Books to read this summer

The Stories and Ideas team loves to help you find new reading inspiration all year round – but especially in summer when you might get an extra minute to yourself with a special book. 

A look back at our blog posts about authors and reading in 2025 reveals stories from Toni Jordan, Steve MinOn and Jasmin McGaughey. We also played wannabe detective by taking a deep dive into Trent Dalton’s latest novel, Gravity Let Me Go, and the real-life places in Brisbane that might have inspired it.  

So if reading is your favourite summer thing to do – aside from watching the cricket – be inspired by book ideas from literary award winners and staff at State Library. 

We asked them: What's the best thing you read in 2025?  

Below you will find something for everyone: picture books, sports biographies, political non-fiction, books about birds and race relations and footy, and novels about murderous robots. 

Sandy Bigna, author, winner, 2025 Queensland Literary Awards. Sandy's most recent book is Little Bones.

My book recommendation is one of my top reads this year – the beautiful picture book Between by Anna Walker.

Between is a stunning picture book capturing the moment a cabbage moth and a cricket meet for the first time in that magical space between night and day. The spare lyrical text and exquisite illustrations – rendered in soft twilight hues – work together so beautifully to illuminate themes of unexpected connections and the power of friendship.

Clare Wright, historian and author, winner, 2025 Queensland Literary Awards. Clare's most recent book is Naku Dharuk The Bark Petitions: How the People of Yirrkala Changed the Course of Australian Democracy. 

Two books made an indelible impression on me this year: Randa Abdel-Fatteh’s novel Discipline (University of Queensland Press) and Sonia Orchard’s memoir Groomed (Affirm Press). I read both in a single sitting, ravaged by the narrative, repelled by the content but ultimately replenished by the courage and skill of these authors. To refuse to be silenced in the face of the genocide in Gaza (Abdel-Fatteh) and child sexual assault (Orchard) – to write from the wound when there is yet no scar; no healing because there is no justice – is to use their craft as an urgent rallying cry for solidarity, action and accountability.

Joan, staff (Queensland Memory)  

My favourite book this year is Proto by Laura Spinney. She digs deep into pre-history to find the birthplace of the Indo-European language group. Spinney is a great writer, and our recent (very recent) ability to extract ancient DNA means that she lays out some astonishing information about the genetic makeup of Europeans and Eurasians. I also know now where Assyria was and where the Hittites hung out. It’s full of maps. I turned back to them so often that I had to bookmark every single one. It starts around the Black Sea and ends there, in Ukraine, where the war with Russia has destroyed priceless relics from an ancient burial site.  

As for genre fiction, this is a re-read so maybe I’m cheating but I love The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. They’re page turners. There’s plenty of action and they’re funny. You can’t help but bond with the terrifying bot who just wants to be left alone to watch trashy serials like Sanctuary Moon. I’ve read all the Murderbot books, and I want some more!

Tania, staff (Queensland Memory) 

The best read for me was Dark Heart, an Aboriginal dreamtime comic created by Indigiverse that is inspired by First Nations stories, with some words based on the Gooniyandi language.  

Nice Racism: How progressive White people perpetuate racial harm by Robin DiAngelo was an interesting read about the psychological barriers and hidden cultural barriers created by white people's dominance and indoctrination throughout history. The book asks people to self-examine our unconscious decision-making choices.     

Clare, staff (Public Libraries)

Thus begins this Australian classic which I reread this year as part of an environmental writing course I'm teaching. If you have not read Colin Thiele's Storm Boy in a long time (or ever) get onto it. Thiele's writing is masterful and poetic.  And though it was published over 60 years ago, Storm Boy's message is more important than ever.  

In keeping with this somewhat avian theme my second pick is This Bird: Noticing our Urban Birds by Astred Hicks and Holly Parsons. This children's non-fiction title (a genre which deserves much more recognition in itself!) provides a trove of information in a stunningly illustrated format about the beautiful winged creatures we share our cities with. 

Dom, staff (Creative Production) 

The wolf you feed by Andrew Webster is an “unauthorised” biography of the greatest rugby league coach of all time – Wayne Bennett – but one that features interviews and surprising input from the man himself. It’s an incredible story of someone who came from very little to become one of the most influential figures in Australian sport. Publicly, Bennett remains an enigma; privately, he forges deep connections with young men who often need guidance, support and a firm hand. The book offered me not only new insight into Bennett, but also into how sport can profoundly transform lives. Written by one of rugby league’s finest journalists, it’s beautifully told – and I say that as someone who doesn’t usually enjoy non-fiction. 

Rebekah, staff (Exhibitions) 

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver is a captivating story that hooked me from the beginning. It engaged me both thematically and emotionally, and I do love a nod to the canon. 

Say Nothing: A true story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe is a powerful work of narrative non-fiction about the Troubles in Northern Ireland. I found it to be deeply human, while portraying the complexities of a very recent history. 

Wai, staff (Content Management) 

The Long Story – A personal journey through inter-racial relations in Australia by Wayne Long and Graham Perrett. Wayne Long is an Aboriginal man, born in St George, with Chinese heritage. Graham Perrett was the Labor MP representing a huge number of Mandarin speaking communities in Brisbane.  

And, finally, Stories and Ideas and black&write! staff – who enjoy passing books from desk to desk all year round – recommend these gems to pack in your suitcase:

• First Name Second Name by Steve MinOn
• Dusk by Robbie Arnott  
• Nightingale by Laura Elvery  
• Wait Here by Lucy Nelson  
• The Sun was Electric Light by Rachel Morton  
• The Rot by Evelyn Araluen  
• Idle Grounds by Krystelle Bamford  
• What We Can Know by Ian McEwan
• Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt. 

Happy holidays and blissful reading from the Stories and Ideas team. We look forward to sharing more inspiring stories with you in 2026!