Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Orbital by Samantha Harvey, a rich prose poem and meditation on the Earth and humanity set on the international space station.
Pile by the Bed reviews So Close to Home by Mick Cummins an important, compassionate and heartbreaking look at teen homelessness and drug addiction in Australia.
Pile by the Bed reviews Beyond the Door of No Return by David Diop, a novel that explores the impacts of colonialism and the Senegalese slave trade in the 18th Century through the eyes of a real life French botanist.
Pile by the bed reviews Baumgartner by Paul Auster a character study that considers issues of memory, art, ageing and relationships.
Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends The Well of Saint Nobody by Neil Jordan, set in a small Irish village and engagingly exploring the relationship of two damaged characters searching for connection.
Pile by the Bed reviews Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton, the story of a homeless girl living on the streets of Brisbane told in a naive, optimistic style.
Pile by the Bed reviews The North Light by Hideo Yokoyama, another exploration of modern Japan, this time through the lens of architecture.
Pile by the Bed reviews Stone Yard Devotional by Australian author Charlotte Wood centred around a woman who searches for meaning by joining a small monastery in rural Australia.
Pile by the Bed reviews And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliot a debut novel centering around a Mohawk woman dealing with motherhood and life away from her cultural support system.
Pile by the Bed reviews Sisters in Arms by Shida Bazyar an exploration of the immigrant experience in Germany against a backdrop of the rise of neo-Nazism.
Pile by the Bed reviews The Wolf Hunt by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen a thriller that explores the lives of expatriate Israelis in America and engagingly explores the grey area of a number of complex issues.
Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Tom Lake by Ann Patchett another beautifully observed, totally engaging novel exploring relationships and family.
Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue, a book that explores the teenage years of Victorian-era personality Ann Lister through the eyes of her roommate and first lover – Elixa Raine.
Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Cuddy by Benjamin Myers an exploration of the life and legacy of St Cuthbert and the Cathedral built to house his remains in Durham over a period of 1300 years.
Pile by the Bed reviews Small Worlds the second book from British author Caleb Azuma Nelson, focussing on the experience of the Ghanaian community in London in the early 2010s.
Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Mater 2-10 by Hwang Sok-Yong an epic story of Twentieth Century Korean history through the eyes of a family of workers.
Pile by the Bed reviews Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein – set in 1940s Trinidad and dealing with social inequality and the legacy of colonialism through a range of characters.
Pile by the Bed reviews Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang a satirical exploration and takedown of the publishing industry and particularly the way in which it deals with race and identity.
Pile by the Bed reviews Naked Ambition by Robert Gott a comedy that skewers Australian values and views that revolves around a naked portrait of a politician
Pile by the Bed reviews Rachel Heng’s second novel The Great Reclamation, an exploration of the modernisation of Singapore between World War 2 and the 1960s.