Books for 2014

Key:

P          Penrith Library

BM      Blue Mountains Library

BL       Blacktown library
UWS   UWS Library

F          Fiction

NF       Non Fiction

LP       Large print

A         Audio CD

YA      Young adult/teen

P         Penrith Library

Australian authors

Floundering - Romy Ash 

P 2 

BM 1 

BL 1
UWS 1

Published 2012, 202p.

Description:

Tom and Jordy live with their gran. Their mum, Loretta, left them on her doorstep. Now she wants her boys back. Tom and Jordy hit the road with Loretta in her beat-up car. They journey across the country, squabbling, bonding, searching and reconnecting. On the west coast they stop. They take refuge in a beachside caravan park where, at last, the reality of the situation sets in. And now the boys find they have new threats and new fears to face.

Author:

Romy Ash’s first novel Floundering was shortlisted for The Miles Franklin Award, The Prime Minister’s Award, The Commonwealth Writer’s Prize, The Dobbie Award and longlisted for The Stella Prize. She has been anthologised in Best Australian Stories and Best Australian Essays, Voracious: The Best New Australian Food Writing. She has written for The Griffith Review and The Big Issue amongst others. She writes the blog Trotski & Ash. She co-won the 2011 GREW award for fiction.

The Multiple Effects Of Rainshadow -Thea Astley

P 1 

BM 0 

BL 1
UWS 1

Published: 1996, 296p.

The novel is based on a violent event that took place on Palm Island, Queensland (called Doebin in the novel) in 1930, in which the white Superintendent of the settlement, Robert Curry (Brodie in the novel), ran amok, setting fire to buildings and killing his own children in the process. He was eventually shot dead by one of the indigenous inhabitants, Peter Prior (Manny Cooktown in the novel), under orders from the white deputy Superintendent. Astley focuses most of the novel on various white characters who were present on the Island at the time, but intersperses their experiences with briefer passages spoken by the Aboriginal man, Manny Cooktown.

Author:

The novel spans a long time period, from 1918 when the settlement was established to 1957 when Aboriginal workers went on a strike, but most of the action takes place after 1930.

Thea Astley was one of Australia's most respected and acclaimed novelists. Born in Brisbane in 1925, Astley studied arts at the University of Queensland. She held a position as Fellow in Australian Literature at Macquarie University until 1980, when she retired to write full time. In 1989 she was granted an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Queensland.

Burial Rights - Hannah Kent 

P 3

Published 2013, 338p.

Description:

They said I must die. They said that I stole the breaths from men, and now they must steal mine. I imagine, then, that we are all candle flames, greasy-bright, fluttering in the darkness and the howl of the wind, and in the stillness of the room I hear footsteps, awful coming footsteps, coming to blow me out and send my life up away from me in a grey wreath of smoke.

In northern Iceland, 1829, Agnes Magnusdottir is condemned to death for her part in the brutal murder of her lover. Agnes is sent to wait out her final months on the farm of district office Jon Jonsson, his wife and their two daughters. Horrified to have a convicted murderer in their midst, the family avoid contact with Agnes. Only Toti, the young assistant priest appointed Agnes's spiritual guardian, is compelled to try to understand her. As the year progresses and the hardships of rural life force the household to work side by side, Agnes' story begins to emerge and with it the family's terrible realization that all is not as they had assumed. Based on actual events, Burial Rites is an astonishing and moving novel about the truths we claim to know and the ways in which we interpret what we're told. In beautiful, cut-glass prose, Hannah Kent portrays Iceland's formidable landscape, in which every day is a battle for survival, and asks, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?

Author:

Hannah Kent is a contemporary Australian writer. This is her debut novel. Hannah is the co-founder and deputy editor of Australian literary journal Kill Your Darlings, and is completing her PhD at Flinders University.

A Fence around the Cuckoo - Ruth Park 

P 1 

BM 1

BL 1NF 2 LP 1 CD
UWS 1

Published 1992, 294p.

Written as vividly as any of her novels, Ruth Park's autobiography is a moving, passionate, often funny account of the people and places which influenced her early years. Her isolated childhood in the rainforests of New Zealand fed her fertile imagination; her convent education encouraged her love of words and writing, and the bitter years of the Depression exposed her to poverty and injustice.

The light between the Oceans – M.L. Stedman

P 4F 1 LP

BM 4

BL 2

Published 2012, 362p.

A dead man and a crying baby are washed up onto a remote lighthouse keeper’s watch in April 1926. His desperate and childless wife sees the child as a gift and urges Tom to remain silent despite his misgivings.

Author

M.L. (Margot) Steadman was born and raised in Western Australia and now lives in London. This is her first novel.

Barracuda - Christos Tsiolkas  

P 2 

BM 7 

BL 3
UWS 1

Published 2013, 516p.

His whole life Danny Kelly's only wanted one thing: to win Olympic gold. His parents struggle to send him to the most prestigious private school with the finest swimming program; Danny loathes it there and is bullied and shunned as an outsider, but his coach is the best and knows Danny is, too, better than all those rich boys, those pretenders. Danny's win-at-all-cost ferocity gradually wins favour with the coolest boys - he's Barracuda, he's the psycho, he's everything they want to be but don't have the guts to get there.

Barracuda is an unflinching look at modern Australia, at our hopes and dreams, our friendships, and our families. Should we teach our children to win, or should we teach them to live? How do we make and remake our lives? Can we atone for our past? Can we overcome shame? And what does it mean to be a good person? Barracuda is about living in Australia right now, about class and sport and politics and migration and education. It contains everything a person is: family and friendship and love and work, the identities we inhabit and discard, the means by which we fill the holes at our centre.

Eyrie - Tim Winton 

P 3 

BM 1F 1 

A BL 8 
UWS 1

Published 2013, 413p. 

Eyrie tells the story of Tom Keely, a man who's lost his bearings in middle age and is now holed up in a flat at the top of a grim highrise, looking down on the world he's fallen out of love with. He's cut himself off, until one day he runs into some neighbours: a woman he used to know when they were kids, and her introverted young boy. The encounter shakes him up in a way that he doesn't understand. Despite himself, Keely lets them in. What follows is a heart-stopping, groundbreaking novel for our times, funny, confronting, exhilarating and haunting, populated by unforgettable characters. It asks how, in an impossibly compromised world, we can ever hope to do the right thing.

Other Authors

Sydney Bridge upside down - David Ballantyne 

P 2 

BM 3 

BL 1

Published: 1968, 277p.

This is the great unread New Zealand novel--a gothic thriller, a coming-of-age story and a sinister family tragedy.

Harry Baird lives with his mother, father and younger brother Cal in Calliope Bay, at the edge of the world.  Summer has come, and those who can have left the bay for the allure of the far away city.  Among them is Harry's mother, who has left behind a case of homemade ginger beer and a vague promise of return.

Harry and Cal are too busy enjoying their holidays, playing in the caves and the old abandoned slaughterhouse, to be too concerned with her absence.  When their older cousin-the beautiful, sophisticated Caroline-comes from the city to stay with the Bairds, Harry is besotted.  With their friend Dibs Kelly, the boys and Caroline spend the long summer days exploring the bay and playing games. But Harry is very protective of Caroline and jealous of the attention she receives from other men. And what looked to be a pleasurable summer is overshadowed by certain 'accidents' in the old slaughterhouse and a general air of suspicion and distrust.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home - Carol Rifka-Brunt  

P 1 LP 

BM 1 

BL 1 LP2

Published: 2012, 476p.

There's only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus - and that's her uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss. So when he dies at a young age of a mysterious illness, June's world is turned upside down. After his funeral June receives a package in the mail.

Author:

Carol Rifka Brunt grew up in the suburbs of New York City and now lives with her family in the southwest of England. She has published short fiction and non-fiction in The North American Review and The Sun. Her first novel, Tell the Wolves I’m Home, was named a best book of the year by Wall Street Journal, O Magazine, Kirkus, BookPage and Amazon, was a Barnes and Noble Discover pick, Target club pick, Costco Pennie’s pick, an ALA Alex Award winner and has sold in 16 countries. She is currently trying very hard to forget all of that, pretend there is no pressure to live up to anything, and concentrate on writing her second novel.

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

P 0 

BM 1 

BL 1
UWS 1

Published 2005, 504p.

Days before his release from prison, Shadow's wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes his way back home. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America.

Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

Scary, gripping and deeply unsettling, AMERICAN GODS takes a long, hard look into the soul of America. You'll be surprised by what and who it finds there...

Signature Of All Things - Elizabeth Gilbert

P 3 1 LP 

BM 6 LP 1 

BL 3

Published: 2013, 501p

See Megan's details below in the comments field.



The Fault in our Stars - John Green 

P 4 YA 

BM 3 YA 

BL 10 2 MP3/CD
UWS 1

Published: 2012, 318p.

16yr old Hazel, a stage IV thyroid cancer patient, has accepted her terminal diagnosis until a chance meeting with a boy at cancer support group forces her to reexamine her perspective on love, loss, and life.

Author:

John Michael Green is an American author of young adult fiction and a YouTube video blogger and creator of online educational videos.

  

A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini 

P 6 

BM 3 

BL 5 F 1 A 1 electronic

Published: 2006, 372p.

Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. When the Taliban take over, life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism. The sense of longing evoked in Khaled Hosseini's Alf shams sati'a is compelling and universal: the passionate search for love, family, home, acceptance, a healthy society, and a promising future, regardless of the obstacles. Like The Kite Runner, this novel transcends boundaries and illuminates the people and culture of a region that has been reluctantly thrust into the international spotlight. Above all, however, Alf shams sati'a is a stunning literary accomplishment.

Teacher Man - Frank McCourt 

P 2NF 1LP 

BM 2NF 1LP 

BL 1NF 1A

Published: 2005, 258p.

Nearly a decade ago Frank McCourt became an unlikely star when, at the age of sixty-six, he burst onto the literary scene with "Angela's Ashes, " the Pulitzer Prize -- winning memoir of his childhood in Limerick, Ireland. Then came "'Tis, " his glorious account of his early years in New York. Now, here at last, is McCourt's long-awaited book about how his thirty-year teaching career shaped his second act as a writer. "Teacher Man" is also an urgent tribute to teachers everywhere. In bold and spirited prose featuring his irreverent wit and heartbreaking honesty, McCourt records the trials, triumphs and surprises he faces in public high schools around New York City. His methods anything but conventional, McCourt creates a lasting impact on his students through imaginative assignments (he instructs one class to write "An Excuse Note from Adam or Eve to God"), singalongs (featuring recipe ingredients as lyrics), and field trips (imagine taking twenty-nine rowdy girls to a movie in Times Square!). McCourt struggles to find his way in the classroom and spends his evenings drinking with writers and dreaming of one day putting his own story to paper. "Teacher Man" shows McCourt developing his unparalleled ability to tell a great story as, five days a week, five periods per day, he works to gain the attention and respect of unruly, hormonally charged or indifferent adolescents. McCourt's rocky marriage, his failed attempt to get a Ph.D. at Trinity College, Dublin, and his repeated firings due to his propensity to talk back to his superiors ironically lead him to New York's most prestigious school, Stuyvesant High School, where he finally finds a place and a voice. "Doggedness," he says, is "not as glamorous as ambition or talent or intellect or charm, but still the one thing that got me through the days and nights." For McCourt, storytelling itself is the source of salvation, and in "Teacher Man" the journey to redemption -- and literary fame -- is an exhilarating adventure.

Balthazar Jones and the Tower of London Zoo - Julia Stuart 

P 1LP 

BM 2 

BL 1LP

Published: 2010, LP301p.

A poignant, magical and completely original novel that you can't fail to love, for fans of Joanne Harris. Meet Balthazar Jones, Beefeater at the Tower of London. Married to Hebe, he lives and works in the Tower, as he struggles to cope with the tragic death of his son Milo, three years ago. The Tower of London is its own magical world; a maze of ancient buildings, it is home to a weird and wonderful cast of characters - the Jones's of course, as well as Reverend Septimus Drew, the Ravenmaster, and Ruby Dore, landlady of the Tower's very own tavern, the Rack & Ruin. And, after an announcement from Buckingham Palace that the Queen's exotic animals are to be moved from London Zoo to the Tower's grounds, things are about to become a whole lot more interesting...Komodo dragons, marmosets, and even zorillas ('a highly revered yet uniquely odorous skunk-like animal from Africa') fill the Tower's menagerie - and it is Balthazar Jones's job to take care of them. Things run far from smoothly, though - missing penguins and stolen giraffes are just two of his worries! A touching, magical and entirely original debut.

Author:
Julia Stuart is a bestselling novelist and an award-winning journalist. She grew up in the West Midlands, England, and studied French and Spanish. She lived for a period in France and Spain teaching English.

Love you to bits and pieces - By David Helfgotts wife. P0 BM 0 BL 0  UWS 1

Those Tracks on my face - By Barbara Holborow

P0 BM 0 BL 0 UWS 1

Published 1997

No-one knows more about children in trouble than Barbara Holborow. In this best-selling book, Barbara draws on the knowledge and wisdom acquired in her many years as a Children's Court magistrate, where she presided over the best and the worst of children, and those dealing with them. She tells the story of her own life as well, and in these pages there is a wealth of practical advice for those who want who want the best out of the most valuable thing in our lives - our children.

Are You Somebody?: The Life and Times of Nuala O'Faolain  P0 BM 0 BL 0

Published 1996

Self-preservation did not come instinctually to Irish journalist Nuala O'Faolain. One of 9 children--her mother had 13 pregnancies in all--she grew up in the 1940s and '50s in a defeated Dublin household. Her reporter father seems to have spent his time and money, and even love, elsewhere--and as the family grew more isolated and unable to cope, alcohol became her mother's only way out. "One of the stories of my life has been the working out in it of her powerful and damaging example in everything," the author admits, "Nothing mattered to her except passion." Some of O'Faolain's siblings emphatically didn't make it, but she was lucky to find refuge in books. They have been a defense, a comfort, and a delight.

The Colour of water - James McBride

P0 BM 0 BL 0

Published 1995

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, is the autobiography of James McBride first published in 1995; it is also a tribute to his mother. The chapters alternate between James McBride's descriptions of his early life and first-person accounts of his mother Ruth's life, mostly taking place before her son was born. McBride depicts the conflicting emotions that he endured as he struggled to discover who he truly was, as his mother narrates the hardships that she had to overcome as a white, Jewish woman who chose to marry a black man in 1942.