For two days each year, the town of Clunes becomes home to the largest collection of new, second-hand, rare and out-of-print small-press publications and collectible books in Australia. Readings Kids shop manager Angela Crocombe shares her wrap-up of this year’s Clunes Booktown Festival, held last weekend.

Thank you to the delightful town of Clunes for hosting a wonderful Booktown Festival this year! Readings has been participating in the festival for five years now and this was our busiest year yet, with record book sales and selling out of a number of authors. The weather was (mostly) glorious and the lovely country atmosphere was enjoyed by all.

It was a strong program this year, with many interesting authors on panels discussing topics including short stories, Australian history, feminism, writing for the millennial mind and gardening. Activism, refugee stories, crime writing and football were also hot topics.

Here are the top ten book sales for the festival at the Readings stall:

• Accidental Feminists by Jane Caro
• Power of Hope by Kon Karapanagiotidis
• The White Girl by Tony Birch
• Invented Lives by Andrea Goldsmith
• Football Solution: How Richmond’s Premiership Can Save Australia by George Megalogenis
• Common People by Tony Birch
• Close to Home: Selected Writings by Alice Pung
• Preservation by Jock Serong
• Flames by Robbie Arnott
• Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein

We loved connecting with so many talented authors and great people in Clunes this year and if you haven’t made it along yet, mark your diary for the first weekend in May for next year!

Angela Crocombe is the shop manager at Readings Kids.