Lifestyle
Book Club: 10 hot new reads for winter
Bestselling author Allison Tait shares 10 new books to keep you warm when it’s cold outside.
By Allison Tait
It’s reading weather, which means it’s time to stock up the To Be Read pile to ensure there’s always a book to hand – or perhaps to join a challenge like the Public Libraries Victoria ‘Warm Winter Read’ initiative.
As those very good library people state:
“A research review conducted by Australia Reads outlines the significant benefits of reading for pleasure, which include reducing depression and dementia, and increasing empathy, self-esteem and awareness of other cultures.” (You can read more about the benefits of reading for mental health here.)
Of course, finding your next book is half the battle, so Citro has done the job for you with 10 books to read right now.
Highway 13 by Fiona McFarlane
After winning the 2025 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction, the 2025 NSW Literary Awards Christina Stead Prize for Fiction and the 2025 Story Prize, McFarlane’s provocative collection of overlapping stories was recently shortlisted for the 2025 Miles Franklin Award. An exploration of the impact of a serial killer’s crimes in the lives of everyday people, Highway 13 takes murder as its starting point and goes on to interrogate the aftermath of violence across time and pace.
Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Legions of fans have already driven the new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid (TJR) to the top of the bestseller lists. Set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle program, the book follows astrophysics professor Joan Goodwin into training to be an astronaut at Houston’s Johnson Space Center and then, in December 1984, on mission STS-LR9. TJR is known for her ‘big (US) summer reads’ and this one is perfect for whiling away a rainy day as well.
Always Home, Always Homesick: A Memoir by Hannah Kent
In 2003, 17-year-old Australian exchange student Hannah Kent arrived at Keflavik Airport in the middle of Iceland. In the year that followed, she would discover the story that would later inspire the novel Burial Rites and change her life. At once an ode to the beauty of Iceland (and Kent’s experiences there) and an insight into the research, writing and promotion of Burial Rites, Always Home, Always Homesick is a must for fans and anyone interested in the writing process.
The Names by Florence Knapp
If ever a book enjoyed that mystical tick of approval known as ‘word of mouth’, it’s this debut novel. It begins in 1987 when Cora sets out with her nine-year-old daughter , Maia, to register the name of her newborn son. Her manipulative, cruel husband expects her to call the baby Gordon, after him. Cora wants to call him Julian, to give him his own name to grow into. Maia, when asked by Cora what she would name her brother, would choose Bear. And here, the narrative divides, following different lines for each of the different names, and picking up every seven years of his life. Can a name change the course of a life?
The River: A Journey Through The Murray-Darling Basin by Chris Hammer
In this updated edition of a bestselling classic, award-winning author Chris Hammer takes a journey through Australia’s largest river system, during the crippling millennium drought. As he meets the people of the riverland communities, he reveals the true impact of our rivers’ decline on those who live along its shores – and on the country as a whole.
The White Crow by Michael Robotham
The second Robotham novel to feature PC Philomena McCarty, The White Crow picks up the story of this ambitious young London police officer who defied the odds to join the police force as she comes from a family of notorious East End gangsters. Robotham says ‘I fell in love with Phil and, in particular with her father and uncles, who were old school crims… I realised that [she] and her family deserved more than one novel.’ Tapping into the ‘endless possibilities for conflict, moral dilemmas and torn loyalties, The White Crow sees Phil investigating two linked crimes, with all of the evidence pointing to her father as the mastermind.
The Passengers On The Hankyu Line by Hiro Arikawa
(translated by Allison Markin Powell)
Fans of cosy Japanese fiction (aka ‘healing fiction’), prepare to step aboard the Hankyu line, a burgundy-coloured electric train that has been carrying commuters through the scenic countryside of Kyoto and Osaka. In a beautiful hardback edition, the author of the bestselling Travelling Cat Chronicles takes us into the stories of 5 commuters over the course of a single journey in springtime and the return journey 6 months later.
The Cardinal: The Secret Life of Thomas Wolsey by Alison Weir
The infamous Thomas Wolsey rose from his beginnings as the son of a Suffolk tradesman to a chaplain for King Henry VII and then King Henry VII all the way to Cardinal. This novel offers a sweeping portrayal of the saga of Wolsey’s rise – and fall – richly woven through with historical detail.
Eden by Mark Brandi
Hot off the press from the bestselling author of Wimmera comes a gripping story set in Melbourne. Tom Blackburn discovered that cities are tough when you’ve grown up as a country kid – and they’re even tougher after 9 years inside. When he receives the offer of a place to stay, to save some money and make some plans, Tom thinks she’s found a way to stay out of trouble. But trouble finds him…
The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb
Nine years after his last novel, bestselling author Wally Lamb is back. The River is Waiting begins with a devastating scene as a troubled but devoted stay-at-home dad buckles one of his twin toddlers into the car while the other studies ants in their driveway. What follows is horrific and the novel is set almost entirely in a prison after the dad, Corby, is convicted of involuntary manslaughter. An Oprah’s Book Club pick.
Allison Tait is a bestselling author, dedicated reader and co-founder of the Your Own Next Read and Your Kids Next Read Facebook groups. Find her on Instagram.
All book images sourced from Amazon, used with permission. Citro may receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using the links in this article.
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