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10 Favourite Middle Grade titles in 2021

Many amazing books have been published for young readers aged between nine and twelve in 2021. We’ve been privileged to read some brilliant stories, both local and international, funny and serious, thrilling real life adventures and those set in fantasy lands. Here are ten of Readings’ staff favourites:

The Detective’s Guide to Ocean Travel by Nicki Greenberg

This book is a classic whodunnit mystery set aboard a grand ocean liner in the 1920s.

With first-class glitz and glamour and a…

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Best Junior Fiction in 2021

We’ve seen a number of wonderful stories for early readers this year. Below are ten of our favourites, which can be read by independent readers or enjoyed as a read-aloud by a parent or carer. So many delightful books for young people beginning their reading journey!

Mim and the Baffling Bully by Katrina Nannestad

Mim Cohen roams the world in a travelling bookshop, with her dad and brother and a horse called Flossy. Flossy leads them where she will, to…

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The Prime Minister's Literary Awards winners 2021

The winners for this year’s Prime Minister’s Literary Awards have been announced! The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards celebrate outstanding literary talent in Australia and the valuable contribution Australian literature and history makes to the nation’s cultural and intellectual life.

Fiction winner:
The Labyrinth by Amanda Lohrey

Non-fiction winner:
The Stranger Artist by Quentin Sprague

Australian History winner:
People of the River by Grace Karskens

Poetry winner:
The Strangest Place by Stephen Edgar

Young Adult winner:
Metal Fish, Falling Snow by…

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Our top 10 bestsellers of the week

Adrift in Melbourne by Robyn Annear

Devotion by Hannah Kent

Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love by Yotam Ottolenghi & Noor Murad

Love Stories by Trent Dalton

Old Vintage Melbourne by Chris Macheras

The Promise by Damon Galgut

Love and Virtue by Diana Reid

Dune by Frank Herbert

Seven and a Half by Christos Tsiolkas

Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

Our best-seller for another week is Robyn Annear’s fabulous walking odyssey, Adrift in Melbourne. This is the perfect read for…

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Our children's and YA top 10 bestsellers of the week

Nature’s Treasures by Ben Hoare

You’ll be the Death of Me by Karen McManus

Somebody’s Land by Adam Goodes, Ellie Laing & David Hardy

Tomorrow is a Brand New Day by Davina Bell & Alison Colpoys

Aaron Slater, Illustrator by Andrea Beaty & David Roberts

The 143-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton

Bluey: Christmas Swim by Bluey

Cat Kid Comic Club 2 by Dav Pilkey

Gangsta Granny Strikes Again by David Walliams

Bluey Sleepytime by Bluey

The beautiful…

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Gift ideas for hard-to-buy-for teens

Teens are tricky at the best of times and getting them a gift at this time of year can sometimes be a real challenge. Never fear! We are here to help with some appropriate suggestions for those tricky teens in your life:

FOR THE SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIOR

Lead the Way by Jean Hinchliffe is an excellent introduction to teen activism by a leader of the School Strikes for Climate movement in Australia.

If Not Us by Mark Smith is a…

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What we're reading: Cho, Down and Susskind

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 Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

Yangsze Chu’s wonderful novel The Ghost Bride is one of my all-time favourite books, so when I heard about Black Water Sister by Zen Cho I snapped it up immediately. Like The Ghost Bride, this is a terrific story that combines a…

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Fantastic #LoveOZYA titles of 2021

It’s been a great year for locally written young adult fiction, and we celebrate this with an all-Australian selection of stand-out titles that will be greatly enjoyed by the teen or young adult fiction lover in your life.

The Gaps by Leanne Hall

When sixteen-year-old Yin Mitchell is abducted, the news reverberates through the whole Year Ten class at Balmoral Ladies College. Police suspect the abduction is the work of a serial offender, with none in the community safe from…

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10 Favourite First Nations books for kids in 2021

So many amazing stories were published this year by First Nations storytellers. These ten beautiful books include: an introduction to the lie of ‘Terra Nullius’ conveyed in a simple, rhythmic picture book; a story about the importance of sharing; a First Nations perspective on Invasion Day; a guide to native flora and fauna in Kakadu; and biographical stories of remarkable First Nations leaders, scientists and innovators.

Somebody’s Land by Adam Goodes, Ellie Laing and David Hardy

For thousands and thousands…

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The best of non-fiction 2021

Every year our staff vote for their favourite books and music of the past 12 months. Here are our top 10 Australian fiction books of the year, voted for by Readings’ staff, and displayed in no particular order.

Emotional Female by Yumiko Kadota

Yumiko Kadota was a young, gifted medical student - the top of her class - on her way to becoming an outstanding plastic and reconstructive surgeon. For fourteen years she’d studied and worked hard. She put in…

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Mark Rubbo's best of 2021

by Mark Rubbo

Below our managing director Mark Rubbo shares his favourite reads from 2021.

Wild Abandon by Emily Bitto

Will flees to the US to escape the misery of a breakup; a road trip across America will set him straight. Stuck in Littleproud, Ohio, he runs into an eccentric and charismatic private zoo owner and gets drawn into his bizarre world.

The Magician by Colm Toibin

This fictionalised account of the life of Nobel Prize-winning writer, Thomas Mann, is a fascinating and…

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LGBTQIA+ fiction favourites for 2021

It’s been a sparkling year for LGBTQIA+ stories in fiction! Below, you’ll find some of our 2021 fiction favourites that centre and celebrate a multiplicity of LGBTQIA+ experiences within their pages.

Nothing But My Body by Tilly Lawless

Nothing But My Body is an eight-day journey through the mind of a young woman, a queer sex worker in Australia, as she navigates breakups and infatuation across just over a year. The unnamed narrator’s voice is both fierce and vulnerable, defiant…

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Our top 10 bestsellers of the week

Adrift in Melbourne by Robyn Annear

Devotion by Hannah Kent

Welcome to Country 2nd edition by Marcia Langton

Old Vintage Melbourne by Chris Macheras

Love Stories by Trent Dalton

The Promise by Damon Galgut

Quarterly Essay 84: The Reckoning by Jess Hill

Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love by Yotam Ottolenghi & Noor Murad

Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Our best-seller from the past week is Robyn Annear’s, Adrift in Melbourne which contains a series…

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Our children's and YA top 10 bestsellers of the week

You’ll be the Death of Me by Karen McManus

Somebody’s Land by Adam Goodes, Ellie Laing & David Hardy

Tomorrow is a Brand New Day by Davina Bell & Alison Colpoys

Animal Train: Wolf Girl 6 by Anh Do

Bluey: Christmas Swim by Bluey

Bluey Sleepytime by Bluey

Gangsta Granny Strikes Again by David Walliams

Cat Kid Comic Club 2 by Dav Pilkey

The 143-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton

Future Girl by Asphyxia

The new Karen McManus…

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The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards shortlists 2022

The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards shortlists for 2022 have been revealed. Congratulations to all the shortlistees!

PRIZE FOR FICTION

After Story by Larissa Behrendt

Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down

Echolalia by Briohny Doyle

The Dogs by John Hughes

Smokehouse by Melissa Manning

Permafrost by S.J Norman

PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION

Coming of Age in the War on Terror by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Summertime: Reflections on a Vanishing Future by Danielle Celermajer

Black and Blue: A Memoir of Racism and Resilience by…

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The best of Australian fiction 2021

Every year our staff vote for their favourite books and music of the past 12 months. Here are our top 10 Australian fiction books of the year, voted for by Readings’ staff, and displayed in no particular order.

In Moonland by Miles Allinson

In present-day Melbourne, a man attempts to piece together the mystery of his father’s apparent suicide, as his young family slowly implodes. At the ashram of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, in 1976, a man searching for salvation must…

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The best of international fiction 2021

Every year our staff vote for their favourite books and music of the past 12 months. Here are our top 10 international fiction books of the year, voted for by Readings’ staff, and displayed in no particular order.

Still Life by Sarah Winman

1944, in the ruined wine cellar of a Tuscan villa, as the Allied troops advance and bombs fall around them, two strangers meet and share an extraordinary evening together.Ulysses Temper is a young British soldier, Evelyn Skinner…

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What we're reading: Taddeo, Manfield and Parkes

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.

Aurelia Orr is reading Animal by Lisa Taddeo

A reader will come across many books in their life, but it is rare to read a book that is as impactful and powerful as Lisa Taddeo’s Animal. The novel brilliantly delves into the perspective of the mistress, revealing the protagonist Joan to be…

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Reading for International Day of People with Disability

Today is International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD). IDPwD is a United Nations observed day aimed at increasing public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability.

This IDPwD, we’re actively engaging with the way we think about disability – to help grow a more inclusive Australia – by exploring both fiction and non-fiction from prominent voices in the disability community.

Below you will find some of our top picks to read this IDPwD.

The Shape of Sound by…

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100 great reads from Australian women in 2021

Each year we compile a list of great reads by Australian women, originally inspired by the Australian Women Writers Challenge which begun in 2012 and continues to this day.

Below you will find 100 great reads by Australian women authors published in 2021. The following books are displayed in no particular order and include fiction, biography, poetry, children’s novels, history and more.

Please note that as ever, this is not a complete list of every such read published this year.

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Kids book buyers' favourites of 2021

by Angela Crocombe

Book buyers at each of the stores of Readings come across thousands of books each year and have to make decisions about which ones to stock, which ones to feature and how many to order. It’s an enviable job and one of the highlights (and challenges!) is reflecting on some of our top picks of the year. But we’ve managed it! Below are the Children’s Buyers favourite reads of 2021 that come very highly recommend.

The Beatryce Prophecy by Kate…

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The best of Australian poetry 2021

by Clare Millar

In 2021, we revived poetry in the Readings Monthly, which allowed me the great privilege reading so many excellent collections. 2021 has truly been an excellent year for Australian poetry — it was incredibly difficult to choose only 10!

It’s worth noting that most of these poets I have chosen are either First Nations or people of colour. I think poetry is where a lot of exciting voices are coming together to protest against colonisation and to find and…

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The best of crime 2021

by Fiona Hardy

It’s honestly been such a strong year in Australian crime fiction that I could have easily made this entire list up of local writers—Australia just has some of the best talent out there. From debut authors like Jacqueline Bublitz’s devastating, interior Before You Knew My Name and Karen Manton’s heavy, atmospheric The Curlew’s Eye, to sequels like the hilarious romp Nancy Business by RWR McDonald, or the latest book in a series so epic we’ve all lost count, like…

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50 great reads from First Nations writers and Australian writers of colour in 2021

To acknowledge the work of culturally diverse Australian writers, we have compiled this second list of 50 great reads by First Nations writers and Australian writers of colour published in 2021! The following books are displayed in no particular order and include fiction, biography, poetry, children’s novels, history and more.

Please note that as ever, this is not a complete list of every such read published this year. You can find more books from local authors published in 2021

1.

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10 women writing history in 2021

by Angela Crocombe

2021 was a terrific year for history books written by women.

Some of the many brilliant reads include an incisive look at the ongoing colonial violence experienced by First Nations people, a humorous look at advice to women over the ages, a history of the piano, an exploration of racism in the Jazz Age in Australia, and an in-depth exploration of the female body in art. Read on to discover some brilliant history titles of 2021…

Another Day in the

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10 Kids Graphic Novel Favourites of 2021

by Angela Crocombe

It was such a fantastic year for graphic novels, with many beautiful new books coming out from both Australian and international authors and artists. Here are ten of our favourites (in reading age order) for children that were published in 2021.

The Super Adventures of Ollie & Bea: It’s Owl Good

by Renee Treml

Come with Ollie and Bea on a HARE-raising adventure with a HOPPY ending!

Ollie is an owl who wears glasses. And Bea is a bunny with…

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Our top 10 bestsellers of the week

Love Stories by Trent Dalton

The Promise by Galgut Damon

Devotion by Hannah Kent

Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love by Yotam Ottolenghi & Noor Murad

How to End a Story: Diaries 1995-1998 by Helen Garner

Silverview by John le Carre

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Seven and a Half by Christos Tsiolkas

Love and Virtue by Diana Reid

Our best-seller from the past week is Trent Dalton’s, Love Stories. Inspired by a personal…

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Our children's and YA top 10 bestsellers of the week

by Angela Crocombe

Somebody’s Land by Adam Goodes, Ellie Laing & David Hardy

Wandi by Favel Parrett

The 143-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton

Bluey: Christmas Swim by Bluey

Nature’s Treasures by Ben Hoare

Big Shot: Diary of a Wimpy Kid 16 by Jeff Kinney

Our Planet: The One Place we all call Home by Matt Whyman & Richard Jones

Rabbit, Soldier, Angel, Thief by Katrina Nannestad

Pony by R.J. Palacio

Tomorrow is a Brand New Day by Davina Bell

As…

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What we're reading: Wolitzer, Laurain & Shusterman

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.

Rosalind McClintock is reading Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket by Hilma Wolitzer

I’m currently reading Hilma Wolitzer’s Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket and loving it.

It is a series of short stories all written before 1990, except the last one, that still resonate. Many are written around…

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12 Queer YA Favourites of 2021

by Angela Crocombe

It’s been an incredible year for queer young adult fiction, with a dizzying array of novels that encompass the range and breadth of queer stories today. Here are twelve of our favourites (because our original plan of ten just wasn’t enough!) of 2021, in no particular order:

Henry Hamlet’s Heart by Rhiannon Wilde

Henry Hamlet doesn’t know what he wants after school ends. It’s his last semester of year twelve and all he’s sure of is his uncanny ability to…

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Extract from Broadsheet's Home Made and your chance to win

Home Made is a love letter to Melbourne food and the people we share it with, featuring 80 diverse and cook-able recipes for home - curated by Broadsheet - by the city’s best food innovators.

We’re lucky enough to be featuring a delicious recipe from the cookbook below, and if you purchase a copy of the Home Made in store before 9 December you can go into the draw to win a $250 Broadsheet dining voucher. To enter, simply email…

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Our top picks of the month for book clubs

For book cubs that want to decolonise their thinking…

Another Day in the Colony by Chelsea Watego

In this collection of deeply insightful and powerful essays, Chelsea Watego examines the ongoing and daily racism faced by First Nations peoples in so-called Australia. Drawing on her own experiences and observations of the operations of the colony, she exposes the lies that settlers tell about Indigenous people. In refusing such stories, Chelsea tells her own- fierce, personal, sometimes funny, sometimes anguished. She…

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Our top 10 bestsellers of the week

How to End a Story: Diaries 1995-1998 by Helen Garner

Devotion by Hannah Kent

QAnon and On by Van Badham

Game by Sean Kelly

Seven and a Half by Christos Tsiolkas

Love Stories by Trent Dalton

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

Silverview by John le Carre

Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love by Yotam Ottolenghi & Noor Murad

Our best-seller from the past week is the third volume of Helen Garner’s diaries, How to End

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Our children's and YA top 10 bestsellers of the week

Somebody’s Land by Adam Goodes, Ellie Laing & David Hardy

The 143-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton

Plume: World Explorer by Tania McCartney

Wandi by Favel Parrett

First Scientists by Corey Tutt

Big Shot: Diary of a Wimpy Kid 16 by Jeff Kinney

Bluey: Christmas Swim by Bluey

The Story of Australia by Don Watson

Pony by R.J. Palacio

Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan

In another busy week in the shops and online, the new picture

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What we're reading: Novak, Clements & Datta

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 View Was Exhausting by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta

The funny (not really) thing about the romance genre is that there’s a certain subset of people that assume that romance readers are a bit dim, or uneducated, or anti-feminist; when in reality the complete opposite is true. There’s…

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Recent picture books about cats

by Angela Crocombe

A little while ago I wrote a blog post focusing on picture books about dogs, which was great for dog lovers, but the cat lovers were very scratchy about it! Where were all the picture books about cats, they miaowed loudly?!

Well, cat lovers this is your moment, because we have some stunning, hilarious and even educational picture books about cats to share with you today. Read on for some fabulous books about the lords of our lounge rooms…

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The 2021 winners of the National Book Awards

The winners for this year’s National Book Awards have been announced. Since 1950, the National Book Awards have been celebrating the best writing in America.

The 2021 winner of the National Book Award for Fiction is Jason Mott for Hell of a Book.

The 2021 winner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction is Tiya Miles for All That She Carried.

The 2021 winner of the National Book Award for Poetry is Martín Espada for Floaters.

The…

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Recommended YA books and news for November

This month we are spoilt for choice with some fantastic new releases. Our Book of the Month is a collection of Australian voices writing horror stories. We also have a meet-cute in a queer graphic novel, a kick-ass heroine taking down teenage cyber criminals, the final novel in the wildly popular Aurora Cycle sci-fi series, a prequel in Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series, and a new novel by author of the Scythe series, Neal Shusterman. So much great reading ahead!

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Recommended children's books and news for November

There are so many fantastic new books this month as we zoom to the end of the year. Our Book of the Month is a delightful picture book about a penguin who loves to explore the world. We also have a graphic novel about a flying pig, a story about voices missing from the history books, and a beautiful re-imagining of the Snow Queen. In non-fiction, we have a picture book autobiography by Australia’s sprint queen, Cathy Freeman, and Tim…

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The 2021 Voss Literary Prize shortlist

The shortlist for this year’s Voss Literary Prize has been announced!

The shortlisted titles are:

The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott

Our Shadows by Gail Jones

The Labyrinth by Amanda Lohrey

The Coconut Children by Vivian Pham

Song of the Crocodile by Nardi Simpson

Launched in 2014, the Voss Literary Prize is awarded to the best novel published in Australia in the previous year, and is dedicated to the memory of historian Vivian Robert Le Vaux Voss.

For more information…

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Our children's and YA top 10 bestsellers of the week

Big Shot: Diary of a Wimpy Kid 16 by Jeff Kinney

The 143-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton

Somebody’s Land by Adam Goodes, Ellie Laing & David Hardy

Wandi by Favel Parrett

Aurora’s End by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Pony by R.J. Palacio

First Scientists by Corey Tutt

Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan

Bluey: Christmas Swim by Bluey

There’s a Ghost in this House by Oliver Jeffers

We have our two biggest middle fiction titles…

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What we're reading: Dalton, Kent & Tsiolkas

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 Love Stories by Trent Dalton

When everything seems a little overwhelming, bleak even at times, I have turned to reading Trent Dalton’s Love Stories. This is a collection of conversations Trent has had with people on the streets of Brisbane about love. Consider it a collection of short…

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A spotlight on translated fiction this month

November brings another dazzling body of works in translation. Below are six highlights from our collection of recently translated novels, but know there’s still many excellent titles publishing later in the month – including the latest work from The Shadow of the Wind author Carlos Ruiz Zafon, City of Mist.

Harsh Times by Mario Vargas Llosa (translated by Adrian Nathan)

Guatemala, 1954. A CIA-supported military coup topples the government. Behind this violent act is a lie passed off as…

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A spotlight on our books of the month, November 2021

OUR FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH

Devotion by Hannah Kent

Prussia, 1836. Hanne Nussbaum is a child of nature - she would rather run wild in the forest than conform to the limitations of womanhood. In her village of Kay, Hanne is friendless and considered an oddity…until she meets Thea.

Ocean, 1838. The Nussbaums are Old Lutherans, bound by God’s law and at odds with their King’s order for reform. Forced to flee religious persecution the families of Kay board…

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Applications are open for our Readings Foundation grants

by Gabrielle Williams

As we all know, it’s been a difficult couple of years, and it’s probably fair to say that no-one has experienced lockdowns quite like Melbourne. For those organisations who support the disadvantaged and marginalised in Victoria, it’s been an incredibly challenging couple of years getting programmes out to the people and communities who need them most.

With this in mind, we’re thrilled to announce that yesterday, Wednesday 10 November, we officially begun accepting applications for our 2022 Readings Foundation grants…

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The 2021 winners of the Melbourne Prize for Literature & Awards

The winners of one of the most valuable literature prizes in Australia have been announced!

The winner of the $60,000 Melbourne Prize for Literature 2021 is Christos Tsiolkas for his body of work, which has made an outstanding contribution to Australian literature and to cultural and intellectual life.

Christos Tsiolkas is the author of seven novels, with his work being adapted for film, television and the stage and translated into 22 languages. He has been shortlisted for and is the…

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The best new crime reads in November

by Fiona Hardy

Our crime specialist shares 10 great crime reads to look out for this month.

CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH

Canticle Creek Adrian Hyland

Leading Senior Constable Jesse Redpath thinks she has the lie of the land about right in the Northern Territory town of Kulara by now. After replacing the useless-to-actively harmful last cop in town, she’s more open to what’s important so when local larrikin Adam Lawson commits something a bit more illegal than usual, she tries to offer…

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New (and favourite) Christmas books for children

by Angela Crocombe

It’s nearly Christmas again (where has the year in lockdown gone!?) and it’s time to start sharing with children our beloved seasonal stories. They’re fun, they’re festive and this year we have a plethora of new ones to choose from, as well as some classic favourites.

Santa Loves Australia by Collette Dinnigan & illustrated by Luke Sciberras

Travel with Santa over one magical Christmas Eve as he visits iconic landmarks, meets unique animals and delights in the beauty of the…

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Dear Reader, November 2021

by Alison Huber

Observers of literary trends will know that poetry has been having a significant popular renaissance in recent years, and it has been fascinating to watch the growing appetite for newly published works. Close readers of the Readings Monthly will have also noticed the introduction of a regular poetry review, thanks largely to the enthusiasm of our staff reviewer, Clare Millar. This month, Clare reviews two new collections: How Decent Folk Behave from the multi-talented writer that is Maxine Beneba…

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