The Ned Kelly Awards are Australia’s oldest and most prestigious recognition honouring published crime fiction and true crime writing. The categories are Best Crime Fiction, Best Debut Crime Fiction, Best True Crime and Best International Crime Fiction. The shortlist titles have now been announced with the winners for each category announced in October. Why not see if one of your favourites have been selected or read one now.
Titles that have been hugely popular in the last ten to twenty years.
As August fast approaches, I have to admit to being completely behind in my blog posts. Will you accept that the current COVID situation has thrown things in the library world into chaos?
City of Parramatta Libraries is temporary closed and my colleagues and I are busy coming up with ideas to keep you all engaged online; all from the comfort or maybe chaos of our own homes.
As always I am finding it hard to concentrate on one book long enough to finish it and have almost given up hope that I will actually read a title related to our monthly reading themes. I am blaming the fact that I spend way too much time researching great titles to recommend that I overload on them and can’t even think about possibly reading one.
My colleague Michelle and I both failed in our attempts to actually finish ‘Wolf Hall’ by Hilary Mantel for the umpteen time, and lets not even mention July’s ‘memorable memoirs’. I am hoping to have better luck with August’s theme of ‘big bang’ books.
In saying all of that, we have managed to put our heads together and come up with our picks for books that have made a big splash over the last ten years.
Happy reading
Jody
P.S.
If you would like to stay up-to-date with all the books we are reading, why not become our friend on Goodreads.
Continue readingPrior to lockdown, eAudiobooks were a normal part of my routine. In fact the only way I could cope with the commute to work was by listening to a book.
Working from home hasn’t curbed my enthusiasm for eAudiobooks in the least. I now find myself becoming just a bit obsessed with browsing all the amazing books in our BorrowBox library and I absolutely love the way you can listen to a preview of the title before borrowing.
After all what is more relaxing than someone reading you a story, which is basically what an eAudiobook book is right? eAudiobooks give me the chance to escape and block out all the annoying, stressful things and enjoy a good book when I am unable to actually physically sit down and read one.
So without further ramblings I thought I would share with you some of the great eAudiobooks I have listened to; not only during lockdown but over the last few months and my ‘all time’ favourites.
It is my hope that you will find something amazing to listen to and take your mind off everything going on at the moment.
You can find all my listening favourites in our BorrowBox Library.
Here is hoping you all find the perfect book to listen to, and lose yourself in the amazing world of storytelling that is eAudiobooks.
Happy listening,
Jody
P.S.
I forgot to mention that BorrowBox recently launched their new and improved BorrowBox website and app and I am loving it! The ease of use and the attractive way the books are displayed and how easy it is to navigate around really has had me spend way too much time browsing and reserving.
You can explore BorrowBox for yourself here!
Some of my recent eAudiobooks
Pictures of Lily by Paige Toon
Someone I used to Know by Paige Toon
The Prison healer by Lynette Noni
A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville
Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
Top 9 All Time Favourite eAudiobooks, in no particular order….
Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray by Anita Heiss
A Fortunate Life by A.B. Facey
The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville
Sistersong by Lucy Holland
Harry Potter Series by J.K Rowling & read by Stephen Fry
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Working Class Boy by Jimmy Barnes
A Fortunate Life by A.B. Facey
A great book club choice. Albert Facey’s life spans most of the twentieth century and his memoir written in later life for his children and grandchildren has justly become an Australian classic. From his infancy in the Eastern states to his early childhood in Kalgoorlie and in many small towns in country Western Australia, we follow the gruelling and heart rending story of his early childhood. Abandoned by his mother as a toddler, his wonderful Grandma is his anchor. He is reunited with his mother and family as a teenager and takes a range of challenging jobs until the outbreak of the first world war. He fights in the hellish conditions at Gallipoli where he received wounds which stayed with him throughout his long life. Despite these hardships, he remains optimistic and hard working and meets and marries his soul mate Evelyn. They have six children. Simply written by a man who had no formal schooling, this is a valuable historic document as well as a touching and wonderful read.
9/10
Read by Dundas Readers
The Bush by Don Watson
Although we all felt that this book was well written, the topic did not capture us and most of our members did not finish reading it. The author was obviously very passionate about his topic but we found much of it depressing and repetitive. What we did take away from our discussion was that in the early days of settlement of the land people were fighting against the environment to survive whereas now we are fighting for the environment to survive. We can learn from the past, recognise mistakes and good intentions and make better choices.
Read by MJ Readers
What makes a book a classic? The fact that it is beloved? That it has stood the test of time? That it is of a quality that makes it stand out? Like fairytales and folk tales before them, children’s classics are usually a mix of all of these things.
Join Nisa and Antonia as they talk about some established and modern classics for children:
Chronicles of Narnia: the lion, the witch and the wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. (Originally published) Geoffrey Bles, 1950.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. (Originally published) Reynal & Hitchcock, 1943
Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret by Judy Blume. (Originally published) Bradbury Press, 1970
Hitler’s daughter by Jackie French. HarperCollins Publishers, 1999
Happy Listening!