Book Recommendations Archives

J.K Rowling has published a new Harry Potter short story on her Harry Potter fan site Pottermore. The 1,500-word piece released this morning centres on a now 34-year-old Harry Potter with greying hair attending the Quidditch World Cup 2014. Rowling has also been writing other pieces on the tournament for Pottermore to coincide with the World Cup in Brazil. Rowling writes that as Harry approache... Read more

In Born to Fly, Ryan recounts his remarkable journey from a boy with a dream to becoming, at age 19, the youngest person ever to circumnavigate the world solo in a single-engine aircraft, and shares with us the joy of flight. Grab a copy of Ryan Campbell’s Born to Fly here Born to Fly by Ryan Campbell The most extraordinary aviation adventure of the decade. A great story in the spirit of ... Read more

Louis Zamperini, a former Olympian who spent weeks lost at sea and years as a prisoner of war, has died at age 97. A U.S. track star at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Zamperini became a bombardier in WWII and survived 47 days adrift in a lifeboat after crashing his plane in the Pacific. He eventually washed up on a Japanese island and spent the next two years as a prisoner of war. His incredible ... Read more

The winners of the signed hardcover editions of Eyrie are: C. Lawlewss, Eltham, VIC B. Thomas, Muswellbrook, NSW C. Ainsworth, Millswood, S.A. L. Checker, Alice Springs, NT EYRIE by Tim Winton Tom Keely’s reputation is in ruins. And that’s the upside. Divorced and unemployed, he’s lost faith in everything precious to him. From his seedy highrise flat Keely looks down at a soci... Read more

You wake up after a long night of reading… …and try to sneak some pages in before you leave for work… …and on the bus. You start work full of vigour… …until the 5 minute mark. And then it’s lunchtime… …but pretty soon it’s time to go back to work… …where you daydream about the next chapter… …and then actually dr... Read more

Booktopia would like to congratulate Evie Wyld for winning the 2014 Miles Franklin Literary Award with All the Birds, Singing … Congratulations! All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld Jake Whyte is the sole resident of an old farmhouse on an unnamed island, a place of ceaseless rains and battering winds. It’s just her, her untamed companion, Dog, and a flock of sheep. Which is how she wanted... Read more

Popular Australian novelist Cathryn Hein, author of Rocking Horse Hill, Heartland and more gives her verdict on the books she’s been reading. What a great reading month! From a literary award winner to a labyrinthine thriller to a frolic with a rock god, plus some lovely romances to get gooey over. I’d love to say my to-be-read pile was lowered a little but, as usual, I ended up buying mo... Read more

One of Australia’s favourite novelists Kate Forsyth, author of Bitter Greens and The Wild Girl, continues her monthly blog with us, giving her verdict on the books she’s been reading. May is festival time in Sydney, and so I spent a lot of time talking about, and listening to other writers talk about, books and writing. It was wonderful to see the festival precinct at the wharves so... Read more

Grab a copy of Lost & Found here Lost & Found by Brooke Davis A heart-warming debut about finding out what love and life is all about. Millie Bird (aka Captain Funeral), seven-years old and ever hopeful, always wears red gumboots to match her red, curly hair. Her struggling mother leaves Millie in a local department store and never returns. Agatha Pantha, eighty-two, has not left her ho... Read more

The opportunity to critique a childhood idol is an uncomfortable proposition. When I was a child my mother would thrust a library book in my hands after we’d run down the bus I was always late for. One of these books was Misery Guts, by Morris Gleitzman, a book that fostered my love of reading. I remain forever indebted to him. Gleitzman’s new novel, Loyal Creatures, continues his l... Read more