Our latest blog posts

Q&A with Readings Children's Book Prize winner J.C. Jones

We sat down with J.C. Jones – author of the 2016 Readings Children’s Book Prize winner Run, Pip, Run – and asked her about her ideas, her road to publication, and what we can expect next.

Where did the first spark of the idea for Run, Pip, Run come from?

When I was growing up, I always loved stories about kids who weren’t afraid to take their destiny into their own hands. Shortly before I wrote the book, I’d met…

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J.C. Jones wins the 2016 Readings Children’s Book Prize

The winner of the Readings Children’s Book Prize 2016 is… Run, Pip, Run by J.C. Jones!

Run, Pip, Run is a book for readers nine and up that manages to be both heartfelt and action-packed. Pip is on the run from the authorities after her foster grandpa, Sully, falls ill. Things aren’t easy for a young girl on her own, especially when it feels like everybody is looking for her, but Pip is a smart girl and with the help…

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Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week

Pax by Sara Pennypacker and Jon Klassen

Circle by Jeannie Baker

The Detective Dog by Julia Donaldson and Sara Ogilvie

In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek and Christine Roussey

The Bad Guys: Episode 1 by Aaron Blabey

Kizmet and the Case of the Smashed Violin by Frank Woodley

Tom Gates: Super Good Skills (Almost) (Book 10) by Liz Pichon

The Other Side of Summer by Emily Gale

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker…

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Our top ten bestsellers of the week

The Dry by Jane Harper

Barkskins by Annie Proulx

The Paper House by Anna Spargo-Ryan

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Firing Line – Australia’s Path to War (Quarterly Essay 62) by James Brown

Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner

The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith

A Hero in France by Alan Furst

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)

Three Australian novels…

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What we're reading: Rick Yancey,Meg Medina and Elspeth Muir

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.

Angela Crocombe is reading Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina

I loved reading this atmospheric young adult novel set in Queens, New York during the infamous summer of 1977 when a serial killer was on the loose, a spate of arson attacks were plaguing the city, and a blackout turned the entire city…

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Our favourite books of 2016 (so far)

Our staff share the best books they’ve read so far this year, including new releases and older titles just discovered.

Mark Rubbo, managing director:

It’s always challenging to select the ‘best’ books when faced with so many wonderful offerings. However, the first book that comes to mind is Helen Garner’s latest collection of essays, Everywhere I Look. This collection of pieces from the last 15 years of her writing career is a pleasure to read – and a reminder…

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Our top picks of the month for book clubs

For a night of dysfunctional family stories…

The Healing Party by Micheline Lee

We recently included this fantastic debut from Australian author Micheline Lee in a list of brilliant new novels featuring dysfunctional families, and our reviewer writes that Lee ‘breathes new life’ into these kinds of narratives. A young woman returns home to her estranged family to care for her sick mother. One day her father says he has received a message from God that his…

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Best new crime reads in June

by Fiona Hardy

CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH

Sunset City by Melissa Ginsburg

Short and anything but sweet, Sunset City paints a neon-soaked picture of Houston’s grimiest places, visited by a drunk and bereaved Charlotte Ford, trying to find solace after the death of her oldest friend. Danielle was murdered – beaten to death in a hotel room – and the cops are wondering why, after years of distance, Charlotte spoke to her just days before she died. Charlotte wonders the same thing…

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Our top ten bestsellers of the week

The Dry by Jane Harper

Saved to Remember by Frank Vajda

The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood

The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith

Dead Men Don’t Order Flake by Sue Williams

Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)

The Vegetarian by Han Kang (translated by Deborah Smith)

The Course of Love by Alain de Botton

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Our bestselling book of…

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Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week

The World’s Worst Children by David Walliams and Tony Ross

The Bad Guys: Episode 1 by Aaron Blabey

Tom Gates: Super Good Skills (Almost) (Book 10) by Liz Pichon

Circle by Jeannie Baker

In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek and Christine Roussey

The Other Side of Summer by Emily Gale

New Guard (Book 17) by Robert Muchamore

Run, Pip, Run by J.C. Jones

The Treehouse Fun Book by Andy Griffiths, Jill Griffiths and Terry Denton

The

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