Our latest blog posts
Books we're excited to share with our children
Staff share the books they’re excited to share with their children in the future (real, or imagined).
Chris Gordon, Events Manager:
When we hosted an event with Germaine Greer I was starstruck, but I did manage to make the author laugh a little with my stories of being a mother to a whirlwind of a daughter. Later, as Greer was signing a copy of The Female Eunuch for said daughter, I asked when I should give it to her. Greer…
Meet our new Grants Officer for the Readings Foundation
We’ve just appointed a new Grants Officer for The Readings Foundation, and we’re pleased to report that she is a delight. Meet Leanne Hall…
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m an author/bookseller, and now also The Readings Foundation Grants Officer. That’s a three-part slashie! I worked for many years as a Children’s and YA specialist at Readings Carlton (hello to all the kids I recommended books to – you’re probably all grown up and driving cars now)…
Which book should win this year's Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction?
Last month, we hosted a Shortlist Showdown with Kill Your Darlings in which six readers and writers made a case for their favourite book from the shortlist to win this year’s Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction.
In anticipation of our announcement of the winner next week, here’s a recap of their arguments which have all been published in full on the Kill Your Darlings website.
Elizabeth Flux makes a case for In The Quiet by Eliza Henry-Jones
“If…
A window display of Shaun Tan's sculptures
Shaun Tan’s new book The Singing Bones features photographic images of a range of extraordinary clay sculptures created by Tan, each one capturing the essence of a Brothers Grimm fairy tale.
We’re delighted to announce, for one week only, we have a selection of the sculptures on display in our Carlton shop window!
We’ll be returning them to Tan on Monday 26 October, so make some time over the next week to take a look.
Our Carlton shop is located…
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
Atmospheric: The Burning Story of Climate Change by Carole Wilkinson
The Singing Bones by Shaun Tan
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Illustrated edition) by J.K. Rowling and Jim Kay
Grandpa’s Great Escape by David Walliams
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek and Christine Roussey
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers
What Do You Wish for? by Jane Godwin and Anna Walker
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
Island Home: A Landscape Memoir by Tim Winton
Inside: The Autobiography by Chris Judd
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks
M Train by Patti Smith
Big Blue Sky: A Memoir by Peter Garrett
ST Gill & His Audiences by Sasha Grishin
The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson
The Mountain Shadow by Gregory David Roberts
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann…
What we're reading: Lauren Groff, Debra Adelaide and Colin Barrett
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.
Ann Le Lievre is reading Ted Hughes: The Unauthorised Life by Jonathan Bate
This is an insightful, engaging book. It was happily residing in the middle of a pile of fabulous new October releases, but when I saw it had been shortlisted for the 2015 Samuel Johnson Prize, it made a sudden…
Nominees for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2016
The nominees for the 2016 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award have been announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Over two hundred authors, illustrators and storytellers from fifty nine countries are in the running to win the world’s largest children’s literature prize.
Candidates from Australia and New Zealand are:
Click here for a full list of nominees.
Australian authors Sonya Hartnett and Shaun Tan took home…
National Book Award Finalists 2015
The finalist for this year’s National Book Awards have been announced. Here they are in full.
Fiction
Refund by Karen E. Bender
The Turner House by Angela Flournoy
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Nonfiction
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Hold Still by Sally Mann
The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery
If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the…
Best new cookbooks in October
The Moroccan Soup Bar by Hana Assafiri (available 26 October)
Over the last 17 years the Moroccan Soup Bar has become a much-loved Melbourne institution. It’s a unique dining experience with Hana, head chef and owner, telling you what’s what on the menu. She says: ‘At the Moroccan Soup Bar we strive to rectify the imbalance where women in all societies and religions are among the most vulnerable and marginalised. Modern cooking is underpinned by the innovation and creativity of…
Browse our blog by category
