Book Recommendations Archives

The US is going nuts for another new contemporary romance, On the Island. The set up is simple, a thirty year old woman and a sixteen year old boy get stranded on a deserted island together. The results are anything but simple. You won’t find tonnes of sex in this one. It is a real romance. There is however bucket loads of sex in The Secret Lives of Emma: Beginnings where a newly married ... Read more

It is 1939 and although Australia is about to go to war, it doesn’t quite realise yet that the situation is serious. Deep in the working-class Melbourne suburb of Richmond it is business—your own and everyone else’s—as usual. And young Kip Westaway, failed scholar and stablehand, is living the most important day of his life. Kip’s momentous day is one of nine that will set the course for each m... Read more

‘I felt that writing books fit me like a glove; I just started and I just kept going’ Neil Young is a singular figure in the history of rock and pop culture generally in the last four decades. Reflective, insightful and disarmingly honest, in Waging Heavy Peace he writes about his life and career. From his youth in Canada to his first band’s travels across the US seeking fame ... Read more

Premier and Minister for the Arts Ted Baillieu today announced the 21 works that are in the running for the most valuable literary prize in Australia – The Victorian Prize for Literature. “Now in their 27th year, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards proudly recognise and promote the exceptional work of Australian authors, playwrights and poets. They are a celebration of writing and of readin... Read more

In a world where sportsmen fight, drink and tweet their way into trouble on a daily basis, Parramatta, New South Wales and Australian great Nathan Hindmarsh is a different breed. The softly spoken people’s champion is now playing his last season for his beloved Parramatta Eels. Sadly he will end his career never winning a premiership, but in Old School he has released one of the best auto... Read more

In one of our biggest prize offers to date, when you order My Dad Thinks He’s Funny from Booktopia you will go in the draw to win ONE of FIVE book packs worth $500 each, courtesy of the good people at Walker Books Australia. See image below, it’s a wonderful prize. This is an opportunity not to be missed. My Dad Thinks He’s Funny is a great Father’s Day gift, a great bir... Read more

The thing about Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl is that a) you have to read it and b) you have to avoid spoilers at all costs. There’s a lot of buzz surrounding this book at the moment. People are talking. Whatever you do, you MUST NOT discuss this book with anyone who has read it. If a friend recommends Gone Girl to you and starts trying to tell you what it’s about, you need to block your ears... Read more

The other day I was in a rehearsal room with a bunch of young women. Several were reading one of the Fifty Shades of Grey  trilogy while waiting to perform. I was surprised. I thought this was a book you might want to read in private (as you can tell, I haven’t read it). I asked one of these young women how it felt to be reading this book at work, in a public place and she replied: ‘Oh I’m on t... Read more

Tired of the Olympics already? Me too. So while my colleagues offer you some… normal… titles by which you might find a reprieve, I am going to offer you some more fantastical ones. Here are 5 worlds of wonder you can jump into  to escape this one – if only for a couple of days (or hours depending on how fast you read). Please note I am not including ‘Lord of the Rings... Read more

Caroline Baum: It might be a bit early to think about stocking fillers, but  make a note of this one, it will tickle the fancy of anyone irreverent and with a playful way with words. These elaborate, imaginative insults and good wishes (phrased to sound like the ancient sayings of a mystic or from a poorly translated fortune cookie) could be the start of a great new parlour game: try and make u... Read more