Our latest blog posts
Meet Leanne Hall, our new online children's and YA specialist
Meet Leanne Hall, our new online children’s and YA specialist! Leanne works at our new soon-to-be-open Readings Kids shop, and also writes books for teenagers and younger readers.
Describe your taste in books.
My taste in books has always been broad and wandering. As a kid I was a hungry reader. After my weekly library books were done, I would attack my parents’ book shelves, reading anything bar the phone book. These days I’ll still read any genre, but if…
Picture books that explore themes of grief and loss
Digital Marketing Manager Lian Hingee shares some of her best picks for picture books that explore themes of grief and loss.
Grief and sadness are complicated feelings for anyone, and it can be difficult to have conversations about loss and bereavement – particularly with children who might be experiencing it for the first time. Sharing a picture book that examines those themes can be a good way to open up a discussion, answer challenging questions or even just allow a…
The most interesting books customers have special ordered this month
We love hearing new recommendations. Here’s 10 of the most interesting books customers have special ordered this past month…
Dog Songs: Poems by Mary Oliver
How to Talk Dirty and Influence People by Lenny Bruce
New Life, No Instructions by Gail Caldwell
Good Eats: The Early Years by Alton Brown
The Grand Tour: The Life and Music of George Jones by Rich Kienzle
One Hundred Great Books in Haiku by David Bader
Bike Rides Around Melbourne by Julia Blunden
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
Do Not Open This Book by Andy Lee and Heath McKenzie
The 78-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (including the film tie-in edition)
Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts
Mr Chicken Arriva a Roma by Leigh Hobbs
The Call by Peadar Ó Guilín
Mega Weird (WeirDo Book 7) by Anh Do and Jules Faber
Dog Man (The Adventures of Dog Man Book 1)…
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
The Best of Adam Sharp by Graeme Simsion
Black Rock White City by A.S. Patrić
Working Class Boy by Jimmy Barnes
Enemy Within – American Politics in the Time of Trump (Quarterly Essay 63) by Don Watson
The Age Good Food Guide 2017 edited by Roslyn Grundy
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (including the film tie-in edition)
Grand Intentions by Trevor Barr
Neighbourhood by Hetty McKinnon
Our staff share their Spring Reading Stacks
Lian Hingee, Digital Marketing Manager
Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster
The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
Portable Curiosities by Julie Koh
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Avalanche by Julia Leigh
The Dry by Jane Harper
Dietland by Sarai Walker
Only Daughter by Anna Snoekstra
No Patterns Needed by Rosie Martin
Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee
Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
Amy Vuleta, Shop Manager at Readings St Kilda
Comfort Food by Ellen van Neerven
The…
What we're reading: Jonathan Safran Foer, Nora Ephron and Charles Foster
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 Heartburn by Nora Ephron
I saw the Nora Ephron documentary, Everything is Copy, at MIFF earlier this year, and when I waxed lyrical at the office the next day about how much I enjoyed it, several of my co-workers impressed upon me just how wonderful her semi-autobiographical novel…
Six enthralling novels about women in science
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Signature of All Things is an extraordinary story of botany, exploration and desire, spanning across much of the nineteenth century. The novel follows the fortunes of the brilliant Alma Whittaker – daughter of a bold and charismatic botanical explorer – who comes into her own within the world of plants and science. As Alma’s careful studies of moss take her deeper into the mysteries of evolution, the man she loves draws…
Our best comfort reads
Booksellers share their favourite books and best advice for comfort reading.
Nina Kenwood recommends seriously good fantasy.
I don’t think you can go past a good fantasy series for comfort – a nice long read set in a world that isn’t yours can do wonders to take your mind off of your problems. The Harry Potter series are an obvious example. They contain many crucial elements that give me great comfort – boarding school, Englishness, descriptions of food, and the…
Baillie Gifford Prize longlist 2016
The £30,000 Baillie Gifford prize (formerly known as the Samuel Johnson prize) is the UK’s most prestigious award for nonfiction writing. This year’s longlist has been announced and Chair of Judges, Stephanie Flanders, says that each of these 10 titles ‘takes you on a journey that is as engrossing and imaginative as any novel’.
Here is the longlist in full:
Second-Hand Time by Svetlana Alexievich, translated by Bela Shayevich
The Vanishing Man by Laura Cumming
Being a Beast by Charles…