Our latest blog posts

Last chance to sign up to our in-store book clubs

Hawthorn Book Club:

Our Hawthorn Book Clubs meet in the Hawthorn shop, 701 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn on the third Thursday of every month, starting Thursday 19 March. Sessions begin at 6.30pm and last one hour. Our Hawthorn Book Clubs are distinctive because they are primarily about talking about books and only secondarily a social event.

The cost of the book club is $275.00 per member per term. This includes five facilitated one hour discussion sessions, with wine and snacks. You…

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Which is the best recipe from Mr. Wilkinson’s Simply Dressed Salads?

We put Matt Wilkinson’s salads to the test this week with six of our staff making recipes from Mr. Wilkinson’s Simply Dressed Salads for a blind-tasting.

These same staff were absolutely delighted (read: horrified) to learn that Matt himself would be acting in the capacity of guest judge, along with three other staff members.

Here are the results.

Stella Charls made Noodles with broad beans, peas & spicy lemon dressing (pg 69.):

I am not a confident cook, and was…

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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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