We thought we would venture a little off topic and share a selection of favourite reads this year, so whether you are heading on your honeymoon and have some flying time to fill in; or just need an excuse for an escape from wedding planning. They are an eclectic mix of novels with two extraordinary short story collections. Happy story time!

MOUTHFUL OF BIRDS

Samanta Schweblin | Oneworld Publications 

A collection of extraordinary short tales which has an unsettling style: in the title story, it explores a couple’s reaction to their daughter’s new predicament, while in “Heads Against Concrete,” she delves into the life and plight of an artist who draws inspiration from violence. The stories are at once fantastically out there and real to the point of being haunting, exploring familiar subjects of family and motherhood in strange, gripping ways.

BOY SWALLOWS UNIVERSE

Trent Dalton | HarperCollins 

Winner of a record four Australian Book Industry Awards in 2019, including the prestigious Book of the Year Award. This best selling novel has taken Australia, and the world, by storm. Boy Swallows Universe is a story of brotherhood, true love and the most unlikely of friendships. It will be the most heartbreaking, joyous and exhilarating novel you will read all year - to become an Australian classic.

You Know You Want This: Cat Person and Other Stories

Kristen Roupenian | Scout Press 

Spanning a range of genres and topics the stories are wonderfully varied in execution, from realist to surreal, staying fresh while circling one primary concern: how men and women relate to one another, and how often that relationship can go wrong. If you think you know what this collection will be like, think  again. These stories are sharp and perverse, dark and bizarre, unrelenting and utterly bananas yet so unpretentious and accessible that we think they must be true.

The Rip Curl Story

Tim Baker | Penguin Random House 

Fifty years ago, two young surfers reckoned they could make a living doing what they loved. Making surfboards and wetsuits, sure, but also expanding into snowboarding, skiing and windsurfing. As a former editor of Tracks and Surfing Life magazines, Baker is in the zone and this history of one of surfing’s most iconic brands is right there with him. 

Black Leopard, Red Wolf

Marlon James / Michael Joseph 

This is Marlon James’s first outing since his Jamaican gangster epic, A Brief History of Seven Killings, won the 2015 Man Booker Prize. Set in an imaginary world seething with black magic, intrigue and grotesque creatures, this is both an exciting adventure and an exploration of the shifting nature of truth and power.

The Kinship of Secrets

Eugenia Kim / Bloomsbury 

Mr and Mrs Cho pack up their daughter Miran and emigrate from South Korea to try their luck in America, leaving behind Miran’s sister, Inja. It’s meant to be a brief separation but the outbreak of the Korean War makes returning home impossible. In this moving work based on a true story, Eugenia Kim examines the tenacity of hope and barbarity of war through the sisters’ eyes.