Our latest blog posts
What we're reading: Tremain, Paolini & Spears
Each week our amazing staff bring you a sample of the books or music they're immersed in.
Joanna Di Mattia is reading Absolutely & Forever by Rose Tremain
Over the past three months, I have read one great book after another. I recently finished Rose Tremain’s latest novel, Absolutely & Forever, which has continued this golden streak.
This is a book of young passions written with the insight of age, told from the perspective of Marianne Clifford, a teenager…
The Prime Minister's Literary Awards winners 2023
The winners of this year's Prime Minister's Literary Awards have been announced! The Prime Minister's Literary Awards celebrate outstanding literary talent in Australia and the valuable contribution Australian literature and history makes to the nation's cultural and intellectual life.
Fiction winner:
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
Nonfiction winner:
My Father and Other Animals by Sam Vincent
Australian History winner:
Unmaking Angas Downs by Shannyn Palmer
Poetry winner:
At the Altar of Touch by Gavin Yuan Gao
Young Adult…
The November crime review
These are the crime books which have been read and reviewed by our excellent booksellers this month - all in one place!
The Mantis by Kotaro Isaka & Sam Malissa (trans.)
Reviewed by Joe Murray from Readings Kids
Kabuto lives a double life: one as a loving father and dutiful husband, the other as a cold-blooded contract killer. Only one of those lives is terrifying – the other is just murder for hire. Trouble is, Kabuto wants out of the…
Top picks for book clubs this month
Australian Fiction | The Conversion by Amanda Lohrey
Nick: so persuasive, ever the optimist, always on a quest to design the perfect environment, convinced it could heal a wounded soul. The conversion was Nick’s idea, but it’s Zoe who’s here now, in a valley of old coalmines and new vineyards, working out how to live in a deconsecrated church. What to do with all that vertical space, those oppressive stained-glass windows? Can a church become a home or, even with…
Benjamin Myers wins the Goldsmiths Prize 2023
Benjamin Myers is the winner of this year's Goldsmiths Prize for his novel Cuddy. Established in 2013, The Goldsmiths Prize celebrates the qualities of creative daring and rewards fiction that breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form.
On winning the prize, Benjamin Myers said: 'It’s a big surprise to win the Goldsmiths Prize. I genuinely didn’t think it was going to be given to my book. It probably sounds a bit ingenuous or a little…
What the residents of Sunnydale are reading
Growing up I was only allowed half an hour of TV a day, which at the time felt like deprivation. It did however force me to choose my shows very carefully, and to be honest I am not sure how I managed to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which from memory was at an ungodly hour, but I did. And let me tell you, I loved it.
My fascination with vampires was originally sparked by the film adaptation of Anne…
Our October 2023 children's and young adult bestsellers
Songlines: First Knowledges for Younger Readers by Margo Neale, Lynne Kelly & Blak Douglas (illus.)
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
The 169-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton (illus.)
No Brainer (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Book 18) by Jeff Kinney
Write Fight Flee! by 100 Story Building
Artichoke to Zucchini by Alice Oehr
Look Who’s Talking (the Bad Guys: Episode 18) by Aaron Blabey
Our books of the month, November 2023
Explore our books of the month for November; each of the below titles has been read and recommended by our booksellers before being selected as our book of the month for its category.
FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH
Women & Children by Tony Birch
Reviewed by Ruby Grinter, Readings Carlton
'Tony Birch crafts a story that perfectly encapsulates the innocence of childhood, and the creeping recognition of how the world ignores the voices of women and girls.'Lovely, mischievous…
Our October 2023 bestsellers
Killing for Country: A Family Story by David Marr
Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton
Philoxenia: A Seat at My Table by Kon & Sia Karapanagiotidis
Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi & Geoffrey Trousselot (trans.)
Unfinished Woman by Robyn Davidson
Unruly by David Mitchell
The Seven by Chris Hammer
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder
Thoughtful picture books for tough days
These recently published picture books are just the thing for when days don't go to plan.
Woo Hoo! You’re Doing Great! by Sandra Boynton
Whether you are learning to skate, baking a cake, or even making a mistake, this hilarious and heartfelt rhyming book reminds us that trying our best is reason to celebrate. From children trying to master new skills to adults who had a hard week at work, we all get overwhelmed sometimes and need reassurance. And who…
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