Our latest blog posts

What we're reading: Kate Mildenhall, Baba Schwartz and Renata Adler

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.

Kara Liddell is reading Pitch Dark by Renata Adler

I’m currently reading Renata Adler’s Pitch Dark, suffice to say it’s incredible and I can’t believe it has taken me this long to discover it. After a recommendation from a fellow bookseller during a recent trip to New York – and a continuing…

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20 international guests at Melbourne Writers Festival 2016

Here are 20 international guests appearing at this year’s Melbourne Writers Fesitval (MWF). You can find even more guests in the full Festival program here.

We’re also so pleased to be hosting a series of conversations showcasing new Australian fiction, and you can find out what our staff are most excited to see right here.

PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey is an English singer-songwriter, composer and poet. She has released nine critically acclaimed albums, been nominated for six…

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What we're planning to see at Melbourne Writers Festival 2016

Staff share their top picks from the Melbourne Writer’s Festival (MWF) program.

As part of this year’s program, we’re hosting a series showcasing a range of new Australian fiction – learn more here. We’ve also prepared a list of terrific international guests who will be in attendance, and you can browse the full Festival program here.

Lian Hingee recommends…

I’ve just finished reading the conclusion to The Passage trilogy. I consider this series to be some of the…

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New Australian fiction at Melbourne Writers Festival 2016

As part of this year’s Melbourne Writer’s Festival (MWF), we’re hosting a series showcasing a range of new Australian fiction. Each morning session is free and features two debut or early career authors, back to back, each in conversation about their book with a Readings bookseller.

For more MWF inspiration, we’ve compiled a list of terrific international guests, and our staff have shared the events they’re most excited to attend. You can also browse the full Festival program…

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Why you should read Liane Moriarty

We’re so excited that Liane Moriarty’s new book, Truly Madly Guilty, hits the shelves today. Here, our booksellers tell you why you should get stuck into her big, complex novels.

‘I scored an advance copy of Truly Madly Guilty at a conference a couple of months ago, and it’s been languishing in TBR pile since then – despite much badgering from my workmates who thought I would enjoy the author’s writing. With the release imminent I finally picked it…

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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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