Melbourne Library Service’s Comments (group member since Oct 09, 2014)

Melbourne Library Service’s comments from the Melbourne Library Service group.

I was recently speaking to a friend about not having anything to watch on TV and he mentioned he has a 'safety' movie that he puts on when he doesn't know what else to watch.

It got me thinking ... Do I have a 'safety book'?

Strange though it may seem there are days when I have NOTHING TO READ. And other days when that To Be Read (TBR) pile of books by my bedside table are just not calling to me. This re-enactment of a typical book nerd problem expresses how I feel exactly!

https://youtu.be/wy2OwwgdlQg

If this happens I will often reach for my 'safety book' and let the familiar story guide me back to the reading land but sometimes that isn't an option and then I have to act fast!

There are a number of other ways to re-start that reading feeling and visiting a bookstore or a library is a great place to begin. Browsing new books or 'Hot Pick' collections can be a great way to get the reading juices flowing and staff are often only too happy to help you find your next read - all you need to do is ask!

There are a lot of useful tools online which will help you find your next read.

Melbourne Library Service's Read page showcases some and you can also ask a librarian to nominate Your Next Five Books http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/Melbo...

Friends can also be helpful. Sharing books we have read and loved has become a bit of a thing on social media, it's a lot of fun and can inspire a whole new bout of reading as well as leading to the discovery of a new author to devour!

So tell me, what do you do when you don't know what to read next?

Do you have a 'safety book' or do you head straight out to a library or bookstore?


For the curious, my 'safety book' is either Pride and Prejudice or Lord of the Rings :)

Justine
Reader Development Librarian

What do an awesome group of readers read?

Learned Optimism


Art of Stillness


The Hidden Tools of Comedy


The Hobbit


Bad Debts


Us


Hausfrau


The Girl Who Fell From the Sky


A Short History of Nearly Everything


The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying

Here's what we talked about at our inaugural Southbank Reading Circle. Feel free to add your comments about any of the books in the below list.


Hot Little Hands


Gender Failure


Bad Debts


Hausfrau


Emma: A Modern Retelling


At Risk


The Other Anzacs: Nurses at War 1914-1918


Let Me Be Frank With You


Canada


The Cairo Affair


The Bridge of Sighs


The Pillars of the Earth


The Dinner


Caleb's Crossing


The Secrets of the Anzacs: The Untold Story of Venereal Disease in the Australian Army, 1914–1919


Not My Father's Son: A Memoir

Our May meeting at the City Library discussed both volumes in Jeff Sparrow and Jill Sparrow's Radical Melbourne series.

The themes that popped up from our discussions were:

- the view of Melbourne through different eyes
- the number of communists living in Melbourne
- how bias affects writing and our reading of things
- the place for bias in history text books or historical accounts of events
- how growing up in another part of the world made the reading of these volumes rather eye opening
- similar feel to reading Phillip Knightley's Australia: a Biography of a Nation or Bill Bryson's Down Under
- whether students today are as politically active as they were in the times described in the book, or in our own experiences of when we were university students
- whether unions today are as politically active as they were in the book

Have you read either of the Radical Melbourne volumes? Did you learn anything surprising about Melbourne's history?

Do you think students are as politically active today as they have historically been?

We'd love you to share your thoughts with us.

Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro


Something Noble by William Kowalski


American Sniper by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice


The other hand by Chris Cleave


My driver by Maggie Gee


Monkey Grip by Helen Garner


Amnesia by Peter Carey


The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith


The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marion Keyes


Beloved Land by Gordon Peake


The Rosie Project by Graeme Simpsion


The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simpsion


The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas


Nowhere in Africa by Stefanie Zweig


Half of a yellow sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie


Suspended Sentences by Patrick Modiano


Foreign Soil by Maxine Beneba Clarke



The Flame Throwers by Rachel Kushner


Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie



My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante


Christ the Lord by Anne Rice


For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemmingway


Shakespeare Saved My Life by Laura Bates


We were liars by E. Lockhart


The art of racing in the rain by Garth Stein



La honte by Annie Ernaux


Pour que tu ne te perdus pas dans le quartier by Patrick Modliano

Monkey Grip

Our April meeting at the City Library discussed Helen Garner's Monkey Grip.

The themes that popped up in our discussions were:

- how the book seemed dated to some of us, but not all
- parenting styles, 70s vs today
- feminism and free love
- feelings of needing/wanting companionship to avoid loneliness
- Nora's ambition, some thought she lacked ambition
- whether Javo was an obsession or true love for Nora

We talked about the familiar places that appear in the book, like the Fitzroy Pool and the Edinburgh Gardens. We also talked about the Southern Cross pub that was once on Bourke Street between Spring and Russell, and features as a popular place to go for a drink in the book.

We'd love you to share your thoughts and ideas about Monkey Grip with us.

Do you feel the book is dated now? What about Nora's feelings for Javo? Do you believe it is true love, or obsession?

This could be really fun, please have read of the below request and if you are interested just follow the steps to send in your video!

The Book Club is a book review program which is broadcast at 6pm, the first Sunday of every month on ABC TV.

Each month on the show we review one new release, as well as one classic which is brought along by a guest panellist.

This year, we have a new feature on the program – it’s a video comment or question sent in from the audience, about the month’s classic book.

In April we will review the Australian classic, My Place by Sally Morgan.

We would love you to send in a video comment or question about My Place.

The process is very easy – comments can be recorded on readers’ laptops, smart phones, tablets or by using web-cams on their desk top computers.

Those who are interested can upload their videos via our website: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/firsttuesday...

Alternatively, videos can be emailed directly to us: [email protected]
Please note - emailed submissions must acknowledge our terms and conditions.

The Hummingbird and the Bear by Nicholas Hogg


Maurice Le Blanc Maurice Le Blanc

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray


My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin


Second Honeymoon by Joanna Trollope


A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler


The Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume


An Inconvenient Genocide by Geoffrey Robertson


The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins


The Paris Winter by Imogen Robertson


A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce


The Maze Runner by James Dashner


My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante


The Mammoth Book of Zombies edited by Stephen Jones


H.P. Lovecraft story "Herbert West - Reanimator


Anne Rice's Christ The Lord - Out of Egypt


Dear and Glorious Physician by Taylor Caldwell



Death In The Afternoon by Ernest Hemmingway

The girl who kicked the hornet’s nest by Stieg Larsson


Everything I ever needed to know about economics I learned from online dating by Paul Oyer


Addition by Toni Jordan


Steal like and artist by Austin Kleon


Show your work by Austin Kleon


Funny Girl by Nick Hornsby


Some Luck by Jane Smiley


Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas


Stumbling on happiness by Daniel Gilbert


The book of Daniel by E.L. Doctorow


Life on the edge: the coming of age of quantum biology by Jim Al-Khalili and Johnjoe McFadden


Big Toys by Patrick White


Pierre et Jean by Maupassant


The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle


One More Thing by B. J. Novak


I heard that song before by Mary Higgins Clarke


Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut


The idealist: Jeffrey Sachs and the quest to end poverty by Nina Munk


Hand to Mouth: The Truth About Being Poor in a Wealthy World by Linda Tirado


1984 by George Orwell


V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd


War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells


Towards Zero by Agatha Christie


Into Thin Air: a personal account of the Everest disaster by John Krackeur


Debt : the first 5,000 years by David Graeber


The Runaway Actress by Victoria Connelly


I've got your number by Sophie Kinsella


Son by Lois Lowry


Dancing with empty pockets by Tony Moore


How to be both by Ali Smith

The fictional woman by Tara Moss


Anna Karenina by Tolstoy


The Pigeon by Patrick Suskind



The view from Castle Rock by Alice Munro


The wind-up bird chronicle by Haruki Murakami


George Clooney’s Haircut by Richard Glover


Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung


Going solo : the extraordinary rise and surprising appeal of living alone by Eric Klinenberg


1984 by George Orwell


Brave New World by Aldous Huxley


Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts


My Story by Julia Gillard


Micah Clarke by Arthur Conan Doyle


Oscar Wilde and the Nest of Vipers by Gyles Brandreth


My life in Tibet by Edwin John Dingle


The third eye: the autobiography of a Tibetan Lama by Tuesday Lobsang Rampa


David and Goliath by Malcom Gladwell


The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth


Cairo by Chris Womersley


The feel-good hit of the year: a memoir by Liam Pieper


The death of bees by Lisa O’Donnell
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Not that kind of girl by Lena Dunham

Good to hear Melissa, YA is seriously good stuff isn't it! I am about to read the last of the 4 books in the Giver series and I don't really want to cause that means there are no more :( Such a great series, only thin books but wow, they pack a punch and can really offer a lot to think about. I hope they make the rest of them into movies!

Justine

Hi Andrea,

Those sound like fantastic personal reading challenges to stimulate your 2015 year of reading! I too like the idea of creating a map of my armchair travels, it's amazing when you think about all the places we do visit through reading.
Keep us posted on your journey won't you?

Justine (MLS Librarian)

With a New Year come new resolutions and many people resolve to read more for the year! Here is a great round up of some Reading Challenges to get you inspired: http://bookriot.com/2015/01/05/2015-r...

This one looks great too: http://9gag.com/gag/a8bQeNe

Do you have any other ideas to challenge yourself to read more?

Books like Harry Potter and Charlotte’s Web are not just books for children, and The Great Gatsby is not just read by adults.

This list is all about books written for a YA audience that we think are perfect for adult readers too.

Because some YA books are not just for young adults!

Is your favourite YA book on this list? Let us know in the comments!



Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery


Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta


Laurinda by Alice Pung


We Were Liars by E. Lockhart


Little Women by Louisa May Alcott


My Life as an Alphabet by Barry Jonsberg


Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell


The Fault in Our Stars by John Green


The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien


The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank


Forever by Judy Blume


It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini


The Maze Runner by James Dashner


To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee


Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn


Emma by Jane Austen


The Book Thief by Markus Zusak


The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton


The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky


The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger


I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith


The Giver by Lois Lowry


My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult


The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell

Books we discussed at our December Reading Circle:

Black Boy by Richard Wright


Dosed: the medication generation grows up by Kaitlin Bell Barnett


The art of racing in the rain by Garth Stein


Mugby Junction by Charles Dickens


Burial Rites by Hannah Kent


Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood


Big River Big Sea by Yingtai Long


1688: A Global History by John E. Wills Jr.


Oscar Wilde and the nest of vipers by Gyles Brandreth.


My life as an Alphabet by Barry Jonsberg


Addition by Toni Jordan


Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers


One More Thing by B. J. Novak


The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer

Books we discussed at our second ever Second Tuesday Reading Circle November 2014 were:

Black Boy by Richard Wright


The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion


The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion


Six Impossible Things by Fiona Wood


Anything by Iain M. Banks


Murder in Mississippi by John Safran


The Plague by Albert Camus


The narrow road to the deep north by Richard Flanagan


The diamond as big as the Ritz by F. Scott Fitzgerald


The autumn of the patriarch by Gabriel Garcia Marquez


The happy life by David Malouf


30-second elements edited by Eric Scerri


Tree houses by Philip Jodidio and Patrick Hruby


We are all completely beside ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler


My life in France by Julia Child


Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris


Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman


Flourish by Martin Seligman


Girl with a pearl earring by Tracey Chevalier


The New York trilogy by Paul Auster


100 years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez


Down Under by Bill Bryson


Lost & Found by Brooke Davies


The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud


A certain summer by Patricia Beard


The Giver by Lois Lowry

Hello all,
Do our survey and win!
At City of Melbourne Libraries we LOVE talking about books and reading.
In 2015, we want to provide even more opportunities for book lovers to meet and discuss their reading experiences.
To do that we need to learn about the book club experiences our readers want. You may want to hear recommendations from other readers, discuss important ideas, or indulge in discussing your favourite genre with like minded souls.

By answering the questions in the survey, you will not only help us shape our book club offering for 2015 but will also go into the draw to win a $30 book voucher!

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/Melbo...

Thanks all!

I have recently picked up my favourite book of all time - Lord of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - and I realised that it is approximately the 35th time I have read this book. And once again, I thoroughly enjoyed it! What is it about this book, and others I have read, that makes me want to read it over and over again? I still stay up until 1am unable to put it down, even though I nearly know it off by heart! But I always seem to find something new, or re-discover something within the story which makes me look at things afresh. Each time I read it I find myself focussing on different chapters, or different characters but this time was different. Perhaps it was because instead of my usual, enormous, all in one copy, I instead read this wonderful book in the 7 volume set. Strangely, reading this book split up like this forced me to think of it even more as a whole. An interesting facet of reading across different formats.
I know so many people who look at me askance when I say I re-read books. Does anyone else re-read? If so, what is your favourite book to re-read and is that your favourite book of all time or is it a 'comfort' book, or a 'filler' book?
Justine
Reader Development Librarian

At our inaugural Second Tuesday Reading Circle in October 2014 at Library at The Dock we talked about quite a few books, ranging from fiction to non fiction through to classics and contemporary novels.
Here they are ...

Tracks by Robyn Davidson


H is for Hawk by Helen McDonald


The Goshawk by T. H. White


Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner


The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay


Love Life by Ray Kluun


Quiet by Susan Cain


Open by Andre Agassi


Brain Rules by John Medina


The truth about the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker


Race Against The Machine: How the Digital Revolution is Accelerating Innovation, Driving Productivity, and Irreversibly Transforming Employment and the Economy by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee


One More Thing by B. J. Novak


The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion