Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films and TV shows we’re watching, and the music we’re listening to.

Lian Hingee is reading The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

You come across a lot of books being promoted as ‘the next Gone Girl’ – pretty much any new thriller featuring a female protagonist receives this treatment. As someone who falls for it Every Single Time, I’m getting pretty sick of this promise not…

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I first discovered Jock Serong last year, when Readings’ Stella Charls, Alice Pung and I were reading through an enormous book pile, judging the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction. None of us expected to be utterly seduced by a crime novel titled The Rules of Backyard Cricket (spoiler: none of us are sporty). But we were all intrigued by its gritty, elegant exploration of Australian masculinity, as dramatised through elite sporting competition. So, Stella and I were both excited…

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Alice Pung interviews Jock Serong about On the Java Ridge, his literally page-turning novel of politics, asylum seekers, a storm, a surf trip… and treason on the high seas.

Jock Serong tells me a true story about a British surfer who went out to ride the waves immediately after a tsunami struck Sri Lanka: ‘Tens of thousands of people were killed, but he went out the very next day. This guy would have had to clamber over debris and…

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The longlist, or ‘Man Booker Dozen’, for the £50,000 Man Booker Prize has been announced.

Here is the full list of 13 titles:

4321 by Paul Auster

Days Without End by Sebastian Barry

History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

Solar Bones by Mike McCormack

Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor

Elmet by Fiona Mozley

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Autumn by…

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We’re big fans of Netflix’s new TV show, GLOW, which draws its inspiration from Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling – a real syndicated women’s professional wrestling circuit of the 80s. If you also loved this show and are already anticipating its return, you might be tempted by these literary suggestions.

The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker – Like GLOW, this brilliant novel explores female friendship and creativity with equal parts humour and heartbreak. Sharon and Mel share a firm…

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I’m looking forward to the Melbourne Writers Festival: still going strong, since 1986. It’s director Lisa Dempster’s last MWF, and she and her colleagues have combined their creative talents to make sure her last Festival will be truly memorable. This year’s theme is Revolution. Lisa writes: ‘When systems fall into crisis and we are entrenched in the politics of despair, literature becomes a platform for revolution.’ This reminds me of a conversation I had recently with publisher, Morry Schwartz, about…

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Indigenous musician Dr G Yunupingu has died in Royal Darwin Hospital at age 46, following a long battle with illness. The late artist’s stirring, soulful music has made an impact on so many of us within the Readings community, and we are deeply saddened by his passing.

Blind from birth, the Yolngu man from the Gumatj clan grew up in the remote community of Galiwin'ku on Elcho Island. He received his first guitar at the age of six, and as…

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Love Your Bookshop Day is happening across Australia on Saturday 12 August. This day is all about celebrating and loving your local bookshops and we’re can’t wait to be part of the celebrations. Find out what’s happening below…

AN EXCITING COMPETITION FOR BOOK-LOVERS

Buy a book from any Readings shop on Love Your Bookshop Day and you could win free books for a year!

When purchasing any item in-store on Saturday 12 August, fill out our competition form at the…

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The winner of this year’s Readings Young Adult Book Prize is The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon!

This is the first year we have awarded the prize, which considers first and second works of young adult fiction and memoir, and Fraillon’s timely, gutsy and gorgeously written book is a fitting winner for our inaugural year.

The Bone Sparrow was chosen as the winner by our panel of judges, including Readings YA book specialists Angela Crocombe (Readings Kids), Leanne Hall (Readings…

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The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster (Polly and Buster Book 1) by Sally Rippin

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo

A Most Magical Girl by Karen Foxlee

The World’s Worst Children 2 by David Walliams and Tony Ross

Worlds Collide (The Land of Stories Book 6) by Chris Colfer

The Road To Winter by Mark Smith

The Ones That Disappeared by Zana Fraillon

Intergalactic Gas (The Bad Guys Book 5)…

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