Our latest blog posts

Eight Australian albums to check out in April

We recommend eight Australian albums to plug in your ears this month.

We’re very pleased to share that our St Kilda shop will be hosting FREE bookshop gigs with two of the artists listed here. Come along to hear Charm of Finches on Wednesday 5 April and Rough River on Thursday 13 April.

Staring at the Starry Ceiling by Charm of Finches

Staring at the Starry Ceiling is the debut album of indie folk band, Charm of Finches, which is…

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Staff music picks, upcoming bookshops gigs and 20% off vinyl

20% OFF VINYL THROUGHOUT APRIL

Record Store Day is officially on Saturday 22 April, but Readings is celebrating all month long with 20% off vinyl.

Handpicked by our passionate music team, our vinyl collection includes old favourites alongside terrific new releases. Come visit us in-store to chat with our specialists in person and complete your own collection.

The sale runs from 1 to 30 April 2017 at all Readings shops (except Readings Kids and Readings Malvern). The offer only applies…

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Three classical albums we're loving this month

J.S. Bach: Trios by Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Thile and Edgar Meyer (available 7 April)

For many people, the name Yo-Yo Ma immediately brings to mind the Bach Cello Suites and Ma’s bestselling album; the album that has defined many a young cellist’s ideas about the performance of the works. However, many discerning listeners also think ‘innovation’ when they hear or see his name, given the many different styles in which he performs and records on a regular basis. What I…

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Jo Case interviews Jessica Friedmann

by Jo Case

Jo Case interviews Jessica Friedmann about her debut collection of essays, Things That Helped.

The opening chapter in Jessica Friedmann’s memoir-in-essays, Things That Helped, closes with her lying on her bathroom floor in the middle of the night, resolved to drown herself in the Maribyrnong River, but unable to get up. She’s a young woman engulfed by early motherhood, distanced not just from her creative self, but from her very grasp on language. Her body is scarred and…

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Our top ten bestsellers of the week

The White Queen - One Nation and the Politics of Race (Quarterly Essay 65) by David Marr

See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt

The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape

The Dry by Jane Harper

Between a Wolf and a Dog by Georgia Blain

They Cannot Take the Sky by Michael Green, Angelica Neville, André Dao, Dana Affleck and Sienna Merope

First, We Make the Beast Beautiful by Sarah Wilson

A Writing Life: Helen Garner and Her Work

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Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week

The Beast of Hushing Wood by Gabrielle Wang

Really Weird! (WeirDo Book 8) by Anh Do and Jules Faber

Slow Down, World by Tai Snaith

A Most Magical Girl by Karen Foxlee

I’m Australian Too by Mem Fox and Ronojoy Ghosh

The Red Book by Beck and Matt Stanton

Florette by Anna Walker

Escape to the Moon Islands (Quest of the Sunfish Book 1) by Mardi McConnochie

Grover Finds a Home (Grover McBane, Rescue Dog Book 1)…

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25% off a select range of popular cookbooks

Throughout April, we’re offering a special offer on a select range of our most popular cookbooks!

Online customers will receive 25% off the full price of any of the cookbooks found here.

In-store customers will receive 25% off cookbooks that feature an orange ‘25% off ’ sticker.

This offer includes cookbooks from some of our favourite Australian cooks, such as Neighbourhood from Hetty McKinnon, Salads & Vegetables from Karen Martini and The Cook’s Companion by Stephanie Alexander.

Seafood lovers…

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What we're reading: Bernadette Brennan, Zoe Whittall and John Darnielle

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.

Stella Charls is reading Universal Harvester by John Darnielle

I recently inhaled John Darnielle’s creepy and wonderful second novel. As I wrote in my review, Universal Harvester is a remarkable psychological thriller, as original as it is ambitious. The narrative starts out as a suspenseful page-turner, then evolves into a unsettling study of family and…

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Exciting new releases in April

by Elke Power

In international fiction, there was almost a bookseller stampede for John Darnielle’s much-anticipated second novel, Universal Harvester. Our marketing and events coordinator Stella Charls describes it as ‘a wonderfully strange and moving reading experience’. American journalist Omar El Akkad’s American War, a dystopian novel set in a near-future where a second Civil War rages, is reviewed with relish by Bronte Coates, our digital content coordinator. Locally, there’s Elizabeth Tan’s Rubik, a novel in stories that’s as tantalising…

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Upcoming changes to Readings at the State Library Victoria

The State Library Victoria has announced plans for an $88.1 million redevelopment of the iconic Melbourne institution, commencing in July 2017 and due for completion by 2020. We are delighted that the plans will involve our State Library bookshop moving to a new, larger space within the building.

Managing director Mark Rubbo says: ‘We are very excited to be part of this wonderful project that will transform the iconic institution.’

The new designs, created by internationally acclaimed firms Architectus and…

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