News
Books to inspire your autumn baking
We're at the beginning of Autumn, and Easter and the end of daylight saving are looming. This seems like the perfect time to have a baking project to look forward to. Here are a few new and old favourites we think will inspire and get you excited.
Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice by Natalie Paull
Sweet-toothed superstar and bestselling baker Natalie Paull returns with Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice, an all-new compilation of colourful, creative recipes to delight fans and newcomers…
The 2024 International Booker Longlist
The International Booker Prize has revealed the ‘Booker Dozen’ of 13 novels in contention for the 2024 prize, which celebrates the finest works of translated fiction from around the world.
The prize is awarded every year for a single book that is translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland. It aims to encourage more publishing and reading of quality works of imagination from all over the world, and to give greater recognition to the role of translators…
The Carol Shields Prize longlist 2024
The 2024 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction longlist has been anounced!
The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction is the first major English-language literary prize to celebrate creativity and excellence in fiction by women and non-binary writers in Canada and the United States, awarding $150,000 USD to its winner, and $12,500 USD to each of its four finalists.
Explore the 15 longlisted titles below.
Cocktail by Lisa Alward
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
Dances by Nicole Cuffy
Daughter by Claudia Dey
…
Best food and gardening books of the month, with Chris Gordon
The Mediterranean Cook by Meni Valle
Meni Valle is a teacher and a culinary tour guide in the Mediterranean. This is excellent news because it means her recipes are easy to follow, considered for a range of skill sets, and include a historical background to each dish. This is her sixth cookbook, and it captures the Mediterranean approach of dishes that spread from the early afternoon through to the evening. Imagine filo pastries, stuffed vegetables, grilled meats, and delicious fruit-based…
What we're reading: Okazaki, Scanlan & Blain
Each week our wonderful staff share the books and music that they've been enjoying.
Mark Rubbo is reading We All Lived in Bondi Then by Georgia Blain
I have been reading the posthumous collection of short stories by Georgia Blain, We All Lived in Bondi Then. It's an exquisite collection, moving, at times funny and so readable. I was reminded of Alice Munro and Tessa Hadley.
I've also just read Nicholas Jose's novel The Idealist. Think le Carré…
The Women's Prize for Fiction longlist 2024
The longlist for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced! The Women’s Prize for Fiction celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women’s writing from throughout the world. The winner receives a cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze figurine known as a ‘Bessie’, created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven. Both are anonymously endowed.
Below are the sixteen longlisted books.
Hangman by Maya Binyam
In Defence of the Act by Effie Black
We test recipes from Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice
Recently our office was blessed with a visit from legendary local baker Natalie Paull. The visit coincides with the publication of her second cookbook Beatrix Bakes: Another slice (yes, we have signed copies), and to celebrate our multi-talented staff participated in an in-house bake-off, where we trialled recipes from Paull's latest collection.
With Paull on-site to judge an array of delicious bakes including tarts, chiffon cakes, buns and pies – this was truly a taste test to relish…
Foreword with Joe Rubbo, March 2024
As regular readers of this publication will know, this is my first column in this space. At the end of last year Mark Rubbo decided to retire his regular column. Although, it won’t be the last you see of ‘Mark’s Say’, as I am told that he might submit a few words here and there, when the inspiration strikes.
In other news, we’re excited to announce The Readings Foundation 2024 recipients this month. The very worthy grassroots organisations will receive…
The Most Anticipated Books of 2024
It’s that time of year again which I approach with equal parts excitement and dread – when I sit down under the weight of a too-close deadline to a blank page plus an overwhelming number of forthcoming titles kindly furnished by our friends in publishing, and try to find a way to cram a year’s worth of output into a jaunty piece of – let’s call it – creative nonfiction (overreach? more likely creative summary?) that doesn’t feel too much…
Our books of the month, March 2024
Explore our books of the month for March; 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
Thanks for Having Me by Emma Darragh
Reviewed by Annie Condon from Readings Hawthorn
'This novel is for readers who enjoy writers who make the personal enjoyably political.'Thanks for Having Me is a novel told in interlinked stories, and even though…
Debut fiction to read this month
Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly
Siblings Greta and Valdin have, perhaps, too much in common. They're flatmates, beholden to the same near-unpronounceable surname, and both make questionable choices when it comes to love.
Valdin is in love with his ex-boyfriend Xabi, who left the country because he thought he was making Valdin sad. Greta is in love with fellow English tutor Holly, who appears to be using her for admin support. But perhaps all is not lost. Valdin…
Announcing The Readings Foundation’s 2024 grant recipients
We are delighted to announce the 10 not-for-profit organisations and programs that will be receiving $131,439 in funding from The Readings Foundation this year. The Foundation is passionate about supporting literacy, community integration, and the arts in Victoria. Funds are contributed from a percentage of all Readings Bookshop profits, as well as generous donations from Readings customers. The following organisations are all doing amazing work in their communities to support the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people within society. Readings is…
The inaugural Women's Prize for Non-Fiction longlist 2024
In its inaugural year, the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction provides a platform for non-fiction written by women that has been previously overlooked and underestimated.
From gripping memoirs and polemic narratives, to groundbreaking investigative journalism and revisionist history, these 16 titles below will change the way you view the non-fiction section of the bookshop.
Whether you are a seasoned non-fiction reader or considering trying for the first time, with this list you have at your fingertips a breadth of titles that…
Recent Crime reads
The start to the year has seen an excellent array of Crime novels grace our shelves. From talented locals, the first English translation of an award-winning Korean writer, to a book whose authorship sparked a wave of speculation worldwide, there's something to appeal to all tastes. We've chosen some highlights below.
The Fury by Alex Michaelides
This is a tale of murder. Or maybe that's not quite true. At its heart, it's a love story, isn't it?
One spring morning…
What we're reading: Mayo & Sacco
Each week our wonderful staff share the books and music that they've been enjoying.
Katey Bellew is reading Dear Son by Thomas Mayo
This incredibly moving collection features twelve letters by Indigenous men addressed to their sons and fathers. What results is a desperately brave and tender demonstration of decolonising masculinity. The Northern Territory Intervention, and the racist dialogue surrounding it, is raised by several of the men as having a particularly harmful impact on their relationships and sense of…
Our books of the month, February 2024
Explore our books of the month for February; 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
We All Lived in Bondi Then by Georgia Blain
Reviewed by Aurelia Orr, Readings Kids
‘Imbued with loss, love, and a yearning for something beyond our grasp, We All Lived in Bondi Then is written with acuity and nuance’Shortly after…
Win a place at Faber Writing Academy
We're thrilled to be partnering with Faber Writing Academy to offer one lucky Readings Kids shopper the exclusive chance to win a place in their semester-long after-hours course, Writing For Kids: Picture Books and Children’s Fiction.
Taking place online from 20 February – 4 June 2024 (Tuesdays 6.30pm – 8.30pm), this is the perfect three-month course (usually $2,500) for people who wish to write picture books and children’s fiction.
The course will cover the elements required to create a stand-out…
What we're reading: Due, Paulsen and Armfield
Each week our wonderful staff share the books and music they've been enjoying
Jason Austin is reading The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
The last couple of weeks I have been loving Tananarive Due's amazing ghost story, The Reformatory, which is loosely based on experiences endured by the author's great uncle who died at the Dozier School for Boys in Florida in the 1930s.
With their mother deceased and their father having to flee town after being accused of raping…
Best of the Best 2023
Every year our staff vote for their favourite books of the past 12 months. From their votes, we uncover the titles they loved most. Across six categories – Australian fiction, international fiction, nonfiction & memoir, picture books, junior & middle books, and young adult books – we share with you our top ten bookseller-voted titles. This year we've taken it one step further and asked you, our customers, to nominate your top read from each list of ten. After tallying…
Winners of the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2024
Congratulations to all the winners of the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2024!
★ WINNER OF POETRY AND WINNER OF THE OVERALL VICTORIAN PRIZE FOR LITERATURE
Chinese Fish by Grace Yee
When Ping leaves Hong Kong to live in Aotearoa New Zealand, she discovers that life in the Land of the Long White Cloud is not the prosperous paradise she was led to believe it would be. Every day she works in a rat-infested shop frying fish, and every evening she…
25% off 25 personal development favourites
We’re offering 25% off a select range of our personal development favourites! Simply apply the code PD25 at checkout to receive a 25% discount on all participating titles.
If you've seamlessly slipped back into old habits and are already feeling an all too familiar lack of vigour and vitality, a change to your routine or mindset could be in order. But where to begin? We've brought together some of our favourite personal development titles – at 25% off! –…
10 booksellers share their personal favourite reads of 2023
Below 10 booksellers share which books stand out as exceptional amongst everything they’ve read this year.
Art Monsters by Lauren Elkin
Art Monsters is the highlight book for me this year – energising, fresh, and entirely well researched this book combines visual and performance art with a series of powerful essays on the body in feminist art and practice by Laura Elkin. For art lovers, feminists and anyone grappling with where and how their body fits.
– Bec Kavanagh
12 art and design highlights to gift this season
We consulted our most knowledgable art & design specialists to find out exactly what the art afficionado in your life may enjoy in their stocking this year! Below are 12 recommendations that include books on art, design, architecture and fashion.
The Japanese House Since 1945 by Naomi Pollock
Imagine a terraced house whose courtyard separates the kitchen from the bedroom. Or a tiny, triangular tower of rooms stacked one above another. Quirky, experimental and utterly fascinating, the houses produced in…
An Introduction to classics
by Ione Rawlings, Readings Teen Advisory BoardIt is such a brilliant and exciting adventure to discover novels as a teen. After growing up on Tove Jansson, Enid Blyton and Harry Potter, I keenly await, as I get older, further broadening my tastes and knowledge, grappling with my mountainous to-read pile, and figuring out how on earth I’ll fit them on my bookshelf afterwards. I might have to resort to extreme measures, such as stacking them in great piles which intimidate visitors. Most of all, I’m…
Ideas for Kris Kringle gifts under $20
It’s KK time again! It feels as though we all like each other a bit more this year? Or perhaps we are getting better at hiding our indifference. Either way, we are moving away from bread bags and sustainable picnic items towards the fun, the practical and the indulgent, and all for under $20! Inflation doesn’t exist in the land of magic that is the office KK.
6 in 1 Pen Tool in a Tin – $14.99
We all know…
Vegan festive feasting
Are you vegan and dreading another Christmas of a few wilted lettuce leaves and some turkey-tainted roast veg on your plate? Or perhaps you're not vegan, but you need to cater for some this festive season and aren't sure where to begin! Well, feast your eyes on this line-up of vegan cookbooks that will have vegan and non-vegan tastebuds singing this Christmas!
For those who like a traditional Christmas...
A Very Vegan Christmas by Sam Dixon
Do you miss iconic…
Our books of the month, November 2023
Explore our books of the month for November; 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
Women & Children by Tony Birch
Reviewed by Ruby Grinter, Readings Carlton
'Tony Birch crafts a story that perfectly encapsulates the innocence of childhood, and the creeping recognition of how the world ignores the voices of women and girls.'Lovely, mischievous…
Our October 2023 bestsellers
Killing for Country: A Family Story by David Marr
Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton
Philoxenia: A Seat at My Table by Kon & Sia Karapanagiotidis
Edenglassie by Melissa Lucashenko
Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi & Geoffrey Trousselot (trans.)
Unfinished Woman by Robyn Davidson
Unruly by David Mitchell
The Seven by Chris Hammer
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life by Anna Funder
Thoughtful picture books for tough days
These recently published picture books are just the thing for when days don't go to plan.
Woo Hoo! You’re Doing Great! by Sandra Boynton
Whether you are learning to skate, baking a cake, or even making a mistake, this hilarious and heartfelt rhyming book reminds us that trying our best is reason to celebrate. From children trying to master new skills to adults who had a hard week at work, we all get overwhelmed sometimes and need reassurance. And who…
News from the Readings x Ubud Writers and Readers Festival trip
Recently our own Mark Rubbo and Chris Gordon accompanied a group of Melbourne readers to the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival.
First, and most importantly Mark Rubbo and I were delighted to welcome new friends to the tour. What a joy to meet in a tropical (read: very hot) environment with people that love to talk, share, drink (gin and tonics being firm favourite bevvy of choice) and read! Our type of people.
On the first night of the tour…
A recipe from Rumi by Joseph Abboud
Rumi is a wonderful collection of over 60 recipes from chef and restaurant owner Joseph Abboud. Below, we're pleased to share a recipe from this heartfelt – and delicous – collection of recipes.
Freekeh, feta and pomegranate salad
Freekeh is wheat, picked green (young) and then toasted or smoked. It comes from the Arabic word farik, which refers to the rubbing of the grains to remove their husks. It’s highly nutritious and it seems the more you eat, the better…
The 2023 Prime Minister's Literary Awards shortlist
The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards acknowledge the contribution of Australian literature to the nation’s cultural and intellectual life.
643 entries were received across six literary categories: fiction, non-fiction, young adult literature, children’s literature, poetry, and Australian history. The winners and shortlisted authors will share in a tax-free prize pool of $600,000 – the highest literary prize in the nation. Each shortlisted entry will receive $5,000 with the winner of each category receiving $80,000. Expert judging panels have carefully considered entries…
We test recipes from Philoxenia
Recently we tested a selection of recipes from Philoxenia: A Seat at My Table, a new cookbook from Kon Karapanagiotidis, founder of the ASRC, and his mother, Sia.
We were of course thrilled to then have Kon and Sia themselves stop by to taste test our attempts and judge the best replication.
Joe Rubbo made Spanikopita
I made the Spanikopita. Although I cheated by not making the phyllo pastry, using store bought instead. This shortcoming was spotted immediately by…
Our September 2023 bestsellers
The Last Devil to Die (The Thursday Murder Club, Book 4) by Richard Osman
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder
Would that Be Funny?: Growing up with John Clarke by Lorin Clarke
The Fraud by Zadie Smith
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi & Geoffrey Trousselot (trans.)
The Voice to Parliament Handbook by Thomas Mayo & Kerry O'Brien
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran
Yellowface by Rebeca F Kuang
Q&A with Megan Whalen Turner
Alicia from Readings Kids recently had the exciting opportunity to interview YA fantasy superstar Megan Whalen Turner and below is the transcript of what transpired.
Thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity to ask you some questions on behalf of Readings. Before I get into those I just wanted to tell you how much I love your books and how much they have meant to me. I began reading the Queen’s Thief series when I was 14 and…
The 2023 National Book Awards Finalists
The finalists for the 2023 National Book Awards have been announced! Established in 1950, the National Book Awards are American literary prizes administered by the National Book Foundation. The awards currently cover the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People's Literature. The five finalists for each category were selected by a panel of judges.
Finalists for Fiction:
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
Temple Folk by Aaliyah Bilal
This Other Eden by Paul Harding
What are the future classics of literature?
by Aalia Rashid, Teen Advisory BoardAs years go by, time after time, humans around the world are drawn to the same books, connecting us from every corner of the globe: some notable examples include plays, such as Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, classic novels such as Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, as well as Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, to name a few.
But why should we be chained to the books of our past…
Dear Reader, with Alison Huber
Friends, October is officially O for Overwhelming. I spend each one of these columns trying to cover as many new releases as I can, but there are so many great books published this month, my task is D for Doomed, and omissions will be legion. Let me start at a logical point though, with our Fiction and Nonfiction Books of the Month, both of them undoubtedly two of the publishing highlights of 2023.
Edenglassie is Melissa Lucashenko’s long-awaited follow-up to…
My year of horror (reading)
Readings Carlton bookseller Jason Austin decided to return to a genre he’d enjoyed as a young reader and exclusively read horror books in 2023. Here he shares the results of his experiment.
Like a lot of kids, my love of reading began with comics, but sci-fi and horror were my gateway to reading long-form literature. Horror, in particular, was a genre I was hooked on as a child, and it started with Roald Dahl.
I don’t mean The BFG or…
The 2023 Booker Prize shortlist
The 2023 Booker Prize shortlist has been announced!
This year's shortlist features one British, one Canadian, two Irish and two American authors. Two of the shortlisted works are debuts. Although full of hope, humour and humanity, the books address many of 2023’s most pressing concerns: climate change, immigration, financial hardship, the persecution of minorities, political extremism and the erosion of personal freedoms. They feature characters in search of peace and belonging or lamenting lost loves. There are books that are…
Mark's brilliant career: A tribute to Mark Rubbo
As some of you may know already, Readings’ long-serving managing director, Mark Rubbo, has recently retired from his position. This idea of retirement has been floating around for some years now, although I wasn’t sure it would ever eventuate. My incredulity came from observing Dad’s unwavering obsession with Readings over the entirety of my lifetime. It was something to behold, often fanatical in its intensity. Mark Rubbo and Readings became so enmeshed it has sometimes been difficult to tell where…
Dear Reader, with Alison Huber
As you’ll read in Joe Rubbo’s wonderful piece of writing, the person whose name is synonymous with Readings (and the Australian books and publishing industry at large), Mark Rubbo, has officially stepped back from his role as Managing Director. It’s not something I can entirely compute, so present is Mark in my daily working life. I predict things will feel for me and my colleagues both very different and almost the same, and that’s because Mark has fostered such a…
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