Australian fiction
ARA Historical Novel Prize 2024 Shortlist
The Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) has announcd the shortlists for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize! Selected from over 130 entries, the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize Shortlists encapsulates some of the best historical fiction from Australian and New Zealand writers.
The shortlisted authors will all share in a prize pool of $150,000; the winners of the adult and children's categories will receive $100,000 and $30,000 respectively, and the remaining authors from the shortlists will each receive $5,000.
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Q&A with award-winning author Melanie Cheng
Our extraordinary community engagement and programming manager Chris Gordon asks beloved local author Melanie Cheng about her beautiful, heartbreaking new novel, The Burrow.
CG: The Burrow is set during Covid times in Melbourne. How important to you was recording this particular moment of Melbourne lockdown history? The unfinished house improvements and diminished public contact particularly resonated with me.
MC: I didn’t set out to write a book set during the pandemic. I knew publishers were wary of pandemic books…
A Day in Carlton festival
Join Readings on the 15 and 16 of November for 24-hours celebrating books, culture and community. Check out the program and deals available below.
Deals on the Day
Show your ticket to any of the Day in Carlton events to receive exclusive discounts at businesses around Carlton!
$10 glasses of wine when you show your ticket at Jimmy Watson’s
$4 coffee when you show your ticket at Heart Attack & Vine
$14 Aperol spritz when you show your ticket at…
Queer historical fiction
LGBTQIA+ people have long been discriminated against and criminalised, their stories erased from history. But queer people across the spectrum have always been here, and these heartfelt books of historic fiction reflect that. From Alexander the Great to Melbourne in 1943, explore stories of love, power, rebellion and friendship that recognise the place of the LGBTQIA+ community across history.
Matrix by Lauren Groff
This is a wonderful book where free thinking, community and innovation triumph over convention. Matrix is the…
The Barbara Jefferis Award 2024 shortlist
The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) has announced the shortlist for the 2024 Barbara Jefferis Award, worth $50,000. Judges Hannah Kent, Jennifer Mills and Melanie Saward said of the shortlist: ‘We found all six books deeply affecting, and many highly memorable for their unswerving demands for social justice and reclamations of power.’
Salonika Burning by Gail Jones
Macedonia, 1917. The great city of Salonika is engulfed by fire as all of Europe is ravaged by war.
Amid the destruction are…
Family stories as gripping as they are dysfunctional
A great range of incredible family dramas have come out recently, so if you're ready to dive into compelling conflict, distract yourself from your own drama or live vicariously through the dysfunction of others, these books will fit the bill!
Together We Fall Apart by Sophie Matthiesson
For the past seven years, Clare has been living in London. She works for a judge on child protection cases. Her partner, Miriam, is devoted to raising their young son, Rupert; their days…
The Booker Prize 2024 shortlist
The shortlist for the 2024 Booker Prize has been announced! The shortlist includes five women authors, the largest number in the Booker's 55-year history. The shortlist also includes the first Dutch writer to be shortlisted, and Charlotte Wood, the first Australian to be shortlisted in 10 years.
The Booker Prize is open to works of long-form fiction by writers of any nationality, written in English and published in the UK and/or Ireland; the shortlist was selected from 156 books published…
Dog Lover's reading guide
We love dogs here at Readings! We are always delighted whenever a dog walks through our shop doors. If you follow us on Instagram, you're sure to have seen many photos of wagging tails between the shelves!
If you love dogs as much as we do, then this blog is for you! whether you're young or old, whether you read fiction or nonfiction or just want to be closer with your four-legged friend, there's something for every dog lover.
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The Prime Minister's Literary Awards winners 2024
The winners of the 2024 Prime Minister's Literary Awards have been announced! The Prime Minister's Literary Awards celebrate outstanding literary talent in Australia and the valuable contribution Australian literature and history makes to the nation's cultural and intellectual life.
🏆 FICTION WINNER
Anam by André Dao
A grandson tries to learn the family story. But what kind of story is it?
Moving from 1930s Hanoi through a series of never-ending wars and displacements to Saigon, Paris, Melbourne and Cambridge, Anam…
Top picks for book clubs this month
Looking for something juicy to discuss in your book club? Try one of these new releases, chosen by our booksellers to appeal to a wide range of readers and provide plenty to talk about.
Australian fiction
The Temperature by Katerina Gibson
What brings six very different people together? Fiona is a millennial media writer; Sidney a failed poet; Tomas a thirty-something factory worker and father; Lexi a fading activist icon; Govita a non-binary visual artist; Henry a Vietnam veteran ageing…
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