What we're reading
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…
What we're reading: Lil Wayne, Shaun Considine & Hera Lindsay Bird
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 Spoils by Brian Van Reet
Set in Iraq in 2003 just after the US invasion, Spoils is a moving and complex novel that examines the illogicality of war and allegiances. Van Reet is a veteran of the Iraq war, so brings a special perspective to this complex story. His writing is…
What we're reading: Wesley Lowery, Mel Campbell and Anthony Morris
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 They Can’t Kill Us All by Wesley Lowery
They Can’t Kill Us All is a compact, fiercely galvanising read about the birth of the Black Lives Matter protest movement. Wesley Lowery is singularly placed to tell this story. Reporting for The Washington Post, he was on the streets during the…
What we're reading: Tom McCarthy, Jennifer Wright and Michelle Forbes
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 Somerville is reading Remainder by Tom McCarthy
It took me a few tries to get into Remainder. There was something about the unnamed narrator’s voice that wasn’t off-putting exactly, but it wasn’t entirely agreeable either. It’s both precise and vague.
What won me over though was its premise. At the beginning of the…
What we're reading: Elif Batuman, Philip Kerr and Trevor Noah
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 Idiot by Elif Batuman
I’m a third of the way through The Idiot and loving it. This is such a smart, surreal and absorbing campus novel; Elif Batuman is a sharp and insightful writer, with a talent for bringing out the funny side of everyday life. The eponymous idiot of…
What we're reading: Bill Hayes, Jenevieve Chang and Ariel Levy
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.
Amy Vuleta is reading Insomniac City by Bill Hayes
I’ve just started reading Insomniac City by Bill Hayes. This is a memoir of New York City, of insomnia and grief, of loss and love, and of the author’s relationship with the writer and neurologist, Oliver Sacks. I can already tell this is going to be…
What we're reading: Bernadette Brennan, Zoe Whittall and John Darnielle
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 reading Universal Harvester by John Darnielle
I recently inhaled John Darnielle’s creepy and wonderful second novel. As I wrote in my review, Universal Harvester is a remarkable psychological thriller, as original as it is ambitious. The narrative starts out as a suspenseful page-turner, then evolves into a unsettling study of family and…
What we're reading: Ian McDonald, Cath Crowley and Sarah Bakewell
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.
Jan Lockwood is reading Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
I don’t normally read YA as there is already so much choice on adult shelves. But I was encouraged to try Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley by a colleague and I’m so glad I did. For me, this book is every bit…
What we're reading: Melissa Keil, Heather Taylor Johnson and Jessica Friedmann
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 Jean Harley Was Here by Heather Taylor Johnson
I read Jean Harley Was Here is one sitting. Heather Taylor Johnson tells the story of what happens to the friends and family in the aftermath of the titular character’s death. It’s a clever novel which somehow manages to avoid being overly emotional…
What we're reading: Gabrielle Wang, Heather Taylor Johnson and Beci Orpin
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.
Leanne Hall is reading Little Paradise by Gabrielle Wang
I rarely re-read books – when you work in a bookshop there are so many tempting new titles that it’s difficult to go back and visit a favourite. But I did pick up the wonderful Little Paradise by Gabrielle Wang again last week, and it was…
What we're reading: Bill Hayes, Thi Bui and Hisham Matar
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 Insomniac City by Bill Hayes
I’ve just finished writer Bill Hayes’s elegy to New York, and to his lover and partner – the late Oliver Sacks.
Insomniac City is a gentle, delightful book, full of humanity yet tinged with sadness. Hayes moved to New York from San Francisco in 2008 after…
What we're reading: Carrie Fisher, Angie Thomas and the Mekong Review
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 Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Angie Thomas’s debut YA novel has generated a lot of buzz, and it’s definitely deserved. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, The Hate U Give is the story of 16-year-old Starr who is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed…
What we're reading: Madeleine Thien, Liane Moriarty and Angela Pippos
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 Abaddon’s Gate by James S.A. Corey
I am reading Abaddon’s Gate, the third book in the Expanse series. This series is set in a future fraught with tensions about interplanetary war. Earth and Mars are on the brink of conflict, and the spanner in the works is the discovery of…
What we're reading: Emily Witt, Arthur Koestler and Ali Land
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 Good Me, Bad Me by Ali Land
I’ve just polished off Ali Land’s extremely chilling novel. While this book is intensely disturbing, it’s very hard to put down. When it comes to crime fiction, I much prefer psychological thrillers over action-packed titles. As such, I like to think I’ve become pretty…
What we're reading: Anna Jones, Nathan Hill and Francine Prose
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.
Michael Skinner is reading The Nix by Nathan Hill
I’m about a third of the way into Nathan Hill’s sprawling, tragicomic family drama and I’m loving it so far. Samuel is a middling academic and video game addict who is forced to confront his past when his estranged mother comes hurtling, very publicly, back into…
What we're reading: Neil Gaiman, Claire-Louise Bennett and Jacinta Halloran
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 Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
I’m a bit of a Neil Gaiman fangirl, so I was beyond delighted to get my hands on an advanced copy of Norse Mythology. Perhaps sick of being badgered by fans, Gaiman’s started going the Netflix route – announcing new titles scant months before they’re…
What we're reading: Alejandro Zambra, Naomi Alderman and Veronica Roth
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 Power by Naomi Alderman
Margaret Atwood’s endorsement (‘Electrifying! Shocking!’) is prominently displayed on the front cover of Naomi Alderman’s new book and it’s an apt one. Alderman was selected as a protégé by Atwood in 2012, and The Power is a glorious inverse companion piece to The Handmaid’s Tale.
…
What we're reading: Liane Moriarty, Kevin Kwan and Melina Marchetta
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 Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
I’ve just finished reading Big Little Lies, which is the second book by Liane Moriaty that I’ve read and, coincidentally, the second book by Liane Moriaty that I’ve absolutely loved.
A death occurs at the Pirriwee Public School ‘Audrey and Elvis’ themed trivia night…
What we're reading over summer
Our staff share the books they’re planning to read over summer.
‘As usual, I’ll be spending the summer catching up on everything I missed during the year. So far on my pile I’ve got Elspeth Muir’s Wasted, Rajith Savanadasa’s Ruins, Sean Rabin’s Wood Green and Paul Beatty’s The Sellout, just to name a few!’ – Alan Vaarwerk, editorial assistant for Readings Monthly
‘I’m hoping to read all the unread books on my shelves at home this summer…
What we're reading: Stacy Schiff, Georgia Blain and Nicola Yoon
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Ellen Cregan is reading The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff
I have always been the sort of reader who tends to devour books in hours, rather than days. This year I’ve been consciously attempting to slow down and take my time with the books I read. While I was relatively unsuccessful with…
What we're reading: Nicola Yoon, Tana French and Patrick Ness
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Bronte Coates is reading Nicola Yoon and C. Robert Cargill
I’ve just finished reading two great books, and both were thanks to other people’s recommendations. A colleague put me onto Nicola Yoon’s new YA novel which is romantic, heartwrenching and packed with all kinds of big questions and complications. In short, The Sun…
What we're reading: Robin Talley, Ben Katchor and Steve Hely
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Ed Moreno is reading all the beginnings by Quinn Eades
Fans of genre outlaws, revel in Quinn Eades’ heartbreaking, powerful, mindblowingly-visceral all the beginnings. Immerse yourself in a text which bends, breaks and redefines all the rules, and then hands you a perfectly-crafted poem – a Dragonfruited sphere / shining tissue /…
What we're reading: Cece Bell, Marilyn Waring and Bill Bryson
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Lian Hingee is reading The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
Many years ago I spent a Gap Year working at a boarding school just outside of London. After I returned I discovered Bill Bryson’s Notes From a Small Island, which I snickered through with delighted familiarity. Bryson has a magnificent…
What we're reading: Mark Smith, Rebecca Solnit and Dave Eggers
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Lian Hingee is reading The Road to Winter by Mark Smith
I was one of the first-generation Tomorrow When The War Began fans, so when one of my workmates drew the comparison between that and Mark Smith’s The Road to Winter I was keen to pick up a copy.
Set in a small…
What we're reading: Alison Young, Agatha Christie and Norman Ohler
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Nina Kenwood is reading The Mothers by Brit Bennett
In late 2014, Brit Bennett’s essay I Don’t Know What To Do With Good White People went viral. It’s an important piece of writing about race that I’ve seen many people sharing again this week, in the wake of the US election. After her…
What we're reading: Jane Harper, Idra Novey and Frank Norris
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Ed Moreno is reading Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey
I picked Ways to Disappear off the shelf to have a look and it stopped me in my tracks. From the opening sentence, I was intrigued. I bought a copy that night and read it over the next few days. It’s one of…
What we're reading: Jean Webster, Darren Purchese and Cath Crowley
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Lian Hingee is reading Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster
When I was still brand-new at Readings I was chatting to one of my workmates about our mutual love for Anne of Green Gables (Gilbert Blythe 4eva) and she encouraged me to read the classic Daddy Long-Legs. She even brought in her own…
What we're reading: Hannah Kent, Rainbow Rowell and Ali Smith
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Amy Vuleta is reading Autumn by Ali Smith
I’ve just picked up this latest novel from Ali Smith. I read and loved How to be Both last year, and had a number of full, very rich discussions about the book with two of the book club groups I host at our St Kilda…
What we're reading: Emily Maguire, Briohny Doyle and iO Tillett Wright
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Nina Kenwood is reading Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
I’m obsessed with the US election at the moment, to a probably unhealthy degree. I listen to podcasts about it (my favourites are Slate’s Trumpcast and NPR’s Politics Podcast), read almost every article that…
What we're reading: Nina Stibbe, Emma Donoghue and Christopher Brickell
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Mike Shuttleworth is reading Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe
I recently went on holiday and took with me Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly why I enjoyed the book so much, but what I do know is that it was an effortless, addictive pleasure.
Nina Stibbe…
What we're reading: Amor Towles, Holly Throsby and Richard Aitken
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Jan Lockwood is watching Guardians Of The Galaxy
Yes, I’m a bit late to the party… But I’m absolutely loving the Guardians Of The Galaxy movie and its accompanying soundtrack, Guardians Of The Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol 1.
Originally from earth but abducted and brought up by a band of space thieves…
What we're reading: Jonathan Safran Foer, Nora Ephron and Charles Foster
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Lian Hingee is reading Heartburn by Nora Ephron
I saw the Nora Ephron documentary, Everything is Copy, at MIFF earlier this year, and when I waxed lyrical at the office the next day about how much I enjoyed it, several of my co-workers impressed upon me just how wonderful her semi-autobiographical novel…
What we're reading: Sarah Bannan, Jimmy Barnes and Mary Gaitskill
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Chris Gordon is reading Working Class Boy by Jimmy Barnes
Last night, I started reading Jimmy Barnes’ forthcoming memoir about his childhood Working Class Boy. I didn’t expect to be captivated. I didn’t expect that his story would be one of poverty, abuse and addiction. I didn’t expect to be moved by…
What we're reading: G. Willow Wilson, Hannah Kent and Abby Hanlon
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Lian Hingee is rereading Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
Confession time: I have lots of new books sitting on my TBR pile at home, a stack of upcoming releases piled up on my desk at work, and as one of the judges for our newly announced Readings Young Adult Book Prize…
What we're reading: J.M. Coetzee, Laura Elizabeth Woollett and Liam Pieper
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Amy Vuleta is reading Liam Pieper and Laura Elizabeth Woollett
Last weekend I had the pleasure of co-hosting one of our New Australian Fiction sessions at the Melbourne Writers Festival.
I chatted to Laura Elizabeth Woollett about her collection of stories, The Love of a Bad Man. Each of the stories in…
What we're reading: Maxine Beneba Clarke, Cath Crowley and Sam Carmody
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Ann Le Lievre is reading The Windy Season by Sam Carmody
This debut novel had an electrifying affect on me, though at first, it didn’t seem like it would…
Paul is 17, lives with his family in Perth and his older brother, Elliot, has gone missing. Over the recent months, Elliot had working…
What we're reading: Tana French, Laura Elizabeth Woollett and Megan Abbott
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Nina Kenwood is reading You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott
If, like me, you’re enjoying the Olympics and looking to theme your reading a little, then I suggest You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott. Like all of Abbott books, it’s about teenage girls and involves a page-turning mystery but at its…
What we're reading: Terry Pratchett, Jared Thomas and Suzanne Rindell
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Lian Hingee is reading Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
It’s been so many years since I’ve read Terry Pratchett’s earlier Discworld novels that there’s a few that I’m not even sure whether I actually have read, or if I only think I have. This one was published when I was nine, so there’s…
What we're reading: Sarah Crossan, Lydia Davis and Alexander Chee
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Nina Kenwood is reading Harry Potter And The Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany
Like most of the world, I’ve been reading the new Harry Potter. I must confess: I’m enjoying it, but I don’t love it. I’m a huge fan of the original series, and it’s been a…
What we're reading: Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, Megan Abbott and Ian McGuire
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Stella Charls is reading You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott
I seem to have spent a lot of time on this blog raving about Megan Abbott (see here and here). I only discovered her work last year and I subsequently felt obligated to share her with pretty much everyone I’ve crossed…
What we're reading: Kate Mildenhall, Baba Schwartz and Renata Adler
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Kara Liddell is reading Pitch Dark by Renata Adler
I’m currently reading Renata Adler’s Pitch Dark, suffice to say it’s incredible and I can’t believe it has taken me this long to discover it. After a recommendation from a fellow bookseller during a recent trip to New York – and a continuing…
What we're reading: Justin Cronin, Pearl S. Buck and Andy Weir
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Leanne Hall is reading Three Daughters of Madame Liang by Pearl S. Buck
It’s been on my mind for a while that I should read Pearl S. Buck – a Nobel Prize-winning American author who wrote prolifically about China – so imagine how pleased I was to discover an out-of-print hardcover edition of…
What we're reading: Wendy Orr, Hans Fallada and Julie Koh
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Mark Rubbo is reading Nightmare in Berlin by Hans Fallada
Interest in Hans Fallada was re-ignited with the republication of his great anti-fascist novel, Alone in Berlin, a few years ago. His new work, Nightmare in Berlin, is partly autobiographical and set just as Germany is falling to the Russian troops…
What we're reading: Sean Rabin, Zoë Morrison and Emily Gale
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Stella Charls is reading The Other Side of Summer by Emily Gale
I don’t read many books for kids and teens, but this gem by Emily Gale made me realise what I am missing out on. The Other Side of Summer completely stole my heart – I found myself caring so much for…
What we're reading: Sabahattin Ali, A.J. Rich and Jay Kristoff
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Mark Rubbo is reading Madonna in a Fur Coat by Sabahattin Ali
I’m currently reading this novel from Sabahattin Ali, a Turkish writer and teacher who was murdered by the Turkish Secret Service in 1948.
When Madonna in a Fur Coat was first published in Turkey, back in 1943, it was largely ignored…
What we're reading: Rick Yancey,Meg Medina and Elspeth Muir
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Angela Crocombe is reading Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina
I loved reading this atmospheric young adult novel set in Queens, New York during the infamous summer of 1977 when a serial killer was on the loose, a spate of arson attacks were plaguing the city, and a blackout turned the entire city…
What we're reading: Lindy West, Amy Liptrot and Heidi Julavits
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Chris Gordon is reading Fine by Michelle Wright
This debut collection of stories is due to be released in July, and it’s one to get excited about. With her words, Michelle Wright has managed to pin to the page that very particular emotion that comes to the surface when we tell ourselves that…
What we're reading: Jane Harper, Ann Turner and Helen Oyeyemi
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Stella Charls is reading The Dry by Jane Harper
I’ve always thought of myself as a slow reader, until I picked up The Dry. It’s a cliché, but I mean it when I say I could not put this book down. For two days my copy seemed glued to my hands, and…
What we're reading: Guy Gavriel Kay, Steve Toutonghi and Riad Sattouf
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.
Nina Kenwood is reading The Other Side of Summer by Emily Gale
This book…. Oh man, I LOVED this book. The Other Side of Summer is Emily Gale’s new novel for readers aged 11+. It tells the story of Summer and her family, who are trying to recover from the tragic death of…
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