Book Recommendations Archives

What did Booktopia’s customers buy in 2011? Here are the twenty highest selling non-fiction titles… 1. The Dukan Diet by Pierre Dukan Nothing could have prepared us for the hit of the year. One day we were Dukan free, the next day every order seemed to leave containing a copy of The Dukan Diet. In France it sold 4 million copies. Then celebs were quoted saying the diet worked. And then it was r... Read more

The Amazing True Story of a Broken-down Zoo, and the 200 Animals That Changed a Family Forever A few years ago, Ben and his wife, Katherine, sold their small flat in Primrose Hill and moved to France to pursue their dream of restoring an old barn near Nimes.That dream then became much, much bigger, as they moved with their two young children, Ben’s 76 year-old mother and his brother, into a run... Read more

What did Booktopia’s customers buy in 2011? Here are the twenty highest selling fiction titles… 1. Inheritance by Christopher Paolini Keeping in mind that the fourth and final instalment of Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle was only released in November, hitting the number one sales spot for the entire year is an amazing achievement. Pre-orders for Inheritance were astonishing, but ... Read more

The Book of Summers - best read on a hazy warm afternoon on a verandah. With a box of tissues. And a ticket to Budapest in your back pocket. Read more

Publishing sensation Amanda Hocking’s story reads like a fairy tale. She self-published her novels and sold a million copies within a year or so. The very thought of such overnight success can cause normally quite reasonable unpublished authors to lose their heads. On the strength of a headline – ‘Self-published author makes money’  – thousands of authors have flow... Read more

Lauren Kate author of Fallen, Torment and Passion reveals The 5 best novels I read in 2011 are… The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking th... Read more

It was recently revealed that Pippa Middleton’s envious figure was down to weekly pilates sessions at her local studio. Now Pippa’s teacher is set to pass on the secrets of her exercise routine in a new book. Margot Campbell was approached by several publishing houses after the Duchess of Cambridge’s sister recommended her on the ‘Pilates on the Go‘ website. Campbe... Read more

Lisa Heidke author of Lucy Springer Gets Even, What Kate Did Next, Claudia’s Big Break and, coming in January 2012, Stella Makes Good reveals… The 5 best novels I read this year are… Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar Lisa Heidke: Set on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and marketed as a Young Adult, Raw Blue centres around Carly, a teenage surfer trying to find her place in the world. This emotionally gr... Read more

Wendy Jones has written a surprisingly restrained and moving book. There are secrets which aren't pretty, there are shocks without sensationalism. This is a novel about duty, love, loss and responsibility and it deserves a very wide audience. Read more

Secrets and Lies is a series of eight modern classics with deception at their very core. Read more