Book Review The Alice Network

Last month our ‘Dundas Readers’ book club read ‘The Alice Network‘ by Kate Quinn and it looks like they enjoyed reading it like most of our other book clubs. This title is definitely a popular pick!

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Summary

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her little problem taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister. 1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, code name Alice, the queen of spies, who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose. Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. That is until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth … no matter where it leads.

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Extra Reads – December 2020

Looking for even more reads being published this month? These are the titles that didn’t make it into the ‘All About Books‘ Summer 2020/21 edition – we just didn’t have room for them. Why not take a look (we all know we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover…but we all do!), click on a cover to read more about it and reserve your copy.

Good Reads Choice Awards 2020

Announcing the winners of the 12th Annual Goodreads Choice Awards, a major book award decided by readers. Congratulations to the best books of the year! Did one of your favourites become a winner?  Click on the titles below to reserve your copy now.

Best FictionThe midnight library by Matt Haig
Best Mystery & ThrillerThe guest list by Lucy Foley
Best Historical FictionThe vanishing half by Brit Bennett
Best FantasyThe house of Earth and blood by Sarah J. Maas
Best RomanceFrom blood and ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Best Science FictionTo sleep in a sea of stars by Christopher Paolini
Best HorrorMexican gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia
Best HumourStrange planet by Nathan W. Pyle
Best Non FictionStamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
Best Memoir & AutobiographyA promised land by Barack Obama
Best History & BiographyCaste by Isabel Wilkerson
Best Science & TechnologyA life on our planet by David Attenborough
Best Food & CookbooksModern comfort food by Ina Garten
Best Graphic Novels & ComicsHeartstopper: Volume Three by Alice Oseman
Best PoetryDearly by Margaret Atwood
Best Debut NovelSuch a fun age by Kiley Reid
Best Young Adult FictionClap when you land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Best Young Adult FantasyThe queen of nothing by Holly Black
Best Middle Grade & Children’sThe tower of Nero by Rick Riordan
Best PicturebookAntiracist baby by Ibram X. Kendi, Ashley Lukashevsky (Illustrations)

All About Books – Summer 2020/21

It’s that time of year again when the new edition of our reading suggestions guide for adults and teens, ‘All About Books’, is ready to inspire your reading. The Summer 2020/21 edition features a diverse range of titles being published over the next three months – there is a little something for everyone. We may not have as much time during the festive season but hopefully these titles will encourage you to read and relax when you can. Collect your copy at any branch of the City of Parramatta Libraries or download it now, check our website (parra.city/library) for the latest news and opening hours. Don’t forget you can click on any cover to reserve the titles that you would like to borrow, even before they have been published, so as always happy reading!

In conversation with Lauren Chater

Lauren Chater will in conversation with Meg Keneally, author of The Wreck, discussing Lauren’s latest book, Gulliver’s Wife. 

London, 1702. When her husband is lost at sea, Mary Burton Gulliver, midwife and herbalist, is forced to rebuild her life without him. But three years later when Lemuel Gulliver is brought home, fevered and communicating only in riddles, her ordered world is turned upside down.

In a climate of desperate poverty and violence, Mary is caught in a crossfire of suspicion and fear driven by her husband’s outlandish claims, and it is up to her to navigate a passage to safety for herself and her daughter, and the vulnerable women in her care.

When a fellow sailor, a dangerous man with nothing to lose, appears to hold sway over her husband, Mary’s world descends deeper into chaos, and she must set out on her own journey to discover the truth of Gulliver’s travels . . . and the landscape of her own heart.

Numbers are limited for this free virtual event and bookings are essential. 
Copies of the book can be purchased from Booktopia  or from your local bookshop.

This presentation will be broadcast online using Zoom. Book your place and we’ll send you a Zoom link to join the meeting (download and install from zoom.us if you haven’t already).

This collaborative event is supported by the NSW Public Libraries Association and in association with Simon & Schuster.