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. Bianca Looney is reading The Colour of the Sun by David Almond

A summer day. A young lad wandering free. Drifts of blazing poppies. Lying on rock in the sun. Wondering and dreaming at the aliveness of the world. The magical and the real all melting together.

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Here’s a preview of some of the most exciting local releases for the second half of 2018. FICTION The Peacock Summer by Hannah Richell (July) The Coves by David Whish-Wilson (July) A Month of Sundays by Liz Byrski (July) The Far-Back Country by Kate Lyons (July) We See the Stars by Kate Van Hooft (July) When Elephants Fight by Majok Tulba (July) Under Your Wings by Tiffany Tsao (July) Capt…

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Here are some of my favourite overseas YA reads from this year. I’ve followed my tastes freely and it’s lead me all over the place: dark fairytale, contemporary realism, historical fiction, humour, magic realism and fantasy. (If you’re in the mood for Australian YA, you should definitely work your way through the Readings Young Adult Book Prize shortlist. It contains six very different and equal…

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Bernard Vella has worked at Readings for close to 15 years, and managed our Malvern shop for six of those years. We chat with him about the singular pleasures of physical books, and what he likes to read – everything from the classics to books about dinosaurs. What is your favourite part of your job?

That’s easy – looking after our customers. I’d like to think that each of the Readings shops …

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Amelia Westlake is one of the six books shortlisted for this year’s Readings Young Adult Book Prize.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about hoaxes. My life, for instance. Lately it feels less like a life and more like a joke. Somebody’s practical joke. Don’t get me wrong. It’s nothing I can’t handle. Terrible stuff has been happening to me since I was born. Mum and Dad named me Wilhelmina for a…

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The winners of the 2018 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced!

The Carnegie Medal is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people. The Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people.

As of last year, all shortlisted titles a…

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Our food and gardening columnist Chris Gordon chats with acclaimed chef and author Nancy Singleton Hachisu about her stunning new cookbook, Japan: The Cookbook First, congratulations on the success of your beautiful new cookbook. What a treat it is. Did it really take you three years to write and research? Was that because you wanted to include every possible part of Japanese cuisine?

Yes, it…

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Congratulations to the authors shortlisted for this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award.

The six shortlisted titles include:

No More Boats by Felicity Castagna (Read our review) The Life to Come by Michelle de Kretser (Read our review) The Last Garden by Eva Hornung (Read our review) Storyland by Catherine McKinnon Border Districts by Gerald Murnane (Read our review) Taboo by Kim Scott (Read …

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The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman Less by Andrew Sean Greer Dead Right (Quarterly Essay 70) by Richard Denniss Calypso by David Sedaris Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman Eggshell Skull by Bri Lee Warlight by Michael Ondaatje Marcia Langton: Welcome to Country by Marcia Langton Dark Emu (New edition) by Bruce Pascoe The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark…

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Stories for Boys Who Dare to be Different by Ben Brooks & Quinton Winter The World’s Worst Children 3 by David Walliams & Tony Ross The Mystery of the Magic Stones (Polly and Buster Book 2) by Sally Rippin Tiger’s Roar by Alex Rance & Shane McG Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli & Francesca Cavallo Tarin of the Mammoths: The Exile (Book 1) by Jo Sandhu Found in Melbourne by Joan…

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