For those already in a Book Club or thinking about starting one – why not check out how the Library can help you! Head to our Book Club Kit page for more details and to look at the variety of Kit titles we have for loan – now with even more titles.
Good Reading
Wonder what to read in this hot summer? Good Reading magazine provides fantastic reviews, author interviews and book recommendations. I can’t wait to see the Dec issue to come out. So stay tuned.
In Dec issue Aussie favourite Fiona McIntosh is back with The Perfumer’s Secret and an article she wrote for GR about her research trips to France, during which she crafted her own fragrance. Professor Robert Power, an award-winning short story writer and acclaimed novelist, tells us about his latest semi-fantastical offering Tidetown and his work in Zimbabwe that inspired his characters. We’re joined by Peter Garrett, who takes us on a tour of his bookshelf, and we also dip into a conversation with one of the world’s most fascinating scientists. Leaf through our reviews and Summer Reading Guide to find your next book to enjoy in the sunshine, and for dog lovers, we’ve got two canine-themed articles featuring posing French bulldogs and a labrador detective called Monty.
To access the Nov issue of GR, click here & type in your Parramatta City Library card number and password. Enjoy reading and stay cool.
Costa Book Awards Shortlist 2015
In the hot summer days how nice if you can get a cuppa and enjoy reading your favorite stories? The 2015 Costa Book Awards have been announced it shortlist. The four titles for the 2015 Costa Novel Award are:
A God in Ruins (Kate Atkinson, Doubleday)
The Green Road (Anne Enright, Jonathan Cape)
A Place Called Winter (Patrick Gale, Tinder Press)
At Hawthorn Time (Melissa Harrison, Bloomsbury).
Shortlists were also announced in the categories of First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book, which can be viewed on the Costa Award website http://www.costa.co.uk/costa-book-awards/costa-book-awards.
Parramatta City Library has those titles available for loan.
Staff Picks
Have a look at what library staff have been reading this week.
Cat out of hell by Lynne Truss
About a librarian overcome with grief for his wife’s death who unwittingly becomes involved in a murder mystery featuring talking cats… – 3/5
Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner
Andy & Rachel meet one night in the ER when they are kids, a love story spanning 3 decades it’s a story about how they keep finding each other throughout the different stages of their lives and how they overcome different backgrounds. A nice easy holiday read – 3/5
The invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
Book two in the Queen of the Tearling trilogy follows Kelsea as she deals with the fallout from stopping the shipments to Mort and the inevitable invasion by the Mort army. We also meet Lily, a woman from pre crossing era – 5/5
Four: a Divergent collection by Veronica Roth
Story starts 2 years before we meet Beatrice Prior in Divergent, we hear Four’s story and how he came to be in Dauntless, eventually merging with Beatrice’s story – a bit of a pointless book, only for devout divergent fans – 2/5
The Sun in Her Eyes by Paige Toon
Amber is an Australian living in the UK, after being made redundant she learns her father back in Aus has had a stroke, leaving her husband Ned behind she flies to Australia to help her dad in his recovery. There she reconnects with Ethan, a boy she has been in love with since she was 8 years old. Ambar must choose between her husband and the man she’s always loved… A slight side story, when Amber was 3 she was involved in a car accident which killed her mother, we meet the stranger who stopped to help and holds her mother’s last words. It’s well written, but hard to like and relate to the main character Amber, so only – 3.5 stars
Ready by Kate
A well-written, well-researched story about life as a female doctor in 19th Century New York. Sara Donati captures this period beautifully, touching on poverty, wealth, racism, and a women’s right to choose, which made me very grateful to live in this place, in this century – 5 stars
Tower of Thorns – Juliet Marillier
I always love Juliet Marillier’s books, but I’m worried they’re starting to follow a bit of a formula. This one seemed a bit same-same. I still enjoy her gentle writing though and her fairy-tale-like plot. Fingers crossed for the next one! – 3 stars.
We Never Asked for Wings – Vanessa Diffenbaugh
I read and loved The Language of Flowers a few years ago so picked up this one eagerly. It reminded me that sometimes we put our mothers up on pedestals when really, they are often as troubled, and have as much baggage, as the next person – 4 stars
The Natural Way of Things – Charlotte Wood
I know there has been a lot of press around this book and it is receiving some amazing reviews, but I just found I couldn’t get into it. Maybe it’s just not my kind of story, or I’ll go back to it one day and love it. For now though…2 stars.
The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend – Katarina Bivald
A lovely, light book for all the book-lovers out there. A great one for the summer, I think! – 4 stars
Read by Amanda
Happy Reading!
The time traveler’s wife
The time traveler’s wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Summary
The story of Clare, a beautiful art student, and Henry, a librarian, who have known each other since Clare was six and Henry was thirty, and were married when Clare was twenty-two and Henry thirty. Impossible but true, because Henry is one of the first people diagnosed with Chrono-Displacement Disorder: periodically his genetic clock resets and he finds himself misplaced in time, pulled to moments of emotional gravity in his life, past and future. His disappearances are spontaneous, his experiences unpredictable, alternately harrowing and amusing.
Comments
Snippets of time filled with highly charged emotions deliver us the life-long love story of Claire and Henry. This story highlights themes of deep, unconditional love, loss, loneliness, abandonment and grief. Complex characters and a love story spanning years from childhood to adulthood draw the reader into the world of time travel and lives lived in secret.
Claire and Henry have a unique love and a trust that many relationships never fully develop. But this is often overshadowed by the sudden departures and reappearances of Henry as he battles with his “gift”. The deep connection these two share isn’t without it’s issues. The time travel raises issues of loss, abandonment and ultimately grief.
It is a world unfamiliar and surreal to those of rational thought, yet the detail and development of the story line, transport the reader with Henry on his journeys and back into the arms of “his” Claire with ease.
This was a most enjoyable read, however, attention needs to be paid to the dates, times and ages of the travel. Made into a major motion picture starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana, it made for the perfect prelude to a girls movie night.
Rating – 7/10
Read by – Cultcha Club Book Club