Book Recommendations Archives

American novelist A.M. Homes has won this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction with her sixth novel, May We Be Forgiven. Homes beat award winning writer Hilary Mantel and three other finalists for the $ 45,000 prize, previously known as the Orange Prize. Miranda Richardson, who chaired a panel of judges, praised Home’s novel, as a “dazzling, original, viscerally funny black comedy” and a “subversio... Read more

A writer needs advice from all and sundry, and often receives it whether they like it or not. But from these great writers of the past any advice is good advice, even if it can be a little off the wall… Read more

Just to remind us all about how important books are, we put together a list of the most incredible advances given to authors in recent times. It makes you want to start writing your plot summary right now! Read more

On another rainy weekend we thought we’d scour through the interwebs and find some of our favourite clips of readers in action. And don’t forget, we also have a huge collection of audiobooks in a range of formats to make life even easier. Read more

Finally, the true identity of the author behind the bestselling Secret Lives of Emma series has been revealed, and if you’re a regular visitor to The Booktopia Blog, chances are you’ve read her work already. Or rather, his work… Since the release of the first book in 2012, The Secret Lives of Emma series has been met with contention.  In a genre dominated by tales of submissiv... Read more

Bestselling author Rebecca James has bared her soul in this exquisite and brutally honest piece about the battle of the writer against the blank page. Sweet Damage is my second book and second books are so notoriously difficult to write that this very difficulty has a condition named after it: Second Book Syndrome. I initially started another second book. It was called Cooper Bartholomew is Dea... Read more

To say that I’m excited by the emergence of New Adult as a genre is a gross understatement. I’m ecstatic. And I’m not picky about the kind of New Adult, either. Because New Adult comes in many forms  – from erotic romance featuring late teens/early twenty-somethings, to angsty, edgy love stories to heartbreaking coming of age novels. For those of you who aren’t ent... Read more

This selection comes amidst the usual caveats about exclusion and reductiveness: what I’ve included are books that crossed my path at the particular instant I needed them, or was open to them, and as such made a significant impact. This is not a list of ‘best writers/books’, or even a list of ‘favourites’. It’s overly weighted towards the US, and there’s a sorry lack of Australians; but it’s a ... Read more

Last week Booktopia was lucky enough to have Nikki Gemmell in to chat about her latest novel I Take You and sign some copies for lucky customers. I Take You completes the trilogy of books that began with the worldwide bestseller The Bride Stripped Bare. We also filmed a short video with Nikki, with our own John Purcell trying to think of an idea for the video and Nikki…..well…..you&... Read more

Booktopia was the proud major sponsor of the 2013 Australian Book Industry Awards in Sydney on Friday night, celebrating the best in Australian Books. M.L Stedman continued her award-winning run by running into some award wins, including the big prize of the night, The Booktopia Book of the Year Award. Check out all the winners below, along with links to all the books shortlisted on our site. E... Read more