Stella Prize Longlist 2014 & Shortlist

We are thrilled to know the 2014 Stella Prize longlist has been announced:

Letter to George Clooney by Debra Adelaide

Moving Among Strangers by Gabrielle Carey

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (shortlisted)

Night Games by Anna Krien (shortlisted)

Mullumbimby by Melissa Lucashenko

The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane (shortlisted)

Boy, Lost by Kristina Olsson (shortlisted)

The Misogyny Factor by Anne Summers

Madeleine by Helen Trinca

The Swan Book by Alexis Wright (shortlisted)

The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka by Clare Wright (shortlisted)

All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld

For more details you can look up

http://thestellaprize.com.au/the-stella-prize/2014-2/longlist-2014/

A Year of Reading 2013

marinaIt’s summer time and it’s always my reading time – I could have a break during the festive season and a lot time to read.

At the end of 2013, as usual, I’ve borrowed a lot books from Parramatta City Library and a big chuck of them are crime fiction. Continue reading

Jody’s 2013 a YEAR in BOOKS

As 2013 comes to an end now is the perfect time to share with everyone some of the great books I have read this year.

This year I discovered some really fantastic authors, like Liane Moriarty, Maria V. Snyder, Hannah Kent, Decorah O’Brien and Robin LaFevers. Some of these authors were recommended and others, I was lucky enough to pick up browsing the library’s shelves.

Some of my favourite books this year were written by Australian writers, they were: Continue reading

2nd Tuesday Evening Book Group

The group discussed the FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION.

Group Comments

One member re-read ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ which was writeen by a German soldier after the first world war.

It is a novel based on the author’s experiences even though it is not biographical.

It is a poignant account of the horror and futility of war and remains a classic anit-war novel.

As such, it was banned by the Nazis, and the author was stripped of his German citizenship.

Our small group discussed how human history has always had groups of people who operate in an oppressive manner and want to use the media and publications as a vehicle of control.

Freedom of the press and literature is vital to an open and tolerant society.