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

Falling Into Place by Amy Zhang

When an accident puts the most popular girl at school in hospital, it’s as if everyone has turned up to find out if she will live or die. But was it an accident? Why would the girl who appeared to have it all throw it all away? This is a fascinating, beautifully…

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Here are our top ten food and garden books of the year, as chosen by our resident foodie and gardener Chris Gordon. Displayed in no particular order.

Nonna to Nana by Jacqueline & Jessie DiBlasi

Melbourne sisters Jessie and Jacqueline DiBlasi explore the connections between love and nourishment, inspired by their grandmother, Nonna Giovanna. The book shares stories and recipes from the living culinary traditions of 15 Australian grandmothers across diverse cultural backgrounds.

Mr Hong by Dan Hong

This is…

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

The Wife Drought by Annabel Crabb

Don’t be bemused by the title: this is an essential and hilarious book for everyone. Journalist and Kitchen Cabinet host Annabel Crabb takes a fresh and amusing approach as she unravels the rusty idiosyncrasies of Australia’s work–life systems and assumptions. Crabb’s vivid analysis and interviews with prominent career–family jugglers of both sexes combine to…

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Here are our top ten DVDs of the year, as chosen by our film specialist Lou Fulco. Displayed in no particular order.

Chef

Chef is a rich and vibrant comedy – the story of Carl Casper (Jon Favreau), who loses his chef job and cooks up a food truck business in the hope of re-establishing his artistic promise. At the same time, he tries to reconnect with his estranged family.

True Detective: Season 1

The lives of two detectives, Rust…

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