Martin Shaw
Martin Shaw is a former head book buyer
Review — 26 Jan 2012
The Last Thread by Michael Sala
‘Australia Fair Lookout. Introspection strictly forbidden,’ reads a favourite Leunig cartoon of mine. I thought of this when reading Michael Sala’s fine debut novel, The Last Thread, for in…
Blog post — 24 Jun 2015
Martin Shaw's ten favourite Australian books
When my colleague Bronte asked me to write a list of my ‘ten favourite books published over the course of my career at Readings’, I admit that I (audibly) groaned…
Blog post — 27 May 2015
News from Australia's annual bookselling conferences
Martin Shaw reports back from the Leading Edge Books and Australian Book Industry Award 2015 conferences.
So we’re all fresh from our annual conference which, as ever, re-charged the bookselling…
Blog post — 30 Apr 2015
This month's most exciting new releases
Well what a frenetic time it’s been in the book world in recent weeks! We’ve had the announcement of the Stella Prize to our near Carlton neighbour Emily Bitto for…
Blog post — 26 Feb 2015
Martin Shaw interviews Rebecca Starford
Rebecca Starford’s Bad Behaviour: A Memoir of Bullying and Boarding School is generating much excitement at Readings. After numerous sleep-deprived staff members turned up to work unable to think or…
Blog post — 1 Mar 2015
March 2015 highlights
I must say I’ve been having a good run of late with the first book I read in any given year. Last year, for instance, I was gushing about Maxine…
Blog post — 1 Feb 2015
2015 February Highlights
February is already a tremendous month. On the fiction front James Bradley returns after a lengthy spell between books with a wonderful novel entitled Clade. As many of you…
Blog post — 29 Jan 2015
The most anticipated books of 2015
Here is my panoramic survey of titles on the horizon for later in the year – rather a feast, I’m sure you’ll agree! From this (of course very early) vantage…
Blog post — 26 Nov 2014
Martin Shaw on literary prizes
Suddenly, it’s the end of the year and time for lots of bookish gift-giving! To help you in that regard, we’ve created a number of top ten lists in various…
Review — 25 Mar 2014
Boyhood Island by Karl Ove Knausgaard
At last it’s here – the third volume in Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle series, perhaps the most significant literary project in contemporary letters since the late W. G. Sebald’s…
