Publishing. $34.99.
Raised in Brisbane, Darren Groth became a Canadian citizen in 2012. Marooned is a memoir of rugby league State of Origin fandom and fatherhood deeply felt from the far side of the world. His story threads together five decades of all-consuming love for the Queensland Origin team and the ups and downs of life shared with his father and his son. Groth says he hopes his literary exploration of the fan's experience will bring rugby league followers the same joy as Nick Hornby's soccer novel Fever Pitch and Helen Garner's The Season brought him - books about sport that are not just about sport.
National Library of Australia. NLA Publishing. $36.99.
Jane Austen is fretting over buying lace. Her letter to her sister is a precious glimpse into the beloved novelist's voice and even references First Impressions, the manuscript initially rejected for publication that would later be known as Pride and Prejudice. This correspondence is one of the millions of letters held by the National Library of Australia and it features in this thoughtfully curated selection. While Austen's letter has nothing to do with Australia - it was acquired by bookseller Edward Petherick whose collection came to the NLA in 1909 - publisher Lauren Smith couldn't resist including it alongside letters by the likes of Senator Neville Bonner, Henry Lawson and Judith Wright.
Stan Grant. NewSouth Books. $26.99.
When Stan Grant walked away from journalism and the ABC in 2023 after four decades working in the media, he said he wanted to swap the toxic global news culture for something constructive: "I think we can all learn, including me, ... how to do this better". To follow Murriyang: Song of Time, his 2024 reflection on Australia after the Voice referendum, the former host of the ideological battleground that was TV's Q+A contemplates our struggle to listen and exchange ideas. The book initially grew out of a series of lectures he delivered in 2025, including the Simone Weil Lecture at The Australian Catholic University.
Hayden Panettiere. Headline. $34.99.
Hayden Panettiere, star of the superhero TV series Heroes, the country singer drama Nashville and the Scream horror slasher film franchise, says she is reclaiming her story with this candid memoir about the impact of stardom on her teenage years and early adulthood. "I'm an optimist to the core and refuse to be defined by my tragedies," the actor says. The so-called "lifequakes" that fractured the now-36-year-old's sense of self behind the scenes of her on-screen success include alleged sexual encounters with powerful Hollywood figures and the heartbreaking decision to give up custody of her daughter as she struggled with postpartum depression and alcoholism.
Victoria Brownlee. Affirm Press. $34.99.
From international food writer Victoria Brownlee comes a wickedly twisty and atmospheric thriller. Kat Hale is a bestselling Australian author who is crumbling under the pressure of writing her second novel. Deciding to flee to a writer's retreat in the South of France, she hopes two uninterrupted weeks will help her focus. But her trip quickly turns sinister. Acclaimed author Helen Thorpe, who is running the retreat, announces a new project that sounds uncannily similar to Kat's work. It turns out that this has happened before and the author Helen allegedly plagiarised disappeared without a trace. Will Kat reclaim her story?
Ilona Bannister. Juniper. $32.99.
On a train platform, five strangers unknowingly face a chilling countdown: one of them will die in five minutes. In this sharp-tongued narrative, the five main characters - a child, a mother, a businessman, an old woman and a gambler - draw you in with their stories as the clock ticks down. As the train approaches, you will - in your desperation to see who will survive and who will be lost - inevitably judge the lives of the five strangers. The choices, the fates and the innately human, flawed messiness of each is artfully wrapped up in this tense literary drama.
Bobuq Sayed. Ultimo Press. $34.99.
Born in Perth to Afghan refugee parents, Bobuq Sayed's provocative and seductive debut novel is an immigrant family saga - a story of thwarted love that paints a searing portrait of politics made personal. Two Afghan men are cast out of their respective countries of birth by circumstances beyond their control, only to collide in Istanbul, a city that will test their willingness to sacrifice everything for the ones they love. One dreams of becoming a drag queen. The other has learned not to dream bigger than his own survival. When riot police descend on the Istanbul Pride march, the pair are thrust into dangerous proximity.
Naomi Ishiguro. Atria Books. $34.99.
Inspired by Japanese folklore and Studio Ghibli, this is the first novel in an anime-inspired fantasy series set within a mythical archipelago brimming with dragons, sun spirits, high-tech hackers and bubble tea. Life is hard for the inhabitants of Rainshadow City, a place where poverty is rife and people are terrorised by an underground criminal organisation known as Lucky Crows. When a family seeks revenge for the murder of their beloved aunt, their thrilling path will determine the future of the city. Naomi Ishiguro, whose first novel was 2021's Common Ground, is the daughter of famed Japanese-British author Kazuo Ishiguro.
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