New Titles and Recommendations April 2026

Mystery 
The Girls Before | Kate Alice Marshall
Mystery 
What the Bones Know | Kirstyn McDermott
Aus Mystery 
Dark Desert Road | Tim Ayliffe
Aus Mystery 
Haze | Sam Elliott
Aus Mystery
Old Games | Fiona Hardy
Aus Mystery 
On The Edge | Kate Horan
Aust Mystery
Antihero | Gregg Hurwitz
Aus Mystery
Two Islands | Ian Kemish
Aus Mystery
Shellybanks | Louise Milligan
Aus Mystery
The Cursed Road | Laura McCluskey
Aus Mystery
Aus Mystery
Aus Mystery
The Pact | Lisa Walker
Historical 
The Strawberry House | Rachel Burton
Historical 
The Shock of the Light | Lori Inglis Hall
Historical
The Girls of Good Fortune | Kristine McMorris
Historical
Meet the Newmans | Jennifer Niven
Historical
The Orphans at the Irish Adoption House | Michelle Vernal
Historical
The Inn at Penglas Cover | Lauren Westwood
Historical
The Violin Maker's Secret | Evie Woods
Aus Historical
A Far-Flung Life | M.L. Stedman
Romance
The Island Retreat | Cathy Kelly
Romance
An Almost Perfect Summer | Juill Mansell
Romance
This Book Made Me Think of You | Libby Page
Aus Romance
The Last Poem | Courtney Peppernell
Novel
The Secrets of the Lost Vineyard | Erin Palmisano
Aus Novel
Iluka | Cassie Stroud
Aus Novel
Three Summers | Karen Swan
Aus Novel
In a Common Hour | Sita Walker
Psychological
My Husband's Wife | Alice Feeney
Non Fiction
Letter from Provence: A Memoir | Sheryle Bagwell
Non Fiction

Rosemary's Newsletter

Authors of the Month

Fiona Lowe

Fiona has lived in Edmonton Canada, Madison Wisconsin, and currently lives close to the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. In 2005 she sold her first Medical Romance to Harlequin Mills and Boon. Since then she’s written nine books won a Catarmomance Reviewer’s Award and has been nominated for the Ruby (Australia’s premier romance writing award).

Fiona Lowe, author

Anna Johnston

Anna lives in Melbourne with her husband and daughters. The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife is her first novel.

Anna left an imminent career in medicine to follow her heart into her grandfather’s nursing home where she became the social support coordinator, When injury left her unable to continue, she began to write about it. Anna has enjoyed a lifelong passion for theatre, screenplay, travel and creative ageing.

Anna Johnston, author

Both Fiona & Anna will be in conversation at the BMI this month. Find out more below.

Book of the Month

A Far-Flung Life

M.L. Stedman

Western Australia, 1958 where, for generations, the MacBrides have lived on a remote sheep station, Meredith Downs. A million acres, it’s an ocean of arid land.

One ordinary day, on a lonely road, patriarch Phil MacBride swerves to avoid a kangaroo. In seconds, the lives of his entire family are shattered.

Then, instead of leaving them to heal, fate comes back for them in a twist of consequences that will cause one of them to lose their life, and another to sacrifice theirs for the sake of an innocent child. Matt, the youngest MacBide, is plunged into a moral and emotional journey for which there is no map, no guide, as he is forced to choose between love and duty, sacrifice and happiness.

Recommeded Reads

The Inn at Penglas Cove

Lauren Westwood

When Juno’s marriage implodes, an unexpected inheritance offers her a way out: a crumbling inn perched high on a Cornish cliff, left to her by a great-aunt she never knew.

Hoping to give her children a fresh start, Juno swaps city life for windswept coastal walks and salty sea air…only to find that the Cross Keys Inn is steeped in secrets. Locals talk of pirates and a mysterious ghost shop connected to the chilling tale of Bess Trevelyn, murdered at the inn two centuries before. Meeting the handsome but cold landowner Will Penhelion, a descendent of poor Bess’s husband, Juno realises the past and present are entwined in ways she never imagined.

This Book Made Me Think Of You

Libby Page

When Tilly Nightingale receives a call telling her there’s a birthday gift from her husand waiting for her at her local bookshop, it couldn’t come as more of a shock, as her husand Joe died five months ago.

The gift is simple – twelve carefully chosen books from Joe, one for each month…

Shellybanks

Louise Milligan

On the sands of Shellybanks, where tides can quickly turn treacherous, journalist Kate Deleney once nearly drowned. Years later, reeling from a violent cime that has upended her life in Melbourne, she returns to Dublin to comfort her beloved aunt Dolores-only to discover Dolores has her own buried trauma.

As a teenager, Dolores was drawn into a disturbing religious movement that stole her youth, her freedom, and so much more. With Katie’s help she is determined to confront the powerful network that made her suffer years
of silence and shame.

Find out about our Author Talks

Fundraiser for Ballarat RSL & BMI

$33 per person

Minerva's Secrets Night Tours

Tue 19 May with special visit to Lantern Vaults

Tour 1 at 7pm – Tour 2 at 9pm. 

BMI Fundraising Events book donation promotional image

Calling for Pre-loved books

These donation assist in our Library Fundraising Activities

We can take delivery during regular Library operating hours. See website footer.

Spring Season, History Talks:

Ballarat's Henry Lawson - The Dragon's Den - Gold! Gold! Gold!

Wed 3, 17 & 24 September, 5.30pm. 

Christmas Holiday Closures | Library

Monday 23 December – Sunday 5 January

Vintage Fashion Parade

Bubbly on arrival featuring quality items from our Vintage Shop

Sunday 6 September at 2pm - Cost $65

The Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute 2026 Calendar

Featuring illustrations from our Heritage Book Collection $40

Tax Deductible 

Your gift will be tax-deductible this financial year if you make it before June 30.

We need
your help.

2024 End of Financial Year Appeal 

Or alternatively go to our Donations web page.

Our Challenge

Like many organisations the BMI faces significant funding challenges. 

We thank you for your support.