Key Picks

A PERIODIC TALE

My Sciencey Memoir

DR KARL KRUSZELNICKI

Here are some things about Dr Karl, to get you in the mood:

•‘I have seven names because of weird Polish heritage stuff.’

•‘I have an asteroid named after me (18412 Kruszelnicki)’

•‘I helped birth the word “selfie”.’

•‘I taught myself to speed read at a thousand words per minute.’

•‘I waited until the relatively grand age of twenty-eight years before I passed two major Australian milestones: learning to swim and learning how to eat a mango.’

•‘I never had a long-term plan for how my life should turn out.’

Dr Karl is known to many as a journalist, family man, sciencey talkback radio guy, author of forty-eight books, Mr Bright Shirts and a star of stage and screen. But how did this shy Polish immigrant kid become a household name? He is the first to say, ‘By luck, mostly!’

However, as his engaging, funny, informative and anecdotal memoir shows us, it was his ‘meandering careers’ that paved the way and taught him ‘practically everything’ he needed to end up where he is today. He has worked as a physicist, labourer, roadie for bands, car mechanic, filmmaker, taxi driver, biomedical engineer, tester for four-wheel drives in the outback, TV weatherman, and medical doctor at the Children's Hospital in Sydney.

DROPPING THE MASK

Noni Hazlehurst

An icon. A household name. One of our best-loved actors. Noni is finally telling a story of her own.

A fourth-generation performer, Noni Hazlehurst has storytelling in her blood. She has graced our screens, stages and airwaves for fifty years – and won our hearts and respect in the process. She’s had a remarkably diverse career, from presenting Play School for more than two decades, acting in films such as June Again, Ladies in Black, Candy, Little Fish and Monkey Grip, and ten years hosting and writing for Better Homes and Gardens to playing lead roles in series like A Place to Call Home, Nancy Wake and The Shiralee.

She recently presented the SBS documentary series Every Family Has a Secret, and of course has had numerous theatre roles, including her award-winning one-woman play, Mother. Noni continues to display her incredible versatility, range and incisive ability to get to the core of a character and script.

In Dropping the Mask, Noni provides a deep insight into the Australian arts, creativity, craftsmanship, truth and connection. She has always looked to art as a way for her to tell hard stories, stand up against ineffectual politics and shine light on areas most commonly left in the dark. Her story is rich, lively, opinionated – and a testament to her grit, willpower and talent.

WE COULD BE SOMETHING

Will Kostakis

WINNER: 2024 Prime Minister's Literary Awards, Young Adult Literature

NOTABLE BOOK: 2024 CBCA Book of the Year, Older Readers

SHORTLISTED: 2024 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, Prize for Young Adult Writing

SHORTLISTED: 2024 NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature

SHORTLISTED: 2024 Queensland Literary Awards, Young Adult Book Award

Part coming-out story.

Part falling-in-love story.

Part falling-apart story.

Harvey's dads are splitting up. It's been on the cards for a while, but it's still sudden. Woken-by-his-father-to-catch-a-red-eye sudden. Now he's restarting his life in a new city, living above a cafe with the extended Greek family he barely knows.

Sotiris is a rising star. At seventeen, he's already achieved his dream of publishing a novel. When his career falters, a cute, wise-cracking bookseller named Jem upends his world.

Harvey and Sotiris's stories converge on the same street in Darlinghurst, in this beautifully heartfelt novel about how our dreams shape us, and what they cost us.

'Vivid and exquisitely written... Kostakis weaves a sparkling tale of hardship, heartbreak, identity and the universal struggle of finding your footing in the world.' - Books & Publishing