Reading is the cheapest (and fastest) way to travel the world and beyond. These September and October book releases whisk you from Hyderabad and the Cairo pyramids to a summer in Taipei and the heat of rural Queensland. A historical thriller drops you into Soviet Union ballrooms, while a sci-fi number is a portal to a galaxy where mountains come alive. If the coffee table is due for a spring refresh, the hardbacks on the list as beautiful as they are practical for hobbyists – especially if you're keen to start collecting art, cook seafood recipes from one of Australia's most influential kitchens or get inspired for your next gardening project. Consider this your monthly cheat sheet of local authors and page-turners worth adding to your TBR list. Recommended reads: The Best Independent and Pre-Loved Bookshops in Sydney The Best Bookshops in Melbourne for 2026 The Top Page-Turning Titles of 2025 and Who to Gift Them to This Christmas The Best New Australian Books to Curl Up With This August The Starving Bride by Catherine Chidgey (October 6) If you've ever spiralled in front of a mirror, you'll want to read this. New Zealand novelist Catherine Chidgey turns body image into a grotesque exhibition – literally. Recently dumped and unemployed, Hazel signs up for a bizarre act. The job is simply to lie down in an enclosure for days, while a lion prowls and everyone watches her body disappear. Based on a real sideshow in 1930s Blackpool where brides starved themselves in glass coffins for cash, Chidgey gets into the timely discourse about shame, autonomy and the constant fascination with thinness. The Strangling Fig by Fauzia Musa (September 29) Trauma from one of India's most devastating migrations, an estranged mother-daughter relationship and a grandmother's ghost make for a haunting three-generation saga. Fauzia Musa's debut novel first follows Ashraf from 1940s Hyderabad to America. Decades later, her granddaughter Seher begins seeing her apparition. What starts as a source of comfort soon takes a darker turn, as Seher tries to break free from Ashraf's ghost – and the generational wounds she represents. Massif by Garth Nix (September 8) Dune fans might love Garth Nix's first adult speculative fiction novel. The strange space opera dares to ask, what if mountain ranges were sentient? And why are they ferrying humans to habitable planets during 200 years of intergalactic war? The phenomenon carries unsettlingly eerie undertones that lurk beneath a military crew's race to save one of their own. How to Start an Art Collection by Georgia Spray (September 1) Buying art might seem like an expensive hobby, but Georgia Spray is on a mission to make it more accessible. The London-based gallerist works with emerging artists and she's written a practical guide covering all the bases, from discovering your style and navigating art platforms to framing your first pieces. It's one for art lovers, budding collectors or simply anyone looking to fill up an empty wall. Hollywood, Ending by John Green (September 22) The 2010s is back, and so is John Green. If The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska were formative texts for you, the author has finally released his first novel in nearly a decade. Two rising actors who fall in love while filming an Andy Warhol biopic. When their film becomes a hit, their relationship is suddenly up for public consumption too. A nostalgic return to Green's brand of emotional earnest and self-aware romance, now with Hollywood, fame and the internet to contend with. Taipei Story by R.F Kuang (September 15) R.F Kuang has harnessed her blend of satirical, sharp and research-driven prose in genre-bending novels about the publishing industry (Yellowface), the colonisation of languages (Babel) and academia (Katabasis). This time, she turns it to the messy business of figuring out where you belong in a funnily uncomfortable coming-of-age novel. Chinese-American Yale student Lily heads to Taipei for an intensive Mandarin course to reconnect with her culture. Between roommate drama, family tragedy and a messy romance sparking vicious gossip, she finds herself confronting the cringe of trying to fit in. The World Beneath Her Feet by Holly Ringland (September 1) From the lit fic author behind The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (later adapted into a Prime series starring Sigourney Weaver) comes another tender novel. It follows fossil-and-gem expert Maggie from her London life back to her childhood home in the rolling hills of rural Queensland, where she's forced to confront the things she left behind. A heartwarming excavation of first love, teen angst and other things we often bury. The Second Child by Malcolm Knox (September 1) Ned Kelly Award-winning novelist Malcolm Knox brings readers on another darkly witty trip into Stalin's court. His 2024 political thriller The First Friend was immersed in Soviet life during the Great Terror, and this sequel fast-forwards to the end of World War II. The adopted daughter of a conspiring security overlord (who's named after real-life secret police chief Lavrentiy Beria) infiltrates the Kremlin's nepo-baby scene while secretly investigating her parents' murder. Expect plenty of dark humour as she tries to survive one of history's most paranoid regimes. American Hagwon by Min Jin Lee (September 29) The bestselling author behind Pachinko has released another profound epic. It follows the Koh family as they chase a better life across Seoul, Sydney and California. The ticket to success seems to lie in a hagwon – a private tutoring academy the Koh kids attend – where the pursuit of the perfect academic record gets tangled with the question of what success looks like. A bittersweet read unpacking the cost of ambition, the meaning of fulfillment and the pressure to make your parents proud. Saint Peter: Chapter and Verse by Josh Niland (September 1) One of Australia's most influential culinary figures, Josh Niland has spent a decade revolutionising the way chefs think about seafood. His innovative whole-fish philosophy shines at Saint Peter in Sydney, and the restaurant turns 10 this year. To mark the occasion, Niland has produced a visual feast spanning a trio of essays meditating on the kitchen's foundational techniques, iconic dishes and service, alongside over 140 recipes folded in as 'verses'. A must-have seafood bible for home cooks and industry types alike. Cul De Sac by Eleanor Limprecht (September 1) Jacquie lives in an affluent Northern Virginia suburb with her husband and their two kids – the suburban dream. But on a trip home to her mother's alpaca farm in New South Wales, the seams start to show. Sharply observed and quietly devastating, Limprecht doesn't succumb to stereotypes as she captures the complex nature of male possession, domestic violence and the importance of returning to yourself in the aftermath. The Cairo Bridal Shop by Tess Woods (September 1) Perth writer Tess Woods taps into her Egyptian roots in this modern-day reimagining of ancient Pharaoh queens. It unfolds through the perspectives of three Albi sisters, who inherit their family's bridal shop at the foot of the pyramids. Woods weaves a rich tapestry of womanhood: the eldest has the shop thrust upon her while stuck in a bad marriage; a political journalist in a whirlwind romance with a recently arrested colleague; and a university student grapples with being queer. Despite its weighty themes, short chapters and the sheer pleasure of wedding dresses – the setting was inspired by Woods' late grandmother, a bridal dressmaker – will keep the pages turning. Diary of an English Garden by Paul Bangay (September 29) Celebrated Australian landscape designer Paul Bangay draws on English gardens to create some of the most charming gardens around, including Barossa Valley Estate. In 2023, he realised his lifelong dream of transforming his first English property – a Cotswolds stone cottage – and has chronicled the process in a stunning coffee table centerpiece. It's perfect for some spring inspiration, perhaps paired with some fresh blooms in the vase.