Whether you're time poor, looking for something to read over your lunch break, haven't the bandwidth for a 500-page epic, or simply need a circuit breaker to knock you out of a reading slump, here are some of our favourite short novels that are guaranteed to stay with you for a long time.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey – 144 pages

An exquisitely written examination of human life, Samantha Harvey's Orbital takes place over a single day as six astronauts meditate…

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Explore our books of the month for April; each of the below titles has been read and recommended by our booksellers before being selected as our book of the month for its category.

FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH

No Church in the Wild by Murray Middleton

Reviewed by Alison Huber, Readings head book buyer

Murray Middleton won the 2015 Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award…

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Melbourne Writers Festival is just a month away, and if you're still considering which sessions to book we're sharing some of the fabulous panels and in-conversations that can expand your mind, without requiring any festival pre-reading! Browse the full MWF program here.

Who Gets To Be Human?

After 235 years of colonisation, who truly gets to be human in so-called Australia? Join Ziggy Ramo, Chelsea Watego and Lamisse Hamouda together in conversation with host Osman Faruqi.

When: Saturday 11…

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The shortlist for this year’s Stella Prize has been announced! The Stella Prize seeks to elevate the work of Australian women and non-binary writers. The $60,000 prize is awarded annually to one outstanding book deemed to be original, excellent, and engaging. This year’s prize saw over 224 entries.

Explore the 2024 Stella Prize shortlist below.

The Swift Dark Tide by Katia Ariel

What happens when, in the middle of a happy heterosexual marriage, a woman falls in love with another…

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Anna Jones is one of Readings’ absolute favourite cookbook authors, and we're thrilled to share a delicious recipe from her new book Easy Wins. This recipe for traybake lemon dal with pickled green chillies shows us just how easy it can be to cook up a delicious dal with next to no prep and the oven doing the work. A warming weeknight dinner, perfect for the cooler Melbourne evenings ahead.

Dal is a staple of our weeknight cooking. It’s…

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The inaugural shortlist for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction has been announced! This new prize celebrates exceptional narrative non-fiction by women, and promotes excellence in writing, robust research, original narrative voices and accessibility. The Prize is valued at £30,000 and is open to all women writers from across the globe who are published in the UK and writing in English.

The winner will be announced on 13 June 2024.

Thunderclap by Laura Cumming

Thunderclap is a kaleidoscopic memoir connecting Laura…

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We're at the beginning of Autumn, and Easter and the end of daylight saving are looming. This seems like the perfect time to have a baking project to look forward to. Here are a few new and old favourites we think will inspire and get you excited.

Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice by Natalie Paull

Sweet-toothed superstar and bestselling baker Natalie Paull returns with Beatrix Bakes: Another Slice, an all-new compilation of colourful, creative recipes to delight fans and newcomers…

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The Last Bloodcarver by Vanessa Le

Science meets fantasy, with steampunk stylings and Vietnamese cultural in this incredible debut.

When Nhika is caught using her bloodcarving abilities during a sham medical appointment, she's captured by underground thugs and sold to an aristocratic family to heal the last witness of their father's murder.

When Nhika meets an alluring yet entitled physician's aide, Ven Kochin, she's forced to question the true intent behind this murder. When Nhika discovers that Kochin is not…

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Australian fiction | Compassion by Julie Janson

From the acclaimed author of the Miles Franklin longlisted Madukka: The River Serpent and the Barbara Jefferis Award shortlisted Benevolence, Compassion continues Julie Janson’s emotional and intense literary exploration of the complex and dangerous lives of Aboriginal women during the 1800s in colonial New South Wales, which she began in Benevolence as a counter narrative to colonial history in Australian literature.

Compassion is the dramatised life story of one of Julie Janson’s…

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The shortlists for the 2024 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) have been announced! The ABIAs celebrate the best books of the year, as judged by Australian book industry members.

Below are the shortlisted titles from each category.

General fiction book of the year

The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams

Dark Mode by Ashley Kalagian-Blunt

Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

Green Dot by Madeleine Gray

Homecoming by Kate Morton

Mr Einstein’s Secretary by Matthew Reilly

…

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