Nonfiction
Must-see panels this MWF 2024
Melbourne Writers Festival is just a month away, and if you're still considering which sessions to book we're sharing some of the fabulous panels and in-conversations that can expand your mind, without requiring any festival pre-reading! Browse the full MWF program here.
After 235 years of colonisation, who truly gets to be human in so-called Australia? Join Ziggy Ramo, Chelsea Watego and Lamisse Hamouda together in conversation with host Osman Faruqi.
When: Saturday 11…
The Women's Prize for Non-Fiction 2024 shortlist
The inaugural shortlist for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction has been announced! This new prize celebrates exceptional narrative non-fiction by women, and promotes excellence in writing, robust research, original narrative voices and accessibility. The Prize is valued at £30,000 and is open to all women writers from across the globe who are published in the UK and writing in English.
The winner will be announced on 13 June 2024.
Thunderclap by Laura Cumming
Thunderclap is a kaleidoscopic memoir connecting Laura…
The inaugural Women's Prize for Non-Fiction longlist 2024
In its inaugural year, the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction provides a platform for non-fiction written by women that has been previously overlooked and underestimated.
From gripping memoirs and polemic narratives, to groundbreaking investigative journalism and revisionist history, these 16 titles below will change the way you view the non-fiction section of the bookshop.
Whether you are a seasoned non-fiction reader or considering trying for the first time, with this list you have at your fingertips a breadth of titles that…
The 100 bestselling books of 2023
We've run the reports and crunched the numbers. Here are our 100 bestselling books from the past year.
This year's top 100 includes:
37 works of nonfiction
6 Australian First Nations writers
3 cookbooks
4 stars of the screen
2 works of poetry
1 member of the British royal family
every book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series
You can discover our 100 bestselling children's and young adult books from 2023 here.
25% off 25 personal development favourites
We’re offering 25% off a select range of our personal development favourites! Simply apply the code PD25 at checkout to receive a 25% discount on all participating titles.
If you've seamlessly slipped back into old habits and are already feeling an all too familiar lack of vigour and vitality, a change to your routine or mindset could be in order. But where to begin? We've brought together some of our favourite personal development titles – at 25% off! –…
A cookbook for every cook
2023 has seen the release of many inspirational and thoughtful cookbooks from local and international chefs. Whether you're earth conscious, need to reduce your spending or want to recreate a meal from your favourite restaurant or country's cuisine there are options galore to suit every home cook. Below are twelve of our top choices to get you inspired.
CDMX: The Food of Mexico City by Rosa Cienfuegos
CDMX is a celebration of the food of Mexico City, the dishes that…
A book to gift every history buff
From Roman to modern times, Alexandria to Melbourne, unruly monarchs and women in science there is something to please most history enthusiasts in our recommendations for 2023.
Corners of Melbourne by Robyn Annear
What better defines a city than its street corners? A corner gives you a starting point, a destination and a place to turn. It's furnished with pillar boxes, newsstands and tram stops, and lamp-posts for light and lounging. Where would you be likeliest to find a pub…
Our November 2023 bestsellers
Question 7 by Richard Flanagan
The In-Between by Christos Tsiolkas
Good Material by Dolly Alderton
Women & Children by Tony Birch
So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder
Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton
Bright Shining: How Grace Changes Everything by Julia Baird
Killing for Country: A Family Story by David Marr
All That's Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien
Quarterly Essay 92: The Great Divide: Australia’s Housing Mess and How…
Bookseller spotlight: Joanna Di Mattia’s favourite books of 2023
Joanna Di Mattia is a bookseller at Readings Carlton.
I made an early declaration this year that Jenny Erpenbeck’s Kairos would be the best novel I’d read in 2023, and as the year now comes to a close, that declaration still stands. For me, no other book has touched it – I love its emotional and psychological complexity, and the way it recreates the last days of life in a divided Germany so vividly and sensually. I think about it…
Best nonfiction of 2023
Every year our staff vote for their favourite books of the past 12 months. Here are the nonfiction books of the year, as voted by Readings' staff, and displayed in alphabetical order by author.
Art Monsters by Lauren Elkin
Who are Art Monsters? Lauren Elkin characterises them as women who break the social norms of behaviour and appearance. They are women who redefine the truth of their own bodies, not by how they are perceived through the traditional male lens.
…
Browse our blog by category
