Our latest blog posts

Our staff share their dream destinations

This month, we’re offering 25% of all Lonely Planet titles in all of our shops and online. If you’re looking for inspiration on where to travel next, our staff share their dream destinations – and why.

Nina Kenwood hasn’t seen enough of New Zealand yet

There are so many places I’d like to visit this year. My best friend currently lives in Berlin and I’d love to visit her – both to see her and also to experience Germany, a…

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Snapshots from the Clunes Booktown Festival

We had a wonderful time at the Clunes Booktown Festival last weekend (Mark even took some time out to plant some trees). Our top five selling books of the festival were:

In the Company of Cowards: Bush, Howard and Injustice at Guantanamo by Michael Mori

The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang

Hello, Beautiful!: Scenes from a Life by Hannie Rayson

The Strays by Emily Bitto

Here Come the Dogs by Omar Musa

Below are some snapshots…

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Our featured writer for May: Krissy Kneen

Every month, we do a spotlight feature on one Australian author on our blog and Krissy Kneen is our chosen author for May. Her new novel, The Adventures of Holly White and the Incredible Sex Machine, is a literary sci-fi superhero sex romp.

What’s the book about?

Holly wears a ring that says True Love Waits and worries because her boyfriend isn’t trying to persuade her otherwise. Then a boy in her English tute invites her to join his…

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The last five books I've read

by Krissy Kneen

Krissy Kneen is the author of The Adventures of Holly White and the Incredible Sex Machine. Here she tells us the last five books she’s read, and why.

Aquarium by David Vann

I am a massive fan of the Vann. Since I discovered his wonderful dark, precise prose in his novella Legend of a Suicide (arguably his best piece of writing), I have been avidly consuming his work as soon as it hits the shelves. Aquarium is perhaps the…

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The story behind my book

by Krissy Kneen

Krissy Kneen is the author of The Adventures of Holly White and the Incredible Sex Machine. Here she tells us about writing a novel that references a lot of other books.

Originally my publisher pitched the idea to me. He thought I should write an erotic fiction book referencing the classic erotic texts. The idea excited me as soon as I heard it. I had been dabbling reading the classics of erotica but this gave me an excuse to…

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How to craft an ideal bookshelf

by Bronte Coates

Look everyone, I totally get the allure of a bookshelf that looks like it’s come straight out of a film set – probably the kind of film that stars a wealthy, attractive architect in New York. I too long for the day I have one of those bookshelves that fill an entire wall, complete with a wooden ladder to slide along the railings on. But… sadly, today is not that day.

So, in the interim, here are my three tips…

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Introducing our event program for May

by Stella Charls

We have a very special event planned for this month. On Monday 11 May we’re delighted to have Readings’ managing director Mark Rubbo in conversation with author Helen Garner at the Church of all Nations. These two people have changed the way Australians appreciate writers and writing, and it’s sure to be a fascinating conversation. Plus, all proceeds from this event will be donated to the Readings Foundation.

Kids will be keen to join beloved children’s author Sally Rippin

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Mark's Say, May 2015

by Mark Rubbo

Last month the Harper Competition Policy Review delivered its final report. Set up by the Abbott Government in late 2013, the report runs to 500 odd pages. As you might expect, the Review does not favour regulations and makes a number of recommendations to the government. Recommendation 13 in particular refers to the book industry, as well as the film industry, recommending that restrictions on parallel imports should be removed unless it can be shown that the benefits of the…

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What we're reading: Francesca Lia Block, Elizabeth Strout and Katherine Heiny

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.

Nina Kenwood is reading Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block

I’d heard Weetzie Bat referred to as a cult classic YA book for years, and always thought ‘I should read that’ but never quite got around to it. The recent news that Weetzie Bat is being made into a film, 25 years after…

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