Our latest blog posts
Exciting new releases in May
There’s something both delicious and dangerous about working in a bookshop. Every other day, I discover a new – or old – book that I suddenly can’t live without. It’s tempting enough working on the shop floor at Readings Doncaster (Mondays), but now that I’m editing Readings Monthly too, my bedside book mountain is rising to ridiculous levels.
I don’t know if it was a desire to scale the mountain, or overexcitement at beginning my third stint as Readings Monthly…
Book suggestions for soon-to-be-mothers
A perennial and tricky question that booksellers often hear is what to gift someone who is pregnant. Tricky because expectant mothers are not a separate breed to the rest of humanity and – like all of us – have changing and contradictory desires and needs. Some might want the more traditional fare (like advice books or memoirs about real-life experiences), while others might want to indulge in something completely unrelated to their current situation (like space operas or some truly…
Q&A with artist Adam John Cullen
Melbourne based artist (and St Kilda bookseller!) Adam John Cullen is one of 78 dynamic Australian artists featured in Melissa Loughnan’s Australiana to Zeitgeist. We chat with Adam about his practice, and the best ways to learn more about other Australian artists.
1. Tell us a little bit about your art practice.
My practice is largely based in sculptural installation, working with themes of commodity exchange/trade, and personal histories of found objects. I studied photography at RMIT and Monash…
Mark's Say, May, 2017
Like Australian publishing generally, university publishing in Australia has gone through its ups and downs. Melbourne University Publishing has dominated the sector for the last 30 years or so, but like many Australian publishers, it’s had to adjust to a changing landscape. University of Queensland Press established itself as a literary publisher in the 70s and 80s, publishing Peter Carey, Kate Grenville and David Malouf. It’s recently appointed former Australia Council Literature executive, Jill Eddington, as its director.
It’s heartening…
Read an extract from The Hot Guy
by Mel Campbell and Anthony MorrisFilm critics Mel Campbell and Anthony Morris have teamed up to create The Hot Guy, a satirical rom-com that both sends up and pays tribute to movies, romantic conventions, and inner-city Melbourne – complete with hipster jokes, fake film trailers and good-natured snark. You can read a short extract from the novel below.
We’re pleased to be hosting a free event with Mel and Anthony discussing the novel with the Good Copy’s Penny Modra on Wednesday 25 May. Find…
Karen Foxlee wins the 2017 Readings Children's Book Prize
The winner of this year’s Readings Children’s Book Prize is A Most Magical Girl by Karen Foxlee!
The Readings Children’s Book Prize recognises and celebrates Australian books that children love to read and raises the profile of debut and on-the-rise Australian children’s book authors. Foxlee’s first book for children, Ophelia and the Marvellous Boy, was shortlisted for the Prize in 2015. As this year’s winner, she will receive prize money of $3000.
This book was chosen – and unanimously…
Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist 2017
The longlist for this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced. Congratulations to all all the authors and publishers.
The longlisted titles are:
The Easy Way Out by Steve Amsterdam
An Isolated Incident by Emily Maguire
The Last Days of Ava Langdon by Mark O’Flynn
Their Brilliant Careers by Ryan O’Neill
A Loving, Faithful Animal by Josephine Rowe
Waiting by Philip Salom
Where The Trees Were by Inga Simpson
Hold by Kirsten Tranter
Extinctions by Josephine Wilson
This year’s…
The ABIA Book shortlists 2017
The Australian Book Industry Awards Academy has announced the ABIA Book shortlists for 2017. For the first time, the fastest-growing book publishing segment in the world is acknowledged with an ABIA for Audiobook of the Year.
Congratulations to all the authors, illustrators, narrators, and publishers.
Australian Women’s Weekly General Fiction Book of the Year
Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty (Macmillan Australia, Pan Macmillan Australia)
The Chocolate Tin by Fiona McIntosh (Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House)
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo
The Bad Guys Episode 5: Intergalactic Gas by Aaron Blabey
The Boy and the Spy by Felice Arena
The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo Book 2) by Rick Riordan
Really Weird! (WeirDo Book 8) by Anh Do and Jules Faber
A Most Magical Girl by Karen Foxlee
Elizabeth and Zenobia by Jessica MillerDenton
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
Depends What You Mean by Extremist by John Safran
The Museum of Modern Love by Heather Rose
Which Cult Should I Join? by Jo Stewart
The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape
Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
M Train by Patti Smith
The Starlings by Vivienne Kelly
First, We Make the Beast Beautiful by Sarah Wilson
The White Queen – One Nation and the Politics of Race (Quarterly Essay 65) by David Marr
Our…
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