NewsBite

eBooks

Yesterday

“Good looking guys, that sure doesn’t hurt”: The Drive To Survive docuseries has spawned a boom in F1 romance novels.

Formula 1 is booming. So are romance novels about the sport

The sports romance genre is seeing a new trend thanks in part to the popularity of the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive.

  • Gregory Leporati

This Month

Books,  The Season, Helen Garner. Juice, Tim Winton. We Solve Murders, Richard Osman. Tonight, Nagi/RecipeTin Eats. THe Chairman’s Loung, Joe Aston. Orbital, Samantha Harvey. Big Jim Begins, Dav Pilkey. In Too Deep, Lee Child

Australian authors dominate Christmas book sales

Tim Winton, Helen Garner, Joe Aston and Nagi Maehashi – or RecipeTin Eats, as her website is called – are leading sales and helping independent bookshops stay strong.

  • Hannah Wootton
The world of publishing is changing, and “Icebreaker” proves it.

You’ve seen this book everywhere. TikTok is responsible

The romance novel “Icebreaker” has sold almost 2 million copies since publisher Anthea Bariamis discovered it on BookTok, a forum turning the fiction industry on its head.

  • Lucy Dean
  • Christmas Gift Guide 2024
  • Review
two pages from Great Women Sculptors, Phaidon I

Books to treasure or give this holiday season

Elevate your mood and mind with our selection of new coffee table editions, ranging from spectacular photography to quirky knowledge.

  • Updated
  • Stephen Clark

Max Allen picks the best wine books to give

One Thousand Vines will change the way the reader thinks about – and enjoys – wine. Plus, three vintages to sip along the way.

  • Updated
  • Max Allen
Advertisement
You, too, can make  Meatsmith’s Fig and Jamon Salad featured in their new cookbook. It’s a great gift idea, too.

Jill Dupleix’s easy festive menu from three top cookbooks of 2023

Why sweat in the kitchen while everyone else is drinking bubbly and opening presents?

  • Updated
  • Jill Dupleix
Life & Leisure reporter Lucy Dean at Maccallum Seawater Pool with a few of her summer books.

12 books fiction lovers will give (or hope to receive)

We asked prominent Australian writers, readers, tome-buyers and page turners to tell us what they are most hoping to get – and send to others.

  • Updated
  • Lucy Dean

October

A detail of a page of the Leonardo da Vinci’s “Codex of the Flight of Birds”.

The surprising history of the humble notebook

This history of writing on paper helps explain the enduring allure of the blank page in the digital age.

  • Michael Dirda

August

The founder of digiDirect Shant Kradjian has snapped up online book seller Booktopia where he plans to add 100 jobs.

Booktopia emerges from administration after sale to digiDirect

The company was once worth $400 million. The founder of digiDirect says he intends to invest in the business to turn around its poor performance.

  • Carrie LaFrenz

July

Booktopia CEO Tony Nash (left) and co-founder Steve Traurig at the company’s ASX float in 2020.

Kogan, QBD on the scene at collapsed Booktopia

Booktopia also offers “unique” technology, website assets and systems, and wholesale sales channels into retail and educational markets for a would-be acquirer, sources noted.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

April

Does everything still look better in black and white?

Kobo’s first foray into colour e-book readers would be perfect if it wasn’t for one, small flaw.

  • John Davidson

December 2023

The books flying off the shelves right now

Richard Flanagan’s “best thing yet”, a graphic novel for teenagers, Trent Dalton’s latest novel and ‘dragons and young love’ are flying off bookshop shelves.

  • Hannah Wootton
Detail from the cover of ‘The Immortals of Motorcycle Racing: the world champs’.

Is this the ultimate stocking filler for motorcycle fanatics?

They’re among the world’s fiercest and most courageous competitors. Veteran race correspondent Darryl Flack has compiled a winning tribute.

  • Tony Davis

November 2023

Rebecca Gibb is an assured storyteller as well as a master of wine. Her new book on wine fraud is enthralling.

Wine books to savour, and what to sip on while you’re reading

Our drinks writer reckons wine pairing doesn’t always have to apply to food. How about some perfectly matched reading material?

  • Max Allen

September 2023

Time is the backdrop for our place in what is now a supremely mechanised world.

Tasks or time? What is a better measure of your worth

Tired of endless tomes on time management? An artist and a watchmaker, no less, share wisdom about this most precious modern resource.

  • Nilanjana Roy
Advertisement
Paul Bangay at Stonefields

Why Australia’s top garden designer is embracing natives

How Paul Bangay, Australia’s most celebrated garden creator, went from sustainability to ostentation and back again.

  • Stephen Clark

June 2023

A $5 million short-term debt facility from AFSG Capital included investment from Booktopia co-founder Tony Nash.

Booktopia raising to fund warehouse consolidation

The two-tranche placement was priced at 12¢ a share, or a 25 per cent discount to the last close. 

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
A general view of the main chamber of the Old Library, The Long Room, in Trinity College University, in Dublin.

Machine learning is breathing new life into forgotten books

Open Road markets older books with a technology that scrapes the internet for any mentions, then develops a marketing plan for pricing, promotions and searchability.

  • Elizabeth A. Harris

May 2023

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka and a ranger track gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.

Uganda’s first wildlife vet calls for more gorilla tourism

Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka recalls a cheeky monkey that inspired her younger self to dream big. Today, as her country marks the 30th anniversary of gorilla tourism, she’s a key reason for its success.

  • Catherine Marshall
The late master saddler Denis Jackson made the Australian Stock Saddles that Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman rode in in the movie, Australia, directed by Baz Luhrmann film.

Bushcraft: R.M. Williams is not the only master of the trade

Taking a trot down history lane to uncover the origins of the Australian stock saddle threw up some intriguing early maestros of the leather trade.

  • Fiona Carruthers

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/ebooks-hw4