John Purcell was asked to review Transformers: The Ultimate Pop Up Universe in 21 seconds, using only sounds and utterances. Can he do it? Let’s find out… Well played John. Well played. Click here to buy Transformers: The Ultimate Pop Up Universe from Booktopia, Australia’s Local Bookstore Read more

Would you love to have a brand new set of luggage just in time for the holidays? To help us celebrate Booktoberfest our friends at Lonely Planet are giving you the chance to win a Crumpler Luggage Set valued at $530! Order any of the books in the Lonely Planet Booktoberfest Showcase to go into the draw to win this sensational prize. Click here to enter the Lonely Planet showcase Lonely Planet B... Read more

Burial Rites is about to find a whole new set of fans as rumour has it Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence is set to star in its film adaptation. Described as a ‘package deal’ by industry insiders, Lawrence will reportedly team up with The Hunger Games director Gary Ross to tell the extraordinary story that has captivated readers this year. In Burial Rites, debut author Hannah Kent reima... Read more

Does Robb Stark take up too much space on trains? That’s the question being asked around the world today, as Game of Thrones star Richard Madden is outed as a chronic space-taker-upperer on the popular tumblr site Men Taking Up Too Much Space On The Train. Men Taking Up Too Much Space On The Train exposes a world of sexual politics that will strike a chord with anyone who has suffered at ... Read more

The Gift of Kindness by Pam Ahern Some stories change your life, some events change your life, but a single act of kindness can save a life. Meet Ruby the working dog who got a second chance and found her perfect job, and Macho the orphaned alpaca who found happiness among his sheepy friends. Then there’s Edgar Alan Pig, Ginger the chirping chicken, Lucky Bunny, Othello the goat, Coco the... Read more

How would you like to give everyone you love a book for Christmas… without you having to pay a cent? To help us celebrate Booktoberfest our friends at Five Mile Press are giving you the chance to win all of the books in their Booktoberfest Showcase. Order any of the books in the Five Mile Press Booktoberfest Showcase to go into the draw to win the full collection, valued at over $500! Cli... Read more

Why do I write? Money. Oh, all right. I write because I can’t not write. I’ve been a story teller since I could speak and I get uncomfortable if I can’t write. It’s a form of benign possession. I wake up in the middle of the night with a story insisting on immediate attention and I write and write and write until I fall exhausted from the chair three weeks later and I ha... Read more

How would you like to give everyone you love a book for Christmas… without you having to pay a cent? To help us celebrate Booktoberfest our friends at Allen & Unwin are giving you the chance to win all of the books in their Booktoberfest Showcase. Order any of the books in the Allen & Unwin Booktoberfest Showcase to go into the draw to win a collection of 20 gorgeous books, includ... Read more

Last week we ran a competition on our Facebook page to win one of five copies of Elizabeth Gilbert’s new book The Signature of All Things, one of the biggest releases of 2013. Thanks to everyone who entered (all you needed to do is LIKE and SHARE our Facebook post), and the winners are: Cassie Lofthouse, Terry Schroeder, Maggie L’Estrange, Vicki Willenberg, Katherine Stepanic. Pleas... Read more

This September we’ve been running Operation GMR, Get Men Reading. To celebrate, we’ve asked some of our favourite Australian authors to give us Five Books Every Man Should Read. Today’s guest is the one of Australia’s finest thriller writers, L.A. Larkin. Thrillers are a hugely popular genre with both men and women, so I work hard to please both sexes, constantly asking ... Read more