Our latest blog posts
Why you should read Ruins by Rajith Savanadasa
We’re delighted that Rajith Savanadasa’s debut novel is one of the six books shortlisted for this year’s Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction. Here’s why we think you should read this book.
1. Ruins is a refreshing take on the ‘big, messy, dysfunctional family’ narrative.
Many of us here at Readings are big fans of novels about dysfunctional families (who isn’t?) and it’s an area of literature that’s often dominated by American fiction. So it was exciting to get our…
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
Do Not Open This Book by Andy Lee and Heath McKenzie
An A-Z of Creatures by Karen Allen
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)
Welcome to Country by Joy Murphy and Lisa Kennedy
Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts
Mega Weird (WeirDo Book 7) by Anh Do and Jules Faber
Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass Book…
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
Grant and I by Robert Forster
Black Rock White City by A.S. Patrić
The Age Good Food Guide 2017 edited by Roslyn Grundy
The Best of Adam Sharp by Graeme Simsion
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
Enemy Within – American Politics in the Time of Trump (Quarterly Essay 63) by Don Watson
Neighbourhood by Hetty McKinnon
A Handful of Sand: The Gurindji Struggle, After the Walk-off by Charlie Ward
Nutshell by Ian McEwan
What we're reading: Sarah Bannan, Jimmy Barnes and Mary Gaitskill
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.
Chris Gordon is reading Working Class Boy by Jimmy Barnes
Last night, I started reading Jimmy Barnes’ forthcoming memoir about his childhood Working Class Boy. I didn’t expect to be captivated. I didn’t expect that his story would be one of poverty, abuse and addiction. I didn’t expect to be moved by…
National Book Awards longlists 2016
The longlists for this year’s National Book Awards have been announced. Here they are in full.
Fiction
The Throwback Special by Chris Bachelder
What Belongs To You by Garth Greenwell
Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
The Portable Veblen by Elizabeth McKenzie
Sweet Lamb of Heaven by Lydia Millet
Miss Jane by Brad Watson
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
…
Come along to the Czech and Slovak Film Festival of Australia
The fourth Czech and Slovak Film Festival of Australia (CaSFFA) is on this year from 14 to 23 September, with the theme of ‘Text and Texture’ encompassing all those points where the cinematic and literary arts collide.
Inspired by Melbourne (2008) and Prague’s (2014) newly shared status as ‘UNESCO Cities of Literature’, the 2016 CaSSFA program includes a pick of the greatest film adaptations of Czech and Slovak literature, such as Cutting it Short and the medieval epic Marketa Lazarova…
An update from the Readings Foundation
The Readings Foundation assists Victorian organisations that support the development of literacy, community integration and the arts. A few weeks ago, Grants Officer Leanne Hall sat in on an asylum seekers’ English class recently at Preston Reservoir Community Education – one of the seven projects being supported by the Foundation in 2016.
Tucked away in the unassuming back streets of Reservoir are the many buildings that make up Preston Reservoir Adult Community Education. This local training organisation punches well above…
Man Booker Prize shortlist 2016
Congratulations to the authors shortlisted for this year’s Man Booker Prize.
Shortlisted authors include Paul Beatty, Deborah Levy, and Ottessa Moshfegh.
Chair of the 2016 judges, Amanda Foreman, writes ‘The Man Booker Prize subjects novels to a level of scrutiny that few books can survive. In re-reading our incredibly diverse and challenging longlist, it was both agonizing and exhilarating to be confronted by the sheer power of the writing. As a group we were excited by the willingness of so…
What we've learned from reading Roald Dahl's books
This year marks 100 years since the birth of Roald Dahl – and today would’ve been the storyteller’s birthday. Here’s what we’ve learned from reading his books over the years.
A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.
Life gets pretty serious, so it’s important you make some space in your own for allowing yourself to be a little bit silly now and then. The wisest men all agree.
Find the quote: Charlie and the Chocolate…
Why you should read The High Places by Fiona McFarlane
We’re delighted that Fiona McFarlane’s short story collection is one of the six books shortlisted for this year’s Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction. Here’s why we think you should read this book.
1. The High Places is a stunning work of literary fiction.
Fiona McFarlane is an exquisite writer – effortlessly readable with a richness that belies the simplicity of her prose. Our Prize Judges place her within the tradition of the the greats of the short form: think…
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