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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…
The most interesting young women I met this year (in books)
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…
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
This Annoying Life: A Mindless Colouring Book for the Highly Stressed by Oslo Davis
The Moroccan Soup Bar: Recipes of a Spoken Menu and a Little Bit of Spice by Hana Assafiri
Reckoning: A Memoir by Magda Szubanski
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks
The Other Side of the World by Stephanie Bishop
Keating by Kerry O'Brien
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
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
Adam Spencer’s Enormous Book of Numbers by Adam Spencer
Laugh Your Head Off: Funny Stories for All Kinds of Kids by various authors
Grandpa’s Great Escape by David Walliams
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 10: Old School by Jeff Kinney
My Dog Bigsy by Alison Lester
The Bolds by Julian Clary
The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek and Christine Roussey
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
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…
Our favourite children's and YA prize winners this year
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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