In our new monthly column, we share news from our five shops.

Hawthorn

Yotam Ottolenghi is universally adored by the staff here at Hawthorn and after a long, cold winter we are happy to be celebrating spring and its produce by cooking recipes from Ottolenghi’s new book Plenty More. We’ve been busy with lots of events, the rowdiest of which was Andy Griffiths’s, who entertained a packed shop and signed books like a rock star. He is so popular that some kids had finished his newest book, The 52-Storey Treehouse, by the time they made it to the front of the queue! The lovely Alice Pung also popped into the shop and chatted to us about her upcoming young-adult novel, Laurinda, which is available on 22 October – we are looking forward to reading it.

(Kim Gruschow is a bookseller and Children’s & YA Specialist.)

Carlton

Readings Carlton is known for its wonderful book events program, but we also host amazing music events. None of us will ever forget Patti Smith, Martha Wainwright or Daniel Lanois. In September we hosted Émelie Simon, whose presence in the bathroom upstairs flustered a few of our staff, not to mention her balancing precariously on a ladder in high heels! Simon has a sweet voice but there is an edge to it that cuts through the pop sensibility. We had an enthusiastic crowd packing out the rear of the shop, the only problem being that we all had to work and couldn’t absorb the event fully. Simon was all charm, full of effusive thanks for our staff and happy to stay back to sign CDs and banter with fans. A classic, lovely Readings Carlton evening was had by all.

(Robbie Egan is the Manager of Readings Carlton.)

State Library of Victoria

Things have been hectic at the SLV with the continuing success of the Victor Hugo: Les Misérables – From Page to Stage exhibition; the pop-up gift shop has seen copies of Les Misérables flying off the shelves. In the main store we’ve been visited by Wayne Swan, who launched his memoir The Good Fight at the library; Michael McKernan, who spoke about and signed copies of Victoria at War: 1914–1918; and Elizabeth Morrison, who launched her biography, David Syme: Man of the Age. This October, we’re all desperately looking forward to Ben Lerner’s new novel, 10:04, and enjoying the inevitable excitement that has come cycling in with Graeme Simsion’s sequel The Rosie Effect.

(Tom Hoskins is the Manager of Readings State Library.)

Malvern

Following a big September, the Malvern shop has been busy. By far our happiest customers of late have been our young treehouse enthusiasts. Andy Griffiths’s latest book is The 52-Storey Treehouse, and its release has been greeted with great delight – just imagine a new treehouse level for juggling chainsaws. Other important books for us have been Helen Garner’s This House of Grief, the new Ian McEwan, The Children Act, and Haruki Murakami’s Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. Malvern staff have loved Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist and Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, which was recently shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. The Readings classical box set sale has been a big success at Malvern, with wonderful recordings at fantastic prices. Have a look for the new Robert Plant album, too, which is our album of the month. We have also recently enjoyed selling books at a Kingston Library event for Sally Rippin’s new Hey Jack! title, The New Teacher.

(Bernard Vella is the Manager of Readings Malvern.)

St Kilda

There’s not much that happens around Readings St Kilda that doesn’t have a Nick Cave soundtrack, and I think it’s safe to say that 50 per cent of the month of October will be pulsing with the moody, resonant hum of the art-rocker’s voice. To start with, we’ve just received a sizeable stack of the latest Island magazine so that everyone who comes to the counter can look at Nick Cave’s face. Inside this quarterly, you’ll find an article penned by our very own bookseller, Gerard Elson, that’s all about Cave the writer. The photos accompanying the essay were taken by Bleddyn Butcher, who’s soon to publish a book of them called A Little History, and we’re excited to be hosting an event in-store with the photographer himself later in the month. Of all things St Kilda, Cave, and local rock ’n’ roll, Gerard has this to say: ‘St Kilda is teeming with revenants of its post-punk past … Cave and his contemporaries still hum apocalyptically loud in the local imagination (as well they should!). As a fan(atic) myself, I’m thrilled to be interviewing Bleddyn about his new book right here in St Kilda, where so many of these legendary talents cut their now dagger-sharp teeth.’

(Amy Vuleta is the Assistant Manager of Readings St Kilda.)