What we're reading
What we're reading: Hilary Reyl, Elizabeth Acevedo & Ally Carter
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.
Ellen Cregan has just returned from Sydney Writers’ Festival
I attended Sydney Writer’s Festival on the weekend, and I spent a large part of Saturday listening to excellent authors discussing their books and the ideas they each delve into.
The first session of the day was Jamila Rizvi and Angela Saini discussing Saini’s book, Inferior…
What we're reading: Richard Powers, Canna Campbell & Emily Power
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.
Bronte Coates is reading The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee
I came across mention of this book when I was looking for funny YA recommendations. Drawing comparisons with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it’s the story of 16-year-old Ivy Leage hopeful, Genie Lo, whose hometown is beset by hellspawn straight out of…
What we're reading: Richard Lloyd Parry, Robin Benway & Mary Miller
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.
Mark Rubbo is reading Staying by Jessie Cole
I sometimes go through periods (thankfully short) when whatever I pick up to read just doesn’t engage me. Last week, a friend gave me a copy of Jessie Cole’s memoir Staying, which will be reviewed in the May issue of the Readings Monthly, and my…
What we're reading: Curtis Sittenfeld, Eliza Robertson & Miyoko Schinner
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.
Mark Rubbo is reading Demi-Gods by Eliza Robertson
I just read Demi-Gods by Eliza Robertson. Eliza, a Canadian writer, won last year’s ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize for her story ‘Pheidippides’, and this is her first novel. It’s a highly charged coming-of-age story set across British Columbia and California in which a young woman…
What we're reading: A.J. Finn, Ruth Jones & Sally Piper
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.
Nina Kenwood is reading The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
Some people hate marketing hype, and turn away from any book being talked up as the Next Big Thing. Publishers, take note: that is not me. I love hype. I love knowing what books publishers and early readers are excited about. But when…
What we're reading: Jenny Erpenbeck, Moreno Giovannoni & Jewell Parker Rhodes
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.
Kelsey Oldham is reading Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck (translated by Susan Bernofsky)
I’m currently reading Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck and I can’t put it down. Translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky, it follows Richard, a newly-retired professor, as he befriends a group of African refugees in Berlin and finally starts…
What we're reading: Julie C. Dao, Becky Albertalli & Ryan Graudin
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.
Bronte Coates is reading two great teen novels
I always try to read the book before seeing the film and so last weekend I picked up a copy of Becky Albertalli’s YA novel, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, which has recently been adapted into a film named Love, Simon. This novel was…
What we're reading: Blexbolex, Jamie Marie Lau & Meredith Lake
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.
Chris Gordon is reading The Bible in Australia by Meredith Lake
I’m not religious and I picked up this book simply because it was by Meredith Lake, who is a beautiful writer. She makes reading about the past a joy, and at the same time compels me to think about our future – which is…
What we're reading: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Camilla Läckberg & Katherine Kovacic
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.
Bronte Coates is reading Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s beloved 2013 novel is one of those books that people recommend to me all the time, but that I never seem to get around to reading – until now!
Americanah is ostensibly a love story: two childhood sweethearts in Nigeria are compelled to…
What we're reading: Robert Lukins, Peter Wadhams & Tim Winton
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.
Ellen Cregan is reading The Everlasting Sunday by Robert Lukins
Beyond my work at Readings, I am also the First Book Club coordinator at Kill Your Darlings, and this month’s pick is Robert Lukins’s debut novel, The Everlasting Sunday.
Set in a boarding school for wayward boys in 1960s Britain, this novel hones…
What we're reading: Erin Gough, Jasmine Guillory & Lloyd Jones
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 Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
I could wax lyrical for hours about how romance undeservedly gets a bad rap in literary circles (hit me up if you ever want to chat about how it’s one of the most proudly feminist genres on the market, often brilliantly written, impeccably researched, and…
What we're reading: Michael Wolff, Jenny Ackland & Intan Paramaditha
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.
Chris Gordon is reading Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff
I’ve been reading Michael Wolff’s explosive new book. It’s been slow going for me, despite the pace of the writing, because I keep having to look up the various people I come across. This book perfectly illustrates how completely bonkers Trump, and his nearest and…
What we're reading: Zadie Smith, Jasmine Guillory & Johann Hari
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.
Dave Little is reading Lost Connections by Johann Hari
Johann Hari garnered fame for his previous book, Chasing the Scream, which chronicled the US’s exportation of the war on drugs throughout the twentieth century. In his new book, Hari examines the ways depression and anxiety have been diagnosed and treated over the last 50…
What we're reading: Louise Erdrich, Garth Nix & Jennifer Mathieu
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.
Ellen Cregan is reading Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
I’ve just finished reading Jennifer Mathieu’s young adult novel. This is the story of Vivian, a teenager living in small-town Texas. As far back as anyone can remember, Vivian’s school has worshipped their football team. The boys on the team are untouchable – they can say what…
What we're reading: Heather Morris, Dervla McTiernan & Yumi Stynes
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.
Ellen Cregan is reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Over the weekend I read Heather Morris’s debut novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz.
This book tells the story of Lale Sokolov, the real-life tattooist who worked in the infamous concentration camp. Sokolov, a Slovakian Jewish man, volunteered to leave his family to work…
What we're reading: Shigeru Mizuki, Marie Lu & Carmen Maria Machado
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 Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
Like several of my workmates I recently dived headfirst into Carmen Maria Machado’s debut book, which is due to hit our shelves in February. This collection of short stories sits in the sweet spot of the ‘Lian’s Favourite Things to Read’ Venn…
What we're reading: Mick McCoy, Anita Brookner & Carlo Rovelli
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.
George Delaney is reading Look At Me by Anita Brookner
I was intrigued by the premise of Anita Brookner’s Look At Me. It reminded me of Sally Rooney’s brilliant Conversations with Friends – the two books centre on a young woman named Frances who is dazzled and taken in by a married couple for…
What we're reading: Celeste Ng, Stephen Fry & Ann Patchett
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 Mythos by Stephen Fry
I dove headfirst into Stephen Fry’s Mythos over my Christmas holidays. This engrossing book offers an in-depth but entertaining look at Greek mythology, from the creation myth of Gaia and Ouranos, to the legends of Olympus, Pandora, Hades and Persephone, and more. It’s a dense read, but…
What we're reading: Maggie O'Farrell, William Boyd & Clémentine Beauvais
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.
Bronte Coates has two books on the go
This past week I’ve been snatching moments to listen to the audiobook of André Aciman’s Call Me By Your Name – the story of a passionate romance between 17-year-old Elio and his father’s house guest, Oliver, during a restless summer on the Italian Riviera. This 2007 novel…
What we're reading: James S.A. Corey, Sally Rooney & Daniel Mendelsohn
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.
Ann Le Lievre is reading An Odyssey: A Father, A Son and an Epic by Daniel Mendelsohn
This is my most favourite non-fiction book for 2017.
Daniel Mendelsohn is an undergraduate classics professor at Bard College in New York. One day his father, who is 81-years-old, rings to say he wants to ‘sit in’ on…
What we're reading: Louise Erdrich, Andrew Michael Hurley & Sally Rooney
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.
Ellen Cregan is reading Louise Erdrich and Alissa Nutting
I’ve just finished reading two excellent books.
The first is Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich. Initially, I’d planned on reading a couple of chapters, but ended up finishing the whole thing in one sitting. If you liked The Handmaid’s Tale, you…
What we're reading: Margareta Magnusson, Nidhi Chanani & Kazuo Ishiguro
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.
Kim Gruschow is reading two terrific middle fiction books
This past week I read Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani, a really sweet and touching graphic novel about family and choices. There’s lots of beautiful colour and magic as Pri, an artistic Indain-American teen, discovers the homeland her mother fled.
I also just finished The Guggenheim Mystery…
What we're reading: Rainbow Rowell, Tracy Sorensen & Tony Birch
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.
Stella Charls is recommending Tony Birch
On Wednesday night I went along to the Wheeler Centre to see Tony Birch in conversation with Chris Flynn about his most recent short story collection, Common People. This event also included an exciting announcement – Tony has been named the winner of the $20,000 Patrick White Literary…
What we're reading: Katherine Heiny, Carmen Maria Machado & Tony Tan
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.
Bel Monypenny is reading Single, Carefree, Mellow by Katherine Heiny
Katherine Heiny’s first book Single, Carefree, Mellow is the most hilarious read I’ve had in a long time. This collection of short stories examines the complexities of love, betrayal and loss through the mundane absurdities of modern life: the logistics of an affair, the death…
What we're reading: Alice Munro, Beau Donelly & Nick Toscano
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.
Bel Monypenny is reading Alice Munro for the first time
I’m finally delving into the work of Alice Munro, the Canadian Nobel laureate and master of the short story. I’m starting with Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage and it’s certainly been worth the wait. The meaty stories in this collection have all left me with…
What we're reading: Amy Reed, Kayla Rae Whitaker & Sue Perkins
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.
Stella Charls is recommending The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker
The Animators by Kayla Rae Whitaker has stayed with me since I first read it nine months ago. At this point I can safely say it’s my international fiction pick of the year. It’s funny, deeply moving and fiercely empathetic. It made me realise how…
What we're reading: Robert Galbraith, Rochelle Siemienowicz & Laura Elizabeth Woollett
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.
Ellen Cregan is reading Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
For the past few weeks I’ve been on a literary bent with my reading, which has been slightly mentally exhausting. For this reason, I picked up a copy of the third installment of the Cormoran Strike novels written by J.K. Rowling under the pen name…
What we're reading: Jennifer Mathieu, Deborah Rodriguez & Jesmyn Ward
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.
Ellen Cregan is reading Sally Rooney and Jesmyn Ward
I’ve just returned from a two week holiday, and I read so many great books while I was there. Out of the books I read, though, there were two stand-out favourites.
The first is Sally Rooney’s excellent debut, Conversations with Friends. The book tells the…
What we're reading: Kate O'Donnell, Fiona Mozley & Alice Waters
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.
Roland Bisshop is reading Elmet by Fiona Mozley
I can’t help feeling that it may be somewhat redundant for a lowly bookseller to review a novel which has already been shortlisted for the Man Booker prize, but here it is. Fiona Mozley’s Elmet was actually longlisted for the aforementioned prize before publication, which is remarkable…
What we're reading: Jennifer Egan, Lindsey Lee Johnson & Tamara Moss
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.
Bronte Coates is reading Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
I’ve always felt slightly guilty for my indifference towards Jennifer Egan’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel A Visit from the Good Squad, and especially at Readings where it is such a favourite with my colleagues. It’s not that I thought the novel was badly written but…
What we're reading: Jessica Townsend, Jane Harper & Melissa Lucashenko
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.
Ellen Cregan is reading Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
This week I’ve been reading Jessica Townsend’s hotly anticipated children’s fiction book. I don’t often get around to reading middle fiction, so when I do, the book has to be extra special, and this book is definitely extra special.
Morrigan Crow is…
What we're reading: Shaun Prescott, Donna Tartt & David Lynch
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.
Jo Case is reading Lynch on Lynch by David Lynch and Chris Rodley
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 listening to A Twin Peaks Podcast’s post-mortem…
What we're reading: Gabriel Tallent, Anne Buist & Graeme Simsion
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.
Ellen Cregan is reading My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent
This week I read the debut novel from American newcomer, Gabriel Tallent. This is the sort of book I wish I’d been able to read as part of a book club, because I have so many feelings about it. The subject matter is very dark…
What we're reading: Kamila Shamsie, Emma Chastain & Zoë Morrison
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.
Ellen Cregan is reading Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
When the 2017 Booker longlist came out, I had the silly idea that I’d read the whole thing. I’m beginning to doubt that I’ll make it the whole way through, but I’m glad I had the idea because it’s led me to Kamila Shamsie’s stunning novel…
What we're reading: Emma Viskic, Carina Chocano & Angie Thomas
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.
Jo Case is reading You Play The Girl by Carina Chocano
You Play The Girl, for me, just surpassed Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist in the category of ‘smart, thoughtful, completely engrossing read that makes feminist arguments through deep engagement with popular culture’. (That’s a category, right?)
In this book, Carina Chocano critically reflects on…
What we're reading: Jennifer Egan, Elizabeth Wein & Paul Noble
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.
Robbie Egan is reading Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
I have been reading Jennifer Egan’s Manhattan Beach, a novel of remarkable historical accuracy that details the lives of its characters with an economy and precision that almost belies the lavishness of its achievement.
I don’t want to spoil this book for anyone, so will…
What we're reading: Jennifer Down, Ben Aaronovitch & Les Twentyman
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.
Jo Case is reading The Mouth that Roared by Les Twentyman with Robert Hillman
I initially picked up a copy of Les Twentyman’s memoir, written with award-winning author Robert Hillman, because it was on my desk. But I’m now carrying it around because it’s so compelling, charismatic and full of rough-hewn heart.
Les is that…
What we're reading: Sandra Pankhurst, Sandhya Menon & Steve Erickson
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.
Ellen Cregan is reading two memoirs that explore dark territory
I recently read The Trauma Cleaner, an amazing biography due to hit shelves in October. It tells the story of Sandra Pankhurst, a woman who runs a cleaning business. Except this isn’t any ordinary cleaning business – it is one that deals in astronomical…
What we're reading: J.P. Delaney, Steven Carroll & Maile Meloy
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…
What we're reading: Chris Kraus, Tobias Wolff & Penny Woodward
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.
Ellen Cregan is reading Old School by Tobias Wolff
This novel was recommended to me by a trusted source after I’d been complaining about being on a rare reading streak of mediocre books. Old School is not something I’d typically read, but I’m glad I did.
Wolff’s humour is fantastic – his portrayal of certain…
What we're reading: Georgia Blain, Margaret Mahy & Ghassan Hage
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.
Britt Munro is reading Is Racism an Environmental Threat? by Ghassan Hage
This is a wry and expansive analysis of the mode of being that Hage terms ‘domestication’ (which he explores as synonymous with practises of modern nation-building) as the root of both structural racism and environmental degradation. I love reading Hage because he always…
What we're reading: Jennifer Scoullar, Jaclyn Moriarty & Jessica Townsend
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.
Chris Gordon is reading this month’s edition of The Monthly
There is a truly excellent article in the latest edition of The Monthly from editor Nick Feik, in which he tackles the immense global power of Facebook. This is a thought-provoking essay that clearly illustrates the changing landscape of information dissemination across the world. Reading…
What we're reading: Anna Krien, Jock Serong & Matt Zoller-Seitz
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.
Mark Rubbo is reading On the Java Ridge by Jock Serong
I’m reading an advance copy of Jock Serong’s third novel. Set in the near future, an asylum seeker boat capsizes and sinks near a remote island, coincidentally where an Australian tourist boat is safely anchored. It’s three days from a tight Federal election and…
What we're reading: Roxane Gay, Paula Fox & G.X. Todd
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 Defender by G.X. Todd
A couple of weeks ago I shared my winter reading stack online, and one my friends messaged me saying: “Move Defender onto your currently reading pile NOW’. Those capital letters are verbatim which is how I knew she was serious. So I took her advice and finally…
What we're reading: Yanis Varoufakis, Heather Rose & Naomi Alderman
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.
Angela Crocombe is reading The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose
Earlier this week my book club met to discuss The Museum of Modern Love. I had no expectations going in – I only knew that it had won the Stella Prize, and that I had to read it very quickly. And it…
What we're reading: Gwendoline Riley, Wayne Macauley & Ocean Vuong
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.
Annie Condon is reading Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
I’ve been putting off reading Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout, so that I could really savour it during some ‘downtime’, but I’ve recently come to the realisation that the aforementioned ‘downtime’ is just not going to happen. So I began the book and entered…
What we're reading: Emma Chastain, Sarah Bailey & Simon Rowe
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.
Nina Kenwood is reading The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey
The Dark Lake is a terrific Australian crime fiction debut. Set in rural NSW, it opens with a dead body in a lake and a police detective juggling lots of complicated secrets. It has the small town mystery of The Dry, the police procedural…
What we're reading: Amy Engel, Sally Thorne & Philip Pullman
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 Hating Game by Sally Thorne
I’ve been in a serious reading rut lately, unable to commit the time and attention to finishing any of the many books sitting in an increasingly unstable pile on my bedside table. I was moaning to a friend about my predicament. I asked her what…
What we're reading: Ariel Levy, M.R. Carey & Patrick Modiano
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.
Mike Shuttleworth is reading The Black Notebook by Patrick Modiano (translated by Mark Polizzotti)
Paris is a place that many of us think about – and some of us think about it a lot. But nobody thinks about Paris with the total obsession of Patrick Modiano, the 2014 Nobel Prize winner for Literature.
I’ve just…
What we're reading: Alice Munro, Bill Hayes & Sophie Hénaff
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.
Bronte Coates is reading The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
After deciding to read something ‘topical’ for our next meeting, my book club picked The Handmaid’s Tale. With a buzzing new series currently streaming, and seemingly endless think pieces on this book’s relevance to today’s politics, it seemed am obvious choice. I fell in…
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