One of the greats of espionage fiction – John le Carre – passed away at the end of 2020. Join Nisa and Sandra as they take a quick tour through some of his books and focus on two titles in particular:
Our Kind of Traitor – John le Carre. Viking, 2010
The Night Manager – John le Carre. Hodder and Stoughton, 1993
Julietta Henderson will be in conversation with Suzanne Micallef from City of Parramatta Libraries discussing The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman with the support of NSW Public Libraries Association.
Norman and Jax are a quirky pair of pre-teen best friends with a five-year plan to take their comedy act all the way to the Edinburgh Fringe by the time they’re fifteen. When Jax dies suddenly, it’s earth-shattering.
Norman’s mum Sadie knows she won’t win Mother of the Year anytime soon, and she really doesn’t know, or care, who Norman’s father is. But her heart is broken when she discovers her grieving son’s revised plan: ‘Find Dad’ and ‘Get to the Edinburgh Fringe’. If finding his dad and performing at Edinburgh are the two things that will make Norman happy after his devastating loss, Sadie’s going to make it happen.
Norman and Sadie set off from Cornwall, with their friend Leonard in his vintage Austin Maxi, on a pilgrimage to Edinburgh. This is a mother-son road trip that inspires and delights like the best road trip novels and films.
Copies of The Funny Thing about Norman Foreman can be purchased from Booktopia: https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/mxna1
Numbers are limited for this free virtual event and bookings are essential.
This presentation will be broadcast online using Zoom. Book your place and we’ll send you a Zoom link to join the meeting (download and install from zoom.us if you haven’t already).
Last month our ‘Dundas Readers’ book club read ‘The Alice Network‘ by Kate Quinn and it looks like they enjoyed reading it like most of our other book clubs. This title is definitely a popular pick!
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
Summary
1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her little problem taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister. 1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, code name Alice, the queen of spies, who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose. Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. That is until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth … no matter where it leads.
Continue readingCan you believe it is February already? Time definitely seems to be moving along quickly in 2021.
Most people are back at work, the kids are back at school, and that relaxing holiday vibe seems like so long ago now. You might even be feeling a bit blah, I know I am missing my extra reading and craft time. Which prompted me to search for a nice uplifting book to read.
This means, I did what I normally do when I am looking for something to read, I asked my colleagues for their suggestions and I am so glad I did because now I have a huge list of books I can turn to when I just want to read something that makes me smile!
If you, like me are finding you need a little lift, why not check out some of the ‘Uplifting Stories’ below.
Happy Reading!
Jody
Keeping Mum by James Gould- Bourn
When We Were Vikings by Andrew MacDonald
The Other Bennett Sister by Janice Hadlow
The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita Montimore
The Cake Maker’s Wish by Josephine Moon
The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley
The Family Holiday by Elizabeth Noble
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The Jetsetters by Amanda Ward
Come Again by Robert Webb
Death and Other Happy Endings by Melanie Cantor
Finding Henry Applebee by Celia Reynolds
Reasons to be Cheerful by Nina Stibbe
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Joyful: The Art of Finding Happiness All Around You by Ingrid Fetell
One Day in December by Josie Silver
Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong
The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
The Light Years by Elizabeth Jane Howard
Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans
The Switch by Beth O’Leary
Five Steps to Happy by Ella Dove
One of the most popular fiction genres, mysteries take the reader on a journey that involves trying to solve a puzzle, finding clues, engaging in logical deduction, considering (and discarding) red herrings… the who, why and how of a crime that must be solved, an event that must be explained.
Join Nisa and Crystal as they discuss a mix of classics and new books in the genre:
Death in the East – Abir Mukherjee. Penguin Random House, 2019
The Thursday Murder Club – Richard Osman. Viking Press, 2020
Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie. Collins Crime Club, 1934 and
Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie and François Rivière. Harper, 2007
A Study in Scarlet – Arthur Conan Doyle. Beeton’s Christmas Annual Magazine, 1887
Happy Listening!