Tuesday, July 7, 2015

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

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.




 




 


         
                                                               


 

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Libraries to list the most popular books borrowed



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

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

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.