Suggested Readings 2021
Here's our recommended reading lists
Non fiction
By on
Below we have a fabulous selection of pre-recorded author readings. If you’re keen for some personal insights from an author, then you’re going to love scrolling through this section.
There’s a link to view them sharing a special part of their book with us on the WestWords YouTube channel as well as a link to purchase the book online.
A great taster if you’re not sure what book you’d like to dive into next!
Back on Track by James Knight (YouTube)
Written by bestselling author James Knight, BACK ON TRACK is a thought-provoking and heart-warming story of how one man (and his working dogs) is giving rural kids, on their last chance, a second chance.
The Details by Tegan Bennett Daylight (YouTube)
In this deeply insightful and intimate work, Daylight describes how her reading has nourished her life, and how life has informed her reading. In both, she shows us that it’s the small points of connection – the details – that really matter.
Coming of Age in the War on Terror by Randa Abdel-Fattah (YouTube)
Award-winning writer Randa Abdel-Fattah interrogates the impact of all this on young people's political consciousness and their trust towards adults and the societies they live in. Drawing on local interviews but global in scope, this book is the first to examine the lives of a generation for whom the rise of the far-right and the growing polarisation of politics seem normal.
Australia's Sweetheart by Michael Adams (YouTube)
AUSTRALIA'S SWEETHEART in the never-before-told story of Mary Maguire, Australia's first teenage movie star who captivated Hollywood in the mid 1930s.
The Beach Caves by Trevor Shearston (YouTube)
An archaeological thriller set on a dig in Southern NSW. THE BEACH CAVES is a powerful story about jealousy, guilt, the choices we make, and the different paths our lives could have taken.
Traumata by Meera Atkinson (YouTube)
TRAUMATA explores the ways trauma reverberates over a lifetime, unearthing the traumatic roots of our social structures and our collective history.
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Short stories & poems
By on
Below we have a fabulous selection of pre-recorded author readings. If you’re keen for some personal insights from an author, then you’re going to love scrolling through this section.
There’s a link to view them sharing a special part of their book with us on the WestWords YouTube channel as well as a link to purchase the book online.
A great taster if you’re not sure what book you’d like to dive into next!
Short story - fellow
Spellbinding by Claire Cao (YouTube)
Included in the collection COLLISIONS - FICTIONS OF THE FUTURE
Rephlexa Book 1 by Erin A. Sayers (YouTube)
Poem - fellow
Moulting of the Mayfly by Aishah Ali (YouTube)
Memoir
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Below we have a fabulous selection of pre-recorded author readings. If you’re keen for some personal insights from an author, then you’re going to love scrolling through this section.
There’s a link to view them sharing a special part of their book with us on the WestWords YouTube channel as well as a link to purchase the book online.
A great taster if you’re not sure what book you’d like to dive into next!
The Grass Library by David Brooks (YouTube)
The GRASS LIBRARY is a philosophical and poetic journey that recounts the author’s relationship with his four sheep and other animals in his home in the Blue Mountains. It is both a memoir and an elegy for animal rights.
On Drugs by Chris Fleming (YouTube)
An open-hearted exploration of...
Fiction
By on
Below we have a fabulous selection of pre-recorded author readings. If you’re keen for some personal insights from an author, then you’re going to love scrolling through this section.
There’s a link to view them sharing a special part of their book with us on the WestWords YouTube channel as well as a link to purchase the book online.
A great taster if you’re not sure what book you’d like to dive into next!
No More Boats by Felicity Castagna (YouTube)
Set in Sydney’s Western suburbs, NO MORE BOATS tells of a family whose unraveling lives collide with a refugee crisis known as the Tampa Affair, when over 400 hundred refugees were left stranded fifteen miles off the Australian coast.
Pink by Siobhan Colman (YouTube)
Set in 1969,...