We were blown away this month when London Book Fair named us Bookstore of the Year. In the words of our managing director Mark Rubbo: ‘We’re delighted and extremely honoured to receive this award. It’s a reflection of the quality of Australian independent bookshops.’

Three authors won notable literary prizes this past month. Viet Thanh Nguyen was awarded this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Sympathizer – an astonishing debut that takes a fresh look at the enduring legacy of the Vietnam War. Charlotte Wood was awarded this year’s Stella Prize for The Natural Way of Things – a starkly imaginative exploration of contemporary misogyny and corporate control. And Katherine Brabon was awarded this year’s Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award for The Memory Artist – an intelligent and emotional story set in Russia.

In more literary prize news… April also saw the announcement of the the Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist, the Kibble and Dobbie Literary Awards longlists, the International Dublin Literary Award shortlist, and the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist – to name a few.

Looking to children’s and young adult literature, we were delighted to host an event with author Will Kostakis about his latest novel, The Sidekicks. St Kilda children’s bookseller Isobelle Moore also asked Will some questions for our blog. And we’re loving the new television adaptation of John Marsden’s Tomorrow series which has just launched on ABC3. If you haven’t watched it yet, please go do so immediately.

We also put together what we hope will be some useful resources for teachers and parents. The first is a collection of books with LGBTQIA+ themes for kids and teens, and the second is a collection of books that speak to late childhood and early adolescence years.

If you’re looking for some reading guidance from our booksellers, here’s a collection of testimonials about why you should read Justin Cronin’s The Passage trilogy. (The epic conclusion, The City of Mirrors, will arrive in-store on Tuesday 24 May.) And with no less than two upcoming TV adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s books in the works (of Good Omens and American Gods) now is the time to delve into his backlist. Our digital marketing manager (and Gaiman super fan) Lian Hingee has written a beginner’s guide to his novels to help you decide where to start.

You can also browse our lists of brilliant new novels featuring dysfunctional families (one of our favourite ‘genres’) and of literary novels about real life bushrangers, as well as check out digital content coordinator Bronte Coates’s completely subjective guide toPride and Prejudice adaptations.