Eight new books to add to your 2026 reading list

Women, says Ainslie Harvey of TikTok favourite Hot History (30 million likes, 400,000 followers, and counting), occupy only 0.5 per cent of the historical record. So, the Sydneysider has compiled this illustrated compendium of famous and forgotten women who broke the rules - and occasionally limbs - to make their name: the "queens, witches, bitches and It Girls throughout the ages - from Cleopatra, Marie Antoinette and Mata Hari to the British PM's secret weapon: Pamela Churchill Harriman". Traditional historians may clutch their pearls, but Harvey has fun blowing the dust off the old school textbook approach to making history fascinating.

Paul McCartney. Allen Lane. $79.99.

Paul McCartney has yet to write a traditional memoir. But he's finally opened up one of the overlooked chapters of his life. What can you possibly do for an encore after the Beatles? For McCartney, it was forming another band, the 1970s chart-topping Wings. This book draws on interviews with members of the band recorded for the upcoming documentary Man on the Run (due to drop in February) and reveals McCartney's efforts to recreate the camaraderie that defined the Beatles and recalls episodes like the mugging in Nigeria, where they'd gone to record Band on the Run. The 550 pages also feature timelines, photos and discographies.

Quentin Beresford. NewSouth. $39.99.

Quentin Beresford, adjunct professor at Sunshine Coast University, uses sobering facts to challenge the notion Aussies love a wager: we lose $32 billion a year on legal gambling; we have 0.5 per cent of the planet's population but an astonishing 25 per cent of its pokies. Online gaming is the new driver of misery, he says. The damage wrought by online sports betting was outlined in a 2023 parliamentary inquiry led by federal Labor MP Peta Murphy. Sadly she's no longer with us to remind the Albanese government of its cowardice in failing to stand up to what Beresford calls "Big Gambling" by banning gambling ads.

Jess Sanders, illustrated by Andrea Onishi. Affirm Press. $22.99.

It's waaaaaay too early to be thinking about school, right? Except, for many young children, starting the school year can be daunting - so many unknowns. Pitching her messages and advice to children aged 4 to 8, Jess Sanders - author of the Life Lessons for Little Ones series - speaks directly to the reader in a clear, gentle tone. Setting goals is the key to managing the anxiety, Sanders reckons, and she offers practical tips for achieving them - from learning a new sport, to improving on a challenging subject to making new friends. Andrea Onishi's illustrations add visual fun to the learning process.

Rebecca Armitage. HarperCollins. $34.99.

Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon gave this debut novel by Tasmanian journalist Rebecca Armitage an unexpected boost when she announced it as the December pick for her long-running book club. The Heir Apparent follows 29-year-old Englishwoman Lexi Villiers as her medical residency in Hobart and budding romance are sideswiped by a family tragedy that pulls her back to London. Lexi is, in fact, Princess Alexandrina, the "black sheep" third in line to the British throne. Called back to royal duties, palace power plays and media leaks threaten her own painful secrets as she strives to hold on to the life and love that matter most. Screen adaptation, anyone?

Karen Foxlee. Allen & Unwin. $24.99.

Shortlisted for the 2026 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards to be announced in February, this fantasy-adventure quest features a courageous, quick-witted girl with a magical secret, a friendly ogre, a ship full of treasure-hunting pirates and a dark curse that threatens to turn our heroine to sand. Aimed at readers aged nine and above, it's a swashbuckling tale full of oddities, action and lashings of danger. Karen Foxlee, author of such books as Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy, the Miss Mary-Kate Martin's Guide to Monsters series, Lenny's Book of Everything and Dragon Skin, gives us a bold young protagonist who stands her ground among skullduggery-prone pirates.

Di Morrissey. Macmillan. $39.99.

A year after publishing her 30th novel, River Song, prolific Australian storyteller Di Morrissey returns with a sun-drenched story of friendship, mystery and adventure set in outback Queensland. Popular TV presenter Nicole Robertson and her savvy producer Stacie have ventured deep into red earth country in search of a story that will show their arrogant and patronising new TV network boss what they're capable of. As the resourceful duo's fossil-hunting expedition unearths unexpected mysteries and secrets, their friendship is tested by the vast and sometimes hostile desert landscape, a missing stranger and, of course, blossoming romance.

Carmel Bird. Transit Lounge. $34.99.

Betrothed to French king Louis XIV's grandson, 11-year-old Marie-Adelaide is shipped from Turin to France, where she enchants the aging Sun King. It's 1696 and Versailles is all decadence and lavish grandeur, with its famed Hall of Mirrors and vast gardens. But beneath the splendour a rot has set in and no amount of sweet-smelling perfume can disguise the stench of human filth and the palace's malicious jealousies and treacheries. Australian writer Carmel Bird draws on deep historical research to bring the era to life as fictional childhood friend Sister Clare recalls Marie-Adelaide's life and duty to produce an heir, the future Louis XV.

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