What better way to spend those hot summer days than buried in a good book, imagination working overtime, learning things without even trying. Lucky for you, we’ve put together a top list of cool reads for summer.
“Be awesome! Be a book nut!”
― Dr. Seuss
The Tiny Star
By Mem Fox & Freya Blackwood
$24.99
This touching and timeless story combines, for the first time, the talents of world-renowned author Mem Fox with the heartwarming illustrations of Freya Blackwood. These two luminaries craft a truly unique and moving story about the journey of life, to be cherished and shared for generations to come.
Bluey: The Beach
By Bluey
$14.99
Join Bluey for a fun day at the beach. What will you discover along the way? While Mum is off for a walk along the beach, Bluey discovers a beautiful shell. She runs to show Mum and has a series of encounters that will both excite and test her in unexpected ways.
Bluey: Fruit Bat
By Bluey
$14.99
Join Bluey on a dreamy night-time adventure. What will you see in the dark? Not wanting to go to bed, Bluey wishes she was a nocturnal fruit bat that stays up all night. Soon she finds herself flying through the night sky.
A Banana is a Banana
By Justine Clarke, Josh Pyke & Heath McKenzie
$19.99
From household name Justine Clarke and musician extraordinaire Josh Pyke comes a laugh-out-loud picture book based on the song ‘A Banana is a Banana’. Paired with bright illustrations by award-winner Heath McKenzie this story champions the fun kids can have with words, rhymes and a bit of imagination.
“The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives.”
– roald dahl
The Besties Show and Smell
By Felice Arena & Tom Jellett – (pub 7 Jan)
$9.99
Oliver and Ruby have been besties forever . . . Ruby is so looking forward to Show and Tell, but the teacher is away and it looks like she’ll miss out. Plus, the besties won’t get to see what Zac’s talent is – it’s bound to be really funny and gross! Can they turn a very bad day into the very best?
The Besties to the Rescue
By Felice Arena & Tom Jellett – (pub 7 Jan)
$9.99
Oliver is trying to record Ruby’s awesome trampoline flips in slow-mo, but he captures something else too. Cutie Pie, the cat from next door, is pouncing on a bird’s nest! The baby bird is too young to fly. Will the besties be the best bird-parents ever?
Mermaid Holidays 4: The Reef Rescue
By Delphine Davis & Adele K. Thomas
$9.99
The mermaids are off on a summer camp adventure. Olivia can’t wait! She loves camping under the waves, eating sea cucumber sizzles and EXPLORING. But when the besties find themselves on the wrong side of the reef things start to go very, very wrong.
Clementine Rose and the Best News Yet
By Jacqueline Harvey
$14.99
Clementine Rose will soon have a new brother or sister – she can’t wait! But not everything is ready for the baby and no one seems to care as much as Clementine. Not to worry, she’s taken matters into her into her own hands.
“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
― C.S. Lewis
Diary of a Wimpy Kid 14: Wrecking Ball
By Jeff Kinney
$14.99
An unexpected inheritance gives the Heffley family a chance to make major improvements to their home. But they soon find that construction isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. When things get rough, will the Heffleys be able to stay…or will they be forced to move?
Secrets of a Schoolyard Millionaire
By Nat Amoore
$14.99
The hilarious story of one bag of cash, two best friends and a whole lot of trouble. Finding a million dollars in your backyard – every kid’s dream, right? That’s what me and my best friend Toby thought too. There’s a lot you can get with a million dollars . . . including a whole lot of trouble.
Atticus Van Tasticus
By Andrew Daddo & Stephen Michael King
$14.99
A ten-year-old pirate captain? Absurd? Not in the world of Atticus Van Tasticus, a fabulously funny new illustrated junior fiction series from the brilliant and wacky creative minds of Andrew Daddo and Stephen Michael King.
“All the secrets of the world are contained in books. Read at your own risk.”
Lemony Snicket
Go!
By Steve Worland
$16.99
Fifteen-year-old Jack has just discovered the one thing he loves, and is really good at: go kart racing. With the support of his mentor, Patrick, an old race-car driver with a dark past, and his best mates Colin and Mandy, Jack must learn to control his reckless streak. Only then will he be in with a chance to defeat the best drivers in Australia, including his ruthless rival Dean, and win the National title.
Ali Cross
By James Patterson – (pub 7 Jan)
$19.99
James Patterson’s blockbuster Alex Cross series has sold over 100 million copies, and now he’s bringing those thrills to a new generation! Alex’s son Ali is eager to follow in his father’s footsteps as a detective, but when his best friend goes missing, what price will he have to pay to solve the mystery?
Let it Snow
By John Green, Lauren Myracle and Maureen Johnson
$16.99
It’s Christmas Eve and the worst blizzard for fifty years has blanketed Gracetown. But as well as snowflakes, love is in the air – and appearing in the most unexpected ways . . .
Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister
By Jung Chang
$35.00
A major new biography from the internationally bestselling author of Wild Swans, Mao and Empress Dowager Cixi: a gripping story of sisterhood, revolution and betrayal, and three women who helped shape the course of modern Chinese history.
The Diamond Hunter
By Fiona McIntosh
$32.99
From the harsh desert of Africa’s Kimberley diamond mine to the misty, green plains of northern England, The Diamond Hunter is a breathtaking adventure story about trust and betrayal, the ultimate quest for truth, and a love that is truly priceless.
You’re Not Listening
By Kate Murphy – (pub 7 Jan)
$35.00
When was the last time you listened to someone, or someone really listened to you? This life-changing book will transform your conversations forever. When all we crave is to understand and be understood, You’re Not Listening shows us how.
Surviving Year 12
By Michael Carr-Gregg & Elly Robinson – (pub 7 Jan)
$22.99
In this all-new and completely revised edition of the bestselling Surviving Year 12, Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, Australia’s leading adolescent psychologist, gives advice to parents on how they can help their child cope with the pressure, work smarter and actually enjoy their final years of school.
Let It Go
By Peter Wals – (pub 7 Jan)
$24.99
In Let It Go, Walsh helps you turn downsizing into a rejuvenating life change. He offers useful tips and practical takeaways, including how to understand the emotional challenges that accompany downsizing, establishing a hierarchy of mementos and collectibles, calculating the amount of stuff you can bring into your new life, and creating strategies for dividing heirlooms among family members without drama.
Mix Tape
By Jane Sanderson – (pub 7 Jan)
$29.99
This is a love story to rival the very best. Caught up in the nostalgia for first love and the type of music that they don’t make any more, Mix Tape asks the biggest question of all: what if ‘what could have been’ is still to come?
“Sleep is good, he said, books are better.”
―
Tiny Habits
By BJ Fogg- (pub 7 Jan)
RRP $32.99
Tiny is mighty, at least when it comes to change. From the world’s leading expert on habit formation BJ Fogg, Tiny Habits introduces a simple, yet incredibly effective life-hack to help you pick the right habits and change the way you live your life. BJ’s method will help you create change by feeling good – not by feeling bad.
The Fine Cotton Fiasco
by Peter Hoysted and Pat Sheil
$34.99
It all started with a simple plan to secretly swap a mediocre horse with a faster one, and rake in the cash with a few well-placed bets. What could possibly go wrong? Peter Hoysted and Pat Sheil brilliantly tell the scarcely believable tale of how – through a combination of horrendous mismanagement, terrible judgement and comically bad luck – the scheme gradually unravelled.
The Secrets We Kept
By Lara Prescott
$32.99
A book really can change the world. At the height of the cold war, two secretaries are pulled out of the typing pool at the CIA and given the assignment of a lifetime: to smuggle Doctor Zhivago out of the USSR and help Boris Pasternak’s new novel make its way into print around the world.
Agent Running in the Field
By John le Carre
$32.99
Nat, a veteran of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, finds himself back on the field with one last job. Agent Running in the Field is a chilling portrait of our time, now heartbreaking, now darkly humorous, told to us with unflagging tension by the greatest chronicler of our age.
Island on the Edge of the World
By Deborah Rodriguez
$32.99
From the author of the international bestseller The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul, comes a captivating story set in the colourful but chaotic land of Haiti, as four very different women work together to find a lost child.
The Resilience Project
By Hugh van Cuylenburg
$34.99
While Hugh Van Cuylenburg was volunteering as a primary school teacher in northern India he was struck by how remarkably positive everyone in the community was, by contrast, back in Australia Hugh knew that all too many people found it hard to be happy. This experience inspired Hugh to found an organisation called The Resilience Project, he how speaks all over the country about gratitude, empathy and mindfulness and how we can all get the tools we need to live a happier and more fulfilling life. The Resilience Project is a heart-warming and inspiring story of a man who genuinely seeks to make difference and all the extraordinary people who have helped him along the way.
Star-Crossed
By Minnie Darke
$19.99
In this sparkling romantic comedy, a young journalist tampers with her magazine’s horoscopes to win her friend’s heart – and sets in motion an unpredictable and often hilarious ripple effect…
“I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book.”
― J.K. Rowling
Searching For and Maintaining Peace
By Jacques Philippe
$16.95
We live in a day and age characterised by an extraordinary amount of agitation and lack of peace. This tendency manifests itself in our spiritual as well as our secular life. In our search for God and holiness, in our service to our neighbour, a kind of restlessness and anxiety take the place of the confidence and peace which ought to be ours. What must we do to overcome the moments of fear and distress which assail us all too often in our lives? How can we learn to place all our confidence in God and abandon ourselves into his loving care? This is what is taught in this simple, yet profound little treatise on peace of heart. Taking concrete examples from our everyday life, the author invites us to respond in a Gospel fashion to the upsetting situations we must all confront. Since peace of heart is a pure gift of God, it is something we should seek, pursue and ask him for without cease. This book is here to help us in that pursuit.
Eight Doors of the Kingdom
By Jacques Philippe
$19.95
The Eight Doors of the Kingdom: Meditation on the Beatitudes.
The Gospel of St. Matthew Shares with us astonishing words of Jesus: a promise of everlasting happiness, far removed from the usual recipes for gratification.
Blessed are the poor in spirit! Blessed are those who mourn! Happy are the meek!… Fr. Jacques shares with us a profound clarity to the full scope of meaning behind Christ’s eight beatitudes, and in turn, outlines for us a way in which we can live them in our daily lives. We learn how each beatitude gives insight into how we can situate ourselves in an honest and fulfilling relationship with God, with oneself, and with others, and how to confront head-on the difficult realities of life.
The 5 Love Languages
By Gary Chapman
$29.95
Learning how to communicate love to your spouse in the way that they need to be loved. Dr. Gary Chapman identifies five basic languages of love and then guides couples towards a better understanding of their unique languages of love. Learn to speak and understand your mate’s love language, and in no time you will be able to effectively love and truly feel loved in return. Skillful communication is within your grasp! Dr. Gary Chapman is the director of Marriage and Family Life Consultants, Inc. Gary travels the world presenting seminars, and his radio programs airs on more than 100 stations.
Hail, Holy Queen
By Scott Hahn
$$29.95
Hahn demonstrates Mary’s essential role in Christianity’s redemptive message. He unveils the Marian mystery at the heart of the Book of Revelation and reveals how it is foretold in the very first pages of the Book of Genesis and in the story of King David’s monarchy.
Catholic Tales for Boys and Girls
By Caryll Houselander
$21.95
Caryll Houselander is best known for the intensity of her vision of the suffering Christ and His immeasurable love for us, a theme that she frequently spoke of with breathtaking luminosity in her many books about Him.
Few know, however, of the many remarkable stories she wrote for Catholic children — delightful tales that are simple but not shallow. Indeed, like her books for adults, they manifest a tender love of Christ and His little ones not commonly found among us these days.
Tweeting With God
By Fr Michel Remery
$33.95
If you are curious, you ask questions – even about difficult topics. Can Catholic teaching provide answers relevant to your life today? In this book you will find 200 daring questions from young people about God, faith, prayer and morality. Fr. Michel Remery thoughtfully answers them all in Tweets of 140 characters or less, and provides expanded explanations based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Bible.
Fr. Remery shows how faith is logical, even in the 21st century! He introduces you to Jesus, shows you how to pray, and explains the sacraments. He explores some of the more difficult chapters of Church history, and helps you to discover what it means to live a good and purposeful life.
The 21: A Journey into the Land of the Coptic Martyrs
By Martin Mosebach
$47.95
Behind a gruesome ISIS beheading video lies the untold story of the men in orange and the faith community that formed these unlikely modern-day saints and heroes. In a carefully choreographed propaganda video released in February 2015, ISIS militants behead twenty-one orange-clad Christian men on a Libyan beach. In the West, daily reports of new atrocities may have displaced the memory of this particularly vile event. But not in the world from which the murdered came. All but one were young Coptic Christian migrant workers from Egypt. Acclaimed literary writer Martin Mosebach travelled to the Egyptian village of El-Aour to meet their families and better understand the faith and culture that shaped such conviction.
The Power of Silence
By Robert Cardinal Sarah
$28.95
In a time when there is more and more noise, and technology and materialism continue to exert their hold on us, Cardinal Robert Sarah presents a bold book about the strength of silence. The world generates so much noise that seeking moments of silence only becomes more necessary. For Cardinal Sarah, modern man, in repressing the divine, finds himself in a deep dilemma, an oppressive and anguishing trial. The Cardinal recalls that life is a silent relationship between what is most intimate in man and God. Silence is indispensable for hearing the music of God: prayer arises from silence and returns to silence with ever greater depth.
“When we pray we speak to God; but when we read, God speaks to us.” – St. Jerome