Book Review: Our Souls at Night by Kent Harurf

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Our Souls at Night By Kent Haruf

Addie Moore’s husband died years ago, so did Louis Waters’ wife, and, as neighbours in Holt, Colorado they have naturally long been aware of each other. With their children now far away both live alone in houses empty of family. The nights are terribly lonely, especially with no one to talk to. Then one evening Addie pays Louis an unexpected visit. Their brave adventures-their pleasures and their difficulties-form the beating heart of Our Souls at Night. Kent Haruf’s final novel is an exquisite and moving story about love and growing old with grace. It is a lasting tribute to the extraordinary author who wrote it. 

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Book Review: Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman

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Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman

Following years of unrequited love, an out-of-work school teacher takes matters into his own hands, triggering a chain of events neither he nor his psychiatrist could have anticipated. At once a psychological thriller and a social critique, Seven Types of Ambiguity is a story of obsessive love in an age of obsessive materialism. 

COMMENTS

Beautifully written. The writer has a brilliant turn of phrase. For our little book club though, this book was a struggle.  We found its volume a little overwhelming and struggled to connect with any of the characters.  We liked the premise; we liked the way the story was told from each character’s point of view and how new pieces of the puzzle were revealed with each person as they told their version of the story.  We also found it fascinating that two people could be in the same situation and both see it so very differently.  However, towards the end of the novel, the changing of views, brought with it a lot of repetitiveness and it felt cumbersome. 

Overall, we would recommend this to readers who have time to read and are not reading to a deadline.  As even with an extension, many of our readers still struggled to get this one finished.

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6.5/10 – Cultcha Club Book Club

 

Book Review: The Bush by Don Watson

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The Bush by Don Watson

While most of us live in cities clinging to the coastal fringe, our sense of what an Australian is, or should be, is drawn from the vast and varied inland called the bush. But what do we mean by ‘the bush’, and how has it shaped us?

Starting with his forebears’ battle to drive back nature and eke a living from the land, Don Watson explores the bush as it was and as it now is: the triumphs and the ruination, the commonplace and the bizarre, the stories we like to tell about ourselves and the national character, and those we don’t.

A milestone work of memoir, travel writing and history, The Bush takes us on a profoundly revelatory and entertaining journey through the Australian landscape and character.

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Podcast Ageing Well

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In this our 16th episode of Parra Pods Katherine, Nisa and Yi discuss, “Ageing well”: the pleasures and the pitfalls

Is there even such a thing as ageing well? Apparently so, and the books that we discuss in this podcast make that abundantly clear.  

While these books are entertaining and light-hearted they also make some salient points about this stage of life’s journey.

The books discussed in this episode of Parra Pods include:

The single ladies of Jacaranda Retirement Village by Joanna Nell

Fridays with my folks by Amal Awad

Women of a certain age edited by Jodie Moffat, Maria Scoda, and Susan Laura Sullivan

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Out of the Box!: New Arrival Highlights

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Each month behind the scenes at City of Parramatta Libraries staff work tirelessly to get thousands of new items onto the Library’s shelves each month! Providing library members with a wide range of titles and material to choose from.

Below is a small snapshot of just some of the items to arrive on the shelves in May 2019; including new publications and top-up titles.

Reserving your copy is easy and free, click on the book cover and have your library card and password/pin handy!

Adult Fiction

So many varied and interesting titles including thrillers, fantasy, historical fiction and more!

ADULT NON-FICTION

We have you covered with the following non-fiction titles; so many varied subjects to choose from!

FOR KIDS

A great selection of board books, picture books, junior fiction and non-fiction.

YOUNG ADULT

It does not seem to matter if I am browsing through ‘All About Books’ or checking our recent additions; I always seem to end up with too many Young Adult titles on my TBR list. I hope the following titles allow you to grow your own TBR pile!