Literary Heatwaves

When the heat rises in fiction, so too do tempers, tensions and the promise of an inevitable reckoning. We’ve curated a collection of summer-soaked literary reads, available to borrow and inspired by Melbourne’s summer heat as the season draws to a close.


Updated January 21, 2026
W
Wyndham Library
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Lindsay, Joan
Paper Book
Valley of the dolls
Susann, Jacqueline
Paper Book
Before Jackie Collins, Candace Bushnell and Lena Dunham, Jacqueline Susann held the world rapt with her tales of the private passions of Hollywood starlets, high-powered industrialists and the jet-set. Valley of the Dolls took the world by storm when it was first published,...
The great Gatsby
Fitzgerald, F. Scott
CD
After the Great War, the mysterious Jay Gatsby, a self-made millionaire, pursues wealth, riches and the lady he lost to another man with stoic determination. He buys a mansion across from her house and throws lavish parties to entice her. When Gatsby finally doesreunite with Daisy Buchanan, tragic...
Sing, unburied, sing
Ward, Jesmyn
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2018WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2017ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S BEST BOOKS OF 2017SELECTED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE NEW STATESMAN, THE FINANCIAL TIMES, THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.