Our latest blog posts
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
They Cannot Take the Sky by Michael Green, Angelica Neville, André Dao, Dana Affleck & Sienna Merope
First We Make the Beast Beautiful by Sarah Wilson
No Way But This by Jeff Sparrow
The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape
Gut by Giulia Enders (translated by David Shaw)
To Know My Crime by Fiona Capp
The Dry by Jane Harper
Between a Wolf and a Dog by Georgia Blain
Why I am Not a Feminist by Jessa Crispin
Insomniac City by…
Picture books that celebrate the variety of family life
Families are formed when people come together to support and love each other unconditionally. We’ve put together some of our favourite picture books that reflect the variety and beauty of modern family life.
We are Family by Patricia Hegarty
We are Family follows a wide variety of families having a normal day, showing the differences and similarities in bright and detailed retro illustrations. Each page spread shows each family in a moment, and kids will have enormous fun comparing details…
The CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Medals shortlists 2017
The shortlists for the 2017 CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals have been announced.
The Carnegie Medal is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people. The Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded by children’s librarians for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people.
Tricia Adams, Chair of the judging panels for both awards, said: ‘Questions of identity, friendship and responsibility, both to others and to the natural…
What we're reading: Melissa Keil, Heather Taylor Johnson and Jessica Friedmann
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.
Chris Gordon is reading Jean Harley Was Here by Heather Taylor Johnson
I read Jean Harley Was Here is one sitting. Heather Taylor Johnson tells the story of what happens to the friends and family in the aftermath of the titular character’s death. It’s a clever novel which somehow manages to avoid being overly emotional…
Our top picks of the month for book clubs
For book clubs who devoured Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels
Flesh and Bone and Water by Luiza Sauma
Doctor André Cabral is living in London when he receives a letter from his home country, Brazil, which he left nearly 30 years ago. The letter prompts André to remember the days of his youth, including his secret infatuation with the intoxicating Luana. Unable to resist the pull of his memories, he embarks on a journey back to Brazil to rediscover his past…
The Man Booker International Prize longlist 2017
The Man Booker International Prize has revealed the ‘Man Booker Dozen’ of 13 novels in contention for the 2017 prize, which celebrates the finest works of translated fiction from around the world.
The Man Booker International Prize is awarded every year for a single book, which is translated into English and published in the UK. Both novels and short-story collections are eligible. The work of translators is equally rewarded, with the £50,000 prize divided between the author and the translator…
Hear from one of the contributors to They Cannot Take the Sky
They Cannot Take the Sky is a collection of first-person accounts of the reality of life in mandatory detention. It has been compiled and edited by Behind the Wire, an award-winning oral history organisation.
Amir Taghinia is a 23-year-old man who has been in immigration detention on Manus Island since 2013. His story appears in They Cannot Take the Sky, under the title ‘We are all convicted to live on this planet’. It is based on two long conversations…
The Wellcome Book Prize shortlist 2017
The shortlist for this year’s Wellcome book prize has been announced. This prize is awarded annually to the best new work of fiction or non-fiction that ‘celebrates the topics of health and medicine in literature’.
The 2017 shortlist comprises four non-fiction and two fiction titles, including the first posthumously published title and the first translated title to be shortlisted for the prize.
Here is the full shortlist:
How to Survive a Plague by David France
Five reasons we love A Most Magical Girl by Karen Foxlee
A Most Magical Girl by Karen Foxlee is one of the six books shortlisted for this year’s Readings Children’s Book Prize. Here are five reasons why we think it’s brilliant.
1. It gave me that ‘Harry Potter feeling’.
From the first moment that 12-year-old Annabel Grey steps into Misses E & H Vine’s Magic Shop, the reader is aware that this girl’s life is about to change forever, and that almost everything she thought to be true is going to…
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
First, We Make the Beast Beautiful by Sarah Wilson
Gut by Giulia Enders (translated by David Shaw)
The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape
And Then I Found Me by Noel Tovey
The Dry by Jane Harper
The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney
Insomniac City by Bill Hayes
Why I am Not a Feminist by Jessa Crispin
Fight Like a Girl by Clementine Ford
South of Forgiveness by Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger
Our bestselling book of last week is First,…