Our latest blog posts
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (the original screenplay) by J.K. Rowling
Ruby Red Shoes Goes to London by Kate Knapp
The Midnight Gang by David Walliams and Tony Ross
Double Down (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 11) by Jeff Kinney
Girl Stuff for Girls Aged 8-12: Your Real Guide to the Pre-Teen Years by Kaz Cooke
Wormwood Mire (A Stella Montgomery Intrigue) by Judith Rossell
Withering-By-Sea (A Stella Montgomery Intrigue) by Judith Rossell
What we're reading: Cece Bell, Marilyn Waring and Bill Bryson
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Lian Hingee is reading The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
Many years ago I spent a Gap Year working at a boarding school just outside of London. After I returned I discovered Bill Bryson’s Notes From a Small Island, which I snickered through with delighted familiarity. Bryson has a magnificent…
Anti-Christmas reads for grinches
If you’re already gritting your teeth in anticipation of the holiday cheer coming your way, we’ve compiled a list of violent, horrifying and disturbing books. We recommend you disappear inside of one of them until the post New Year’s hangover.
The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff
Few things dampen the festive spirit like a witch burning. Vividly capturing the atmosphere of seventeenth-century America, Stacy Schiff’s magisterial history draws readers into this anxious time in history and reveals details and…
A sweet DIY gift idea for Christmas
Hand-made Christmas gifts can be a fun and affordable way to survive the holiday season. This week, our staff tried their hands at making some ‘simple paper flowers’ with instructions from Kelsey Elam. Here’s a brief recap of our crafternoon.
WHY THIS BOOK…
We’ll be honest – we mainly decided to test 100 Simple Paper Flowers out as it promised to be simple – it’s in the title and everything. It also helps that it’s a beautiful book…
20 gifts under $20
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be compiling a host of gift guides to help you with your Christmas shopping.
Mug Cakes + Nutella = Irresistible. Nutella Mug Cakes and More features 30+ recipes for delicious Nutella-based desserts that require minimal effort and time.
A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
With extraordinary honesty and magnetism, Lucia Berlin invites us into her rich, itinerant life: the drink and the mess and the pain and…
Costa book awards shortlists 2016
The Costa Book Awards honour some of the most outstanding books of the year written by authors based in the UK and Ireland. There are five categories - First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book - with one of the five winners chosen as Book of the Year.
Here are the shortlistees in each category.
Novel
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
This Must Be the Place by Maggie O’Farrell
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
Literary prize winners to read over summer
Looking for something to read during the holidays? Here are some of the biggest literary prize winners of the past year.
(You can find even more literary Prize winners from this past year here. Plus, if you have young readers at home, you might like to browse our collection of prize-winning children’s and YA books here.)
Read if you enjoy challenging, imaginative fiction…
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
This confronting historical novel about slavery has a supernatural…
Books to keep the kids busy during Christmas
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be compiling a host of gift guides to help you with your Christmas shopping.
If you have small children, you may already know the power of a good activity or novelty book. Here are some of our best suggestions for keeping the kids busy during the Christmas season – from babies through to tweens.
OUR TOP PICKS FOR BABIES, TODDLERS & PRESCHOOLERS
Undercover – A wordless look-and-find book with bright colours and bold graphics…
Recommendations for an Australian Christmas lunch
Our food and gardening columnist has some recommendations for home cooks who are looking to embrace the true nature of Christmas in Australia.
Planning your meal for the festive season? I can only hope that you have moved away from a European styled feast and are able to acknowledge that, yes, December 25 is nearly always hot and humid – and certainly not befitting a roast…
If you have finally seen the light, here is my list of go-to-guides for…
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
Hope: An Anthology by various
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
The Good People by Hannah Kent
Swing Time by Zadie Smith
Night School by Lee Child
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
Music and Freedom by Zoë Morrison
True Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia by David Hunt
Fight Like a Girl by Clementine Ford
Smith & Daughters: A Cookbook (That Happens to be Vegan) by Shannon Martinez and Mo Wyse
We were so pleased to be a…
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