In this month’s issue of the Readings Monthly I was lucky enough to interview Colm Tóibín about his latest novel, Long Island. Colm Tóibín is a novelist I admire for his clear, beautiful style and the way he is able to make you so invested in the lives of his characters. I love all his novels based in County Wexford, The Heather Blazing being my favourite, but also his big fictional biographies like the very recent The Magician…

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Whether you’re a lover of magical worlds, intriguing mysteries, rollercoaster romances, or — like me — all of the above, there’s a new book waiting to be your next favourite! So if you’re struggling to choose your next read, here’s a round of up of my favourite new releases.

Fantasy

The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick

Personally, I always have a soft spot for retellings of Beauty and the Beast and the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone, and this…

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V. V. Ganeshananthan was announced today as the second ever winner of the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, for her novel Brotherless Night.

Brotherless Night is a searing, gripping novel about a young Tamil woman living through the Sri Lankan civil war.

Sixteen-year-old Sashi wants to become a doctor. But over the next decade, as a vicious civil war subsumes Sri Lanka, her dream takes her on a different path as she watches those around her, including her four…

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Ceridwen Dovey needs no introduction to the Readings faithful, but for completeness, let me remind you that she was the inaugural recipient of The Readings Prize for New Australian Writing in 2014 with Only the Animals, an inventive work of linked short stories that has since found many, many readers. Dovey has published several works since that breakthrough book, including the wonderful novel In the Garden of the Fugitives (2018), but she returns to the short form this year…

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Books have always been an important way that young kids start to understand the world around them. Diverse representation in children’s books is particularly important, so that kids can see themselves or begin to understand others in their communities.

So that all families can find books that resonate for them, we’ve curated a range of picture books that represent and celebrate rainbow families. 🌈

Mama and Mummy and Me in the Middle Nina LaCour

A little girl stays home with…

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1. The Scarlet Shedder (Dog Man, Book 12) by Dav Pilkey

2. Taylor Swift (Little People, Big Dreams) by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara

3. Gus and the Missing Boy by Troy Hunter

4. A Way Home by Emily Brewin

5. The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

6. Wrong Answers Only by Tobias Madden

7. I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang

8. Tweet by Morris Gleitzman

9. Wurrtoo by Tylissa Elisara & Dylan Finney (illus.)

10.…

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The Work by Bri Lee

Butter by Asako Yuzuki & Polly Barton (trans.)

Caledonian Road by Andrew O'Hagan

Black Duck: A Year at Yumburra by Bruce Pascoe & Lyn Harwood

Wholesome by Sarah by Sarah Pound

Sanctuary by Garry Disher

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi & Geoffrey Trousselot (trans.)

Death of a Foreign Gentleman by Steven Carroll

Pheasants Nest by Louise Milligan

What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan

The Anxious…

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Each week our wonderful staff share the books and music that they've been enjoying.

Joanna Di Mattia is enjoying various books by Tessa Hadley

I’ve decided to binge-read Tessa Hadley. It wasn’t a conscious decision, it’s just that I read one of her novels – The Master Bedroom – and loved it so much I had to keep going and before I knew it, I had inhaled both Late in the Day and her debut Accidents in the Home…

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The winners of the annual Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) were announced last night! Our congratulations to the winning authors, illustrators and publishers.

The 2024 ABIA Book Award winners are:

ABIA Book of the Year, General Nonfiction Book of the Year & Social Impact Book of the Year

The Voice to Parliament Handbook by Thomas Mayo & Kerry O'Brien

Indigenous leader Thomas Mayo and acclaimed journalist Kerry O’Brien have written this The Voice to Parliament Handbook easy-to-follow guide for the…

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We are barely five months into 2024 and we have been gifted with so many incredible #LoveOzYA titles! Here is a list of just some of the titles from seasoned YA authors to debuts.

Deep Is the Fen by Lili Wilkinson

Merriwether Morgan doesn't need a happily-ever-after. Her life in the idyllic town of Candlecott is fine just as it is: simple, happy, and with absolutely no magic. Magic only ever leads to trouble. But Merry's best friend, Teddy, is…

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