News
Our August 2023 bestsellers
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran
The Voice to Parliament Handbook: All the Detail You Need by Thomas Mayo & Kerry O'Brien
Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama & Alison Watts (trans.)
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi & Geoffrey Trousselot (trans.)
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The winners of the CBCA Shadow Judging Book of the Year Awards
The winners of the 2023 Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Shadow Judging Book of the Year Awards have been announced. Inaugurated in 2022, the awards this year were judged by over 2000 young readers from more than 250 groups across Australia.
A vibrant network of young readers, from emerging to young adult, dive deeply into the 2023 CBCA Shortlist and express their opinions and share their responses as judges ‘shadowing’ the CBCA Judges. They use the same criteria to…
The winners of the CBCA Book of the Year Awards 2023
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) has announced their Book of the Year Awards winners for 2023. These Awards celebrate the best Australian books for readers in early childhood up to young adult readers.
Here are the winners for each category:
Older Readers (Ages 13-18 years)
Entries in this category may be fiction, drama or poetry and should be appropriate in style and content for readers in their secondary years of schooling. Ages 13-18 years.
Note: Books in this…
Novels where I have not skipped a word
This year I have found myself with quite a bit of quiet time on my hands, and I've used this time to luxuriate in the art of reading. I have delighted in novels that sit by you in every part of your life; those books where every word counts and you tell yourself to slow down because you don't want the book to finish.
Here are three captivating novels that you, like me, will be unable to skip a single…
Our July 2023 bestsellers
The Voice to Parliament Handbook by Thomas Mayor & Kerry O'Brien
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder
Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi & Geoffrey Trousselot (trans.)
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Quarterly Essay 90: Voice of Reason - On Recognition and Renewal by Megan Davis
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Dear Reader, with Alison Huber
I usually make a joke around this time of year that, for book buyers and retail buyers in general, it really is a case of Christmas in July, as many of us need to make decisions about our Christmas stock at this time of year (cue disbelief from those not involved in the seasonal show). I attended the annual publisher presentations a couple of weeks ago, and my takeaway from those meetings is that it’s going to be a really…
Mark's Say, August 2023
The horror of the Holocaust has been the topic of many thousands of books; the scale of the savagery wrought by a sophisticated Western society is something that people struggle to understand. Many European Jewish people were able to find refuge in Australia and, over the years, they and their descendants have tried to understand the Holocaust by writing about it. These works have often been inspiring and profound.
Journalist Rachelle Unreich’s mother, Mira, survived four concentration camps, including Auschwitz…
Our June 2023 bestsellers
The Voice to Parliament Handbook by Thomas Mayo & Kerry O'Brien
Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang
The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
First Knowledges Law by Marcia Langton & Aaron Corn
The Queen Is Dead by Stan Grant
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Half Deaf, Completely Mad by Tony Cohen & John Olson
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Dear Reader, with Alison Huber
We have just returned from the annual gathering of Australia’s bookselling association (formerly known as the ABA, recently renamed BookPeople). It was a terrific event, and we heard some fantastic presentations during the two-day conference, including from writers Melissa Lucashenko, David Marr, Julia Baird, and Richard Flanagan, as well as a range of panels about the business and practice of bookselling. It’s always interesting to hear about the experience of bookselling in other places and contexts, and the sense of…
Mark's Say, July 2023
Next month we’ll be partnering with Libro.fm to offer our customers access to audiobooks. Up until now, subscriptions or purchases of audiobooks has been limited to Apple or Amazon’s Audible. Libro.fm offers a similar catalogue to both of those companies. Libro.fm is an employee-owned company based in the US; it was founded in 2014 with the aim to provide locally owned bookshops with the means to offer their customers access to audiobooks.
Audiobooks are the fastest growing format in the…
Don't miss these June debuts
Before we dive headfirst into next month's releases, we're looking back at just a few of the outstanding debuts that graced our shelves in June.
Couplets by Maggie Millner
Maggie Millner’s seductive debut is a novel-in-verse about a woman in her late twenties who leaves a long-term relationship with a boyfriend for another woman. The affair thrusts her from an outwardly conventional life into queerness, polyamory, kink, and unalloyed, consuming desire. What ensues is an exploration of obsession, gender, identity-making…
Queer book recs from booksellers
Three of our booksellers share some of the LGBTQIA+ books they've read, loved, and highly recommend.
Aurelia recommends Milk Fed by Melissa Broder
Milk Fed is an absolute feast of every delight and pleasure the world has to offer. When Rachel, a non-practicing Jew who has made intensive diets and cardio exercise her religion, meets Miriam, an Orthodox Jewish woman intent upon feeding her, Rachel suddenly experiences a world in which indulging your every desire is nothing to be ashamed…
The June crime review
These are the crime books which have been read and reviewed by our excellent booksellers this month — all in one place!
Broken Bay by Margaret Hickey
Reviewed by Kate McIntosh, manager of Readings Emporium
South Australia’s Limestone Coast is covered in natural wonders, from dormant volcanoes to ancient caves, stunning lakes and, most remarkably, sinkholes. These are not your average sinkholes, either. (Google them, they really are something else.) Many of them open into enormous caverns and underground caves…
BookPeople 2023 Book of the Year winners
The 2023 BookPeople Book of the Year winners have been announced! These awards celebrate the best books of the year, as judged by Australian book industry members. In addition to book honours, these annual awards also celebrate the wonderful work of Australian booksellers and this year our Managing Director Mark Rubbo was chosen as Bookseller of the Year!
Below are the winners titles from across the three categories.
Adult fiction book of the year
Limberlost by Robbie Arnott
Adult nonfiction…
Craft books to keep the cold away
We are now well into winter and if you're anything like me, there's nothing you'd rather do than snuggle under a blanket with a hot cup of tea and a new craft project. Here is an array of books to help you choose your next project.
For both the aspiring and seasoned quilters...
The Urban Quilted Home by Wendy Chow
The Urban Quilted Home teaches you everything you need to know about how to create stylish, modern quilts for a…
The Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlist 2023
The 2023 shortlist for the Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced! The Miles Franklin Literary Award was celebrates novels of the highest literary merit that tell stories about Australian life, shining a light on some of the country’s most talented writers. Each of the 2022 shortlisted authors will receive $5,000.
Below are the six shortlisted titles.
Hopeless Kingdom by Kgshak Akec
Limberlost by Robbie Arnott
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari…
Top picks for book clubs this month
This month we're doing our book clubs post a little differently. To celebrate Pride, we're recommending an LGBTQIA+ read for each category!
International fiction | Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
Big Swiss. That’s Greta’s nickname for her – she is tall, and she is from Switzerland. Greta can see her now: dressed top to toe in white, that adorable gap between her two front teeth, her penetrating blue eyes. She’s a head-turner: including the heads of infants and dogs.
Well…
Explore the nature of nature with EWF
Emerging Writer's Festival is just around the corner, a festival to discover new stories, new voices, and new worlds. Below are a constellation of the incredible events that promise connection, the natural world and even storytelling under the stars.
Celebrate the Winter Solstice with an evening of storytelling. Settle yourself around the fire as you listen to an array of performers whisper myths and legends into the flames.
When: 7pm, Thursday 22 June
Where: Collingwood Yards
…
Our May 2023 bestsellers
The Voice to Parliament by Thomas Mayo & Kerry O'Brien
The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams
The Queen is Dead by Stan Grant
Jaguar by Sarah Holland-Batt
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
First Knowledges Law by Marcia Langton & Aaron Corn
RecipeTin Eats: Dinner by Nagi Maehashi
Outlive by Peter Attia and Bill Gifford
Limberlost by Robbie Arnott
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
…
20 event recommendations for attending EWF’s 20th anniversary
Celebrate 20 years of the Emerging Writers’ Festival with us by exploring twenty events from their 2023 program.
1. Xoxo | 6pm, 15 June at Meat Market
The literary world is filled with gossip, rumours and feuds, and EWF is offering a peak in on all the drama. Well, not quite – some of EWF’s favourite writers are gathering at Meat Market to share their most scandalous fictional gossip, their juiciest fake feuds, and most dramatic of imagined literary dramas.
…
Dear Reader, with Alison Huber
Every now and again, we booksellers are invited to spend an evening with a publisher and their authors. You may have romantic visions of what this involves – a little schmoozing with a bubbly drink in hand and a touch of friendly industry gossip – and you’re not too far from the reality. Recently, a number of us attended Ultimo’s shindig, where the audience was treated to readings from and interviews with some of the publisher’s Melbourne- based writers. Arguably…
Mark's Say, June 2023
We’ve moved our offices to West Melbourne and now that my bike commute is a little longer, I’ve taken to listening to podcasts, many of them produced by Readings. I was recently particularly taken by one of the New Yorker’s podcasts. It was a reading of one of its articles by journalist and writer JR Moehringer. Moehringer has won a Pulitzer Prize for his newspaper feature writing, and his memoir, The Tender Bar, was made into a film…
Engaging new picture books for young readers
Twenty Questions by Mac Barnett, Christian Robinson (illus.)
Not all questions have answers. Some have more than one answer. And others have endless answers, unfolding out to the edges of the world. In this sparse yet expansive narrative, acclaimed author Mac Barnett poses twenty questions both playful and profound. Some make us giggle. Others challenge our assumptions. The result is a quirky, wandering exploration of where the best questions lead – to stories.
Intriguing, richly interactive, and brought to vivid…
Books exploring the intersection of art, celebrity, fanaticism and cult
Everything I Need I Get from You by Kaitlyn Tiffany
In Everything I Need I Get from You, Kaitlyn Tiffany, a staff writer at The Atlantic and a superfan herself, guides us through the online world of fans, stans, and boybands. Along the way we meet girls who damaged their lungs from screaming too loud, fans rallying together to manipulate chart numbers using complex digital subversion, and an underworld of inside jokes and shared memories surrounding band members’ allergies…
Contemporary works of cultural studies to deepen understanding and broaden perspective
The digital world, the bitter legacy of colonialism, the challenges of artificial intelligence and more. These recent nonfiction reads will expand your understanding and broaden your perspective of some of today's most pressing issues.
The Dark Cloud by Guillaume Pitron (trans. Bianca Jacobsohn)
It turns out that the ‘dematerialised’ digital world, essential for communicating, working, and consuming, is much more tangible than we would like to believe. Today, it absorbs 10 per cent of the world’s electricity and represents nearly…
Feeding vegetarian teens
by Poppy, Teen Advisory Board memberPoppy from our 2023 Teen Advisory Board has put these plant-based cookbooks through their paces and thinks they pass the test!
Running out of meal ideas for the never-ending hunger of a teen? Below are six delicious vegetarian dinners and snacks from three plant-based cookbooks, approved by a teenager for teenagers. They provide perfect energy boosting for studying, smile-making on test days or even just comfort food when necessary.
David Frenkiel and Louise Vindahl write the popular Green Kitchen cookbook…
Out of this world LGBTQIA+ fiction
If you're into queer space operas, fantasy epics and the lives of futuristic robots – then do we have the books for you! We've recently been gifted with a treasure trove of LGBTQIA+ sci-fi and fantasy titles that are the perfect place to escape to as the weather turns wintry. Below are four of our recent favourites.
In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees live…
An interview with Margaret Simons, author of Tanya Plibersek: On Her Own Terms
In anticipation of our upcoming event discussing the recent biography of Tanya Plibersek, our community engagement and programming manager Chris Gordon asks the biographer's author, Margaret Simons, a few questions.
CG: First, thank you for your wonderful accessible writing. I know writing in plain language is a craft. (I found myself constantly compelled by your words.) When you are writing a biography are you considering who will read it? Is there anyone in particular you hope will read it? (e.g.…
Debut fiction to read this month
Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey
When 28 year old Maggie finds herself suddenly, shockingly, divorced after just 608 days of marriage she embarks upon a journey of self-discovery that mostly consists of eating hamburgers at 4am, taking up a variety of new hobbies, and trying to embrace life as a Surprisingly Young Divorcée™ in the age of dating apps. Acerbically funny with razor sharp dialogue, this painfully relatable book about modern love is the debut novel from comedian, essayist…
Our top 10 bestsellers of the week
A Pocketful of Happiness by Richard E. Grant
Lessons by Ian McEwan
Old Vintage Melbourne, 1960–1990 by Chris Macheras
RecipeTin Eats: Dinner by Nagi Maehashi
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
Exiles by Jane Harper
Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
My Dream Time by Ash Barty
A Book of Days by Patti Smith
Our best-seller from the past week is the memoir from beloved actor Richard E. Grant…
Must-read Australian debut fiction from 2022
2022 was a stellar year for Australian fiction, and we saw many debut local authors experimenting boldly with various literary forms: speculative dystopia, Gothic psychodrama and riveting page-turning mysteries. If you’re looking for a new writer to fall in love with, or just want to catch up on some of the most talked-about new Australian fiction of the year, here are just a few highlights. And don’t forget to stay tuned to part two of our debut spotlight, where we…
Festive feasting this holiday season
Here are my top picks for cruising through the festive season; I’ve tried to pick a cookbook for every occasion you may find yourself in.
⭑ For homemade gifting and storable-snacks for those – inevitable – unexpected guests ...
Preserving the Italian Way by Pietro Demaio
Want to give a little of your time and love to your neighbors and friends? Then make something from your garden and kitchen! Preserving the Italian Way is the ultimate guide for keeping it…
2022 fantasy and sci-fi highlights
2022 may be heralded as a Golden Age of Sci-Fi and Fantasy television, but it’s the books of the year that have truly excited the genre with innovation and imagination. From fiercely imagined First Nations speculative futures to the sexual politics of mythic retellings to radical historical fantasy, here are some of our favourites from 2022.
Babel by R.F. Kuang
Seated among the gleaming spires of 19th-century Oxford is the mighty Babel College where translators and silversmiths conjure magic through…
On events, with Chris Gordon
As with any excellent dinner party, we are covering all bases for our final month of programming this year. We are rejoicing in music, food, laughter, politics (because what is a dinner party without heated discussion) and a touch of whimsy. I am hoping each event you attend lightens your soul and makes you realise how glorious our fine city is, filled as it is with creative geniuses.
A soundtrack is always one of the most crucial elements of a…
New Kids and YA books for book clubs
We are delighted to have many recent children’s books that are richly imagined and would be perfect for study by book clubs and in classrooms. Here are some of our favourites.
AGES 5 AND UP
My Strange Shrinking Parents by Zeno Sworder
With humour and pathos, Sworder reflects on the strange nature of giving and receiving love and celebrates those parents who embrace a hard life for themselves in the hope of a better life for their children.
Themes include:
…
Our children's and YA top 10 bestsellers of the week
Triple Threat by Katy Warner
The 156-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton
Little Gem by Anna Zobel
My Strange Shrinking Parents by Zeno Sworder
The Goodbye Year by Emily Gale
Nothing More to Tell by Karen McManus
A Glasshouse of Stars by Shirley Marr
The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Wylah the Koorie Warrior by Jordan Gould & Richard Pritchard
Chippy Chasers: Chippy Jackpot by Sam Cotton
Our bestselling title this week was the latest young adult…
Our top 10 bestsellers of the week
The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman
Lessons by Ian McEwan
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
This Devastating Fever by Sophie Cunningham
Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Jack Charles: Born-again Blakfella by Jack Charles
Wildflowers by Peggy Frew
People Who Lunch by Sally Olds
The Story of Russia by Orlando Figes
_Life and Death Decisions by Dr. Lachlan McIver
Our best-seller from the past week is the third book in the beloved Thursday Murder Club series…
What we're reading: Godwin, Au & Yoshitake
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.
Aurelia Orr is reading A Walk in the Dark by Jane Godwin
What’s the worst that can happen when a group of year nine students go hiking in the woods at night, with no adults … and no phones? A Walk in the Dark takes the wilderness survival story and twists it into…
Recommended reading: short story collections
We love short stories and their unique ability to distill so much insight and entertainment with artful brevity and fervour. This month we’re highlighting six collections that have recently hit our shelves.
Between Two Worlds selected by Tara June Winch and Behrouz Boochani
Offering a snapshot of contemporary Australia, this diverse collection of stories explores sense of place, family, loss, culture, sexual awakening and the abiding connections to people and place that make us who we are. Told with utterly…
A spotlight on translated fiction this month
This month we’re reading novels translated from Japanese, Spanish, French, Italian and Turkish.
The Pachinko Parlour by Elisa Shua Dusapin (translated from the French by Aneesa Abbas Higgins)
It is summer in Tokyo. Claire finds herself dividing her time between tutoring twelve-year-old Mieko in an apartment in an abandoned hotel and lying on the floor at her grandparents.
The plan is for Claire to visit Korea with her grandparents. They fled the civil war there over fifty years ago, along…
Neurodiverse stories for middle grade readers
It is heartening to see more books with neurodiverse main characters. Not only are these stories fantastic for young people who experience neurodiversity in one way or another, but it’s wonderful for all readers to learn about what might be going on in someone else’s mind and build empathy.
Below are some of our most popular stories that champion neurodiversity.
When I See Blue by Lily Bailey
Sometimes Ben’s brain makes him count to 4 to prevent bad things happening…
Recommended children's books and news for September
We have some extraordinary picture books to pore over this month, including our Book of the Month by rising star, Zeno Sworder, which looks at the immigrant experience through a different lens - shrinking parents! We also have a picture book from Alice Pung about a little boy whose parents want to keep him wrapped in cotton wool, when all he wants is to run free, plus a stunning new picture book by Caldecott-winner, Sophie Blackall.
In fiction, we are…
Recommended YA books and news for September
We have so many exciting Australian young adult new releases this month. Our Book of the Month is a feel-good queer rom-com that our reviewer absolutely adored. We’re also excited by a First Nations fantasy that goes back in time to Australia pre-colonisation. It is utterly brilliant!
Hotly anticipated new novels by Frances Hardinge and Karen McManus have finally arrived, we’re loving a Gothic coming of age story about two very different sisters, not to mention a thriller set in…
Our top 10 bestsellers of the week
This Devastating Fever by Sophie Cunningham
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell
Astronomy: Sky Country by Karlie Noon & Krystal De Napoli
After the Tampa by Abbas Nazari
Wildflowers by Peggy Frew
The Settlement by Jock Serong
Quarterly Essay 87: Uncivil Wars by Waleed Aly & Scott Stephens
Humanity’s Moment by Joëlle Gergis
Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
This All Come Back Now edited by Mykaela Saunders
Our best-seller from the past week is September’s Melbourne City Reads…
Our children's and YA top 10 bestsellers of the week
The 156-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton
Dancing Barefoot by Alice Boyle
Nothing More to Tell by Karen McManus
Hasina: Through My Eyes by Michelle Aung Thin
My Strange Shrinking Parents by Zeno Sworder
Sadie Starr’s Guide to Starting Over by Miranda Luby
Be Careful Xiao Xin! by Alice Pung & Sher Rill Ng
A Glasshouse of Stars by Shirley Marr
Where You Left Us by Rhiannon Wilde
The Goodbye Year by Emily Gale
Our top selling title…
What we're reading: Batuman & Ponthus
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.
Baz Ozturk is reading Either/Or by Elif Batuman
I’m currently immersed in Selin’s world at Harvard, in this follow-up to The Idiot.
I am one of those readers who loves nerdy books about books, and Either/Or is definitely one of them. In fact Selin is one of the most bookish characters I’ve…
The James Cropper Wainwright Prize winners 2022
The James Cropper Wainwright Prizes for UK Nature Writing are awarded annually to books that successfully inspire readers to explore the outdoors, celebrate nature, and to nurture and respect the natural world. In 2022 there are three prize categories: nature writing, conservation writing, and children’s writing.
2022 winner of the prize for Nature Writing
Goshawk Summer: The Diary of an Extraordinary Season in the Forest by James Aldred
In early 2020, wildlife film-maker James Aldred was commissioned to make a…
The 2022 Age Book of the Year winners
The 2022 Age Book of the Year winners have been announced! This year the award once again encompassed a prize for nonfiction as well as for fiction.
Miles Allinson has won the Fiction prize for his sophomore novel, In Moonland, while Bernadette Brennan has won the Non-fiction prize for her work of biography, Leaping Into Waterfalls: The Enigmatic Gillian Mears. Each winner receives $10,000 thanks to the Copyright Agency. The winners were announced during last night’s Melbourne Writers…
The best food & gardening books of the month
Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things by Noor Murad & Yotam Ottolenghi
Do you know that little skip in your step you get when you smell jasmine in full bloom? It happens towards the end of September and coincides with another great gift: a new Ottolenghi cookbook! I know it’s impossible to consider right now, but I promise by mid-month you will be making harissa butter and spreading it over everything. You will be bottling jars of tamarind dressing and…
Get thinking at this year's Melbourne Writers Festival
The Melbourne Writers Festival begins today! If you’re like us and feel like your reading and planning has gotten away from you, below are some of the fabulous panels, debates and in-conversations that can challenge your thinking, without requiring any festival pre-reading!
Few topics have inspired authors, artists, poets and pop stars alike as that of love. Join two of Australia’s favourite writers, Trent Dalton (Love Stories) and Clementine Ford (How We Love), as…
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