Australian fiction
Debut fiction to read this month
Before we dive headfirst into September new releases, we're taking the time to spotlight some of the wonderful August debut novels that you may have missed!
Firelight: Stories by John Morrissey
An imprisoned man with strange visions writes letters to his sister. A controversial business tycoon leaves his daughter a mysterious inheritance. A child is haunted by a green man with a message about the origins of their planet.
In this striking collection of stories, the award-winning John Morrissey investigates…
The Readings Prize 2023 shortlists
The Readings Prize, now in its 10th year, has been an important barometer of up-and-coming literary talent since 2014. We began with The Readings New Australian Fiction Prize and shortly thereafter extended it to include children’s fiction for ages 5–12 years and then young adult fiction for ages 12 and up. It’s a prize for debut and second novels, and it really does put writers on the map, giving them a much-needed boost (and financial support) for their career. Writers…
The Readings New Australian Fiction Prize shortlist 2023
The Readings New Australian Fiction Prize is presented to the best new contribution to Australian fiction from an emerging author.
Our staff judges for the 2023 prize are Nicki Levy (chair of judges, Readings Carlton), Angie Tsimaras (Readings Doncaster), Ruth McHugh-Dillon (Readings Emporium) and Rosalind McClintock (head of marketing). We're excited to announce this year's six shortlist titles below.
You can also view our recently announced Children's Prize and Young Adult Prize shortlists.
All That's Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien
…
Australian fiction to pick up this month
Firelight: Stories by John Morrissey
An imprisoned man with strange visions writes letters to his sister.
A controversial business tycoon leaves his daughter a mysterious inheritance.
A child is haunted by a green man with a message about the origins of their planet.
In this striking collection of stories, the award-winning John Morrissey investigates colonialism and identity without ever losing sight of his characters' humanity. Brilliantly imagined and masterfully observed, Firelight marks the debut of a writer we will be…
Shankari Chandran wins the 2023 Miles Franklin Literary Award
Shankari Chandran has been named the winner of this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award for her novel Chai Thai at Cinnamon Gardens. The Miles Franklin Literary Award recognises a novel of the highest literary merit that presents Australian life in any of its phases.
An outstanding book exploring family and memory, community and race, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is a novel full of warmth and connection.
Sydney - populated with residents with colourful histories, each with their own…
Debut fiction to read this July
Talking at Night by Claire Daverley
Will and Rosie meet as teenagers.
They're opposites in every way. She overthinks everything; he is her twin brother's wild and unpredictable friend. But over secret walks home and late-night phone calls, they become closer – destined to be one another's great love story. Until, one day, tragedy strikes, and their future together is shattered. But as the years roll on, Will and Rosie can't help but find their way back to each…
Australian fiction to pick up this month
Southern Aurora by Mark Brandi
We always listen out for the train when we're down in the cutting because sometimes they come quicker than you expect. There aren't as many trains as there used to be. Mostly just the freight ones, like the one that nearly killed us on the bus ... The best train is the Southern Aurora. It goes all the way from Melbourne to Sydney, and from Sydney to Melbourne. It stops in Mittigunda because we're pretty…
An extract from Restless Dolly Maunder by Kate Grenville
Step back in time and meet another memorable woman forgotten by history in this edited extract from Kate Grenville’s latest novel, Restless Dolly Maunder. As she did for her mother in One Life, Grenville weaves together family memories with her own research to imagine her way into the life of her grandmother, Dolly Maunder.
1927: Eighteen Thousand Pounds
The pharmacist Mr Morris was a regular at the Cally, often sat up in the lounge having a gasbag with…
Don't miss these June debuts
Before we dive headfirst into next month's releases, we're looking back at just a few of the outstanding debuts that graced our shelves in June.
Couplets by Maggie Millner
Maggie Millner’s seductive debut is a novel-in-verse about a woman in her late twenties who leaves a long-term relationship with a boyfriend for another woman. The affair thrusts her from an outwardly conventional life into queerness, polyamory, kink, and unalloyed, consuming desire. What ensues is an exploration of obsession, gender, identity-making…
BookPeople 2023 Book of the Year winners
The 2023 BookPeople Book of the Year winners have been announced! These awards celebrate the best books of the year, as judged by Australian book industry members. In addition to book honours, these annual awards also celebrate the wonderful work of Australian booksellers and this year our Managing Director Mark Rubbo was chosen as Bookseller of the Year!
Below are the winners titles from across the three categories.
Adult fiction book of the year
Limberlost by Robbie Arnott
Adult nonfiction…
The Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlist 2023
The 2023 shortlist for the Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced! The Miles Franklin Literary Award was celebrates novels of the highest literary merit that tell stories about Australian life, shining a light on some of the country’s most talented writers. Each of the 2022 shortlisted authors will receive $5,000.
Below are the six shortlisted titles.
Hopeless Kingdom by Kgshak Akec
Limberlost by Robbie Arnott
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari…
Debut Australian fiction to read this month
Anam by Andre Dao
A grandson tries to learn the family story. But what kind of story is it?
Moving from 1930s Hanoi through a series of never-ending wars and displacements to Saigon, Paris, Melbourne and Cambridge, Anam is a novel about memory and inheritance, colonialism and belonging, home and exile. Blending fiction and essay, theory and everyday life to imagine that which has been repressed, left out, and forgotten. The grandson mines his family and personal stories to turn…
The Miles Franklin Literary Award 2023 longlist
The 2023 longlist for the Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced! The Miles Franklin Literary Award celebrates novels of the highest literary merit that tell stories about Australian life, shining a light on some of the country’s most talented writers. The winner receives $60,000.
Below are the eleven longlisted titles:
Hopeless Kingdom by Kgshak Akec
Limberlost by Robbie Arnott
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran
Enclave by Claire G Coleman
…
The 2023 Age Book of the Year Winners
The 2023 Age Book of the Year winners have been announced! The awards celebrate outstanding Australian literature and include prizes for both Fiction and Nonfiction.
Robbie Arnott has won the Fiction prize for his novel, Limberlost, while Kim Mahood has won the Nonfiction prize for her essay collection, Wandering With Intent. Each winner receives $10,000 thanks to the Copyright Agency. The winners were announced during last night’s Melbourne Writers Festival opening gala.
Want to learn more about these…
Our 2023 April bestsellers
The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Did I Ever Tell You This? Sam Neill
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
Quarterly Essay 89: The Wires That Bind by Saul Griffith
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
The Anniversary by Stephanie Bishop
Outlive by Peter Attia…
New Australian fiction in April
The Anniversary by Stephanie Bishop
Novelist JB Blackwood is on a cruise with her husband, Patrick, to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Her one-time professor, Patrick is much older than JB. A maverick when they met, he seemed somehow ageless, as all new gods appear in the eyes of those who worship them. He is a film director. A cult figure. But now his success is starting to wane and JB is on the cusp of winning a major literary prize…
The 2023 ABIA shortlists
The shortlists for the 2023 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) have been announced! The ABIAs celebrate the best books of the year, as judged by Australian book industry members.
Below are the shortlisted titles from each category.
Biography Book of the Year
My Dream Time by Ash Barty
Ten Steps to Nanette by Hannah Gadsby
The Boy from Boomerang Crescent by Eddie Betts
Heartstrong by Ellidy Pullin
The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner by Grace Tame
General Fiction Book…
Debut fiction to read this month
Thirst for Salt by Madelaine Lucas
She first sees him in the water: a local man almost twenty years her senior. Adrift in the summer after finishing university, a young woman is on holiday with her mother in an isolated Australian coastal town. Finding herself pulled to Jude, the man in the water, she begins losing herself in the simple, seductive rhythms of his everyday life.
As their relationship deepens, life at Sailors Beach offers her the stability she has…
Our March 2023 bestsellers
The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Did I Ever Tell You This? Sam Neill
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
Old God's Time by Sebastian Barry
Bush Flowers by Cassandra Hamilton & Michael Pavlou
Infidelity and Other Affairs by Kate Legge
Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
BookPeople 2023 Book of the Year longlists
The 2023 BookPeople Book of the Year longlists have been announced! These awards celebrate the best books of the year, as judged by Australian book industry members.
Below are the longlisted titles from across the three categories.
Adult fiction book of the year
Limberlost by Robbie Arnott
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
Sunbathing by Isobel Beech
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
This Devastating Fever by Sophie Cunningham
Exiles by Jane Harper
All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien
The…
Dear Reader, with Alison Huber
I was struck by how fantastic this month’s Readings Monthly is. It is brimming with thoughtful reviews from our talented staff. Every time our dear editor sends me the reviews for the month, I’m affected by the passion and knowledge of our staff, whose daily job is to make sure you get a great book to read. Many career booksellers will speak of a deep attachment to books and writers, and sometimes even refer to our work as a ‘calling’…
The Dylan Thomas Prize shortlist 2023
The shortlist for this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize has been announced!
The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize is awarded for the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under. The prize celebrates the international world of fiction in all its forms including poetry, novels, short stories and drama. This year, Australian writer Robbie Arnott has been shortlisted.
The six shortlisted titles are:
Limberlost by Robbie Arnott
Seven Steeples by Sara Baume
Australian fiction titles to pick up this month
Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright
In a small town dominated by a haze cloud, which heralds both an ecological catastrophe and a gathering of the ancestors, a crazed visionary seeks out donkeys as the solution to the global climate crisis and the economic dependency of the Aboriginal people. His wife seeks solace from his madness in following the dance of butterflies and scouring the internet to find out how she can seek repatriation for her Aboriginal/Chinese family to China. One of…
Debut fiction to read this month
Go as a River by Shelley Read
Nestled in the foothills of the Elk mountains and surrounded by sprawling forests, wandering bears and porcupine, the Gunnison river rushes by the tiny town of Iola. For seventeen-year-old Victoria Nash, the day promises to be as ordinary as the porridge and fried eggs she serves her family for breakfast. But just as a single rainstorm can erode the banks and change the course of a river, so can a chance encounter in…
Dear Reader, with Alison Huber
Engaging in extensive discussions about the weather and changing seasons is part of being a Melbournian, so I am not at all self-conscious to raise this sometimes-prosaic topic, and mention that March signals for me the beginning of our gradual transition into my favourite part of the year, when the nights start to cool, the days shorten a little, and the light changes to warmer hues. It’s also the time for fungi to start growing in earnest in the damp…
The Stella Prize longlist 2023
The longlist for this year’s Stella Prize has been announced! The Stella Prize seeks to elevate the work of Australian women and non-binary writers. The $60,000 prize is awarded annually to one outstanding book deemed to be original, excellent, and engaging. This year’s prize saw over 200 entries.
Explore the 2023 Stella Prize longlist is below or view our collection here.
The Furies by Mandy Beaumont
Defiant, ferocious and unyielding - The Furies is a debut novel by Mandy Beaumont…
Top picks for book clubs this month
Crime fiction
Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor
Without a doubt Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor is one of the most exciting releases so far this year. This epic family saga meets crime thriller is the perfect marriage of substance and seduction. Politics, power and pleasure are the lynch pins fastening Kapoor’s characters together as she deftly navigates their intertwined yet drastically different lives in contemporary India.
‘Kapoor has delivered an expansive, cinematic literary thriller … At the outset…
Debut fiction to read this month
Really Good, Actually by Monica Heisey
When 28 year old Maggie finds herself suddenly, shockingly, divorced after just 608 days of marriage she embarks upon a journey of self-discovery that mostly consists of eating hamburgers at 4am, taking up a variety of new hobbies, and trying to embrace life as a Surprisingly Young Divorcée™ in the age of dating apps. Acerbically funny with razor sharp dialogue, this painfully relatable book about modern love is the debut novel from comedian, essayist…
Australian fiction titles to pick up this month
Little Plum by Laura McPhee-Browne
Coral discovers she is pregnant, and decides to keep the baby, just shy of her thirtieth birthday. Although the result of a casual sexual encounter, she has always wanted to be a mother and considers herself in an okay place in life to take this new step independently. Throughout her pregnancy she, like many expectant mothers, is also scared of what is to come. Her feelings of untetheredness and fear are further complicated by her…
Winners of the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2023
Congratulations to all the winners of the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards!
WINNER OF FICTION AND WINNER OF THE OVERALL VICTORIAN PRIZE FOR LITERATURE
Cold Enough For Snow BY Jessica Au
At just under 100 pages, the premise of the book is deceptively simple: a mother and daughter travel a rain-misted Japan together, revealing gaps in their ability to communicate. Into these gaps, Au writes tenderly of mother-daughter relationships, of the immigrant experience of dislocation and of a profound love…
The 100 bestselling books of 2022
We’ve run the reports and done the math. Here are our 100 bestselling books from the past year.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Geoffrey Trousselot (trans.)
Bulldozed by Niki Savva
Exiles by Jane Harper
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
Lessons by Ian McEwan
Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down
Dropbear by Evelyn Araluen
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
Old Vintage Melbourne, 1960-1990 by Chris Macheras
Around the Table by Julia Busuttil Nishimura
Love & Virtue by…
Our top 10 bestsellers of the week
Bulldozed by Niki Savva
Exiles by Jane Harper
Lessons by Ian McEwan
Quarterly Essay 88: Lone Wolf by Katharine Murphy
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
RecipeTin Eats: Dinner by Nagi Maehashi
Willowman by Inga Simpson
Old Vintage Melbourne, 1960–1990 by Chris Macheras
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
Our bestseller from the past week is the final instalment in Niki Sava's bestselling political trilogy. With Sava's usual access…
Best Australian fiction of 2022
Every year our staff vote for their favourite books of the past 12 months. Here are the best Australian fiction books of the year, as voted for by Readings’ staff, and displayed in alphabetical order by author.
Limberlost by Robbie Arnott
When Ned’s two brothers are away at war, and his older sister and reserved father are his only company, he finds himself hunting for rabbits to sell their pelts; partly an endeavour for distraction, somewhat an attempt to do…
Must-read Australian debut fiction from 2022
2022 was a stellar year for Australian fiction, and we saw many debut local authors experimenting boldly with various literary forms: speculative dystopia, Gothic psychodrama and riveting page-turning mysteries. If you’re looking for a new writer to fall in love with, or just want to catch up on some of the most talked-about new Australian fiction of the year, here are just a few highlights. And don’t forget to stay tuned to part two of our debut spotlight, where we…
Australian fiction titles to pick up this month
Seeing Other People by Diana Reid
After two years of lockdowns, there’s change in the air. Eleanor has just broken up with her boyfriend, Charlie’s career as an actress is starting up again. They’re finally ready to pursue their dreams-relationships, career, family-if only they can work out what it is they really want.
When principles and desires clash, Eleanor and Charlie are forced to ask: where is the line between self-love and selfishness?
'Seeing Other People explores the value…
Announcing the 2022 winners of the Readings Prizes
We are thrilled to announce the three winners of our 2022 Readings Prizes! The prizes support emerging Australian voices across three separate categories of fiction: Children’s, Young Adult and New Australian Fiction, with only debuts and second works eligible for entry. This year's winners include an evocative debut novel about a mother-daughter relationship, a moving graphic novel inspired by true events, and a riveting mystery that brings to mind classic children's adventure novels. The winner of each prize will receive…
The Readings Prizes — pathway to publishing
The winners of the Readings Prizes will be announced later tonight. Below, a number of this year's shortlistees discuss their pathways to publishing.
Anna Zobel (Little Gem, shortlisted for the Children’s Prize):
I began writing and illustrating in earnest during my teaching degree. I wrote a pretty horrid historical fantasy novel in 2017, which was maybe the second full-length novel I’d written, and I shopped it around to a few agents and publishers. I sent an email…
Q&A with Readings Prize Australian Fiction shortlisted authors
With the upcoming announcement of this year’s winner, our New Australian Fiction Prize shortlist authors talk about their inspiration, their creative process, the ideal soundtrack for reading their books and what they hope readers take away.
Want to know more about each shortlisted title? Explore the shortlist here.
What was the initial inspiration for this story?
Robert Lukins (Loveland): I was camping on the side of a mountain in Tasmania and one morning I walked to the…
Recommended reading: short story collections
We love short stories and their unique ability to distill so much insight and entertainment with artful brevity and fervour. This month we’re highlighting six collections that have recently hit our shelves.
Between Two Worlds selected by Tara June Winch and Behrouz Boochani
Offering a snapshot of contemporary Australia, this diverse collection of stories explores sense of place, family, loss, culture, sexual awakening and the abiding connections to people and place that make us who we are. Told with utterly…
The 2022 Age Book of the Year winners
The 2022 Age Book of the Year winners have been announced! This year the award once again encompassed a prize for nonfiction as well as for fiction.
Miles Allinson has won the Fiction prize for his sophomore novel, In Moonland, while Bernadette Brennan has won the Non-fiction prize for her work of biography, Leaping Into Waterfalls: The Enigmatic Gillian Mears. Each winner receives $10,000 thanks to the Copyright Agency. The winners were announced during last night’s Melbourne Writers…
Our top picks of the month for book clubs
For book clubs who are fans of Black Mirror …
Every Version of You by Grace Chan
In late twenty-first century Australia, Tao-Yi and her partner Navin spend most of their time inside a hyper-immersive, hyper-consumerist virtual reality called Gaia. They log on, go to work, socialise, and even eat in this digital utopia. Meanwhile their aging bodies lie suspended in pods inside cramped apartments.
When a new technology is developed to permanently upload a human brain to Gaia, Tao-Yi…
Debut fiction to read this month
Hydra by Adriane Howell
Anja is a young, ambitious antiquarian. When her career goes awry, Anja finds herself adrift. Cast out from the world of antiques, she stumbles upon a beachside cottage that the neighbouring naval base is offering for a 100-year lease. The property is derelict, isolated, and surrounded by scrub. Despite of, or because of, its wildness and solitude, Anja uses the last of the inheritance from her mother to lease the property. Yet a presence –…
The Readings Prize: New Australian Fiction shortlist
The Readings New Australian Fiction Prize is presented to the best new contribution to Australian literature. Our 2022 staff judges are: Christine Gordon (community engagement and programming and chair of judges), Carolyn Watson (Readings Doncaster), Susan Stevenson (Readings Malvern) and Tye Cattanach (schools and libraries specialist).
Discover the six shortlisted titles below.
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
A daughter arranges to meet her mother in Japan; a reunion of sorts. As they travel through art galleries and temples…
The 2022 Age Book of the Year shortlists
The 2022 Age Book of the Year Shortlists have been announced! This year the award will once again include a prize for works of nonfiction as well as for fiction.
Fiction
In Moonland by Miles Allinson
Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
After Story by Larissa Behrendt
The Signal Line by Brendan Colley
Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down
Love & Virtue by Diana Reid
Nonfiction
Whole Notes by Ed Ayres
Leaping Into Waterfalls by Bernadette Brennan
Debut fiction to read this month
The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach
A queer, Maori-inspired debut fantasy about a police officer who is murdered, brought back to life with a mysterious new power, and tasked with protecting her city from an insidious evil threatening to destroy it.
Basin by Scott McCulloch
A nomad swallows poison and drowns himself. Resuscitated by a paramilitary bandit named Aslan, Figure is nursed back into a world of violence, sexuality and dementia. Together, Figure and Aslan traverse a coastline erupting…
Australian fiction titles to pick up this month
The Diplomat by Chris Womersley
1991, Fresh out of detox and five years after his involvement in the theft of Picasso’s masterpiece The Weeping Woman from the NGV, Edward Degraves - art forger and drug addict - returns to Melbourne for a new start. All he needs to do is make one last visit to The Diplomat, a seedy motel renowned for its drug dealers and eccentrics.
‘What is most remarkable about The Diplomat is the prose. It is beautiful…
Jennifer Down wins the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award
Jennifer Down has been named the winner of this year’s Miles Franklin Literary Award for her novel Bodies of Light. The Miles Franklin Literary Award recognises a novel of the highest literary merit that presents Australian life in any of its phases.
A profound book about the effect childhood trauma can have on a life, Bodies of Light cements Down as one of the most accomplished writers of her generation.
Bookseller Bec Kavanagh says of the work: ‘Down has…
Our top picks of the month for book clubs
For book clubs who love dining out…
Raised by Wolves by Jess Ho
Growing up Cantonese in the racist outer suburbs was hard enough for Jess Ho, but add in a dysfunctional family who only ever made peace over food (and then only until the bill arrived), and it was clear that a normal life was never on the menu. She emerged from her childhood with two important traits: a major psychological complex, and a kick-arse palate. Both would help…
Petite novels for distractible minds
For those who are struggling to hold the threads of longer narratives right now, we recommend these six short novels for their brevity and staying-power. You’ll be thinking about each of these stories long after their final page.
At 112 pages:
Assembly by Natasha Brown
A blistering and unignorable literary debut about Blackness and whiteness in modern Britain.
Over the course of twenty-four hours, the whip-smart young narrator of Assembly receives a cancer diagnosis, decides not to tell her posh…
The Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlist 2022
The 2022 shortlist for the Miles Franklin Literary Award has been announced!
The Miles Franklin Literary Award was celebrates novels of the highest literary merit that tell stories about Australian life, shining a light on some of the country’s most talented writers. Each of the 2022 shortlisted authors will receive $5,000.
Below are the five shortlisted titles:
One Hundred Days by Alice Pung
The Other Half of You by Michael Mohammed Ahmad
Scary Monsters by Michelle de Kretser
Browse our blog by category
