The start of a new month means that there's a new issue of Readings Monthly available online and in our shops. Below you can read the foreword from the latest issue – and keep an eye on the blog for more updates and recommended new releases throughout the month!

In case you missed it, we have just announced the 2024 shortlists for The Readings Prizes for Children’s, Young Adult and New Australian Fiction. It is always an exciting time of year for us at Readings, as we learn what our colleagues, who have judged the prizes, are most excited about. Throughout the year, we hear snippets of commentary about the large list of books they read as part of the judging process, and I have to admit I cannot always tell what the final six will be. This year, I have been lucky enough to be called in to help decide the winner for the New Australian Fiction Prize and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading the shortlisted entries. There is a great diversity in content and style, and an outstanding level of quality. It’s been a lovely month of reading for me. While there will be only one winner for each prize, all the shortlisted authors will receive a good push from all of us at Readings, so expect to see big stacks of these titles next time you come into one of our shops. I encourage you to read one, or several, or all of them!

This year we have increased the value of the prizes to $5,000 (from $3,000) for each category, as part of our ongoing commitment to Australian authors, books and writing.

Speaking of Australian writing, September is really the beginning of the key publishing season and it’s looking like it is going to be an exciting end to the year, with some big books coming out by authors such as Tim Winton, Helen Garner, Michelle de Kretser and many, many more. There are some international heavyweights too, with new novels from Deborah Levy, Sally Rooney, Richard Powers and William Boyd among them.

With so many choices, how are you going to decide what to read in the coming months and over your summer holidays? As booksellers, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to read many of these books in advance, and I’d like to take this chance to do a little shout-out to our many wonderful booksellers, who are roaming our shop floors ready to give you recommendations. They are terrific at what they do and are very keen readers. I don’t get to work on the shop floor as much as I used to, but it is always the highlight of my day to recommend a book to a customer. So please don’t feel shy, come and say hi.

Finally, this year Indigenous Literacy Day (ILD) falls on Wednesday 4 September. The day is run by the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF), a fantastic organisation which was set up in 2004 by some fellow independent booksellers. The theme for 2024 is ‘Be a Proud Voice for Country’, showing how Aboriginal communities connect with and advocate for Country. The ILF will be sharing stories, cultures and languages in a day featuring many Proud Voices. You can register now at ilf.org.au/ild or donate at donate.ilf.org.au

To mark Indigenous Literacy Day we are supporting the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, a not-for-profit charity that strives to reduce the literacy gap and improve outcomes for young First Nations people in remote communities. Make a tax-deductible donation through our fundraising page during the month of September and Readings will match it up to a total of $10,000.

And throughout the month of September, Readings will donate $2 from every copy sold of Always Was, Always Will Be to the the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.