Our latest blog posts
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…
Children’s books for Dementia Awareness Month
Today is World Alzheimer’s Day, and September is Dementia Awareness Month in Australia. The theme this year is `You are not alone’ – a great reminder to sit down with the kids in our lives and read about how dementia impacts the people we know and love.
Here are some of our recommendations for children’s books that explore the impact of dementia and Alzheimer’s on families.
Celia and Nonna by Victoria Lane and Kayleen West
Celia loves spending quality time…
Our top picks of the month for book clubs
For an entertaining, old-fashioned afternoon tea…
Closed Casket by Sophie Hannah with Agatha Christie
Our crime fiction columnist had some concerns about dipping into Sophie Hannah’s imagining of a brand-new Hercule Poirot mystery – Agatha Christie is a singular voice! – but happily, she was entranced by the tale. In her own words, this witty mystery is ‘just too wonderfully delicious’. And we have a strong suspicion this delicious read would go down extremely well with some delicious…
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…
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