The shortlist for this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award features five books by Australian women, with this year’s winner due to receive $60,000, up from $50,000 last year. Last year’s award was presented to Anna Funder for All That I Am. This year’s shortlist features three debut novels—Floundering by Romy Ash, The Beloved by Annah Faulkner and The Mountain by Drusilla Modjeska—and one prev... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Gayle Forman author of Just One Day Ten Terrifying Questions ——————————- 1.    To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I am wh... Read more

Booktopia’s Editorial Director Caroline Baum is on assignment in the Big Apple. She shares an experience of musically titillating proportions. So I’m in New York flicking through the show listings in Time Out when an off-Broadway musical catches my eye. Its called Cuff Me, which also works when you say the first word backwards. I book a ticket online, managing to score the last one ... Read more

You may find this difficult to believe given the glamorous creature I am today, but once upon a time, I was awkward. Not fairy tale awkward (long-limbed, unusually-featured girl turns into supermodel à la The Ugly Duckling) and not rom-com awkward (girl in overly-matching outfits with quirky sense of humour wins the heart of the secretly smart and soulful school jock), just plain awkward. No su... Read more

The fairytale ended last week as a teary Peter Moody and owners of Black Caviar announced they would be retiring the national icon, with her amazing unbeaten stretch stopping at 25. I was lucky enough to be at Randwick for her last run, although the 28,000 spectators there didn’t know at the time. Premier Barry O’Farrell had earlier in the week clamboured for headlines with his misj... Read more

Sad news from New York this afternoon as word filtered through that Divinyls singer Chrissy Amphlett has passed away aged 53.  Amphlett lived in New York with her husband, former Divinyls drummer Charley Drayton. She had revealed in 2010 that she had breast cancer, and she had also battled multiple sclerosis, although the extent of which was unknown for much of the general public. Amphlett was ... Read more

The Rosie Project has been a publishing phenomenon, melting the hearts of readers everywhere with its unconventional love story. Benison O’Reilly, the co-author of The Australian Autism Handbook, casts an informed eye over the bestseller from Graeme Simsion. The Rosie Project — a debut novel sold to over 30 countries and welcomed with seemingly universal glowing reviews. We could hardly f... Read more

Star Trek fans have been treated to a gossip extravaganza this week, with the release of the second trailer for Star Trek: Into Darkness, the second installment in the J.J. Abrams reboot. Check it out below. And for those not familiar with the old Star Trek movies, the villain Khan has long been rumoured to feature in the reboot. And with the appearance of the so-hot-right-now Benedict Cumberba... Read more

The awards news just keeps on coming, with the shortlist for the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction announced. For those that like a familiar face, this is a party you’ll enjoy. Literary juggernaut Hilary Mantel is joined by multiple award-winners Zadie Smith and Barbara Kingsolver. There’s also some new blood, with the author of the brilliant Life After Life Kate Atkinson getting... Read more

Carrie Tiffany, author of the acclaimed Mateship With Birds, has been awarded the inaugural Stella Prize for women writers. Named after one of Australia’s most important female authors, Stella Maria Miles Franklin, the Stella Prize is worth $50,000, and both fiction and non-fiction books are eligible. The Melbourne based writer said after her win she would share part of her prizemoney with the ... Read more