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Mark's Say, May 2015
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…
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
The Strays by Emily Bitto
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
The Mindfulness Colouring Book: Anti-Stress Art Therapy for Busy People by Emma Farrarons
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George (translated by Simon Pare)
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
The Lady from Zagreb by Philip Kerr
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…
This month's most exciting new releases
Well what a frenetic time it’s been in the book world in recent weeks! We’ve had the announcement of the Stella Prize to our near Carlton neighbour Emily Bitto for her debut novel The Strays; the award of the Australian/Vogel’s Prize for an unpublished writer under 35 to Melbourne author Murray Middleton for When There’s Nowhere Else to Run; and the major US fiction awards: the Pulitzer to Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See, and…
The books we're giving this Mother's Day
Emily Gale, Online Children’s Specialist:
For generations my family ran an art gallery in London – my late grandfather being the last in the line to do so – and their main associates were painters, sculptors and writers. The heyday of the gallery was the 1920s and 1930s when they exhibited Matisse, Pissarro, Picasso and Chagall, among others. My mum, born after this period in the late 1940s, would have been the only child at many arty gatherings; her needs…
Come visit us at Clunes Booktown Festival
Bookseller Angela Crocombe sets the scene for the Clunes Booktown Festival which is happening this coming weekend (1 May - 2 May). We’re excited to have a Readings stall there for the very first time!
I know Clunes fairly well. This small town has an active local community and everyone is very friendly. There is an abundance of bookshops (five at my last count), one pub and no fast food joints. The streets are gloriously wide, many old buildings date…
Books for Mother’s Day (that aren’t pink)
Mother’s Day is a time when the colour pink blankets the world, women’s interests are reduced to cooking, gardening and homewares, and the word ‘Mum’ is thrown around in annoying ways (‘Spoil Mum!’, ‘Give Mum a break this Mother’s Day!’, ‘It’s Mum’s special day!’, ‘Show Mum how much you care!’). I work in marketing, I quite like the colour pink, and my job is to sell you stuff, so I realise the irony, but in the spirit of avoiding stereotypes…
Is The Life of Houses by Lisa Gorton a good pick for book clubs?
Each month we choose a newly released book that we feel is perfect for a book club. Then we roadtest it.
Here are our thoughts on whether Lisa Gorton’s The Life of Houses is a good pick for for book clubs.
Does the book make for good conversation?
As well as the mother-daughter parallels and contrasts, I think there’s a definite conversation to be had about the sense of place in the novel, specifically houses and the way the places…
Rebecca Starford on writing Bad Behaviour
by Rebecca StarfordI studied creative writing at university. I loved almost everything about the course: the teachers were inspiring, the readings insightful and provocative, and the workshops were a safe and temperate space.
But the exercises I hated the most – which left me sitting under the fluorescent lights, mouth agape, my mind utterly blank – were on memoir.
‘Write about your childhood,’ our tutor instructed. ‘Write about your first memory. Your worst memory. Your best memory.’
As I sat there, glumly…
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
The Strays by Emily Bitto
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
River Cottage Australia by Paul West
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George (translated by Simon Pare)
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
One Life: My Mother’s Story by Kate Grenville
When There’s Nowhere Else to Run by Murray Middleton
Bloodhound: Searching for My Father by Ramona Koval
Craft for the Soul: How to Get the Most Out of Your Creative Life by Pip…
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