Last year saw us announce two new literary prizes that support new Australian authors – one for children’s books (which has already been awarded this year to the talented Trace Balla, author and illustrator of Rivertime) and one for adult fiction books.

This year, we’ve changed the name of the adult fiction prize to The Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction (it was previously known as The Readings New Australian Writing Award).

Our inaugural winner for the adult…

Read more ›

This month is a treasure trove for all ages.

You’ve probably heard about the new Dr Seuss book, What Pet Should I Get?, which Children’s Book Buyer Angela Crocombe wrote about in this blog post. The publisher’s notes at the back of the story are a very worthwhile addition as they cover the author’s life as well as the process of creating this book posthumously. Do I think it’s up there with The Cat In The Hat…

Read more ›

Our events manager Chris Gordon chats with Patrick Ness about his highly anticipated new YA novel, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, which will be released next Thursday 27 August.

Special note: Five lucky people who pre-order The Rest of Us Just Live Here limited edition will also receive a copy of More Than This signed by Patrick Ness. Pre-order online by Tuesday 25 August to automatically go into the draw. Only the five winners will be notified.

…

Read more ›

Matteo Bruno is the owner of the very popular The Meatball & Wine Bar restaurants in Melbourne, and his new book Meatballs: The Ultimate Guide contains 60 fabulous recipes for meatballs, plus recipes a further 60 recipes for sides, sauces and garnishes.

To celebrate book’s release, everyone who buys a copy of Meatballs: The Ultimate Guide from Readings before 31 August will go in the draw to win a lavish dinner for four at any of The Meatball & Wine…

Read more ›

Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee

A Guide to Berlin by Gail Jones

The Mindfulness Colouring Book: Anti-Stress Art Therapy for Busy People by Emma Farrarons

The Girl With the Dogs by Anna Funder

St Gill & His Audiences by Sasha Grishin

Millie Marotta’s Animal Kingdom by Millie Marotta

Gut: the Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Under-Rated Organ by Giulia Enders

Millie Marotta’s Tropical Wonderland: A Colouring Book Adventure by Millie Marotta

All the Light We Cannot See…

Read more ›

Buy two Routledge classics in August and you’ll receive a third for free!

This is a perfect opportunity to stock up on key titles in cultural theory, philosophy, history, psychology and literary studies. There’s a great range to choose from including Michel Foucault’s Archaeology of Knowledge, bell hooks’s Outlaw Culture, Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble, Jean-Paul Sartre’s What is Literature?, Luce Irigaray’s Je, Tu, Nous: Towards a Culture of Difference, Marshall McLuhan’s Understanding Media – to…

Read more ›

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.

Emily Harms is reading Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

I really do believe that the world would be a better place if everyone read Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me.

Written in the form of a letter to his adolescent son, Coates attempts to answer the big questions…

Read more ›

CRIME BOOK OF THE MONTH:

Kingdom of the Strong by Tony Cavanaugh

Darian Richards is a lost man. A man he has hunted for years has vanished again, presumably overseas. His lover is gone. The Noosa River, the one bank of water that affords him peace, is not doing its job. Early retirement is looking like it is not for him. But then: a visitor to the cabin he has retreated to. Victorian Police Commissioner Copeland Walsh – nicknamed Copland…

Read more ›

What it is about maps in children’s books that we love so much?

For me it’s the very immediate suggestion that this author has created an entire, detailed world for the reader. They’ve thought of everything, from the twists and turns of a river, to the shape of mountains. How far we are from seas or rival lands, how we might get to Rabbit’s house, or the way to walk from the nice white cottage with the thatched roof to…

Read more ›

ST Gill & His Audiences is the first major comprehensive book to be devoted to this major Australian artist. Author Sasha Grishin tells us of his own experiences with Gill’s works and life, and why he was inspired to write this book.

The book is published to coincide with an exhibition currently on at State Library Victoria: Australian sketchbook: Colonial life and the art of ST Gill. Once Australia’s most popular artist and now a forgotten name, this first-ever…

Read more ›