Readings.com.au: News

Thames & Hudson 60th Anniversary Sale & Special Editions

2009-07-04T00:00:00Z

This July Thames & Hudson celebrates 60 years of proud independent publishing. Coincidently, it is their 40-year anniversary in Australia!

To celebrate, Thames has chosen 20 of its most influential titles from across the years and has published them as special limited edition collector’s items. These are limited to 1000 sets worldwide.

And for July only, the top 40 bestsellers from the iconic World of Art Series will be reduced to just $12.95! For almost 50 years, these high quality red-and-black books have been the essential reference for visual arts and cultural history.

Art Update

2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

I’m looking forward to Salvador Dali: Liquid Desire, at the NGV. I had a friend in High School who was a huge fan, and who took me to films of Dali & Gala (Dali’s great love & muse) leaping out of giant eggs on the Catalan coast and caused me to read his hugely entertaining books (e.g. Diary of a Genius which is out of print but check your library). I preferred the paintings of Magritte & De Chirico, but I loved reading about Dali’s life and milieu.

Flicking through the April Issue of Frieze Magazine, I found this quote by US artist Carol Bove (in Frieze Magazine’s ongoing series ‘Ideal syllabus’ in which an artist, curator or writer lists the books that have influenced them) for one of her most influential books - Surrealism: The Road to the Absolute by Anna Balakian,

“I have the growing urge to consider the persistent and largely unacknowledged influence of surrealism since the 1920s and I find it in all sorts of unlikely places. It is the shadow of modernism.”

I found myself agreeing with her. Books like Vitamin D, The Upset, and Limited Edition are full of artists with a surrealist ancestry, and Leonora Carrington’s works sprang to mind looking at Mark Ryden’s work, and others of his ilk.

Just arrived are some long awaited titles from Phaidon Press. Especially two new titles in Phaidon’s Contemporary Artists series: Chinese artists Ai Weiwei & Zhang Huan. Underlying the current babble of the news media, on topics of car salesmen and the lives and demise of pop culture personalities, were the haunting words of eyewitnesses to the Tiananmen Square Massacre (20 years ago, 5/6/09). What is china to us, today? A massively complex & fascinating culture - words that easily fit with these two artists, as well as quite brilliant and awe inspiring.

I Can't Stop Reading.....

2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

Pretty Little Liars By Sara Shepard. While it's not your most literary young adult read, it is great fun and hard to put down. Bit like Gossip Girl, but set in Pennsylvania with a killer, stalker and your average mean girls, Pretty Little Liars is nothing short of a bit of wonderful fluff that every teen (and adult!) needs at times in their life.

Carnegie Medal & Kate Greenaway Medal winners announced

2009-07-02T00:00:00Z

The winners of the 2009 Carnegie Medal (for an outstanding book for children) and the Kate Greenaway Medal (for distinguished illustration in a book for children) have been announced.

The winner of the Carnegie Medal is Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd (left). Watch the video of the announcement and the acceptance speech here.

The winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal is Harris Finds His Feet by Catherine Rayner (left). Watch the video of the announcement and Catherine Rayner's acceptance speech here.

Announcing Readings and Writings: 40 Years in Books - the Readings anthology

2009-06-30T00:00:00Z

To commemorate Readings' 40th birthday this year we are very happy to announce that a special Readings anthology called Readings and Writings: 40 Years in Books has been put together and will be published this August.

Edited by Jason Cotter and Michael Williams, with an introduction from Shane Maloney, the anthology will feature all new stories from Alex Miller, Peter Goldsworthy, Cate Kennedy, Christos Tsiolkas, Mark Seymour, Paddy O’Reilly, Chris Womersley, Kate Holden, Elliot Perlman, Myfanwy Jones, Tony Birch, Steven Amsterdam and more.

All proceeds from the sale of this book will go to newly created The Readings Foundation which supports Victorian individuals and organisations that wish to further the development of Literacy, Community work and the Arts.

The Next 50 Popular Penguins are out now

2009-06-30T00:00:00Z

The Next 50 Popular Penguins have arrived at Readings.

To celebrate we are offering a free Penguin book light whenever you buy five or more of the new Popular Penguins.

Here's a demonstration of the nifty Penguin book light. Buy quickly - either online or in one of the six Readings shops - as stocks of the book lights are limited.

Waking up Dead Gods

2009-06-30T00:00:00Z

“Is not advisable, nor was it ever advisable, to lead a Dada life. It is and it always was foolish and self destructive to lead a Dada life because a Dada life will include by definition pranks, buffoonery, masking, deranged senses, intoxication, sabotage, taboo breaking, playing childish and/or dangerous games, waking up dead gods, and not taking education seriously."

So writes Andrei Codrescu, who has written the definitive Posthuman Dada Guide, a far more useful circum-navigational tool than the Luxe City Guides if you ask me. Dada would chew the ear off Monsieur Luxe and use his children to feed rabbits in the train station kiosk.

Such a life, lived even without the handy advice of Dr. Codrescu, has nevertheless been chosen, it seems, by a little old woman with a big smile called Mirka Mora. A women who threatens the legal system with poetry, and is known to sometimes, perhaps not often enough, appear almost naked in public.

I was a young boy when I first saw her. It was evening and my father was breaking into a large case of wine, without a bottle opener. (These were the years before screw tops, a thought we would have gasped at then.) There was an old goods-lift, which took us up one floor to the art gallery above, which was already full of people. If felt hot and dangerous up there, airless and drunken. Suddenly a women, she must have been sixty five at least, climbed onto the table and began speaking loudly above the crowd, languidly pealing off her clothes till she stood, amply and slightly aglow, in her lingerie. If I was writing a coming of age story about surfing, I’d say that this was my first erotic encounter.

Fully clothed, Mirka Mora dropped by this week to inspect her Mural with Sabine Cotte, above, who will be restoring the image on Mirka’s behalf. The wall was damaged when a person with very sharp ears ran past at about 100km an hour, a futurist I believe, enamored by destruction. This is an artist's impression of the culptrit.

That art gallery where my erotic education began is closed now. The bookstore below is a Pharmcy , where the light has that mysterious quality that always makes one feel as if they are about to be experimented on. Sometimes I look behind the mouthwash shelves, for a book which might have fallen down, years ago, or a left over bottle of wine. Sometimes it is good to wake up the dead Gods.

A History of Orgasm

2009-06-30T00:00:00Z

It is hard to ignore a book with the word orgasm in hot pink emblazoned across the cover. It reminded me of an article I saw recently in the Weekend Australian about couples who choose to refrain from sex before marriage. It seemed to me a strange choice considering all the work that has been done to move cultural values in the opposite direction.

In this hotly-pink new title Orgasm and the West, Robert Muchembled charts the history of sexual pleasure and repression that is fundamental to Western culture. He argues that in the tension between self and community, sexuality has been manipulated by state and religion from the very beginning of Western society. His work adds to Michel Foucault's 1970s 3-volume seminal text on the subject: The History of Sexuality. Interestingly, Muchembled also argues that the European attitude to sexuality has evolved more openly than the American one since the 60s, due to the continued influence of a puritan hangover in the States.

Female sexuality has certainly been an area of interest across the genres, since the wave of feminism in the 70s saw the publication of Germain Greer's The Female Eunuch and among other's Nancy Friday's My Secret Garden. Biographies of women in the sex trade particularly have seen an increase over the last few years - God's Callgirl, In My Skin and The Intimate Adventures of a London Callgirl (which was recently also made into a film) - atrract a lot of media and public attention.

Fictional and not-so-fictional accounts of sexual romps are always popular, such as Nikki Gemmell's The Bride Stripped Bare and the new book by Charlotte Roche, Wetlands, which has caused a sensation in her native Germany and remains high on our list of bestsellers.

Interestingly, it has been harder to find male versions, perhaps it is because their sexuality is taken more for granted. There titles are also much more explicit - The Great Cock Hunt; Rent Boys; Ron Jeremy: The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz - titles that never hang around, or seem to spark the interest that the women's ones do.

In the scientific arena Bonk by Mary Roach, traces the history of scientific research on sexuality and Natalie Angier's new book Woman: An Intimate Geography, reveals, among many other fascinating details, that the clitoris-with 8,000 nerve fibers packs double the pleasure of the penis

On a more personal level, The New Joy of Sex, the original I remember seeing about the place in the 70s, continues to sell well, as do other titles such as A Passionate Marriage and Bettina Arndt's Sex Diaries - where she collected tales of the sexual negotiations between ordinary Australian couples.

And if you like your porn with a little more humour, there is always the the Pop-Up Book of Sex or the Cambridge Women's Pornography Collective's, Porn for Women - pictures of bronzed studs vacuuming and doing other household chores, hmmm, maybe that doesn't really count, although it might be useful for all those who have decided that abstainance is the way to go.

Bestsellers: June 22-28 2009

2009-06-29T00:00:00Z

The paperback edition of Breath is doing great work post-Miles Franklin win, as is The Slap. The new Stephanie Plum book from Janet Evanovich was the most notable addition to the bestsellers list of last week.

Breath — Tim Winton
The Slap — Christos Tsiolkas
The Little Stranger — Sarah Waters
Brooklyn — Colm Tóibín
Finger Lickin Fifteen — Janet Evanovich
The Women In Black — Madeleine St John
A Fraction Of The Whole — Steve Toltz
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo — Stieg Larsson
The Brain That Changes Itself — Norman Doidge
Quarterly Essay 34: Stop At Nothing — Annabel Crabb

The Cat's Meow

2009-06-28T00:00:00Z

Sometimes you come across things that just seem to fit together: rainy days and sleeping in, Vegemite and cheese… and cats and books. The pleasure of reading is greatly enhanced for me when there’s a ball of fur curled up in my lap, and if the number of books devoted to the subject of our feline friends is anything to go by, I’m not the only one who thinks that cats and books are a purrfect match (apologies).

So this month, I’m throwing the blog over to a couple of reviewers infinitely more qualified to speak about the subject than myself, Lyra and Pig.

Lyra: Oh, hello, I didn’t see you there. I was far too engrossed in my book. Sometimes it’s hard to find a good book - these days people will write about anything. I mean, who really wants to read about dogs called Marley?

Luckily there are some excellent biographies out there to balance it out. At the moment I’m reading Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World. It’s about a kitten left in the book deposit box of the local library. Dewey, as he becomes known, is raised by the librarians and quickly becomes a local celebrity, bringing joy to all in the way that only a cat can.

Pig: I really liked There Are Cats in this Book by Viviane Schwartz, after I’d finished playing in it that is. In this lift-the-flap book, Tiny, Moonpie and Andre get up to lots of fun things like playing with wool, pillow fights and hiding in boxes. When I grow up, I want to be a cardboard box.

Lyra: I love a good fantasy, and it doesn’t get much more unbelievable than this – cats and dogs getting along! The photos of cats and dogs smooching all over each other in Frenemies by Christine Montaquila must be photoshopped. This is the perfect gift for cat lovers (isn’t everyone?) or animal lovers in general (who are really just cat lovers that haven’t made their minds up yet).

Pig: Read it again! Again! I want to hear about the Library Lion who visits the library and gets told off by the librarians when he roars too loudly! Or how he dusts the shelves with his big tail! Or how he saves the day when the head librarian falls and hurts herself! Again! NOOOW!

Lyra: Oh, are you still here? Stop distracting me, there’s still so much reading to do – speaking of lions in strange places, most of us have seen Christian the Lion on youtube. Well now you can better acquaint yourself with the lion that was raised in a flat above a furniture shop by reading A Lion Called Christian.

Doris Lessing’s On Cats is a compilation of works on her love of our wonderful species. It consists of the collection Particularly Cats, Rufus the Survivor and the memoir The Old Age of El Magnifico.

And last but not least, The Devious Book For Cats. Finally, a book that truly understands the feline mind! In the same vein as the Dangerous Book for Boys, this book details the important things in life, such as The Art of Swiping Food (page 4), or Catfight! Five Moves You Should Know (page 103). Now if you don’t mind, I’m off to put the wisdom on page 80 into practice: An Illustrated Guide to Napping.

Custom Bicycles Launch

2009-06-26T00:00:00Z

Recently Readings Hawthorn hosted the launch of Custom Bicycles published by Images Publishing. We were joined on the night by the authors Christine Elliott & David Jablonka, as well as bicycle designer Darren Baum from Baum Cycles who has been customising bikes for fifteen years. This glossy book, full of images of custom-made bikes from across the globe, showcases some of the world’s most creative bikes.

The night was a huge success with everyone enjoying checking out some of the bikes in the flesh (well in their metal….) while having a glass of wine and some nibbles. All in all, a great night.

Book Display.

Christine Elliott and David Jablonka.

David Jablonka in conversation with Darren Baum.

APRA 2009 Music Award Winners

2009-06-24T00:00:00Z

The 2009 APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) Music Awards took place the Peninsula in Melbourne last night. Here is the full list of winners:

Song of the Year - White Noise by The Living End
APRA Songwriters of the Year - Kim Moyes & Julian Hamilton (The Presets)
APRA Breakthrough Songwriter Award - Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu
Ted Albert Award For Outstanding Services to Australian Music by Denis Handlin AM
Most Played Australian Work - This Heart Attack by Faker
Urban Work of the Year - Running Back by Jessica Mauboy featuring Flo Rida
Dance Work of the Year - Don’t Hold Back by The Potbelleez
Blues & Roots Work of the Year - Sunshine by Old Man River
Country Work of the Year - Rattlin' Bones by Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson
Jazz Work of the Year - Something Will Come To Light by Joe Chindamo
Most Played Australian Work Overseas - Highway to Hell
Most Played Foreign Work - All Your Reasons by Matchbox 20

Grug is back

2009-06-24T00:00:00Z

Lately, customers of a certain age (I put it at around 25 to 35), have been coming down the back of the store to the kids section, and excitedly asking for 'Grug.' No, I don’t have to send them to Jimmy Watson’s; they’re looking for a grassy little friend from their youth.

Oh, how I loved Grug as a youngster! The Australian answer to the Mr Men books, with simple storylines and colourful illustrations, the Grug books were published between 1979 and 1992. Simon & Schuster has re-released all 24 books this year, much to the joy of those who remember them, and hopefully to the joy of those that don't.

Grug came into being when the grassy top of a Burrawong tree mysteriously grew a face, hands and feet. He’s a happy little chap who lives in a burrow, and even has his own dance, ingeniously called The Grug.

Readings is the Independent Bookseller of the Year 2009

2009-06-24T00:00:00Z

Readings Carlton has been announced as the Independent Bookseller of the Year at the 2009 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA). Readings represented Victoria in the shortlist that included booksellers from across Australia.

Readings also won the Bookseller Marketing Campaign of the Year for the promotion of Nam Le’s The Boat. Readings chose The Boat as Australian Book of the Month in June 2008 as part of our series highlighting new and emerging Australian writers. The Copyright Agency Limited sponsored this series. We commissioned an interview-based feature article by Cate Kennedy which was published in our newsletter (circulation: 16,000) and on our website. We hosted an event with Nam Le and Cate Kennedy attracting 450 people. The Boat was chosen for our Australian Book Clubs and displayed with point-of-sale in our shops. We sold 571 copies in June 2008 and over 3200 copies to date. Nam says: “I can say without doubt that Readings' support for The Boat has been a cornerstone of its success in Australia.”

Congratulations to all the other ABIA winners too. The full list of results is as follows:

Independent Bookseller of the Year 2009, sponsored by Books In Print (Thorpe-Bowker)

NSW/ACT - Gleebooks
Qld - Riverbend Books & Teahouse
SA/NT - Imprints Booksellers
Tas - Fullers Bookshop Hobart
VIC - Readings Books Music Film Carlton
WA - Bookcaffe

Bookseller Marketing Campaign of the Year 2009

Avid Reader, for Growing Up Asian in Australia, written by Alice Pung
Avid Reader, for Wild Tea Cosies, written by Loani Prior
Pages & Pages Booksellers Mosman, for The Given Day, written by Dennis Lehane
Readings Books Music Film Carlton, for The Boat, written by Nam Le
Robinson’s Bookshop, for Brisingr, written by Christopher Paolini

Publisher of the Year 2009

Allen & Unwin
Hachette Australia
Penguin Australia
Random House Australia
The Text Publishing Company

Small Publisher of the Year 2009, sponsored by Midland Typesetters

Black Dog Books
Black Inc.
Giramondo Publishing Company
University of Queensland Press
Wakefield Press

Book of the Year 2009

Breath, written by Tim Winton, published by Penguin Australia
Tales From Outer Suburbia, written by Shaun Tan, published by Allen & Unwin
The Boat, written by Nam Le, published by Penguin Australia
The Slap, written by Christos Tsiolkas, published by Allen & Unwin
The Tall Man, written by Chloe Hooper, published by Penguin Australia

Newcomer of the Year (debut writer) 2009

A Beautiful Place to Die, written by Malla Nunn, published by Macmillan Publishers Australia
I Dream of Magda, written by Stefan Laszczuk, published by Allen & Unwin
Never Say Die, written by Chris O’Brien, published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia
The Boat, written by Nam Le, published by Penguin Australia
The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow, written by A.J. Mackinnon, published by Black Inc.

Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2009

Breath, written by Tim Winton, published by Penguin Australia
The Boat, written by Nam Le, published by Penguin Australia
The Lieutenant, written by Kate Grenville, published by The Text Publishing Company
The Slap, written by Christos Tsiolkas, published by Allen & Unwin
The Spare Room, written by Helen Garner, published by The Text Publishing Company

General Fiction Book of the Year 2009

A Beautiful Place to Die, written by Malla Nunn, published by Macmillan Publishers Australia
All Together Now, written by Monica McInerney, published by Penguin Australia
How To Break Your Own Heart, written by Maggie Alderson, published by Penguin Australia
The Build Up, written by Phillip Gwynne, published by Macmillan Publishers Australia
The Forgotten Garden, written by Kate Morton, published by Allen & Unwin

Book of the Year for Older Children (age range 8 to14 years) 2009

A Rose for the ANZAC Boys, written by Jackie French, published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia
Dragon Dawn, written by Carole Wilkinson, published by Black Dog Books
Finnikin of the Rock, written by Melina Marchetta, published by Penguin Australia
Home and Away, by John Marsden, illustrated by Matt Ottley, published by Hachette Australia
Pip: The Story of Olive, written by Kim Kane, published by Allen & Unwin

Book of the Year for Younger Children (age range 0 to 8 years) 2009

Enigma, written & illustrated by Graeme Base, published by Penguin Australia
Possum and Wattle: My Big Book of Australian Words, written & illustrated by Bronwyn Bancroft, published by Little Hare Books
Sunday Chutney, written & illustrated by Aaron Blabey, published by Penguin Australia
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, written by Mem Fox, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, published by Penguin Australia
The Dog on the Tuckerbox, written by Corinne Fenton, illustrated by Peter Couldthorpe, published by Black Dog Books

General Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2009

1788, written by David Hill, published by Random House Australia
Life in His Hands, written by Susan Wyndham, published by Macmillan Publishers Australia
The Tall Man, written by Chloe Hooper, published by Penguin Australia
The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow, written by A.J. Mackinnon, published by Black Inc.
What’s Happening to Our Girls, written by Maggie Hamilton, published by Penguin Australia

Biography of the Year 2009

I am Melba, written by Ann Blainey, published by Black Inc.
Never Say Die, written by Chris O’Brien, published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia
Stella Miles Franklin: A Biography, written by Jill Roe, published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia
The Lucy Family Alphabet, written by Judith Lucy, published by Penguin Australia
The Man Who Owns the News, written by Michael Wolff, published by Random House Australia

Illustrated Book of the Year 2009

A Brush with Birds, written by Penny Olsen, published by National Library of Australia
Tales from Outer Suburbia, written by Shaun Tan, published by Allen & Unwin
The Artist’s Lunch, written by Alice McCormick & Sarah Rhodes, published by Murdoch Books
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, written by Michel Streich, published by Allen & Unwin
Utopia: the Genius of Emily Kame Kngwarreye, edited by Margo Neale, published by National Museum of Australia

International Success of the Year 2009, sponsored by Activair

HarperCollins Publishers, for Hammer of God, written by Karen Miller
Penguin Australia, for various Sonya Hartnett titles
Random House Australia, for The Floods, by Colin Thompson
The Text Publishing Company, for The Spare Room, written by Helen Garner
The Text Publishing Company, for Addition, written by Toni Jordan

Marketing Campaign of the Year 2009, in memory of John Cody, sponsored by Random House Australia

Allen & Unwin, for Change of Heart, written by Jodi Picoult
Allen & Unwin, for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, written by Mary Ann Shaffer
Penguin Australia, forBreath, written by Tim Winton
Penguin Australia, for Popular Penguins, written by various authors
Random House Australia, for Occy, written by Mark Occhilupo & Tim Baker

Distributor of the Year 2009, sponsored by VISTA Computer Systems

Alliance Distribution Services
Harper Entertainment Distribution Services
Hinkler Books
Random House Australia
United Book Distributors

Specialist Bookseller of the Year 2009*

NSW/ACT - Galaxy Bookshop
Qld - Folio Books
SA/NT - ALS Library Services
Tas - Ellison Hawker Bookshop
Vic - Books for Cooks
WA - Boffins Bookshop

Chain Bookseller of the Year 2009*, sponsored by PacStream (Thorpe-Bowker & ECN Group)

NSW/ACT - Dymocks Sydney
Qld - Dymocks Indooroopilly
SA/NT - Dymocks Adelaide
Tas- Dymocks Hobart
Vic - Hill of Content
WA - Dymocks Garden City (Booragoon)

The Lloyd O'Neill Award
David Gaunt, co-owner of Sydney's famous Gleebooks bookshop received the Lloyd O'Neill Award for outstanding service to the Australian book industry. David is a past President of the New South Wales Branch of the Australian Booksellers Association and is Chairman of the Indigenous Literacy Project.

Bestsellers: June 15-21 2009

2009-06-22T00:00:00Z

Breath's Miles Franklin win saw it rise to the top of last week's chart and the release of the movie version of Coetzee's novel Disgrace saw the film tie-in edition of the book make the list too.

Breath — Tim Winton
The Slap — Christos Tsiolkas
Brooklyn — Colm Tóibín
Quarterly Essay 34: Stop At Nothing — Annabel Crabb
The Brain That Changes Itself — Norman Doidge
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo — Stieg Larsson
Up From The Mission: Selected Writings — Noel Pearson
Chanel: Her Life, Her World, the Woman Behind the Legend — Edmonde Charles-Roux
Disgrace — J.M. Coetzee
The Angel's Game — Carlos Ruiz Zafón

We want your Readings photos!

2009-06-22T00:00:00Z

Readings Books, Music and Film is having its 40th birthday this year. To commemorate this milestone we are going putting together a pictorial retrospective of the past 40 years!

Kim Beazley, launching the new Readings Carlton bookshop in 1998.

We would like any photos you may have in Readings, about Readings, or with a Readings bag that you would be happy to share with us. You can either email us your Readings photos or mail them to us. (We'll make copies of hard copy photos and send them right back to you). And we'll certainly be thanking you publicly.

Please email your photos to chris.gordon@readings.com.au, ring (03) 9341 7740 or send them by post to Chris Gordon, 309 Lygon Street, Carlton, VIC 3053.

The Ask And The Answer

2009-06-21T00:00:00Z

I finished reading The Ask And The Answer by Patrick Ness, the sequel to The Knife Of Never Letting Go and it was simply amazing. It seems that I continue to eat my words this year of sequels never being as good as the first seeing as though Stargazer by Claudia Gray was better than the first and now this one. I'm about to start reading the sequel to Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Catching Fire, and if that is better than the first then I don't think I will know what to do with myself. My whole reading life will change in one year!

Anyway, so The Ask And The Answer was simply brilliant. Once again I won't go into too much as I don't want to spoil things for people who haven't read the first one (you must, you must!), but what I can say is that it's not only capivating, clever and well written, it's sad, at times makes you want to turn away from the terrible acts you're reading and above all makes you think.

Todd and Viola are separated and have no idea if either one is still alive. Todd is trying to contain his thinking, his Noise, the virus which contaminated the men after the spackle war, from the mayor, and Viola is healing from the bullet wound that left us all hanging at the end of the first book. There's a new town name, New Prentisstown, instead of Haven, and a new president (guess who), with new rules and new ideas. Life, once again, is changing. And then the bombs come.

The Ask And The Answer is about war crimes, manipulation, terrorism, love and the need to believe. It's also about two amazingly strong young adults who will do anything to save each other.

For a big book, it took me no time at all as I couldn't put it down. Patrick Ness is a clever writer and the one thing I love about him is that anything goes and things are not dumbed down or softened for the young adult audience. He treats them with respect and believes in their ability to understand situations of war, hardship and violence.

The Ask And The Answer is due for release in July '09.

All I Want To Say Is......

2009-06-19T00:00:00Z

I am super happy that Tim Winton has won the Miles Franklin Literary Award for his book Breath. What a wonderful book. Congrats.

In Celebration of Old Growth

2009-06-19T00:00:00Z

In his extraordinary book Old Growth Trees, Peter McConchie has put together a breathtaking collection of photographs and thoughts, showcasing the stunning natural beauty of our ancient (and threatened) old growth forests. The photos are superb and highlight the species most under threat in all their magical and almost meditative calm and dignity. The limbs tower and shelter. The roots plunge gracefully into the earth as they have done for thousands of years.

McConchie's book is a quiet call to action because while old growth forests are a thing of beauty, they are also crucial to the ongoing bio-diversity of our, and the planet's, life and they continue to be destroyed every day. The image above is one from Masaki Hirano's exhibition Stumps of Silence: Tasmania in 2006. It is a collage or mosaic of many photos of the stumps of old growth trees cut down for greed.

If you need a louder call to action, the Wilderness Society's campaign to ensure Gunns Pulp Mills only use plantation trees has been successful with the Swedish company Södra announcing it will only fund Gunns pulp mill if 100% Forest Stewardship Council certified, plantation timber is used, and if the pulp mill uses best practice totally chlorine-free technology. Now though, they are encouraging Södra to further the restrictions of their involvement, by making it clear they won’t build a pulp mill threatening the local environment and community in the Tamar Valley.

Whatever your beliefs or ideas on the subject, McConchie's photos reveal the majesty of the ancient forests. It is an absolute must for all who love our Australian trees.

Breath by Tim Winton wins the 2009 Miles Franklin Literary Award

2009-06-18T00:00:00Z

Congratulations to Tim Winton who has picked up his fourth Miles Franklin Literary Award for his novel Breath. It beat out prize-favourite The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas, as well as Wanting by Richard Flanagan, The Pages by Murray Bail and Ice by Louis Nowra.

When it was released in April last year Readings Managing Director Mark Rubbo called Breath a 'powerful, disturbing novel; beautifully written. It must be one Winton's best works yet'. You can read the full review here.

Tim Winton also spoke to Mark Rubbo last year about Breath and when asked what he thought of the book, replied:

'I don't know what to make of it, to be honest, and if I did I'd probably keep my opinions to myself, curmudgeon that I am. I am glad it's done, though. Too late for a re-write now. We're all stuck with it.'

Modest words indeed for what would turn out to be a Miles Franklin-winning book. You can read Mark Rubbo's entire interview with Tim here and read an extract from Breath here.