Reading

Curl up with a good book as the weather turns cold.

“If you can read you can do anything! You can cook, sew, and further your education.”

Expert advice for navigating those tricky years together.

You'll never regret developing a love of books in your kids.

Coding is the new literacy!

Surprise (and impress) with this inspiring page-turner come Mother's Day.

Challenging the norms, one book at a time.

Reading to your children from a young age helps them to develop key skills. Here are 20 great books your children will love.

This must be one of the cheapest ways to keep the kids entertained and most importantly, educated.

Australia’s literati celebrate the year’s best books at the 2017 ABIA Awards.

You'll need to wait until 2017 though.

In theory, reading is a great way to relax. Any bookworm will tell you that curling up with a good book and a hot cuppa is the stuff weekends are made of. But is fiction always good for you?

The Bible is widely believed to be the best-selling book of all-time but it has in fact been pitted for first place.

The Australian Booksellers Association's top 10 kids books

The benefits of regularly reading with and to your child are bountiful, as are the joys of music, singing, dancing and playing.

The 10 best phone apps for helping preschoolers learn to read.

Dutch designer Christian Boer, a graduate of Utrecht Art Academy, has stepped up and created a dyslexic-friendly typeface to make reading easier for dyslexics like himself. Called Dyslexie the font, originally created as part of Boer’s 2008 university thesis, looks a lot like typical lettering, but is customised so that the variation between each character […]

Life After Life By Kate Atkinson, Random House, $32.95. Pursuing the many avenues of what could have happened if one moment in time had turned out differently is not unique — think Groundhog Day, Sliding Doors — but dramatising the notion with quite the intriguing multi-layered detail and myriad mind-bending permutations that award-winning author Kate […]

Detective Anna Travis’ worst nightmare comes true when a sadistic killer she helped put behind bars claims he can help her with a murder investigation. A redhead, clad in snappy suits and starched collars, Lynda La Plante’s Detective Inspector Anna Travis has crime investigation in her blood. Her late father was a detective chief superintendent […]

Download your exclusive first chapter from Bad Behaviour by Liz Byrski here. About the author: Even today, Liz Byrski can hardly believe it. There she was in London in 1968, a very exciting place to be in a year of monumental change and upheaval, and what was she doing? “I was pregnant with my first […]

An exclusive extract from the Great Read in the May issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly: What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (Pan McMillan) Was that talkback radio she could hear? She hated talkback radio. The callers were so cranky and nasal. They were always appalled by something. Alice said that she’d never been appalled […]

Last week I had a telephone call with two film producers who were interested in buying the rights for my new novel, What Alice Forgot. It was all very tense and thrilling. “Shhhh,” I said to my toddler, George, to indicate that this was important, and maybe he’d like to go and quietly read his […]

An exclusive extract from the Great Read in the April issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly: The Help by Kathryn Stockett (Fig Tree) Constantine came to work in our house at six in the morning and at harvest time, she came at five. That way she could fix Daddy his biscuits and gravy before he […]

Exclusive extract from The Australian Women’s Weekly Great Read, March issue Still Alice (Simon and Schuster) by Lisa Genova. “John?” Alice waited, suspended in the front hallway, holding the handle of her suitcase. Harvard Magazine lay on the top of a pile of unclaimed mail strewn on the floor in front of her. The clock […]

Extract from January’s Great Read:The Other Side of Starsby Clemency Burton-Hill. He had gone to the gala performance of Phedre at the Theatre du Chalet as part of a British Embassy delegation; he couldn’t even remember now what the occasion had been. A fuss had been made before the curtain went up, though, because due […]

Exclusive extract from How To Break Your Own Heart by Maggie Alderson, the Great Read in the November issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. ‘Do you always sleep in separate beds? Kiki’s question took me so much by surprise that I’d answered her truthfully before I had time to think about it. I hadn’t had […]

There are few pastimes more pleasurable than curling up with a good book and losing yourself in another world. Books Editor Carol George spoke to Bryce Courtenay, one of Australia’s best-loved authors, about which stories inspired his own literary passion. The only thing I ever stole in my life was a book. I was six […]

Download your exclusive first chapter from East of the Sun by Julia Gregson here. Responsible young woman, twenty-eight years old, fond of children with knowledge of India, will act as chaperone on Tilbury to Bombay run in return for half fare. It seemed like a form of magic to Viva Holloway when, having paid three […]

Exclusive extract fromThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Societyby Mary Ann Shaffer, the Great Read in the August issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. From Juliet to Sidney 22 May 1946 There’s so much to tell you. I’ve been in Guersney only twenty hours, but each one has been so full of new faces […]

Exclusive extract from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, the Great Read in the August issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.

Exclusive extract from The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton, the Great Read in the July issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. A sharp turn and Eliza was thrown against the hard, cold door. Shocked from sleep, it took her some moments to remember where she was, why she was alone in a darkened carriage being […]

Exclusive extract fromThe Dark Mountainby Catherine Jinks, the Great Read in the June issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. The day itself was hot and sultry. A late storm threatened in the slow gathering of dark clouds to the north, but from sunrise it was evident that there would be no early relief. I remember […]

Exclusive extract from Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner. When I was a kid, our small-town paper published wedding announcements, with descriptions of the ceremonies and dresses and pictures of the brides. Two of the disc jockeys on one of the local radio stations would spend Monday morning picking through the photographs and nominating the Bow-Wow […]

Exclusive extract from Trip of a Lifetime by Liz Byrski. Later, even when she’d had time to think about it, she still couldn’t remember anything unusual about that evening; no sense of foreboding, no warning signal, not even feeling of unease. The meeting ran late, it was dark and wet as they came out of […]

Exclusive extract from Addition by Toni Jordan. It’s Friday, 13 degrees. It’s exactly 10.30 a.m. I leave the house on foot, like I do every day. 150 steps to the corner, then 400 to the next corner. 20 to cross the street. 325 to the next corner, then 25 paces to the front of the […]

Exclusive extract from A Question of Death (Allen and Unwin) by Kerry Greenwood. Marrying The Bookie’s Daughter ‘Phryne,’ said Lindsay Herbert. ‘Will you marry me?’ Phryne Fisher had been drowsing, lying naked on her moss-green sheets with the young man’s head on her shoulder. Now she was shocked awake. She released Lindsay and slid down […]

Exclusive extract from monsoon by Do Morrissey (Published by Pan MacMillan). Sandy pushed the send button and then, in the twilight, changed into cotton shorts, a T-shirt and running shoes and walked down to Hoan Kiem Lake in the centre of Hanoi to think about her future. She loved the tranquil scenery there – weeping […]

Exclusive extract from Broken (Macmillan Australia) by Ilsa Evans , the Great Read in the September 2007 issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. She’d worn white to her wedding. Huge clouds of frosted white that billowed around her in the wind like fairytale snow. Against her waist she held a bouquet of milky roses that […]

Exclusive extract from Buying A Piece of Paris (Scribe) by Ellie Nielsen, the Great Read in the August 2007 issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. It’s true. I didn’t understand French meat. And what I wanted, more than anything else in the world, was to walk into that butcher’s shop and buy a piece of […]

Exclusive extract from Still Life With Husband (Vintage) by Lauren Fox. “Nobody’s staring at me!” I say again. “What are you talking about?” But then I see him, the young, dark-haired man sitting alone across the room. He is unshaven in a sexy, can’t-be-bothered way (but also potentially in an unemployed way); he’s stuck a […]

EExclusive extract from The Scandal of the Season (Random House Australia) by Sophie Gee. Arabella Fermor was looking at herself in the glass, considering on which side of her cheek the morning’s beauty patch should be placed. She stepped back so that Betty, her maid, could tighten the robings on her stays. Arabella’s lapdog, Shock, […]

Exclusive extract from This Way to the Sea by Gillian Nicholson. Bindi’s vanished, so Christo gives her a whistle. We hear her crashing through the bush before we see her parting a sea of tall grass as she runs to us. She throws herself onto the lawn at our feet, grunting and rolling and wiping […]

Exclusive extract fromShearwater(Viking) by Andrea Mayes. In that place, the birds come and go in great clouds, and the season turns at the rush of grey wings. Through spring and summer dusk falls to their rhythm, and in the winter, the land is bereft, hushed and waiting for their return. These are the shearwaters, mutton-birds, […]

Exclusive extract from From Baghdad, With Love (Pan Macmillan Australia) by Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman. I don’t remember exactly when I got to the house that served as our command post in the north-west sector of Fallujah, and I don’t remember exactly how I got there. I remember being exhausted, the tiredness weighing more heavily […]

Exclusive extract from Blind Submission (Allen and Unwin) by Debra Ginsberg. “Well, why don’t we sit down and get started?” Lucy said, gesturing for me to sit on the couch. Craig positioned himself on a chair next to me, holding a legal pad on his lap. Lucy sat down next to me, so close our […]

Exclusive extract from The Consequences of Marriage by Isla Dewar (Headline). These days, the allotment, with its winding brick paths, small white picket fences and vibrant flowerbeds, was a little neglected. Weeds had pushed up through the cracks in the path, and the small shed where the tools were kept, and where Bibi sat by […]

Exclusive extract from The Valley by Di Morrisey (Pan Macmillan Australia). Dani was glad they were in Helen’s old station wagon as the back roads were dirt and gravel. She could hardly believe the beauty of the gullies and hills, and every so often a vista of green river. She took photos of old houses […]

Exclusive extract from Belly Dancing for Beginners by Liz Byrski (published by Pan Macmillan Australia). Gayle had cried so long and so hard that her face burned, her throat ached and her body felt drained by the intensity of her emotions. She had wept for the loss of her daughter, the yawning gap of the […]

Exclusive extract from Listen by Kate Veitch (published by Viking/Penguin). They were plump, meaty birds, Rosemarie admitted grudgingly as she shoved in handfuls of stuffing. The rich creamy-yellow colour of the plucked skin was testament to their short but happy lives, in a generous yard with good food and plenty of it, and they would […]

An exclusive extract from Three Bags Full(Doubleday) by Leonie Swann. ‘He was healthy yesterday,’ said Maude. Her ears twitched nervously. ‘That doesn’t mean anything,’ pointed out Sir Ritchfield, the oldest ram in the flock. ‘He didn’t die of an illness. Spades are not an illness.’ The shepherd was lying in the green Irish grass beside […]

Exclusive extract from The Shifting Fog (Allen & Unwin) by Kate Morton. The week passed quickly. With so many extra people in the house I was kept busy making up rooms, carrying tea trays, laying out luncheons. This pleased me well as I was not shy of hard work — Mother had made sure of […]

Exclusive extract from Once upon a day (Allen & Unwin) by Lisa Tucker, the Great Read in the June issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. Stephen Spaulding was very happy, and you can’t say that about most people. He hadn’t sought happiness, but he recognized it. This was his gift: to know what he had. […]

Exclusive extract from Sparkles (Headline/Review) by Louise Bagshawe. ‘So,’ the lady said. ‘You have come at last.’ ‘Just so, madame,’ said Sophie, nervously. Her mother in law shook her head and made a little moue of annoyance with her thin lips. ‘Speak English, girl, for heaven’s sake,’ she snapped. ‘You were never any good at […]

Exclusive extract from The Stone Angel (Macmillan) by Katherine Scloles. Stella’s hand looked large and pale in the undersea light. Strands of hair drifted in front of her mask. She held onto a rock as a swell came through, swirling the weeds. When the sea became still again she pulled her knife from the sheath […]

Exclusive extract from Anybody out there? By Marian Keyes. I used to dream of a white wedding. The kind of dream where you jerk awake in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, your head pounding. A dream in the worst nightmare kind of way. I could see it all. The months of bickering […]

Exclusive extract from Left Bank by Kate Muir. Olivier was in Barthélémy’s cheese shop on the Rue de Grenelle, his nostrils flaring on delight at the loamy, buttery smell. You could leave the cooking up to the maid, but not the selection of cheeses for a dinner party. Was it not Olivier’s favourite foodie, Anthelme […]

Exclusive extract from Love and Other Impossible Pursuits by Ayelet Waldman. In the Olivia books, it still doesn’t matter if the little white pig is not at all sleepy. She still has to take a nap. William, however, is under no such compulsion. His mother has decreed that since William’s imagination is so “activated,” since […]

Exclusive extract from Social Crimes (Allen and Unwin) written by Jane Stanton Hitchcock. Murder was never my goal in life. I’m a very sentimental person at heart. I cry in old movies. I love animals and children. I’m a pushover for a beggar in the street. So if anyone had told me five years ago […]

Exclusive extract from One Sunday (Macmillan), written by Joy Dettman. Tom heard that hammering and he didn’t want to wake up and hear it took it into his dream. It was the young Ronnie, in uniform. In his dream, he reached for his oldest boy, then he saw he had no face, no arms, and […]

Exclusive extract from The Last Anniversary (Macmillan), written by Liane Moriarty. Sophie had been going out with Thomas for nearly a year when she decided to break up with him. The decision was the result of weeks of agonised self-analysis. Yes, she loved him, but did she love him for the right reasons? She knew, […]

Exclusive extract from Plan B (Review), written by Emily Barr. It was a terrible day to emigrate. The sun was shining. The sky was a deep spring blue. My breath came in clouds all around me. Clifton Street was beautiful. The tall white houses opposite were bleached by the light. I could smell the sea […]

Exclusive extract from Gone With The Windsors (HarperCollins) by Laurie Graham. Gone With The Windsors is the story of the affair between American widow Wallis Simpson and the Prince of Wales and the crisis that followed when Edward chose love over duty and abducted from the throne. Based loosely on historical fact and set in […]

Exclusive extract from Those Garrison Women by Louise Shaffer, published by Bantam. The newspaper could have been hers. Hank had been toying with the idea of selling it for a couple of years, and Peggy had offered to buy it for her. Peggy Garrison had been her friend, as were the two other members of […]

Exclusive Extract from The Italian Romance by Joanne Carroll. One thing I know for sure is that whoever she is, this woman who knows my family, I do not want to meet her in full view of a voracious pack of strangers. I get up. I must have lost my balance, for whatever-his-name-is has grabbed […]

When she turned off the ignition that evening, Barbara Havers remained inside the Mini, once again listening disconsolately to its sputtering engine. She rested her head on the steering wheel. She was knackered. Odd to think that spending hours upon hours on computers and telephones was more exhausting than hoofing round London to track down […]

Selected as the Great Read in the March issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. Prologue August 1986 People didn’t have babies on aeroplanes. They just didn’t. Well – well, actually they did. And then it was all over the newspapers. ‘Gallant aircrew deliver bouncing boy,’ it said, or words to that effect, and then went […]

Selected as the Great Read in the February issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. A poignant, funny story, told through a series of letters and emails between Rosie and Alex, best friends since childhood. Through the years the possibility of a romance between the two hangs tantalisingly in the air, but life seems to conspire […]

Selected as the Great Read in the January issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. There is a Mute in the Kitchen Devi never cooked. It wasn’t like she was a terrible cook; she’d just never done it before. Saroj had tried to teach her children to cook without having them actually cook in her kitchen, […]

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig (Bantam $29.95) An American student, Eloise, comes to London to research a couple of historical spies and comes upon the trail of the most elusive agent of all, the Pink Carnation who saved England from Napoleonic invasion. A breezy historical romance, escapist and enjoyable. My […]

Santa Kid by James Patterson (Headline $29.95) Best selling thriller writer James Patterson turns his hand to writing for...

Selected as the Great Read in The Australian Women's Weekly - The Tenko Club.