Are you wondering what to read next? Check out City of Parramatta Libraries book lists, reviews, author events and Book Clubs. Parramatta City Library Invites you to participate, connect and learn.
Find ways to relax, to meditate, to pursue balance, to consider gratitude, to engage in kindness, to strive for positivity…. all of these are important considerations for those interested in creating a sense of wellbeing for themselves and those around them.
Join Nisa & Antonia as they talk about some books that explore this and more!
The books discussed in this episode of Parra Pods include:
Joining a book club is a great way to socialise with like-minded people while discovering new authors and books!
But what do you do when an in-person book club doesn’t work? Maybe you have work commitments, or your friends don’t live nearby, or maybe it’s April 2020 and COVID-19 and social distancing has resulted in your monthly book club meetings being ‘put on hold’ until the world rights itself!
Given the current situation and because we have been wanting to do this for a while we thought it would be the perfect time to start up an online book club, and we called it ‘Parra Reads’ of course!
Every month, a book-crazy group of Librarians will select two books they love and share them with readers.
Join in the online discussion on the ‘Parra Reads’ forum page, or share your thoughts via Twitter using #parrareadsbookclub
The books selected will include a mixture of both fiction and non-fiction and include newer and older titles.
Jane Harper’s books continue to be popular among our City of Parramatta Libraries book clubs. With all three titles out each month. In February Cultcha Club book club read ‘The Lost Man’, and thoroughly enjoyed it! Which is great because they have waited very patiently for their turn.
Happy Reading!
A twisted tale that kept us guessing all the way through. Lots of twists and turns with a few red herrings that kept the pages turning. We absolutely loved it! Now the third book of Jane Harper’s that we have read and thoroughly enjoyed.
Harper knows how to sell the scene. A wonderful turns of phrase that makes the reader feel the environment as if they were living it. In ‘Force of Nature’, we could feel the closeness and density of the forest, and in ‘The Lost Man’, we could feel the heat and remoteness of the Queensland outback. The unrelenting heat and neighbours that are three hours way.
We loved the relationships between all the characters, and the way their secrets unfolded. How our opinions of each of them changed as they changed and grew throughout the book. In particular, we loved the story lines and relationship between Nathan and his son, Xander.
The new All About Books for Autumn 2020 can be downloaded above.
The new reading suggestions guide has been revamped after survey results from readers in our last Summer edition, there is more short descriptions of books, more young adult and more pages. There are so many amazing books coming out this March, April and May for adults and young adults in a diverse range of genres and subjects – there is sure to be something for everyone.
There are two books in particular that I want to mention as they were left out of the guide when our author talk program was suspended recently.
The Coconut Children by Vivian Pham (March 3) is a moving debut by a talented new storyteller.
Growing up can feel like a death sentence. Life in a troubled neighbourhood demands too much too young. But Sonny wouldn’t really know. Watching the world from her bedroom window, she exists only in second-hand romance novels and falls for any fast-food employee who happens to spare her a glance. Everything changes with the return of Vince, a boy who became a legend after he was hauled away in handcuffs at fourteen. Sonny and Vince used to be childhood friends. But with all that happened in-between, childhood seems so long ago. It will take two years of juvie, an inebriated grandmother and a porn stash for them to meet again.
Gathering Dark by Candice Fox (March 31) is her new thriller, set in Los Angeles, introducing a new – and decidedly unconventional – team of ‘detectives’.
A convicted killer. A gifted thief. A vicious crime boss. A disillusioned cop. Together they’re a missing girl’s only hope. Blair Harbour, once a wealthy, respected surgeon in Los Angeles, is now an ex-con down on her luck. She’s determined to keep her nose clean to win back custody of her son. But when her former cellmate begs for help to find her missing daughter, Blair is compelled to put her new-found freedom on the line. Joined by LA’s most feared underworld figure, the crew of criminals bring outlaw tactics to the search. Detective Jessica Sanchez has always had a difficult relationship with the LAPD. It’s been ten years since Jessica arrested Blair for the cold-blooded murder of her neighbour. So when Jessica opens the door to the disgraced doctor and her friends early one morning she expects abuse, maybe even violence. What comes instead is a plea for help.
Stories of love – romantic love – have been entertaining people for thousands of years. Shared through the written medium, stories within the romance genre have been one of the biggest publishing phenomena of the last century.
Join Katherine and Nisa as they discuss this vast and unwieldy category of books, home to a variety of sub-genres ranging from paranormal romance, fantasy romance and historical romance to contemporary romance, (possibly) chick lit, erotic romance and religious/Christian romance novels.
