Book Recommendations Archives

Booktopia’s Caroline Baum reveals her Five Favourite Australian Novelists ————————————————— I just can’t do this favourites thing, it’s too apples with oranges for me but there are some writers who have helped shape my consciousness over the nearly thirty years since I first came here, ma... Read more

Today is the birthday of May Gibbs, the writer and illustrator of some of the most loved children’s books Australia has to offer. For nearly a century children have been inspired by her works, taken into a fantastic world where everything around them came alive. It was her extraordinary sense of delicate storytelling mixed with an intense love of Australian nature that still fascinates us... Read more

UPDATE: Now that the book is out, read our review here. FROM RANDOM HOUSE: Dan Brown’s new novel, the eagerly awaited follow-up to his No.1 international blockbuster, The Lost Symbol, will be published on the 14th of May this year. The new book features renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon and is set in the heart of Europe. There, he is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of his... Read more

To say that I’m a fan of the works of Professor J. R. R. Tolkien is an understatement. I’ll admit I was a little late to the party tree in embracing the world of Middle-Earth but after seeing the first trailer for The Fellowship of the Ring I was hooked. I became a little obsessed. And when I say a little, I mean a lot. I purchased every book I could get my hands on and spent hours upon hours a... Read more

In 2010 we asked Australia what their absolute must-read Australian is. After thousands of votes were cast we found your answer, the results of which can be found here. Booktopia is Australia’s Local Bookstore, locally owned and operated, full of people who love books and more importantly, Australian books. January at Booktopia is the month of Australian Stories. All this month we’ll be running... Read more

2012 has been an incredible year for the arts. We had the sublime documentary series The Shire, the whimsical adaptation of a board game not played since the 50’s, Battleship, and the welcome introduction of dubstep into every song on every radio station across the world. I don’t know how they do it. Actually, I’m pretty sure they just turn a knob clockwise….. …genius is born in many ways. But ... Read more

Mortal souls, our time on earth is rapidly coming to a close. As most of you know, the Mayan Calendar predicts the world as we know it will come to an end on the 21st of December, 2012.  When trouble hits there’s no better place to turn than your very own port in the storm, the book. Literature has always been obsessed with the apocalypse and the anarchy that follows. Some of the great works th... Read more

We committed the murders. We took the children from their mothers. We practiced discrimination and exclusion. It was our ignorance and our prejudice. Today marks the 10th anniversary of one of the most important speeches in modern politics in Australia, if not the world. On December 10th, 1992 the then Prime Minister of Australia Paul Keating took to the stage in Redfern, Sydney, and delivered ... Read more

The upcoming debut novel from author Ayana Mathis, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, has been given a huge boost with the announcement this week that it has been selected as the new read for Oprah’s Book Club. The talk-show juggernaut has relaunched her book club, called Oprah’s Book Club 2.0,  after some controversies with 1.0. In 2006 she laid a smackdown on the fibbing James Frey for ... Read more

This is Andrew. Andrew works at Booktopia. A generous heart is not strong in this one, a veritable Scrooge is he. Unfortunately for him it’s time to buy presents for his parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. Solution, books. They’re cheap as chips these days and yet still have the aura of a luxury item. Andrew would like to share his selections with you, and ... Read more