Our latest blog posts

Our top ten bestsellers of the week

The Family Law by Benjamin Law

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

Reckoning by Magda Szubanski

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

Carol by Patricia Highsmith

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)

The Story of the Lost

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Our top picks from Blak & Bright

Staff share what they’re planning to see at this year’s Blak & Bright festival, the first ever Victorian Indigenous Literary Festival. (You can find the full program here).

Leanne Hall is excited for the opening address

I can’t wait to see Anita Heiss deliver the opening address on 20 Reasons Why You Should Read Blak. I’ve just finished hoovering up her latest novel, Tiddas, over the summer break. This novel is the perfect blend of drama, romance…

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2016 Oscar nominations in books

2016 is a particularly literary year for the Academy Awards with no fewer than five of the eight films nominated for Best Picture being inspired by books. Here are 11 books that have inspired films in this year’s list of Oscar nominees.

Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

In 1952, Eilis Lacey leaves Ireland to immigrate to Brooklyn, where she has a better chance of finding work…

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Our most anticipated YA books of 2016

In December the State Library of Victoria (in collaboration with Australian publishers) put on a showcase of young adult books we can expect to see in 2016. Our booksellers share the titles they’re most looking forward to.

Angela Crocombe is keen to read Megan Jacobson’s debut Yellow

There are so many YA books to get excited about, and that’s only looking at the next few months. We’re starting off the year with a double whammy book launch at the Carlton

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What we're reading: Justine Larbalestier, Susana Moreira Marques and Kate Di Goldi

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.

Fiona Hardy is reading The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

When my partner is on school holidays (he’s a teacher), I spend a few days during the week taking myself off to the library in order to write the Great Australian Novel while he wrestles with our kid on his…

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Vale David Bowie

This week, many of our staff were devastated to learn of David Bowie’s passing. Some of them reflect on how his work impacted on their lives.

When I was 13 I was involved in a punch up defending Bowie’s claim to the title of ‘greatest pop icon of our time’. My opponent had declared that said title belonged to Prince. I won the argument but lost the fight.

A master of reinvention and polymath of popular culture, Bowie also recognised…

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Around the world in 25 books

Set off on your own personal world tour, without changing out of your pajamas. Here are 25 reads from around the world that will transport you to new lands.

Indonesia

First, jump next door to Indonesia with Eka Kurniawan. Beauty is a Wound was one of our top ten fiction books of last year, drawing comparisons with Gabriel García Márquez and Salman Rushdie. An epic fable full of magic and ghosts, horror and humour, this novel intertwines Indonesia’s history…

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Our top ten bestsellers of the week

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

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)

The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood

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

A Brief History of Seven Killings by…

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