Our latest blog posts

Memoirs and essays about depression and anxiety

by Lian Hingee

So Sad Today by Melissa Broder

Inspired by her own experience with panic attacks and dread, acclaimed poet Melissa Broder wrote So Sad Today , exploring the existential themes of sex, death, love, low self-esteem, addiction, and the drama of waiting for the universe to text you back. With insights as sharp as her humor, Broder explores what it really means to be a person in this modern world.

The Outrun by Amy Liptrot

Shortlisted for this year’s Wellcome Prize

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An update from the Readings Foundation

by Leanne Hall

The Readings Foundation assists Victorian organisations that support the development of literacy, community integration and the arts. Grants Officer Leanne Hall visited the Church of All Nations Family Learning Program recently – one of the seven projects being supported by the Foundation in 2016.

One of the fantastic things about the Readings Foundation is that we have been able to support local, grass-roots organisations – some so local that they’re within walking distance of our Carlton store! This is the…

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Our top ten bestsellers of the week

The Course of Love by Alain de Botton

The Dry by Jane Harper

Vinegar Girl: The Taming of the Shrew Retold by Anne Tyler

The Girls by Emma Cline

Music and Freedom by Zoë Morrison

Ruins by Rajith Savanadasa

The Art of Time Travel: Historians and Their Craft by Tom Griffiths

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood

The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith

We were delighted to have…

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What we're reading: Justin Cronin, Pearl S. Buck and Andy Weir

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.

Leanne Hall is reading Three Daughters of Madame Liang by Pearl S. Buck

It’s been on my mind for a while that I should read Pearl S. Buck – a Nobel Prize-winning American author who wrote prolifically about China – so imagine how pleased I was to discover an out-of-print hardcover edition of…

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Kibble and Dobbie Literary Awards Winners 2016

Congratulations to the winners of the Kibble and Dobbie Literary Awards for 2016: Lucy Treloar and Fiona Wright!

The Kibble and Dobbie Literary Awards are open to Australian women writers who have published a book of fiction or non-fiction classifiable as ‘life writing’.

Lucy Treloar has received the $5,000 Dobbie Literary Award (for a first-time author) for her debut novel, Salt Creek.

Set in 1855, Stanton Finch and his family have fallen on hard times and relocated to Salt…

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Best new crime reads in July

by Fiona Hardy

CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH

Black Teeth by Zane Lovitt

If you are a local who decides to rush out and buy Black Teeth just after you read this review, you’ll find yourself with the ultimate literary luxury: reading a book in July in Melbourne set in a Melbourne July not so long ago. When you turn the pages you’ll be wearing gloves, just like Jason Ginaff does a lot of the time, since he’s the kind of guy who…

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Closing down sale at Readings Bargains pop-up shop

The Readings Bargains pop-up shop is entering its final weeks, and as a last hurrah they’re hosting a final big sale!

Drop by the pop-up shop at 315 Lygon Street, right next door to our Carlton shop, before mid-August and you’ll be able to pick up any book from in-store for just $7. Though, only while stocks last.

Titles currently on offer include prize-winning fiction such as Madeline Miller’s The Song of Achilles, bestselling crime novels such as Joël…

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Picture books for tough feelings

by Holly Harper

Depression, anxiety, grief – they’re feelings we hope the children in our lives will never have to experience, but the reality is that we can’t always shield them from these things. A thoughtful book can help kids make sense of dark times by framing their emotions in a way they can process, and can go some way in preventing children from feeling overwhelmed.

Here is a list of great picture books to help kids with tough feelings.

Underwater Fancy Dress

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Cults and communes in fiction

The Girls by Emma Cline

It’s the summer of 1969 and Evie Boyd is desperate to be noticed. When she sees a group of girls in the park, her imagination is immediately captured by them – by their careless dress, their dangerous aura of abandon. As Evie becomes obsessed with Suzanne, a mesmerising older girl, she is drawn into the circle of a soon-to-be infamous cult and the man who is its charismatic leader. (This novel is inspired by the…

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