Our latest blog posts

A passive aggressive gift guide

Christmas might be the season of goodwill, but that doesn’t mean you have to like everybody you’re buying presents for. If you’re finding yourself gritting your teeth at the idea of buying presents for certain people, then our Passive Aggressive Gift Guide is for you!

The misbehaving child

Try… How to Be: Six Simple Rules for Being the Best Kid You Can Be by Munro Leaf

Because… We have it on good authority that Munro Leaf has already helped thousands…

Read more ›

Picture books I just had to own this year

by Angela Crocombe

One of the occupational hazards of working in a bookshop is that you want to buy so many more books than you actually need or have room for. Surrounded by these beautiful objects all day, you can’t help but covet them. I really do try hard to restrain myself, but sometimes I just can’t resist and have to bring a book home where it gains pride of place on the mantelpiece for a while (until the next one arrives). Sometimes…

Read more ›

The books that I keep bringing up at dinner parties

by Chris Gordon

Here are my top five books of this year. They are the ones I come back to, the ones I bring up at dinner parties, the ones I give as presents, and, the ones I keep talking about with my partner, my mum, my kids…

Mietta’s Italian Family Recipes by Mietta O'Donnell

This divine book not only supplies the story of Mietta’s own family and friends, but also wonderful recipes for practical Italian dishes and a creative social history of…

Read more ›

Stocking stuffers for every kind of kid

by Holly Harper

The tree is up, the menu is planned and the playlist of cheesy Christmas carols is set – but are you stocked up on stocking stuffers? Here’s a selection of gifts to hang over the fireplace (or door handle).

If you have a kid with a crafty streak – the kind who’s constantly gluing glitter to everything and colouring in the walls – take a look at The Pointless Book 2, I Scream DIY Nail Art or Dinosaur Origami

Read more ›

Five books that made me happy this year

by Nina Kenwood

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

A Spool of Blue Thread very well might be Anne Tyler’s last book, which made reading it a somewhat bittersweet experience. Tyler’s books are sad, warm, funny and always incredibly insightful about human nature. Slipping into Tyler’s prose is like snuggling under a warm blanket on a rainy night. I know what I’m going to get with an Anne Tyler novel – a character-driven literary story about a complicated family – and…

Read more ›

Readings Foundation Grant Recipients for 2016

by Leanne Hall

The Readings Foundation has announced $93,000 worth of grants to support a range of projects and organisations within Victoria in 2016.

The Readings Foundation grant funding in 2016 will focus strongly on organisations that provide targeted grassroots assistance with literacy and education to the most disadvantaged Victorian communities. The Foundation will also support two projects working with Indigenous communities in Victoria.

The Readings Foundation received 63 applications this year, and is proud to award grants to the following seven organisations:

Read more ›

What we're reading: Nelika McDonald, Stan Lee and Hanya Yanagihara

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 Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir by Stan Lee, Peter David and Colleen Doran

I’m a huge fan of graphic novels and superhero movies, but not such a fan of superhero comics - though of course I totally adore Stan Lee, one of the forefathers of Marvel and the…

Read more ›

Can you guess the book title by the emoji?

by Lian Hingee

Every November the word-buffs at Oxford Dictionaries choose one word from their lexicon that has risen in prominence and now best exemplifies the year that has passed.

2013 (selfie) saw the rise and rise of Instagram queen Kim Kardashian and in 2014 (vape) e-cigarettes became mainstream as cities around the world clamped down on smoking in public. This year – to raised eyebrows and scandalised op-ed pieces – Oxford Dictionaries announced that their word of the year was… an emoji…

Read more ›