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Our favourite children's books in February
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…
Our favourite young adult books in February
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…
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…
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
Iris and the Tiger by Leanne Hall
The Stars at Oktober Bend by Glenda Millard
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek and Christine Roussey
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
Starting School by Jane Godwin and Anna Walker
Alice-Miranda to the Rescue by Jacqueline Harvey
Adam Spencer’s Enormous Book of Numbers by Adam Spencer
Grandpa’s Great Escape by David Walliams
Squishy Taylor and the Bonus Sisters by Ailsa Wild and Ben Wood
Divergent by Veronica Roth
…
Our 2016 Oscar Predictions
The Oscars are due to be announced on 28 February. Here are our predictions of who will take out this year’s top awards. (You can view the full list of nominees
Nina Kenwood, Marketing manager
Best Picture: Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Cate Blanchett, Carol
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Sylvester Stallone, Creed
Best…
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
Credlin & Co: How the Abbott Government Destroyed Itself by Aaron Patrick
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Shock of Recognition: The Books and Music That Have Inspired Me by Barry Jones
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
The Moroccan Soup Bar by Hana Assafiri
Community: Salad Recipes from Arthur Street Kitchen by Hetty McKinnon
Reckoning by Magda Szubanski
…
Leigh Hobbs is the new Australian Children's Laureate
Author and illustrator Leigh Hobbs has been named the new Australian Children’s Laureate! The role of the Australian Children’s Laureate is to promote the importance of reading, creativity and story in the lives of young Australians.
Hobbs is known as the creator of such iconic characters as Old Tom, Mr Chicken and Horrible Harriet and over the past two decades has won the heart of many a young fan with his dark humour and distinctive drawing style. The interplay between…
What we're reading: Madeleine St John, Rajith Savanadasa and Michael Robotham
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.
Ed Moreno is reading The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
Historical fiction doesn’t usually grab me but Alexander Chee’s novel made for obsessive reading. I’m a fan of nineteenth-century French realism (especially Émile Zola) so the time and setting appealed, but the subject matter (opera) was new to me. However, the…
Booksellers reflect on guilty pleasures
Booksellers reflect on their favourite ‘guilty pleasures’ in books, and whether they agree with this term at all.
My mum is a fan of the ol’ bodice ripper, but she also has a tendency to shove said bodice ripper underneath the couch to hide it whenever people come over to the house. While I find this pretty amusing, I don’t really believe in guilty pleasures. I think if you enjoy something, you should just hold your head up high and…
Booksellers reflect on pretending to have read books
Booksellers reflect on the realities and ethics of telling some white lies about which books they’ve read – or haven’t read.
I don’t feel like I studied any of the same books in high school as most other people did – I’ve still never read To Kill A Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye or Great Expectations. While I’ve subsequently caught up on some ‘classics’, there are a large number of them that have passed me by, but…
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