Our latest blog posts
What we're reading: Alison Goodman, Anne-Marie Slaughter and Christopher Currie
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.
Lian Hingee is reading Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman
I was lucky enough to score an advance reading copy of Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club, which is the first in a new trilogy by Alison Goodman. It’s a fascinating mash-up of two of the most…
Children's classics for Christmas
Classics are classics for a reason – these stories have resonated with their audiences so deeply that they’ve stayed on bookshelves for years, to be read by one generation after the next. If you’re looking for that perfect gift idea, take a look at our list of favourite kids’ classics.
Enid Blyton
No list of classics would be complete without a few suggestions by Enid Blyton. Since she wrote over 700 books in her lifetime, it’s hard to whittle the…
Bookish gift bundles for $50, $75 and $100
If you’re shopping to a specific budget, we’ve come up with some literary gift bundles for literary types – handily sorted by price. (If you’re seeking gift ideas for $20 and under, you can find 20 of our top picks here.)
Gift ideas for $50, and under
This month, you can purchase the first three books of Elena Ferrante’s astonishing Neapolitan Novels for the price of two. That includes My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name…
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…
Picture books I just had to own this year
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…
The books that I keep bringing up at dinner parties
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…
Stocking stuffers for every kind of kid
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…
Five books that made me happy this year
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…
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 10: Old School by Jeff Kinney (both the paperback and hardback editions)
Adam Spencer’s Enormous Book of Numbers by Adam Spencer
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
Laugh Your Head Off: Funny Stories for All Kinds of Kids by various authors
My Dog Bigsy by Alison Lester
This & That by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek
The Adventures of Miss Petitfour by Anne Michaels, Emma Block
The Letter for the King by Tonke…
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
Political Amnesia: How We Forgot How To Govern (Quarterly Essay 60) by Laura Tingle
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
The Other Side of the World by Stephanie Bishop
Keating by Kerry O'Brien
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
…
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