Our latest blog posts
On food and fiction
From an early age, books would whet my appetite. I would read glorious descriptions of food and immediately start dreaming of it.
I imagined myself high on a cliff above the seas with the sky a glorious blue and a Famous Five-inspired feast before me: hard boiled eggs, pickled ham sandwiches, slabs of cake, and lashings of ginger beer. I also thought frequently of the food in Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree. The characters who populated that…
Books that made us cry in 2015
Our staff share the books that made them cry this year.
I read the illustrated edition of Charlotte’s Web to my six-year-old daughter this year. Even though I’d read it before and I knew exactly what was going to happen, I still felt very emotional as we neared the end and shed a few tears when Charlotte died. My daughter was far more stoic. She comforted me with a cuddle and then reminded me that Charlotte would live on through…
The best book covers from 2015
Staff share their favourite book covers of the past year.
Nina Kenwood fell in love with a lot of pink covers this year
When looking at the covers that stood out to me this year, the colour pink was a recurring theme. I adore the bright, striking design on Fates and Furies – this is the kind of cover I can’t resist when I see it on the shelf. I have to pick it up. (And, I will add, it’s…
Five books that will get reluctant readers reading
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
Whenever I’m asked to find a book for somebody 12+ who hates reading, Skulduggery Pleasant is my first port of call. This series really has it all: a skeleton detective and his magical protégée who track down criminals intent on destroying the world. It’s fast-paced and action-packed, the characters are so vivid you’ll wish you could meet them in real life, and best of all, it’s funny. I can’t tell you the amount of times…
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
Adam Spencer’s Enormous Book of Numbers by Adam Spencer
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book 10: Old School by Jeff Kinney
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek and Christine Roussey
Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories by R.J. Palacio
Laugh Your Head Off: Funny Stories for All Kinds of Kids by various authors
The Singing Bones: Inspired by Grimms’ Fairy Tales by Shaun Tan
My Dog Bigsy by Alison Lester
Grandpa’s Great Escape by David Walliams
…
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
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
Keating by Kerry O'Brien
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
Reckoning: A Memoir by Magda Szubanski
The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Shortlist 2016
The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards shortlist for 2016 has just been announced.
The winners of the five award categories – fiction, non-fiction, drama, poetry and writing for young adults – each receive a prize of $25,000, and go on to contest the Victorian Prize for Literature.
PRIZE FOR FICTION
Fever of Animals by Miles Allinson
The Other Side of the World by Stephanie Bishop
Clade by James Bradley
Forever Young by Steven Carroll
The World Without Us by Mireille Juchau
…
Which literary prize winner should I read over the holidays?
Winner of the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction 2015
The Other Side of the World by Stephanie Bishop
No 2015 prize list would be complete without mentioning the amazing winner of our own Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction. Stephanie Bishop’s exquisite second novel blew our judges away this year. Chair of judges Elke Power described The Other Side of the World as unforgettable, while our reviewer said the writing had, ‘haunting beauty reminiscent of the writings of Emily…
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…