It should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that this issue of our beloved Readings Monthly is an absolute cracker, because every issue is, ever since we began publishing it in its earliest form back in the 1980s. Each Readings Monthly showcases the deep book-love and expertise of our booksellers. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with many staff who pursue parallel lives as artists, musicians, academics, students, lawyers, actors, promoters, filmmakers, theatremakers, puppeteers, designers, sewers…

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No Church in the Wild by Murray Middleton

It's been five long years since violence erupted between young migrants and local police in Melbourne's inner west. A police-led trip to hike the Kokoda Trail hopes to rebuild relationships in the community, but as training gets underway, fresh allegations of racial profiling have everyone on a knife-edge.

For wannabe rapper Ali, pride is hard to come by in the commission towers as both gentrification and his best friend's court date creep…

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Immerse yourself in literary days gone by in this preview of the sparkling correspondence between Shirley Hazzard and Elizabeth Harrower, as curated, introduced, and insightfully edited by Brigitta Olubas and Susan Wyndham in Hazzard and Harrower: The Letters. Below you will find an edited extract from the introduction to the book, and a glimpse of the letters it brings to light.

Shirley Hazzard and Elizabeth Harrower met in person for the first time in London in 1972, six years…

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

Rosalind McClintock is reading James by Percival Everett

I just swallowed up James by Percival Everett in less than a weekend, and I have a very chatty 7 year old, so that is saying something! A retelling of Huckleberry Finn, from Jim's view, it is such an elegant, compelling, harrowing and yet hopeful read. Everett's prose is perfect, the issues meaty, and his characters are…

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How to Cut an Orange by Zoë Croggon & edited by Justine Ellis, Ash Holmes & Dan Rule

Readings Carlton art and design buyer Zoë Croggon is a person of many talents. Not only does she expertly curate our art and design list, she is a celebrated artist in her own right, working across multiple forms including dance, drawing, sculpture and collage. Her new book, How to Cut an Orange, draws on each of these disciplines along with the…

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There's no more perfect gift than time shared together, especially when your quality time is taking place at one of this year's Melbourne Writers Festival events! Below is a selection of events we think are perfect to book in for you and a loved one this Mother's Day.

The Sands of Time

Prize-winning Gudanji and Wakaja writer Debra Dank (We Come With This Place) and bestselling Tracks author Robyn Davidson (Unfinished Woman) discuss their new memoirs…

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January and February always feel a bit slow in the world of bookselling, customer numbers dwindle and the number of books being published slows. It’s a good time to tidy up after Christmas, take a breath and plan for the year ahead. There isn’t much time for repose, however, as things start to pick up again in March.

We kicked off the month with the launch for Nam Le’s new poetry collection, 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem…

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

Lian Hingee is reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

A lot of my favourite reading experiences have come about through recommendations from my wonderful and widely-read workmates (pro-tip: work at a bookshop, you'll never run out of books you desperately want to read). When our Emporium bookseller Megan posted on Instagram about how she was jealous of people who got to read…

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Easy Wins: 12 Flavour Hits, 125 Delicious Recipes, 365 Days of Good Eating by Anna Jones

Did you know Anna Jones left her day job to write recipes and cook? She did it after reading an article about following personal passion. After reading this delicious new cookbook, I am thinking about handing in my notice and eating any dish with lemons in it for the rest of my life. Putting aside life ambitions for a minute, this cookbook is a…

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1. Taylor Swift: A Little Golden Book Biography by Wendy Loggia & Elisa Chavarri (illus.)

2. The Scarlet Shedder (Dog Man, Book 12) by Dav Pilkey

3. I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang

4. Outlaw Girls by Emily Gale & Nova Weetman

5. Friday Barnes 12: Collision Course by R.A. Spratt

6. Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell

7. Bluey: Hooray, It’s Easter! by Bluey

8. Waverider (Amulet, Book 9) by Kazu Kibuishi

9. Where is Cheeky Monster?…

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