Our latest blog posts
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 10: Old School by Jeff Kinney
The Singing Bones by Shaun Tan
The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers
Grandpa’s Great Escape by David Walliams
The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt (translated by Laura Watkinson)
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek and Christine Roussey
My Dog Bigsy by Alison Lester
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Illustrated edition) by J.K. Rowling and Jim…
How to dip your toes into blak writing these holidays
Blak & Bright (the first ever Victorian Indigenous Literary Festival!) will take place over three days in Melbourne, and feature more than 60 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander novelists, storytellers, poets, songwriters, playwrights, academics, comedians, raconteurs and rabble-rousers. The festival organisers are currently looking to hear your personal reflections on Indigenous writing. They want to know why you read blak, or why you write blak. Find out more here.
If you haven’t read many books by Indigenous authors up…
What we're reading: Marlee Jane Ward, Peggy Frew & Emma Donoghue
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 Room by Emma Donoghue
Emma Donoghue’s novel comes with a stack of endorsements. A beloved literary bestseller, shortlisted for both the Man Booker and Orange prize, this summer also sees the release of a critically acclaimed feature film adaption, with a screenplay by Donoghue. Motivated to read the book…
Best literary pets (that we'd secretly like to own ourselves)
Our staff share their favourite pets from fiction – that they wish they could’ve owned themselves!
Lian Hingee especially loves imaginary animals
I read Phoebe and Her Unicorn this year and I’m totally with Phoebe here, if I rescued a unicorn and was granted a wish I would definitely also wish for the unicorn – one Marigold Heavenly Nostrils – to be my best friend/pet. Marigold isn’t just a talking magic unicorn, she’s a talking magic Unicorn with attitude and…
What I loved: The Mouse and his Child by Russell Hoban
The Mouse and his Child is a perfect book for the word-dreaming child. The tale of two tin wind-up mice in search of their own territory sings with incident, humour and emotion. At its heart is a story of family bonds that cannot be broken. And in Manny Rat the novel also has one of the most villainous figures in children’s fiction.
The Mouse and his Child is undergoing a revival – the Royal Shakespeare Company (who also created the…
Our 30 essential picture books
Our collection of favourite Australian and international stories to read with every child.
Who Sank the Boat by Pamela Allen
Beside the sea, there once lived a cow, a donkey, a sheep, a pig, and a tiny little mouse. One warm, sunny morning – for no particular reason – they decided to go for a row in the bay. Do you know who sank the boat? This funny tale will have everybody guessing.
Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy by Lynley…
Books to inspire your teenager
I think we’re all prone to forgetting how hard being a teenager can be. Social pressures, gender expectations, school grades, and everything thoroughly marinated in a cocktail of hormones. It’s no wonder that teenagers sometimes get a bit grumpy – I wouldn’t go back there for the world. Despite all this I think everybody can agree that we still want them to grow up into happy, caring members of society… So here are five books to set them on that…
Books we didn't finish in 2015 (but you might)
Our staff share the books they didn’t finish in 2015 – but that you might want to…
I wanted to love As You Wish, Cary Elwes’ account of the making of The Princess Bride. I’m not a massive fan, but I did really enjoy the film, and the book it’s based on even more. However, I found this memoir a little too sentimental, and slow-moving for my liking. This said, I’ve certainly heard other people rave about As…
My favourite page-turners of 2015
The Every series by Ellie Marney
I tore through Ellie Marney’s Sherlock Holmes-inspired YA detective trilogy in a single weekend. Smart, sexy, and suspenseful, these novels were dangerously readable and had me staying up late into the night. I loved spending time with Watts as she navigated being a teenager and intrepid investigator (the latter sometimes unwillingly). She goes through a scary ordeal in the second book (I was very upset), and I was impressed with how Marney didn’t just…
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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