Australia Day by Melanie Cheng

In her debut story collection, Melanie Cheng offers a fresh perspective on contemporary Australia and asks crucial questions about the possibility of human connection in a globalised world. The people she writes about are young, old, rich, poor, married, widowed, Chinese, Lebanese, Christian, Muslim – but no matter who they are or where they come from, they all share a desire to belong. Hawthorn bookseller Annie Condon describes this collection as ‘a wonderful feat…

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Have you ever wanted to read Patrick Ness, but didn’t know where to start? Our work experience student (and Patrick Ness admirer) Joe Murray has some advice…

The Chaos Walking trilogy

This series is for those who like gripping action. The Knife of Never Letting Go is the first book of the series and the most intense of Ness’s books in terms of plot. The next two books are The Ask and The Answer and Monsters of Men.

A…

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Sisters in Crime has announced the shortlists for the 2017 Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women. Congratulations to all the shortlisted authors.

Here are the shortlisted books in each category:

Adult novels

Dead in the Water by Tania Chandler

Ghost Girls by Cath Ferla

The Dry by Jane Harper

Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil by Melina Marchetta

Goodwood by Holly Throsby

Young Adult novels

Yellow by Megan Jacobson

Frankie by Shivaun Plozza

Everything is Changed…

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Discover this upcoming series of five brilliant events with Australian women writers at our Hawthorn shop.

Join Jane Caro and contributors for the launch of Unbreakable, a collection of powerful pieces by successful Australian women who share the challenges they’ve overcome, including sexual assault, racism, miscarriage, depression and loss. Contributors include Kathy Lette, Tracey Spicer and Jacinda Woodhead, with a foreword by Tanya Plibersek.

When: 6.30pm on Monday 24 July
Where: Readings Hawthorn, 701 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn
RSVP: Free…

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CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH

The Scandal by Fredrik Backman

In a small, nearly-forgotten Swedish town in the forest, hockey is the reason the sun rises. After years of financial despair, of closed businesses and schools, and kids who want nothing more than to leave, here is a ray of hope that things will turn around, and that hope is pinned on one thing. The junior hockey team, close to winning the championship, closer still to securing a new hockey…

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Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo

The Ones That Disappeared by Zana Fraillon

The Wayward Witch and the Feelings Monster (Polly and Buster Book 1) by Sally Rippin

The World’s Worst Children 2 by David Walliams and Tony Ross

A Most Magical Girl by Karen Foxlee

The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon

That’s Not My Unicorn by Fiona Watt and Rachel Wells

Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek

…

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Not Just Lucky by Jamila Rizvi

Wimmera by Mark Brandi

Open House Melbourne Weekend: 2017 Program by Open House Melbourne

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (including sales of the TV tie-in edition)

The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape

Hunger by Roxane Gay

Random Life by Judy Horacek

No Way! Okay, Fine. by Brodie Lancaster

The Clever Guts Diet by Michael Mosley

Two fantastic books from inspiring young Australian women appear…

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We love to champion Australian authors and books at Readings, so if you’d like your teenager to read some quality homegrown young adult literature, look no further.

The Readings Young Adult Book Prize is a new prize aimed at celebrating the amazing Australian YA books being published every year.

Our judging panel of Readings specialists have selected a shortlist of six books for 2017 that is incredibly diverse in tone and subject matter. The shortlist includes stories of post apocalyptic…

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Over the next few weeks we’re participating in a work experience program with students from high schools across Melbourne. Today, Joe Murray from University High School tells us what book he would love to see adapted for the screen, and why creating good characters is the most important element of creating good stories.

How would you describe your taste in books?

I mostly enjoy reading fantasy and science fiction stories, and especially those that don’t put too much focus on…

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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.

Chris Gordon is reading this month’s edition of The Monthly

There is a truly excellent article in the latest edition of The Monthly from editor Nick Feik, in which he tackles the immense global power of Facebook. This is a thought-provoking essay that clearly illustrates the changing landscape of information dissemination across the world. Reading…

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