Book Recommendations Archives

We're a passionate lot at Booktopia, and it has taken weeks of reading, re-reading, meetings, angry coffee dates and re-re-reading to come up with The 2015 Booktopia Books of the Year... Read more

Australia’s most listened-to film critic, Marc Fennell, tells the hidden stories behind the movies you know and love whilst also introducing you to a (bizarre) world of cinema you never knew existed. Did you know that there are messed up filmic versions of fairytales? Take for example the ancient Russian version of Beauty and the Beast which shows that all it takes to marry a prince is no... Read more

One of Australia’s favourite novelists Kate Forsyth, author of The Impossible Quest, Bitter Greens, The Wild Girl and now The Beast’s Garden, continues her monthly blog with us, giving her verdict on the books she read in October. My son – like so many others his age – sat his HSC last month, and so I spent lots of time waiting for him outside exam halls and libraries. This meant lots of lovely... Read more

My writing life itself is messy, ad hoc, organic and irregular in every way... Read more

It’s (almost) here! At long last, it has (nearly) arrived! All hail The Red Queen. Like so many others, I’ve been a fan of The Obernewtyn Chronicles since I was kid. I have read and re-read these books so many times, my copies have grown battered and torn and the characters have come to feel like old friends. But alas, all good things must come to an end! With The Red Queen, Isobell... Read more

What Katie Read… One of Australia’s favourite novelists Kate Forsyth, author of The Impossible Quest, Bitter Greens, The Wild Girl and now The Beast’s Garden, continues her monthly blog with us, giving her verdict on the books she’s been reading.   The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton This is one of the most beautiful and haunting psychological thrillers I have ever read. It bre... Read more

When I first heard about Illuminae, it was described to me as “Battlestar Galatica meets 10 Things I Hate About You”. This obviously sounded like the best idea ever to me. I figured I was probably going to adore the hell out of it. And I was right! With a story that has been carefully constructed using a collection of emails, IM chats, descriptions of video footage, classified documents, diary ... Read more

Andrew Cattanach has a brand new bag… It all started when listening to The Grantland Podcast. Grantland is a US sports/culture website usually frequented by lots of people like me. Young(ish) hipster(ish) sporty(ish) culturally aware(ish) folks who enjoy quality long-form journalism. They also do podcasts (Fun Fact: we do as well) which, along with audiobooks, keep me company on my long d... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Mary Jo Putney author of Not Always A Saint and many more… Nine Naughty Questions ____________   1. Headless washboard abs, a torrid embrace, the sprawling homestead, an elegantly dressed décolletage, or the vaguely kinky object against a dark background – what’s your favourite type of romance cover and why? I like having people on the cover, preferably a coupl... Read more

If you love flowers, nature, beauty or art start dropping hints now for Christmas if you want to get your hands on this magnificent book by Sydney-based A-list florist, Saskia Havekes, and her team at Grandiflora.  Dipping flowers in wax or encasing them in blocks of ice, Havekes is always experimenting and pushing the limits, whether working on a small bouquet or on a grand scale for a special... Read more