Our latest blog posts

What we're reading: Katharine Norbury, Hannie Rayson and Barbara Trapido

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.

Ann Le Lievre is reading The Fish Ladder: A Journey Upstream by Katharine Norbury

Last year it was Tasmania. I soaked up the writing of Bob Brown, Maggie MacKellar and Favel Parrett. This year I think it will be Wales.

I am loving Katharine Norbury’s The Fish Ladder. The author…

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A conversation about Roxane Gay

Last night, several of our staff members attended a sold-out Wheeler Centre event with author Roxane Gay. They discuss the event, the author and her work below.

Nina: So I’m a big fan of Roxane – I’ve read Bad Feminist, I read her blog and follow her on Twitter, and I own her novel An Untamed State (but I haven’t read it yet). I love her voice, and I wanted to hear it in person. That’s why I…

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Our 46th birthday sale!

It’s our 46th birthday! We’re taking 10% off to celebrate

We’re offering 10% off all books today, online and in our five shops. (Don’t forget, we offer free shipping on all online orders over $19.95 too!) The offer is valid from 9am - midnight, this Thursday 5 March. It only applies to books we currently have in-stock (you can check a book’s stock status on our website), and excludes CDs, DVDs, gift items and stationery, and is not valid with…

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Stories from Sacred Heart Mission's op shops

by Bronte Coates

Sacred Heart Mission has a longstanding partnership with The Readings Foundation.

Last week Bronte Coates visited the Mission in St Kilda and learned about the importance of book donations to their work.

Sacred Heart Mission assists people who are homeless or living in poverty to find shelter, food, care and support. They run a dining hall, a health clinic and a women’s centre, as well as other amazing projects and programs.

Along with fundraisers (including their upcoming annual Light

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Introducing our event program for March

Kick off your month with a bit of political controversy. Mark Latham will be at our Hawthorn shop on Thursday 12 March to talk about his new collection of essays, Latham at Large. He’s a man who’s never lost for words, so it’s sure to be an entertaining night.

If politics isn’t your thing, there are three book launches to choose from on that same evening: Ilka Tampke will launch her debut historical fiction, Skin, at our Carlton…

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Mark's Say, March 2015

by Mark Rubbo

I’ve just attended American Booksellers Association’s Winter Institute. For four days, independent booksellers and authors gather together to discuss books and the state of the industry. Now in its tenth year, the Institute was held in the small, pretty city of Asheville, North Carolina. Surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville was a very considered choice by the ABA; in the mid-20th century Asheville’s downtown area had been decimated by the construction of malls on the city’s outskirts, which had…

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Our March book club pick: Abigail Ulman

Each month we choose a newly released book that we feel is perfect for a book club. Then we roadtest it. We read the book (and encourage you to read along with us), and at the end of the month, we’ll share our thoughts about its potential for book clubbers.

Our pick for March is Abigail Ulman’s Hot Little Hands.

What’s the opening line? I had never bumped into a teacher before on the weekend. But there he was,

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March 2015 highlights

by Martin Shaw

I must say I’ve been having a good run of late with the first book I read in any given year. Last year, for instance, I was gushing about Maxine Beneba Clarke’s Foreign Soil – so it’s been gratifying to see the reception it’s had since, including most recently her Stella Prize longlisting.

This year it’s a memoir that’s totally seduced me: Rebecca Starford’s Bad Behaviour: A Memoir of Bullying and Boarding School. Starford is already highly regarded…

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What we're reading: Eula Biss, Stef Penney and Zadie Smith

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.

Bronte Coates is reading Notes from No Man’s Land by Eula Biss

So I think Eula Biss is one of my new favourite authors. I read On Immunity last month and loved it so much (you can read my review here) that I immediately bought myself a copy of her earlier work…

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