Our latest blog posts
Delicious new cookbooks out this month
Real Food Projects by Kate Walsh
I am not overwhelmed by this delightful book, rather, I am encouraged. I am not filled with guilt as I turn the pages, but rather inspiration. Yes, I say to myself, I could make that. I will make sauerkraut, or preserved garlic (so stupidly easy) and a quick cucumber pickle. I will be the talk of my friends with gorgeous gifts, the school fete committee will be beside themselves and my own family…
Miles Franklin Literary Award longlist 2016
The longlist for this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced. Congratulations to all the longlisted authors and publishers. We’re particularly excited to see our own St Kilda bookseller A.S. Patrić featured!
The longlisted titles are:
Ghost River by Tony Birch (Read review)
Coming Rain by Stephen Daisley (Read review)
Hope Farm by Peggy Frew (Read review)
Leap by Myfanwy Jones (Read review)
The World without Us by Mireille Juchau
The…
Q&A with Will Kostakis
Will Kostakis’ new YA novel is the featured book for this month’s YA Book Club, and we’re delighted that Will himself is joining us on the night. Come along to Readings St Kilda on Wednesday 20 April and make sure to bring your very best questions.
Here, children’s bookseller Isobelle Moore asks Will a few questions about The Sidekicks.
The Sidekicks is set in a Catholic school, with the school administration taking a very conservative stance on LGBTQIA+ lives…
A beginner's guide to Neil Gaiman
I’m a long-time fan of Neil Gaiman’s novels, and am always trying to put them into the hands of people who haven’t yet discovered his particular brand of intelligent, unexpected, alternative storytelling.
I like to think there’s a Gaiman for everyone, and so here’s my beginner’s guide to prove it.
For someone who wants to laugh
Good Omens is one of the most magnificently funny novels I’ve ever read. It doesn’t matter how many times I dive into my well-thumbed…
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner
The Road to Ruin by Niki Savva
Our Man Elsewhere by Thornton McCamish
Talking to My Country by Stan Grant
Balancing Act – Australia Between Recession and Renewal (Quarterly Essay 61) by George Megalogenis
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet by Michael Mosley
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
A Little Life by Hanya…
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
The Treehouse Fun Book by Andy Griffiths, Jill Griffiths and Terry Denton
Crazy Weird: WeirDo Book 6 by Anh Do and Jules Faber
The Bad Guys: Episode 1 by Aaron Blabey
The Cat with the Coloured Tail by Gillian Mears and Dinalie Dabarera
Pig the Winner by Aaron Blabey
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek and Christine Roussey
Iris and the Tiger by Leanne Hall
Mark's Say, April 2016
One of the highlights of the past month for me was hearing indigenous journalist Stan Grant talk about his new book, Talking to My Country at one of our events. Grant is a remarkable and charismatic communicator; he is able to convey what it is like to be black in an overwhelmingly European country, to suffer a thousand cuts and small indignities. His strength is that he does this without bitterness or rancour; there’s some anger but, above all, there…
What we're reading: Helen Garner, Thornton McCamish and Karen Hitchcock
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.
Mark Rubbo is reading Our Man Elsewhere by Thornton McCamish
Alan Moorehead was an Australian journalist, travel writer and historian. He was also a highly-regarded war correspondent who covered battles in Africa, Italy and Normandy, and later his books published in the the forties and fifties were bestsellers. Then, at the age of…
Dear Reader, April 2016
In March, the winners of the Windham-Campbell Prizes for literature were announced. First awarded in 2013 and administered by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, prizes are given in the categories of fiction, drama and non-fiction for writers from anywhere in the world whose work is written in English. These prizes are awarded through an anonymous judging process, publishers and writers don’t actually know that their work is being considered. As a result, being informed that…
Books with LGBTQIA+ themes for kids and teens
“It’s okay to be yourself.”
It’s a pretty universal piece of advice that many kids and teens hear, and it makes sense. After all, the difficulty in trying to maintain a façade – to be somebody you aren’t – is a huge burden, especially when you’re already going through the turbulent years of growing up. But with the current opposition to the Safe Schools program and the fact that many people are calling into question the suitability of the material…
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