Cirrus@Austlit

An appassionata enemies-to-lovers Venetian romp by bestselling Italian-Australian author Jenna Lo Bianco.

'Venice's most desirable bachelorette, Lucia Trevisan, has just had the best kiss of her life. If only she knew with whom.

'After losing her parents in a tragic accident, and having her then eleven-year-old face splashed across every newspaper in Italy, Lucia will forever be known as l'Orfana. Years later, Lucia is a perpetual hot mess, hiding away from the outside world, running her parents' Italian language school.

'When the school's future is threatened, Lucia must come out of hiding and fight back - despite the many distractions, like a masquerade ball and an electrifying anonymous encounter.

'Between dates to uncover her mysterious kissing Casanova, the quest to save her beloved school, dodging paparazzi, and dealing with her infuriating - yet infuriatingly handsome - new neighbour, will Venice's most famous singleton sink or swim?'  (Publication summary)

'Virginia Trioli knows that the enduring joy of life is often found not in the big moments but in the small.

'When the main course is heavy going or unappetising, the 'bits on the side' make life really delicious. Our small, meaningful selections are the ones that make life glorious, and the side dish is the perfect metaphor for what many of us need right now.

'A Bit on the Side is Virginia's ode to joy, filled with wisdom, stories, memories and recipes, all told with her renowned insight and wicked sense of humour.

'This is a book to be read, treasured and shared with anyone who wants life served with a side of delight.'  (Publication summary)

'It is 1914, and the storm clouds of war are building on the horizon.

'In Sydney, Josiah Steele is the new head of the family and grappling with his two very different sons - David, upstanding, decent and heir to the family enterprises; and Benjamin, wayward, restless and a magnet for trouble. To give Ben some responsibility, Josiah sends him on a trade mission straight into the territory of their soon-to-be enemy.

'As war erupts across Europe, its repercussions are felt in the Pacific. Ben and David find themselves caught up in the first Australian action of World War I - the fight to take possession of German New Guinea.

'But that is only the start. The brothers will see desperate action across Egypt, Palestine, and the terrible killing fields of the Western Front, and the years of war, mud and bloody battlegrounds will forever change the Steele family ...'  (Publication summary)

'An offer comes out of the blue from an old family friend to borrow his magnificent 70 ft timber ketch. El Oro is a beautiful yacht, elegant and stately; built in the 1970's with ocean racing in mind. She's also heavy, complex and there's a lot to go wrong.

'This book is the story of an unexpected opportunity realised. It's also a tale of resilience, tenacity and fears confronted as the author and his wife almost bite off more than they can chew. Often short-handed they overcome multiple dramas and near disasters as they make their way down the east coast of America, to the Caribbean and then across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. Helped by a litany of friends, family and random people met along the way, they make a journey that turns out to be as rewarding as it is challenging.' (Publication summary) 

'The arrival of a hotshot New York composer brings a rare touch of glamour and excitement to the peaceful country town of Fig Tree River. For Leonie, Madison, Sarita and Chrissie, four women involved in the local musical theatre, it's a welcome distraction from the pressures of daily life.

'Then a lottery ticket, bought together on impulse, changes everything.

'The winnings, shared between the four friends, are all they ever hoped for ... and all they ever feared, bringing dreams, dilemmas and disaster.

'When their new lives start to fall apart, will the women have the strength to find the song inside their hearts once more?'  (Publication summary)

'An epic saga of brotherhood, betrayal and revenge.

'On the unforgiving streets of 1920s Sydney, the Leach family have nothing but each other.

'In a tale spanning decades, three children of the broken, working-class family find adventure, heartache and trouble, as their lives drift apart.

'John finds faith and love at a young age. The inevitable clash between the two leads him into a different kind of brotherhood as war clouds gather.

'Maureen dreams of a life 'just like the movies' and waits to be swept off her feet. Yet at every crossroad, she makes the wrong choice.

'Bob discovers a natural talent with his fists and an instinct for trouble. But with every win he earns the hard way, more enemies rise.

'From police corruption and gambling dens to brothels and blood feuds, the Leach family toil in Sydney's seedy underbelly and on battlefields far away. Against the backdrop of the Great Depression and the Second World War, The Youngest Son chronicles one family's mesmerising fate in a grand saga and a masterclass in epic storytelling.' (Publication summary)

'A gripping thriller by Australia's master of adventure about rescue, revenge and redemption, and the things we do to protect the ones we love. 

'Professor Denise 'Doc' Rado is South Africa's expert on pangolins, busting poachers and freeing the endangered anteaters in elaborate undercover stings. After a risky operation backfires, Doc's life is shattered, but she still has to lead an eclectic group of donors on a wildlife tour of southern Africa. But there's a target on her back. As the safari ventures deep into Africa, Doc fears they're being followed and she will do anything to keep them all safe - especially Ian Laidlaw, a handsome Australian businessman turned accidental philanthropist. Is Doc being hunted by the poachers she once fought, or is there some other bloodthirsty predator prowling the wilderness?' (Publication summary)

'A feisty, funny and poignant novel - about being 17; being Indigenous and navigating high school, cultural and personal expectations and responsibility - by proud Yidinji woman Steph Tisdell, writer, actor and one of the brightest stars of Australian comedy.

'Layla is in her final year of school. It's the last year to make sure that the next major phase of her life begins correctly because she's got big plans.

'All Layla wants to do is fit in and be a normal teenager but when her troubled cousin Marley comes to stay, he unwittingly challenges everything she thought she was. Plus she's trying to work out what it means to be Indigenous, she's falling in love and her best friend Amy has a new best friend.

'Steph Tisdell's words sparkle with humour, depth and authenticity in this extraordinary debut novel which explores cultural and personal expectations, and responsibilities.' (Publication summary)

'Why would my best friend want to destroy my life? Finn and her best friend, Daphne, have grown up together in the Blue Mountains, NSW. Bonded by both having lost a younger sister to suicide, they've always had a close - sometimes too close - friendship.

'Now in their twenties, their lives have finally started to diverge: Daphne is at university and Finn is working in the Mountains, as well as falling in love with a beautiful newcomer called Magdu. Unused to sharing Finn, Daphne starts to act up in ways that will allow her to maintain the control over her best friend she's always relished.

'Then, one fateful day, Finn, Daphne and Magdu all go mountain climbing - and Magdu falls to her death. Is it suicide, or a terrible accident - or has something more sinister happened?

'Bold, dramatic and utterly compelling, Girl Falling forces us to confront the stories we tell ourselves about the people we love. Displaying all of Hayley Scrivenor's razor-sharp skills for character, landscape and narrative, this is a breathtaking read.' (Publication summary)

'Zee is a loner. She likes to read Oscar Wilde and watch documentaries all day which, according to her parents, is not normal for 13 year olds. So they decide to send her on a five-day holiday camp, hoping she'll make 'at least one friend'.

'But Zee would rather take a bath in Tabasco sauce than attend a camp called Youth Fusion. Especially when the fearsome camp leader, Madam Augustus, declares a bonding game called 'Murder in the Dark'.

'With influencer Tiffanee and super-nerds Jonah and Moses, Zee soon finds herself in the middle of a hair-raising mystery, hurling her into some fierce detective work and bringing her face to face with the notorious Old Bat Viv.' (Publication summary)

'There's a madman dog beside me, and the hounds of memory ahead of us. It's love and beasts and wild mistakes, and regret, but never to change things...

'What happens when the Zusaks open their family home to three big, wild, pound-hardened dogs - Reuben, a wolf at your door with a hacksaw; Archer, blond, beautiful, deadly; and the rancorously smiling Frosty, who walks like a rolling thunderstorm?

'The answer can only be chaos: there are street fights, park fights, public shamings, property trashing, bodily injuries, stomach pumping, purest comedy, shocking tragedy, and carnage that needs to be seen to be believed ... not to mention the odd police visit at some ungodly hour of the morning.

'There is a reckoning of shortcomings and failure, a strengthening of will, but most important of all, an explosion of love - and the joy and recognition of family.

'From one of the world's great storytellers comes a tender, motley and exquisitely written memoir about the human need for both connection and disorder; but it's also a love letter to the animals who bring hilarity and beauty - but also the visceral truth of the natural world - straight to our doors and into our lives, and change us forever.' (Publication summary)

'Jack Dunne will do anything to save his son.

'A violent civil war. An unstoppable enemy. One road to freedom.

'In the wake of a global conflict, foreign forces occupy part of Australia, quashing all but a few pockets of local resistance. The tense stalemate ends in 2034, when Jack Dunne reignites the war.

'Dunne is an Outrider, one of the last elite special operations soldiers in the Resistance. As the enemy prepare to eliminate the freedom fighters once and for all, he is tasked with his final mission.

'If Dunne and his eleven-year-old son achieve the impossible, and survive, they'll secure their future across the border in Free Australia.

'But the road to victory will be bloody.' (Publication summary)

'After three years away, seventeen-year-old Brodie McKellon has returned to live with her eccentric grandmother above the last remaining Dead Letter Office - the place letters go when no one is left to claim them.

'But with her reputation as a troublemaker, things don't stay quiet for long, and Brodie soon reunites with her childhood best friend, Elliot, and her old sidekick-turned-nemesis, Levi, to investigate an unsolved mystery: the unclaimed letters of a group of friends who seemed to vanish without a trace nearly twenty years ago.

'As Brodie, Elliot and Levi are drawn into the riddle of the dead letter writers, they discover that the past is never truly past, and that old troubles sometimes resurface, with unexpected consequences.' (Publication summary)

'If you knew when you were going to die, what would you do differently?

'It all begins on a flight from Hobart to Sydney. The flight will be smooth. It will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off the plane.

'But almost all of them will be changed forever.

'Because on this ordinary flight, something extraordinary happens. 'A lady', unremarkable until she isn't, predicts how and when many of the passengers are going to die. For some, death is far in the future; for others, it is very close.

'A brilliantly constructed story that looks at free will and destiny, grief and love, and the endless struggle to maintain certainty and control in an uncertain world. Liane Moriarty is a modern-day Jane Austen who humorously skewers social mores while spinning a web of mystery and asking profound, universal questions.' (Publication summary)

'Moving from Melbourne to Rome was meant to fix Stella Chiaro's life - and it did, for a while. But destiny has other plans.

'With a one-way ticket home, artist Stella is running out of time and money. She is desperate to find stable work in the art world to keep afloat, or she will have to leave her beloved Eternal City behind. The last thing she needs right now is distractions . . .

'The arrival of the full moon brings both the sweet owner of the new local bar and a handsome new flatmate. The promise of a new job and new love suddenly beckon Stella, but she quickly finds herself repeating patterns she once vowed not to.

'In a journey stretching to enchanting Florence and across the ancient cobblestones of Rome, Stella must free herself from the mess she's in. But is it too late? Will it be arrivederci to 'Rome Sweet Home'?'' (Publication summary)

'The funniest, most thrills and spills new adventure series from the author of the bestselling, sales-smashing Treehouse series, Andy Griffiths.

'Remember when we went looking for my lost lucky rabbit's foot and we ended up getting lost ourselves in the Land of Lost Things? What? You don't remember? But that was one of our most exciting-and confusing-adventures ever! Let me remind you how it all happened . . .' (Publication summary)

'Elly and Enzo love each other.
Elly and Enzo are getting divorced.
Now, everything must go.

'When Enzo suddenly walks out on Elly after ten years together, she finds herself marooned in an expensive East London flat, surrounded by all their belongings. She is shell-shocked. Inconsolable. She can't bear to look at the objects that she and Enzo collected together, those innocuous items that define the key moments of every relationship.

'Now she's listing it all on Marketplace: the table they found in Italy. The bike he bought for her birthday. Records, luggage, a vintage velvet couch. Anything that tells a story she'd rather forget. Elly thinks that selling these items to total strangers will help her move on from Enzo and heal her devastated heart. But she's about to get a lot more than she bargained for.

'All the Beautiful Things You Love is a vivid and vibrant exploration of the things that bring us together and tear us apart, and those keepsakes that populate the wide-open spaces between where love ends and starts again.' (Publication summary)