Are you looking for something new to read? Would you like to know what’s popular and what’s top on some prizes/awards lists? And also do you wonder who’s coming to visit Parramatta Library to talk about their books? Well, you’ll find out from this year’s Autumn Reads.
Category Archives: Fiction
Edgar Allan Poe Awards 2013
Mystery Writers of America has announced the winners of the 2013 Edgar Allan Poe Awards, which have selected from the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction and television published or produced in 2012. Continue reading
Australian Women’s Weekly Great Reads for April 2013
Check out these great suggestions
Last Thursday Book Group
The Story of Danny Dunn by Bryce Courtenay
A beautiful novel by the prolific Mr Courtenay.
A descriptive account of Balmain and Sydney during the 1930’s, 1940’s, right through to the seventies.
The characters are wonderfully depicted and true to the era of the Depression. Many readers shed a tear as memories of the past came back to them.
Danny Dunn’s character is that of many a young man who willingly went to war and after came back broken and found it hard to relate to a ‘normal’ world again.
Comments from the group: Continue reading
Staff Pick
How to be a good wife – Emma Chapman
Marta and Hector live in a small village in Norway. They have been married for a long time. Their son has recently left home and Marta fills in her days by being a 1950s style housewife, referring to a book “How to be a good wife” that her mother-in-law gave her. Hector has always looked after Marta and she has looked after the house and family.
From the start of this book there are some questions that need answering. Who is the young blonde girl that keeps appearing? Is she real, or an hallucination? Or is it a memory that is coming back to Marta? Why does Hector give Marta medication every day? And why does she only pretend to take the tablets?
As the story progresses we learn more about Marta’s past. This book kept me interested throughout and although the conclusion was a bit upsetting it was still a well written novel and I look forward to more from this author.