Cronulla Library's Favourite Travel Destination Competition
*Terms and conditions are on entry forms.
Photo credit: Flickr user 'Simon_sees'
Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlist, 2012
The Miles Franklin Literary Awards shortlist for 2012 was announced today at the State Library of New South Wales. Established in 1954, this award celebrates Australian character and creativity and was established to support authors for the advancement, improvement and betterment of Australian Literature.
Five novelists have made the list:
Tony Birch – Blood
Anna Funder – All That I Am
Gillian Mears – Foal’s Bread
Frank Moorhouse – Cold Light
Favel Parrett – Past the Shallows
Best of luck to all the authors. The winner of this prestigious prize will be announced on 20th June, at an event being held at the State Library of Queensland.
Five novelists have made the list:
Tony Birch – Blood
Anna Funder – All That I Am
Gillian Mears – Foal’s Bread
Frank Moorhouse – Cold Light
Favel Parrett – Past the Shallows
Best of luck to all the authors. The winner of this prestigious prize will be announced on 20th June, at an event being held at the State Library of Queensland.
National Year of Reading - May theme - Escape!
Now is the time to sit down and read (or re-read) something you love, something that allows you to escape into another time and place and connect with different characters and settings.
You may like to read about escaping from prison or poverty, or read something that allows you to escape from the mundane of day to day. Read about escaping to a desert island, a dystopian world or a brighter future. Read about escaping reality by visiting exotic lands, or try a biography about a famous person you are unlikely to ever be able to meet.
Escape by re-reading your favourite novels, or find some new favourites. Escape with some reading material that totally captures your attention, blocking out everything else. Read something that is pure escapism...
Create a reading sanctuary that you can escape to, and spend some time there reading; at least ten minutes a day. This month, only get caught reading.
Photo credit: Flickr user Shayan(USA) "Malaekahane State Recreation area"
Feel like reading something new?
There are lots of great new books to read out this April, each evoking different feelings, whether of anticipation of reading something new by your favourite author, something scary, romantic, thrilling or thought provoking. Whatever kind of books you feel like reading, get in early this month and request one of these best seller new releases from the library!
Tallie Jones is happy with life. She's at the top of her career as a hugely successful, renowned movie director, she's in a relationship with a handsome producer and her personal assistant is also her devoted best friend. But Tallie's perfect life comes crumbling down around her when she discovers that her boyfriend's been unfaithful and, worse yet, someone's been stealing from her for years.
The beginners goodbye by Anne Tyler
When Dorothy came back from the dead, Aaron noticed that some people simply ignored the fact; some seemed to have forgotten she'd died in the first place; and others just walked straight on by. The accident that killed Dorothy - involving an oak tree, a sun porch and some elusive biscuits - leaves Aaron bereft and the house a wreck.
Betrayal by Danielle SteelWhen Dorothy came back from the dead, Aaron noticed that some people simply ignored the fact; some seemed to have forgotten she'd died in the first place; and others just walked straight on by. The accident that killed Dorothy - involving an oak tree, a sun porch and some elusive biscuits - leaves Aaron bereft and the house a wreck.
Tallie Jones is happy with life. She's at the top of her career as a hugely successful, renowned movie director, she's in a relationship with a handsome producer and her personal assistant is also her devoted best friend. But Tallie's perfect life comes crumbling down around her when she discovers that her boyfriend's been unfaithful and, worse yet, someone's been stealing from her for years.
Calico Joe by John Grisham
In this novel, the careers of a golden boy rookie hitter for the Cubs and a hard-hitting Mets pitcher take very different paths. The baseball is thrilling, but it is what happens off the field that makes this story a classic.
Guilty wives by James Patterson and David Ellis
"No husbands allowed. Only minutes after Abbie Elliot and her three best friends step off of a private helicopter, they enter the most luxurious, sumptuous, sensually pampering hotel they have ever been to. Their lavish presidential suite overlooks Monte Carlo, and they surrender: to the sun and pool, to the sashimi and sake, to the Bruno Paillard champagne. For four days they're free to live someone else's life. As the weekend moves into pulsating discos, high-stakes casinos, and beyond, Abbie is transported to the greatest pleasure and release she has ever known. What happened last night? In the morning's harsh light, Abbie awakens on a yacht, surrounded by police. Something awful has happened--something impossible, unthinkable. Abbie, Winnie, Serena, and Bryah are arrested and accused of the foulest crime imaginable. And now the vacation of a lifetime becomes the fight of a lifetime--for survival.
The Cove by Ron Rash
The cliff loomed over her and though her eyes were cast downwards she felt its presence. Even inside the cabin she could feel it, as though the cliff's shadow was so dense it soaked through the wood. Nothing but shadow land, her mother had told Laurel, and claimed there wasn't a gloomier place in the whole Blue Ridge.
"No husbands allowed. Only minutes after Abbie Elliot and her three best friends step off of a private helicopter, they enter the most luxurious, sumptuous, sensually pampering hotel they have ever been to. Their lavish presidential suite overlooks Monte Carlo, and they surrender: to the sun and pool, to the sashimi and sake, to the Bruno Paillard champagne. For four days they're free to live someone else's life. As the weekend moves into pulsating discos, high-stakes casinos, and beyond, Abbie is transported to the greatest pleasure and release she has ever known. What happened last night? In the morning's harsh light, Abbie awakens on a yacht, surrounded by police. Something awful has happened--something impossible, unthinkable. Abbie, Winnie, Serena, and Bryah are arrested and accused of the foulest crime imaginable. And now the vacation of a lifetime becomes the fight of a lifetime--for survival.
The Cove by Ron Rash
The cliff loomed over her and though her eyes were cast downwards she felt its presence. Even inside the cabin she could feel it, as though the cliff's shadow was so dense it soaked through the wood. Nothing but shadow land, her mother had told Laurel, and claimed there wasn't a gloomier place in the whole Blue Ridge.
Lone wolf by Jodi Piccoult
| Edward Warren, twenty-four, has been living in Thailand for five years, a prodigal son who left his family after an irreparable fight with his father, Luke. But he gets a frantic phone call: His dad lies comatose, gravely injured in the same accident that has also injured his younger sister Cara. With her father's chances for recovery dwindling, Cara wants to wait for a miracle. But Edward wants to terminate life support and donate his father's organs. Is he motivated by altruism, or revenge? And to what lengths will his sister go to stop him from making an irrevocable decision? Lone Wolf explores the notion of family, and the love, protection and strength it's meant to offer. But what if the hope that should sustain it, is the very thing that pulls it apart? Another tour de force from Jodi Picoult, Lone Wolf examines the wild and lonely terrain upon which love battles reason. |
The lost years by Mary Higgins Clark
When Mariah Lyons calls upon Dr. Richard Callahan, a world-respected biblical scholar, to show him a letter left to her by her late father, a distinguished professor of ancient history, containing a translation from a 2,000-year-old papyrus scroll, he is astonished by the text, then awestruck when she shows him a dusty clay jar and a fragile fragment of papyrus on which he recognizes the name of Jesus, son of Joseph, of the House of David. Mariah has placed in his hands a fragment of a letter in Christ's own writing, and more than that, a pivotal letter in Christ's life. But the rest of the scroll has vanished, and Mariah is aware that somebody else out there has heard of its existence, and is searching for it. Hoping to find some answers to her questions, she visits her father's his ex-mistress Jennie Griffin, who is in prison for having murdered him. Unrepentant and coming up for a parole hearing, Griffin refuses to help her. Mariah, with Dr. Callahan's help, is drawn into the search for the scroll, the very existence of which might change the world - and for which somebody close to her would kill to possess.
The shoemakers wife by Adriana Trigiani
Two star-crossed lovers--Enza and Ciro--meet and separate, until, finally, the power of their love changes both of their lives forever. Set during the years preceding and during World War I.
Two star-crossed lovers--Enza and Ciro--meet and separate, until, finally, the power of their love changes both of their lives forever. Set during the years preceding and during World War I.
Stay close by Harlan Coben
Megan is a suburban soccer mom who once upon a time walked on the wild side. Now she's got two kids, a perfect husband, a picket fence, and a growing sense of dissatisfaction. Ray used to be a talented documentary photographer, but at age forty he finds himself in a dead - end job posing as a paparazzo pandering to celebrity-obsessed rich kids.
Megan is a suburban soccer mom who once upon a time walked on the wild side. Now she's got two kids, a perfect husband, a picket fence, and a growing sense of dissatisfaction. Ray used to be a talented documentary photographer, but at age forty he finds himself in a dead - end job posing as a paparazzo pandering to celebrity-obsessed rich kids.
The wind through the keyhole by Stephen King
It is a story within a story, which features both the younger and older gunslinger Roland on his quest to find the Dark Tower.
You can find a comprehensive list of new books at the library each month, on the Library catalogue.
Commonwealth Writers Prize Shortlist, 2012
Commonwealth Writers has announced the shortlist for 2012. The Commonwealth book prize, awarded for best first book, is open to writers who have had their first novel (full length work of fiction) published between 1 January and 31 December 2011. This year there are 19 authors listed, four of whom are Australian:
The Ottoman Motel, Christopher Currie (Australia), The Text Publishing Company
The Vanishing Act, Mette Jakobsen (Australia), The Text Publishing Company
Purple Threads, Jeanine Leane (Australia), University of Queensland Press
Me and Mr Booker, Cory Taylor (Australia), The Text Publishing Company
Have you read any of these titles?
For further information, read the complete press release listing all contenders for the prize.
The regional winners in each of the five regions (Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, Carribean and the Pacific) will be announced on 22nd May, 2012, and the overall winners will be announced at Hay Festival, Wales, on 8th June. The Vanishing Act, Mette Jakobsen (Australia), The Text Publishing Company
Purple Threads, Jeanine Leane (Australia), University of Queensland Press
Me and Mr Booker, Cory Taylor (Australia), The Text Publishing Company
Have you read any of these titles?
For further information, read the complete press release listing all contenders for the prize.
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