Our latest blog posts
A defence of the classics
Some of our staff recently shared the classic novels and authors they believed were overrated (you can find their thoughts here). This week, some of our other staff defend these same classic novels and authors…
In defence of Shakespeare…
‘I can see he’s not in your good books,’ says I.
‘No, and if he were I would burn my library,’ says Bronte.
Keep at it Bronte and give the dude another go. He’s a true master of pop culture…
Introducing our event program for April
In the lead up to Mother’s Day in early May, we’re getting together to talk about all things motherhood and celebrate two new anthologies featuring women writing about their experiences of being – and not being – a mother. Mothers and Others will be launched at our Carlton shop on Monday 13 April and Mothermorphosis at our Hawthorn shop on Sunday 19 April.
If you’re more interested in politics, economics or Australian studies come along to see Father Bob launch…
Vale Betty Churcher
Betty Churcher has died aged 84.
During her career as an arts administrator, Churcher made history as the first woman to be appointed director of the National Gallery of Australia. After she retired from this position, Churcher continued to advocate passionately for the arts as the host of television programs, Take Five and Hidden Treasures, and through the publication of her notebooks of her drawings and recollections about her favourite paintings.
She will be sadly missed by many at…
The Miles Franklin Longlist 2015
The 2015 Miles Franklin longlist has been announced!
The ten longlisted books are:
In Certain Circles by Elizabeth Harrower – Read our review
Golden Boys by Sonya Hartnett – Read our review
The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna – Read our review
The Golden Age by Joan London – Read our review
The Lost Child by Suzanne McCourt – Read our review
Here Come the Dogs by Omar Musa – Read our review
Photos from our tour of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
In 2015, The Readings Foundation is sponsoring the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC).
We recently went for a tour of the Centre and reflecting on the space, our managing director Mark Rubbo wrote that: ‘Our little group was immediately impressed by how comfortable it felt – one of us even commented, “Everyone’s so nice!”.’
You can read more about the tour (as well as some of the other projects The Readings Foundation is involved with this year) here. And…
How to donate to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
In 2015, The Readings Foundation is sponsoring the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC). Here, we share some information about how their donations work.
More than half of the clients using services provided by ASRC have no income at all, and nearly 90% live below the poverty line. The centre’s Food and Aid Network responds to this destitution through the in-house provision of essential items. Asylum seeker members can also visit the Foodbank which operates on a ‘supermarket model’ and allows…
Mark's Say, April 2015
One of the things we’ve been doing recently is visiting some of the organisations that The Readings Foundation has supported. Since 2012 the Foundation has sponsored the Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellowships. Writers are given a desk at the Wheeler Centre and a small stipend; it’s a great initiative from this exciting cultural organisation. We met up with some of last year’s alumni and heard about their projects. Kyoko’s House by Yukio Mishima had never been translated into English and…
Our top ten bestsellers of the week
Mannix by Brenda Niall
Dear Life - On Caring for the Elderly (Quarterly Essay 57) by Karen Hitchcock
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein)
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro
One Life: My Mother’s Story by Kate Grenville
We are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
Bad Behaviour: A Memoir of Bullying and Boarding School by Rebecca Starford
Is Hot Little Hands by Abigail Ulman 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 Abigail Ulman’s Hot Little Hands is a good pick for for book clubs.
Does the book make for good conversation?
Yes. I really enjoyed it but I can guarantee you that at least one person in your book club probably won’t – it’s that sort of a book. Provocative and interesting, with stories…
What we're reading: Ben Lerner, Becky Albertalli and Erik Larson
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.
Mark Rubbo is reading Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
I’m reading the latest book by popular historian Erik Larson. His previous book, In the Garden of Beasts, was about Roosevelt’s Ambassador to Hitler’s Germany, William Dodd – a fascinating story; a fascinating, horrible time. His new…
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