This month we’re celebrating that art form practised by all true bibliophiles – tsundoku (積ん読) – or, what we prefer to think of as The Joyful Art of Book Piles…

The Japanese term tsundoku combines the elements of tsunde-oku (積んでおく), to pile up, and dokusho (読書), reading books. The term describes the tendency to acquire books and allowing them to pile up, without actually getting around to reading them. 

But we here at Kinokuniya, as masters of The Joyful Art of Book Piles ourselves, know that we will eventually get to all those piles and stacks in our homes and work spaces…

Right?

 

The Books You’ve Always Pretended To Have Read And Now It’s Time To Sit Down And Really Read Them

Ulysses
by James Joyce
RRP $19.99

Following the events of one single day in Dublin, the 16th June 1904, and what happens to the characters Stephen Dedalus, Leopold Bloom and his wife Molly, Ulysses is a monument to the human condition. It has survived censorship, controversy and legal action, and even been deemed blasphemous, but remains an undisputed modernist classic: ceaselessly inventive, garrulous, funny, sorrowful, vulgar, lyrical and ultimately redemptive. It confirms Joyce’s belief that literature ‘is the eternal affirmation of the spirit of man’.

 

 

Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen, illlustrated by Alice Pattullo
RRP $29.99

A beguiling and modern illustrated edition of a classic tale. The Classics Reimagined series is a library of stunning collector’s editions of classic novels illustrated by contemporary artists from around the world.
Enjoy Jane Austen’s witty novel of love and misunderstanding as you’ve never seen it before!

Alice Pattullo’s colorful interpretation of Pride and Prejudice follows the romantic adventures of Bennett sisters, Mr. Bingley and his dour friend Mr. Darcy. Her folkloric, multi-faceted images, breathe new life into this engaging romantic novel, making it a collectible for book and art lovers every where.

 

Infinite Jest
by David Foster Wallace
RRP $27.99

Somewhere in the not-so-distant future the residents of Ennet House, a Boston halfway house for recovering addicts, and students at the nearby Enfield Tennis Academy are ensnared in the search for the master copy of Infinite Jest, a movie said to be so dangerously entertaining its viewers become entranced and expire in a state of catatonic bliss . . .

 

 

 

The Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
RRP $22.99

Holden Caulfield is a seventeen-year-old dropout who has just been kicked out of his fourth school, in 1950s New York. Precocious, sensitive and confused, he blunders through a haze of teenage failures, disappointments and anti-climaxes and delivers to the reader a bitter-sweet, biting commentary on all the ‘phony’ aspects of society and the ‘phonies’ themselves. Through his direct first-person narrative emerges one of the most touching, funny and nuanced portrayals of the confusions and frustrations of youth that exists in the literature of the English language, and a sparky and colloquial style that influenced generations of writers afterwards.

Innovative and revolutionary for its time, The Catcher in the Rye is as much a testament to and reflection of that time and its frustrations as it is a timeless and universal reflection on life, disillusionment, and growing up.

 

Watchmen
by Alan Moore
RRP $35.11

One of the most influential graphic novels of all time and a perennial bestseller, Watchmen is considered a gateway title to the entire graphic storytelling medium. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ seminal story is the benchmark against which all other graphic novels and comic books are judged with an incredible story that chronicles the fall from grace of a group of super-heroes plagued by all-too-human failings.

This edition of Watchmen features the high-quality, recolored pages found in Watchmen: The Absolute Edition with sketches, never-before-seen extra bonus materials and a new introduction by Dave Gibbons.

 

Akira 1
by Katsuhiro Otomo
RRP $42.99

Welcome to Neo-Tokyo, built on the ashes of a Tokyo annihilated by a blast of unknown origin that triggered World War III. The lives of two streetwise teenage friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, change forever when paranormal abilities begin to waken in Tetsuo, making him a target for a shadowy agency that will stop at nothing to prevent another catastrophe like the one that leveled Tokyo. At the core of the agency’s motivation is a raw, all-consuming fear of an unthinkable, monstrous power known only as Akira.

Katsuhiro Otomo’s stunning science fiction masterpiece is considered by many to be the finest work of graphic fiction ever produced, and Otomo’s brilliant animated film version is regarded worldwide as a classic.

 

 

The Books You Have Been Planning To Read For Ages

 

The Sandman 1 : Preludes & Nocturnes
by Neil Gaiman
RRP $31.00

New York Times best-selling author Neil Gaiman’s transcendent series The Sandman is often hailed as the definitive Vertigo title and one of the finest achievements in graphic storytelling. Gaiman created an unforgettable tale of the forces that exist beyond life and death by weaving ancient mythology, folklore and fairy tales with his own distinct narrative vision. In PRELUDES and NOCTURNES, an occultist attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. After his 70 year imprisonment and eventual escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On his arduous journey Morpheus encounters Lucifer, John Constantine, and an all-powerful madman. This book also includes the story The Sound of Her Wings, which introduces us to the pragmatic and perky goth girl Death. Collects The Sandman #1-8.

 

Origins of Totalitarianism
by Hannah Arendt
RRP $19.98

‘How could such a book speak so powerfully to our present moment? The short answer is that we, too, live in dark times’ Washington Post Hannah Arendt’s chilling analysis of the conditions that led to the Nazi and Soviet totalitarian regimes is a warning from history about the fragility of freedom, exploring how propaganda, scapegoats, terror and political isolation all aided the slide towards total domination. ‘A non-fiction bookend to Nineteen Eighty-Four’ The New York Times ‘The political theorist who wrote about the Nazis and the ‘banality of evil’ has become a surprise bestseller’ Guardian

 

 

The Name Of The Rose
by Umberto Eco
RRP $14.99

Discover Umberto Eco’s masterpiece, a medieval detective murder mystery. The year is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate. When his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William turns detective. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey where extraordinary things are happening under the cover of night. A spectacular popular and critical success, The Name of the Rose is not only a narrative of a murder investigation but an astonishing chronicle of the Middle Ages.

 

Don Quixote
by Miguel De Cervantes
RRP $14.99

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY HAROLD BLOOM. Widely regarded as the world’s first modern novel, and one of the funniest and most tragic books ever written, Don Quixote chronicles the famous picaresque adventures of the noble knight-errant Don Quixote de La Mancha and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, as they travel through sixteenth-century Spain. Unless you read Spanish, you’ve never read Don Quixote.

 

 

 

The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
RRP $19.98

The Book Thief is a historical novel by Australian author Markus Zusak and is his most popular work. While subjected to the horrors of World War II Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. In the basement of her home, a Jewish refugee is being protected by her adoptive parents. Published in 2005, The Book Thief became an international bestseller and was translated into several languages. It was adapted into a 2013 feature film of the same name.

 

 

Dark Emu : Aboriginal Australia and the Birth of Agriculture
by Bruce Pascoe
RRP $19.98

Dark Emu puts forward an argument for a reconsideration of the hunter-gatherer tag for precolonial Aboriginal Australians. The evidence insists that Aboriginal people right across the continent were using domesticated plants, sowing, harvesting, irrigating and storing – behaviours inconsistent with the hunter-gatherer tag. Gerritsen and Gammage in their latest books support this premise but Pascoe takes this further and challenges the hunter-gatherer tag as a convenient lie. Almost all the evidence comes from the records and diaries of the Australian explorers, impeccable sources.

 

Boy Swallows Universe
by Trent Dalton
RRP $19.98

The bestselling novel that has taken Australia, and the world, by storm. Winner of a record four Australian Book Industry Awards in 2019, including including the prestigious Book of the Year Award, winner of the MUD Literary Prize 2019, winner of the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and Book of the Year at the 2019 Indie Book Awards.

Brisbane, 1983: A lost father, a mute brother, a mum in jail, a heroin dealer for a stepfather and a notorious crim for a babysitter. It’s not as if Eli’s life isn’t complicated enough already. He’s just trying to follow his heart, learning what it takes to be a good man, but life just keeps throwing obstacles in the way – not least of which is Tytus Broz, legendary Brisbane drug dealer.

But Eli’s life is about to get a whole lot more serious. He’s about to fall in love. And, oh yeah, he has to break into Boggo Road Gaol on Christmas Day, to save his mum.

A story of brotherhood, true love and the most unlikely of friendships, Boy Swallows Universe will be the most heartbreaking, joyous and exhilarating novel you will read all year.

 

The Talented Mr Ripley
by Patricia Highsmith
RRP $19.98

Tom Ripley is struggling to stay one step ahead of his creditors and the law, when an unexpected acquaintance offers him a free trip to Europe and a chance to start over. Ripley wants money, success and the good life and he’s willing to kill for it. When his new-found happiness is threatened, his response is as swift as it is shocking.

 

 

 

 

The Books  Dealing With Something You’re Working On At the Moment

Annihilation
by Jeff VanderMeer
RRP $19.98

For thirty years, Area X has remained mysterious and remote behind its intangible border – an environmental disaster zone, though to all appearances an abundant wilderness. The Southern Reach, a secretive government agency, has sent eleven expeditions to investigate Area X. One has ended in mass suicide, another in a hail of gunfire, the eleventh in a fatal cancer epidemic. Now four women embark on the twelfth expedition into the unknown.

THE FIRST VOLUME OF THE EXTRAORDINARY SOUTHERN REACH TRILOGY – NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY ALEX GARLAND (EX MACHINA) AND STARRING NATALIE PORTMAN AND OSCAR ISAAC

 

The Barefoot Investor : The Only Money Guide You’ll Ever Need
by Scott Pape
RRP $29.95

This is the only money guide you’ll ever need. That’s a bold claim, given there are already thousands of finance books on the shelves. So what makes this one different? Well, you won’t be overwhelmed with a bunch of ‘tips’… or a strict budget (that you won’t follow). You’ll get a step-by-step formula: open this account, then do this; call this person, and say this; invest money here, and not there. All with a glass of wine in your hand. This book will show you how to create an entire financial plan that is so simple you can sketch it on the back of a serviette… and you’ll be able to manage your money in 10 minutes a week.

Sound too good to be true? It’s not. This book is full of stories from everyday Aussies – single people, young families, empty nesters, retirees – who have applied the simple steps in this book and achieved amazing, life-changing results. And you’re next.

 

Dare to Lead : Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.
by Brene Brown
RRP $29.98

In her #1 NYT bestsellers, Brene Brown taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong and brave the wilderness. Now, based on new research conducted with leaders, change makers and culture shifters, she’s showing us how to put those ideas into practice so we can step up and lead. Leadership is not about titles, status and power over people. Leaders are people who hold themselves accountable for recognising the potential in people and ideas, and developing that potential. This is a book for everyone who is ready to choose courage over comfort, make a difference and lead. Brene writes, `One of the most important findings of my career is that courage can be taught, developed and measured. Courage is a collection of four skill sets supported by twenty-eight behaviours. All it requires is a commitment to doing bold work, having tough conversations and showing up with our whole hearts. Easy? No. Choosing courage over comfort is not easy. Worth it? Always. We want to be brave with our lives and work. It’s why we’re here.’

 

Everything Is F*cked A Book About Hope
by Mark Manson
RRP $29.98

Ever wonder why greater connectivity seems to make everyone just hate each other more? Ever wonder why the news always seems so depressing? Ever wonder why people are seemingly becoming more anxious and miserable despite life getting easier? Just like The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck questioned our conventional wisdom on what makes us happy, Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope questions our assumptions on what makes life worth living.

 

Educated
by Tara Westover
RRP $19.98

Tara Westover and her family grew up preparing for the End of Days but, according to the government, she didn’t exist. She hadn’t been registered for a birth certificate. She had no school records because she’d never set foot in a classroom, and no medical records because her father didn’t believe in hospitals. As she grew older, her father became more radical and her brother more violent. At sixteen, Tara knew she had to leave home. In doing so she discovered both the transformative power of education, and the price she had to pay for it.

 

 

The Books You Should Have Read As A Child

 

The Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame
RRP $39.99

Celebrate 100 years of “The Wind in the Willlows” with this glorious illustrated edition.

This tale was first published in 1908, and met with instant popularity. Its greatest strength lay in its animal characters, and children and adults alike fell in love the timid Mole, the friendly Water Rat, the imperious Badger and the mischievous Toad.

 

The Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
RRP $19.33

Few books have been as universally cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince. A beautiful gift edition of this touching and wise classic children’s book, with the original translation by Katherine Woods and full-colour illustrations.

A pilot stranded in the desert awakes one morning to see the most extraordinary little fellow standing before him. “Please,” asks the stranger, “draw me a sheep.” And the pilot realises that when life’s events are too difficult to understand, there is no choice but to succumb to their mysteries. He pulls out a pencil and paper . . . and thus begins this wise and enchanting fable that, in teaching the secret of what is really important in life, has changed the world forever for its readers. This stunning new edition of the classic children’s book The Little Prince, includes the classic English translation by Katherine Woods and original colour illustrations which will capture the hearts of readers of all ages.

 

A Wizard of Earthsea
by Ursula K. Le Guin
RRP $16.99

The first book of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin is a tale of wizards, dragons and terrifying shadows.

The island of Gont is a land famous for wizards. Of these, some say the greatest – and surely the greatest voyager – is the man called Sparrowhawk. As a reckless, awkward boy, he discovered the great power that was in him – with terrifying consequences. Tempted by pride to try spells beyond his means, Sparrowhawk lets loose an evil shadow-beast in his land. Only he can destroy it, and the quest leads him to the farthest corner of Earthsea.

 

 

A Wrinkle in Time
by Madeleine L’Engle
RRP $14.99

An iconic novel that continues to inspire millions of fans around the world, and now a major new Disney movie.

Meg always felt she was different and when her little brother Charles Murry go searching for their lost father, they find themselves travelling on a dangerous journey through a ‘wrinkle in time’. As the cosmic evil forces of darkness threaten to swallow the universe, Meg must overcome her insecurities and channel all her inner strengths – her stubbornness, anger and ultimately her love – to save her family. An exciting mixture of fantasy and science fiction, which all the way through is dominated by the funny and mysterious trio of guardian angels known as Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who and Mrs Which, A Wrinkle in Time is an empowering story about the battle between good and evil and the power of love.

 

I Capture the Castle
by Dodie Smith
RRP $14.99

‘I write this sitting in the kitchen sink…’

This is the diary of Cassandra Mortmain, which tells of her extraordinary family and their crumbling castle home. Cassandra’s father was once a famous writer, but now he mainly reads detective novels while his family slide into genteel poverty. Her sister Rose is bored and beautiful, and desperate to marry riches. Their step-mother Topaz has habit of striding through the countryside wearing only her wellington boots. But all their lives will be soon be transformed by the arrival of new neighbours from America, and Cassandra finds herself falling in love…

 

Peter Pan
by J.M. Barrie
RRP $19.99

“All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust”

Over the rooftops of London, Peter Pan and the fairy Tinkerbell lead Wendy, Michael and John Darling to Neverland to start a new life with his gang of Lost Boys. There, they will encounter mermaids, princesses, a ticking crocodile and the fearsome Captain Hook and his terrible crew of pirates. What will their new life be like in Neverland? If Captain Hook has his way, they won’t live long enough to find out…

This special Puffin Classics edition brings together two of the most inspirational collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London – the works of Arts and Crafts pioneer William Morris and the literature of J.M Barrie. Illustrator Liz Catchpole has selected patterns from the V&A archive and introduced new artwork inspired by the collection to create a beautiful cover which brings JM Barrie’s timeless story to life.

 

Books with Pictures Worth a Thousand Words

World Press Photo 2019
RRP $39.99

Publishing the results of the most recent annual World Press Photo Contest, this exceptional book contains the very best press photographs from the year 2018 – pictures submitted by photojournalists, picture agencies, newspapers and magazines throughout the world. Selected from thousands of images, these prizewinning photos capture the most powerful, moving and sometimes disturbing images of the year.

 

 

Daido Moriyama: How I Take Photographs
by Daido Moriyama
RRP $29.99

Take an inspiring walk with legendary photographer Daido Moriyama while he explains his groundbreaking approach to street photography. For over half a century, Moriyama has provided a distinct vision of Japan and its people. Here he offers a unique opportunity for fans to learn about his methods, the cameras he uses, and the journeys he takes with a camera.

 

 

 

Mirka & Georges: A Culinary Affair
by Lesley Harding and Kendrah Morgan
RRP $55.00

The impact of Mirka and Georges Mora on Australian art and food has been remarkable. Arriving in Melbourne in 1951 from Paris, they energised local society and transformed the culinary and artistic landscapes. Their apartment became a hub for the bohemian set, and their cafes and restaurants brimmed with sophisticated food, sexual intrigue and creative endeavours. Mirka’s distinctive art, now collected by major galleries, was a vital part of this heady mix. Their eateries were magnets to the rich and famous, a who’s who of the art world and those looking for a seriously good time. Launched in the year of Mirka’s 90th birthday & passing, Mirka & Georges gloriously illustrates the Moras’ extraordinary story, with the couple’s classic French recipes, photographs from family albums and images from Mirka’s studio by internationally renowned photographer Robyn Lea.