Thesaurus Books and ABC Centre Blog

R J Palacio author of "Wonder"

2012-02-21T19:39:00.003-08:00

RJ Palacio: 'I keep hearing about grown men weeping'

Hermione Hoby meets New York author RJ Palacio, whose book about a child with facial abnormalities is being hailed as a crossover classic

‘A meditation on kindness’: RJ Palacio photographed last week in New York for the Observer Tim Knox.

I never thought a children's book could make me reconsider the schmaltziest day of the year but, while waiting in New York's west village to meet RJ Palacio on Valentine's Day morning, the hearts in my latte foam and the guys on street corners hawking cellophane-wrapped roses suddenly all seem rather touching. Wonder – a children's book that's making grown men cry, and being compared to Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – recounts a year in the life of August, a 10-year-old boy with severe facial abnormalities, as he navigates school for the first time. "I won't describe what I look like," he cautions on the first page. "Whatever you're thinking, it's probably worse." His characterful, rueful voice begins the story before it's picked up by his peers – all of whom are just as uncannily charming.

Wonder
by R.J. Palacio

Palacio, otherwise known as Raquel Jaramillo, has worked in publishing for years and has a cabinet full of her own unfinished stories. Writing Wonder, though, was a completely different experience to these "half-starts". The idea came to her five years ago when she and her two sons were outside an ice-cream parlour. A little girl with a condition similar to August's sat on the bench next to them and Palacio's youngest, who was then three, began to scream.

"It was just such a scene, the last thing I wanted," she says, and her large brown eyes look pained. "And as we were leaving I heard the mum behind me say in the coolest, sweetest, kindest voice, "OK guys, time to go", and my heart just broke for her. As a mother I was just in awe of this woman. And I could not stop thinking about that encounter – what I could have done differently, what I could be teaching my kids about how to deal with something like that? Is 'don't stare' the right thing to say? I'm not even sure…"

On Palacio's drive home, Natalie Merchant's "Wonder" came on the radio, a song that she used to play as a lullaby to her eldest son. "And somehow the connection between that song – the joyousness of it, 'with love, with patience and with faith she'll make her way' – and what had just happened really clicked. I got home that night and started writing. It basically wouldn't let me not finish it," she smiles. "It was just one of those things."

She tells me that she's just read Wonder to her youngest, who's now eight, and admits that the experience made her "choke up". August, or Auggie, is "a little bit my son, a little bit his friends, a little bit the son of a friend of mine who has that way of talking": she has them all to thank for the credibility of the dialogue. "I come home from work and there are gaggles of boys and they're so loud – it was perfect fodder for me because I could just transcribe what they were saying!"

Although Palacio wanted it to be "a kids' book first and foremost", she's delighted by the reaction it's getting from adults. "I keep hearing about all these people," she laughs, "like grown men who are weeping!"

She has described the book as a "meditation on kindness", but one thing that makes it so powerful is how subtle the cruelty is too. From the mother of a classmate who Photoshops Auggie's face out of the school picture, to a school-wide "game" called "the plague", which dictates that you have 30 seconds to wash your hands after touching him, it all feels authentically observed. Happily though, the acts of kindness and bravery, particularly those of Auggie's stalwart friends Jack and Summer, are just as unexpected and unsentimental.

Do her own kids and the kids of her friends confound her in that way? "Great question!" she enthuses, like a kindly teacher. "Yes. Yes! I always think if you give a kid a chance, nine out of 10 times they will surprise you and do the right thing. I really do. Kids are sweeter and kinder than we've given them credit for. We've almost come to expect kids to be mean to one another, and if we expect them to behave a certain way they'll act a certain way. But they're decent human beings, most of them."

But after a year of teen suicides and cyber-bullying headlines, it's easy to see childhood now as somehow more fraught than before. Does she think kids might be growing up in less kind times?

"I hope not, and I don't think so. God, I grew up in the 70s! New York in the 70s was not a kind place. But I've just always believed that there are more good people in the world than not, and that we're all there to kind of find one another and fend off the people that aren't so great. That's all you can do."

Reading Notes

The storyline

My name is August. I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.
August Pullman wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things. He eats ice cream. He plays on his Xbox. He feels ordinary - inside.
But Auggie is far from ordinary. Ordinary kids don’t make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids don’t get stared at wherever they go.
Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the outside world. Now, for the first time, he’s being sent to a real school - and he’s dreading it. All he wants is to be accepted - but can he convince his new classmates that he’s just like them, underneath it all?
Narrated by Auggie and the people around him whose lives he touches forever, Wonder is an funny, frank, astonishingly moving debut to read in one sitting, pass on to others, and remember long after the final page.

The author

R. J. PALACIO is a graphic designer by day and a writer by night. She lives in
New York City with her family and a black dog named Bear.

What the critics say

‘The breakout publishing sensation of 2012 will come courtesy of Palacio, a New York graphic designer whose debut novel, Wonder, is destined to go the way of Mark Haddon’s Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, and then some. Telling the story of August, a schoolboy born with an unspecified facial deformity, it is dark, funny, touching, and no tube carriage will be without a copy this year’ The Times

Questions for you to think about

1. Don’t judge a boy by his face

• What do you think of the line ‘Don’t judge a boy by his face’ which appears on the back cover of the book?
• Did this affect how much you wanted to read the story?
• How much did this line give away about the story you were about to read?

2. Auggie’s appearance

• Throughout Wonder, Auggie describes the way that many people react to seeing his face for the first time: by immediately looking away. Have you ever been in a situation where you have responded like this to seeing someone different? Having now read Wonder, how do you feel about this now?
• Auggie’s face is not fully described until quite far on in the story, in Via’s chapter ‘August: Through the Peephole’. How close was this description to your own mental picture of Auggie? Did you have a picture of his face in your mind while reading the book? Did this description alter that picture?

3. Auggie’s personality

• How would you describe Auggie as a person in the first few chapters of the book? What about the final few chapters? Has he changed significantly? Are there any experiences or episodes during the story that you think had a particular effect on him? If so, how?

4. The astronaut helmet

• In the chapter ‘Costumes’ Auggie describes the astronaut helmet that he wore constantly as a younger child. We later learn that Miranda was the one to give Auggie the helmet, and is proud of the gift, but that it was Auggie’s father who threw it away. What do you think the helmet signifies to each of these characters and why do you think they all view it so differently?

5. Star Wars

• Star Wars is one of Auggie’s passions. Why do you think this is?
• Do you see any reasons for Auggie to identify with these characters, or to aspire to be like them?

6. The use of humour in Wonder

• Auggie’s parents bring Auggie around to the idea of attending school by joking with
him about Mr Tushman’s name, and telling him about their old college professor,
Bobbie Butt. To what extent is humour used as a tool throughout Wonder to diffuse
difficult or tense situations, or to convey a part of the story that would otherwise
be depressing or sad? Look at the chapter, ‘How I Came To Life’.

7. Via

• What did you think of Via as a character? Did you empathise with her?
• Why do you think Via was so angry to learn that Auggie cut off his Padawan braid?
• Do you think Via’s own attitude towards her brother changes throughout the story?

8. Mrs Albans

• Look at the emails between Mr Tushman, Julian’s parents and Jack’s parents in
the chapter ‘Letters, Emails, Facebook, Texts’. Up to this point in the story we
have seen how the children at Auggie’s school have reacted to him. Is Mrs Albans’
attitude towards Auggie different?
• What do you make of her statement that Auggie is handicapped?
• Do you think she is correct in saying that asking ‘ordinary’ children, such as Julian,
to befriend Auggie places a burden on them?

9. At the ice cream parlour

• The author has explained that she was inspired to write Wonder after an
experience at a local ice cream parlour, very similar to the scene described in the
chapter ‘Carvel’, where Jack sees Auggie for the first time. In this scene, Jack’s
babysitter Veronica chooses to get up and quickly walk Jack and his little brother
Jamie away from Auggie, rather than risk Jamie saying something rude or hurtful.
What do you think you would have done, if put in that position?

Are Classics worth stocking in a Bookshop

2012-02-13T02:42:00.000-08:00

Are Classics worth stocking in a Bookshop
Last year we saw an interesting phenomenon. Publishers, in particular Random House and Penguin Books reduced the price of their range of classics. I mention those two publishers in particular because both have been proactive in the presentation and image of their range. Random went first, reducing their handsome range of classics to $12.95 followed by the elegant range of Penguin Black Classics to $9.95. (I am not including the ever popular range of Popular Penguin in my thinking).
Why have publishers gone down this path? It is not as if the publishers have reduced the price of these classics by a couple of dollars as many of the black classics were around $19.95. These books are now incredibly priced and are very affordable
I believe publishers have reduced the price of their classics to such reasonable prices is to ensure the continuance of sales of classics in paper format and do not completely disappear because many of these books are free as ebooks. When you purchase a ebook you get hundreds of classics free. That’s great but they are no fun to read as an ebook and with many classics you need to go back and forth often to reacquaint yourself with characters and themes. This task is impossible or difficult with an ebook. There is nothing easier than flipping pages of a paper book.
Publishers have been incredibly successful in their quest to stop the slide of Classics’ sales. Sales of classics in our shop have doubled over the year. So the slide has not simply been halted but reversed.
Now given that as yet ebook sales are a very small part of the Australian publishing landscape publishers in reducing the price of classics have created a new generation of classics readers. This is a huge added bonus as those readers have found a new joy in reading paper books and will purchase other paper books. Which by the way are coming down in price as well.
I found the Blog copied below in the “Pick The Brain” Blog. It extols the value of reading classics.
So I congratulate publishers on being proactive with the pricing of classics and urge them to continue to work with booksellers. I believe that a strong network on paper booksellers that the industry will remain vibrant and not wither under the weight of Amazon, Google and Apple.
I urge you to read the blog below.

10 Ways to Improve Your Mind by Reading the Classics
Written by Editor in Chief, Pick The Brain

The other day I came across some disturbing statistics on reading. According to a Jenkins Group survey, 42% of college graduates will never read another book. Since most people read bestsellers printed in the past 10 years, it follows that virtually no one is reading the classics. Although it’s unfortunate that the intellectual heritage of humanity is being forgotten we can use this to our benefit. By reading the classics to improve your mind you can give yourself an advantage. These examples illustrate 10 ways reading the classics will help you succeed.
1. Bigger Vocabulary
When reading the classics you’ll come across many words that are no longer commonly used. Why learn words most people don’t use? To set yourself apart. Having a bigger vocabulary is like having a tool box with more tools. A larger arsenal of words enables you to express yourself more eloquently. You’ll be able to communicate with precision and create a perception of higher intelligence that will give you an advantage in work and social situations.
2. Improved Writing Ability
Reading the classics is the easiest way to improve your writing. While reading you unconsciously absorb the grammar and style of the author. Why not learn from the best? Great authors have a tendency to take over your mind. After reading, I’ve observed that my thoughts begin to mirror the writer’s style. This influence carries over to writing, helping form clear, rhythmic sentences.
3. Improved Speaking Ability
Becoming a better speaker accompanies becoming a better writer because both are caused by becoming a better thinker. Studying works of genius will teach you to express yourself with clarity and style. By improving your command of the English language, you’ll become more persuasive, sound more intelligent, and enjoy an advantage over less articulate people.
4. Fresh Ideas
Isn’t it ironic that the best source for new ideas are writers who’ve been dead for centuries? I’ve derived some of my best ideas directly from the classics . It makes sense when you consider the competition. Everyone you know is reading the same popular blogs and bestselling books. Observing the same ideas as everyone else leads to generic and repetitive thinking. No wonder it’s difficult to sound original! By looking to the classics for inspiration you can enhance your creativity and find fresh subject matter.
5. Historical Perspective
I could argue this point myself, but why bother if Einstein has already done it?
Somebody who reads only newspapers and at best the books of contemporary authors looks to me like an extremely nearsighted person who scorns eyeglasses. He is completely dependent on the prejudices and fashions of his times, since he never gets to see or hear anything else. And what a person thinks on his own without being stimulated by the thoughts and experiences of other people is even in the best case rather paltry and monotonous.
There are only a few enlightened people with a lucid mind and style and with good taste within a century. What has been preserved of their work belongs among the most precious possessions of mankind.
Nothing is more needed than to overcome the modernist’s snobbishness.
6. Educational Entertainment
Reading great books is fun. The key is getting past the initial vocabulary barrier. It’s actually less difficult than you think. Even challenging authors use a limited vocabulary. After the initial learning curve, you’ll find the classics as readable as modern books and infinitely more stimulating. Classics have endured because of entertainment value. There’s a reason filmmakers keep remaking old books — they have the best content.
7. Sophistication
If you’d like to excel in conversation, knowledge of the classics is essential. These are books that keep coming up. They’re a part of human history that isn’t going to disappear in 10 years like 99% of books on the bestsellers list. By reading the classics you gain a deeper appreciation of ideas generally taken for granted. Plus quoting Aristotle or Voltaire is a great way to win an argument.
8. More Efficient Reading
I just finished reading The Road by Cormac MacCarthy. It’s so good that it won the Pulitzer Prize. Afterwards I read the first few chapters of Lolita . I was shocked by Lolita’s superiority. Truly great books don’t come around every year. If you only read contemporary literature, you’re drawing from a diluted pool. Why not make the most of your reading time by finding the best of the best?
9. Develop a Distinct Voice
If you’re a writer/blogger, ignoring the classics is a mistake. This has nothing to do with subject matter. Regardless of what you write about, you need to be persuasive and develop a distinct voice. The best way to learn is from the masters. I’ve seen several articles recommend examples of good writing — they’ve all been other blogs. I have a feeling most people reading this article already read enough blogs. Spending some time with the classics will give you an edge.
10. Learn Timeless Ideas
We like to believe, in our modern arrogance, that technology has changed everything. In truth, it feels the same to be alive today as it did a thousand years ago. The lessons of the classics carry as much weight as ever. They contain information that is directly applicable to your life. Don’t believe me? Try reading Ben Franklin’s Autobiography without learning something. Reading the classics develops an understanding of the human condition and a deeper appreciation of modern problems.
In closing, I’d like to briefly anticipate criticism. This is not an attack on everything modern. To read nothing but the classics would be as foolish as completely ignoring them. The aim is to combine the wisdom of the past with the innovation of the future. The two are inextricably linked — the best books are yet to be written.
Also, this is not an appeal to snobbery. Quite the opposite. Reading the classics is a cheap hobby. Used copies can be borrowed from the library or purchased for 1/20 the cost of trendy books that are the talk of high society. Please stop associating the classics with your English Lit. Professor.

Reviews for"Wonder" by R. J. Palacio

2012-02-04T16:53:00.000-08:00

I have just finished reading a review copy of R J Palacio's "Wonder".

This is the most moving story I have read in years.
It is a book that you will remember long after the final page.
If you have read "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" you will love this one.
It is for young adults and adults alike. Due out March 1 and will sell for $21.95
Please read a couple of the reviews attached and then order your copy of the book.

Review September 11, 2011
Wonder by R.J. Palacio

August (Auggie) Pullman was born with a facial deformity that prevented him from going to a mainstream school—until now. He’s about to start 5th grade at Beecher Prep, and if you’ve ever been the new kid then you know how hard that can be. The thing is Auggie’s just an ordinary kid, with an extraordinary face. But can he convince his new classmates that he’s just like them, despite appearances?
R. J. Palacio has written a spare, warm, uplifting story that will have readers laughing one minute and wiping away tears the next. With wonderfully realistic family interactions (flawed, but loving), lively school scenes, and short chapters, Wonder is accessible to readers of all levels.
______________________________________________
Can I just say right now that I loved Wonder by R.J. Palacio? I want EVERYONE to read it. (That’s right, I shouted!) In fact, if it were out right now I’d be buying copies to give to other people to read. I loved it, it was so sweet and real. It’s sad, funny, inspiring, infuriating, eye opening and awesome. I’d like to think that it wouldn’t have been me that would have reacted to seeing Auggie for the first time, but I know I’d be lying.
When Auggie first talks to us, he doesn’t even describe himself. He says, “I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.” Now, doesn’t that just make you think and makes your heart cry out for him? I know I was thinking it’s not that bad but even with the descriptions it’s hard to imagine.
At times I was thinking that they were a little too well versed for them to be fifth graders, but then I realized I was wrong. Mainly, because I don’t actually hang out with fifth graders so how would I know how they spoke? And also, even if they did speak like adults, they still behaved like kids. (I thought about all the times they retold a story and they definitely were kids: “He was like, “what”and you were like, “yep” and I was like, “nooooo” haha.)
Yeah, they behaved like kids, and sometimes kids could be so cruel. The whole ‘no touch’ thing just made me so sad. The lab scene incident almost had me in tears, and that almost never happens in a book (OK, I did get extremely choked up at the end of the Book Thief). Oh, and don’t even get me started on the overheard conversation. That just about tore my heart out. No one wants to here stuff like that.
That Julian, I was so mad at him. But he was so realistic as well. It wasn’t always the kids, sometimes the adults could be so infuriating as well. And the sad part is, it could very well happen in real life (which totally sucks).
I can’t imagine what it would be like for the parents. I do know that the parents in this book were awesome. I loved their humor and attention to their kids. I think Via made it much easier for them, but they handled it well.
So do I recommend Wonder?

Review December 15, 2011

After being homeschooled for years, Auggie Pullman is about to start fifth grade, but he’s worried: How will he fit into middle-school life when he looks so different from everyone else?
Auggie has had 27 surgeries to correct facial anomalies he was born with, but he still has a face that has earned him such cruel nicknames as Freak, Freddy Krueger, Gross-out and Lizard face. Though “his features look like they’ve been melted, like the drippings on a candle” and he’s used to people averting their eyes when they see him, he’s an engaging boy who feels pretty ordinary inside. He’s smart, funny, kind and brave, but his father says that having Auggie attend Beecher Prep would be like sending “a lamb to the slaughter.” Palacio divides the novel into eight parts, interspersing Auggie’s first-person narrative with the voices of family members and classmates, wisely expanding the story beyond Auggie’s viewpoint and demonstrating that Auggie’s arrival at school doesn’t test only him, it affects everyone in the community. Auggie may be finding his place in the world, but that world must find a way to make room for him, too.
A memorable story of kindness, courage and wonder.

It's Summer!

2012-01-04T08:15:00.000-08:00

Season's Greetings and Happy New Year from Thesaurus.

May your Test Captain always reliably score double tons and may your summers be full of contented reading beside the ABC commentary.

Thesaurus Top 10 for the Week! (with micro reviews)

2011-12-07T17:13:00.000-08:00

There is something for everyone

1. Cabin Fever: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney, (Penguin)

The latest in runnaway best-selling kids series.

2. Death Comes to Pemberley, P.D.James (Allen & Unwin)

Love your crime with a Regency twist?

3. The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes (Random House)

A Booker Prize Winner - and for this year too! (2011)

4. Inheritance: Inheritance Cycle, Christoher Paolini, (Random House)

A fantastical conclusion to Saphira and Eragon's epic adventures.

5. IQ84: Book 1, 2 and 3, Haruki Murakami & Jay Rubin (Random House)

An mpressively sized and impressively delivered reimagining of 1984.

6. Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography, Walter Isaacson (Hachette)

A topical and moving portrait of the creator of Apple.

7. All That I Am, Anna Funder (Penguin)

A novel of memory and surving living with the past.

8. The Street Sweeper, Elliot Perlman (Random House)

Page turning and well written = a winning combination.

9. After Words, Paul Keating (Allen & Unwin)

A deliciously delightfully decadent decoding of our culture.

10. Mawson and the Ice Men of the Heroic Age - Scott, Shackleton and Amund, Peter Fitzsimons, (Random House)

Another assured biography from the ever reliable Fitzsimons.

Thesaurus Top 10 for the Week!

2011-11-30T01:44:00.000-08:00

‎1 Cabin Fever: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney, (Penguin)
2 Inheritance: Inheritance Cycle, Christoher Paolini, (Random House)
3 The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes (Random House)
4 Death Comes to Pemberley, P.D.James (Allen & Unwin)
5 All That I Am, Anna Funder (Penguin)
6 IQ84: Book 1, 2 and 3, Haruki Murakami & Jay Rubin (Random House)
7 Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography, Walter Isaacson (Hachette)
8 After Words, Paul Keating (Allen & Unwin)
9 The Street Sweeper, Elliot Perlman (Random House)
10 Hare with Amber Eyes, Edmund De Waal, (Random House)

From 18th-25th November 2011

The internet has not impacted on my reading habits in the slightest.

2011-11-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

A very subjective response to the above topic...

One of the contributing factors to surviving a thesis is to discover a distraction that will remove you so completely from what you are writing that you can recover both your sanity and your critical distance. Terry Pratchett might not receive a thank you in your acknowledgment section but deep down within yourself you know that you would never have survived without Discworld.

There was always that one book The Colour of Magic on your family shelves. You did not like the aggressive caricature on the cover nor Rincewind when you opened it. There was another splash that time when you hired out The Wyrd Sisters animation from the ACMI library and subsequently read the book. Better, but there were too many to face jumping in and starting from all the way back at Rincewind did not appeal. It would take many more years and a completely different approach before you dived into and properly appreciate the slightly interesting flavoured waters.

It was at work. Kate had mentioned Terry Pratchett and she was buying the latest for her brother. He doesn’t read anything but he loves these, she said. Kate’s upfront, she tells you right out that she likes only some of Pratchett’s work. But this latest is about the wizards at Unseen University and should be worth the price of a hardback. The wizards, you ask. Yes, she replies. There are patterns throughout the novels that you can follow. Lead characters and so on. Like all the ones with Death. It’s best to read those ones all together. The wizards are fun. So are the witches. The gods not so much. Then there are the guards. The guards? You are intrigued. It works like this. She opens the internet windows and your eyes.

Wikipedia has accompanied you through your undergraduate degree. You do not trust it and feel you never will. But here, plain for all to see the Discworld books are there in a table with a list of main characters and also the ‘theme’ or ‘strand’ that they are a part of. I don’t like Rincewind much. You admit this to Kate. Really? She is surprised. Well, read those last. Start anywhere as long as it is in the start of that group.

Going Postal. The pages flick through smoothly and it smells comforting. The cover is not by Josh Kirby and the man on the front grins reassuringly as conmen are want to do. The Rowden White library holds a dizzying array of his books and it overflows into a mild panic. But you remember the wikipedia and you take this one and two with Granny Weatherwax on the cover. The Witches strand. If this doesn’t work it doesn’t matter, you tell yourself. You should be writing your thesis; researching your thesis; working on your thesis; reading your thesis. Thesis, thesis, thesis! The word crowds your conscious for attention. You ignore it and you read.

And you read. And read. Everything. After Going Postal and the witches there are the guards, who turn out to be favourites and then Death stories interspersed with the gods and also the wizards. Lastly you read of Rincewind and you love the world so much that he wins you over. It’s the winter break and you go on holiday through the pages. You’ve never read anything like this before. The immersion in this world is just what you needed and it took the internet to show you how to access it. There is no way you would have approached a series like this and yet now you know there is no other way. Kate is amused at your effusive thanks.

But you know that these characters live with on with you, in you, as does Discworld. Even Death has a resonance beyond the pages. You know also that Terry Prachett is right about the comfort of the anthropomorphic. [I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN.] But you do. You really do. Away from the thesis you reclaim a sense of you. You return to the world of JSTOR articles, of analysing and of academia. The thesis goes well. It is comforting to know that whenever you need to escape from this world there is another floating alongside, through space on the back of four elephants standing on the shell of a giant turtle. So, now you thank Terry Pratchett and perhaps Wikipedia is owed an acknowledgment too. For in this instance, the internet did not just impact on your reading habits, it impacted directly on you.

Room by Emma Donoghue Review

2011-11-03T15:31:00.000-07:00

Inside Room is Ma and Jack - there is Spider somewhere and there was Mouse for a while but there is nothing else alive apart from Plant. Old Nick is alive too when he comes to take out the rubbish; bring a Sundaytreat and use his prisoner. From Wardrobe, Jack can count the times the bed springs under his weight and hear the heavy breath of a monster. He doesn't quite realise that Old Nick is a monster though, for the bravest thing Ma does throughout their incarceration is to sheild him from her abuser and create a warm, defined and secure world for her little boy. This is essential for their survival and for her own sanity as much as Jack's. Jack is now five and it is at this point that he starts to comprehend that there is a world outside of Room that isn't just in TV, a world that has aeroplanes and is real.

Room is a book that was a massive seller and success - most of the staff in Thesaurus have read it (go on in and ask them!); it was short-listed for the Booker Prize; became an essential bookclub book and was a critical and popular success. This is well deserved recognition in this instance, it's not the case of the spin-storm around a novel overtaking the novel itself.

About a third of the way in the voice and idea wears the reader down a little but cleverly Donoghue shifts the story up into a higher gear and once again you are sailing through the novel in the little but surprisingly astute hands of Jack. This is a character who you want to succeed, who you know will and your heart will break at just how scrave he and his Ma end up being.

Brooklyn by Colm Toíbín Review

2011-11-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

Brooklyn has been out for a while, it has enjoyed international popularity and won the Costa Award in 2009 - I think it was published in Australia and tied in with a publicity tour that saw the author at the Melbourne Writer's Festival and also the First Tuesday Book Club where he was delightfully and engaging guest.

I wanted to love this book. I really did - but this was seriously hamstrung for me, ironically by the author himself on the First Tuesday Book Club when he revealed that he had cribbed parts of his plot from Pride and Prejudice. An endearing admition in the context of the show and somewhat intriguing.

Unfortunately for Toíbín and me as a reader, Brooklyn is no Jane Austen. In both style and content this book was a very different beast to any book featuring Miss. Elizabeth Bennett. Eilis is a quite a seperate character entirely and most of the book is completely seperate. Nevertheless as I was reading I found my self annoyingly imposing the Pride and Prejudice strucure as I went and this didn't work very well at all.

So, lesson well learned forget what you have read here and enjoy the book for what it is rather than what you hope it might become. Or what the author might coyly drop in as an aside in a panel show!

Reading Between the Shelves

2011-10-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

This article was orginally published on upstart on the 31st March 2011

Reading between the shelves: A voice from the independent book industry

Tensions have been brewing in the Australian book industry over recent years, as the impacts of a shifting marketplace begin to be felt. This friction has spilled out into the media since the owner of both Borders and Angus & Robertson, REDgroup, went into voluntary administration in February.

However in the resulting commentary there has been very little space for Australia’s independent booksellers. These voices are necessary for an accurate and informed discussion to take place.

In the current debate there has been substantial consumer complaint about prices and misinformed discussion about the rise of online shopping and e-readers. This has been reinforced by REDgroup’s attempt to deflect attention from poor business practice by inflaming consumer sentiment against the Australian book trade instead.

Debate is a good thing, but in order for an accurate and informed discussion to be taking place there needs to be two sides. Consumers might have a right to source books from wherever they desire but this right should be informed. The current one-way commentary is misleading for online experiences and e-readers are not as fabulous or choice-enhancing as we are being led to believe.

In the media there has been a consistent campaign to discredit the trade and in the face of this so-called popular discourse there has been little or no public support for independent booksellers. Australia has a unique industry where, unlike anywhere else in the world, over 20 per cent of the bookshops are independent retailers. The Australian Booksellers Association has not yet risen to the challenge of representing these members of the book trade.

REDgroup argues that its failure is all to do with e-readers and people sourcing cheaper books online, but this is clearly spin that distracts from their stores not catering to customer needs. Stock in these stores had become so diversified that it has diversified into nothing. Do we as customers really want a bookstore that sells kitchen appliances? Do we really want the recommended retail prices raised on most stock to subsidise unrealistic specials? In times when the retail market gets tough it is most often the poorly run businesses that fall. A large part of surviving in the book industry is about reading and sharing your reading with others. It is not about grabbing market-share and launching failed attempts at monopolies.

Buying online is not necessarily cheaper; it fluctuates. It is not always possible to preview a book before paying for it, and good luck if you need to return it for any reason. It is a complete fallacy that people always have an improved shopping experience online.

Borders also has an extensive online presence and its own e-book business. Maintaining that increased online sales have busted its business is untenable. It may be a contributing factor to a changing industry but it is not the root cause of its voluntary administration.

In regards to industry publishing protections, REDgroup supported the 30 day overseas embargo even under its proposal to ease import restrictions. The Rudd Government was right to reject the Productivity Commission recommendations to allow parallel imports of books. It would not have reduced prices for consumers and it would not have prevented the business failings of Angus & Robertson and Borders.

E-readers are the other ‘life-changing’ and exciting technology that is challenging our book industry — or becoming an integral part of the industry, depending on whose spin you are buying into. Clearly they do have a role, but the extent and popularity of e-readers is generally overplayed. In many situations they are completely impractical and the quality of the print, backlighting and ‘ink’ has yet to match the quality of the printed text.

There is no replacement for the tactile feel of turning a page, of breathing in the simultaneously fresh and musty smell of a new book; as you flick through, inhale and savour those pages that hold the story. Remember that iconic image ingrained into our collective consciousness of a lady on a beach, with a big floppy sunhat, lying back on a towel with a paperback bent open. Everyone dreams of the time to indulge in such practice. This might sound a trifle nostalgic, but it is also practical. Sand does not agree with technology; neither does water, nor young children. The e-book you bought might have been cheaper but the e-reader you have to replace is a whole lot more expensive.

Where is the Australian Booksellers Association’s voice here? It is time that our industry body advocated for the book industry in all its forms. The amount of discussion with customers in our shop about Angus & Robertson and Borders going into administration has been enormous. Contrary to the persistent mutterings in the media about prices, internet and e-readers the majority of consumers are genuinely concerned about the book industry. You do not have the opportunity for face-to-face gossip on the internet. Nor will you receive cheerful advice on what to buy for an eight-year-old or your mother-in-law before having your chosen gift wrapped in pretty paper.

We need to move beyond the spin of REDgroup and its so-called justifications for its collapse in order to preserve the integrity of the remaining businesses in the book trade. A bit of love and a positive attitude for books would go a long way in reminding people of how lucky we are in Australia to have many alternatives to Angus & Robertson and Borders. Let us creatively respond to the shifting dynamics in the book trade rather than blaming the internet, technology and the government.

Whatever happens we will not stop reading; instead people will read in a number of different ways all at the same time. People love books and there is something inherently human about escaping into the pages of another world. Some consumers may choose to access this from a screen; others might ship it in from overseas. But a substantial number of people still really love the opportunity to pop back into the store where they purchased the book and share how much they loved it. Booksellers love that interaction too. It informs our hand-selling, our buying, our knowledge of books and, ultimately, our service.

Currently our industry representatives are underestimating the wonder and uniqueness of what lies within our Australian book trade. Fortunately, like books, you cannot judge an industry by its cover.

Tilly Lunken has just completed her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Creative Writing and is an employee at Thesaurus Booksellers and ABC Centre. She is currently trying to finish Germaine Greer’s The Female Eunuch. This piece originally appeared on her blog, Onomatopoeia.

Tiger's Wife Review

2011-10-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

The Tiger's Wife

Téa Obreht

There are some debut novels that are released in a wave of publicity and ride the tide into the public’s consciousness, there are others that insidiously worm their way into the best-seller charts and then there are those who are critically acclaimed across the world, win the Orange Prize for Fiction, have gorgeous covers and are slow burners. The Tiger’s Wife is one such book. It has sold steadily but without much fanfare, having just finished it in one sitting I would argue that it deserves much trumpeting.

This story is told in a lyrically assured voice and is woven with great skill. It is quite simply beautiful, but in a way that is also a heart-breakingly sad. The style of the writing draws you into the mysteries of the language and the story. You read this and you don’t forget. It won’t let you. The key is throughout the mythology of the tiger and through the deathless man Téa Obreht never loses sight of humanity – that of the reader or her characters.

Fortunately Random House has included bookclub notes, realising it will be one that will continue to inspire and steadily sell and be a fabulous discussion point. If you enjoyed The Tiger’s Wife, you might also love The Book Thief or vice versa if you are one of the many who has discovered Marcus Zusak’s tale.

A Letter to Ponder.

2011-10-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

This is a link to a letter written to Melbourne from England but it has a distinct literary focus.

Click here to read Pages of England.

Probably most relevant are the sections regarding the state of Children's Literary Translation and how English is exporting itself but not returning the favour. Although there are of course exceptions to the rule - we at Thesaurus well remember the delightful success of the Fleurville Trilogy, recently translated from French. If you are interested in reading more French texts try the Nicholas series which is adorable; of course the Tintin and Asterix series and Toby Alone & Toby and the Secrets of the Tree.

Book Sculpture?

2011-10-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hold steady; take a seat - hold onto your metaphorical hats because what you will see when you click on the link below may ultimately change the way you view how books can be used, accessed and preserved.

I am a one who scowls and frowns at those that leave broken spines open over the back of the chair; I despair at the dog eared corner of a page in a library book; let alone scrawling an aside in PEN. Goodness! That would never do.

And yet, when one sees such beauty here, literally the pages come alive.

I think it may very well make your day (as was suggested in the post we got the link from on Neil Gaiman's blog) but it may also change you a little bit on the inside and you might even find yourself leaving a paper crane behind out of your morning newspaper.

Mysterious Paper Sculptures

The Guardian Idependent Bookshops a UK Guide.

2011-10-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

In our International Book-y Blogroll on the left of this page there are links to The Guardian Books Page that will lead you to lots of different articles and interviews and also to an Independent Bookshops a UK Guide.

Independent Bookshops UK Guide on The Guardian website

This is a fantastic initiative! What a lovely idea - a national platform that is an interactive platform for the Independent Book Industry in the UK. Unlike Australia the market-share in the UK is not as strong for the Independents but they are still integral for the book community and ultimately for the industry (which on occasion might pretend it doesn't need the little ones but as was proved with Borders it actually is the little ones that stick through and through).

What is also important about this site and the links to the directory is that it is run or at least set up by a national newspaper. Perhaps it is time for a similar resource to be implemented in all markets across the world? It is certainly a excellent resource for customers as well as industry. It is such a warm-fuzzy sort of idea to create an online community where customers/ authors too can contribute. A fine example of how creative and innovative ideas can work together with technology.

Perhaps (tongue firmly in cheek) a certian small-business-minister might even get on board!

Facebook & Twitter!

2011-10-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

Thesaurus does indeed have a Facebook Page and it is an ideal place to keep up to date with the shop and what is happening! Mini reviews; news; popular titles; all sorts. There is a link at the top of this page our you can click here and it will take you straight to the page where you will need to log into your account and then like us.

The immediacy of all this technology is what is most exciting - our facebook page is also linked in with our twitter account so if that is your thing then you can follow us there @ThesaurusBooks so if even more instantaneous gratificaiton is your thing we can tap into that need as well.

Also on the right panel of the blog you will see a running board of our twitter feed so even if twitter scares you a little you can still sample the wonders of communicating in 140 words or less.

Blog Rolls

2011-10-05T11:33:00.000-07:00

Having managed blogs with increasingly unruly blogrolls you will be pleased to observe how organised this Thesaurus blog has become in providing interesting and useful links for you to click on and explore.

Before we begin however it is a good idea to read our Quick Note on the Blogrolls

"Just so you know we are interested in what is listed below otherwise we wouldn't be linking them into our site. However we do not necessarily write for these sites and as such cannot endorse all that is written. So advance, do, but with a sprinkling of salt, pepper and sense!"

For your browsing convience our blogrolls are grouped under appropriate headings.

Buddy Blogs

Written by those who contribute to this blog

Australian Book-y Blogs

Links to Australian book related blogs and websites

International Book-y Blogs

Links to International book related blogs and websites, a broader perspective

Author-y Blogs

Author blogs, by authors we love

Writer-y Blogs

Blogs aimed at the writer within you!

These lists are of course all works in progress, we would love to add more sites and blogs and online connections to faciliate your enjoyment of our website. Interested in author interviews? Following what is happening at the Wheeler Centre? Reviews? Industry mumblings? Well come here first and then open up to tabbed browsing.

The left side of this blog will be reserved entirely for blogrolls and links and we will be ever developing this rescource. So stay tuned and if you have any suggestions please email or facebook us.

Changing Interface

2011-09-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

You might have noticed if you haven't clicked on our blog link for a while that it might look a little prettier? Well this is all part of adapting into the internet age and providing yet another platform for our exemplary service and attention to customer needs (as well as indulging in various bibliophile activities)!

In the next week or so you will find facilities here that connect you to all of the other Thesaurus online platforms and also various links to industry updates, reviews, writerly treats and wider book and author information. We hope that this site and blog will help foster the wonderful independent book industry in Australia and ultimately increase your experience and enjoyment of reading.

So please, bear with us and continue to check in regularly - once we are up and running we would be delighted to receive your input into the running of the blog.

Thanks and Happy Reading!

Victorian Premiers Reading Challenge

2010-02-15T01:20:00.000-08:00

The 2010 Victorian Premiers Reading Challenge is now officially open for students from prep to year 10.
This years challenge could be the biggest challenge yet, beating the 2009 record, where 3.8 million books were read.

To participate you must register as a challenger. All the details are on the official challenge website: www.education.vic.gov.au/prc

To open the website copy the website url above and paste that into your browser. If you do not want to officially participate but want to check out the list of recommended titles, jump onto the challenge website and follow the links to the list of titles.

All the reading challenge website details are also in the "competition" section of the Thesaurusbookstore website http://www.thesaurusbooks.com.au/.

Don't forget to contact us if you have any questions or would like us to obtain one of the titles for you. Also all the books can be ordered on line from the "shop online" button of the Thesaurusbookstore website www.thesaurusbooks.com.au.