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The book world has been running at a sprint lately – scandals to the left of us, prize announcements to the right, and a publishing schedule that hasn’t taken a breath since August. The publishing industry has a summer slumber in December, with new releases arriving in a slower, sleepier drift. But quieter doesn’t mean dull: from Olivia Nuzzi’s headline-hoovering memoir to royal intrigue, outback mysteries, political slang and a deep dive into China’s spycraft, there’s still plenty to slip into your beach bag as the 2025 reading calendar comes to a close.
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Dirty Politics: A–Z of Trickery, Treachery and Other Tasty Treats, Macquarie Dictionary, Macquarie, $19.99
From the nation’s lexicographers comes a brisk and barbed compendium of the insults, euphemisms and headline-grabbing gaffes that have coloured two decades of Australian public life. From “bonk ban” and “broligarchy” to “virtue signalling soy cap intelligentsia”, the alphabetical guide is a reminder that the way we talk about power is often as revealing as power itself.
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The Dark Prince of Melbourne, Ian W. Shaw, HarperCollins, $35.99
Ian W. Shaw turns his pen to Joseph “Squizzy” Taylor, the charismatic standover man who dazzled Melbourne as much as he terrorised it. Tracking Taylor’s rise from pickpocket to underworld celebrity, Shaw follows the detectives, juries and rivals who tried, and often failed, to stop him. The result is a vivid portrait of a gangster who relished the limelight and ultimately met a suitably dramatic end.
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The Heir Apparent, Rebecca Armitage, HarperCollins, $34.99
Lexi Villiers thought she’d hung up her tiara for good, building a perfectly ordinary life in Hobart far from palace corridors. But when a family accident pushes her to the front of the line of succession, she’s summoned back to London. As spare becomes heir, Lexi must decide whether she really wants the crown that’s landed back on her head. A sparkling debut that makes more than a few winks at today’s royal soap operas.
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The Endless Sky, Di Morrissey, Macmillan, $39.99
The prolific writer’s 31st novel sends a TV presenter and her producer deep into the red centre, where a glossy new series becomes a journey into the mysteries and dangers of outback Australia. From fossil treasures, local histories and long-buried secrets, the land itself becomes the book’s most commanding presence in this tale of adventure, friendship and love.
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Eucalyptus, Stephen D. Hopper, Reaktion Books, $39.99 (December 1)
Botanist Stephen D. Hopper offers a richly illustrated account of Australia’s most emblematic trees and their evolution, biology, cultural significance and global reach. From towering mountain giants to hardy mallees, eucalypts have inspired artists, scientists and activists, shaped landscapes and industries, and held profound meaning for Aboriginal communities. This comprehensive study blends ecological insight with decades of fieldwork to reveal the complexity behind a species that feels so familiar.
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Helm, Sarah Hall, Faber Fiction, $34.99 (December 2)
Twice Booker-shortlisted Sarah Hall returns with a bold novel narrated, in part, by the Helm wind, a legendary, unforgiving force that storms across Cumbria’s Eden Valley. Hall braids centuries of human attempts to understand, worship, measure or resist this presence. The result is an inventive meditation on nature, time and the fragile lives lived in the wind’s path that will ... blow you away.
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Best Offer Wins, Marisa Kashino, Doubleday, $34.99 (December 2)
Real estate anxiety meets psychological sleight of hand in this darkly comic thriller about a woman pushed to extremes by the horrors of house hunting. Margo’s desire to secure her dream home gives way to an obsession that involves surveillance, befriending the owner, and a spiral she can’t quite control. Darkly satirical and full of twists, comparisons to Yellowface feel apt.
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American Canto, Olivia Nuzzi, Simon & Schuster, $49.99 (December 2)
The former Washington correspondent became the story when her emotional entanglement with Robert F. Kennedy Jr went public – and now she’s written the book about it. American Canto arrives with enough buzz to power a small newsroom, thanks to a Vanity Fair excerpt and Nuzzi’s own talent for generating headlines. The writing leans high-altitude, but most readers will be turning the pages for scenes involving “The Politician”. Either way, expect this one to dominate the news cycle all over again. (Australian print edition out January 13.)
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The Great Heist: China’s Epic Campaign to Steal America’s Secrets, David R. Shedd and Andrew Badger, HarperCollins, $27.99 (December 2)
The former intelligence officers outline what they argue is the largest organised theft of intellectual property, technology and data in history. Drawing on interviews with spies, policymakers and corporate security teams, they chart how “China has quietly looted the crown jewels of Western technology” and reshaped global power in the process.
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World of War Crimes, Geoffrey Robertson, Penguin, $36.99 (December 9)
Human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson offers a guide to what constitutes a war crime and why so few perpetrators are ever held to account. Drawing on global conflicts and decades of legal work, Robertson explains how atrocities are identified, why governments hesitate to name them, and what ordinary citizens, journalists and soldiers need to understand. It’s a timely primer.
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Tailored Realities, Brandon Sanderson, Gollancz, December 9
The Stormlight Archive creator steps outside the Cosmere with an illustrated collection of short fiction spanning fantasy and science fiction, including a new novella, Moment Zero, and stories previously scattered across anthologies or digital releases. For fans, it’s a chance to explore the bestselling author’s genre-hopping experiments; for newcomers, a useful sampler of his storytelling.
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On the Edge, Kate Horan, HQ Fiction, $34.99 (December 30)
The Inheritance author returns with a tense small-town mystery sparked by the unsolved death of a teenage girl 16 years earlier. When Nel Foley, once the victim’s best friend and now a reluctant visitor, returns home after her father’s death, old suspicions and new dangers emerge. One for the beach bag!
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