V. V. Ganeshananthan and Naomi Klein were announced last night as the 2024 winners of the Women's Prizes. Ganeshananthan won the Women's Prize for Fiction for her novel Brotherless Night, while Klein won the inaugural Women's Prize for Non-Fiction for Doppelganger.

The Women's Prize is awared annually and is open to all women writers, writing in English and published in the UK. The fiction winner receives £30,000, anonymously endowed, and the ‘Bessie’, a bronze statuette created by the…

Read more ›

June is Audiobook Appreciation month, as well as Libro.fm's ten year anniversary, so it's the perfect time to pick up a new book on audio! Whether you're already a lover of audiobooks or you're new to the format, we've got recommendations to help you find a great read.

Did you know you can browse and buy audiobooks on Libro.fm, while supporting Readings? We have a Libro store, meaning you can buy audiobooks from Readings, see our curated recommendations…

Read more ›

Australian fiction | Imperial Harvest by Bruce Pascoe

Yen Se has lost everything to the Khan's brutality.

Left with one eye and one leg, he is forced out of his home village to work in the city as a horse handler. Witness to the Khan's violent crusade, their raids sweeping across Eurasia, he travels with the theatre of war, but exists outside of it; stunned every morning to find himself alive.

Yen Se moves randomly across Europe with a loose…

Read more ›

Our bestseller this month was Long Island by Colm Tóibín, which continues the story of Eilis Lacey from his hugely successful Brooklyn. Our reviewer and managing director Joe Rubbo recently spoke with Tóibín about his writing and what compelled him to return to the story of Eilis. Their conversation can be found here, as well as Joe's review.

Three recent prize winners featured this month: Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright, winner of the 2024 Stella Prize; Kairos by…

Read more ›

Many talented and dedicated people have worked at Readings over our 55-year history. In July, our Hawthorn shop manager of the last 27 years, Desiree Boardman will retire. During her tenure, Desi has been a committed shop manager and passionate bookseller. She is particularly special to me because she was my first manager at Readings. I took up a position at the Hawthorn shop as a Christmas casual about 20 years ago and I still remember the lessons Desi taught…

Read more ›

Australian fiction | Safe Haven by Shankari Chandran

After arriving in Australia seeking asylum, Fina dedicates herself to aiding the refugees held in a detention centre at Port Camden, a remote island outpost. Appalled by the mistreatment of those in custody, Fina speaks out to the media about the poor conditions within the facility, as a result she is arrested, taken from her home in the small country town of Hastings and threatened with deportation.

When a security officer dies…

Read more ›

This month we're reading fiction translated from: Swedish, Japanese, Italian, Icelandic and French!

Antiquity by Hanna Johansson (translated from Swedish by Kira Josefsson)

Antiquity follows its unnamed narrator, a lonely woman in her thirties who becomes enamoured of a chic older artist, Helena, after interviewing her for a magazine. Helena invites the narrator to join her in the Greek city of Ermoupoli where she summers with her teenage daughter Olga. At first an object of jealousy, Olga morphs into an…

Read more ›

Miranda July's second novel All Fours is now available, and our booksellers are desperate to share their excitement for this new title! Following a 45-year-old woman's unexpected journey of reinvention, All Fours has been described by the publisher as 'new and thrillingly, profoundly alive'.

Somehow not convinced? Read our staff thoughts below to see why you need to pick it up ASAP.

All Fours is one of the best books I have read in a very long time. It is…

Read more ›

Each week our wonderful staff share the books and music that they've been enjoying.

Mark Rubbo is reading The Spoiled Heart by Sunjeev Sahota

I've been reading the The Spoiled Heart by Sunjeev Sahota. It's a political novel about race, class and identity but its also a novel about trauma and denial. Set in contemporary England, I found it absolutely riveting.

Nayan has risen through union ranks and with his emphasis on better conditions for the members he's immensely popular…

Read more ›

Whether you’re a lover of magical worlds, intriguing mysteries, rollercoaster romances, or — like me — all of the above, there’s a new book waiting to be your next favourite! So if you’re struggling to choose your next read, here’s a round of up of my favourite new releases.

Fantasy

The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick

Personally, I always have a soft spot for retellings of Beauty and the Beast and the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone, and this…

Read more ›