Our latest blog posts

A passive aggressive gift guide

Over the next few weeks, we’ve been compiling a host of gift guides to help you with your Christmas shopping.

Christmas is indeed a gift-giving season, but this doesn’t mean you necessarily LIKE everyone you’re buying presents for. If you’re feeling annoyed about particular names on your shopping list, then this passive aggressive gift guide is for you…

For the sibling you suspect is a psychopath…

Try… My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier

Because… Here’s an OzYA thriller from the…

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Fiction with a dash of magic

by Lian Hingee

When the world feels like a dark and uncertain place, some readers like to seek out books that have a little bit of magic around the edges. Here are some of our recent favourites.

The Witches of New York by Ami McKay

If you enjoy a combination of historical fiction and fantasy, you may like to pick up Ami McKay’s impeccably researched novel The Witches of New York. Set in the late nineteenth-century, this story is a bit like…

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Recommended classic picture books for Christmas

by Bronte Coates

Digital content coordinator Bronte Coates recommends five of her favourite classic picture books for Christmas.

You can find more Christmas-themed picture books in the full collection here. We’ve also put together a collection of heart-warming or family-focussed picture books that make ideal reading for the holiday season, but without mentioning Christmas at all.

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

First published in 1978, Raymond Briggs’s classic wordless tale perfectly captures the fleeting magic of Christmas time for children: a boy’s…

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Books I was inspired to read by attending Readings events

by Chris Gordon

Being the events manager of Readings is one of the most fortunate of roles in our little old Melbourne town. One of the greatest treats of my role – apart from meeting all the wonderful authors and readers – is reading books that I might not normally pick up. This activity can lead to surprising delights.

Here is a sample of my surprise reads that turned into treats this year, thanks to our event program.

Advanced Style: Older and Wiser

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My top five American novels of the year

by Nina Kenwood

Here is the best American literature I read this year, in order, with picks one and two pretty much tied as my equal favourites.

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

Elizabeth Strout is one of the best American writers working today, and My Name is Lucy Barton is Strout at the height of her powers. This novel is a masterpiece – short, sharp, thoughtful, simmering with emotion underneath the surface. It delves into trauma, memory, forgiveness and the…

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Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Shortlist 2017

The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards shortlist for 2017 has just been announced.

The winners of the five award categories – fiction, non-fiction, drama, poetry and writing for young adults – each receive a prize of $25,000, and go on to contest the Victorian Prize for Literature.

PRIZE FOR FICTION

Between a Wolf and a Dog by Georgia Blain

The Healing Party by Micheline Lee

Wood Green by Sean Rabin

Waiting by Philip Salom

The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock…

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

The Midnight Gang by David Walliams and Tony Ross

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (the original screenplay) by J.K. Rowling

Girl Stuff for Girls Aged 8-12: Your Real Guide to the Pre-Teen Years by Kaz Cooke

Ruby Red Shoes Goes to London by Kate Knapp

Wormwood Mire (A Stella Montgomery Intrigue) by Judith Rossell

Lots by Marc Martin

The Song from Somewhere Else by A.F. Harrold and Levi Pinfold

Artie and the Grime Wave by Richard Roxburgh

We

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The best crossover YA reads of 2016

Whether you’re an adult-aged reader who loves YA, or a teen-aged reader ready to tackle stories pitched for adults. Here are some of our favourite ‘crossover’ releases from the last year.

Recommended YA books for discerning adults

These reads – romance, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, high school politics, real world politics, and more – hooked us from page one. Read them to get swept up in the story, and maybe also read them to remember what it felt like to be

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What we're reading: Robin Talley, Ben Katchor and Steve Hely

Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.

Ed Moreno is reading all the beginnings by Quinn Eades

Fans of genre outlaws, revel in Quinn Eades’ heartbreaking, powerful, mindblowingly-visceral all the beginnings. Immerse yourself in a text which bends, breaks and redefines all the rules, and then hands you a perfectly-crafted poem – a Dragonfruited sphere / shining tissue /

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