Our latest blog posts

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

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

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

Pig The Winner by Aaron Blabey

The Way We Roll by Scot Gardner

Iris and the Tiger by Leanne Hall

The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

The 26-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

The 65-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis

The Lie Tree (Special Edition) by Frances Hardinge

We’re not…

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Stories of life and death from doctors

On the Move by Oliver Sacks

As Oliver Sacks recounts his experiences as a young neurologist in the early 1960s where he discovered a long-forgotten illness in the back wards of a chronic hospital, as well as with a group of patients who would define his life, it becomes clear that his earnest desire for engagement has occasioned unexpected encounters and travels – sending him through bars and alleys, over oceans, and across continents.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul…

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Best new crime fiction in March

by Fiona Hardy

CRIME FICTION OF THE MONTH:

All These Perfect Strangers by Aoife Clifford

Pen Sheppard is listless in her mother’s country home, lost again in the world of her childhood – her mother’s bad boyfriends, a town full of fakery, gossip as currency, and reputations that never die. Pen hoped she was rid of her hometown when she went to university, living on campus and making a new life, yet here she is, recovering in the only place that would have…

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What we're reading: Pierre Lemaitre, Richard Denniss and Frances Hardinge

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 The Great Swindle by Pierre Lemaitre

I’ve just started this novel from Pierre Lemaitre. Lemaitre is known for his crime stories, but The Great Swindle is actually a work of historical fiction. It won the Prix Goncourt (a major literary prize for French literature) back in 2013, but was…

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The Man Booker International Prize longlist 2016

The first ever longlist for the Man Booker International Prize has been announced today. This year, the Man Booker International Prize has joined forces with the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa, translated by Daniel Hahn (Angola)

The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein (Italy)

The Vegetarian by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith (South Korea)

Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal, translated by Jessica Moore…

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The Stella Prize shortlist 2016

Congratulations to the six authors shortlisted for this year’s Stella Prize! The full shortlist is listed here:

A Few Days in the Country and Other Stories by Elizabeth Harrower
Hope Farm by Peggy Frew (Read review)
Six Bedrooms by Tegan Bennett Daylight (Read review)
Small Acts of Disappearance by Fiona Wright (Read review)
The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood (Read review)
The World Without Us by Mireille Juchau

Chair of…

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Our favourite new children's books in March

by Holly Harper

Graveyard girls, social change and greedy pugs – here are our top book picks for kids this month.

Pig the Winner by Aaron Blabey

Pig was a pug

Oh Pig. He’s greedy and grumpy and so badly behaved – and it’s hard not to love him. Aaron Blabey first introduced readers to Pig’s greediness in Pig the Pug, and then showed us all what a terrible liar Pig is in Pig the Fibber. Now he’s back, and it’s…

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20% off the Bloomsbury Revelations series

We’re offering 20% off the Bloomsbury Revelations series in March.

The Bloomsbury Revelations series features thinkers who have fundamentally shaped the way we see the modern world, and includes books by Jacques Derrida, Henri Lefebvre, René Girard, Leo Tolstoy, Winston Churchill, Homer, Susan Strange, Slavoj Zizek, Theodor W. Adorno, Constantin Stanislavski, Gilles Deleuze and more.

The full range is available at our Carlton shop; selected titles are available at our Hawthorn, Malvern and St Kilda shops, as well as online

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6 must-read YA books in March

by Holly Harper

This month in YA has shadowhunters, yearbook committees and trolley collectors – something for everyone!

The Way We Roll by Scot Gardner

Will pushes shopping trolleys in the rough part of town and lives beneath a bowling alley – all this despite the fact that he comes from a wealthy family and used to attend the prestigious St Alfie’s school. Julian, on the other hand, has been in and out of juvie and doesn’t quite know what to make of…

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Four new inspiring true stories of Australian women

Taking Flight by Kristen Alexander

From her first taste of the air when she joined Bert Hinkler in the cockpit for a joy ride in 1928, Lores Bonney was hooked. With her aviation licence and the support of her husband, she took to the Australian and international skies and braved the challenge of long-distance flying – breaking numerous records along the way. Drawing on diary extracts, published recollections, interviews, documents and newspaper accounts, Taking Flight celebrates this audacious pilot’s aerial…

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