1. Laugh circa pre-virus
2. Brain food
3. Make sense of this sh*t
4. Escape
5. Rub your face in the current sitch
6. Take a cruise (but not that one)
7. Catch up on a Classic
8. For stir-crazy kids

‘Take notice of your emotions as well as logic. Emotions have their own logic. And try to go with the flow.’ The Rosie Project

While Captain Ahab might not be the best of mentors at this time in our modern lives, he had a point when he said: ‘I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing.’ Readers inclined to escape the headlines with a snort and a giggle have a library-load of choices at Text. Graeme Simsion’s THE ROSIE TRILOGY is atop the feel-good list with the ever-present Don Tillman reminding readers of life’s simple joys. Katherine Collette’s THE HELPLINE bursts with hilarious and heart-warming characters at a senior citz centre. On the quirky side, Kevin Wilson’s NOTHING TO SEE HERE explores the nature of family by way of a couple of kids who spontaneously combust, while Bones and Naya’s wild ride is set to a hip-hop soundtrack in Brendan Lawley’s BONESLAND. Romance blooms for Natalie in Nina Kenwood’s much-loved IT SOUNDED BETTER IN MY HEAD, and love complicates in Toni Jordan’s OUR TINY USELESS HEARTS. For a classic titter, John Clarke’s TINKERING collects bits and pieces from the comic’s celebrated career.

‘I was learning the craft of poetry, which really was an intensive version of what my mother had taught me all those years ago—the craft of writing as the art of thinking.’ Between the World and Me

If the state of the world has you googling new ideas (social distancing) and radical concepts (smart queues), and you’re finding yourself hungry for insight and education, Text’s non-fiction shelves are a veritable high-end menu of tutelage. We’ve got Naben Ruthnum’s captivating history of CURRY. There’s Witold Szablowski’s breakdown of authoritarian states via Bulgaria’s DANCING BEARS. BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME, by the renowned essayist Ta-Nehisi Coates, is a stunning meditation on what it means to be Black in America. If you’re feeling fired up, we’ve got Clare Wright’s groundbreaking books about the revolutionary women at the forefront of political change in Australia: WE ARE THE REBELS, THE FORGOTTEN REBELS OF EUREKA, and YOU DAUGHTERS OF FREEDOM. Judith’s Brett’s FROM SECRET BALLOT TO DEMOCRACY SAUSAGE expands on this in her marvellous investigation into Australia’s voting system. Perhaps most timely is Dr Jeremy Brown’s INFLUENZA, a comprehensive study of the flu virus, from its complex history to its shape-shifting future.

‘If we can prevent something bad, without sacrificing anything of comparable significance, we ought to do it.’ The Most Good You Can Do

Sometimes the best way to examine a crisis is to get philosophical. As we explore and unfold the prevailing situation, so can we begin to understand ourselves. Tyson Yunkaporta’s SAND TALK: HOW INDIGENOUS THINKING CAN SAVE THE WORLD is an excellent starting point in connecting our physical and spiritual worlds. Sarah Sentilles offers hope in the face of the devastation in her gripping DRAW YOUR WEAPONS. For an understanding of the personal fulfilment that comes with giving and creating, Peter Singer’s THE MOST GOOD YOU CAN DO, and Klein and Cathcart’s I THINK, THEREFORE I DRAW are compelling resources. Ada Calhoun’s WHY WE CAN’T SLEEP provides multi-generational insight into contemporary women’s issues, while Oliver Burkeman’s THE ANTIDOTE takes a radical and hysterical approach to self-help by letting us in on a secret: positive thinking is making us miserable! It’s uncertainty, Burkeman suggests, where things happen…

 ‘…the fact that a real apocalypse would be such a vindication, if you’d spent all this dough getting ready for it…’ Ducks, Newburyport 

If it’s all just a little too much right now, we’ve got escapist fiction that will grip, distract, and revive – as all good getaways should. DUCKS, NEWBURYPORT by Lucy Ellmann is a 1000-page journey through the modern life of its main character. Charming, poetic and richly detailed, it’s a revolutionary work that is much more than what it first appears. Surprises abound in Herman Koch’s THE DINNER, and Un-su Kim’s heart-stopping THE PLOTTERS. Fernanda Melchor’s highly praised HURRICANE SEASON is a riveting real-life murder story set in rural Mexico. For the series reader, THE MIRROR VISITOR series by Christine Dabos is a treasure of fragmented worlds, wily heroines, myth, and mystery. Locally, Robert Hillman’s THE BOOKSHOP OF THE BROKEN-HEARTED reveals the power of forgiveness in 1960s Australia. THE WOMEN IN BLACK is a slice of 1950s Sydney about department store ladies on the brink of change. Garry Disher’s PEACE is a summertime page-turner set in the Flinders Ranges, while Jock Serong’s PRESERVATION and Kate Grenville’s seminal THE SECRET RIVER will satisfy readers seeking to travel even further back in Australia’s history.

‘I wake up. It is so silent. I could fall through the cracks of such silence.’ Severance

In times of crisis, some of us read to escape, while others – and there are many of us – crave reflection in our literature. SEVERANCE by Ling Ma features in almost every recent collation of pandemic-inspired lit not only for its incisive takedown of contemporary society, but for its eerie prescience. Nevil Shute’s classic ON THE BEACH reveals its own foresight into the present situation. Its handful of survivors of a nuclear apocalypse uncover the best and worst of human nature, when fear and uncertainty reign. Yuri Herrera’s SIGNS PRECEDING THE END OF THE WORLD and Jane Higgins’ HAVOC reveal worlds devastated by ignorance, violence, and greed. At the non-fiction end is Eula Biss’s ON IMMUNITY, which looks at conversations centred on immunisation and disease. Parallels to the current state of things are present here, as well: ‘Debates over vaccination, then as now, are often cast as debates over the integrity of science, though they could just as easily be understood as conversations about power.’

‘The truest argument was an old one – the earth is round, let us not be too attached, then, to directions.’ Flights

We may be stuck at home for the foreseeable future but that doesn’t mean adventures are impossible. As the author Anna Quindlen wrote, ‘Books are the plane and the train and the road,’ and Text has books to cover all bases. Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist’s TWO STEPS FORWARD brings to wondrous life the sights and sounds of the famed Camino de Santiago trail, while Mary Norris’s GREEK TO ME awakens the senses to olive trees, rich languages, and seductive wines. For something more zoological, who better to journey with than the inimitable Tim Flannery. His AMONG THE ISLANDS takes us on a fact-finding adventure to the Solomon Islands, Fiji, and beyond. If you like a bit of philosophy and soul-searching with your travels, we recommend sticking Olga Tokarczuk’s FLIGHTS in your imaginary travel bag. Devil chasers, poisoned love, Chopin’s heart, and more provide the magic of this meditation on travel in all its forms.

‘Perhaps even the dreams would have been better than what followed.’ The Quiet Earth

A casual peek at #bookstagram and popular Book Club picks suggest that readers around the world are using their extra time to catch up on all the books they’d meant to read but had never quite gotten around to. The Text Classics range is a bounty of such works and we’ve selected a handful of uniquely Australian classics we’re finding startlingly relatable of late. Craig Harrison’s THE QUIET EARTH is a futuristic fantasy about a geneticist who wakes up to discover the clocks have stopped and the streets are empty. WAKE IN FRIGHT is Kenneth’s Cook’s blistering and claustrophobic fish-out-of-water classic about a man trapped in an outback nightmare. Elizabeth Harrower’s THE WATCH TOWER is a relentless psychological exploration of women and control in post-war Australia, while Marcus Clarke’s enduring FOR THE TERM OF HIS NATURAL LIFE is the intricate tale of a convict seeking to clear his name.

‘The birds are thereand then they are gone. I never even saw them. Perhapsthis should be a relief, but there issomething unsettlingabout their sheer speed.’ The Republic of Birds

Jessica’s Miller’s sumptuous THE REPUBLIC OF BIRDS reveals a world of ancient books and maps, secrets and magic. When Olga’s sister is kidnapped and taken to the Republic, Olga must find the magic in herself to save her sister and uncover the truth about a divided kingdom. Quests continue in Weng Wai Chan’s LIZARD’S TALE, in which a young thief in 1940s Singapore is tasked with stealing an antique box. Simple! Or is it…and who’s that man in the shadows? For series readers, Mark Smith’s timely WINTER TRILOGY is chock-full of dystopian adventure. When a deadly virus wipes out much of their community, Finn and his dog Rowdy have fished and hunted their way to survival, avoiding the gangs that control the nearby lands. All is well until Rose appears, seeking help to find her enslaved sister… And, lastly, Vikki Wakefield’s THIS IS HOW WE CHANGE THE ENDING introduces Nate McKee – son, brother, writer, revolutionary. Wakefield’s trailblazing new work is about kids on the edge, the power of the written word, and hero in us all.