Fiona Palmer - Author

Fiona Palmer

Author of Rural Fiction including The Road Home (to be released in April 2012):

For Dad: Frank Coates ‘Softly Calls the Serengeti’ and Goldie Goldbloom’s The Paperbark Shoe because it’s set in the WA wheat belt.

For Mum: I’ve purchased two guide books on Italy, as she’s planning a trip in 2013.

I brought myself another Matthew Reilly Book, Ice Station and Fiona McCallum’s Nowhere Else, which my mum has already ‘borrowed’.

Kate Gordon - Author

Kate Gordon

Young Adult Author including Thyla

1. Black Painted Fingernails by Steven Herrick – I’ve been a Herrick fan for about 15 years, and this is his best to-date. A rare prose (rather than his usual free verse) novel, this is a simple road-trip story, beautifully written, with a lot of heart. Adored it.
2. Dangerously Placed by Nansi Kunze – A fabulous, funny, thrilling sci-fi YA novel, from one of this country’s most talented YA writers. About to be (deservingly) published overseas, this is a brilliantly quirky read that will have you in stitches and goosebumps the whole way through.
3. Angel Arias by Marianne de Pierres – A lushly dark, gothic, mind-bendingly original paranormal from the multi-talented Ms de Pierres. The sequel to the equally impressive Burn Bright, this novel is full of twists and turns and delicious darkness.
4. The Fix by Nick Earls – It’s always an event when my idol, Mr Earls, has a new book out, and his latest did not disappoint. Deviating slightly from his usual “bloke lit” oeuvre into something a bit more gritty and crime-caperish, The Fix will keep you guessing from start to finish. Love, love, loved it.
5. Only, Ever, Always by Penni Russon – a poem in prose form. This is a spellbindlingly dreamlike novel is part fantasy, part grief-soaked reality and every sentence is so beautifully crafted that it’s a work of art in its own right. Penni Russon is an incredible talent and this book is simply exquisite.

Gillian Mears - Author

Gillian Mears

Author of Foal’s Bread

1. The Biggest Estate on Earth: how Aborigines made Australia by Bill Gammage (Allen and Unwin, 2011) Anyone who has loved to walk the land and wondered what it would have been like two hundred and fifty years ago will be intrigued by this history.
2. The Wet Dark by Jess Huon (Giromondo, 2011) Stories so able to capture what it’s like to be young, be the setting Melbourne or overseas, that I was often reminded of a wild and mesmerizing dance.
3. So This is Life by Anne Manne (MUP, 2009) I always keep a few copies of this moving memoir on hand to give to friends who also hold horses dear to their heart. One of those books you can open anywhere at random and become instantly immersed.
4. Tangara by Nan Chauncy Although you have to hunt for it on websites devoted to second hand books, when in hospital earlier this year, this old favourite from my childhood stood the test of time. At whatever age that I read an old Chauncy novel I’m enraptured by how she describes the Tasmanian land she so loved. Surely there is something very healing too, holding an old hardcover edition with a charming dust-jacket? Irresistible for those who loved books before they became digital. First editions still available if you hunt hard.
5. Riding the Rough Road by Heyward Robertson (SID Harta Publishing, 2011) Yarns of yesteryear shot through with all the author’s humour and love of horses. When diagnosed with MS as a young man, it also becomes a tender portrait of a special mother-son love.

Sara Foster - Author

Sara Foster

Author of Beneath the Shadows

1. Afterward by Rosamund Lupton – I loved Sister and looking forward to seeing what Rosamund has done with book.
2. Animal People by Charlotte Wood – I really like the sound of this one, and I’m intrigued by the topic.
3. The Hypnotist’s Love Story by Liane Moriarty – I’m a big fan of Liane Moriarty and have read all her books except the new one.
4. 1Q84 – Haruki Murakami – I’m not sure whether I’ll like this one, but as I’ve just visited Japan I’ve been reading about Murakami, and now I’m keen to read his work.
5. Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth – Alice Walker – I love Alice Walker, and read these beautiful poems a while ago, but I don’t own a copy. I can’t wait to read them again.

My Christmas Book suggestions:

1. Angela Slatter – A book of horrors
2. Karen Joy Fowler - What I Didn’t See
3. Lisa Hanett - Bluegrass Symphony
4. Robert Shearman - Everybody’s Just So, So Special
5. Cathrynne M Valente - The Girl Circumnavigated Fairyland
6. Sara Douglass - The Hall of Lost Footsteps