Our latest blog posts

What we're reading: Richard Price, Benjamin Law and Tove Jansson

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.

Stella Charls is reading The Summer Book by Tove Jansson

I started 2016 reading Tove Jansson’s aptly named The Summer Book. I’d finished 2015 with a handful of thrilling page-turners, which I’d enjoyed and read in a breathless, adrenaline-fuelled state, but The Summer Book offers a completely different reading experience. It’s gentle…

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Books to inspire young writers

by Holly Harper

Kids are natural storytellers – they’re endless wellsprings of exciting ideas and fanciful tales. If you can guide them in creating their own pieces of writing from an early age, you’ll be shaping the next generation of bestselling authors. And because we at Readings have a vested interest in finding new storytellers, here are our favourite books for encouraging the young writer in your life.

642 Things to Write About: Young Writer’s Edition by 826 Valencia

In 2002, author Dave…

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The 100 bestselling books at Readings in 2015

Here are our 100 bestselling books from the past year!

We’ve crunched the numbers and tallied the scores and in amongst the colouring books and Ferrantes there’s a few surprises in our top 100 bestselling books from 2015.

51 of to the top 100 books of the year are from Australia, and of all the authors (as well as illustrators, translators, and food photographers) listed here, 51% are female and 48% are Australian. Every book in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet…

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The 25 bestselling CDs at Readings in 2015

Here are our 25 bestselling albums from the past year.

Our top 25 albums of 2015 include some terrific Australian releases, from established favourites such as The Waifs and Paul Kelly, to beguiling new voices such as Indie rocker Courtney Barnett. The 25th anniversary edition of Archie Roach’s 1990 album Charcoal Lane (featuring previously unreleased recordings and new interpretations of the original material) was another popular local release, as was Gurrumul’s The Gospel Album, which our reviewer described as…

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The 25 bestselling DVDs at Readings in 2015

Here are our 25 bestselling DVDs from the past year.

Televised dramas led the way in DVD sales last year with multiple seasons of Un Village Francais, The Fall, and The Legacy all appearing in our top 25. The list also includes some great documentaries, such as Asif Kapadia’s harrowing biopic of powerhouse singer Amy Winehouse. We’re also pleased to note that three of our bestselling DVDs are drawn from literature. Far From The Madding Crowd is based…

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Our literary resolutions for the new year

Our staff share their literary resolutions for the new year.

Last year I resolved to finish every book that I started, but I didn’t do such a great job with that. So I’m going to have to recycle that resolution! An extension of this would be to finish everything in my pile of books that have been lent to me. There are some gems in that pile, beloved by their respective owners, and I’ve held onto them for far too…

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Holiday boredom busters

by Holly Harper

Christmas is over for another year, and even though the holidays have only just begun, a few of you might have already started to hear the all-too-familiar cries of, ‘I’m boooooored.’ If you’ve got some kids at home who don’t quite know what to do with themselves, keep them entertained with these holiday boredom busters.

Amazing Mazes

For kids who can’t quite seem to navigate their way out of boredom, perhaps a maze book will keep them entertained. Pierre the

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Chilling reads to help you stay cool this summer

Avoid the heat this summer with one of these chilling reads – everything from true crime, to arctic adventure, to classic Japanese literature.

Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekbäck

Swedish Lapland, 1717: Maj, her husband Jan-Erik and her daughters Frederika and Marit arrive from their native Finland, hoping to forget the traumas of their past and put down new roots in this harsh but beautiful land. Above them looms Blackåsen, a mountain whose foreboding presence looms over the valley and whose…

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