Cheesy title wins Cheesy Prize

The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-miligram Containers of Fromage Frais has won the 2008 Diagram Prize which, as you will remember from our earlier post, is for the oddest book title for the year as voted by readers of The Bookseller (and me).

The author, Philip M. Parker is INSEAD (Institut européen d'administration des affaires) Chair Professorship of Management Science at Fontainbleau in France. Although dyslexic, according to one source Prof. Parker has written over 200,000 books (maybe they mean publications - journal articles, etc.) which he does with the aid of his own patented invention that automatically produces books from a template which is filled with data from database and internet searches. This method of 'writing' has caused this year's winner to be a controversial one.

As for the other titles Baboon Metaphysics came second, Curbside Consultation of the Colon came third, The Large Sieve and its Applications was fourth, Strip and Knit with Style was fifth and Techniques for Corrosion Monitoring last.

If you are curious about the content of The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-miligram Containers of Fromage Frais, or would like to order a copy you can go and take a look here.

NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2009 shortlists

An award close to home.

The shortlists for the NSW Premier's Awards, which are in their 30th year this year, were announced a couple of days ago. Worth a total of $320,000 the awards cover numerous categories :

• Christina Stead Prize for Fiction ($40,000 prize) - Awarded for fiction, either a novel or short stories. For the first time this year NSW residents can vote for People's Choice Award from the shortlist for this award


• Douglas Stewart Prize for Nonfiction ($40,000 prize) - for a prose work other than a work of fiction


• Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry ($30,000 prize) - for a collection of poems or for a single poem of substantial length published in book form


• Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature ($30,000 prize) - for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry written for young people of secondary school level


• Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature ($30,000 prize) - for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry written for children up to secondary school level


• Community Relations Commission Award ($15,000 prize) - awarded to the writer of a book, play, music drama or script which is deemed by the judges to have both made a significant contribution to Australian literature, theatre, film, radio or television in its portrayal of the interaction of Australia's diverse cultures, and canvassed issues arising from the Australian immigration and migrant settlement experience


• Gleebooks Prize ($10,000 prize) - given to an outstanding book of critical writing - "books which present an analytical, critical or theoretical perspective on subject areas including the arts, literature and philosophy; politics, current affairs and history; and the media, journalism and cultural studies. It is expected that they will encourage and inform public debate"


• The NSW Premier's Translation Prize ($30,000 prize) and PEN Medallion - for Australian translators who translate literary works into English from other languages. The work can include poetry, stage and radio plays, and fiction and non-fiction works of literary merit


• UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing ($5,000 prize) - for a published book of fiction written by an author who has not previously published a book­length work of fiction


• Play Award ($30,000 prize) - for a play or a work of music drama given its first production in Australia between 3 November 2007 and 3 October 2008


• Script Writing Award ($30,000 prize) - offered for the screenplay of a feature-­length fiction film, for the script of a documentary film, for the script of a play or documentary for radio, or for the script of a television program (whether fiction or non-­fiction)


• Special Award - the judges may propose to the Government that a special award, with or without money, be made for a work not readily covered by the existing categories, or in recognition of a writer's achievements generally. The prize money for the Special Award is usually $20,000


• NSW Book of the Year - the judges choose from among the winners of the awards an overall winner, with an additional payment of $10,000 prize money to the writer of the work so designated

You can view the full suite of shortlists here.

The winners will be announced on Tuesday 18th May.

It was ever thus . . .

Do you struggle with new technology? If it's any consolation this historical archive shows it has always been a problem when new technology is introduced to the workplace. As it has subtitles you don't necessarily need to have the sound on.



Our thanks to the Librarian Avenger blog for this.

Let me sing you gentle songs

AUTHOR : Linda Olsson

PUBLICATION DATE: 2005

No. PAGES: 267

CATEGORY: Fiction; Saga

GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING: Stockholm, Sweden; Auckland, New Zealand

TIME PERIOD: Modern

PLOT SUMMARY: In the midst of a harsh winter, young writer Veronika arrives in the Swedish countryside seeking stillness and solitude to come to terms with a recent tragedy. Her arrival is silently observed by gaunt Astrid, her elderly, reclusive neighbour from the farm next door, who in turn guards her own secrets. Astrid tentatively offers comfort in the form of companionship and lovingly home-cooked meals. As the icy winter gives way to spring, Astrid and Veronika are drawn together and begin to embark on a tender and unusual friendship. Confiding in one another over hot-smoked trout and the new season's strawberries, the two women swap memories of loves lost, and the dark secrets that surround them both begin to come to light.

COMMENTS: Here was a book that spoke to me. Initially I did not like the characters and nearly gave up on reading it but then they gradually grew on me - just like the characters did in real life - with each other. As the stories of their life unfolds, you begin to see Astrid and Veronika in different lights. Their stories are tragic, wonderful, fascinating and heart-wrenching. I am glad I stuck around and got to know them. If you want to read a story where you come away with memories - this is it. A beautiful story of two strong women.

NAME OF REVIEWER: Porphyria

To go where no man has gone before . . .

Two more awards shortlists have been recently announced; the The Hugo Awards and the Arthur C Clarke Award. The genres and the book lists overlap a little but both take me into completely unfamiliar territory. I have to admit I am bemused by the whole SF and Fantasy thing. sorry to all the fans, I know you are very passionate about your genres, maybe more so than the fans of any other genre. Perhaps you can tell me what you enjoy so much?

The Hugo Awards are given for "excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy". The awards are run by and voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Society, were first given in 1953 and are awarded annually. There is no monetary prize. They are named after Hugo Gernsback, editor of Amazing Stories, the first major US SF magazine who worked to bring science fiction to a broader audience. There are many categories to the Hugos, below is a list of nominations just for the Best Novel, the full list of all categories can be seen here.

Hugo Awards Best Novel Nominees 2009

• Anathem by Neal Stephenson
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (still ON ORDER at the time of blogging but you can make a place a Request anyway)
• Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
• Saturn's Children by Charles Stross
• Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi
  

The Arthur C. Clarke Award is the most prestigious award for science fiction in Britain and presented annually. The award was established from a grant from Sir Arthur C Clarke with the aim of promoting science fiction in Britain, and is judged by a jury panel. The winner will be announced on Wednesday 29th April and a prize of £2009 will be awarded to the winner.



Arthur C Clarke Award Nominees 2009

• Song of Time by Ian R. MacLeod
• The Quiet War by Paul McAuley
• House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
• Anathem by Neal Stephenson
• The Margarets by Sheri S. Tepper
• Martin Martin’s on the Other Side by Mark Wernham

You can read commentary on the Arthur C Clark Award nominees from The Guardian blog.

Only for hopeless romantics

How about this for clever marketing. Harlequin invite you to Put yourself in the story

Enter your details in the form, click on Create My Story

and see what story is cobbled up for you. And you'll get a couple of Harlequin books recommended.

Also, from the home page you can download a novel of your choice. Too cool!

From the Oddee blog here are just 15 of the coolest bookshelves you'll ever see.

I think the Infinity one is my favourite. What about anyone else?

Hungry Caterpillar anniversary

This multi-award winning and much-loved book follows the hungry caterpillar as he munches his way through one apple (and the pages of the book itself) on Monday, two pears on Tuesday, three plums on Wednesday, and so on until he is really fat and has a stomach ache.

Published first in 1969 The Very Hungry Caterpillar has been translated into over 50 languages and has sold in excess of 88 million copies, making it one of the best-selling books of all time (according to Wikipedia). There are also Very Hungry Caterpillar games, DVDs and other merchandise. Like the Dr Seuss stories, it uses a limited number of easy to read words making it perfect for teaching children to read.

Man Booker International Prize shortlist

Literary Prize overload alert!

This time it's the Man Booker International Prize shortlist which has been announced. This prize, begun only recently in 2005 and worth sixty thousand pounds to the winner, is awarded every other year to an auther who has published fiction either originally in English, or whose work is gnerally available in translation to English.

"The Man Booker International Prize echos and reinforces the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction in that literary excellence will be its sole focus. The Man Booker International Prize is significantly different from the annual Man Booker Prize for Fiction in that it highlights one writer's overall contribution to fiction on the world stage. In seeking out literary excellence the judges consider a writer's body of work rather than a single novel".

Sounds like a mini Nobel Prize for Literature??

Contenders for the prize this year are :

• Peter Carey (Australia)
• Evan S Connell
• Mahasweta Devi
• E L Doctorow
• James Kelman
• Mario Vargas Llosa
• Arnost Lustig
• Alice Munro
• V S Naipaul
• Joyce Carol Oates
• Antonio Tabucchi
• Ngugi Wa Thiong'O
• Dubravka Ugresic
• Ludmila Ulitskaya

The winner will be announced in May 2009.

Man Booker International Prize past winners : 2007 and 2005

Orange Prize for Fiction longlist

The Orange Prize for Fiction is for the best full length novel written in English by a woman of any nationality. Translations of books originally written in another languages are not included.

This year there are 20 novels in the longlist, among them one by Australian, Debra Adelaide:

• The Household Guide to Dying by Debra Adelaide
• Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold (catalogued only yesterday!!)
• Their Finest Hour and a Half by Lissa Evans
• Blonde Roots by Bernadine Evaristo
• Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman

• Strange Music by Laura Fish
• Love Marriage by V.V. Ganeshananthan
• Intuition by Allegra Goodman
• The Wilderness by Samantha Harvey
• The Invention of Everything Else by Samantha Hunt

• The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser
• Molly Fox's Birthday by Deirdre Madden
• A Mercy by Toni Morrison
• The Russian Dreambook of Colour and Flight by Gina Ochsner
• Home by Marilynne Robinson

• Evening is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan
• Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie
• American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
• The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews
• The Personal History of Rachel DuPree by Ann Weisgarber
  

The shortlisted books will be announced on 21st April and then the winner will be announced on 3rd June.

National Biography Awards Shortlist

Another award shortlist! This time for those who enjoy other people's lives.

Here, culled from a starting line-up of 58 entries, is the shortlist for the National Biography Award 2009. This award is worth $20,000 to the winner which will be announced on Monday 30 March at the State Library of NSW.

• I am Melba by Ann Blainey
• Arthur Blackburn VC: An Australian Hero, His Men, and Their Two World Wars by Andrew Faulkner
• The Bone Man of Kokoda by Charles Happell
• The Flower Hunter: the Remarkable Life of Ellis Rowan by Christine and Michael Morton-Evans
• Desert Queen: The Many Lives and Loves of Daisy Bates by Susanna de Vries
• Tom Wills: His Spectacular Rise and Fall by Greg de Moore

Not MORE Shakespeare?

Enough to make high school students all over the English-speaking world groan.

Hard on the heels of the 'discovery' of a painted-in-his-lifetime portrait of William Shakespeare, Dr John Casson Casson claims he has unearthed Shakespeare's first published poem, first comedy and his first few tragedies.

Read the article in The Telegraph blog.

And for a bit of fun, here is where Edmund Blackadder goes back in time and repays Will Shakespeare for inflicting his works on 400 years of schoolboys and girls . . . From Blackadder Back and Forth

Alison's Picks - March 2009

• The Dark Mountain by Catherine Jinks
• Grassdogs by Mark Flynn
• An Offer You Can't Refuse by Jill Mansell
• The Pages by Murray Bail (shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award)
• Secrets of the Sea by Nicholas Shakespeare (reviewed in Readers in the Mist)
  

Miles Franklin Literary Award 2009 Longlist

The Miles Franklin Literary Award, Australia's most prestigious literary award, was established in 1954 with a bequest from the author Miles Franklin. The Miles Franklin Award is given to the novel which is of "the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases".

Of the 55 novels entered this year, ten have made the longlist:

• Addition by Toni Jordan
• A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz
• Breath by Tim Winton
• Fugitive Blue by Claire Thomas
• Ice by Louis Nowra
• One Foot Wrong by Sofie Laguna
• The Devil's Eye by Ian Townsend
• The Pages by Murray Bail
• The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
• Wanting by Richard Flanagan

Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2009 Regional winners

The regional winners of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2009 have been announced over the weekend.

Best Book

• Jhumpa Lahiri (UK) Unaccustomed Earth
• Marina Endicott (Canada) Good to a Fault
• Mandla Langa (South Africa) The Lost Colours of the Chameleon
• Christos Tsiolkas (Australia) The Slap

Best First Book

• Mohammed Hanif (Pakistan) A Case of Exploding Mangoes
• Joan Thomas (Canada) Reading by Lightning
• Uwem Akpan (Nigeria) Say You're One of Them
• Mo Zhi Hong (New Zealand) The Year of the Shanghai Shark

The overall Best Book and Best First Book winners will be announced in a special ceremony as part of the 2009 Auckland Writers' and Readers Festival in New Zealand on Saturday 16 May.

Living Library and Harmony Day

What IS a Living Library?

The Living Library works exactly like a normal library where readers come to borrow a Book, return the Book to the library and then borrow another Book if they choose. There is only one difference . . . the Books in the Living Library are human beings and the Books and Readers enter into a personal dialogue.

The Living Library is an Harmony Day event and takes place on

Friday 20 March @ Springwood Civic Centre

1pm-4pm

Call 4723 5040 for more information.

The Harmony Day Concert will take place in the

School of Arts Square, Springwood

5pm-7pm

Events include Welcome to Country and the Yarringan dancers

Music from local musicians celebrating and

highlighting the diverse culture of the Blue Mountains

Call 4780 5653 for more information.

Here are our Living Books from Harmony Day at Katoomba last year.

Last year twenty six Living Books from the local community participated in the event. They included members of the indigenous and migrant communities, a Holocaust survivor, Vietnam Veterans, people with disabilities and a Sufi. Many readers commented that hearing people’s stories face to face was an emotional experience. “Much more powerful than reading about them,” one said.

Read more about the Living Library 2008

We all live one life, but readers can live thousands of lives

This article, Fiction nurtures the soul - a must for even hard-hearted politicians from the Sydney Morning Herald has been written by Federal Assistant Treasurer, Chris Bowen, in response to a colleague's boast that he hadn't read a fiction book since he left school.

Galaxy British Book Awards Shortlists announced

Also (for some reason) called 'the Nibbies', The Galaxy British Book Awards honour the best books and authors of the year.

The Galaxy Book of the Year will be determined by an elite and bi-partisan chapter of the Academy of the British Book Industry with the shortlist consisting of the winners of the various categories (listed below), except the Richard and Judy Best Read.

So, the categories with links to the lists are:

• Richard and Judy Best Read, in association with Watch TV & Heart Radio
• Borders Author of the Year
• Tesco Biography of the Year
• Books Direct Crime Thriller of the Year
• Sainsbury's Popular Fiction Award
• Waterstone's New Writer of the Year, in association with the Daily Mail
• WHSmith Children's Book of the Year
• Play.com Popular Non-fiction Award (link not working at time of writing but I am hoping it will come good)

Within those categories Barack Obama and Stephenie Meyers (wildly popular among teenaged BMCC Library readers) have two nominations each. Books also among the shortlists that I can personally recommend are Dear Fatty, The Cellist of Sarajevo, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher.

And if you like you can put in your vote for your favourite(s). That's where I'm off to now . . .

What Library Staff are Reading . . .

• My Name is Will : a novel of sex, drugs and Shakespeare by Jess Winfield
• Being a Scot by Sean Connery & Murray Grigor
• The Broken Shore by Peter Temple
• The Spare Room by Helen Garner
• Dear Fatty by Dawn French (two staff) ~ funny and personal, a series of letters to various people who had an impact in French’s life
• Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill ~ a multi-award winning story of a negro girl taken from her village in Africa into slavery, her adventures in North America and her return to her homeland. Reviewed earlier in Readers in the Mist
• The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
• Journal by Helene Berr ~ diary by a young French Jewish woman in occupied Paris. She died in Bergen-Belsen just days before it was liberated
• Henry, Virtuous Prince by David Starkey ~ Henry VIII has come down to us in history as a gross, murderous tyrant. This book gives us the handsome, popular Prince before all his marital strife and religious upheavals
• What no one ever tells you about-- blogging and podcasting : real-life advice from 101 people who successfully leverage the power of the blogosphere by Ted Demopoulos ~ not the most exciting read this month
• Fat, Forty and Fired by Nigel Marsh ~ loved this book and have started Overworked & Underlaid which is a follow up
• The Persimmon Tree by Bryce Courtenay ~ I loved it so much I sent my copy to a friend in England
• One member of staff, who shall remain nameless, replied "I read nothing but junk newspapers and trashy magazines and mostly watched TV"
• Friends Like These by Danny Wallace
• Goodbye Jamie Boyd by Elizabeth Fensham ~ a YA verse novel
• Blind Faith by Ben Elton ~ funny and scary, Elton’s version of 1984
• The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga ~ interesting concept, also a series of letters but to one person, Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier. The book offers a window into “the new India” as view by a talkative murderer!
• Distraction : a philosopher's guide to being free by Damon Young ~ argues that distraction is enslaving us, bringing our attention to what we are doing right now frees us, bases his theories on various philosophers
• Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
  The Sum of Our Days by Isabel Allende
• Nicholas Shakespeare’s Secrets of the Sea (reviewed on Readers in the Mist) was arguably my fave this month. But Mark O’Flynn’s Grassdogs was, is and will remain fabulous
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
• The Culture Club : modern art Rock and Roll, and other things your parents warned you about by Craig Schuftan ~ an amazing trip through pop culture, philosophy and art from the 1800s to now, written in a way which links seemingly improbable disciplines together. Schuftan has a likeable writing style and I’m longing for his new book to be released!
• Shame in the Blood by Tetsuo Miura
• A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin
• After reading a couple of sad novels I needed cheering up so listened to Mike Gayle’s talking books Dinner for two and Turning thirty ~ these will bring a smile to your face

Autumn School Holiday Program 2009

The Library has put together a fabulous program for kids during the April School Holidays. Our theme is Love Your Environment.

• Tuesday 14 April @ Katoomba Library 10am-11:30am or Thursday 16 April @ Springwood Library 10am-11:30am
  The Giant Dragonfly with Christina Clayton
  Learn about the endangered Giant Dragonfly which lives in our Blue Mountains’ Swamps. A fun time creating your own Giant Dragonfly using a variety of materials. 8-12 age group.

Wednesday 15 April @ Springwood Library 10am—11.30am or
Friday 17 April @ Katoomba Library 10am-11:30am
National Parks Discovery Workshop
Have fun with National Parks Discovery Rangers. Play games, create nature-themed craft. 5-12 age group.

Monday 20 April @ Blaxland Library 10am—11:30am
Clay modelling : A Tree of Life with Jane Davidson
Using any one of our wonderful eucalypts as a model create a Tree of Life in clay using some of your own signs and symbols in 3D! Icky sticky messy stuff! 5-12 age group.

Tuesday 21 April @ Lawson Library 10am-11:30am
Drawing: pen and coloured pencil with Jane Davidson ‘It’s a bugs life’
Learn this lovely drawing technique by drawing a page full of insects. 5-12 age group.

Wednesday 22 April @ Katoomba Library 10am-11:30am or
Friday 24 April @ Wentworth Falls Library10am-11:30am
Sgrafitto with Jane Davidson
This wonderful drawing technique produces stunning effects with oil pastels. We’ll take a look at some of the plant species unique to the Blue Mountains. 5-12 age group.

Thursday 23 April @ Springwood Library 10am-11:30am
Drawing: Pen and watercolour with Jane Davidson
A favourite technique for young and old. Let’s try drawing live plant species. Bring along something from your own garden if you like! 5-12 age group.

Friday 24 April—Meet at Katoomba Library 10.00am (trip goes until 12.30pm)
Secret Swamping with BMCC’s Save our Swamps project
A special outdoors environmental education experience with Michael Hensen, SOS and Blue Mountains Discovery. Get out in the great outdoors and come along and explore our unique Blue Mountains Swamps. Find out about the special creatures that live in them and how swamps keep our water fresh and pure. Learn what threatens swamps and what we can do to help. Bring a back pack with water and a light refreshment. Wear proper shoes for walking, a hat, and walking clothes. You will be boarding a bus at Katoomba Library for your excursion! 8-14 age group. NOTE: Please fill out a permission note at the library signed by a parent or guardian.

Friday 24 April @ Blackheath Library 10am-11:30am
Collage: ‘Rainforest Magic’ with Jane Davidson
Create a magical feast for the eyes in your collage rainforest artwork. Clippy, sticky, messy fun! 5-12 age group.

All programs are only $5 each.

Bookings are essential at your nearest library.

Payments are essential as you book.

BE EARLY SO YOU DON”T MISS OUT!

For further enquires please contact: Children’s Services Ph: 4723 5036 or 4723 5037

A brochure can be downloaded from the Children's Services page of the Blue Mountains City Council website.

Secrets of the Sea

Secrets of the Sea by Nicholas Shakespeare

PLOT SUMMARY: It’s 1988. Alex Dove has returned to his parents’ farm on Oyster Bay, on Tasmania’s east coast. When he was eleven his parents died suddenly, taken out on the road by a logging truck. Alex was then sent to England to complete his education. Now in his twenties, he must decide whether to sell the farm or work it himself. It was left in the dubious care of a local real estate agent, Ray Grogan, and has deteriorated significantly. Alex remembers Grogan as the school bully of his childhood. As the story opens Alex meets Merridy Bowman, a stranger in town, and is immediately smitten. Merridy’s reaction to Alex is more equivocal; she upsets him by accepting a date with Ray Grogan. Both Alex and Merridy carry griefs from the past, which will rebound through the course of their relationship, and cause complications and misunderstandings they can’t foresee.

COMMENTS: I loved this novel. The prose is spare and poetic. Shakespeare has a way of charging the atmosphere with suspense, implying possible dire futures but withholding vital information until the rhythm of his story allows them expression. There’s a generous amount of detail here too, not enough to stall the action but enough to paint vivid pictures of daily life, of the landscape, of the people. I have a weakness for novels strongly imbued with a sense of the Australian landscape and culture. This writer understands those elements very well.

Absolutely recommended.

REVIEWER: Diamantina

Samuel Pepys blog

Ever wanted to read Samuel Pepys diary but been put off by the sheer number of volumes it runs to? Now you can read it as it was written, in small, day-sized bites via The Diary of Samuel Pepys blog.

There is also an encyclopaedia and articles if you want to dig further into the life of Samuel Pepys and his times.

Too Precious to miss

Do you enjoy Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series featuring Precious Ramotse? If so you might be interested to hear it's going to be shown on TV in the US at the end of the month. Given the popularity of the books, I shouldn't imagine it'll be too long before we see it here in Oz too. Here's hoping . . .



Click HERE for the trailer.

Library Doings

Senior’s Week Live Life Events

Do you want to learn how to search the Internet? These free 1 hour sessions will give you an introduction to searching methods and how to find interesting, relevant websites.

Bookings are essential - contact the relevant Libraries. All sessions run from 9am-10am

• March 6 ~ Katoomba Library (4780 5750)
• March 10 ~ Blackheath Library (4787 8893)
• March 13 ~ Wentworth Falls Library (4757 2095)
• March 16 ~ Springwood Library (4723 5040)
• March 24 ~ Lawson Library (4759 1446)
• March 27 ~ Blaxland Library (4739 4284)

Grandparents/Grandchildren Grand Storytelling Morning Tea

John Hockney will be conducting interactive stories and a special Mem Fox story in a Powerpoint presentation. Kiran Shah will be doing Kamishibai, a form of Japanese storytelling. Suitable for 5 to 95 year olds. Come and enjoy at Springwood Library on Wednesday March 18 at 11am. Bookings essential (4723 5040)

The Russian Concubine

The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall

"A sweeping novel set in war-torn 1928 China, with a star-crossed love story at its center. In a city full of thieves and Communists, danger and death, spirited young Lydia Ivanova has lived a hard life. Always looking over her shoulder, the sixteen-year-old must steal to feed herself and her mother, Valentina, who numbered among the Russian elite until Bolsheviks murdered most of them, including her husband. As exiles, Lydia and Valentina have learned to survive in a foreign land. Often, Lydia steals away to meet with the handsome young freedom fighter Chang An Lo. But they face danger: Chiang Kai Shek's troops are headed toward Junchow to kill Reds like Chang, who has in his possession the jewels of a tsarina, meant as a gift for the despot's wife. The young pair's all-consuming love can only bring shame and peril upon them, from both sides. Those in power will do anything to quell it. But Lydia and Chang are powerless to end it". (Synopsis by the Publisher Sphere.)

Review
I really enjoyed this book and the fact that it is based on the experiences of the author’s mother makes it more realistic. It is a story of survival, resistance and complications at every turn.
It is also a great love story set in a background of corruption. It is a lengthy read and does lose focus at times.

Overall a good debut novel.

Reviewed by: Carolyn

999 Challenge - February

Here I am into my second month of the challenge and Scarlett has left me to take up a new challenge of her own in a new job.

This is a selection of the books I have read this month.

The House at Salvation Creek by Susan Duncan. (Biography) Continuing on from her last book Susan is now married to Bob and living in Tarrangaua, the house built for Dorathea Mckellar. In this book Susan has a quest to find the architect that designed the house. It also continues on, of her friends and neighbours that live at Lovett Bay. I now have an afilliation with Lovett Bay as my daughter and family live there. I am a frequent visitor and have now met many of the people in the book. It is a wonderful community. Great read.

Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs. (Biography) This another disfunctional family biography by the author of Running with Scissors. This book centres mainly on his alcoholic father who constantly fights with his mentally fragile wife and his disinterest in his sons.It is a dark and twisted tale. I have enjoyed all of Augusten Burroughs books.

The Unknown Terrorist by Richard Flanagan. (Australian Author) A twenty six year old pole dancer meets a man in the crowd while watching the Sydney Mardi Gras. She has a one night stand with him. In the morning she wakes and he is gone and she never sees him again. The next night she sees on the news a picture of a wanted terrorist (her one night stand) and his female compainion. The female being her. She thinks it is a joke until she realises that the police are seriously looking for her. It is a powerful book that tells of what terrorism fear can make people do and how the media manipulates the truth. I really enjoyed this book.

The Young Widows Book of Home Improvements by Virginia LLoyd.(Biography) This is a lovely story of Virginia and her hushand John. John dies of cancer two years after they are married. Virgina has her own personal 'renovation' as she renovates the house that she and John lived in. A very moving and emotional memoir that is both funny and sad.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. (Crime) A different slant on serial killers. Dexter is a serial killer which is recognised by his adoptive policeman father at young age. He guides Dexter in how to only kill people who get away with crimes and how to cover his tracks. A gruesome but also humorous book. I enjoyed both the book and the T.V. series.

Carolyn's Books of the Month - March 2009

Best read for the month : The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall

Thriller : Keeping the Dead by Tess Gerritsen

General : Other People’s Diaries by Kathy Webb

Saga/Romances : Gypsy by Lesley Pearse and A Good Woman by Danielle Steel

Australian Author : The Frozen Circle by Peter Watt
Crime : Hand of Evil by J.A. Jance

Happy Birthday Dr Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel, known to children (and former children) all over the world as Dr Seuss would have been 105 today. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts on 2nd March 1904 and died aged 87 on September 24, 1991. A detailed biography can be read on Wikipedia, among other sites.


Dr Seuss wrote and illustrated over 60 books for children which are loved for their exciting stories, rhythm and distinctive illustrations, The Cat in the Hat probably being the best-known and in which Dr Seuss only used words that would be in the vocabulary list of the average first grader at the time. In Green Eggs and Ham, another wildly popularDr Seuss book, the author used fewer than 50 words in response to a bet from his editor, Bennett Cerf.

My personal favourite is Yertle the Turtle. In the late 1970s our then 5 year old cousin came with his family to stay with us in Germany where my father was serving with the British Army. There were so many in the house we kids camped out in the attic - a great treat. My mother was the camp librarian (a post she held with absolutely no other qualifications than a love of reading) and she brought home some books to keep the boys occupied. One of us read Yertle the Turtle to Jonathan the first night. He loved it so much we had to read it to him, often more than once, every night of their two week stay. My sisters and I can still recite every word and launch into it frequently and loudly when we are together, often to the embarrassment of our children.

More animals in Libraries

This story is from the Australian Library News.

Toby, a specially-trained golden retriever has been visiting the Lake Macquarie’s Windale library to ‘listen’ to kids read and the parents and teachers of those lucky enough to do the program are raving about improved reading levels and self-esteem. The program, Building Reading Confidence for Kids, (BaRK) is aimed at primary school children who lack reading skills and confidence.

Toby obviously can’t read, but just his presence helps kids relax and focus on what they are reading without feeling inhibited as they might do when asked to read aloud to their teacher or in front of other kids.

Lake Macquarie City Library community programs manager Jo Smith said that Toby comes with a volunteer handler, whose role is 'just to be there’ but may occasionally step in to help with a pronunciation or a meaning. ‘Usually the volunteer is just in the background and the kids forget they are there. In fact, sometimes they get so enthralled in what they are reading they don’t even notice if Toby goes to sleep!’

The only drawback is that the nature of the program makes it very limited in the number of children that can go through it. The library has Toby for an hour so they can only take four children per term. ‘It is intensive in regards of the numbers you can put through, but I would like to think that it has impact on their lives.’ According to Ms Smith one little boy who wouldn’t normally put his hand up volunteered to do a presentation in front of the whole school after participating in the program.

Dewey : the small-town library cat who touched the world

AUTHOR : Vicki Myron with Bret Witter

PUBLICATION DATE : 2008

No. PAGES : 277

CATEGORY : Non-fiction, Biography

GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING : Spencer, Iowa, USA

TIME PERIOD : 1988-2006

PLOT SUMMARY : One very cold winter morning Spencer Library Director, Vicki Myron, finds a kitten shivering in the library's after hours return bin. The library board, after some persuasion, agrees to allow the kitten to stay and this tiny, bedraggled little thing endears himself to the library staff and library patrons quickly and soon becomes quite a feature in the little mid-western town.

After a competition, the kitten is formally named Dewey Readmore Books and ends up living in the library for 16 years. Dewey is outgoing, engaging and sensitive to patrons - he seems to know to lavish affection on those library visitors who need it most. His popularity among young and old alike helped to increase library patronage. Over the years he earned plenty of publicity for himself and the Spencer Public Library via the local, national and, eventually, international media.

COMMENTS : This is a lovely story of what seems to have been an extraordinary feline. Dewey's story is very engaging and makes me long for a cat in our libraries here in the Blue Mountains.

It is also the story of the town of Spencer, located smack bang in the middle of rural America and which was in the grip of depression when Dewey arrived and of its history and its people.

In the Introduction to the book, Vicki Myron describes the countryside around Spencer. "Out here, the roads are straight, stretching to the horizon on long, unbroken lines. there are no corners, only occasional, almost imperceptible bends. this land was surveyed and plotted for farms; thebends are corrections in the survey line. Exactly every mile, every road is intersected by another almost perfectly straigt road. Inside is a square mile of farmland. Take a million of those square miles, lace them together, and you have one of the most important agricultural regions in the world. The Great Plains. The Bread Basket. The Heartland." This description had me hurrying off to Google Maps for a look. It's just like she describes, for thousands of miles. Fascinating! (I thought so anyway). Just like a quilt.

And we read of Vicki Myron's story, of her upbringing, her ultimately disasterous marriage, single parenthood and struggles with her health.

I enjoyed this book. I laughed and cried and laughed and cried reading this book. It's a bit treacly at times and I found some of the anthropomorphism a bit annoying but I couldn't put it down and would recommend it to cat and library lovers.

Read more about Dewey at the official Dewey Readmore Books website. According to Variety in November last year, Meryl Streep is set to play Vicki Myron in an upcoming film about Dewey.

NAME OF REVIEWER : Alba