The Most Anticipated books for 2015

 The Most Anticipated Books  in 2015

                                                  

The Red Queen: Obernewtyn (Book 7)

Author: Isobelle Carmody

$32.99 Due November

The time has come at last for Elspeth Gordie to leave the Land on her quest to find and stop the computermachine Sentinel from unleashing the deadly Balance of Terror arsenal. But before she can embark on her quest, she must find a lost key; and although she has long prepared for this day, nothing is as she imagined.

This is the final, dramatic volume in series of books that undoubtedly shines as one of the most fantastic, and fantastical, tapestries ever woven. If you haven’t read the books, now is the perfect time to catch up, because you’ll be able to devour each book one after the other, right until the end. The Farseekers, Ashling and The Keeping Place, which were all released a year at a time. Then it was an almost ten year wait until the fifth book, The Stone Key, appeared, then three more years waiting for The Sending in 2011. Patience was required for those who loved the series.  How, however,  you can have them all with no waiting.

"Go Set a Watchman" by Harper Lee

Revisit Harper Lee's classic To Kill A Mockingbird with this beautiful hardback edition at our price of $36.00  Due July

Book Description
Set during the mid-1950s, Go Set a Watchman features many of the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird some twenty years later.

Scout has returned to Maycomb from New York to visit her father Atticus.

She is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand both her father’s attitude toward society and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood.

An instant classic

                                                               

                                                                       
"Rush Oh!" by Shirley Barratt

$32.99 Due September  

 I now can’t wait to read it. The intriguing title was the rallying cry of the whalers of Eden on the coast of NSW over one hundred years ago. The novel is set in 1908 and is based on the true story of the community’s unlikely relationship with a pod of Killer whales. During that period the whalers and the Killer whales hunted together and the Killer whales became a part of the community, each known by name and personality, most notably a beloved prankster called Tom.
It sounds fanciful, but isn’t that often the way with stories drawn from life? Barrett has taken this amazing historic episode of inter-species cooperation and friendship as the jumping-off point for what sounds like a dramatic and humorous story of a bad whaling season and a tight-knit village, told from the perspective of the eldest daughter of one of the whaling families.

To listen to Shirley talk about the book click on the link below
Rush Oh! by Shirley Barratt 

After reading a proof copy of this book a month ago I cannot wait to get it in and recommend it. 



                                                                         

The 65-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton

$12.99 and Due August

Andy and Terry's amazing 65-Storey Treehouse now has a pet-grooming salon, a birthday room where it's always your birthday (even when it's not), a room full of exploding eyeballs, a lollipop shop, a quicksand pit, an ant farm, a time machine and Tree-NN: a 24-hour-a-day TV news centre keeping you up to date with all the latest treehouse news, current events and gossip. Well, what are you waiting for? Come on up!

                                                                         

 

"The Secret Chord" by Geraldine Brooks

$39.99 Due October

A unique and vivid novel that retells the story of King David's extraordinary rise to power and fall from grace, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of PEOPLE OF THE BOOK, YEAR OF WONDERS and MARCH, Geraldine Brooks.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of PEOPLE OF THE BOOK, YEAR OF WONDERS and MARCH comes a unique and vivid novel that retells the story of King David's extraordinary rise to power and fall from grace.
1000 BC. The Second Iron Age. The time of King David.
Anointed as the chosen one when just a young shepherd boy, David will rise to be king, grasping the throne and establishing his empire. But his journey is a tumultuous one and the consequences of his choices will resound for generations. In a life that arcs from obscurity to fame, he is by turns hero and traitor, glamorous young tyrant and beloved king, murderous despot and remorseful, diminished patriarch. His wives love and fear him, his sons will betray him. It falls to Natan, the courtier and prophet who both counsels and castigates David, to tell the truth about the path he must take.
With stunning originality, acclaimed author Geraldine Brooks offers us a compelling portrait of a morally complex hero from this strange age - part legend, part history. Full of drama and richly drawn detail, THE SECRET CHORD is a vivid story of faith, family, desire and power that brings David magnificently alive.
'a masterly reworking of what fiction and history have afforded Brooks' vibrant and questing imagination' - THE AGE on MARCH
'A single shard of historical fact, a well-worn artefact ... can send her off to the archives to coax fiction from the seams of history in ways that seem almost miraculous to fans and critics alike.' - NEW ZEALAND HERALD
  
I am currently reading a review copy and it's Geraldine Brooks at her best.  

                                                                           

The Girl in the Spider’s Web (Millennium #4)

by David Lagercrantz, Stieg Larsson 

This August Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist return in the highly anticipated follow-up to Stieg Larsson's THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST

In this adrenaline-charged thriller, genius-hacker Lisbeth Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist face a dangerous new threat and must again join forces.

Late one night, Blomkvist receives a phone call from a trusted source claiming to have information vital to the United States. The source has been in contact with a young female super hacker—a hacker resembling someone Blomkvist knows all too well. The implications are staggering.

Blomkvist, in desperate need of a scoop for Millennium, turns to Lisbeth for help. She, as usual, has her own agenda. In The Girl in the Spider's Web, the duo who thrilled 80 million readers in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest meet again in an extraordinary and uniquely of-the-moment thriller.

 

 

         
                                                               

 

Libraries to list the most popular books borrowed 

Lily Davis, 10, reading one of her favourite books Diary of a Wimpy Kid at the Ballarat Library. Photo: Simon O'Dwyer
Any avid reader knows the worst thing about a good book is finishing it, and understands the curse of the seemingly perpetual hunt for the next fix, the next great read.
Today  marks the start of Library and Information Week and the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) hopes a list of the top 10 books borrowed at more than 150 Australian libraries across four categories will momentarily ease that burden.
"We're all interested in what everybody is reading," said association  chief executive Sue McKerracher.
A wide range of genres were borrowed and read by Australians between February and April, with thrillers, crime, humour, fantasy, science fiction, cookery, biography and contemporary literature all getting a look-in.

Ms McKerracher said while it was  "slightly disappointing" British and American authors took out the number one spot in all four categories – adult fiction, adult non-fiction, children's books and young adult fiction – Australian writers feature prominently in all but one group.
"I think we punch above our weight, but it was disappointing in the young adult genre, because we've got some fantastic young adult writers in Australia," she said.
There were only two Australian writers in that category, and Ms McKerracher put the Americans' dominance down to heavy investment in marketing.
"Clearly, we don't have that kind of investment available for our writers."
She was, however, thrilled with the children's book category, which featured six books by Australians, including two humorous series by dream-team Andy Griffiths and illustrator Terry Denton.
Another book in the pair's phenomenally popular Treehouse series was awarded Book of the Year at last week's Australian Book Industry Awards, the first time a children's book has taken out the top prize.
Meanwhile, adults voraciously consumed popular and critically acclaimed Aussie fiction titles like The Rosie Project, Burial Rites and The Narrow Road to the Deep North, and our obsession with food showed in the non-fiction category with three of Jamie Oliver's cookbooks making the top 10.
The survey showed print books were  still going strong, with e-books borrowed from libraries making up fewer  than 5 percent of loans.
Ms McKerracher said the future was hopeful for print, despite earlier fears of its downfall with the arrival of e-readers.
"The feeling now is that, yes, we're all going digital, but actually print is still a very attractive medium and people are using multiple formats.
"They'll have an audiobook when they're in the car, an e-book when they're going on holiday and a print book when they're in the bath."
Ms McKerracher said the lists showed Australians were reading for pleasure, and, unsurprisingly, she reckons that's a good thing.
"It's very good for our souls and contributes to our general sense of wellbeing."
MOST BORROWED ADULT FICTION TITLES
 1. Never Go Back by Lee Child
 2. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
 3. The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connolly
 4. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
 5. Eyrie by Tim Winton
 6. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
 7. Inferno by Dan Brown
 8. The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
 9. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
10. A Wanted Man by Lee Child
MOST BORROWED CHILDREN'S BOOKS
 1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
 2. 13-Storey, 26 Storey and 39-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
 3. Geronimo and Thea Stilton series by  Elisabetta Dami
 4. Spot series by Eric Hill
 5. The Wrong Book by Nick Bland
 6. Just! series by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton
 7. Once by Morris Gleitzman
 8. Peck Peck Peck by Lucy Cousins
 9. Selby series by Duncan Ball
10. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

12 Reasons To Date a Reader

Adapted from the crew at the Huffington Post…12 Reasons To Date a Reader

1. You know they’re fine spending time on their own. People who read can entertain themselves for hours without you. Yes, you might get ignored for a couple of days when the new Game of Thrones novel comes out but a person who can hang out with themselves and a book won't get upset when you work late.

2. They’re empathetic. Studies have shown that people who read fiction are particularly empathetic towards others. This makes total sense … readers can put themselves in any character's shoes. When you're reading, you're constantly empathizing, trying to understand why a particular character is acting in a particular way.

3. They’re a critical thinker. They’re someone you can talk through a tough decision with, and know they'll give real thought to all the moving parts. People who read have stronger analytical skills, so a reader will be better equipped to assess a situation and find the right solution.

4. They has a sense of perspective. Thier crummy commute is nowhere near as bad as what's going on in The Handmaid's Tale, provided their commute did not involve being transported to a totalitarian society and forced to bear children for other couples.

5. They’re easily entertained. Setting them free in a bookstore or stopping to browse at one of those streetside book stalls is their idea of heaven. All a reader needs for an adventure is a place to sit and a good story.

6. They’ll be able to teach you things. Readers accumulate a lot of random facts, and they can usually explain things in a clear, concise way. A reader is the best person to have on your team for a pub quiz.

7. They’re curious. Someone hungry for more out of life -- more stories, more information, more experiences. 

8. They’re probably a good listener. Anyone who can spend hours and hours reading someone else’s stories will be just as interested in what you have to say.

9. They’re easy to buy gifts for…..and we’ve got you covered!

10. They have a great memory for detail. Your favourite drink? Your mum's birthday?  Covered. Reading improves your memory.

11. They’re involved in the world, and I don't just mean whatever fictional universe they’re immersed in at the time. People who read are more likely to vote, attend cultural events and be more engaged in their communities.

12. And the best thing about dating a reader? They'll probably encourage you to pick up a book yourself, so you can reap all the benefits reading has to bring.

Anthony Doerr's "All the Light Cannot See"

All the Light We Cannot See

by Anthony Doerr 

From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, a stunningly ambitious and beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks (there are thousands of locks in the museum). When she is six, she goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood, every house, every manhole, so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris, father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie-Laure's agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall.

In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far-flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint-Malo, where his path converges with Marie-Laure.

Doerr's gorgeous combination of soaring imagination with observation is electric. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, All the Light We Cannot See is his most ambitious and dazzling work

Customer Reviews

 Melanie rated it 5 of 5 stars 
  I always thought, or imagined, that there were these invisible lines trembling in our wake, outlining our trajectories through life, throbbing with electric energy. Lines that sometimes cross one other, or follow in parallel ellipses without ever touching, or meet up for one brief moment and then part. A universe of lines crisscrossing in the void.

Anthony Doerr's astonishing new novel "All The Light We Cannot See" follows the complex arcs of two such invisible lines through the lives of Werner Pfennig, an orphan boy in pre-World War II Germany and Marie-Laure Leblanc, a blind girl living in Paris with her father. Through riveting flash forwards and flash backs, the novel charters the course of their lives as they struggle to find out wether it is possible to really own your life when it is swallowed by the black holes of history. One is driven by a deep love of science while the other is inhabited by the power of books. In the midst of the rise of German fascism and the birth of the French Resistance, how does youth manage to stay true to its essence?

A war story, a coming-of-age story, a philosophical fable, this is a novel that constantly oscillates between the moral uncertainties of life and the chiselled precision of the natural world that surrounds us. Between the political morass of war and the stupendous beauty of organisms, the ocean, the human brain.

The language is so fantastically precise - Anthony Doerr does things with verbs that make entire paragraphs sing - that the visual component of this book is quite astounding.

In the end, what this novel illuminates is the miraculous impact that seminal events have on the rest of our lives, whether it be the magic of radio broadcasts on the mysteries of science or the extraordinary adventures of Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea".

A deeply moving and enthralling work that echoes the power of early impressions on the building of a self, such as the philosopher Simon Critchley recently evoked so beautifully in a stunning essay published in The New York Times entitled "The Dangers of Certainty":


Diane S. rated it 5 of 5 stars  
For me, this was a very special read. I feel like I have been on a long gut-wrenching journey, and in a way I have, traveling with two young children, one in Berlin and one in Paris and follow them as they grow-up. There are poignant moments, downright sad moments, moments that made me smile and moments that made me so very angry. Werner in Berlin is a curious child, a child with the talent for putting things together, like radios, he and his sister Jutta live in an orphanage. Marie-Laure, a blind girl and her father live in Paris, her father is the keeper of the keys for a prestigious museum. It is the radio that will connect these two lives long before they actually meet.

The descriptions are wonderful, very detailed as they are made for a blind girl, to enable her to envision the many things described. The novel travels, back and forth, times when they were young, times when they are a bit older and Marie-Laure finds herself and her father in St, Malo at the home her eccentric uncle, who is another amazing character Werner finds himself chosen for a school, and we travel along with him as we learn the many young men in the Nazi party were trained to be cold blooded killers.

How far would you go along with the prevailing threats and times, how would you react when confronted with an injustice? One young man pays heavily for his supposed weakness of character. How long can one pretend everything is fine, trying to keep eyes closed so one cannot see?

So it is radios, little built towns and houses, built by Marie-Laure's father so she can get around wherever she lives. It is keys, the French resistance, the United States Air Force bombing of St. Malo, of imprisonments and yes love. Moral questions and a great character study.

It even follows a few characters after the war in Berlin, which is where this quote comes in, "Does any goodness linger in this last derelict stronghold? A little." The story than picks ups twennty years later. I read this as slow as I could, I really did not want it to end.

Young Adult Fiction

Young Adult fiction: Ages 15-20 years

Young adult refers to the age of the characters…not simplistic or immature writing.

Young adult novels can be defined as books that are marketed towards late teens and contain main characters between the ages of 12 and 18, sometimes reaching to early 20s. What young adult literature is not is a story that leaps straight into adulthood. The majority of the stories take place during the characters’ teen years. Also, a common misconception about young adult novels is that, because they are meant for teens, the stories must be immature and the writing poor. One only need look at authors such as John Green, Hannah Moskowitz and Maggie Stiefvater to see that those claims are false.
Along with the popularity of young adult literature have come the critics who want to pick it apart and dub what should and shouldn’t be featured in books aimed at a younger audience.

Narration and Pacing

Young adult literature is often written from the first person point of view, an aspect that seems to be especially appealing to the young reader. It gives them a look into the mind of a character that is near their age and allows them to make a better connection and be therefore more invested in the story. Young adult literature often lets us in so we can experience all those teen emotions and insecurities along with the character. For young readers, they find a friend of sorts, while older readers are able to reminisce about their teen years.
Along with the narration goes the voice. Young adult novels should have characters that are using slang and often talking in fragments. The stories tend to be dialogue heavy, frequently informing the reader about a character’s temperament whether it is through sarcasm, wit or intellect.
Another common aspect of young adult literature is quick pacing. Most of the novels are plot driven with cliffhanger chapter endings and more action than sprawling description. The current blockbuster-movie-watching and video-game-playing generation need stories that move along at a good pace and ultimately sustain their interest.

Themes

Some of the most common themes in young adult novels are about coming of age, self-discovery and first love. They often also touch on typical teen aspects of being quick to love or hate someone or to have emotions that run rampant. Insecurities relating to body image and popularity are written in, as well as immature behaviour and a tendency towards the over-dramatization of events.
Another common theme is the absent parent.

Appeal

What is the appeal of a young adult novel that lures in a reader? Often the main characters are given a power of sorts over their situations, something teens may feel is lacking in their own lives, whether it’s the power to make their own decisions or love whomever they want. These novels put their characters into circumstances that a young reader can sympathize with and commiserate over. Even if the setting is fantastical and the characters are those with super powers, they are still going through some of those themes mentioned above–themes the reader relates to. While it’s important for teens to understand the difference between fact and fiction, they can be comforted by seeing a character go through the same kinds of situations and troubles that they are experiencing in their own lives.

Content

There is a lot a debate currently about what should and shouldn’t be allowed in a young adult novel. Many argue that the stories are too dark, too racy and too…real. There are a great many young adult novels containing drug use, date rape, physical abuse, suicide, foul language, and sexual encounters. Some complain that young adults should not be subjected to such topics because they are at an impressionable age but, realistically, these are topics and situations many of them are experiencing on a daily basis. There are certainly ways those topics can be discussed and touched upon without being explicit and raunchy, but they shouldn’t be avoided entirely; let’s face it young adult are having sex, cursing and suffering through unpleasant situations.

Conclusion

While young adult novels are going to feature teens and the situations they go through, they can still deal with difficult and age appropriate topics. The dialogue may come off as “young” but that doesn’t mean the writing is “dumbed” down. The stories are relatable and fast-paced, keeping the attention of a young reader. They don’t always have a happy ending and can be complex and touching.

Matt irwin prints at Thesaurus Booksellers

29 Church St. Brighton 3186       Ph 9591 0811

 Email luke@thesaurusbooks.com.au   Web www.thesaurusbooks.net.au

Orders orders@thesaurusbooks.com.au

ABN 27 223 280 480

Thesaurus Booksellers is now proud to be offering a range of prints from renowned Melbourne photographer Matt Irwin

Over the last 24 years, Matt Irwin’s iconic photographic images, particularly of Melbourne, have gathered a dedicated following.

Attached are images of a selection of the prints. These are available in three sizes.

7 x 7 inches  $60 inc GST

12 x 12 inches  $135 inc GST

12 x 20 inches  $155 inc GST

20 x 12 inches  $155 inc GST

The prints are on high quality canvas, attached to a solid timber frame  and are laminated and fade proof.

We can arrange to post these prints anywhere in the world for an additional postage cost.

Matt Irwin has many other images available and these can be viewed on his gallery website

www.mattirwin.com

These prints are a perfect present for someone passionate about Melbourne and its Bayside Suburbs or as a gift for someone overseas whether it be family, friend or business.