Alison Huber
Alison Huber is the head book buyer for Readings. She has been selling books in Melbourne for twenty years. She is also a recovering academic.
Review — 1 Jun 2021
Animal by Lisa Taddeo
Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women caused a sensation when it was released in 2019 and became something of an instant classic. Her exhaustive research project gave readers access to the intimate…
Review — 30 Mar 2021
On the Line: Notes from a Factory by Joseph Ponthus
I’ve been thinking a lot about On the Line since I read its final pages. Written in French (À la ligne) this book is a piece of autofiction…
Review — 1 Mar 2021
A Room Called Earth by Madeleine Ryan
Here’s the plot pitch: in a first-person stream-of-consciousness narrative, a young woman describes her preparations for a night out at a party. She goes to the party; she meets some…
Review — 23 Feb 2020
Weather by Jenny Offill
If I were more paranoid than I am willing to admit, I would be ruminating very seriously on when and how Jenny Offill (or her agents) entered my brain, extracted…
Blog post — 10 Nov 2020
Dear Reader, November 2020
Each year, our staff members vote on their favourite books of the year, and each year at this time, I panic because I have, yet again, failed to keep a…
Review — 8 Nov 2020
Lucky's by Andrew Pippos
Lucky’s is the kind of confident, big-thinking, character-driven, multi-storyline family saga that I love, and comes to us fully formed from a first-time author. It is one of the most…
Review — 1 Oct 2020
The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida by Clarissa Goenawan
It only takes a few lines of reading to discover that the character of the novel’s title is dead; she has committed suicide, leaving behind a young coterie of confused…
Blog post — 5 Oct 2020
Dear Reader, October 2020
This month’s avalanche of brilliant new releases provokes mixed feelings for the bookseller in lockdown. There are so many fabulous books entering the world, but we do so miss introducing…
Review — 21 Oct 2019
Damascus by Christos Tsiolkas
Damascus is one of the standout novels of the year, delivered to us by the incomparable and singular writer who is Christos Tsiolkas, an author who reinvents himself with every…
Blog post — 8 Sep 2020
Dear Reader, September 2020
If, after six weeks at home during Stage 4 restrictions, you’ve been staring at your shelves thinking, ‘I’ve read all these’, then have I got some great news for you…