The Booktopia Book Guru asks Eleanor Limprecht author of Long Bay Ten Terrifying Questions ____________ 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was born in Washington DC in the United States. My dad worked as a Foreign Service Officer in the State Department so we lived overseas (in Germany and Pakistan) and in Virginia... Read more

Take a closer look at the 2015 Longlist, and be your own judge… Read more

HarperCollins Children’s Books today revealed that the much anticipated new fiction title by David Walliams will be called Grandpa’s Great Escape! Grandpa’s Great Escape is an exquisite portrait of the bond between a small boy and his beloved Grandpa – taking readers on an incredible journey with Spitfires over London and Great Escapes through the city in a high octane adventure full of comedy ... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Joanna Courtney author of The Chosen Queen Ten Terrifying Questions ____________ 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was born in St Andrews in Scotland, so definitely consider myself a Scot at heart even though we moved to England when I was only a few months old. Bar lots of lovely visi... Read more

NEWS FLASH: Arguably Australia’s greatest living writer, Tim Winton, will have a new book out in just a few weeks! Due to be released in September this year, Tim Winton’s Island Home explores the story of how his relationship with the Australian landscape came to be, and how it has determined his ideas, his writing and his life.  It is also a passionate exhortation for all of us to ... Read more

1. Because books. Right? You know that time when there’s nothing to do and you’re bored out of your mind. Yeah, neither do we. 2. You’ll thank yourself in December Think of that awkward cousin who invites themselves to Christmas lunch last minute. Or that weird co-worker who smells of onions who gets you a present on the last day of work for the year. Or the Secret Santa that ... Read more

Booktopia’s resident Book Guru and bestselling author John Purcell heads up an all-star lineup at this year’s Bendigo Writers Festival. John Marsden, Bob Brown, Alice Pung, Graeme Simsion, John Clarke, Cate Kennedy, Robert Dessaix, Don Watson, Ellie Marney, Latika Bourke, David Astle, David M Henley, Max Gillies, Paddy O’Reilly, Robyn Davidson, Tariq Ali and The Gourmet Farmer’... Read more

They love it when you call them Big Papa. Around this time every year Key West is set upon by mature, heavy-set men with full beards in khakis. Why? It’s time for the annual Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest! Hemingway lived in Key West during the 1930s and local bar Sloppy Joe’s, where Hemingway would often be found holding up the bar, has been holding the contest for an incredib... Read more

Although rap music is famous for its ingenuity, double entendres and clever turns of phrase, until now no one has attempted to collect rap lyrics into an organised compendium. Enter Understand Rap, which precisely explains all the confusing terms and lyrics used in rap songs in a language even the most un-hip person can understand. “My West Coast shorty push the chrome 740…” &... Read more

We all love a great book, and we all love sweet pastries. So our friends at Pan Macmillan Australia decided to combine the two for Booktopians with the beautiful book One Hundred Days of Happiness. Pre-order One Hundred Days of Happiness by July 31st and you could win a dozen donuts from Krispy Kreme delivered to your door! What would you do if you knew you only had 100 days left to live? For L... Read more