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Books to inspire young writers
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…
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…
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…
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…
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey (including the film tie-in edition)
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek and Christine Roussey
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 10: Old School by Jeff Kinney
Laugh Your Head Off: Funny Stories for All Kinds of Kids by various authors
Adam Spencer’s Enormous Book of Numbers by Adam Spencer
The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
The Other Side of the World by Stephanie Bishop
The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Gut: the Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Under-Rated Organ by…
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…
Holiday boredom busters
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…
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…
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 10: Old School by Jeff Kinney
Laugh Your Head Off: Funny Stories for All Kinds of Kids by various authors
The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers
The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt (translated by Laura Watkinson)
My Dog Bigsy by Alison Lester
Grandpa’s Great Escape by David Walliams
The Singing Bones by Shaun Tan
The Bad Guys: Episode 1 by Aaron Blabey