It should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone that this issue of our beloved Readings Monthly is an absolute cracker, because every issue is, ever since we began publishing it in its earliest form back in the 1980s. Each Readings Monthly showcases the deep book-love and expertise of our booksellers. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with many staff who pursue parallel lives as artists, musicians, academics, students, lawyers, actors, promoters, filmmakers, theatremakers, puppeteers, designers, sewers, knitters, publishers, editors, and much more besides (that’s why our knowledge on the shop floor is so wide and so deep!). Some of these folks have, unsurprisingly, been quite famous in their field. Visual artist (and art and design specialist at our Carlton shop) Zoë Croggon is one of these multi-talented people, and a monograph of her work, How to Cut an Orange, is published this month: congratulations, Zoë! It includes an essay written by another of our staff, Samantha Abdy. Click here to read more, as well as some of Zoë’s recent art book recommendations. We also have a tantalising extract from the forthcoming letters between two of Australia’s most interesting writers, Shirley Hazzard and Elizabeth Harrower, and a recipe from Anna Jones’ new vegetarian cookbook (out this month) called Easy Wins: the premise of this collection had me from the start with its focus on 12 ordinary ingredients and different ways to make them them shine.

And then there are the reviews penned by our staff, always the highlight of our Readings Monthly. There are plenty of them in this issue, something of a bumper month of publishing, such choice and range that I don’t mind saying it was hard(er than usual) to choose a Fiction Book of the Month. In another way though, it seemed obvious that it simply had to be No Church in the Wild, the second book from Melbourne author Murray Middleton, a novel of this city and this time. I won’t say too much more here (you can read the full review here), but in short, this is a very, very good book. Miranda Darling’s Thunderhead has been delighting advance readers for some months, and our reviewer joins their ranks, calling this book a ‘firecracker of a story’: the character Winona Dalloway is one you’ll remember. The late Charmian Clift left behind an unfinished novel, The End of the Morning, and it is published along with other pieces of writing under the guidance of her biographer Nadia Wheatley, and our reviewer calls it a ‘delight’ and ‘a wonderful book’. Interested readers might also like to revisit Clift’s collection of essays published in 2022 (also edited by Wheatley), Sneaky Little Revolutions. Bri Lee has a high profile largely due to her nonfiction writing, and it’s about to soar even higher with her turn to fiction, The Work, which our reviewer admired for Lee’s, ‘(determination) to continue talking about the impact of changing politics and power’: reviewer and author engage in an insightful Q&A which can be found here. Our reviewers also highly recommend the debuts from Ernest Price, Winnie Dunn, and Georgia Harper. Our Crime Book of the Month is also from another Melbourne author, the prize-winning Aoife Clifford. It Takes a Town had our reviewer thinking about the importance of community, while trying to solve both a murder and a missing person case. Our staff also introduces you to investigative journalist Louise Milligan’s first novel, Pheasants Nest, and Miles Franklin Award-winning writer Steven Carroll’s first foray into the detective novel, Death of a Foreign Gentleman, as well as the new books from Stuart Turton and Garry Disher.

I had completely forgotten that I had read and loved Caoilinn Hughes’ The Wild Laughter until I started writing this column, so I’ve now no choice but to follow up her new novel, The Alternatives, which had our reviewer’s head spinning. Andrew O’Hagan’s doorstop of a novel, Caledonian Road, accompanied me on my beach holiday in January this year, and I just could not stop reading it until it was finished, and I was desperate to discuss it with someone afterwards: our reviewer and I have had a number of debriefs since she read it, and you can join in once you’ve read all 656 pages. Our staff also recommends books from Rowan Beaird, Daniel Kraus, Hanako Footman, and Helen Oyeyemi, and will be looking out for the new books by Tommy Orange, Percival Everett, Leigh Bardugo, Elisa Shua Dusapin, and Téa Obreht.

Bruce Pascoe and Lyn Harwood have written an account of a year on their farm in the state’s east in Black Duck: A Year at Yumburra, and it is, of course, our Nonfiction Book of the Month. Written in the aftermath of the Dark Emu media firestorm, as well as the literal firestorm of the Black Summer fires, this is, in the words of our reviewer, ‘a beautifully meandering reflection on a year of work and living … a true pleasure to read’. If all goes to plan, the authors will pay us a visit before publication, and we’ll have signed copies available at all our shops and online on publication day. Nova Weetman is, as our reviewer observes, ‘an icon of Australian youth literature’, and so it seems a particular privilege to be invited into her most private moments as she traverses the grief of losing her longtime partner in Love, Death and Other Scenes. Chimene Suleyman’s memoir, The Chain, has garnered a lot of praise from writers like Maggie Smith and Evie Wyld, and this buzz is supported by our reviewer who piques my interest even further in this unbelievable but completely true personal story. Also out this month, nonfiction from Elizabeth Kolbert, James Bradley, Daniel Susskind, Patric Gagne, and Salman Rushdie.

And finally, dear Reader, during April we are very excited to be able to highlight the brilliant Clothbound Classics range designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith: these are tactile and collectable objects of desire and have become staples on Readings’ shelves. Thanks to our friends at Penguin Random House (and some serious organisation and lead time), we have an amazing offer on the range: buy 3 for the price of 2, and you’ll also receive a gorgeous Clothbound Classic Journal, made just for us (you’ll see what I mean when you come in to check them out!). These giveaways are strictly limited, and are not available online, so hotfoot it to one of our shops as soon as you can.