Hi all,

It’s 2024.

After a slow start to the year full of ocean swimming and hanging with my kids, I’ve hit the ground (ocean) running. Isn’t it funny how quickly that summer peace dissipates and you find yourself back in the grind? For me, the grind looks like settling 3 kids into a new year at school, a looming book deadline (June), preparing for the U.S. and U.K. release of Darling Girls (and a U.S. tour in April!) and preparing to sell my house and move. GAH. I also have 3 upcoming writers festivals and an International Women’s Day private event in Brisbane that my brother somehow managed to talk me into for his work (No, I told him. Are you mad? I don’t have time. When is it and can I stay at the Calile?). 

Boundaries. Of. Steel.

But I have no regrets. Why? Because my word for the year is JOY. JOY fills my cup, fuels my creativity and leads me places I never knew I was supposed to go. Like ocean running. Like into Em’s laundry. Like to Brisbane mid-week to see my brother. And so this year I vow to follow my joy into whatever random places it leads me. Who knows where it could lead me? I’m excited.

Sally

Joy Moody is out of Time by Kerryn Mayne

My mate Kerryn Mayne wrote Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder, which I bloody loved and know many of you did too. So you should definitely pre-order her next one! Joy Moody has been lying to her twin daughters forever. She’s told them that on their 21st birthday, they will time travel to the year 2050. Because they’re actually from the future. Why is she keeping up this story, do the girls still believe it as their birthday approaches, and what happened to their real mother? More importantly… why was Joy Moody then found dead? It’s truly original, fun and page-turning. Out later this month! Preorder here.

None of This is True by Lisa Jewell

Like many other book-lovers, I became obsessed with this suspenseful book over the summer! Popular podcaster Alix Summers is celebrating her 45th birthday at the local pub when she meets Josie Fair, who’s also celebrating her 45th birthday. Is it truly a coincidence? Josie becomes the subject of Alix’s true crime podcast and the pair start learning things about each other’s lives that prove unsettling. What’s the real truth? Buy here.

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

This is a glorious book I read over the holidays. It is set in 1972 when workers are digging the foundations for a new development in Pennsylvania when they discover a skeleton. Who the skeleton was and how it got there turn out to be massive secrets held by the local community. The story moves back in time to the 1930s as well, with characters’ lives overlapping. Buy here.

The Pulling by Adele Dumont

As someone who has trichotilimania (a condition of compulsive hair-pulling), this book had great insight and is written beautifully. Adele Dumont’s diagnosis sent her on a journey through the past, to understand the condition and its origins, to her own teenage years, and into explorations of ritual, obsession, and shame. Buy here.

Bright Shining by Julia Baird

I adored Phosphorescence by Julia Baird back in 2020, and at the end of last year she released Bright Shining, which honestly could not have come at a better time for me to read. It’s all about grace… a mysterious but very human quality that’s hard to define. She explores what grace looks like in our world, and how to recognise it in particularly dark times. Buy here.

One of Us is Missing by B.M. Carroll

Another banger of a thriller for my friend Ber Carroll is hitting shelves in May! A married couple take their teenagers to their first big stadium concert, but by the end of the night, one of them has vanished without a trace. I can’t wait to read it! Pre-order here.

Prosper (2024) on Stan

One of the first things my assistant Amy and I bonded over was our shared fascination with evangelical Christianity and mega-churches like Hillsong (Amy’s first novel explores this too!). So you can imagine how excited we were to see the trailer for Prosper, starring Richard Roxburgh and Rebecca Gibney. It’s about the Quinn family, founders of a mega-church called U Star in Australia. They’re expanding to the US when secrets that have been hidden come bubbling to the surface. It’s a great watch!

Force of Nature (in cinemas now)

You all know I adore anything written by Jane Harper, and her second novel Force of Nature was no exception — and now it’s on the big screen! I went to the premiere in Melbourne a couple of weeks back and had the best time embarrassing myself in front of Eric Bana (who plays the lead, Detective Aaron Falk of The Dry). This story follows a group of women who hike through the Victorian wilderness on a corporate retreat, but they don’t all make it back out of the bush. The scenery is stunning and it’s just so nice to see top quality movies and TV coming out of Australia!

I’m funny on Instagram.