Category Archives: Top Books

Our best picks and recommendations

Download of the Day: David Walliams free audio books.

We have found a hilarious way to spend the evening with your children: listening and laughing along while David Walliams reads Bad Dad for free! If you want your own copy to read along with you can find it here.


The best books on photography

While we are all staying safe at home, many of us have been working on our hobbies. At Booko HQ we really enjoy taking photos. Thankfully there are a number of great tools available online to help you take your photography skills to the next level. But if you are looking for a little more inspiration, or want to take some time to flick through an actual book then look no further. We have rounded up some of the greatest books on photography to inspire you. 

Studio Anywhere by Nick Fancher

What’s your definition of a photo studio? Is it a room with a white seamless backdrop? Maybe it’s simply anywhere you’re in control of the lighting. But the reality is that you may have an outdated DSLR with two decent lenses (which took you several years to save up for), and all you have at your disposal is an unfinished basement, your garage, or the empty conference room at your office. That’s where Studio Anywhere comes in. With photographer Nick Fancher as your guide, you’ll learn how to get portfolio-ready photos while working in some of the most problematic scenarios imaginable. Whether shooting a corporate portrait, a test shoot with a model, or a promo shoot with a band, you’ll discover that most of the time, there’s no need for an expensive studio, you just have to get creative. Studio Anywhere is a resource for photographers to learn through behind-the-scenes photos and lighting diagrams from a range of photo shoots but it doesn’t stop there. Because directing a photo shoot involves more than simply knowing how to wield a camera or process a raw file, Nick also lets you in on the aesthetic decisions he makes in his signature photos, inspiring you to develop your own vision.

Photographers on Photography by Henry Carroll

Think you know photography? Think again. Through a carefully curated selection of quotes and images, this book reveals what matters most to the masters of photography. With accompanying text by Henry Carroll, author of the internationally bestselling Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs series, you’ll learn what photography actually means to the giants of the genres and how they developed their distinctive visual styles. Divided into clear sections, quotes offer intimate insights into “the camera”, “the photograph”, “taking pictures”, “style, subject matter and technique” and ultimately answer that all-important question-“what exactly is photography?”.

Zen Camera by David Ulrich

Zen Camera is a photography and mindfulness program that guides you to the creativity at your fingertips, literally, requiring nothing more than your smartphone or any other type of camera. Over the course of six lessons gleaned from the author’s 40 years of teaching photography, you’ll learn how to use the camera in your pocket to explore self-expression as a photographer and produce photographs that are both wildly beautiful and uniquely your own. Gorgeously illustrated with 60-75 full-colour photographs, David Ulrich’s lessons combine mindfulness principles with concrete exercises and the basic mechanics of taking a good photograph. He guides you through a program of taking photos every day (called your Daily Record), similar to a journaling practice. He also offers profound insight into the nature of seeing, art, and attention, pushing you to live more authentically.

The Social Photo by Nathan Jurgenson

With the rise of the smart phone and social media, cameras have become ubiquitous, infiltrating nearly every aspect of social life. The glowing camera screen is the lens by which many of us apprehend and communicate our experience. But our thinking about photography has been slow to catch up; this major fixture of everyday life is still often treated in the terms of art or journalism. In The Social Photo, social theorist Nathan Jurgenson develops bold new ways of understanding the transformations wrought by these image-making and sharing technologies and the cultural objects they have ushered in the selfie, the faux-vintage photo, the self-destructing image, and the food photo. Jurgenson shows how these devices and platforms have re-made the world and our understanding of ourselves within it.

Annie Leibovitz at Work by Annie Leibovitz

Leibovitz addresses young photographers and readers interested in what photographers do, but any reader interested in contemporary history will be fascinated by her account of one of the richest bodies of work in the photographic canon. The subjects include photojournalism, studio work, photographing dancers and athletes, working with writers, and making the transition from shooting with film to working with digital cameras. Originally published in 2008, this revised and updated edition brings Leibovitz’s bestselling book back into print.

Midlife by Elinor Carucci

From acclaimed photographer Elinor Carucci, Midlife is a vivid chronicle of one woman’s passage through aging, family, illness, and intimacy. It is a period in life that is universal, at some point, to everyone, yet in our day-to-day and cultural dialogue, nearly invisible. Midlife is a moving and empathetic portrait of an artist at the point in her life when inexorable change is more apparent than ever. Elinor Carucci, continues her immersive and close-up examination of her own life in this volume, portraying this moment in vibrant detail. As one of the most autobiographically rigorous photographers of her generation, Carucci recruits and revisits the same members of her family that we have seen since her work gained prominence two decades ago. Even as we observe telling details, graying hair, the pressures and joys of marriage, episodes of pronounced illness, the evolution of her aging parents’ roles as grandparents, her children’s increasing independence, we are invited to reflect on the experiences that we all share contending with the challenges of life, love, and change.

Enjoy!

The Best Books to gift this Mother’s Day

It’s Mother’s Day this Sunday and while we are all staying safe we may not be able to visit her in person but we can all try to call, celebrate or think of our Mums.

Because of these trying times, many book launches have been delayed or have simply been quietly popped onto bookstore shelves without the usual press or social media fanfare. So we have rounded up our favourite new releases that you may have missed as there are so many beautiful books that would make fabulous gifts.

London in Bloom by Georgianna Lane

This book takes us back to when our cities were what we remembered as opposed to what they are today. Acclaimed photographer Georgianna Lane chronicles the flower markets, gardens, and floral boutiques of London. This beautiful book showcases the floral abundance of the English capital’s extraordinary parks, gardens, florists, and flower markets. In this companion to her popular books Paris in Bloom and New York in Bloom, Georgianna Lane takes us on a romantic floral tour of London, juxtaposing luscious blooms with intricate floral details found in the city’s iconic architecture. The book also includes a detailed list of recommended parks, gardens, markets, and floral designers; a spring tour of blossoms and blooms; a field guide of common spring-blooming trees and shrubs; and step-by-step instructions for creating a London-style bouquet. For flower lovers and Anglophiles alike, London in Bloom offers a unique and irresistible view of London.

Now for Something Sweet by Monday Morning Cooking Club

The irrepressible, unstoppable women of the Monday Morning Cooking Club are back, with the very best, most delicious sweet recipes curated and perfected from Jewish homes across Australia and the world. ‘We are always dreaming of soft, airy, pale chiffon cake, thinking about chocolate-swirled, glossy yeasted babke, imagining flaky, chewy, jammy strudel, baking almond-studded, citrus-glazed Dutch buns, frying golden, syrup-drenched coiled fishuelas, biting into hot, sugared jam-filled doughnuts, eating crisp-shelled, marshmallowy vanilla-flecked meringues, feasting on sticky, steaming, sweet butterscotch pudding and sharing it all with abundance and love.

Life in a Box by Sarah Jane Adams

Treasures and mementos from the estate of Sarah Jane Adams, aka @mywrinklesaremystripes on Instagram. Auction catalogues can reveal a lot about a person – their lives, loves and style. Sarah Jane Adams, a jewellery and antiques dealer who became an international model and Instagram sensation overnight in her 60s, tells her story through a lifetime’s collection of rare pieces, valuable jewellery and worthless objects, as well as personal photographs and effects from her ‘estate’. Told with wit, pathos and charm. Life In A Box illustrates how style is always deeply personal to the wearer, laden with rich meaning and adventure and above all, redolent of our stories.

Happy Inside by Michelle Ogundehin

Be happier, healthier and more empowered with Michelle Ogundehin’s step-by-step practical guide to creating a home that supports your well-being.

Whether your home is owned or rented, small or large, and regardless of how much money you have, Happy Inside shows you how to harness its potential in pursuit of becoming your best self. If you want to feel calm, content, soothed or energised, you must begin with what surrounds you.

This comprehensive guide covers everything from how to create more light and space to how to get a good night’s sleep; the path to a perfect sofa and why a dining table is your most vital piece of furniture. Plus, how to decorate to promote joy; the importance of play (and circular side tables); your definitive capsule kitchen kit; and why your hallway is where it all starts. Combining Michelle’s knowledge of Buddhist philosophy, mindfulness, colour psychology and good design, Happy Inside is your one-stop guide to living well.

Not So Mumsy by Marcia Leone

For mamas everywhere, this is your Mother’s Group in a book. Parenting is hard, but it’s also beautiful. For women who have embraced motherhood but also yearn to retain a sense of self and style, Not So Mumsy has been a pioneering site driving the Modern Mama movement. Bridging the gap between pre-mama life and the whole new world of leaky boobs and pureed banana, Marcia Leone (aka Not So Mumsy) has always shared her journey with honesty and humour, providing a warm and inclusive support network for like-minded women. With powerfully uplifting perspectives from inspirational mamas across the world, including Jaime King, Teresa Palmer, Megan Gale and Tammin Sursok, Not So Mumsy will help you navigate pregnancy, your first year and beyond with style, humour and confidence.

Petal by Adriana Picker

This is a beautiful book to gift mum when you can’t make it to a florist. It’s a compendium of floral wonder, Petal reveals the colours, details and unique sculptural beauty of nature’s most remarkable creations. Botanical artist Adriana Picker has curated specimens from all over the world to celebrate through her stunning illustrations, accompanied by writer Nina Rousseau’s words on the folklore, fame and meaning of both favourite blooms and herbaceous curiosities. Mum will love it.

Enjoy!

How to support local businesses with Booko

While we are all staying safe at home and turning to online shopping we thought we would make it a little easier for you to support your local stores. We have compiled a list of booksellers with local warehousing in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Please note that some stores (such as The Book Depository, Boomerang Books, The Nile and Amazon) dispatch their products from various warehouses, so make sure you check where the product is getting shipped from and what the delivery estimate is.

Remember to ensure your local region is set to the country you are shipping to (this is done by clicking on the flag in the top right hand corner of the booko website). Also, it is important to check that the book, DVD, LEGO set or game you are looking to purchase is ‘in stock’ before clicking to buy, this will ensure a swift delivery time.

Booko is user-supported. When you buy through affiliate links on our site we may earn an affiliate commission. This doesn’t affect the results of the searches.

Here are some of the top selling books in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Top Selling Books in Australia this month:

Grown Ups by Marian Keyes

They’re a glamorous family, the Caseys. Johnny Casey, his two brothers Ed and Liam, their beautiful, talented wives and all their kids spend a lot of time together – birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, weekends away. And they’re a happy family. Johnny’s wife, Jessie – who has the most money – insists on it. Under the surface, though, conditions are murkier. While some people clash, other people like each other far too much. Everything stays under control until Ed’s wife Cara, gets concussion and can’t keep her thoughts to herself. One careless remark at Johnny’s birthday party, with the entire family present, starts Cara spilling out all their secrets. In the subsequent unravelling, every one of the adults finds themselves wondering if it’s time, finally, to grow up.

The Mirror and The Light by Hilary Mantel

England, May 1536. Anne Boleyn is dead, decapitated in the space of a heartbeat by a hired French executioner. As her remains are bundled into oblivion, Thomas Cromwell breakfasts with the victors. The blacksmith’s son from Putney emerges from the spring’s bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry VIII, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, before Jane dies giving birth to the male heir he most craves.Cromwell is a man with only his wits to rely on; he has no great family to back him, no private army. Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. But can a nation, or a person, shed the past like a skin? Do the dead continually unbury themselves? What will you do, the Spanish ambassador asks Cromwell, when the king turns on you, as sooner or later he turns on everyone close to him? With The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs to the heights of power, offering a defining portrait of predator and prey, of a ferocious contest between present and past, between royal will and a common man’s vision: of a modern nation making itself through conflict, passion and courage.

Top Selling Books in the United Kingdom this month:

Blue Moon by Lee Child

In the next highly anticipated installment of Lee Child’s acclaimed suspense series, Jack Reacher comes to the aid of an elderly couple . . . and confronts his most dangerous opponents yet. Once in a blue moon things turn out just right. This isn’t one of those times. Reacher is on a Greyhound bus, minding his own business, with no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. Then he steps off the bus to help an old man who is obviously just a victim waiting to happen. But you know what they say about good deeds. Now Reacher wants to make it right. An elderly couple have made a few well-meaning mistakes, and now they owe big money to some very bad people. One brazen move leads to another, and suddenly Reacher finds himself a wanted man in the middle of a brutal turf war between rival Ukrainian and Albanian gangs. Reacher has to stay one step ahead of the loan sharks, the thugs, and the assassins. He teams up with a fed-up waitress who knows a little more than she’s letting on, and sets out to take down the powerful and make the greedy pay. It’s a long shot. The odds are against him. But Reacher believes in a certain kind of justice . . . the kind that comes along once in a blue moon.

The Dark Side by Danielle Steel

The Dark Side is a powerful and unsettling novel of loss, motherhood and the innocence of childhood from the world’s favourite storyteller, Danielle Steel. Zoe Morgan was just ten years old when her life changed forever. Her sister, Rose, died of a rare illness, her parents turned into people she didn’t know, and Zoe’s lonely childhood drove her to excel in her studies. As a graduate of Yale, Zoe takes a leave of absence from medical school to work in a shelter for abused children in New York, where she meets well-known child advocacy attorney, Austin Roberts. Austin is bowled over by her beauty, brains and talent. He is her first love and the man she marries. Austin and Zoe have a perfect life and, after the birth of their longed-for daughter Jaime, Zoe knows that the aching void she had lived through for twenty-four years is finally complete. But it is only then that the true impact of Rose’s death all those years ago affects their lives in a way that nobody could ever have imagined.

Top Selling Books in the United States this month:

Joy at Work by Marie Kondo

In Joy at Work, KonMari method pioneer Marie Kondo and organizational psychologist Scott Sonenshein will help you to refocus your mind on what’s important at work, and as their examples show, the results can be truly life-changing. With advice on how to improve the way you work, the book features advice on problem areas including fundamentals like how to organize your desk, finally get through your emails and find what sparks joy in an open plan office. Like how the key to successful tidying in the home is by tackling clutter in the correct order, Joy at Work adapts the inspirational KonMari Method for the workplace, taking you step-by-step through your professional environment so that you can identify the most joyful way to work for you. Once you’ve found order in your work life, you can feel empowered to find confidence, energy and motivation to create the career you want and move on from negative working practices.

My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me by Jason Rosenthal

On March 3, 2017, Amy Krouse Rosenthal penned an op-ed piece for the New York Times’ “Modern Love” column —”You May Want to Marry My Husband.” It appeared ten days before her death from ovarian cancer. A heartbreaking, wry, brutally honest, and creative play on a personal ad, in which a dying wife encouraged her husband to go on and find happiness after her demise. The column quickly went viral, reaching more than five million people worldwide.  In My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me, Jason describes what came next: his commitment to respecting Amy’s wish, even as he struggled with her loss. Surveying his life before, with, and after Amy, Jason ruminates on love, the pain of watching a loved one suffer, and what it means to heal, how he and their three children, despite their profound sorrow, went on. Jason’s emotional journey offers insights on dying and death and the excruciating pain of losing a soulmate, and illuminates the lessons he learned.  As he reflects on Amy’s gift to him, a fresh start to fill his empty space with a new story, Jason describes how he continues to honour Amy’s life and her last wish, and how he seeks to appreciate every day and live in the moment while trying to help others coping with loss. My Wife Said You May Want to Marry Me is the poignant, unreserved, and inspiring story of a great love, the aftermath of a marriage ended too soon, and how a surviving partner eventually found a new perspective on life’s joys in the wake of tremendous loss.

Enjoy and stay safe!

Dinner Inspo: Everything Is Under Control

Tonight’s dinner inspo is a little different, it’s a memoir (Everything is Under Control) which includes recipes that have followed Phyllis Grant through the highs and lows of young adulthood, motherhood, and her life in the kitchen.

What are you cooking tonight?