Staff favourite reads, 2015...

Check out our Library staff's favourite reads of 2015. Some old, some new, a really diverse range of reading! What was your favourite read this year? Tell us in the comments.

Spill simmer falter wither by Sara Baume.
 The language describing the Irish countryside was stunning. It was also an incredibly heartbreaking story of an outcast individual. His pain was so palpable that at times I didn't think I could keep reading it but the language kept me going. I have to warn people that it definitely isn't a feel good book but it is one that really puts you into the mind and experience of another person. It is one of those books that deepens your sense of compassion for others.
~Kaye
The narrow road to the deep north by Richard Flanagan
Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2014. A novel of the cruelty of war, tenuousness of life and the impossibility of love.
~Chris





Disclaimer by Renee Knight
A book that kept me up at night!  Catherine and her husband have just downsized and when she goes to bed on the first night in her new house she finds a strange book on her bedside table.  She doesn't remember buying it and her husband claims no knowledge of it.  She starts reading and is horrified to discover that it's her story, a story that reveals the terrible secret that changed her life forever.  But the only other person who knew her secret is long dead.
~Deb


 Green Valentine by Lili Wilkinson
Classic romantic comedy: girl-meets-boy, love blossoms, and is derailed. Incredibly engaging, upbeat, funny and smart.
~Ali





The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham was my pick of the year.
 I read it before the movie came out and although the movie was entertaining and beautiful to look at,  it did not have the nuances of the book and the last third was turned on it's head!
~Jacinta




Seveneves by Neal Stephenson -
 Only my third foray into the realm of science fiction and it was awesome. Terrifying in its realism, compelling in its plot and just really, really, really good.
~Steph D





An Untamed State by Roxane Gay:

Raw, brutal and unflinching, this book addressed subjects which we rarely hear about in more than a few words in the media.
~Dasha





The book of Speculation  by Erika Swyler.
So many great books out this year. However, this brilliant debut featuring a librarian, tarot cards,mystery and mermaids stuck with me.  Just delightful.
~Monique





The Golden Age / by Joan London.
A tender, moving and often funny story that centres on Frank, a 13 year old child of Hungarian war refugees who have settled in Perth, Western Australia. It is 1954 and Frank, an aspiring poet recovering from polio at the Golden Age Children's Polio Convalescent Home, meets refined and lovely Elsa, a fellow patient of similar age. Together they navigate the confines and strictures of their hospital routines, and discover in each other a liberating intimacy that is both sweet and dangerous. The novel is a wonderful distillation of the era - the spectre of polio, the heat of the Australian summer and the wartime migrant experience in a new land as Frank's parents endure the bemusements of culture shock and revel in moments of precious joy, determined as they are to make a go of it. A very worthy winner for best fiction in the Prime Minister's Literary Awards
~Brian
A mile down : the true story of a disastrous career at sea by David Vann.
Part high-seas adventure, part journey of self-discovery, A Mile Down is a gripping and unforgettable story of struggle and redemption by a writer at the top of his game.
~Danny




'The God of Small Things' by Arundhati Roy
This book won the 1997 Booker Prize and is my all time favourite....nothing I have read comes close. It has it all - thought provoking themes that extend the mind, involving Indian politics, class relations, cultural tensions, discrimination, betrayal, and forbidden love which is all packaged in a complex circular narrative written from multiple points of view and that span across decades. It is a story about 'Love Laws' that lay down 'who should be loved, and how. And how much'
~Fiona

South sea vagabonds  by J.W.

 Wray.Johnny Wray's gripping and often hilarious account of his adventures around the South Pacific has inspired readers and changed lives since its first publication 75 years ago.
~Danny