PANZ Book Design Awards 2012 winners
6 July 2012
The winners of the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) Book Design Awards were announced on 5 July. The winning titles are: Gerard Reid Award for Best Book sponsored by...
Bestsellers this week
29 March 2012
With the film adaptation of the first book in the ‘Hunger Games’ trilogy (Scholastic) hitting Australian cinemas last week, the charts are populated with Suzanne Collins’ novels this week. The...
INTERVIEW: Deb Cox on ‘Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries’
23 March 2012
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries is the television adaptation of Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher books (A&U), currently screening each Friday night on ABC. Andrew Wrathall spoke to head writer Deb Cox....
Adaptations at the 84th Acadamy Awards 2012
29 February 2012
Four book-to-film adaptations won Oscars at the 84th Academy Awards after a slew of nominations for 13 adaptations. Hugo was the big winner, which was nominated for 11 Oscars and...
The 60th annual APA Book Design Awards shortlist 2012
20 February 2012
The shortlisted titles for this year's Australian Publishers Association (APA) Book Design Awards have been announced. Here are some of the award categories. The full shortlist is available on the APA...
Bestsellers this week
15 February 2012
James Patterson's latest book in the 'Private' series, Private: No. 1 Suspect (Century), finds Jack Morgan, founder of the world's best investigation agency, Private, in the spotlight as the number...
Twenty nights of queer literature
14 February 2012
Melbourne’s queer bookshop Hares & Hyenas recently celebrated its 20th birthday with what must be a record in queer literature events: 20 nights of readings featuring close to 100 authors....
Most mentioned this week
13 February 2012
The bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens is being celebrated around the world with exhibitions, theatre performances, film screenings and more. Charles Dickens' classics Great Expectations and Oliver Twist...
Text Publishing to launch Australian Classics
1 February 2012
Text Publishing will launch a series of ‘Australian Classics’ with 30 titles in May. The books, which contain new introductions from various well-known writers, will be priced at $12.95, with...
BOOK REVIEW: Reframe: How to Solve the World’s Trickiest Problems (Eric Knight, Black Inc.)
31 January 2012
Eric Knight writes that instead of focussing on the details of a problem with a metaphorical magnifying glass, readers should step back and reframe the issue in order to see...
Craig Cliff on ‘the trans-Tasman literary gulf’ and how to bridge it
18 January 2012
In Melbourne, author Eleanor Catton and I appeared in a session called ‘New New Zealand Fiction’. If the session’s blurb in the program is anything to go by, the festival...
Picador relaunches its ‘greatest novels’
17 January 2012
To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Pan Macmillan imprint Picador is re-issuing 12 of its ‘greatest novels’ in March. This one-off list, which is being spearheaded by Picador UK, draws on...
National Year of Reading 2012
6 January 2012
The National Year of Reading 2012 (NYR2012) initiative will be officially launched on 14 February. The year-long campaign is about teaching children to read, helping readers rediscover the joys of...
Most mentioned this week
19 December 2011
The death of political writer and renowned athiest Christopher Hitchens received considerable media coverage over the weekend, with two of Hitchens' books--his memoir Hitch-22 (A&U) and a collection of his...
Most mentioned this week
12 December 2011
As the year draws to a close, publications are looking back at 2011 and compiling lists of the best books of the year. For a round up of the 'best of 2011' lists see Fancy Goods. Appearing...
Best books of 2011
7 December 2011
Tis the season for ‘best of’ lists, and whether you get your tips from the New York Times, Goodreads or local booksellers/tastemakers such as Jon Page and David Gaunt, this...
Bestsellers this week
30 November 2011
The Heffley family is trapped indoors during a blizzard but when the snow melts, 13-year-old Greg is going to have to face the music after an incident at school. Cabin...
A Factory of Stories
30 November 2011
In May this year, the Sydney Story Factory was officially launched. The factory is a not-for-profit centre designed to help children and young adults, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with...
Most mentioned this week
28 November 2011
Ahead of the bicentenary of his birth next year, Charles Dickens was all over the papers this week thanks to a new biography Claire Tomalin's Charles Dickens: A Life (Viking). Receiving equal...
The name’s Coronel, Tim Coronel…
23 November 2011
[caption id="attachment_4825" align="alignleft" width="156" caption="Man of mystery."][/caption] Some say he is an exiled royal of the Russian Empire, living an anonymous life of wealth and good taste in the states...
Most mentioned this week
21 November 2011
All five books on the most mentioned chart received equal mentions this week. Gillian Mears' Foal's Bread (A&U) appeared on the Most Mentioned list again, as it continues to generate interest...
Bookish dates for 2012
16 November 2011
It’s never too early (or nerdy) to start filling in next year’s diary. Here are some key dates for the book industry: Taipei International Book Exhibition: 1-6 February Perth Writers...
BOOK REVIEW: Tell Them to Get Lost (Brian Thacker, William Heinemann)
16 November 2011
The gimmick behind Brian Thacker’s travel tale Tell Them to Get Lost is that his journey is inspired—and guided—by South East Asia on a Shoestring, the first guidebook by Lonely...
Believe It or Not! Ripley’s archivist Edward Meyer visits Australia
15 November 2011
[caption id="attachment_4780" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Edward Meyer holds a shrunken head, which he gave to book distributor Ice Water Press."][/caption] Earlier this month Ripley’s vice president of exhibits and archives, Edward...
Why is it cheaper to post a book from overseas than within Australia? Australia Post, the Royal Mail and the cost of shipping books
5 October 2011
The Australian book community is well aware of the growing importance of international online retailers such as Amazon and UK-based the Book Depository (which could soon become one company if...
BOOK REVIEW: Vampyre (Margaret Wild, illus by Andrew Yeo, Walker Books)
4 October 2011
Margaret Wild is a deservedly admired and awarded Australian picture-book author, and her collaboration with significant new talent Andrew Yeo has produced the wonderful Vampyre. Ostensibly a tale about a...
‘The Slap’ on TV
28 September 2011
The first episode of the eight-part mini-series adaptation of The Slap (Christos Tsiolkas, A&U) is due to air on ABC1 on Thursday, 6 October at 8.30pm. Each episode, like the...
BOOK REVIEW: Midnight in Peking (Paul French, Viking)
29 August 2011
Peking was the name of the city of Beijing, before Mao Zedong and the Communist Party introduced the modern standard of writing to China. The name conjures up the nostalgia...
CBCA winners
19 August 2011
The winners of this year's Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Book of the Year Awards were announced today. The winners and honour books in each of the categories are:...
BOOK REVIEW: Harry Curry: Counsel of Choice (Stuart Littlemore, HarperCollins)
9 August 2011
Stuart Littlemore, QC and barrister, is best known for his role as writer and host of ABC’s Media Watch from its inception in 1989 to 1997. Littlemore, having returned to...