Our latest blog posts
Highlights from our April event program
Events Manager Chris Gordon shares some of her top six picks from our April event calendar.
Inga Simpson in conversation with Favel Parrett
Join us for an intimate evening with two award-winning authors: Inga Simpson and Favel Parrett. The two will talk about Simpson’s new novel, Where the Trees Were, a story about the innocence of childhood and the scars that stay with you for life.
When? 6.30pm, Tuesday 5 April
Where? Readings Carlton
Bookings? Free, but please book…
March in review
We’ve had a veritable swag of exciting news to share this past month.
We revealed that we’ll be opening two new Melbourne bookshops this year. One will be a dedicated children’s bookshop based in Carlton, and the other will be based in Westfield Doncaster shopping centre. We were also thrilled (and humbled) to have been shortlisted for the London Book Fair’s Bookstore of the Year Award alongside three other international bookshops: Hoepli in Italy, Rahva Raamat in Estonia, and Sanlian…
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
The Treehouse Fun Book by Andy Griffiths, Jill Griffiths and Terry Denton
The Bad Guys: Episode 1 by Aaron Blabey
Samurai vs Ninja: The Battle for the Golden Egg by Nick Falk and Tony Flowers
Crazy Weird: WeirDo Book 6 by Anh Do and Jules Faber
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek and Christine Roussey
The Cat with the Coloured Tail by Gillian Mears and Dinalie Dabarera
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner
The Road to Ruin by Niki Savva
Balancing Act – Australia Between Recession and Renewal (Quarterly Essay 61) by George Megalogenis
Talking to My Country by Stan Grant
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Ice Child by Camilla Lackberg
The Light on the Water by Olga…
The ABIA Book longlists 2016
The Australian Book Industry Awards Academy has announced the ABIA Book longlists for 2016. Congratulations to all the authors, illustrators and publishers.
Biography Book of the Year
Inside by Chris Judd (Allen & Unwin)
Second Half First by Drusilla Modjeska (Penguin Random House)
Plain-speaking Jane by Jane Caro (Pan Macmillan)
Keating by Kerry O’Brien (Allen & Unwin)
Reckoning: A Memoir by Magda Szubanski (Text Publishing)
Born to Rule by Paddy Manning (Melbourne University Publishing)
Flesh Wounds by Richard Glover (ABC…
What we're reading: Tana French, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney and Daniel Clowes
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.
Lian Hingee is reading The Secret Place by Tana French
I first discovered Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series after falling down a Gone Gir-shaped hole. I wanted to find another contemporary crime novel that was smart, didn’t revel in graphic depictions of violence against women, and had interesting, flawed, but ultimately…
Mark Rubbo interviews Helen Garner
Mark Rubbo talks with Helen Garner about her new book, Everywhere I Look, a collection of her short non-fiction pieces.
What drew you to reportage?
I was faced with an immediate need to make a living, after I got the sack from teaching in 1972. Also, it has always felt natural. It suits me. It gets me into places and situations that I would otherwise be too shy to broach.
I remember asking Peter Carey once whether he drew…
Winners of the Indie Book Awards 2016
The winners of the Indie Book Awards 2016 have been announced.
Each year, independent booksellers from around the nation get together and vote for their favourite titles in four different categories, as well as their favourite book overall. Here are the winners for each category, along with comments from our booksellers.
The Fiction winner and the overall Indie Book of the Year winner is…
The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood
‘One of the best books I’ve read in…
Come visit us at Clunes Booktown Festival
The program for this year’s Clunes Booktown Festival (30 April to 1 May) has been announced. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of this wonderful festival.
For two days each year, the town of Clunes becomes home to the largest collection of new, second hand, rare and out-of-print small-press publications and collectable books in Australia. Readings will again be manning a stall over the weekend, along with a host of book traders from across Australia, and we’re hoping to…
Why we love Roald Dahl's Matilda
We’re so excited that Dennis Kelly’s musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda has arrived in Melbourne. A tearaway success on Broadway and in the West End, Matilda: The Musical has won five Tony Awards, and the music and lyrics are from Australia’s very own Tim Minchin.
Here, readers reflect on what makes Matilda such a timeless heroine.
“I absolutely adored Matilda as a child. I loved how smart she was. I loved how she went from being a pawn in…
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