‘I come from the Stanislavski school of writing,’ said Hilton Als, delivering a keynote on ‘The Role of the Critic’ in 2010. ‘You become the subject.’

A theatre critic for the New Yorker since 2002, it’s no surprise that performance metaphors abound in Als’s essays too. But the notion of the non-fiction writer embodying their subject as an actor would is radical, profoundly shifting the way we define the designation. Isn’t acting always a fiction? Stanislavski’s revolutionary approach taught performers…

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Congratulations to the winners of the 2014 ARIA Awards!

Here is the full list of winners:

Sia,
Album of the year
Best female artist
Best pop release
Best video for Chandelier (Directed by Sia and Daniel Askill)

Chet Faker,
Best male artist
Best independent release

Sheppard,
Best group

Iggy Azalea,
Breakthrough artist

5 Seconds of Summer, She Looks So Perfect
Song of the year

Neil Finn and Paul Kelly,
Best adult contemporary album

John Butler Trio,
Best blues and roots…

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Our wise bookseller Agatha answers all your tricky questions. If you have a question for Agatha please email [email protected].

I’m obsessed with the podcast Serial and am so disappointed they’re taking a break this week. But (sigh) I’ve decided to turn this event into a positive and use the time to read something that will complement my listening of it. What would you suggest?

Buzzfeed recently published an article about why Janet Malcolm’s The Journalist and the Murderer is…

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If you’re looking for Christmas books that feature new Australian stories:

Please note, Tea and Sugar Christmas is now out of stock at Readings and more stock cannot be supplied in time for Christmas.

Christmas books can get a bit samey, so when an original idea pops up you take notice. I can remember the moment I heard about Tea and Sugar Christmas.

I was at a children’s literature conference in May and happened to be standing next to…

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Three fans of The Hunger Games trilogy – Nina Kenwood, Chris Gordon and Bronte Coates – share their thoughts on the the most recent film adaptation, Mockingjay: Part 1.

Bronte: Okay, let’s kick this off with an easy question… How did film rate against the first two?

Chris: I loved Mockingjay: Part 1 the best of all three. I think the actors came into their own in this film and really owned the characters. I particularly enjoyed watching the…

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The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi

Amnesia by Peter Carey

Merciless Gods by Christos Tsiolkas

Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s ‘Learned’ by Lena Dunham

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion

What Days Are For by Robert Dessaix

Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín

The Bush: Travels in the Heart of Australia by Don Watson

Our bestsellers list features lots of…

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Bookseller Jason Austin shares five books that have made an impression on him in 2014.

Young Hearts Crying by Richard Yates.

Every year I try to read at least one novel by Richard Yates. It’s a relatively new tradition of mine that will sadly only last a couple more years as Yates only wrote seven novels and only has two short-story collections available. His own story is a sad one. He suffered from alcoholism and mental illness and his books…

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Every year our staff vote for their favourite books, CDs and DVDs of the past twelve months. And 2014 has truly seen a bumper crop of new releases!

Here’s a round up of the blog posts featuring all of our best books, music & film of the past year:

The Best Fiction Books of 2014

The Best Non-Fiction Books of 2014

The Best Crime Books of 2014

The Best Young Adult Books of 2014

The Best Picture Books of 2014

…

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Here are our top ten picture books of the year, voted for by Readings staff. Displayed in no particular order.

A Lion in Paris by Beatrice Alemagna

A young lion with an explorer’s heart ventures forth from the familiar grasslands of his home to the bustling streets of Paris. There, he is mesmerised by its wonders until he discovers a plinth where he can rest – and hold centre stage! Artfully produced in the style of montage this book will…

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Here are our top ten classical CDs of the year, as chosen by our classical music specialists Kate Rockstrom and Alexandra Mathew. Displayed in no particular order.

Prayer by Sol Gabetta

Ernesto Bloch has been following me in the last six months. I’ve been performing, listening and teaching his repertoire, which has made me wonder why he’s not more popular. Sol Gabetta takes two of his works and through her cello sings the praises of Bloch, along with Shostakovich and…

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