Our latest blog posts
The best classical CDs of 2015
Here are our top ten classical CDs of the year, voted for by Readings’ staff. Displayed in no particular order.
Max Richter: The Blue Notebooks by Max Richter
The Blue Notebooks, a tenth anniversary rerelease of Max Richter’s second album, is breathtaking. Richter cites Sigur Rós as an influence, evident in the meditative ‘Horizon Variations’. This, along with tracks such as ‘Written on the Sky’, will similarly appeal to Arvo Pärt fans for its elegance and simplicity. The Blue…
10 gift ideas for ethical and socially responsible shoppers
Heartland: Celebrating 50 Years of the Australian Conservation Foundation by Australian Conservation Foundation
This lovely celebration of the fifty year history of the Australian Conservation Foundation is fantastic value. The photography is all the original work of MAPgroup documentary photographers, a non profit organisation with a mission to create a visual archive of Australian life for future generations. Heartland is a beautiful gift and a worthy way to commemorate Australia’s oldest and largest national environmental group.
What to buy for hard-to-buy-for adults
Your friends who ‘don’t read’
Why would a man escape from prison the day before he’s due to be released? You’ll have to read Michael Robotham’s Life or Death to find out… This crime thriller won the CWA Gold Dagger this year so comes highly recommended.
Music lovers may be tempted by The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic. Jessica Hopper’s short and snappy pieces are immensely readable.
Hadley Freeman’s Life Moves Pretty Fast is…
What to buy for hard-to-buy-for children
It can be tough work buying books for kids. Maybe they’re picky readers. Maybe they’ve read everything. Or maybe the last time you saw them they were in nappies and now you have absolutely no idea what they like. If you’ve got some hard-to-buy-for kids in your life, we’ve got some suggestions for you.
Early readers
Here are some of our favourite picks for kids transitioning from picture books to their very first read-alone novels:
Elephant and Piggie is a…
Meet Lian Hingee, our new Digital Marketing Manager
by Lian HingeeWe chatted to Lian Hingee, our new Digital Marketing Manager, about her favourite books
Describe your taste in books.
I’m a fiction reader primarily, but I binge-read across a broad range of genres. Usually what happens is that I’ll read one book that really grabs me, then I’ll spend a couple of months powering through similar titles until I hit saturation point and have to start from scratch to find my Next Big Thing.
I’ve got a long history with…
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 10: Old School by Jeff Kinney (both the paperback and hardback editions)
The Red Queen by Isobelle Carmody
The Singing Bones by Shaun Tan
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The Wonder Garden: Wander Through The World’s Wildest Habitat and Discover More Than 80 Amazing Animals by Jenny Broom and Kristjana S Williams
What Do You Wish for? by Jane Godwin and Anna Walker
Top of the Class (Nearly) by Liz Pichon
My…
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
Special Delivery: Favourite Recipes to Make and Take by Annabel Crabb and Wendy Sharpe
Keating (special edition) by Kerry O'Brien
World War One: A History in 100 Stories by Bruce Scates, Rebecca Wheatley and Laura James
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
The Moroccan Soup Bar: Recipes of a Spoken Menu and a Little Bit of Spice by Hana Assafiri
The Other Side of the World by Stephanie Bishop
What the team at Kill Your Darlings is reading in November
The team behind Melbourne literary journal Kill Your Darlings tell us what they’re reading this month.
Veronica Sullivan, Online Editor:
Fiona Wright’s personal essay collection, Small Acts of Disappearance, floored me. Each essay focuses on a different aspect of the physical and psychological hunger that has shadowed Wright throughout her adult life. She seamlessly interweaves the theoretical with the personal, providing readers with medical, cultural, historical and literary contexts for anorexia and its manifestations. Describing the ways anorexia consumes…
What we're reading: Rainbow Rowell, Eka Kurniawan and Jacqui Newling
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.
Mark Rubbo is reading Beauty Is A Wound by Eka Kurniawan
I’ve just been to Indonesia and read this remarkable novel by Eka Kurniawan. At 498 pages, it’s a monster but I finished it in a few days. Kurniawan tells the story of modern Indonesia through the eyes of a prostitute, Dewi Ayu…
Upcoming changes to our shipping rates
For the past four years, Readings has been proud to offer our customers free shipping for all online orders within Australia. Over this time postage costs have continued to rise, and shipping has become a cost we are no longer able to absorb. Consequently we need to introduce a small delivery fee on all orders. We remain committed to offering our customers the best value possible, so we’re keeping our shipping fee to an absolute minimum.
From Wednesday 18 November,…