Our latest blog posts

Three terrific children's books from Indigenous Australians

by Angela Crocombe

In anticipation of the Blak & Bright festival (which kicks off tomorrow evening, hooray!), children’s bookseller Angela Crocombe shares a sample of her favourite books from Indigenous Australians for young readers.

For YA readers:

I recently had a chance to read Becoming Kirrali Lewis, last year’s debut YA novel from Festival Director Jane Harrison, and I could not put it down.

Set in the late 80s, this is the story of Kirrali, a naive country girl who is off…

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Our top ten bestsellers of the week

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

The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes

The Shock of Recognition: The Books and Music That Have Inspired Me by Barry Jones

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Credlin & Co: How the Abbott Government Destroyed Itself by Aaron Patrick

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

The Romanovs: 1613-1918 by Simon Sebag Montefiore

The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood

The Other

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We love Iris and the Tiger by Leanne Hall

Our Children’s Book of the Month is Leanne Hall’s Iris and the Tiger. Here’s why our staff love it.

‘I’ve read books that I’ve wanted to see as films and TV shows, but I’ve never read a book I’ve wanted to see as a painting until now. Hall’s descriptions of the beautiful, mad, surreal paintings in her story left me desperately wishing I could visit the NGV with Iris and spend hours lost in each painting – all the…

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What we're reading: Jennifer Wright, Katherine Heiny and Anna Starobinets

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 It Ended Badly by Jennifer Wright

I came across mention of this book in an article titled ‘The One Book You Need to Read After a Breakup’ and thought: challenge accepted.

My last breakup is thankfully a distant enough memory that I can recount outrageous stories to my friends…

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Meet our new guest judge for the Readings Prize

We’re thrilled to announce Maxine Beneba Clarke as our guest judge for this year’s Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction!

Maxine is an Australian writer of Afro-Caribbean heritage. She is the author of two poetry books, Gil Scott Heron is on Parole (2009) and Nothing Here Needs Fixing (2013). Her fiction collection Foreign Soil won the 2015 Indie Award for Debut Fiction and the 2015 ABIA Award for Best Literary Fiction, saw her named a Sydney Morning Herald Best…

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What to read when life sucks

If you want to feel warm and fuzzy…

Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows co-wrote The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, an epistolary novel that draws readers into the Second World War. While the book may make you cry in places, it’s ultimately a story of hope.

Graeme Simsion’s two novels – The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect – are rom-coms set in Melbourne and New York. Happy endings guaranteed.

Between You and Me is a…

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Our favourite children's books in February

by Holly Harper

February brings you a sale on Oxford reference books, a huge range of great new releases, and the eagerly-awaited return of story time.

Story Time is back!

What better way to promote a love of reading to kids than by coming along to story time?

Readings offers free weekly half-hour story time sessions at our Carlton, Malvern and St Kilda stores at the following times:

Carlton – 10am Fridays

Malvern – 10:30am Thursdays

St Kilda – 10:30am Saturdays

And…

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Our favourite young adult books in February

by Holly Harper

February means a few things: school is back, summer is coming to an end, and there’s a bumper crop of exciting new young adult titles to read and events to attend.

Come along to our first YA Bookclub

We’re excited to announce that we’ve started a book club for YA readers!

The first meeting of the Readings YA Book Club will be held at our St Kilda shop on Wednesday 17 February. Come along to discuss Alison Goodman’s Lady Helen

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The Stella Prize longlist 2016

The longlist for this year’s Stella Prize has been announced. This $50,000 prize is awarded for the best work of literature, fiction or non-fiction, published in 2015 by an Australian woman.

The twelve longlisted books are:

A Few Days in the Country by Elizabeth Harrower

A Guide to Berlin by Gail Jones (Read our review)

A Short History of Richard Kline by Amanda Lohrey (Read our review)

Anchor Point by Alice Robinson (Read our review

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