Book Recommendations Archives

Earlier this year we interviewed a young New Zealand writer we believed was destined for great things. That writer was Eleanor Catton, the newly crowned Man Booker Prize Winner for 2013. Sit back and enjoy our chat with her, highlights of which were featured recently in the LA Times. The Booktopia Book Guru asks Eleanor Catton Man Booker Prize winning author of The Luminaries Ten Terrifying Que... Read more

Every month Booktopia’s Andrew Cattanach reviews a cookbook. He is an incompetent cook. He is The Incompetent Cook. Eat In by Anna Gare The meals: Tomato and Pesto Soup Chermoula Chicken with Harissa & Minted Yoghurt Lemon and Lime Pudding Read more

I’m going away for the whole month of October and will not be writing the Buzz for November, so you get a break from me. Instead, the Buzz will be in John Purcell’s capable hands. So for the first time this year I get to choose the books  that are going with me on the basis of pleasure – or at least anticipated pleasure. In case you are interested in what is coming with me here is the lis... Read more

It’s been 29 years since Morrissey pleaded please, please, please, let me get what I want, but now fans everywhere finally have what they want. An autobiography from one of the modern era’s finest song writers and most intriguing public figures. And true to form, he only agrees to be published if he can be published straight into Penguin Classics. Read more

The Gift of Kindness by Pam Ahern Some stories change your life, some events change your life, but a single act of kindness can save a life. Meet Ruby the working dog who got a second chance and found her perfect job, and Macho the orphaned alpaca who found happiness among his sheepy friends. Then there’s Edgar Alan Pig, Ginger the chirping chicken, Lucky Bunny, Othello the goat, Coco the... Read more

I was saddened to learn that bestselling author Tom Clancy had died. I was saddened because I thought of what this loss would mean to his family and friends. I was saddened too, for as a young man I enjoyed his books and subsequent the movies starring Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan. I was also saddened because as a bookseller at Christmas time when asked what book would be good for a bloke, a Tom C... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Jenny Bond author of Perfect North 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 and raised in Sydney. I was schooled in the public system and enjoyed it immensely. It’s no wonder that I went from school to ... Read more

UPDATE: The winner of our James Bond competition has been announced. Congratulations J. Wilson of NSW! The voice on the phone was steady and clear: Be at Sydney Airport for the arrival of British Airways Flight B15. British Airways Captain, Thomas Clark will be escorting James Bond, 007, through customs. You are to deliver him unharmed to Booktopia’s Headquarters where he will stay until ... Read more

This September we’ve been running Operation GMR, Get Men Reading. To celebrate, we’ve asked some of our favourite Australian authors to give us Five Books Every Man Should Read. Today’s guest is the one of Australia’s finest thriller writers, L.A. Larkin. Thrillers are a hugely popular genre with both men and women, so I work hard to please both sexes, constantly asking ... Read more

This September we’ve been running Operation GMR, Get Men Reading. To celebrate, we’ve asked some of our favourite Australian authors to give us Five Books Every Man Should Read. Today’s guest is Hannah Richell, author of the award-winning Secrets of The Tides and The Shadow Year. Hannah, take it away… The Stand by Stephen King No man should be allowed to reach adulthood ... Read more