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Our favourite new young adult books in July
From a gender-bent Vlad the Impaler to the wisdom of Oscar Wilde, here are our top young adult picks for July.
(You can find out find our top children’s book picks here.)
YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE MONTH
When Michael Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Mina is a refugee who has fled Afghanistan. She has done her time in refugee camps and detention centres, and now she has worked hard to secure her place as a scholarship student. Michael…
Our favourite new children's books in July
From geriatric paper route wars to a hilarious family of hyenas, here are our top children’s book picks for July.
(You can find out find our top young adult book picks here.)
2016 READINGS CHILDREN’S BOOK PRIZE WINNER
We’ve just announced the winner of this year’s Readings Children’s Book Prize: Run, Pip, Run by J.C. Jones.
Run, Pip, Run is a heartfelt read about a young girl on the run from the authorities after her foster grandfather is sent…
Our top picks of the month for book clubs
For an elegant affair involving Shakespeare…
Vinegar Girl: The Taming of the Shrew Retold by Anne Tyler
In this offbeat comedy, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Tyler reimagines The Taming of the Shrew for today. Kate Battista’s eccentric scientist father has cooked up an outrageous plan to prevent his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, from being deported – but it relies on his forthright and strong-willed daughter being, well, less forthright and strong-willed than usual. Our reviewer promises that this modern…
Mark's Say, July 2016
I was lucky enough to meet Nicola Hill, marketing director for the Penguin Press in the UK, recently. Nicola looks after the wonderful books that come out of the Penguin Classic and Allen Lane lists. Part of the challenge for publishers these digital days is to reinforce the idea of the book as a beautiful and interesting object and Penguin with their rich backlist have a lot to work with. You may have seen on our shelves the Little Black…
Inga Simpson interviews Rajith Savanadasa
by Inga SimpsonInga Simpson interviews Rajith Savanadasa about his debut novel, Ruins.
Rajith Savanadasa’s debut novel, Ruins, is a vibrant portrait of a family, city and country in the midst of change. It is set in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, around the end of the thirty-year civil war, in 2009. Initially, the conflict is off in the distance, reflecting Savanadasa’s own experience. The war was ‘Something happening up in the north,’ he says, ‘not part of daily reality.’ And yet…
National Biography Award shortlist 2016
This year’s shortlist for the National Biography Award has been announced.
This Award is presented annually to a published work of biographical or autobiographical writing aiming to promote public interest in these genres.
The six shortlisted titles for 2016 include:
Reckoning by Magda Szubanski
Battarbee and Namatjira by Martin Edmond
Comrade Ambassador: Whitlam’s Beijing Envoy by Stephen FitzGerald
Thea Astley: Inventing Her Own Weather by Karen Lamb
Bearing Witness: The Remarkable Life of Charles Bean, Australia’s greatest war correspondent by…
10 picture books to celebrate NAIDOC Week
Happy NAIDOC Week! NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Here are 10 gorgeous reads exploring Indigenous culture and history for you to read along with your child.
Shake a Leg by Boori Monty Pryor and Jan Ormerod
From pizza shop to bora ground, here is a joyous celebration of food, dance and cultural understanding. When three young boys go to a pizza parlour and meet an Aboriginal chef who can speak…
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
Fine by Michelle Wright
Ruins by Rajith Savanadasa
The Dry by Jane Harper
Barkskins by Annie Proulx
The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith
Vinegar Girl: The Taming of the Shrew Retold by Anne Tyler
The Girls by Emma Cline
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
Firing Line – Australia’s Path to War (Quarterly Essay 62) by James Brown
Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner
Six of the reads in our top…
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
Charlie and the War Against the Grannies by Alan Brough
Run, Pip, Run by J.C. Jones
The BFG (film tie-in edition) by Roald Dahl
Dragonfly Song by Wendy Orr
The World’s Worst Children by David Walliams and Tony Ross
The Treehouse Fun Book by Andy Griffiths, Jill Griffiths and Terry Denton
Tom Gates: Super Good Skills (Almost) (Book 10) by Liz Pichon
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
The Bolds by Julian Clary and David Roberts
The…
Wainwright Prize shortlist 2016
This year’s shortlist for The Wainwright Prize has been announced. Now in its third year, this prize awards £5,000 annually to the work that best reflects renowned nature writer Alfred Wainwright’s core values of celebrating the great British outdoors.
The six shortlisted titles are:
Common Ground by Rob Cowen
The Outrun by Amy Liptrot
Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane
The Moth Snowstorm by Michael McCarthy
The Fish Ladder by Katharine Norbury
The Shepherd’s Life by James Rebanks
Chair of judges Dame…
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