Book Recommendations Archives

Melbourne author Murray Middleton was announced the winner of the coveted Vogel’s Literary Award on Monday night for his exquisite short story collection When There’s Nowhere Else To Run. The award, which offers publication by Allen & Unwin and $20,000 prize money, has been the launching pad for some of Australia’s most successful writers including Tim Winton, Kate Grenvil... Read more

Tuesday night saw Melbourne writer Emily Bitto take out the Stella Prize for her incredible novel The Strays. The Stella Prize, which Booktopia was honoured to be a major sponsor of, is fast becoming one of the most prestigious awards on the literary calendar, celebrating Australian women’s writing. The prize is named after one of Australia’s iconic female authors, Stella Maria Sarah ‘Miles’ Fr... Read more

It’s always hard trying to find the perfect Mother’s Day gift, so Booktopia has made it easy by selecting great books for every type of mum with our Mother’s Day Gift Guide, which right now has all the books and bobs at 30% off or more. It can’t last long though, get in before midnight April 23rd. Here’s just the very tip of the iceberg…. Love a True Story Bo... Read more

While you were sleeping the shortlist for the 2015 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction was announced, an intriguing list selected by this year’s judges. This year’s six shortlisted books were whittled down from a twenty-strong longlist, which can be found here. The shortlist selection includes five previously shortlisted authors and one debut novelist, playwright Laline Paull. The award wil... Read more

Let’s talk about the future. Sci fi is a seriously big genre. Futurological Sci Fi is a subgenre that has fun with projecting future societies. It’s all about enjoying the exploration of ideas and projections of what our world isn’t. And those differences indicate the fears, hopes and humour of any given author. So here are my top ten FSF books. ————... Read more

The 2015 Miles Franklin longlist is one of the most exciting in recent memory, something of a changing of the guard on the Australian literary scene. A cavalcade of not just Australia’s finest writers, but also the nation’s freshest thinkers, find themselves competing for the $60,000 prize. Debut authors Omar Musa, Suzanne McCourt and Vogel Award winner Christine Piper are joined by... Read more

Australian novelist Cathryn Hein, author of The Falls, The French Prize, Heartland and much more gives her verdict on the books she’s been reading. With nine books to read and judge for the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA awards – none of which I can tell you about, sorry! – I didn’t have much personal reading time left. But I did manage three wonderful books. Re... Read more

First of all the cover: this has to be one of the most stylish and eye-catching jackets of the year, signposting both the amorous subject matter but also a kind of sexily suave Mad Men Don Draper silhouette that suggests surface sleekness concealing enigmatic multiple identities. The sophisticated packaging delivers on its promise – and then some. This is one of the big books of the year.... Read more

Jonathan Franzen fans will get to sink their teeth into another serving from the acclaimed author later this year, with his fifth novel, Purity, to be released in September. Few details about the novel have emerged until now, although Franzen has previously hinted at its length (496 pages) in interviews, saying: “I’ve let go of any illusion that I’m a writer of 150-page novels. I need roo... Read more

The 2015 Australian Romance Readers Convention has come and gone, but we are not sad because we are left with a great list of award winning authors and having met so many new authors, hundreds of new books to read. See what Booktopia’s John Purcell and Andrew Cattanach got up to at the convention here. WINNERS Favourite Cover: the winner was Play by Kylie Scott. Sexiest Hero: the winner was Ada... Read more