The 5 Books Our Team Are Reaching For In The Lead Up To Byron Bay Writers Festival
With the 2026 Byron Bay Writers Festival approaching, so too comes our annual reading list. For our fellow literary lovers and the bibliophiles among us, take a moment to settle into your genre of choice, a new book, and recall the pleasure of reading without distraction. This year’s festival theme is Sanctuary, after all.
Our team have peered through this year’s festival program, eyes lingering over a list of wildly talented and creative writers that we’re so lucky to be welcoming to Byron Bay in August. Many authors and novels have been bookmarked, and below we share each of the team’s top picks and must-reads.
SORROW AND BLISS – MEG MASON
Recommended by Holly
Someone described this book “as irreverently funny as it is sad, moving and hard-hitting”, and they’re completely right. Sorrow and Bliss follows Martha, who knows something is wrong with her but she doesn’t know what it is. At 40, her life takes an unexpected and transformative turn, soon after which she is officially diagnosed by a psychiatrist. We’re never explicitly told Martha’s exact illness — a deliberate omission from Meg Mason, so we can instead be wholly focused on Martha’s emotional realities… and that we absolutely are.
If you liked watching Fleabag, or enjoyed Candice Carty-Williams’ Queenie, then it’s very likely Sorrow and Bliss needs to be your next read. And while you’re here, You Be Mother is another beautiful book from Meg Mason.
ALL OUR SHIMMERING SKIES – TRENT DALTON
Recommended by Andy
When it comes to Trent Dalton, it’s hard to pick favourites. But if he had to, Andy’s choice would be All Our Shimmering Skies. Set in 1942 in Darwin, Dalton so wonderfully writes with both magical imagination and brutal historical reality in this book. Molly Mook is our main character. A young, motherless girl who is on a quest to lift her family’s curse, turning to the sky for guidance along the way.
If you liked The Dry by Jane Harper, or Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak, then you may want to pick up Dalton’s All Our Shimmering Skies.
QUICKSAND – STEVE TOLTZ
Recommended by Andy
For something a little more niche that’ll get your giggles on, Quicksand by Steve Totlz is the one. A very funny, dark comedy based on the tales and friendship of Aldo (a penniless ex-con in a wheelchair) and Liam (a struggling writer and failing cop). A little frantic, extremely inventive and – once again – hilarious.
Steve Toltz has an incredibly unique way of storytelling. We think you’ll enjoy Quicksand if you Patrick DeWitt’s The Sisters Brothers or Elliot Perlman’s Seven Types of Ambiguity.
HOW TO LOSE THE LOTTERY – JAY MCKENZIE
On Sonya’s ‘to-read’ list
How To Lose The Lottery by Jay McKenzie feels like a warm hug in a book. “Both achingly funny and poignant” is how it’s been described, which is exactly the kind of page-turner that Sonya is after. Edie and Ron are husband and wife. They’ve been together nearly fifty years, throughout which they’ve struggled with money, poor communication, loss and unresolved hurt. They win a life-changing lottery ticket, and Edie’s narrative is split into chapters from before and after the win… only the ‘after’ isn’t quite what you’d expect after collecting their winnings.
This might be the book for you if you liked A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman or The Secrets of Flowers by Sally Page (who has praised McKenzie’s novel as “both achingly funny and poignant”).
BEAUTIFUL FAILURES – LUCY CLARK
On Olivia’s ‘to-read’ list
As a mum of an almost-five-year-old, school has been on Liv’s mind lately. Lucy Clark’s ‘Beautiful Failures’ is a study into today’s education system and the value of ‘results’. It looks into the pressure placed on kids, the way we measure success, and questions the purpose of education and the purpose of childhood. While the book doesn’t go so far as to suggest a plan for change, it’s the type of eye-opening read that offers a new perspective to the status quo.
While not on the same topic of schooling, we think this could be a book for you if you’ve found takeaways from Paul Callaghan’s Leading From The Dreaming or Roman Krznaric’s History for Tomorrow — two authors who will also be attending the 2026 Byron Bay Writers Festival.