Our latest blog posts

Get ready for Christmas with Readings

November has arrived, which means December is about to arrive, and with it – Christmas. We’re here to help make your Christmas shopping as easy and painless as possible!

Over the next few weeks we’ll be publishing our curated gift guides, sharing our top 10 best books, CDs and DVDs of the year, and releasing our annual Summer Reading Guide which is jam-packed with recommendations. We’ll also be sharing a host of one-off offers for our customers, including signed…

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Introducing The Garret, a new literary podcast

The Garret is a new Melbourne-based literary podcast that explores how the best of the best start, draft, complete and market their writing.

We’re pleased to be a supporter, alongside the State Library of Victoria, Swinburne University and Writers Victoria.

The Garret’s first episode features an interview with Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, who co-authored the bestselling YA sci-fi space opera trilogy, The Illuminae Files. The first book in the trilogy, Illuminae won both the 2016 Inky…

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Most Underrated Book Award (MUBA) shortlist 2016

The Small Press Network (SPN) have announced the four titles shortlisted for the 2016 Most Underrated Book Award (MUBA).

Open to all members of the Small Press Network, the MUBA is designed to highlight titles that did not garner the sales or recognition they deserved at the time of release.

The shortlisted titles for this year are:

A Man Made Entirely of Bats by Patrick Lenton (Spineless Wonders)

Clancy of the Undertow by Christopher Currie (Text Publishing)

Creating Cities by…

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Nine books to read in November

Frantumaglia: Bits and Pieces of Uncertain Origin by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)

Elena Ferrante fans, rejoice: a collection of her non-fiction writing has now been released. Frantumaglia is a riveting compilation, over the course of her writing career, of Elena Ferrante’s letters to her publisher, interviews with editors and journalists, and responses to readers’ questions. Our reviewer writes: ‘The material collected here further reveals Ferrante as a remarkable writer and deeply original thinker across a range of subjects…

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Q&A with Matthew Griffin, author of Hide

by Jason Austin

American author Matthew Griffin chats with our own bookseller Jason Austin about his powerful debut novel, Hide. (You can also read Jason’s rave review of the book here.)

First of all let me say congratulations! I loved Hide so much, not just for the exquisite writing but also for the subject matter. Your novel tells the story of two men, Wendell and Frank, who meet and fall in love at the conclusion of WWII and follows them into…

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

Gemina (The Illuminae Files_02) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

When the Lyrebird Calls by Kim Kane

We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen

Artie and the Grime Wave by Richard Roxburgh

Pig the Elf by Aaron Blabey

Apocalypse Meow (The Bad Guys Book 4) by Aaron Blabey

Do Not Open This Book by Andy Lee and Heath McKenzie

Lots by Marc Martin

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

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Our top ten bestsellers of the week

The Good People by Hannah Kent

Fight Like a Girl by Clementine Ford

The Sellout by Paul Beatty

The Boy Behind the Curtain by Tim Winton

Music and Freedom by Zoë Morrison

The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly

The Newsman: 60 Years of Television by Mal Walden

Bush Heritage Australia: Restoring Nature Step by Step by Sarah Martin

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

The Whistler by John Grisham

Hannah Kent’s heartrending new novel is our…

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What we're reading: Jean Webster, Darren Purchese and Cath Crowley

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.

Lian Hingee is reading Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster

When I was still brand-new at Readings I was chatting to one of my workmates about our mutual love for Anne of Green Gables (Gilbert Blythe 4eva) and she encouraged me to read the classic Daddy Long-Legs. She even brought in her own…

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Mark's Say, November 2016

by Mark Rubbo

Over a few beers after a brilliant conversation between Stan Grant and Richard Flanagan, the talk naturally moved to politics and football. It was the week before the AFL Grand Final and a moment of Trump’s strengthening in the polls. George Megalogenis, who’d joined us, was worried; so were we all. Then Richard opined that the fate of the US election lay in the upcoming Grand Final: ‘If the doggies win, then Trump’s lost.’ What the connection between the AFL…

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A recipe from Smith & Daughters - Warm Spanish Doughnuts with Chocolate Pâté

Shannon Martinez and Mo Wyse are the brains behind celebrated vegan restaurant Smith & Daughters, and they’ve just released their first cookbook, Smith & Daughters: A Cookbook (That Happens to be Vegan).

We’ve featured a delicious recipe from the cookbook below, and if you drop by our Carlton shop on Thursday 3 November you can meet the talented duo themselves! Find details here.

WARM SPANISH DOUGHNUTS

Rejoice! The doughnut recipe! Shannon’s got many a doughnut recipe up her

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