Over the last two years, many of us have begun to lead an almost asynchronous existence, but as it turns out, we’re about to put another year behind us – if you can believe it! So before we turn the page, we’re looking back – with rose-coloured glasses firmly in place for our own protection – on some of the small joys that 2021 brought us (amid all the chaos).

Firstly, a special congratulations to the winners of the three Readings Prizes. Penny Tangey’s heartwarming middle grade novel, As Fast As I Can, won the 2021 Readings Children’s Book Prize; Asphyxia’s innovative and unforgettable YA novel, Future Girl, won the 2021 Readings Young Adult Book Prize; and Andrew Pippos’ charming and chance-filled family saga, Lucky’s, won the 2021 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction. Our 2022 prizes have adopted an exciting new format that we hope will bring even more joy and recognition to amazing local literature and authors. We’d also like to thank both in-house staff judges and the wonderful guest judges, who thoughtfully read and considered an incredible number of books throughout the year.

We’ve also seen a number of fabulous books published by staff during 2021, ranging from fun and quirky young adult fiction to envelope-pushing novels about family. In March we had the powerful and incisive young adult novel The Gaps from our former online children’s book expert, Leanne Hall. In August we had two dazzling releases with Gabrielle Williams’ delightfully clever body-swap story for teens, It’s Not You, It’s Me and Miles Allinson’s hotly awaited sophomore novel, In Moonland, which has been described as ‘an intervention into our times’. The most recent staff release during 2021 was Oliver Driscoll’s second poetry collection, White Clouds Blue Rain, which has been described as deeply observational and demanding of reflection.

In 2021 Readings had the honour of being named Book Retailer of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards, which is a testament to the wonderful community around us and our tireless booksellers who continued to adapt to the ever-changing conditions that proved to be one of the only constants of bookselling during a pandemic. We’ve also welcomed a number of wonderful new staff with this month’s opening of our shop in Emporium Melbourne. Designed by the talented team at Kerstin Thompson Architects, our Emporium store is an airy light-filled space overlooking Little Bourke St, complete with beautiful heritage windows and plenty of seating for reading and contemplation. We hope you’ll take some time to pop in to say hello, or to attend one of the many events we’re planning to host there during 2022.

And, speaking of events, time and time again during 2021, our spirits were lifted by our diverse and inspiring community – who we heard from online almost nightly. This past year, Readings hosted close to 250 events, and yet the novel liberation we felt listening to people from all over the world sharing stories never dimmed. Melbourne authors celebrated one another, and readers tuned in to listen to their favourite author read a passage, or answer an obscure question about their writing; it all happened while we sat at home with fluffy socks on.

In 2022, we want to make sure that we don’t lose that intimacy of hearing an author speak to us in our own home. We know it’s difficult for many people to access in-person events and that the use of Zoom has allowed our community to grow. We are now exploring live streaming options and ways to continue the level of increased accessibility we have enjoyed during the last two years. We don’t want to lose valuable company as we transition back to more in-person events.

It’s been a full year, but as always, our biggest achievement will always be putting the right book into the right hands every single day.

Our blog and social media will be quiet for the next couple of weeks while our digital marketing team take a short break. Don’t worry though – regular business on both the blog and social media resumes as normal in January 2022. In the meantime, all of our shops (including our online shop!) will be open as per usual. We also recommend taking some time to close your eyes, recline, and pop on one of our podcasts to hear from some amazing authors who featured in this year’s events programme.

Happy holidays, and happy reading.