Our latest blog posts
What we're reading: Louise Erdrich, Andrew Michael Hurley & Sally Rooney
Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films and TV shows we’re watching, and the music we’re listening to.
Ellen Cregan is reading Louise Erdrich and Alissa Nutting
I’ve just finished reading two excellent books.
The first is Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich. Initially, I’d planned on reading a couple of chapters, but ended up finishing the whole thing in one sitting. If you liked The Handmaid’s Tale, you…
Five books I escaped into this past year
Carlton bookseller George Delaney shares five books escaped into during 2017.
Cool For You by Eileen Myles
Eileen Myles’s third autobiographical novel has been out of print for a while but returned in an Australian edition this year, right on time for me to continue making my way through her incredible body of work. Though she is largely known as a poet, Myles does something wonderful with her fiction, telescoping with time and memory. Cool For You follows Chelsea Girls…
Our favourite book covers of 2017
Staff share their favourite book covers of the past year.
‘ Who thought this was a good idea? has to be the most apt book cover this year. The funny, informative, and (let’s celebrate it) gossipy memoir of Obama’s former deputy chief of staff has a cover that has kept me ruefully chuckling for months now.
In terms of beauty I can’t go past the covers of Ali Smith’s Seasonal quartet. The second book, Winter, has just been released…
Our customers' favourite books, music, film & TV of 2017
This year we invited our customers to vote for there favourite books, music, film and tv of the past year. Here are their picks, listed here in order of most voted for.
A huge thank you to everyone who voted! We loved seeing your picks for the year.
FICTION
1. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
2. Force of Nature by Jane Harper
3. Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
4. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman…
My London inspired reading list
Schools and library liaison Ann Le Lievre shares the books she’s hoping to get stuck into over summer.
I spent four weeks in London earlier this year and it was a life-changing experience. It was my first overseas trip for a very long time, and the simple act of walking the city streets brought me into contact with views of the landscape, buildings and history in ways that I cannot begin to explain. My summer reading stack is inspired by…
Translated books we loved in 2017
Our staff share some of their favourite translated books from the past year.
‘I have been collecting titles from the Penguin China Specials and The Hong Kong Penguin Specials series fanatically! Some of these bitesize books are translated and some are written in original English.
A translated favourite is Dung Kai-Cheung’s Cantonese Love Stories – a collection of 25 short stories so brief they can best be described as sketches. Dung Kai-Cheung’s writing fits within classical Chinese traditions of pithy…
The Readings Foundation grant recipients for 2018
The Readings Foundation has announced $184,692 worth of grants to support a range of projects and organisations within Victoria in 2018.
The Readings Foundation assists Victorian organisations that support the development of literacy, community integration and the arts. Readings donates 10% of its overall profit to the Foundation each year, and the kind donations from Readings’ customers make a crucial contribution. In 2018, grant funding has a strong focus on organisations that are delivering literacy and education support to the…
Our best bargain picks for Christmas gifts
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been compiling a host of gift guides to help you with your Christmas shopping. Here is a list of great books available at super special prices.
Keating by Kerry O'Brien
$16.95 ()
Sadly, they don’t make politicians like this any more – so here is the next best thing. Keating is the life of one of Australia’s most intriguing public figures, former Prime Minister Paul Keating, as told to the country’s most influential political…
Five books I couldn't get out of my head in 2017
Doncaster bookseller Ellen Cregan shares five books that she read this year – and still can’t get out of her head.
My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent
This is a tough book to read. Turtle is 14 and lives in rural California with her doomsday prepping father from which she suffers sexual abuse and terrifying mood swings, often escaping into the woods to avoid him. She is an outcast at school, and beyond a few concerned teachers and unwelcome peers…
Graphic novels & comics we loved in 2017
Our staff share some of their favourite comics and graphic novels from the past year.
‘Like many of my colleagues at Readings, I absolutely adored Eyes Too Dry, the collaborative graphic novel from Alice Chipkin and Jessica Tavassoli. This work is so heartfelt, and I found myself revisiting various sections over the course of the year, long after I’d finished reading the book in its entirety. Beyond just being lovely, I think this is a really important book for…
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