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

Lian is reading Scaffolding by Lauren Elkin

After hearing my co-worker Joanna rave about Laura Elkin's debut novel Scaffolding, I took the opportunity to pick up a copy of my own. This evocative novel follows parallel stories about two couples inhabiting the same Paris apartment, 50 years apart. In both time periods, the women of the apartment are undergoing a change, pushing against the boundaries imposed upon…

Read more ›

Dig Deep by Edwina Wyatt, illustrated by Lauren O'Hara

This is the first title in a new Junkyard Fairies series full of magic, charm, mischief and mayhem from Edwina Wyatt, author of the Magnolia Moon series, and Lauren O'Hara, co-creator of Frindelswylde.

Fur, Tip and Nug live in a chipped, china teapot at the bottom of the junkyard. They are messy, bossy and never eat their vegetables. With the help of a burping toad, a sleeping giant and a…

Read more ›

Aurelia Orr, one of our most prolific and insightful Readings staff reviewers, chats with Robbie Arnott about his tense and lyrical latest novel, Dusk, and the titular character’s surprising connection to Jaws.

Join us on October 8th to celebrate the launch of Dusk at Readings Carlton.

AO: What was the inspiration behind this story?

RA: I was spending a lot of time thinking about the recent history of the antipodes – not just how brutal and cruel…

Read more ›

Check out the great promotions and giveaways we have for October!

Win a $300 voucher for Attica

Purchase a copy of Uses for Obsession by Ben Shewry and go into the draw to win a $300 voucher to Attica.

Plus, we have signed copies! Available in shops and online, while stocks last.

In this absorbing and wide-ranging memoir meets manifesto, Shewry applies his sometimes searing, sometimes comic eye to creative freedom in the kitchen, food journalism, sexism in hospitality, the…

Read more ›

Juice by Tim Winton

Two fugitives, a man and a child, drive all night across a stony desert. As dawn breaks, they roll into an abandoned mine site. From the vehicle they survey a forsaken place – middens of twisted iron, rusty wire, piles of sun-baked trash. They’re exhausted, traumatised, desperate now. But as a refuge, this is the most promising place they’ve seen. The child peers at the field of desolation. The man thinks to himself, this could work.

…

Read more ›

Explore our books of the month for October.

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

Juice by Tim Winton

Reviewed by Joe Rubbo, Managing Director of Readings

Somewhere in Western Australia, a man and a young child in his care…

Read more ›

The Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) has announcd the shortlists for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize! Selected from over 130 entries, the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize Shortlists encapsulates some of the best historical fiction from Australian and New Zealand writers.

The shortlisted authors will all share in a prize pool of $150,000; the winners of the adult and children's categories will receive $100,000 and $30,000 respectively, and the remaining authors from the shortlists will each receive $5,000.

…

Read more ›

Sally Rippin is one of Australia’s best-selling and most-beloved children’s authors. Rippin has written over 50 books for kids, so it would be completely understandable to be just a tad overwhelmed! This blog is here to help you pick which Rippin book to pick up first!

There are lots of great junior fiction series to dive into, as well as beautiful picture books for little ones. And whether they're a new Sally Rippin fan or pick up all her books…

Read more ›

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 Alison Huber's column from the latest issue – and keep an eye on the blog for more updates and recommended new releases throughout the month!

Last year I remember calling October O for Overwhelming, and I must say that this declaration is even more Obvious in 2024. This is a proper whopper of a month…

Read more ›

Our extraordinary community engagement and programming manager Chris Gordon asks beloved local author Melanie Cheng about her beautiful, heartbreaking new novel, The Burrow.

CG: The Burrow is set during Covid times in Melbourne. How important to you was recording this particular moment of Melbourne lockdown history? The unfinished house improvements and diminished public contact particularly resonated with me.

MC: I didn’t set out to write a book set during the pandemic. I knew publishers were wary of pandemic books…

Read more ›