Our latest blog posts

Books we wouldn't have read in 2015 without a recommendation

Our staff share the books they loved in 2015, but wouldn’t have read without a recommendation.

Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts! I can’t remember who first recommended this to me but I glad I got round to seeking it out. I loved the speed of Nelson’s thoughts and her writing on queer culture, gender fluidity and family. Groundbreaking stuff. – Jess Au, bookseller at St Kilda

I just finished reading the wonderful short novel The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty by…

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The most interesting young women I met this year (in books)

by Stella Charls

This year, for the first time, I kept a record of everything I read. This was largely due to a persuasive argument made by my colleague Nina earlier this year. Looking back, my list isn’t as long as I would’ve liked but when it comes to the books I loved best this year, I’ve noticed a striking theme. Nearly all of them feature women in their teens or twenties that work to challenge the notion of ‘likeability’ – a notion…

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Prime Minister's Literary Awards winners 2015

The 2015 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards have been announced with two categories naming joint winners.

The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards recognise and reward excellence in Australian literature and history. Award Categories are fiction, poetry, non-fiction, Australian history, young adult fiction and children’s fiction.

Congratulations to the winners in each category.

Fiction

The Golden Age by Joan London

Non-fiction

Joint winners:

Wild Bleak Bohemia: Marcus Clarke, Adam Lindsay Gordon and Henry Kendall by Michael Wilding

John Olsen: An Artist’s Life by…

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Longlist for the Indie Book Awards 2016

Congratulations to all the authors longlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2016.

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 longlistees for each category.

Fiction

A Guide to Berlin by Gail Jones

Close Your Eyes by Michael Robotham

Hope Farm by Peggy Frew

Quicksand by Steve Toltz

The Lake House by Kate Morton

The Natural Way of Things

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What we're reading: Patricia Highsmith, Lindsay Hunter and Lauren Groff

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.

Nina Kenwood is reading Vendela Vida and Lauren Groff.

President Obama has just revealed his favourite book of the year to be Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies (which is also one of our top ten fiction books of the year), so it seems a relevant time for me to mention I…

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Our favourite children's and YA prize winners this year

by Holly Harper

Holly Harper rounds up our top picks for prize-winning children’s and YA books in 2015.

Winner of the Readings Children Book Prize 2015

Rivertime by Trace Balla

Rivertime was the magnificent winner of our very own Readings Children’s Book Prize this year. It was an incredibly strong shortlist, but Trace Balla’s graphic novel-style tale of a boy and his uncle’s journey up the Glenelg River blew our judges away. They said, ‘It is unique, we love its artistry and it…

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A soundtrack to this year's best fiction

by Bronte Coates

Pair…

Preparation for the Next Life

by Atticus Lish

With… Carrie and Lowell by Sufjan Stevens

Because… With its exquisitely crafted, stripped-back prose that leaves utter devastation in its wake, Atticus Lish’s story about the relationship between Zou Lei, an illegal Chinese immigrant and Brad Skinner, an Iraq War veteran, is a stunning debut. The book goes perfectly with Sufjan Stevens’ latest album, which is sparsely instrumental and equally heartbreaking; its songs were inspired by the death of Stevens’ mother…

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Road-testing our best cookbooks of the year

We invited our staff to test out recipes from our top ten cookbooks of the year for an office Christmas lunch. Here are the results…

Lian Hingee made ‘Best-Ever Cheesecake’ from David Herbert’s Best Home Cooking

I’m a big fan of David Herbert. I give his Complete Perfect Recipes to every teenager I know who’s moving out of home because the recipes are straightforward, familiar, and foolproof. His recipe for ‘best-ever’ cheesecake certainly lived up to its name – it…

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