There are some great new releases out this summer so take a step back, relax and dive deep into these stories.
The Four Legendary Kingdoms by Matthew Reilly
The hotly anticipated fourth installment of international bestselling author Matthew Reilly’s Jack West Jr series has all the twists and turns expected from a Reilly book.
The novel starts with Jack being kidnapped from his family farm and he awakes in an underground cell. He has been chosen, along with other elite soldiers, to compete in a series of deadly challenges designed to fulfill an ancient ritual.
With the fate of the Earth at stake, Jack will enter mazes, fight cruel assassins and face unimaginable horrors that will test him like he has never been tested before. He will discover the mysterious and powerful group of individuals behind it all: The Four Legendary Kingdoms.
Working Class Boy by Jimmy Barnes
Jimmy Barnes is a household name and an Australian rock icon. This summer readers can delve into the singer’s childhood in his new autobiography.
Long before Cold Chisel and 'Barnesy', long before the tall tales of success and excess, there was the true story of James Dixon Swan - a working class boy whose family made the journey from Scotland to Australia in search of a better life.
Working Class Boy is a powerful reflection on a traumatic and violent childhood, which fuelled the excess and recklessness that would define, but almost destroy, the rock'n'roll legend. This is the story of how James Swan became Jimmy Barnes. It is a memoir burning with the frustration and frenetic energy of teenage sex, drugs, violence and ambition for more than what you have.
Songs of a War Boy, My Story by Deng Thiak Adut
Deng Thiak Adut became the face of a successful Western Sydney University advertising campaign and now the South Sudanese refuge has told his story.
During the midst of a brutal civil war, Deng was conscripted into the Sudan People's Liberation Army. He began harsh, relentless military training that saw this young boy use an AK-47 and was sent into battle.
But Deng was rescued from war by his brother John. Hidden in the back of a truck, he was smuggled out of Sudan and into Kenya. Here he lived in refugee camps until he was befriended by an Australian couple. With their help and the support of the UN, Deng Adut came to Australia as a refugee.
He worked in a local service station and learnt English watching The Wiggles. He taught himself to read and started studying at TAFE. In 2005 he enrolled in a Bachelor of Law at Western Sydney University. He is now a lawyer working in western Sydney.
The Good People by Hannah Kent
Nóra Leahy has lost her daughter and her husband in the same year, and is now burdened with the care of her four-year-old grandson, Micheál. The boy cannot walk, or speak, and Nora, mistrustful of the tongues of gossips, has kept the child hidden from those who might see in his deformity evidence of otherworldly interference.
Unable to care for the child alone, Nóra hires a fourteen-year-old servant girl, Mary, who soon hears the whispers in the valley about the blasted creature causing grief to fall upon the widow's house.
Alone, hedged in by rumour, Mary and her mistress seek out the only person in the valley who might be able to help Micheál. For although her neighbours are wary of her, it is said that old Nance Roche has the knowledge. That she consorts with Them, the Good People. And that only she can return those whom they have taken.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling
You’ve seen the film now read the book.
When Magizoologist Newt Scamander arrives in New York, he intends his stay to be just a brief stopover. However, when his magical case is misplaced and some of Newt's fantastic beasts escape, it spells trouble for everyone.
Inspired by the original Hogwart's textbook by Newt Scamander, this book marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved and internationally bestselling Harry Potter books. A feat of imagination and featuring a cast of remarkable characters and magical creatures, this is epic adventure-packed storytelling at its very best.
Whether an existing fan or new to the wizarding world, this is a perfect addition to any reader's bookshelf.
The Chocolate Tin by Fiona McIntosh
Alexandra Frobisher is a modern-thinking woman with hopes of a career in England's famous chocolate-making town of York. She has received several proposals of marriage, although none of them promise that elusive extra - love.
Matthew Britten-Jones is a man of charm and strong social standing. He impresses Alex and her parents with his wit and intelligence, but would an amicable union be enough for a fulfilling life together?
At the end of the war, Captain Harry Blakeney discovers a dead soldier in a trench in France. In the man's possession is a secret love note, tucked inside a tin of chocolates that had been sent to the soldiers as a gift from the king. In pursuit of the author of this mysterious message, Harry travels to Rowntree's chocolate factory in England's north, where his life becomes inextricably bound with Alexandra and Matthew's.
Only together will they be able to unlock secrets of the past and offer each other the greatest gift for the future. From the battlefields of northern France to the medieval city of York, this is a heartbreaking tale about a triangle of love in all its forms and a story about the bittersweet taste of life.