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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
…
Readings Foundation Grant Recipients for 2016
The Readings Foundation has announced $93,000 worth of grants to support a range of projects and organisations within Victoria in 2016.
The Readings Foundation grant funding in 2016 will focus strongly on organisations that provide targeted grassroots assistance with literacy and education to the most disadvantaged Victorian communities. The Foundation will also support two projects working with Indigenous communities in Victoria.
The Readings Foundation received 63 applications this year, and is proud to award grants to the following seven organisations:
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What we're reading: Nelika McDonald, Stan Lee and Hanya Yanagihara
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.
Fiona Hardy is reading Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir by Stan Lee, Peter David and Colleen Doran
I’m a huge fan of graphic novels and superhero movies, but not such a fan of superhero comics - though of course I totally adore Stan Lee, one of the forefathers of Marvel and the…
Can you guess the book title by the emoji?
Every November the word-buffs at Oxford Dictionaries choose one word from their lexicon that has risen in prominence and now best exemplifies the year that has passed.
2013 (selfie) saw the rise and rise of Instagram queen Kim Kardashian and in 2014 (vape) e-cigarettes became mainstream as cities around the world clamped down on smoking in public. This year – to raised eyebrows and scandalised op-ed pieces – Oxford Dictionaries announced that their word of the year was… an emoji…
Australian podcasts I got hooked listening to this year
For delicious nuggets of storytelling: Story Club
I’m super jealous of all the cool stuff that goes on at Sydney’s Giant Dwarf Theatre – luckily, podcasts like Story Club help to ease the pain. Hosts Zoë Norton Lodge (author of Almost Sincerely) and Ben Jenkins present a selection of short, snappy stories recorded at their monthly storytelling nights, featuring emerging writers and comedians alongside names like David Marr and Masha Gessen. At around 15 minutes each, the episodes are…