What are library staff reading?

Jane is reading: The Knife of Letting Go by Patrick Ness.

Todd Hewitt lives in Prentisstown, where all boys become men at the age of 13. Todd has one month to go, and as far as he knows, Prentisstown is the only settlement in the world. After a native group known as the 'Spackles' released a germ, all the women have died. As a side effect of this germ, the remaining men in Prentisstown can hear each other's thoughts, known as the ever present cascade of ‘Noise’. Just before Todd becomes a man he hears something he shouldn't…. Silence and silence belongs to Women. The town has plans for Todd and these are not good plans so begins Todds' adventure.

Fiona is reading: You better not cry by Augusten Burroughs.
 
First half of the book is about Augusten’s childhood belief that Santa and Jesus were one and the same. An entertaining autobiography based on the antics in his dysfunctional first family. Also author of “Running with scissors”.
A great read.

Tamara is reading: The Norseman’s Song by Joel Deane.

Australian fiction. Two narratives running through the story. One is about a Melbourne taxi driver who is an ex-criminal whose passenger is a former journalist who hops into his taxi with a head in a hat box. The other narrative is about a Norwegian killer. Set 140 years apart yet they are connected. Gritty storyline but beautifully crafted.

Book Babblers babbles in April 2010

What our Book Babblers at Maroochydore Library have read in April 2010…..

Fiona is reading Crimespotting: an Edinburgh crime collection.
A collection of 10 short stories by bestselling writers, especially commissioned for this book. A mixture she really enjoyed, despite usually not being a reader of short stories.

Nina is reading The English patient by Michael Ondaatje.
A great story, told via flashbacks.

Nina is also reading Q and A by Vikas Swarup. Nina didn’t expect it to be so different from the movie, that even the characters names have been changed.

Faye – is writing a short story and after attending author Anna Campbell’s talk at the library last year, is reading a variety of books in order to learn what makes a good conclusion to a story.
Faye says that Bettina Arndt writes about sex “like it is vegemite”! 13 ½ by Nevada Barr was a great example of how to finish with an unexpected ending.
Fay also enjoyed Three weeks to say goodbye by C. J. Box, in which an adopted child’s biological father wants to reclaim her from the adoptive parents.

Anne finds Jodi Picoult’s books rather predictable. She enjoyed Lionel Shriver’s We need to talk about Kevin in which the mystery was sustained right to the end of the novel. Anne also recommended works by Flannery O’Connor which are often about African Americans and the fight for equal rights. On a lighter note, Elizabeth Noble’s The book club is a good quick read. Trying to be still was something Anne found a bit different, as it looks at a journalist’s attempt to find ‘stillness’ in her busy world.

Both Jane & Anne recommend Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, pray, love about a woman who travelled and did the things she had always wanted to do….a journey of self-realization. They noted that there is a sequel: Committed.

Sylvia likes Jodi Picoult because the realism of her stories allows the reader to imagine what they would do if facing the same dilemmas as the characters. Two Jodi Picoult books that Sylvia recommends are Handle with care and My sister’s keeper.

Markus Zusak’s The book thief was Jane’s favourite book this month. Death narrates this tale set in World War II, which demonstrates how people adapt to and survive dreadful situations. A triumph of the human spirit story.



 
 
 
 
 
Next ‘Book Babblers’ will be at 10.30 am on 27th May at Maroochydore Library.
Book a place by phoning 5475 8900.