The Sharpe Report – 22 August 2025

• Two of Australia’s libraries have been named in the ten most beautiful libraries of the world. Our very own State Library of South Australia has received second place! And in seventh place is the State Library of Victoria.
• The Papercuts Comic Festival in Adelaide running 12-14 September has announced it’s program. To view the program, see here: https://www.papercutscomicsfestival.com/
• The Ned Kelly Awards shortlist for 2025 has been announced.
  • The Assassination of Neville Wran, Broken Heart: A True History of the Voice Referendum, The Chairman’s Lounge, Let’s Tax Carbon, Losing It, Mean Streak, The Men Who Killed The News, Näku Dhäruk: The Bark Petition, Nuked, Politics, Pride and Perversion
• A large book influencer has admitted to pirating books and even tagged the publisher in the video. They couldn’t understand why they got a lot of backlash from this!
• An indie author has told their followings that their publishing timeline has been extended because the editor that they hired decided to use ChatGPT to edit their book!
• The Ned Kelly Awards shortlist for 2025 has been announced.
  • Best Crime Fiction: 17 Years Later, Cold Truth, The Creeper, Highway 13, Sanctuary, Shadow City, Storm Child, Unbury The Dead
  • Best True Crime Writing: The Kingpin and the Crooked Cop, The Lasting Harm, Meadow’s Law, They’ll Never Hold Me, A Thousand Miles From Care
  • Best Interntational Crime Fiction: A Case of Matricide, Home Truths, Leave the Girls Behind, Moscow X, Return To Blood, The Waiting

Books in the Media this weekend

National

• Looking For Elizabeth / Helen Trinca (Biography)
• The Slip / Miriam Webster (Fiction)
• The Visitor / Rebecca Standford (Fiction)
• Arborescense / Rhett Davis (Fiction)

ACT

• Bomb Season in Jakarta / Grant Dooley (Memoir)
• The Golden Sister / Suzanne Do (Fiction)
• Hailstones Fell Without Rain / Natalia Figueroa Barroso (Fiction)
• Lessons in Love at the Seaside Salon / Sophie Green (Fiction)
• Oceanforged: The Wicked Ship / Amelia Mellow (Children’s)
• Torn / Nicole Madigan (Memoir)
• Unmasking the Killer of the Missing Beaumont Children / Stuart Mullins and Bill Hayes (True Crime)
• You Went to Emergency for What? / Tim Booth (Memoir)

NSW

• Blamey / Brent D Taylor (Autobiography)
• Eva Reddy’s Trip of a Lifetime / Fiona McKenzie Kekic (Fiction)
• The Far Side of the Moon / Jana Wendt (Fiction)
• King Tide / Luke Johnson (Fiction)
• Land of Hope / Cate Baum (Fiction)
• The Last Tour / Ann Curthoys (Biography)
• Lost Animals, Disappearing Worlds: Stories of Extinction / Barbara Allen (Nature)
• Fleeced / Trish FitzSimons and Madelyn Shaw (Business History)
• Stillwater / Tanya Scott (Fiction)
• Sins of the Filthy Rich / Peter Coleman (Social Science)
• Survival in Singapore / Tom Trumble (Autobiography)
• Yilkari: A desert suite / Nicholas Rothwell and Alison Nampitjinpa Anderson (Fiction)
• You Went to Emergency for What? / Tim Booth (Memoir)

QLD

• No Secrets / Graham Bidstrup (Memoir)
• Torn / Nicole Madigan (Memoir)

SA

• No Secrets / Graham Bidstrup (Memoir)
• Torn / Nicole Madigan (Memoir)

TAS

• A Beautiful Family / Jennifer Trevelyan (Fiction)
• The Farm / Jessica Mansour-Nahra (Fiction)
• The Far Side of the Moon / Jana Wendt (Fiction)
• It Should Have Been You / Andrea Mara (Fiction)

VIC

• Blamey / Brent D Taylor (Autobiography)
• Eva Reddy’s Trip of a Lifetime / Fiona McKenzie Kekic (Fiction)
• The Far Side of the Moon / Jana Wendt (Fiction)
• King Tide / Luke Johnson (Fiction)
• Land of Hope / Cate Baum (Fiction)
• The Last Tour / Ann Curthoys (Biography)
• Lost Animals, Disappearing Worlds: Stories of Extinction / Barbara Allen (Nature)
• Fleeced / Trish FitzSimons and Madelyn Shaw (Business History)
• No Secrets / Graham Bidstrup (Memoir)
• Stillwater / Tanya Scott (Fiction)
• Sins of the Filthy Rich / Peter Coleman (Social Science)
• Survival in Singapore / Tom Trumble (Autobiography)
• Torn / Nicole Madigan (Memoir)
• Yilkari: A desert suite / Nicholas Rothwell and Alison Nampitjinpa Anderson (Fiction)
• You Went to Emergency for What? / Tim Booth (Memoir)
• No Secrets / Graham Bidstrup (Memoir)

Information gathered from own research as well as Books+Publishing, X, Publishers Weekly, Lady Whistlethreads