Our latest blog posts

Middle fiction that tackles serious topics

by Leanne Hall

Have you ever loved a book so much you weren’t able to talk sensibly about it? I’ve just finished reading Paul Griffin’s funny, sweet and devastating When Friendship Followed Me Home, and I’m feeling evangelical about it.

12-year-old Ben has spent most of his life in state care before being adopted by an older mum, the indomitable Tess. While Ben is undoubtedly affected by his past, you can see that he’s starting to thrive after two years in a…

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The 100 bestselling books at Readings in 2016

Here are our 100 bestselling books from the past year.

(We’ve also compiled our 20 bestselling CDs of 2016 and our 20 bestselling DVDs of 2016.)

We’re thrilled to see several books from smart, powerful women listed in our top ten bestsellers. This includes non-fiction works from Gloria Steinem, Clementine Ford and Helen Garner, as well as compelling, feminist fiction from Charlotte Wood, Hannah Kent and Elena Ferrante.

Of the 100 books below…

39 are fiction (including two scripts…

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The 20 bestselling DVDs at Readings in 2016

Here are our 20 bestselling DVDs from the past year.

(We’ve also compiled our 100 bestselling books of 2016 and our 20 bestselling CDs of 2016.)

Crime and historical stories dominate our list of bestselling DVDs of last year – including all five volumes currently available of Un Village Francais. Set in a fictional village of German-occupied France during the Second World War, this popular French drama series comes from writer Frédéric Krivine and principal director Philippe Triboit…

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The 20 bestselling CDs at Readings in 2016

Here are our 20 bestselling CDs from the past year.

(We’ve also compiled our 100 bestselling books of 2016 and our 20 bestselling DVDs of 2016.)

Our top 20 albums of 2016 include releases from some of the biggest names in music: Van Morrison, Radiohead, Joan Baez and the Rolling Stones; as well as local legends Paul Kelly, Nick Cave and Archie Roach. 2015’s number one bestselling album, 25 by Adele, continued to enjoy strong sales, while Readings favourite…

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Familiar stories told from women's perspectives

by Lian Hingee

Women’s voices have been silenced throughout history – their accomplishments and contributions drowned out by those of their male contemporaries. Increasingly we’re beginning to hear their stories in non-fiction, and in literature. Here are some of the best novels that explore traditionally patriarchal stories from the woman’s perspective.

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

In Margaret Atwood’s clever novella, the classic story of The Odyssey is reimagined from the perspective of Odysseus’ clever and cunning wife, Penelope. While Homer’s titular character…

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Costa book awards winners 2016

Congratulations to the winners of the 2016 Costa Book Awards.

These awards honour some of the most outstanding books of the year written by authors based in the UK and Ireland, across five different categories.

The 2016 winners for each category are Golden Hill by Francis Spufford (First novel), Days Without End by Sebastian Barry (Novel), Dadland: A Journey Into Uncharted Territory by Keggie Carew (Biography), Falling Awake by Alice Oswald (Poetry) and The Bombs That Brought Us Together by…

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Our top ten bestsellers of the week

The Barefoot Investor by Scott Pape

The Sellout by Paul Beatty

Fight Like a Girl by Clementine Ford

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

Music and Freedom by Zoë Morrison

The Good People by Hannah Kent

The Dry by Jane Harper

Between a Wolf and a Dog by Georgia Blain

Swing Time by Zadie Smith

Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner

It seems that everyone is planning to save money in 2017 with Scott Pape’s (AKA, The Barefoot…

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See you all in 2017

2016 has been a huge year for Readings.

We returned as the official bookseller at Melbourne Writers Festival; we opened two new bookshops; we were named Independent Book Retailer of the Year at the 2016 Australian Book Industry Awards; and we won Bookstore of the Year Award at the 2016 London Book Fair International Excellence Awards. We also hosted a stack of fantastic events (including sell-out Town Hall extravaganzas with Gloria Steinem, and Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton), collaborated with…

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What we're reading over summer

Our staff share the books they’re planning to read over summer.

‘As usual, I’ll be spending the summer catching up on everything I missed during the year. So far on my pile I’ve got Elspeth Muir’s Wasted, Rajith Savanadasa’s Ruins, Sean Rabin’s Wood Green and Paul Beatty’s The Sellout, just to name a few!’ – Alan Vaarwerk, editorial assistant for Readings Monthly

‘I’m hoping to read all the unread books on my shelves at home this summer…

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