Our latest blog posts

Best new crime reads of the month

by Fiona Hardy

CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

While I mostly try to challenge myself with genres for this column, I’ve inadvertently picked two small-town America books in a row for book of the month, and both by women with alliterative M names. But when struck by something as instantly readable as this, it’s hard to put it down, and impossible to resist.

From the moment Nicolette Farrell hears her brother’s message – that they need…

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Recommended new YA books in March

by Leanne Hall

New books from some of our favourite authors, award-winners, books that cover topical issues and an Australian classic from the 90s – March is set to be a good month for teen readers and YA fans of all ages.

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

LOVEOZYA PICKS

Frogkisser! has all of our in-house Garth Nix fans a-tizz, and no wonder – it’s a funny, flipped-around fairytale quest that’s great for teens, all the way through…

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Recommended new kids' books in March

by Leanne Hall

This month we recommend a glut of gorgeous picture books, read about ghosts and time-traveling granddads, and celebrate the 2017 shortlist for the Readings Children’s Book Prize.

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

PICTURE BOOKS

In Anna Walker’s Florette, Mae has just moved to from the country to the city and is having a hard time with her new environment. She’s desperate to find some nature in the centre of Paris, and eventually finds…

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The Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction longlist 2017

The longlist for the 2017 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced.

Here is the full longlist of 16 titles:

Stay With Me by Ayòbámi Adébáyò

The Power by Naomi Alderman

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

Little Deaths by Emma Flint

The Mare by Mary Gaitskill

The Dark Circle by Linda Grant

The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride

Midwinter by Fiona Melrose

The Sport of Kings by C.E. Morgan

The Woman Next Door by Yewande Omotoso

The Lonely Hearts Hotel

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The Stella Prize shortlist 2017

Congratulations to the six authors shortlisted for this year’s Stella Prize. This $50,000 prize is awarded for the best work of literature, fiction or non-fiction, published in 2016 by an Australian woman.

The six shortlisted titles are:

Between a Wolf and a Dog by Georgia Blain (Read our review)

The Hate Race by Maxine Beneba Clarke (Read our review)

Poum and Alexandre by Catherine de Saint Phalle

An Isolated Incident by Emily Maguire (Read our review)

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Children's books about amazing women

by Leanne Hall

One of the strongest trends we’ve noticed in the last year has been an interest in children’s books about accomplished women – we literally can’t keep them on our shelves!

We adore the Little People, Big Dreams series. These colourful, cute and simple picture books present the stories of well-known women from girlhood up, allowing young readers aged 4 years and up to find new idols and role models, and hopefully be inspired to dream of big achievements for themselves.

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Staff music picks of the month

We’re excited to have two terrific musicians dropping by our Carlton shop on Friday, 10 March.

At 12.30pm, Canadian folk-pop singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright will chat with rock journalist Michael Dwyer. This special lunchtime event is free, but places are strictly limited. Find out more here.

At 6.30pm, singer and songwriter Rob Snarski will share tales from his new book, You’re Not Rob Snarski, and discuss his lifelong passion for music. This event is also free, and you can…

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Three classical albums we're loving this month

Elena Kats-Chernin: Unsent Love Letters – Meditations On Erik Satie by Tamara-Anna Cislowska

‘Many years after Erik Satie’s death in 1925, friends gained access to his small and cluttered apartment where they found two grand pianos stacked on top of each other, a chair, a table, seven velvet suits, and hoards of unsent love letters. An apparently eccentric man, Satie lived a life of contradictions: he was an introvert but a compelling performer; he lived in squalor but dressed immaculately…

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Our top ten bestsellers of the week

Fight Like a Girl by Clementine Ford

The Family by Chris Johnston and Rosie Jones

The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape

Gut by Giulia Enders (translated by David Shaw)

The CSIRO Low-Carb Diet by Grant Brinkworth and Pennie Taylor

Jasper Jones (film tie-in edition) by Craig Silvey

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

The Crying Place by Lia Hills

Insomniac City by Bill Hayes

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Last week’s list of bestselling books includes some of our…

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