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The last five books I've read
by Charlotte WoodCharlotte Wood is the author of The Natural Way of Things. Here she tells us the last five books she read.
The Illuminations by Andrew O’Hagan
I was keen to see how O’Hagan would bring together the story of a disillusioned British soldier returning to Scotland after a deadly, messed-up mission in Afghanistan, and his elderly artist grandmother, Anne Quirk, as she slips in and out of dementia. I’m interested in ageing as a subject for fiction, and whether…
Our featured writer for October: Charlotte Wood
Every month, we do a spotlight feature on an Australian author and Charlotte Wood is our chosen author for October.
Wood’s new novel, The Natural Way of Things, is a gripping, starkly imaginative exploration of contemporary misogyny and corporate control, and of what it means to hunt and be hunted.
What’s the book about?
Two women awaken from a drugged sleep to find themselves imprisoned in a broken-down property in the middle of a desert. Strangers to each other…
A recipe from Cornersmith - Pickled Fennel with Chilli
by Alex Elliott-Howery and James GrantCornersmith’s all-time favourite winter pickle! We use this on sandwiches with salami, chilli and ricotta, tossed through salads or with barbecued fish. Once you’ve finished eating the pickles, keep the jar of brine in the fridge. Whisked with some extra virgin olive oil, it makes a great salad dressing.
PREPARATION TIME
45 minutes
COOKING TIME
10 minutes, plus 15 minutes heat-processing
STORAGE
up to 12 months
MAKES
2 x 500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cup) jars
INGREDIENTS
2 large fennel…
St Kilda booksellers share their favourite banned books
In celebration of Banned Books Week, our St Kilda booksellers have shared some of their own favourite banned or challenged books.
Amy Vuleta on Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence:
My mother tells a story about my grandparents and their friends passing a contraband copy of D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover, smuggled in from Europe, around their social group in country Queensland in the early 1960s. I was quite scandalised by this fact when I read the novel…
Our children's and YA top ten bestsellers of the week
The 65-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
The Singing Bones by Shaun Tan
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
Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories by R.J. Palacio
The 13-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
How to Fight a Dragon’s Fury by Cressida Cowell (How to Train Your Dragon Book 12)
Cloudwish by Fiona Wood
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
Faction Man: Bill Shorten’s Path to Power (Quarterly Essay 59) by David Marr
Island Home: A Landscape Memoir by Tim Winton
The Age Good Food Guide 2016 edited by Roslyn Grundy
Reckoning: A Memoir by Magda Szubanski
Make Me by Lee Child
Nopi: The Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ramael Scully
A Mother’s Story by Rosie Batty with Bryce Corbett
ST Gill & His Audiences by Sasha Grishin
Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Colouring Book by Johanna Basford
…
What we're reading: Hanya Yanagihara, Clare Wright and Megan Abbott
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.
Holly Harper is reading We are the Rebels: The Women and Men Who Made Eureka by Clare Wright
One of the first things I did when I was a brand new resident of Victoria was visit Sovereign Hill in Ballarat. I loved it: the old-fashioned lolly shop, the candle-making, the panning for gold…
Is Nopi home cook friendly?
We’ve had some questions from customers about the new cookbook from Ottolenghi, all of which boil down to just one main concern: Is Nopi home cook friendly? Our resident foodie Chris Gordon investigates.
If you are considering purchasing Nopi, the lush new cookbook from Yotam Ottlenghi and Ramael Scully, I already know you are one of two types of people.
Either: 1. You are a qualified chef, or 2. You are, like me, an armchair traveller cook. If you’re…
A short recap of our #FerranteFever event
Last week we gathered together a panel of booksellers to discuss the books of Elena Ferrante, a certifiable literary sensation who’s been heralded as the most important Italian novelist of her generation and earned herself a massive following. Since the Australian release of My Brilliant Friend (the first of her Neapolitan Novels) by Text Publishing, Readings have sold thousands of copies of this exceptional novel.
If you’re new to Ferrante, here’s a collection of staff testimonials about her work that…
Fiona Hardy interviews Alecia Simmonds
Our crime fiction specialist, Fiona Hardy, chats to author Alecia Simmonds about Wild Man.
On a strange dark night in April 2012, a peaceful gathering at a remote property in New South Wales was marked by violence when Evan Johnson threatened people with a crossbow and was shot by police. These are the bare bones of Johnson’s story; in Wild Man, Alecia Simmonds does some digging. We follow Simmonds as she heads deep into the heart of this…
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