Our latest blog posts
Strong female characters who embrace their femininity
The ‘strong female character’ trope is a familiar one. Ass-kicking, gun-toting, take-no-prisoners women like Ripley from Alien or Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games trilogy tend to be where our minds go when we hear the phrase: strong female character.
While characters like Ripley and Katniss are examples of this character type at its best, this trope has also led to characters who are borin…
Our children’s and YA top 10 bestsellers of the week
Vale Agnes Nieuwenhuizen
Agnes died suddenly on 14 September in Woodend, Victoria. A champion of youth literature in Australia and tireless advocate of reading, she leaves a deep and lasting impression on Australian cultur…
Our top 10 bestsellers of the week
Voss Literary Prize longlist 2017
The longlist for the 2017 Voss Literary Prize has been announced.
Launched in 2014, the Voss Literary Prize is awarded to the best novel published in Australia in the previous year, and is dedicated to the memory of historian Vivian Robert Le Vaux Voss.
The full 2017 longlist is:
All These Perfect Strangers by Aoife Clifford Dodge Rose by Jack Cox (Read our review) Our Magic Hour by Jennifer …
Brilliant books available for pre-order
Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk returns in another addictive crime thriller from bestselling author Jane Harper. Five women reluctantly head out on a hike together at a corporate retreat. Only four return. The disappearance is of particular importance to Falk. The missing bushwalker – Alice Russell – i…
Our top picks of the month for book clubs
Alan and Pina have led a peaceful existence in Boney Point, a town in rural East Gippsland, for 30 years, but their lives are thrown into disarray by Alan’s devastating early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis. With Alan adrift in his own mind, Pina struggles to face the consequences until the arrival of a flock of black cockat…
What we’re reading: Shaun Prescott, Donna Tartt & David Lynch
My spare time is pretty much entirely absorbed with thinking about Twin Peaks: The Return right now (and anyone who wants to discuss the ending should bail me up). On Monday night, I fell asleep…
Man Booker Prize shortlist 2017
Congratulations to the six authors shortlisted for this year’s Man Booker Prize for Fiction!
Chair of 2017 judges, Baroness Lola Young, writes: ‘Playful, sincere, unsettling, fierce: here is a group of novels grown from tradition but also radical and contemporary. The emotional, cultural, political and intellectual range of these books is remarkable, and the ways in which they challenge our thin…
The most anticipated children’s book of 2017
‘ Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow is a bewitching tale and one of the most compelling books I’ve read all year. This book should come stamped with a warning – be prepared for a marathon read because yo…
Browse our blog by category
