The Sharpe Report – 19 September 2025

• Tabor College is running a workshop on Tuesday the 30th of September about Writing and Publishing Reviews, hosted by Dr Aidan Coleman. This is perfect for new and experienced who would like some hands on guidance on the art of reviewing books. You are able to attend in person and online via Zoom.
• Words on the Waves have announced Words at Pearls which is a one day literary festival hosted in Pearl Beach NSW on Saturday 15 November. The theme this year is ‘Wandering Wild’ and features for author sessions that will be hosted at Umina Beach Book Nook for signings after each event. You can read more information on their website.
• The book review website Novel Insight has launched a new prize called Reviewer’s Choice Awards. The award will highlight Australian authors who have been reviewed within the first 12 months of their release. For the first year, publication dates must fall between 1^st September 2024 and 31^st August 2025. You can read more information here.
• Oz Asia Festival’s program for Weekend of Words has been released. The program runs 7-9 November in Adelaide and includes free events featuring Asian and Asian Australian authors. For the full line-up visit their website.
• The Sunshine Coast Fiction Festival has announced their program for the event in Bokarina 7-9 November. There are book singings and author talks and you can read more here.
• ABC National Radio is running a month-long poll to gather insight and a list on the top 100 books of the 21^st century. You can vote and find out more information on their website.
• The Danger Award winners for 2025 have been announced.

Debut Crime Fiction: A Town Called Treachery / Mitch Jennings

Crime Fiction: Bone Lands / Pip Fioretti

Crime Nonfiction: Black Witness / Amy McQuire

Libby App People’s Choice: Girl Falling / Hayley Scrivenor 

• Queenscliffe Literary Festival has announced their program for 2025. The theme for this year is Rising Tides and will run 17-26 October 2025. You can see the full program here.
• The publisher of Encyclopaedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster dictionary is suing AI company Perplexity for copying content without permission to power the ‘answer engine’ on the platform.

Books In the Media

National

• As If I’m Really There / Emilie Collyer (Poetry)
• Gather Up Your World in One Long Breath / S Shakthidharan (Biography)
• Honeyeater / Kathleen Jennings (Fiction)
• Fierceland / Omar Musa (Fiction)

ACT

• The Butterfly Thief / Walter Marsh (Memoir)
• A Catalogue of Love / Erin Hortle (Fiction)
• Clown Town / Mick Herron (Fiction)
• Dear Broccoli / Jo Dabrowski (Children’s Book)
• Role Model / Samantha Harris and Myrna Davison (Memoir)
• The Rookie Gardener / Chloe Foster (Lifestyle)

NSW

• All the Way to the River / Elizabeth Gilbert (Memoir)
• Apron-Sorrow/ Sovereign-Tea / Natalie Harkin (History)
• Black River / Ruby Jean Cottle (Fiction)
• Buckeye / Patrick Ryan (Fiction)
• The Book of Sheen / Charlie Sheen (Memoir)
• Cannon / Lee Lai (Graphic Novel)
• Eleanor Jones Is Playing with Fire / Amy Doak (Children’s Fiction)
• Fireweather / Miranda Darling (Fiction)
• Hot Wax / ML Rio (Fiction)
• I Am a Cat / Natsume Sōseki (Fiction)
• Love’s Labour / Stephen Grosz (Self-help)
• Slashed Beauties / A Rushby (Fiction)
• Swellbeing / Blake Johnston (Memoir)
• Why Do Birds Sing? / Grainne Cleary (Non-Fiction)

QLD

• All the Bright Places / Jennifer Niven (Young Adult Fiction)
• Everything’s Absolutely Fine / Jodie Benveniste (Young Adult Fiction)
• Heartstopper / Alice Oseman (Young Adult Graphic Novel)
• Never, Not Ever / Jodie Benveniste (Young Adult Fiction)
• The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling / Wai Chim (Children’s Fiction)
• Turtles All the Way Down / John Green (Young Adult Fiction)
• The Unexpected Journey / Emma Heming Willis (Lifestyle)

SA

• All the Bright Places / Jennifer Niven (Young Adult Fiction)
• Everything’s Absolutely Fine / Jodie Benveniste (Young Adult Fiction)
• Heartstopper / Alice Oseman (Young Adult Graphic Novel)
• Never, Not Ever / Jodie Benveniste (Young Adult Fiction)
• The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling / Wai Chim (Children’s Fiction)
• Turtles All the Way Down / John Green (Young Adult Fiction)
• The Unexpected Journey / Emma Heming Willis (Lifestyle)

TAS

• All the Way to the River / Elizabeth Gilbert (Memoir)
• Ghost Cities / Siang Lu (Fiction)
• Heart Lamp / Banu Mushtaq (Fiction)
• A Slowly Dying Cause / Elizabeth George (Fiction)
• Sins of the Father / John Byrnes (Fiction)
• Twelve Golden Gifts / Spiri Tsintziras (Lifestyle)

VIC

• All the Bright Places / Jennifer Niven (Young Adult Fiction)
• All the Way to the River / Elizabeth Gilbert (Memoir)
• Apron-Sorrow/ Sovereign-Tea / Natalie Harkin (History)
• Black River / Ruby Jean Cottle (Fiction)
• Buckeye / Patrick Ryan (Fiction)
• The Book of Sheen / Charlie Sheen (Memoir)
• Cannon / Lee Lai (Graphic Novel)
• Eleanor Jones Is Playing with Fire / Amy Doak (Children’s Fiction)
• Everything’s Absolutely Fine / Jodie Benveniste (Young Adult Fiction)
• Fireweather / Miranda Darling (Fiction)
• Heartstopper / Alice Oseman (Young Adult Graphic Novel)
• Hot Wax / ML Rio (Fiction)
• I Am a Cat / Natsume Sōseki (Fiction)
• Love’s Labour / Stephen Grosz (Self-Help)
• Never, Not Ever / Jodie Benveniste (Young Adult Fiction)
• The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling / Wai Chim (Children’s Fiction)
• Turtles All the Way Down / John Green (Young Adult Fiction)
• The Unexpected Journey / Emma Heming Willis (Lifestyle)
• Slashed Beauties / A Rushby (Fiction)
• Swellbeing / Blake Johnston (Memoir)
• Why Do Birds Sing? / Grainne Cleary (Non-Fiction)

Information gathered from Books+Publishing