Our staff share the best books they’ve read so far this year, including new releases and older titles just discovered.

Mark Rubbo, managing director:

My top picks of the year so far have been…

Insomniac City by Bill Hayes – A moving memoir about the writer’s relationship with New York and his partner, the famous neurologist Oliver Sacks. I defy you not to love this book!

Prussian Blue by Philip Kerr – If you haven’t read any of Philip Kerr’s…

Read more ›

Sharon Peterson, assistant manager at Readings Carlton

Barkskins by Annie Proulx

Scotland by Lonely Planet

Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

Understory by Inga Simpson

Ache by Eliza Henry-Jone

Stella Charls, marketing and events coordinator

Too Much and Not the Mood by Durga Chew-Bose

Losing it by Moira Burke

Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbhag

All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg

A Separation by Katie Kitamura

Sunshine State by Sarah Gerard

Both Ways is the Only Way I Want it by…

Read more ›

Naomi Alderman has won the 2017 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction for her feminist science fiction novel, The Power.

Set in a future where women develop the power to kill men with a touch, The Power is a page-turning thriller that explores timely issues, including gender politics and questions of power. The chair of judges, film and TV producer Tessa Ross, says: ‘This prize celebrates great writing and great ideas and The Power had that, but it also had…

Read more ›

So French So Sweet by Gabriel Gate

From the very first Melbourne celebrity chef comes a wonderful collection of recipes sure to increase your appetite for a sweet end to your meal. You already know that Monsieur Gaté’s recipes are easy to follow. I consider his food writing one of the most accessible of all instructions for the home cook. So French So Sweet will make it possible for you (and here I do mean anyone) to make cakes and…

Read more ›

Sometimes the best escape from the dark times swirling around us is a good, fun book, dammit. And as luck would have it, right now there are a bunch of new releases that are highly entertaining, delightfully funny and 100% Trump-less. Here are four I’ve read and loved, and six I can’t wait to start.

Standard Deviation by Katherine Heiny

Katherine Heiny’s collection of short stories Single, Carefree, Mellow was one of my favourite books of the past few years…

Read more ›

Congratulations to all the authors, illustrators and publishers shortlisted for this year’s Environment Award for Children’s Literature. This annual Award from the Wilderness Society’s annual Award celebrates books that promote a love of nature, a sense of caring for the world, and curiosity in children.

This year’s shortlist features wonderfully illustrated picture fiction, adventurous tales with conservation hijinks, and fact-filled nonfiction books that will feed children’s curiosity.

Here are the shortlisted books for each category…

Picture fiction

Circle by Jeannie…

Read more ›

This month we’re spoilt for choice with new books from three favourite Australian authors. We also get our mitts on the next instalments in several bestselling series, and we announce the shortlist for our very first Readings Young Adult Prize.

(Find our best recommendations for kids’ books this month here.)

LOVEOZYA PICKS

A new book from Vikki Wakefield is always cause for celebration (and a possible stampede to the bookshop…). Her latest is Ballad for a Mad Girl –…

Read more ›

This month we’re excited by swimming unicorns, the first book of a new series by Sally Rippin, a middle fiction novel with a Tibetan setting and tween crime thrills.

(Find our best recommendations for teen books this month here.)

PICTURE BOOKS

We’re a little bit obsessed with unicorns here at Readings, and Not Quite Narwhal has been a sweet addition to our shelves. Kelp is a sea-dwelling unicorn with an identity crisis – he’s not a narwhal, but he’s…

Read more ›

The Wainwright Golden Beer Book Prize is awarded annually to the book which most successfully reflects the ethos of renowned nature writer Alfred Wainwright’s work, to inspire readers to explore the outdoors and to nurture a respect for the natural world.

Here are the 12 longlisted books for 2017:

Love of Country by Madeleine Bunting

The Otter’s Tale by Simon Cooper

The Nature of Autumn by Jim Crumley

Foxes Unearthed by Lucy Jones

The Running Hare by John Lewis-Stempel

Where…

Read more ›

Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami

Ache by Eliza Henry-Jones

The Clever Guts Diet by Michael Mosley

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy

Depends What You Mean by Extremist by John Safran

The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of George Pell by Louise Milligan

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

Our bestseller of the week is Anything is Possible, the…

Read more ›