Sure it's cold as buggery around most of Australia, but despite its title Best Made's 'summer reading set of five' is quite trans-seasonal.

It's hard to ignore the impact of Malcolm Gladwell's work, and now it can enhance your coffee table as well as your mind. 

You might know him as the man behind viral YouTube hipster-parodying smash hit "Northcote (So Hungover)". He's the Bedroom Philosopher - aka Justin Heazlewood - and a man constantly on tour. 

Perusing the gargantuan lineup of this week's Sydney Writers' Festival, and given the dire warnings about the grim state of the book industry, we were struck by an odd thought: At some point, surely, we are in danger of having more book writers than actual book readers. 

They often say that you can live inside your books. Well, some people have taken that maxim literally.

It's a big call, but if there was a shortlist for The Great American Novel, The Art of Fielding would be a worthy addition.

An admission up front: Ruby J. Murray's debut novel Running Dogs will intially get your attention because of its incredible cover - a delicate series of leaves that form a skull, illustrated by London artist Florence Boyd.

Reading about the neglect of children is hard, but Romy Ash's debut novel Floundering makes a hideous situation compulsive.

They look like the kind of leather-bound books you'd find in a room smelling of rich mahogany, but these chunky classics are actually salvaged bricks.

They're modest-looking volumes, but damn they pack a punch. Every three months, Quarterly Essay presents Australians with a 25,000 word meditation on politics or philosophy.