This year, NAIDOC week is running from 4 – 11 July and focuses on the theme of Heal Country. Put succinctly, Heal Country ‘calls for stronger measures to recognise, protect, and maintain all aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage’; we recommend reading the full explanation behind the 2021 focus (and exploring how you can become more involved this NAIDOC week) here.

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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 In My Defence, I Have No Defence by Sinead Stubbins

My toddler is going through some kind of dreadful sleep regression thing at the moment and I actually can’t remember the last time I slept through the night (2018?) so…

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Pass seamlessly into the slipstream between fantasy and reality with these six recommendations of where the everyday blurs with elements of magical and illusory. The following books are perfect for you to read if you’re interested in exploring the narrative twists and turns that this intersection encompasses.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

One, normal morning in a quiet To…

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If you’re looking to read more works in translation this month, here’s five new works of fiction to bring you stories from around the world. The Mad Women’s Ball by Victoria Mas (translated by Frank Wynne)

The Salpêtrière asylum, 1885. All of Paris is in thrall to Doctor Charcot and his displays of hypnotism on women who have been deemed mad or hysterical, outcasts from society. But the tru…

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Where We Begin is one of the six books shortlisted for this year’s Readings Young Adult Book Prize. It follows seventeen-year-old Anna on a quest to uncover her dark family secrets. Our judges described it as a ‘richly descriptive and perfectly-paced novel.’ We asked author Christie Nieman about writing inspiration, advice and Gothic literature. What was the initial inspiration for this story…

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This year, NAIDOC week is running from 4 – 11 July and focuses the theme of Heal Country. Put succinctly, Heal Country ‘calls for stronger measures to recognise, protect, and maintain all aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage’; we recommend reading the full explanation behind the 2021 focus (and exploring how you can become more involved this NAIDOC week) here.

Th…

Read more ›

This year, NAIDOC week is running from 4 – 11 July and focuses the theme of Heal Country. Put succinctly, Heal Country ‘calls for stronger measures to recognise, protect, and maintain all aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage’; we recommend reading the full explanation behind the 2021 focus (and exploring how you can become more involved this NAIDOC week) here.

Th…

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This month in kids books we’ve got a funny and honest verse novel, a new picture book from a master Australian storyteller, charming junior fiction about animals, a time-bending adventure and a sweeping Australian history book. Find our July picks for YA books here. KIDS BOOK OF THE MONTH

Are You There, Buddha? by Pip Harry

Bridget ‘Bee’ Ballentine is 12 and starting her first year of …

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This month in YA books we’ve got a sunny summer romance that will make you forget your winter blues, a feminist psychological thriller, a lush fairytale retelling, plant-whispering witchy business and more. Find our July picks for kids books here. YA BOOK OF THE MONTH

Henry Hamlet’s Heart by Rhiannon Wilde

Henry Hamlet doesn’t know what he wants after school ends. It’s his last semeste…

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So You Think You Know What’s Good For You? by Dr Norman Swan

Quarterly Essay 82: Exit Strategy - Politics After the Pandemic

Marrow by Tric O'Heare

Who Gets to Be Smart by Bri Lee

Farmers or Hunter-gatherers?: The Dark Emu Debate by Peter Sutton & Keryn Walshe

One Hundred Days by Alice Pung

The Boy’s Club by Michael Warner

The Shortest History of China by Linda Jarvin

When You Are Mine by Michae…

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