Summer Reads For Poolside Hangs
Towel out, feet up, sunnies on. Nothing says summer like longs days spent lounging poolside with a good book (preferably at a resort like Crystalbrook Byron in Byron Bay or Crystalbrook Riley in Cairns.) The only tough decision is what to read, and if you should order another round of fish tacos (no judgement!) We’ve rounded up our favourite poolside page turners to help you out. You’re welcome.
Go Lightly
by Nina Karnikowski
Structured around hundreds of green travel tools – from avoiding single-use plastic to giving back to communities, from embracing slow travel to protecting wildlife – and including low-impact adventures and interviews with the world’s leading eco-adventurers, Go Lightly is full of ideas for how to say yes to travel that conserves, educates and inspires more than it destroys. It will help you look at rebuilding the way you travel not as a sacrifice, but as an opportunity to bring more richness and joy to your journeys, and as a gift to give the Earth.
The Nowhere Child
by Christian White
‘Her name is Sammy Went. This photo was taken on her second birthday. Three days later she was gone.’ On a break between teaching photography classes in Melbourne, Kim Leamy is approached by a stranger investigating the disappearance of a little girl from her Kentucky home twenty-eight years earlier. He believes Kim is that girl. Inspired by Gillian Flynn’s frenetic suspense and Stephen King’s masterful world-building, The Nowhere Child is a combustible tale of trauma, cult, conspiracy and memory. It is the remarkable debut of Christian White, an exhilarating new Australian talent.
The Happiest Man on Earth
by Eddie Jaku
Okay this one is a bit on the heavier side but it's the kind of book you have to read at least once (or more). Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you. Eddie Jaku always considered himself a German first, a Jew second. He was proud of his country. But all of that changed on 9 November 1938, when he was beaten, arrested and taken to a concentration camp. Over the next seven years, Eddie faced unimaginable horrors every day, first in Buchenwald, then in Auschwitz, then on the Nazi death march. He lost family, friends, his country. Because he survived, Eddie made the vow to smile every day. He pays tribute to those who were lost by telling his story, sharing his wisdom and living his best possible life. He now believes he is the 'happiest man on earth'. Published as Eddie turns 100, this is a powerful, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful memoir of how happiness can be found even in the darkest of times.
Dropbear
by Evelyn Araluen
A blend of poetry, memoir and theory, Dropbear is an essential read that confronts the tropes and iconography of an unreconciled nation with biting satire and lyrical fury. Evelyn Araluen is a vibrant new Indigenous voice on the Australian literary scene that demands to be heard. This book is about love and respect – of ancestors, family, community, a partner, and the power of language and country.
A Room Called Earth
by Madeleine Ryan
An unforgettable story of a fiercely original young woman, whose radical perspective illuminates a new way of being in the world. In her debut novel, Madeleine Ryan has constructed a character believable and flawed, a study of human complexity. The story, spanning one night, is narrated by a young single woman firmly in touch with her own reality, and how it interrelates with the people and world around her in every moment and interaction.