IDAHOBIT Day 2022

This Tuesday 17 May is International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT). It’s a day to recognise the efforts to remove discrimination against people on the basis of sexuality or gender identity and to show our commitment to building a more inclusive community #parramattapride.

The library has numerous resources to help people learn more about the LGBTQIA+ community and to support those who are members of the community. What does this acronym stand for? Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning (one’s sexual or gender identity), Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic/Agender and the “+” symbol simply stands for all of the other sexualities, sexes, and genders that aren’t included in these few letters.

It can sometimes be tricky to find the resource you are looking for as different keywords can be used by different people/groups here are some of the more common search terms you can try in our library catalogue: LGBT, any of the words in the LGBTQIA acronym, sexual minorities, same sex, gender. TIP – you can use the advanced search options to remove words that you don’t want to look for eg. Find items that have: queer and Don’t show items that have: queen.

Here are just some of the titles we have to borrow to help get you started. Why not learn more or show your support by borrowing one or more resources today?

Tales of Love

It is that time of year, with Library Lovers’ Day (perhaps better known as Valentine’s Day) just around the corner on 14 February when you may be inspired to pick up a tale of love. The library has romantic titles of all kinds and for all ages from sweet romance to shifter romance to sexy romance and everything in between. Here are just some of the tales of love we have in our libraries.

For those of you who enjoy listening and reading online to a book then why not visit the ‘Escape into Love‘ list on our BorrowBox site or for even more eBook titles visit the ‘Love is in the air‘ list on our Wheelers site.

Finally don’t forget that if you visit one of the City of Parramatta Libraries from Friday 11 February to Monday 14 February, borrow one of our ‘blind date’ books and ‘rate the date’ you can enter our Library Lovers’ Day promotion to win a great prize.

Top Loans of 2021

Are you looking for some new reading material? Check out our most borrowed titles of 2021!

Adult Fiction

  1. The sentinel (Jack Reacher book 25) by Lee Child
  2. Daylight (An Atlee Ping book 3) by David Baldacci
  3. Force of nature by Jane Harper
  4. The survivors by Jane Harper
  5. Hidden in plan sight by Jeffrey Archer

Adult Non-Fiction

  1. A promised land by Barack Obama
  2. Atomic habits by James Clear
  3. The subtle art of not giving a f*ck by Mark Manson
  4. Becoming by Michelle Obama
  5. The happiest man on earth by Eddie Jaku

Young Adult

  1. Magnus Chase and the ship of the dead by Rick Riordan
  2. Dragon Ball super. 1, Warriors from Universe 6! by Akira Toriyama
  3. Dragon Ball super. 2. The winning universe is decided! by Akira Toriyama
  4. They both die at the end by Adam Silvera
  5. To kill a mockingbird a graphic novel by Fred Fordham

Childrens

  1. The getaway (Diary of a wimpy kid 12) by Jeff Kinney
  2. Crazy Weird! (Weirdo, book 6) by Anh Do
  3. The bad guys. Episode 8, Superbad by Aaron Blabey
  4. Everything’s amazing (sort of) by Liz Pichon
  5. Totally weird (Weirdo, book 5) by Anh Do

Top eAudiobooks (Borrow Box)

Adult

  1. A promised land by Barack Obama
  2. Becoming by Michelle Obama
  3. The survivors by Jane Harper
  4. Where the crawdads sing by Delia Owens
  5. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari

Young Adult

  1. Shadow and bone (Shadow and bone, book 1) by Leigh Bardugo
  2. The book thief by Markus Zusak
  3. Midnight sun (Twilight, book 5) by Stephenie Meyer
  4. Six of crows (Six of crows, book 1) by Leigh Bardugo
  5. The ballad of songbirds and snakes by Suzanne Collins

Children

  1. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
  2. 130 storey treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton
  3. Diary of a wimpy kid by Jeff Kinney
  4. Spooky weird! By Anh Do
  5. The BFG by Roald Dahl

Top eBooks (ePlatform)

Adult

  1. The happiest refugee by Anh Do
  2. The dry by Jane Harper
  3. Animal farm by George Orwell
  4. 61 hours (Jack Reacher) by Lee Child
  5. The missing sister (Seven sisters, book 7) by Lucinda Riley

Young Adult

  1. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
  2. Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy
  3. The boy in the striped pyjamas by John Boyne
  4. Stormbreaker (Alex Rider, book 1) by Anthony Horowitz
  5. The hunger games by Suzanne Collins

Children

  1. The meltdown (Diary of a wimpy kid, book 13) by Jeff Kinney
  2. The pocket money blues (Billie B Brown series) by Sally Rippin
  3. The witches by Roald Dahl
  4. This is a ball by Matt Stanton
  5. The playground problem (Hey Jack series) by Sally Rippin

Top Streamed Movie/Series (Beamfilm)

  1. Top of the lake series
  2. Mother is wrong
  3. A French village series
  4. Mary Magdalene
  5. The deep blue sea

Best reads of 2021!

As we get closer to Christmas and the end of another year we thought it would be a great time to share our Best Reads of 2021!

2021 might not have been a good year under normal circumstances but it certainly turned out to be a great year for good books and we love nothing better than sharing our love of great books with everyone.

We have listed some of the best books we read in 2021 in the hopes you might find something enjoyable to read over the Christmas and summer break.

We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season filled with lots of great reads; which by coincidence can be found at your local City of Parramatta Library!

Happy reading.

Some of the great books we read in 2021….

Asking a librarian to limit their favourite book of the year to just one title is impossible! So we have decided to include every title we loved year. Download the complete uncut list now! Jam packed full of our 5/5 picks. Guaranteed to keep you busy way past Christmas and summer.

Best Reads of 2021 – Staff Picks

Book Review Force of Nature by Jane Harper

Our MJ Readers book club enjoyed reading ‘Force of Nature‘ by Jane Harper this month. Read their thoughts below.

About the Book

Lost, Cold, Desperate … Danger Runs Deep

Five women reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking along the muddy track. Only four come out the other side.

The hike through the rugged Giralang Ranges is meant to take the office colleagues out of their air-conditioned comfort zone and teach resilience and team building. At least that is what the corporate retreat website advertises.

Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk has a particularly keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing bushwalker. Alice Russell is the whistleblower in his latest case – and Alice knew secrets. About the company she worked for and the people she worked with.

Far from the hike encouraging teamwork, the women tell Falk a tale of suspicion, violence and disintegrating trust. And as he delves into the disappearance, it seems some dangers may run far deeper than anyone knew. (from the publisher)

Comments

As with Jane Harper’s other novels, we felt that the environment was a central ‘character’ in this story. It was a menacing force that emphasised the dysfunctional relationships, frailties, jealousies and paranoia that each character displayed in some degree. We were drawn in by the story and it kept us guessing to the end. The conclusion was cleverly tied up and there was healing and understanding of how regrets from the past impacted each character and their ongoing relationships. Another enjoyable read.

Read by MJ Readers