Our latest blog posts

Winners of the Australian Book Industry Awards 2017

The winners of the 17th annual Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) were announced in Sydney last night.

Australian Publishers Association (APA) CEO, Michael Gordon Smith says: ‘The ABIAs recognise excellence across the book industry, uniting authors, publishers and retailers in celebration of our collective passion for sharing stories and ideas.’

We are thrilled and honoured to have won this year’s Independent Book Retailer of the Year award together with Sydney’s Potts Point Bookshop! In their joint speech, Readings’ Managing Director…

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Mouthwatering food in fiction

by Lian Hingee

Our digital marketing manager Lian Hingee shares some of her favourite novels that feature mouthwatering moments of food.

Heartburn by Nora Ephron

The protagonist at the centre of Nora Ephron’s semi-autobiographical novel Heartburn is Rachel Samstat – food writer, mother, and jilted wife. Food plays an important part in Rachel’s journey, whether it’s for comfort (mashed potato with slivers of cold butter added to each forkful), self-assurance (the perfect vinaigrette), memory (her mother’s recipe for lima beans and pears) or…

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Eight emerging poets to see at EWF 2017

Here at Readings, we’re getting very excited for Emerging Writers’ Festival, which opens on Wednesday 14 June. Here are eight emerging poets featured on this year’s program that are sure to impress.

Alison Whittaker

Alison Whittaker is a Gomeroi poet and law scholar living on Wangal lands. She is the author of the award-winning poetry collection Lemons in the Chicken Wire.

See her at:

Jesse Oliver

Jesse Oliver is an up and coming trans slam poet from Perth…

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Tackling social media in teen books

by Gabrielle Williams

Gabrielle Williams is an an acclaimed author of young adult fiction. Her new novel, My Life as a Hashtag, is a funny, heartfelt read about rage, regret and the pitfalls of life in the digital age.

We recently asked Williams how she approached social media when writing for teenagers. Here is her response.

When I was at school, my friend’s boyfriend broke up with her via toilet paper. I imagine him sitting down one afternoon (hopefully with the lid…

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Our top ten bestsellers of the week

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

Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami

Depends What You Mean by Extremist by John Safran

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose

Light and Shadow by Mark Colvin

Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout

The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape

The Australian Bird Guide by various

Adults in the Room by Yanis Varoufakis

Cardinal is our bestselling book of last week. In…

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My five favourite books about writers

by Jo Case

1. Jo March

It’s no coincidence that my name is Jo. Okay, I’m not named after her, but I’ve always identified with Little Women’s tomboyish writer Jo March. The second-oldest of four sisters during the American Civil War, Jo is the driving force of the quartet: she writes plays for them all to act in; she invites the lonely boy in the mansion across the road, Laurie, to be their best friend; and when they’re running low on money, she…

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What we're reading: Ariel Levy, M.R. Carey & Patrick Modiano

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.

Mike Shuttleworth is reading The Black Notebook by Patrick Modiano (translated by Mark Polizzotti)

Paris is a place that many of us think about – and some of us think about it a lot. But nobody thinks about Paris with the total obsession of Patrick Modiano, the 2014 Nobel Prize winner for Literature.

I’ve just…

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The best new crime reads of the month

CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH

The Cleaner by Elisabeth Herrmann

Espionage novels are like a long swim in stormy weather – by turns comforting, slightly terrifying, and a thorough workout. It is, of course, absolute heaven to sit there on your couch with a glass of pinot gris and read about agents double-crossing each other and people getting shot all over the place, while wondering if you can trust a single person who turns up – which is how everyone…

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Our top picks of the month for book clubs

For a book club filled with thespians…

House of Names by Colm Tóibín

Colm Tóibín has thrillingly reimagined Aeschylus’s Oresteia linked trilogy of Greek tragedies for a new audience. Spectacularly audacious, violent, vengeful, lustful, and instantly compelling, House of Names tells the story of murderess Clytemnestra – and her children. Our reviewer writes that this novel, ‘reads like a thriller: driven by female rage, inherited violence, and toxic politics’. Read the full review here.

For a passionate, feminist meeting…

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