Lian Hingee
Lian Hingee is Readings’ Digital Marketing Manager. She’s been working in books for twenty years
Reviews
Dogger by Shirley Hughes
When I was a child, I had a special teddy called, imaginatively, Ted. Ted went everywhere with me until I lost him, aged 18, at a backpacker hostel in Rome. I was distraught (truthfully, I’m still up…
Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda
Described succinctly as ‘the millenial take on the vampire novel’, Claire Kohda’s debut novel Woman, Eating is both exactly that and so much more. Written in the first person, this is the story of Ly…
The Women of Troy by Pat Barker
In The Women of Troy, Pat Barker returns to the bloodied sands of ancient Greece to continue the story of her acclaimed retelling of The Iliad, The Silence of the Girls. The novel begins in the belly…
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
I was relatively late to the party with Liane Moriarty. I’m embarrassed to admit that I was basically bullied into reading her by a workmate who correctly interpreted my rolling eyes as literary snob…
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
She Who Became the Sun is the debut novel from Asian Australian writer Shelley Parker-Chan. An extraordinary hybrid between historical fiction and epic fantasy, this accomplished book is set in China…
Comparrotives by Janik Coat
French author Janik Coat’s brilliant board books aimed at introducing simple grammar concepts have been a favourite in our household ever since my now two year old first got his sticky mitts on a cop…
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint
There’s been a flush of novels based around feminist retellings of ancient myths lately. The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker and A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes depicted the fall of Troy as see…
Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler
I know it takes years for a book to be written, edited and printed, but Lauren Oyler’s debut novel Fake Accounts feels so immediate that it’s hard to believe it wasn’t written last week and just beam…
It’s Been A Pleasure, Noni Blake by Claire Christian
Claire Christian was one of the finalists for our 2018 Readings Young Adult Book Prize for her impressive debut, Beautiful Mess. Now, this talented young writer is back with an entertaining novel for…
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Published in 2004 and the winner of a slew of literary awards, Susanna Clarke’s debut Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is one of those remarkable books that changes the landscape of an entire genre. F…
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Erin Morgenstern’s award-winning debut novel The Night Circus is one of those wonderful books that swallows you whole, rendering the world of a magical carnival in such vivid prose that you can almos…
Boys Will Be… by Susann Hofmann
Boasting bold and brightly coloured illustrations, big flaps on every page, and a large easy-to-handle format Girls Are Pretty… and Boys Will Be… by Susann Hoffman are clever, empowering board books …
Girls Are Pretty… by Susann Hoffmann
Boasting bold and brightly coloured illustrations, big flaps on every page, and a large easy-to-handle format* Girls Are Pretty…* and Boys Will Be… by Susann Hoffman are clever, empowering board book…
What I Like About Me by Jenna Guillaume
What I Like About Me is the highly anticipated debut from Buzzfeed columnist, journalist, editor, and pop-culture connoisseur Jenna Guillaume. Written in diary form, this witty YA novel takes place o…
The Year of the Farmer by Rosalie Ham
No one does Australian Gothic quite like Rosalie Ham. Her sun-soaked revenge fantasy, The Dressmaker, captured a particular side of rural Australia – one steeped in malice, jealousy, bitter rivalries…
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
Pat Barker won the Booker Prize in 1995 for Ghost Road, the third book in her trilogy about the horrors of the First World War. In The Silence of the Girls, Barker reaches much further back into hist…
Early Riser by Jasper Fforde
Jasper Fforde – master of absurdity, champion of satire, ridiculer of bureaucracy, and proud Welshman – is back. If that sentence doesn’t fill you with a thrill of excitement then you’ve obviously ne…
The Pisces by Melissa Broder
Melissa Broder is the author of So Sad Today, a powerful collection of essays about feminism, sex, love, depression, and addiction. Broder’s first novel, The Pisces, takes these topics, and explores …
The Beast’s Heart by Leife Shallcross
Everyone knows the story of the beauty and the beast, but this beautifully conceived debut from Australian writer Leife Shallcross turns the classic fairytale on its head. The Beast’s Heart is a sump…
The Handmaid’s Tale
Hulu’s elegantly produced adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s book of the same name, The Handmaid’s Tale has won a slew of awards, including the Golden Globe for Best Television Series and the Emmy for O…
The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch
Ben Aaronovitch’s series of PC Grant novels are urban fantasies that somehow manage to combine the jaunty ‘ello, ‘ello, ‘ello of a traditional British police procedural with the rich mythology and hi…
The Secret Science of Magic by Melissa Keil
Melissa Keil is one of the best new voices in Australian YA fiction. Her wonderful contemporary rom-coms are always populated with a brilliant cast of well-drawn characters, and The Secret Science of…
The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel
The first adult novel from YA writer Amy Engel is an uneasy thriller set in the decaying grandeur of a rambling estate in Kansas. For three generations, the daughters of the Roanoke family have been …
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman is no stranger to Norse mythology. His award-winning novel American Gods features both Odin and Loki as well as the legend of the World Tree, transplanted into the modern world. In Norse …
Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland
There’s already quite a bit of buzz about Krystal Sutherland’s debut novel, with comparisons being drawn to John Green and Rainbow Rowell and a movie already in the works. It’s a big vote of confiden…
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
Emma Donoghue is best known as the author of the Booker Prize-nominated novel, Room, which was adapted to become one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2015. In The Wonder she goes back a hund…
The Trespasser by Tana French
The wonderful thing about Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series is that they’re all excellent, but all very different at the same time. Each book has enough familiarity to allow you to slip effort…
Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
Shakespeare’s comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, is one of the more problematic stories for a modern reader, so I was interested to see how Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Anne Tyler addressed the deep…
Shrill by Lindy West
You might not be familiar with Lindy West’s name, but if you have even a passing familiarity with the internet you’re probably acquainted with her writing. Her eminently shareable columns deal with t…
Fellside by M.R. Carey
When Jess Moulson is found guilty of the murder of a young boy named Alex, she’s sentenced to spend the rest of her life within the walls of Fellside, a state-of-the-art, maximum security prison perc…
News
My five favourite reads of 2020
I’d been wallowing in a months-long reading rut when I was offered a copy of Susanna Clarke’s long-awaited second novel for review. I’d loved her multi-award winning first book, but it was a dense his…
Terrific sci-fi & fantasy to indulge in this summer
The final season of Game of Thrones hits our screens next year, so it’s the perfect time to reacquaint yourself with George R. R. Martin’s spr…
Six new novels that blur the line between fantasy & reality
Inspired by the nineteenth century gothic novel, Melmoth the Wanderer, Sarah Perry’s Melmoth is a modern-day ghost story about a mysterious dark-robed woman who roams the globe, searching for those whose complicity and cowardice have contributed t…
The best psychological thrillers from the first half of 2018
The House Swap is a slow-burning domestic noir that will appeal to readers who enjoyed the slow unravelling of relationships in books like Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train. When the opportunity arises to participate in a house-swap, Caroline and Francis d…
Eight new retellings & reimaginings of classics
My favourite books to reread
With all the brilliant new releases coming out every month, rereading books is a bit of a luxury for booksellers. Sometimes, you just want to lose yourself in a book for a very specific reason, and in those situations nothing beats rereading an old favourite. It’s like catching up with an old friend, or eating a favourite home-made meal – both comforting and comfortable.
Here are the books that …