Collins Booksellers Thirroul in Thirroul, New South Wales | Shopping & retail

Collins Booksellers Thirroul

Locality: Thirroul, New South Wales

Address: 5/264 Lawrence Hargrave Drive 2515 Thirroul, NSW, Australia

Website: http://collinsbooksthirroul.com.au/

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23.01.2022 It’s our brilliant Summer’s turn to share her picks of 2020! What’s made it onto her list of favourite reads of the year? - Piranesi, Susanna Clarke - Loner, Georgina Young - Troy, Stephen Fry... - Rodham, Curtis Sittenfeld - The Happiest Man on Earth, Eddie Jaku - The Hunted, Gabriel Bergmoser - My Dark Vanessa, Kate Elizabeth Russell And an honourable mention goes to Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life by Jane Sherron de Hart, which Summer is currently reading and lovingand it seems quite a few of you are loving it too as we’re sold out

23.01.2022 Ben & Moses embarking on their holiday Mission Impossible today!!

22.01.2022 You can find the brand new and totally fabulous publication South Coaster in store now! This local guidebook is brought to you by the same clever local family publishers of 2508 District News and 2515 Coast News. South Coaster’s focus is on fun, family and adventure, with lots of outdoor action and nature escapes. It’s jam-packed with local knowledge and we love how supportive it is of the area’s local businesses. The team have done a fantastic job putting it together and we know you’re all going to get a lot out of it You can check it out in person at our shop counter and it’s also available to purchase on our website.

22.01.2022 Add a little magic to your reading life with A Deadly Education This first book in a new series by fantasy author Naomi Novik had Kate enthralled a few weeks ago and Angus is currently absorbed in it. Our badass female protagonist El is in her third year at the Scholomancea school for magic unlike those we’ve come to expect from series like Harry Potter and Lev Grossman’s The Magicians. The Scholomance is bloody dangerous, entirely unsupervised by adults and plagued by mo...nsters who incessantly break through the wards meant to protect its students. Kate says, The world-building is next levelclever, brutal, and wholly originaland the plot gallops along. El’s caustic wit was a constant delight (she is rude to everyone at all times and it is so satisfying). I can certainly recommend this to adult fantasy readers, and older teens, but I’d also love to get it in the hands of people like me who read a lot of literary fiction and have a soft spot for books about bold women. You can find A Deadly Education in the Recommended Sci-Fi/Fantasy section of our website and in store now

22.01.2022 Angus and Michael are both very much looking forward to reading The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. They’re fans of literary horror and the reviews coming out of the U.S. have deeply impressed. Gabino Iglesias wrote for @npr, Besides the creeping horror and gory poetry, The Only Good Indians does a lot in terms of illuminating Native American life from the inside, offering insights into how old traditions and modern living collide in contemporary life. If you love to see writers push an established genre into new territory (and don’t mind a bit of bloodshed!), the The Only Good Indians should be on your TBR too.

21.01.2022 If you’re looking for a pressie to take along to a birthday party this weekend, we suggest you check out A Fairy Tale Revolution We’ve seen quite a few retellings of classic children’s stories these last few years but this stellar line-up of authors really takes the cake! Penned by some notable literary names and featuring bold, graphic illustrations, this series is a brilliant addition to any child’s bookshelf. The four titles in A Fairy Tale Revolution are... - Cinderell...a Liberator, Rebecca Solnit - Blueblood, Malorie Blackman - Hansel and Greta, Jeanette Winterson - Duckling, Kamila Shamsie You can find them all in store and in the Recommended Picture Books section of our website now.

21.01.2022 You know we love Philip Bunting, and we know lots of our local families love him too! Bunting’s newest picture book Wombat landed in store this week and it’s our new favourite read-aloud. Bunting’s first picture book Mopoke won our hearts with its playful wordplay and endearingly dry sense of humour. Wombat takes a similar approach, encouraging parents and children to read together and have tonnes of fun interacting with the (very charming) words and pictures. Plus it features one of Australia’s most iconic animals! We’ll definitely be gifting Wombat to the young booklovers in our lives. There’s no better recommendation than that

21.01.2022 Houseplants make us happy, but to be honest we need all the help we can get keeping our bookshop plants as happy This is why we love having books like Plantopedia from Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan of @leaf_supply on the shelf! Plantopedia features over 130 plant profiles to help readers select the best plants for their homes and businesses, and troubleshooting tips for when things (inevitably) go awry. It’s a treat for the eyes too, with lush illustrations from @edithrewa. Limited stock of Plantopedia is available in store and on our website now. Keep it in mind as a gift idea for your plant-obsessed friends and fam

20.01.2022 ...let these spells ring far and wide; speak their words and seek their art, let the wild world into your eyes, your voice, your heart. One of our current hot sellersand favourites to recommendis The Lost Spells, written by Robert Macfarlane and illustrated by Jackie Morris. This pocket-sized hardcover is a soulful choice for nature-lovers of all ages, and absolutely perfect for the many fans of Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. Limited stock of The Lost Spells is available in store and on our website now. Please note: this is one of those gems that, once it’s out of stock, won’t be back until next year The early bird gets the excellent book!

20.01.2022 Our locals are big fans of Chris Hammer’s Scrublands and Silver, the first two books in his Martin Scarsden series, and so is Michael! He recently read the latest installment Trust and shares his review below. Michael says, Trust wastes no time drawing the reader into its windy, compelling mystery - the freshly flambeed 5 years’ cold case disappearance of protagonist Mandalay Blonde’s ex and the millions in bank funds he took with him. Investigative journalist Martin Scarsd...en is a dab hand at unpicking the sinister networks behind the façade of Australian society, and three strong novels deep, the development of these two central characters and their personal stories is matched well against the broader conspiracy laid bare. With a reporter’s keen eye for detail and his signature all important sense of place, Hammer has crafted a relentless escalation through the corrupt institutions and shadowy alliances of Noir-Sydney. You can find Trust in store and in the Recommended Crime Fiction section of our website now!

20.01.2022 It’s been a weird year, we know, but we have to say it’s been a year full of fantastic books. All the Best of 2020 lists are proliferating and we thought you all might be interested in learning what OUR favourite books of the year have beenthough if you’ve spoken to us in store, we’ve definitely recommended these to you already. Still, it’s fun! So let’s go ahead and share our fave reads of 2020 We’re kicking things off with Deb, one of our lovely bookshop’s fabulous own...ers. Deb narrowed her favourite reads of the year down to... - Infinite Splendours, Sofie Laguna - Breath, James Nestor - Girl, Woman, Other, Bernardine Evaristo - My Dark Vanessa, Kate Elizabeth Russell - The Last Migration, Charlotte McConaghy - The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams - Honeybee, Craig Silvey - Fire Country, Victor Steffensen - The Kingdom, Jo Nesbo Do you share any favourites with Deb? Let us know! And keep an eye out for more of our 2020 faves over the next few days.

20.01.2022 This year the Booker Prize for Fiction is being awarded on the same day as Amanda’s birthday and this has spurred her on to try and read the entire shortlist by then! She’s currently reading (and loving) The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste. Is anyone else reading their way through this compelling shortlist? The titles shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2020 are... - Real Life, Brandon Taylor - The Shadow King, Maaza Mengiste... - Burnt Sugar, Avni Doshi - The New Wilderness, Diane Cook - This Mournable Body, Tsitsi Dangarembga - Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart All are available in store and on our website now

20.01.2022 The 2020 Heroines Festival is in full swing! Have you been tuning in online? The @heroinesfest is dedicated to women writers telling women’s stories and this year they’re running an entire month of exclusive book groups celebrating stories of intersection, rebellion and resilience. You can browse the range of authors and titles featured in this year’s festival in store and in the special Heroines Festival 2020 section of our website now, and head to their socials and website for more info!

18.01.2022 Mission Impossible Day 10. Go Benjamin!!!

18.01.2022 Ray is here to brighten this gloomy day! Ray is a light bulb. He lives in a largely unused closet and spends much of his time in darkness, until one day he is moved into a portable lantern and taken into the great outdoors which, quite frankly, blows his mind. This is a charming story of discovery and imagination told with a quirky sense of humour which we really enjoy. Stuck for gift ideas for young readers? We’ve got lots of recommendations ready to roll! Just see us in store or browse our Recommended Picture Books online

18.01.2022 It’s Kate’s turn to share her favourite reads of 2020 and it’s clear she’s been revelling in the publication of so many bold, tender stories by and about women this year. This stack is also packed with sass, which should come as no surprise to anyone who’s spoken with her in store So what has Kate picked? - More Than A Woman, Caitlin Moran - The Hungover Games, Sophie Heawood - Ghosts, Dolly Alderton... - The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett - A Deadly Education, Naomi Novik - Sorrow and Bliss, Meg Mason - Writers and Lovers, Lily King She’d also like it to be known she could have shared a stack just as tall comprising solely of gripping thrillersa comforting go-to in such a distracting yearbut we peer pressured each other into seriously culling our selections

17.01.2022 Lorna Scobie’s 365 Days of Art in Nature is a must-see, especially for those who already own and useor have very kindly gifted!one of the other books in her incredible 365 Days series. Each book in this series features a creative prompt or activity for every day of the year. 365 Days of Art in Nature encourages us to take a closer look at the natural world, both outdoors and in our own home, and engage with the wildlife within our reach This series suits a wide range of ages and levels of experience. It’s a private place to play and experiment. Swipe right for a glimpse at one of the prompts, and find this fun book in store and on our website now!

17.01.2022 One of our favourite middle fiction reads of the year has arrived! It gives us great pleasure to introduce you to Katrina Nannestad’s new novel for young readers, We Are Wolves Set in WWII, when the Russian Army marched into East Prussia, We Are Wolves follows our young protagonist Liesl Wolf as she flees with her brother Otto and baby sister Mia. It is an uplifting historical adventure with a lot of heart, and it offers a new perspective of WWII for kids interested in history. Best of all, this is a tried and tested recommendationDeb read it and loved it, Kate’s reading it next AND we’ve already heard from two of our local young reviewers that We Are Wolves is a top-notch read!

16.01.2022 We’re always excited to see new Japanese fiction arrive in store, and this stack of recent releases has certainly caught our attention! In this very fine book stack you’ll find... - People From My Neighbourhood, Hiromi Kawakami - Tokyo Ueno Station, Yu Miri... - The Ten Loves of Mr Nishino, Hiromi Kawakami - Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Cafe, Toshikazu Kawaguchi - The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa - Earthlings, Sayaka Murata We think we’ll read Earthlings or Tokyo Ueno Station first. Are any of these titles catching your eye? Well they’re all available in store and on our website now

16.01.2022 So many excellent books to choose from in store at the moment What have you been reading this weekend?

16.01.2022 We’re very intrigued by this particular new release which landed on our non-fiction table last week. In the twenty-first century, loneliness has become a global issue that is increasingly affecting us all on an individual level, as well as having serious implications for our communities, businesses and governments. Professor Noreena Hertz, a brilliant global economist, travelled the world to explore the loneliness epidemic first hand: 'renting a friend' in Japan, visiting co...-habitation spaces in Israel and trying a week experienced entirely online. Her experiences are documented, alongside fascinating research, in The Lonely Century. If you’re curious about the actions we can take to reconnect with those around usparticularly now that we’ve had to become more socially distanced than everor if you just can’t get enough of streaming documentary series, you should definitely check out The Lonely Century. We’re adding it to our Must Read list!

16.01.2022 Our beloved Angus basically stepped into our bookstore from a YA novel. He’s our resident strapping young lad, complete with a tender heart, biting sense of humour and excellent taste in books. His favourite reads of the year are... - The Ruin, Dervla McTiernan - Girl, Woman, Other, Bernardine Evaristo - SLAY, Brittney Morris... - The Godmother, Hannelore Cayre - I Killed Zoe Spanos, Kit Frick - Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia - The Girl In the Mirror, Rose Carlyle - Sorrow and Bliss, Meg Mason Now, exciting news everyonewe’ve almost made it to Christmas Day! Anyone visiting the store this arvo would have seen our whole team in action (and quite possibly laughing hysterically over our failed attempt at a group photo) and we’ve got Amanda and Deb at the helm until 8pm tonight to help you with your Christmas shopping. Psst, there will be wine from 6pm We’re open 8:30am-4pm tomorrow with all hands on deck so bring it on, readers of the Illawarra!

15.01.2022 December is nigh and the piles of new books in store are high! But before we head into the final month of this bonkers year, let us take a moment to reflect on the most recent example of our local readers’ exquisite taste Thirroul’s top ten bestsellers for November are... 1. All Our Shimmering Skies, Trent Dalton... 2. A Promised Land, Barack Obama 3. Verandah Santa, Bluey 4. The 130-Storey Treehouse, Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton 5. Flavour, Yotam Ottolenghi 6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #10: The Deep End, Jeff Kinney 7. A Life on Our Planet, David Attenborough 8. Honeybee, Craig Silvey 9. Best Walks of the Illawarra, Gillian and John Souter 10. The Yield, Tara June Winch You can find all of our customer favourites in store and in the Thirroul’s 2020 Bestsellers section of our website at any time, from anywhere.

15.01.2022 Today is Love Your Bookshop Day! Amanda and Deb opened our bookshop almost two years ago and quickly discovered that the Illawarra is home to an enormously engaged, and supportive community of readers. You’re all also downright lovely which makes every day we come to work here at Collins Booksellers Thirroul a dream. So THANK YOU! We love you. Please keep brightening our days with your warmth, humour and excellent taste in books. And we’ll keep working to enrich yours. A...manda and Deb will be in store today and tomorrow if you’d like to pop in and say hi! And we’ll just put this out thereAmanda has been craving cake all week... by our fabulous customer @_thegoldlist_ make sure you tag us in your photos of our bookshop, we love seeing them!

15.01.2022 Michael may be the newest member of our team but he’s one of our most experienced booksellers and he’s certainly made quite an impression with his in store recommendations for all ages! Today we’re sharing his top reads of 2020. - Merchants of Truth: Inside the News Revolution, Jill Abramson - The Road to Unfreedom, Timothy Snyder - The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa... - The Glass Hotel, Emily St. John Mandel - Honeybee, Craig Silvey - The Last Migration, Charlotte McConaghy And yes, you have seen and will continue to see some overlap amongst our favourite books of 2020! What can we say, we love recommending books to one another just as much as we love recommending them to you

15.01.2022 Aaand we’re back! With thanks to our lifelong friend, strong coffee! Didn’t get the book you REALLY wanted to read these holidays? Have a generous gift voucher to spend? Or did everyone you know gift you the same book because it was just so perfect for you, and now you need to swap some copies out? We’ll be here in store from 10 am - 4 pm from today through to New Year’s Eve to help you out. We’ll be closed on New Year’s Day for a brief recovery period and back to normal ...from 2 January. We hope you’ve all had a relaxing, joyful couple of days, and we hope to see you soon!

15.01.2022 Mission Impossible Day 2

14.01.2022 Two VERY EXCITING releases for kids have arrived this week, and we guarantee they’ll keep young readers occupied for at least a few hours these school holidays Patience pays for those who have been eagerly awaiting the third book in the Nevermoor seriesHollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow is just as enthralling a read as we’ve come to expect from Jessica Townsend, and we have a whole stack of it waiting for you in store! And we have a fun surprise for the many families co...unting down the days until the release of the fourth book in Anh Do’s Wolf Girl series (due out in December). Sky Dragon is Anh Do’s brand new series for middle-grade readers and it delivers the same action and adventure as Wolf Girl, but with a bold new heroine. We’re sure Sky Dragon will fly out the door (pardon the pun) so we’ve made sure we have lots of copies on hand. Both brilliant books are available in store and on our website now!

14.01.2022 Hello, November! We’ve had a big month, with large deliveries of new books arriving every week and, accordingly, there are a lot of new titles in our top ten this month. We’re thrilled to see how much support our locals have given to Australian writerseight of our top ten authors this month are Australian!and we hope this strong show of support for Aussie writing, publishing and indie bookstores continues through the remainder of 2020 and well into the future. Thirroul’s t...op ten bestsellers for October are... 1. All Our Shimmering Skies, Trent Dalton 2. Honeybee, Craig Silvey 3. The Living Sea of Waking Dreams, Richard Flanagan 4. The Survivors, Jane Harper 5. Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow, Jessica Townsend 6. Flavour, Yotam Ottolenghi 7. The Bad Guys Episode 12: The One?!, Aaron Blabey 8. Sorrow and Bliss, Meg Mason 9. To Asia, With Love, Hetty McKinnon 10. The Well Gardened Mind, Sue Stuart-Smith Find all of our customer favourites in the Thirroul’s 2020 Bestsellers section of our website at any time, from anywhere.

14.01.2022 Spring is coming in hot! Unfortunately here in Australia that means bushfire season will quickly follow suit. We think recent release The Bushfire Book: How to Be Aware and Prepare, written by Polly Marsden and illustrated by Chris Nixon, is a must-have for every young family in the Illawarra. This accessible and (very importantly!) reassuring picture book helps young readers understand Australian bushfirestheir causes, their impact, and who is keeping an eye on themand details what action they can take to feel less anxious and more prepared. The Bushfire Book offers a practical and simple way for families to approach this vital conversation with their kids, and after last summer we are feeling very grateful to have such a valuable resource on hand.

14.01.2022 It’s the first of December and judging by the day we just had, you folks aren’t mucking around with your holiday shopping! And that is exactly what we want to see this yearwe heartily encourage you all to not leave your holiday shopping until the last minute. We have so many utterly brilliant books and gifts in store right now, ready to be gift-wrapped and stashed away, so why wait? To make it as easy and enjoyable for you as possible, we have extended our trading hours ...starting today and carrying through to 23 December. We’re also introducing a special shopping happy hour! Each Thursday and Friday in the next three weeks, Amanda and Deb will be in store to help you shop for your family and friends without the kids and with a glass of wine in hand Our December trading hours are as follows. Monday 8:30-6:00 Tuesday 8:30-6:00 Wednesday 8:30-6:00 Thursday 8:30-8:00 Friday 8:30-8:00 Saturday 8:30-5:00 Sunday 8:30-5:00 Christmas Eve 8:30-4:00 Christmas Day CLOSED Boxing Day CLOSED And of course you can shop local on our website at any time, and opt for postage, local delivery or click and collect.

13.01.2022 Our biography section is overflowing with recent releases, many from famous faces and notable names, but if you’re looking for a hidden gem then Kate suggests Sophie Heawood’s The Hungover Games, which she plucked off our bookshelves on a whim and absolutely loved Read on for her review, and remember you can easily view all of our fave non-fiction titles on the homepage of our website and shop local online from anywhere at any time! Heawood was working as a freelance journ...alist and living it up in West Hollywood when she was informed by doctors that she was likely infertile, promptly had unprotected sex with an on-again-off-again musician lover and fell pregnant. She shares her experience of single parenthood in this collection of autobiographical essays and it was truly such a joy to read. Heawood has a rollicking sense of humour but, in the same way she describes making self-deprecating jokes about her situation at parties while wanting to burst into tears, there is an emotional undercurrent that runs through the collection. I recommend this one so highly to anyone who enjoys an offbeat memoir, and to fans of Caitlin Moran, Dolly Alderton and Emma Jane Unsworth. See more

13.01.2022 Kate recently read Nick Hornby’s latest novel Just Like You (which many of you have also recently taken home!) and she says this story of love, race and Brexit is told with great warmth and generosity. And it has a cover design that’s hard to resist She’s shared a snippet of one of her favourite passages from Just Like You below to give you an idea of what to expect from this novel... It was a time when everyone was vowing never to forgive people. Politicians were never ...going to be forgiven for what they had done, friends and family were never going to be forgiven for the way they had voted, for what they had said, maybe even for what they thought. Most of the time, people were not forgiven for being themselves...People who lived in cities were not forgiven for being metropolitan, people who were poor were not forgiven for expressing dissatisfaction, old people were not forgiven for being old and scared. But was that all there was to them? And could you only love someone who thought the same way as you, or were there other bridges to be built further up the river? Could you just tunnel under the whole mess, even? You can find Just Like You in store and in the Recommended Fiction section of our website now.

13.01.2022 There have been SO many exciting new books arriving for grown-ups but we’re also super psyched about all the fun middle fiction releases! These are three of our new faves for young readers... Brain Freeze by the hilarious Aussie author @oliverwinfree contains 12 bonkers short stories (perfect for reading before bed!) featuring characters who are all finding a way to step up and be brave. Lev Grossman’s children’s debut The Silver Arrow is a rollicking, original story abou...t saving our endangered animals and the places they live that will appeal to readers of the Land of Stories series. Fly on the Wall is an illustrated novel by by Australian author/illustrator @rrremylai, about a kid who embarks on a forbidden solo journey halfway around the world. It’s perfect for the many devoted fans of Raina Telgermeier.

13.01.2022 Our current favourite recommendation for middle fiction readers? Amari and the Night Brothers by B. B. Alston, the first in a new series from an exciting new author. Angus has read it alongside a couple of our young local reviewers and they all THOROUGHLY enjoyed it. If you threw Harry Potter and Men In Black into a blender and made a book out of the pulp, you’d have Amari and the Night Brothers. It’s got magic, it’s got action, it’s got intrigue, and it’s got a delightfully silly sense of humour. It’s got it all! Check it out next time you’re in store, or scope it in Our Recommendations for Kids on our website

12.01.2022 It looks like we have a dreary weekend ahead before spring properly kicks in The silver lining is it’s perfect weather for staying in with a new book! Kate highly recommends the brand new thriller from @ruthwarewriter, One By One. In a throwback to the classic locked-room mystery, a team of colleagues from a popular music app on a corporate retreat find themselves trapped in a chalet in the French Alps after an avalancheand after one of the app’s founders disappears on the ski slopes in suspicious circumstances. As those who discover too much about what happened on the slopes are silenced, it quickly becomes apparent that one member of this team cannot be trusted. Kate says One By One is an absorbing and thoroughly entertaining mystery with a thrilling ending that is guaranteed to satisfy fans of psychological thrillers.

12.01.2022 Last, but CERTAINLY not least, Amanda is sharing the stack of books which won her over this year! You all know Amanda, one of our bookshop’s owners if you’ve stepped foot in our shop, she’s definitely used her bookish psychic powers to upsell you something magnificent. She may have also tried to talk you into buying something like the David Goggins Colouring Book, and for that we apologise Amanda’s favourite reads of 2020, in no particular order: - The Memory Police, Yoko ...Ogawa - The Shadow King, Maaza Mengiste - Heaven and Earth, Paolo Giordano - The Lying Life of Adults, Elena Ferrante - Utopia Avenue, David Mitchell - The Mountain, Massimo Donati - The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel We’ll be in store until 4pm today (it’s Christmas Eve, you guys, we’ve almost made it!) and back in action after Boxing Day. We’ll be open from 10am-4pm from 27-31 December. THANK YOU EVERYONE, we adore being a part of this outstanding community of readers. Happy holidays from our bookshop family to yours

12.01.2022 We saw so many of you thoughtfully selecting books as presents this month (or asking us to help you on your way ) and we can only imagine how many books were gleefully unwrapped on Christmas morning. Actually, we can imagine it quite vividly as odds are you received one of our VERY popular bestsellers of the month! Before we gratefully bow out of 2020, let’s take a moment to celebrate these fantastic books. Thirroul’s top ten bestsellers for December are... 1. Best Walks ...of the Illawarra, Gillian and John Souter 2. Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart 3. Verandah Santa, Bluey 4. The South Coaster 5. All Our Shimmering Skies, Trent Dalton 6. A Promised Land, Barack Obama 7. The Yield, Tara June Winch 8. Boy on Fire, Mark Mordue 9. Wolf Girl 4: The Traitor, Anh Do 10. Flavour, Yotam Ottolenghi Stay tuned for our bestsellers OF THE YEAR, which we’ll be announcing soon. In the meantime, you can find all of our customer favourites in store and in the Thirroul’s 2020 Bestsellers section of our website at any time, from anywhere.

12.01.2022 Crime fiction aficionado, lovely local and excellent customer Sue Turnbull has provided us with a list of her favourite crime fiction reads of 2020, and we can assure you it’s a juicy stack. If you love to sink your teeth into a good thriller or police procedural, make sure you add these ones to your list. You can read snippets of Sue’s reviews below and you can find her recommendations in store now. - Consolation, Garry Disher... Disher is a master of form and style but always insightful and funny about the human condition. - The Safe Place, Anna Downes Shades of Daphne Du Maurier haunt this contemporary noir thriller set against the exotic backdrop of a remote region in France. - The Night Swim, Megan Goldin Goldin...weaves a small town story about an alleged rape into a reflection on the ethics of the true crime podcast. - The Survivors, Jane Harper ...a fascinating meditation on guilt and growing up rather than a crime thriller, and all the more interesting for that. - Broken, Don Winslow Six crime novellas structured like a symphony from one of America’s finest, and most politically charged writers. - The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman ...wryly funny as well as insightful about the challenges (and benefits) of aging.

11.01.2022 Buying a bookish gift for a voracious reader can be a challenge. Thankfully the year’s fantastic crop of new releases has carried into December and there are plenty of fresh titles in store which we can happily recommend! Kate recently read Sara Sligar’s debut Take Me Apart, a psychological suspense novel that will impress thriller readers as well as literary fiction fans. The chapters alternate between the story of ex-journalist Kate Aitken working as an archivist for the estate of famous photographer Miranda Brand, and the pages of the journal Brand kept in the 1980s and ‘90s. Sligar tackles some heavy topicssexism, motherhood, mental illness, fame, domestic violencewith a deft hand, ultimately crafting a novel that is at once a satisfying page-turner and a galvanising exploration of womanhood.

10.01.2022 Today is the day! Beloved Aussie author Trent Dalton’s brand new novel All Our Shimmering Skies will be available as soon as we open the doors at 8:30 this morning All pre-orders will be contacted this morning to confirm their copy is being held at the shop counter. Want us to hold one for you? Send us a DM, place an order through our website or give us a ring and we’ll very happily set a copy aside. And to everyone asking if it lives up to the hype, Deb reread our advance reading copy of All Our Shimmering Skies last weekend and she tells us it truly does

10.01.2022 One of Kate’s favourite recent fiction reads is Emily Temple’s The Lightness, an ideal summer read She recommends this one to fans of Jenny Offill, Kate Atkinson and Jandy Nelson, and any reader interesting in unearthing a hidden gem. Kate says, The Lightness follows 16-year-old Olivia as she attends a Buddhist summer camp for troubled teenage girls, which happens to be held at the same retreat her father attended a year previouslyright before he disappeared from her life.... She hopes to uncover some clues to his whereabouts, but she is also just desperate to escape her mother’s violent home. She soon falls in with a small group of girls led by the enigmatic Serena, who is dead set on learning to levitate. The story flits around in time and is frequently interwoven with anecdotal digressions, from scientific theories to spiritual mythology. I savoured Temple’s writing and, if you’ll excuse the pun, I believe this is what elevates an otherwise familiar (if a bit bonkers) coming-of-age story into a novel I can heartily recommend. Stock is currently limited for this one so if you’re keen, don’t muck around! You can find it in store this weekend and on our website.

10.01.2022 We are quite obsessed with this stunning cookbook Parwana: Recipes and Stories from an Afghan Kitchen landed in store earlier this week and we haven’t been able to resist flicking through it every day. Mouth-watering traditional Afghan recipes (from dumplings and curries to chutneys, pickles and breads) are interwoven with stories of author Durkhanai Ayubi's family, who fled Afghanistan in 1985 and opened their family-run restaurant Parwana in Adelaide in 2009. Parwana is a rich and heartfelt collection of recipes and memories, and anyone with a fondness for cookbooks really needs to join us in fawning over this one.

10.01.2022 One of Amanda’s favourite non-fiction titles to recommend is, at last, back in stock! Tom Holland’s Dominion is the perfect read for history buffs, avid non-fiction readers and anyone who seeks out books with the power to change the way you see the world. This story of Christianity’s enduring impact upon the West is mind-expanding and expansive, yet accessible and shot through with good humour. You can find Dominion in store and in the Recommended Non-Fiction section of our website now.

10.01.2022 We’ve noticed our customers have been particularly drawn in by the title of scientist Carlo Rovelli’s latest collection, There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness, and we think this says everything about our local communitykindness trumps everything Inside this gorgeous cover is a collection of Rovelli’s reflections on science, history and humanity. He has become one of the most influential physicists of our time and we think this is largely because his writing is always accessible and filled with good humour. This book is the perfect treat for friends, and why not treat yourself too so you can read it together? Limited stock available in store this weekend with more copies arriving next week.

09.01.2022 It’s time to revel in the books our locals have loved for the past month! We have lots of new favourites in our stack of bestsellers and we’re absolutely delighted to see them there. Thirroul’s top ten bestsellers for September are... 1. Flavour, Yotam Ottolenghi... 2. The Lying Life of Adults, Elena Ferrante 3. The Yield, Tara June Winch 4. Sorrow and Bliss, Meg Mason 5. Dog Man: Grime and Punishment, Dav Pilkey 6. The Golden Maze, Richard Fidler 7. People of the River, Grace Karskens 8. Bluebird, Malcolm Knox 9. More Than A Woman, Caitlin Moran 10. From Boys to Men, Maggie Dent Find all of our customer favourites in the Thirroul’s 2020 Bestsellers section of our website at any time, from anywhere

08.01.2022 Are you looking forward to 2021 as much as we are?! We now have a range of 2021 diaries and planners from @milligram.studio and @moleskine in store to help get you ready for a new year You can also browse the range and shop with us online, just head to the Diaries category!

08.01.2022 If you come in store looking for a fun contemporary novel to sink your teeth into, you can expect Kate to hand you Dolly Alderton’s debut novel Ghosts Read Kate’s review below to find out why she thinks this is such a fabulous read, and if it tickles your fancy you can find Ghosts in store and in the Recommended Fiction section of our website now. Ghosts is a novel about relationships and how they change throughout your life. The spark goes out of long-term romantic relat...ionships. Childhood friendships fizzle out as you grow in different directions. Parents stop taking care of you and instead rely on you for care. And the guy you fall quickly and madly in love with disappears off the face of the earth... Alderton’s observations on womanhood, identity, friendship and love are (as with her non-fiction work Everything I Know About Love) both affirming and eye-opening, and the wry sense of humour in Ghosts can be deliciously cuttingthe descriptions of the hen do in particular had me snorting with laughter. Ghosts is a light yet punchy read, which is exactly what I (like so many of our local readers) am craving this year. @penguinbooksaus @dollyalderton #ghosts #dollyalderton #newfiction #mustreadfiction #recommendedreads #collinsbooksellers #collinsbooksellersthirroul #thirroulbookshop #thirroulbookstore #bookstagram #readbooks #shoplocal

07.01.2022 Folks, you’ve really kept us busy over this past week! It seems like holiday shopping is already in full swing and we love it For those of you who haven’t quite started yet, we’re here to fulfill your wishlists and provide gift suggestions for all ages. Exciting new releases continue to arrive in store and we’re working hard to ensure we don’t run out of the titles that are proving to be firm favourites. Plus we’re making holiday shopping a bit more fun for you this yearstay tuned for a special announcement

06.01.2022 We have a LOT of nature lovers in the Illawarra, and we’ve found ourselves happily dedicating more and more space to nature books on our non-fiction table to cater to our local’s interests! These are just a handful of titles which have proved popular in recent weeks... The Seabird’s Cry, Adam Nicolson The Language of Butterflies, Wendy Williams Vesper Flights, Helen MacDonald ... Fathoms, Rebecca Giggs See more

06.01.2022 Picture books can warm the heart, galvanise the spirit and elicit big belly laughs. These three have just landed in store and we adore them Windows by @patrickguest_author and @jon__bentley is a moving, hopeful and gently humorous story about five kids in different parts of the world connecting with and drawing strength from their communities while in lockdown. The new @oliverjeffers is as extraordinary as we’ve come to expect. In What We’ll Build: Plans for Our Together F...uture, a father and daughter set about laying the foundations for their life together (just thinking about it brings a tear to our eyes!). And the charming Wolfred by Nick Bland invites us into the life of Fancy Pants Tower’s lift operator, and you won’t believe the kinds of things he sees as he goes about his work. Think The Grand Budapest Hotel, but for kids. Irresistible. We’re open all weekend and you’re welcome to settle down with the fam in our cosy kids section and have a little story time session

05.01.2022 We love Hetty McKinnon (Community is a long-term staple in our personal cookbook collections) so we were really quite excited to see McKinnon’a new cookbook focus exclusively on her favourite Asian recipes. And, in our opinion, To Asia, With Love delivers the goods. The cold noodle salads seem particularly delightful and have us feeling inspired to diversify our work lunches this summer You can find To Asia, With Love within our fast-growing range of cookbooks in store and in the Recommended Cookbooks section of our website.

05.01.2022 We have the best locals, including local authors! The incredible Helena Fox was recently awarded the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction for her moving novel How It Feels To Float, which we’ve been heartily recommending to teens and adults alike since its publication. Helena was kind enough to visit us in store and sign our few remaining copies. An autographed edition makes for a very special gift, don’t you think? Congratulations Helena on your well-deserved win, we’re so thrilled for you!

04.01.2022 In this interactive, one-of-a-kind wordless picture book, extraordinary things are happening behind the windows of the city. This highly original pop-out picture book, written and illustrated by Marion Arbona, is a celebration of curiosity and imagination that is sure to inspire a sense of wonder in readers of all ages. This book will entice even the youngest children to pore over the pages for close reading, promoting observation skills and visual literacy.... Absolutely beautiful!!!

04.01.2022 Another new favourite for young readers is Skunk and Badger by Amy Timberlake, which Kate has read and LOVED. It’s the first in a new series following the odd-couple friendship of Skunk and Badger. Kate tells us it has the feel of a contemporary classic, a pace perfect for reading aloud and absorbing illustrations by Jon Klassen. Offbeat, warm and funny, this is a quality read for kids that grown-ups will love too

04.01.2022 Today is International Day of the Girl We support the education & empowerment of girls everywhere everyday, but today especially, celebrate the special girls in your life, and remind them how special they are to the world.

03.01.2022 The keenly anticipated NAIDOC week is in full swing! This year’s theme is Always Was, Always Will Be. As they say so very well on their website, NAIDOC 2020 invites all Australians to embrace the true history of this country a history which dates back thousands of generations. It’s about seeing, hearing and learning the First Nations’ 65,000+ year history of this country - which is Australian history. We want all Australians to celebrate that we have the oldest continuing ...cultures on the planet and to recognise that our sovereignty was never ceded. Australia always was and always will be Aboriginal land. While we aren’t able to celebrate NAIDOC week with an in store event this year (head to their website for a full listing), we are able to celebrate with books! Our range of titles from First Nations voices is always growing and we have two dedicated sections in storeyou can find First Nations fiction, poetry, biography and non-fiction at the front of our bookstore, and children’s board books, picture books, fiction and non-fiction within the children’s section at the back of the store.

03.01.2022 This weekend is a wonderful excuse to celebrate eternal loveof books, of course! There’s no better way to treat your loved one or yourself than indulging in some fresh reads, in our completely biased opinion. But it’s true! We had a customer yesterday quite literally clap with excitement and anticipation as she thought about spending this weekend with her newly acquired books. That makes our hearts soar. You’ll find some love-themed (and cheeky) reads on display in our window this weekend if you need some inspiration, and trust us when we say there’s nothing more romantic than taking a stroll to your local bookshop

03.01.2022 Looking for a new fiction read? Well! Let us tell you, you’re spoiled for choice! We’re not exaggerating when we say we receive hundreds and thousands of new books each and every month. One thing we consistently hear from customers on their first visit to our bookshop is, Wow. I had no idea you had so much in here. Fortunately it’s usually said in an admiring tone and not as though they’re politely backing out of a hoarder’s den. We have range! We have books for all ages... and all tastes! And we have an extraordinary number of niche titles which we make fun of Amanda for ordering, and which are promptly snapped up by delighted bookish folk! And if we don’t have the exact book you’re looking for? We can do some digging and order it! We’re your local bookshop and we’re here for you Now please come treat yourself to some of these delicious new books. See more

03.01.2022 We’ll be tuning into Australian Story’s Breaking New Ground tonight to watch Charles Massy’s experience of regenerative farming. We’ve got a few copies of Massy’s Call of the Reed Warbler in store so do come check it out if the episode piques your interest (we’re pretty sure it will!). https://www.abc.net.au//charlie-massy-regenerativ/12438352

02.01.2022 The new edition of Best Walks of the Illawarra has been VERY keenly anticipated around these parts, so we’re very pleased to let you know we now have this updated local guide in stock! With over 40 suggested walks in our incredible Illawarra region, ranging from beach to bush, this is a must-have for locals and visitors alike. We think it would also make an excellent stocking stuffer for the adventurous people in your life

02.01.2022 Hey, everyone’s still into puzzles, right? Right?! Yeah! Of course, everyone loves puzzles! Look how happy they make people! Angus is pictured here with our range of jigsaw puzzles. Please note that the pile is as tall as him, and please also note that we didn’t even include one of every puzzle currently in store in this stack Now please make a note to self: stock up on puzzles at your local independent bookshopthey make a great gift for (almost) all ages, and it doesn’t hurt to prepare some engaging indoor activities for the wet summer we have ahead of us.

02.01.2022 We always see our locals stocking up on pressies for young kids on the weekend, and we’re always happy to help you select the perfect book. A new favourite of ours for newborns and their families is Australian Jess Racklyeft’s Welcome, Baby, To This World. With gentle rhymes, gorgeous illustrations and a contemporary feel, this is a book new parents will treasure. You can find this picture book on our website now under Our RecommendationsPerfect Presents for Babies and on display alongside our other faves in store!

02.01.2022 Woohoo!!! Mission completed!!! Well done, Ben & Moses

02.01.2022 What better way to spend a drizzly Saturday than picking up some bargains from your local bookshop? Our stocktake sale continues in store this weekend with 40% off a rather fabulous range of titles for all ages. Shop our sale in store, we have a groaning table just inside the front window for general perusal as well as a dedicated kids’ sale table towards the back of the shop. And while you’re there, one of the MANY intriguing new releases we’ve received this week might also catch your eye... You know it’s impossible to leave our bookshop with empty hands

01.01.2022 The first thing we did when we got to the shop this morning was unpack the brand new Jane Harper! The Survivors is a fantastic beach read and has arrived just in time for a beautiful beach day Set in a small coastal town in Tasmania, the story moves between the events of a catastrophic storm which hit the town 12 years prior and led to the death of three locals, and the present day where the body of a young Canberra woman found on the beach raises suspicions about certain locals and causes long-buried secrets to rise to the surface. This is just the first of many major releases to hit our shelves, and you can now check out all the other exciting books coming out soon by visiting our websitelink in bio!

01.01.2022 Don’t think that just because it’s almost the end of the year, there aren’t any new books for the whole family to get excited about! We’re particularly thrilled to see these two new titles join our Indigenous Australia sections. Loving Country: A Guide to Sacred Country has been created by Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukuroglou in consultation with communities, and readers are encouraged to discover sacred Australia by reconsidering the accepted history, and hearing diverse stor...ies of her Indigenous peoples. It is a roadmap to communication and understanding, between all peoples and country, to encourage environmental and social change. The Art in Country: A Treasury for Children by the much-loved artist and children’s book author Bronwyn Bancroft is a brilliant celebration of country. Through colours, shapes, patterns and words, Bancroft explores the beauty of the Australian continent as well as her depth of feelings for the land.

01.01.2022 A favourite amongst both our locals and our booksellers, the incredibly lovely Tim Flannery popped by the shop today to sign copies of his recent non-fiction release. The Climate Cure: Solving the Climate Emergency in the Era of COVID-19 is an urgent, solution-focused call to armsexactly what we need after this wildcard of a yearand essential reading for all Australians. We’re also very eagerly anticipating the publication of Tim’s new non-fiction book for kids. Deep Dive into Deep Sea is the second book in his Explore Your World Series and it’s due to arrive in store this Thursday! We might even be able to convince him to come back to do another signing before the holidays

01.01.2022 "The love of our neighbor in all its fullness simply means being able to say to him, 'What are you going through?'" Sigrid Nunez quotes Simone Weil in the epigraph of her brand new novel and, before we even read a word of the story itself, we know it’s going to be deeply tender. What Are You Going Through follows our narrator as she joins a friend with terminal cancer on holiday. This friend will, she tells our narrator, take euthanasia pills and end her life on this tripwhen she feels ready, and without warning. So very many people adored Nunez’s National Book Award-winning The Friend for its slyly piercing exploration of grief, art and companionship. What You Are Going Through offers readers another helping of Nunez’s remarkable empathy and wit, and while this story is in essence a sad one, it is solacing.

01.01.2022 What will you be reading this weekend? We’re very eager to curl up with the brilliant John Banville’s new novel, a chilling murder mystery set in Ireland. Banville is an excellent writer and this is the first crime fiction work he has published under his own namethe Quirke series is published under his pen name, Benjamin Black. Snow follows Dublin detective John Strafford into the aristocratic Ballyglass House to investigate the murder of a respected parish priest. While the plot thickens and family secrets are revealed, the snow outside continues to fall... What a treat!