Book Recommendations Archives

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

The First Tuesday Bookclub on the ABC recently held a popular vote for the 10 Australian books to read before you die. We watched with bated breath as the list was released, and thought we’d share it with you it case you missed it. While there will be as much talk about the books not on the list as on it, it really is a great place to start with Australia novels. If there’s anything... Read more

DISCLAIMER: THIS POST CONTAINS GRATUITOUS MAN LOVE. Imagine two men. One capable of changing history with drift and turn from the rough, the other capable of making it riveting to those who think drift and turn from the rough was illegal in Tasmania until 1997. Imagine they meet, one as artist, the other his subject. Imagine no longer. I will say from the outset that I think Gideon Haigh is the... Read more

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATVz4GJSjRk&rel=0] DRINK, SMOKE, PASS OUT – An Unlikely Spiritual Journey by Judith Lucy Caroline Baum: I wasn’t sure whether Judith Lucy’s deadpan drollery would work as well on the page as it does in her stand up shows and TV series. But the good news is it does. She had me giggling helplessly in chapter one, and it doesn’t l... Read more

I met Michael Palin the other night at a function put on by his publisher, Hachette Australia. Michael gave a short talk about his new TV show and accompanying book, Brazil and then he mingled. I behaved very well. I’d left my Monty Python repertoire at home. And I restrained my inner teenage girl who wanted to scream and faint when he said hello. He is as he appears on the screen in his ... Read more

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD0IE4jCpvo&rel=0] Montebello : A Memoir by Robert Drewe Listen to me,’ my mother says. ‘They’ve let off an atom bomb today. Right here in W.A. Atom bombs worry the blazes out of me, and I want you at home.’ In the sleepy and conservative 1950s the British began a series of nuclear tests in the Montebello archipelago off the we... Read more

Twists and Turns People kept remarking on how they were surprised that a gold medal and fame hadn’t changed me. I always responded, ‘Why would I change? Being me is the easiest person to be.’ I was lying. It wasn’t. At the Beijing Olympic Games, he made history with an unforgettable dive, the first to ever score perfect tens from all four judges, and won gold for Australia. Grinning with pride ... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Peter FitzSimons author of Eureka Stockade: The Unfinished Revolution, Mawson, Batavia, Kokoda and many more… Six Sharp Questions ————————————– 1. Congratulations, you have a new book. What is it about and what does it mean to you? Eureka Stockade: The Unfinished Revolution, details ... Read more

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa3eC02delM&rel=0] A young, free-range chicken… A dominating, ravenous chef… Fifty recipes to make every dinner a turn-on… Fifty Shades of Chicken is a cookbook serving up epicurean double entendres and 50 excellent chicken recipes all while telling the story of a young free-range and very fresh chicken who, like Anastasia Steele, fi... Read more

Follow on from part one… Still Life with Shape-Shifter by Sharon Shinn With her beautifully wrought prose, Shinn has crafted worlds of grace and beauty in both genres of science fiction and fantasy. Now she turns her talents to our world and presents a treasure of urban fantasy chronicling the relationship between two sisters and the need to keep a life changing secret that is not your ow... Read more