The Little Coffee Shop

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The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul

Deborah Rodriguez

 

Summary

In a little coffee shop in one of the most dangerous places on earth, five very different women come together. SUNNY, the proud proprietor, who needs an ingenious plan – and fast – to keep her caf and customers safea YAZMINA, a young pregnant woman stolen from her remote village and now abandoned on Kabul’s violent streets a CANDACE, a wealthy American who has finally left her husband for her Afghan lover, the enigmatic Wakil a ISABEL, a determined journalist with a secret that might keep her from the biggest story of her lifea and HALAJAN, the sixty-year-old den mother, whose long-hidden love affair breaks all the rules. As these five discover there’s more to one another than meets the eye, they form a unique bond that will for ever change their lives and the lives of many others.
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Farewell to Ruth Rendell

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RuthRendellRuth Rendell, best selling author of the Chief Inspector Wexford police mysteries and other crime fiction books, has died at the age of 85 on Saturday 2 May 2015. Many of her crime fiction explored deeply the psychological background of criminals and their victims, many of them mentally afflicted or otherwise socially isolated.

Ruth Rendell wrote 24 Chief Inspector Wexford mysteries, 28 stand alone novels, numerous short stories and 3 novellas. Her last book, Dark Corners, is due to be published October 2015. She also wrote psychological thrillers under the pseudonym Barbara Vine. The library has many of her titles including some TV adaptations. click here to take a look.

Information and image courtesy of Wikipedia

Stella Prize 2015

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This years winner of the Stella Prize has been announced.

 

And the winner is THE STRAYS BY EMILY BITTO

 

the-straysIn The Strays, Evan Trentham is the wild child of the Melbourne art world of the 1930s. He and his captivating wife, Helena, attempt to carve out their own small niche, to escape the stifling conservatism they see around them, by gathering together other like-minded artists. They create a utopian circle within their family home, offering these young artists a place to live and work, and the mixed benefits of being associated with the infamous Evan. At the periphery of this circle is Lily Struthers, the best friend of Evan and Helena’s daughter Eva. Lily is infatuated by the world she bears witness to, and longs to be part of this enthralling makeshift family. As Lily observes years later, looking back on events that she still carries painfully within her, the story of this groundbreaking circle involved the same themes as Evan Trentham’s art: Faustian bargains and terrible recompense; spectacular fortunes and falls from grace. Yet it was not Evan, nor the other artists he gathered around him, but his own daughters, who paid the debt that was owing.

For more information click here.

Aurealis Award Winners Announced

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Some Winners!

 

Fantasy Novel                                                      Young Adult Novel

The Dreamer’s Pool                                                   Cracks in the kingdom

Juliet Marillier                                                           Jaclyn Moriarty

dreamer-s-pool                              the-cracks-in-the-kingdom

 

Children Fiction                                                  Horror

Shadow sister: Dragon Keeper                                 Razorhurst

Carole Wilkinson                                                         Justine Larbalestier

shadow-sister                             razorhurst

 

To find out more about these awards click here.

 

 

 

 

The Rosie Project

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9781922079770The Rosie Project – Graeme Simsion

Abstract

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. Then a chance encounter gives him an idea. He will design a questionnaire-a sixteen-page, scientifically researched document-to find the perfect partner. She will most definitely not be a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker or a late-arriver. Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is strangely beguiling, fiery and intelligent. And she is also on a quest of her own. She’s looking for her biological father, a search that a certain DNA expert might just be able to help her with-even if he does wear quick-dry clothes and eat lobster every single Tuesday night.

Group Comments

We absolutely loved it! It is beautifully written and gives a great insight into the autism spectrum by allowing the reader to see the world through the eyes of a man with Asperger’s. We can relate to the characters.. we all have a little bit of Don in us. Don reminded us of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory! It’s a bit like Forest Gump meets Sheldon.
The characters were very likeable and the non-conventional love story will tug at your heart strings. The plots within the story will make you laugh out loud.
We also liked the unexpected twist at the end.
Overall, a wonderful book! We are looking forward to reading the next installment.

Rating – 10/10

Read by – Cultcha Club Book Club