Our latest blog posts

Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week

This & That by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek

The Singing Bones by Shaun Tan

Top of the Class (Nearly) by Liz Pichon

My Dog Bigsy by Alison Lester

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

What Do You Wish for? by Jane Godwin and Anna Walker

Good Night, Sleep Tight by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek

The Bad Guys Episode 2:

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Mark's Say, November 2015

by Mark Rubbo

One of the pleasures of my job is meeting authors and hearing about their books – and as most booksellers and authors do enjoy a drink, we often meet in most convivial surroundings. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting Sydney author David Dyer, whose first novel, The Midnight Watch, will be published by Penguin Random House in March next year. It’s an historical story based on the sinking of the Titanic and centres on why…

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What we're reading: Claire Vaye Watkins, Helen Ellis and Jon Morris

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.

Chris Somerville is reading Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins

Now that Claire Vaye Watkins’s second book, Gold Fame Citrus is almost upon us, it’s a great time to revisit her first book, Battleborn, a collection of short stories. Though these stories stand apart, they’re linked by place, in this case Nevada, which…

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Six teen reads that will give you nightmares

by Holly Harper

Do you think you’re brave? Think you don’t scare easily? Do horrifying nightmares sound like your idea of fun? If you answered yes, yes and YES! then we challenge you to read these six spooky young adult reads which are guaranteed to terrify you. From haunted asylums to zombie wastelands, these chilling reads will have you glancing over your shoulder as you turn the page.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

After his grandfather dies, Jacob sets…

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Spooky stories for kids

by Holly Harper

If you’ve got some younger readers looking for spooky books to put them in the Halloween mood, check out our collection of scary (and not-so-scary) Halloween reads for different ages.

FRIGHTENING TALES FOR 5 AND UNDER

For readers under five you might not be looking for something quite as scary as The Exorcist, so these picture books all feature plenty of ghosts and ghouls while promising not to give them nightmares.

In Winnie’s Haunted House, everybody’s favourite scatterbrained witch…

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Dear Reader, November 2015

by Alison Huber

Our book of the month is Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, Carrie Brownstein’s utterly fabulous memoir. A number of us here at Readings have been hanging out for this book to arrive, and like our reviewer, I am completely besotted by it. But I hear your concern, dear reader: you are worried that it’s ‘not for you’ because you’re not keen on music bios, or perhaps you have limited interest in the riot grrrl scene and its radical…

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Why you should celebrate Halloween this year

Every year when Halloween draws closer and the supermarkets start to place their chocolate displays a little nearer to the registers, the same debate seems to make the rounds in Australia: Is Halloween even relevant to our nation? Isn’t it a bit crass to celebrate ‘horror’? It’s all just a commercial gimmick, isn’t it?

Three booksellers tell us why all these doubts are moot, and you should go right ahead and celebrate this spooky, creative, un-American holiday.

Holly Harper says…

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Stephanie Bishop wins The Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction

Stephanie Bishop has been named the winner of The Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction 2015 for her second novel, The Other Side of the World. Bishop will receive $4,000 in prize money.

Chair of judges and the editor of Readings Monthly Elke Power described The Other Side of the World as unforgettable. She says, “Stephanie Bishop’s affinity for landscape is profound; her prose is elegant and viscerally evocative. Bishop has a rare gift for capturing the intangible –…

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Our top ten bestsellers of the week

Keating (special edition) by Kerry O'Brien

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

ST Gill & His Audiences by Sasha Grishin

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

Reckoning: A Memoir by Magda Szubanski

M Train by Patti Smith

Island Home: A Landscape Memoir by Tim Winton

The Crossing by Michael Connelly

The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson

The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks

Our bestseller for last week is Kerry…

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