Celebrating Australia

Do you enjoy Australian fiction? or maybe you want to know more about Australian history than you learnt in school? Does no-one rock you like the Rockmelons? Our libraries have a broad collection of works on, by and for Australians:

Nine Days

Toni Jordan

It is 1939 and although Australia is about to go to war, it doesn't quite realise yet that the situation is serious. Deep in the working-class Melbourne suburb of Richmond it is business - your own and everyone else's - as usual. And young Kip Westaway, failed scholar and stablehand, is living the most important day of his life.

Kip's momentous day is one of nine that will set the course for each member of the Westaway clan in the years that follow. Kip's mother, his brother Francis and, eventually, Kip's wife Annabel and their daughters and grandson: all find their own turning points, their triumphs and catastrophes, in days to come. But at the heart of all their stories is Kip, and at the centre of Kip's fifteen-year-old heart is his adored sister Connie. They hold the threads that will weave a family.

Sir Henry Parkes: The Australian Collosus
Stephen Dando-Collins

Henry Parkes arrived in the colony of New South Wales with his young wife Clarinda, and newly born daughter, in 1839. He went on to be five-time Premier of New South Wales, a father to seventeen children and a fierce proponent of the need to federate. Politican, social reformer and newspaper proprietor, Henry Parkes' legacy will never be forgotten.

Up From Down Under: How Australian Music Changed the World

Jeff Apter

Beginning with Peter Allen’s unlikely journey from the plains of Tenterfield to the stage of New York’s Radio City Music Hall — astride a camel, no less — and charting the rollercoaster rides of the Little River Band, Helen Reddy, the Bee Gees, Air Supply, Rick Springfield, Men at Work, Keith Urban and recent Grammy-winner Gotye, this broad panorama plots the massive influence our tiny population has had on popular culture over the past 40 years.

The Fourteenth Summer of Angus Jack

Jen Storer

Funny, exhilarating and a little bit scary; a bewitching blend of Norse mythology and urban fantasy.
Since moving to Australia with their father, Angus Jack and his sister, Martha, have moved house constantly. They end up living next door to a peculiar old lady called Reafen, who is a second-hand dealer. To Angus and Martha, Reafen seems harmless enough. But who is she really and where did she get all the weird stuff in her shop?
Without his knowledge, Reafen draws Angus into her world; into ancient feuds, Wild Magick and bitter rivalries - into the secret dealings of Vikings and goblins and all those who have lived in the Old Realm.

Talking to my Country

Stan Grant

Stan Grant spent many years outside Australia, working in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, a time that liberated him and gave him a unique perspective on Australia. This is his very personal meditation on what it means to be Australian, what it means to be indigenous, and what racism really means in this country. Talking to my Country is a rare and special book that talks to every Australian about their country - what it is, and what it could be. It is not just about race, or about indigenous people but all of us, our shared identity. Direct, honest and forthright, Stan is talking to us all. He might not have all the answers but he wants us to keep on asking the question: how can we be better?

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 Visit Newcastle Region Library's Catalogue and Website

eBooks are for Everyone!

eBooks are awesome, and they return themselves! If you are just beginning your e-book journey, check out our e-book help  for assistance in getting started or drop in to your local branch. Select, read online or download titles from our ever-growing collection of e-books including fiction and non-fiction, as well as resources for students and kids. Some titles available for loan now include:

Adult non-fiction - Classic Motorcycle Restoration and Maintenance

A complete workshop guide to restoring and maintaining your classic British motorcycle. Covering the principles of restoration and maintenance, and therefore applicable across all post-war classic British marques such as BSA, Matchless, Triumph, Norton, AJS and Royal Enfield, Classic Motorcycle Restoration and Maintenance covers everything from general maintenance procedures to full engine strips and rebuilds. With step-by-step instructions and over 800 images, the book covers, amongst other things, buying guides, legislation, essential tools, workshop advice, safety, stripping and rebuilding the key components for both singles and twins. With general maintenance, advice, recommended sources and additions included, this new book is an essential resource for the classic motorcycle restorer. Superbly illustrated with 735 colour images and 80 CAD diagrams along with step-by-step instructions.

Young Adult fiction - Afterlight by Rebecca Lim

From the acclaimed author of the Mercy series and The Astrologer's Daughter . Since her parents died in a freak motorbike accident, Sophie Teague's life has fallen apart. But she's just enrolled at a new high school, hoping for a fresh start. That's until Eve, a beautiful ghost in black, starts making terrifying nightly appearances, wanting Sophie to be her hands, eyes and go-to girl. There are loose ends that Eve needs Sophie to tie up. But dealing with the dead might just involve the greatest sacrifice of all. Dark, thrilling and unrelentingly eerie, Afterlight will take you deep into the heart of a dangerous love story, revealing the otherworldly--and deadly--pull of past wrongs that only the living can put right.

Adult fiction - The Storm by Neil Broadfoot

After his editor is murdered in front of him, crime reporter Doug McGregor's world falls apart. As prime witness, he's not allowed to investigate the case, and he's left only with questions and a bloody memory seared in his mind. On top of that, Doug's 'friendship' with his police contact, DS Susie Drummond, is in a weird place right now. So he leaps at the chance to take some time out with an old friend on the Isle of Skye. But when another savage killing occurs, Doug realises that the murders may be linked, and that going to Skye was the best and worst move possible. He's in the eye of the Storm - and this one could engulf them all.

Junior fiction - Phreddie and the Purple Pyramid by Jackie French

Join Phredde, a fractious but fun-loving phaery, Bruce, a mosquito-eating frog, and Pru, an everyday-normal school girl (except that she lives in a fairy castle, keeps pet piranhas, has a werewolf for a brother and a vampire for a teacher!), for a spooky and spell-binding adventure.

Junior non-fiction - The Surfing Scientist: 40 Cool Science Tricks by Ruben Meerman

Want to learn how to stick a potato through a straw? How you can make ice stick to a piece of cotton thread? Stick two books together without glue? Pick up a jar of rice with a pencil? Impress your mates? Too easy - the Surfing Scientist can show you how! Using only household ingredients and with nothing tricky for kids to buy, this book is perfect for every budding scientist or surfer! And it′s packed with facts, knowledge and trivia that interests and fascinates kids, and with photographs of each experiment to make the whole process easy but most of all fun. Ages 7-12 years.

Visit Newcastle Region Library's Catalogue and Website.

Tim Winton Island Home - September 23rd

'I grew up on the world's largest island.'

This apparently simple fact is the starting point for Tim Winton's beautiful, evocative and sometimes provocative memoir of how this unique landscape has shaped him and his writing.

For over thirty years, Winton has written novels in which the natural world is as much a living presence as any character. What is true of his work is also true of his life: from boyhood, his relationship with the world around him – rockpools, seacaves, scrub and swamp – was as vital as any other connection. Camping in hidden inlets of the south-east, walking in the high rocky desert fringe, diving at Ningaloo Reef, bobbing in the sea between sets, Winton has felt the place seep into him, with its rhythms, its dangers, its strange sustenance, and learned to see landscape as a living process.

Island Home is the story of how that relationship with the Australian landscape came to be, and how it has determined his ideas, his writing and his life.  It is also a passionate exhortation for all of us to feel the ground beneath our feet. Much more powerfully than a political idea, or an economy, Australia is a physical entity. Where we are defines who we are, in ways we too often forget to our detriment, and the country's.

Wise, rhapsodic, exalted – Island Home is not just a brilliant, moving insight into the life and art of one of our finest writers, but a compelling investigation into the way our country makes us who we are.

 Visit Newcastle Region Library's Catalogue and Website.

Good Reading August issue

Two things are known for certain about Elena Ferrante. One; she was born in Naples, Italy. Two; she's one of the greatest contemporary fiction writers alive. Everything else - her age, gender, appearance, location, - is a mystery, and her identity is the subject of fierce and frustrated speculation in the literary world.

Did we catch your attention?

Goodreading has come down with a bad case of #ferrantefever this month, as the last installment of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Novels, The Story of the Lost Child, is published. Select Good Reading in the e-Magazines resources page on the Library's website and it will take you straight to the entire issue for you to read on your computer or tablet. 

“I believe that books, once they are written, have no need of their authors. If they have something to say, they will sooner or later find readers; if not, they won’t.” - Ferrante in a letter to her editor. Read the cover story to find out more about the globally acclaimed author. 

Good Reading also check in with Philippa Gregory to find out which books inspire her brilliant historical novels. Then rev up your heart rate with our interview with ThrillerEdge, a fast-growing coterie of Australia's best action writers. Also find out the story behind Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk, and how you can age gracefully with Growing Old Without Feeling Older. You'll also find articles from Kate Forsyth and Alice Hoffman, and a huge Fathers' Day Gift Guide in time for Dad's special day coming up in a few weeks' time. 

Visit Newcastle Region Library's Catalogue and Website.

Sense of home

The home ownership aspiration of Australians has widely been referred to as 'the great Australian dream'. For higher income households, purchase affordability is an issue of choice rather than access. For those with more modest means, affordability is a more significant issue. Housing provides people with shelter, security, and privacy. Having an adequate and appropriate place to live is fundamental to people's wellbeing.

Improvement to the overall accessibility of appropriate housing for Australians is important in determining whether life in Australia is getting better. Home ownership is a widely held aspiration in Australia, providing security of tenure and long term economic benefits to home owners. Owning a home can also bring social and cultural benefits such as a sense of belonging. For some home owners, the dwelling and the land on which it stands is a major asset, and for many it is their main asset.

As house prices skyrocket, many young Australians are being forced to deal with some pretty tough and depressing questions, like: how do you buy a home when the average price of a house is 10 to 11 times the average wage? Or how do you keep a job when the only place with affordable rent is many hours away? Using the resources of our wonderful library, we think we might just have ticket for the D.I.Y generation.

The Small House Book by Jay Shafer is a rare find. A leader in the small house movement that is challenging western standards Shafer breaks down designing a space for your needs and step by step building instructions accompanied with a beautiful collection of photographs.  The consideration of aesthetics is not lost and as you read on a philosophy of simple becomes more and more clear and appealing, "The happiness we really seek cannot be found by purchasing more space or more stuff. Those who do not recognise what is enough will never have enough". 

Until recently, the issue of over-consumption was conspicuously absent from mainstream green discourse. Bigger is better is certainly the favoured by building financiers and the real estate industry.  "If you do one thing to make your new home more environmentally sound, make it small" says Shafer.

With a recent study in Australia showing that Australians value money spent on experiences rather than material possessions The Small House Book shows smaller spaces not only are cost effective and environmentally sustainable, but also give opportunities to explore other things in life.

"For most Americans, big houses have come to symbolise the good life; but, all symbolism aside, the life these places actually foster in more typically one of drudgery. Mortgage payments can appropriate thirty to forty per cent of a household's income not counting taxes, insurance, or maintenance expenses. When every spare penny is going towards house payments, there is nothing left over for investments, travel, continued education, more time with the kids, or even so much as a minute to relax and enjoy life. At this rate, an oversized house can start to look more like a debtor's prison than a home. " 

Another title we have in the collection Tiny Houses written by Mimi Zeiger, is a book focused on dwellings under 1,000 square feet. Zeiger's book challenges readers to take a look at their own homes and consider how much space they actively use.

Francesc Zamora Mola's 150 Best Sustainable House Ideas features the latest innovations in environmentally friendly home design. From heating and cooling solutions to wind energy systems, solar panelling, thermal glazing, and even Trombe walls, the ideas featured inside are complemented by photographs and architectural plans of gorgeous, sustainable houses around the world. 

Visit Newcastle Region Library's Catalogue and Website.

Moon Maps by Dr H.P Wilkins

La Luna

There is something very human about gazing up at the moon.  For thousands of years we have looked up in wonder and watched as it  silently spins in a locked orbit with us, some 384,000 km above. 

Le voyage dans la lune
1902 French Silent Film George Méliès

We have seen ourselves in its reflection, blamed it for our aliments, amused our children with stories of a rabbit, buffalo, green cheese and a man in the moon (and he drinks claret); and even attested to a full moon inducing lunacy in others. It has played muse to great writers, artists, and musicians , and even  been deified.. We have studied, philosophised, and ultimately space raced each other to walk upon its surface - we are old friends. Just ask James Joyce. 

An upcoming full moon on Friday has sent us to the vaults once more to share another printed treasure.  Moon Maps by Dr Hugh Percy Wilkins  is a detailed map of the moon in form suitable for use at the telescope.

 

Moon Maps by H P Wilkins

Dr Wilkins, an internationally renowned selenographer was elected to the British Astronomical Association in 1918 and was Director of its Lunar Section from 1946 to 1956.
Dr Wilkins 300 inch Moon Map is considered by some as the culmination of the art of selenography prior to the space age, and was purchased by NASA prior to their launch. He founded the International Lunar Society and was its first president.

Map of the Moon by Johannes Hevelius(1647)

Selenography is the study of the surface and physical features of the moon. Historically, the principal concern of selenographists (or moon mappers) was the mapping and naming of the lunar maria, craters, mountain ranges, and other features.

The task of selenography was largely finished once high resolution photographs were obtained. We can now easily research images of the moon (Google moon show satellite photographs of the moon) yet this has not made selenography redundant – these maps are still used for reference by scholars and observatories. 

Wilkins beautiful book contains every named formation arranged in alphabetical order with the map section within which it will be found. The maps, as well as the text are bound on separate ring. As a result, any map and any page of the text can be placed flat next to each other and read together at the same time, as though on the same page. This creates a most useful book for use even in the observatory, in dim light, or in the library. 

Moon Maps by H P Wilkins

The drawn detail in the charts is immense - covering nearly the entire surface of the moon - and it is a wondrous map. Altogether, these charts contain over 85,000 objects with many fine details culled from the photographs taken at the Pic-Du-Midi observatory. Obtaining accurate positional measurements for all of these objects was beyond even the unbounded enthusiasm of a dedicated Wilkins!

Neil Armstrong and Dr H P Wilkins 300 inch Moon Map
 at the Royal Geographical Society, London

Whilst we acknowledge that he remained an amateur throughout his observational career, and he was not a trained cartographer, the contribution Dr H.P Wilkins made throughout his life to our knowledge of the lunar surface is tremendous. According to his daughter, the moon was his "whole life". Fittingly, in 1935 a somewhat inconspicuous 38 mile wide crater in the lunar southeast uplands was named in his honour. 

Published by London’s Faber and Faber this title will appeal to lovers of astronomy, illustration, and history as well as anyone wanting to be inspired by the moon or the man who loved mapping it.

Dr Hugh Percy Wilkins

 

Being such a rare book, it is not for loan but can be viewed by request - just phone 4974 5340, or drop into the Information & Research Centre on the First Floor at Newcastle Library.

“It is not likely that any one of us will again know a man who dared to map the whole Moon primarily on the basis of his personal observations” Walter. H. Haas

Visit Newcastle Region Library's Catalogue and Website.

The Swedish Table Christmas : Traditional Holiday Meals, Side Dishes, Candies and Drinks by Jens Linder and Johanna Westman

Are you still planning your Christmas menu? Do you need recipes for a Glogg party? 

This charming book is by two self confessed "Christmas nerds" whose "passion for food reaches its devoted, joyful peak every month of December when gluttony and revelry are socially acceptable and the spirit of tradition is strong."

In this book you will find both traditional and modern recipes interspersed with beautiful Christmas themed collages and photographs. So if  you need a recipe for Gingerbread, molten chocolate, root vegetable salad or new ways with duck, turkey and fish try this book. I must say though, I will be giving the Baked fillet of Reindeer with Bleu Cheese a miss. What would Rudolph think!

The Swedish Christmas Table can be borrowed for free from our eBook collection by library members.

For assistance call library staff on 4974 5340.

Visit Newcastle Region Library's Catalogue and Website.

Seven Flowers and How They Shaped the World by Jennifer Potter

I believe I have stumbled upon both a book and an author who is going to send me off reading at tangents for some time to come. Jennifer Potter writes fiction and non-fiction - I want to track down everything she has written. One of Jennifer's previous works was The Rose - a result of five years tracking "the rose's evolution as a flower and as an idea, struck by how central it has been to so many cultures." She concluded that "who you are dictates how you see the rose; and that each age and each society has reinvented the rose in its own image. Through the rose we tell our stories, both personal and collective... if the rose can do this, what about other flowers?" Her new book looks at the lotus, lily, sunflower, opium poppy, rose, tulip and orchid - untangling the botanical and cultural evolution of each one - "Here are the flowers of healing, delirium and death; of purity and passion; of greed,envy and virtue; of hope and consolation; of the beauty that drives men wild."

Classic line: "I remember a field of sunflowers ... deep in rural France. Whenever you stepped outside you felt they were watching you. 'Do you know what faces they have?' asked the painter Edward Burre-Jones, 'how they peep and peer, and look arch and winning, or bold and a little insolent sometimes?' Some people find this creepy: 'They got Van Gogh and now they're after you ..." pg 99

Seven flowers.. is available from the library as an eBook and can be accessed via our EBL Collection.

Published in 2013 by Atlantic Books, this title will appeal to lovers of words, flowers and history. And if you enjoy this you may want to read The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, reviewed by Natasha on this blog in 2012.

As a special treat you could follow up some of our other titles, including The Language of Flowers, illustrated by Kate Greenaway, published in 1940. It's a little gem from our stack, or "the vaults" as we sometimes say. Being such an old book, it is not for loan but can be viewed by request - just phone 4974 5340, or drop into the Information & Research Centre on the First Floor at Newcastle Library.

 Visit Newcastle Region Library's Catalogue and Website.

Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton

A review by Jessica Birchall

Now I know the title for this sounds super boring but I urge you to search for one of Alain de Botton’s books if you haven’t read his stuff before. I love him because he is a kind of contemporary philosopher that discusses the idea of modern living through his books. I think his best work is The Consolations of Philosophy because it is a broad view of complex philosophers, their ideas and how we can relate them to our modern ideals of love, happiness, pessimism etc.

In Religion for Atheists de Botton discusses the idea of taking the best parts of a religion and using them for ourselves because what really matters? How you worship or whether or not you were a decent person? De Botton takes us through the idea of community, kindness, education, pessimism, art and architecture and how the better and non-corrupt aspects of religion can help us improve our lives. His chapter on art and architecture, for example, explains how we can still appreciate religious iconography and the beauty of a grand Catholic church and gain solace from these items without attaching the religious dogma normally associated with such items.

De Botton also humorously gives an alternative for our institutions that have lost their way. Fancy a more practical university degree? De Botton discusses John Stuart Mills idea that universities are “...not to make skilful lawyers, physicians or engineers. It is to make capable and cultivated human beings.” Why not teach students how to deal with the emotional impact of love or how to leave the world happier than we found it?

De Botton has the ability to take complex ideas and make them not only simple to read but interesting. There is also a subtle and sweet humour to his work that is endearing and made me search high and low for this book.

Publisher: Hamish Hamilton, 2012

Visit Newcastle Region Library's Catalogue and Website.

What library staff are reading....December 2012

Looking for something to read over the holidays 

OR simply curious to know what librarians actually read?

Here is but a small sampling of the multitude of moorish memoirs, mysteries and marvels we're devouring this December!

Port Villa Blues by Gary Disher

This is the second Wyatt novel - a fast paced gritty Australia crime novel by a former winner of the Ned Kelly award. Wyatt finds himself in trouble after a contract robbery where he helps himself to a little extra. The characters are believable if undesirable and the dialogue is very real. There is plenty of suspense and lots of action - this is a great read.

 

Bill the Bastard by Roland Perry

This is the true story of a remarkable horse called Bill who was one of the 200,000 Australian horses sent to the middle great in the Great War. Bill could only be ridden by one man - Major Michael Shanahan. This is a wonderful tale of a determined trooper and his stoic but cantankerous mount. They fought together and depended on each other for survival. This book is a warm and human story set in the most inhuman of times, it also provides an insight into the lives and conditions of the ANZACs in the Great War.

The Amber Amulet by Craig Silvey

A short story about a boy who has a secret identity as a superhero. It is available from our collection in both eBook and print.

Trick of the dark by Val McDermid

Who really killed Philip Carling? Available as an eBook.

Bunny Lake is missing by Evelyn Piper

A Hitchcock-like thriller in which a child is missing, but is she real or a figment of the mother's imagination? Available as an eBook.

Castles, Follies and Four-leaf clovers: Adventures along Ireland's St Declan's Way by Rosamund Burton

I don't usually read travel memoirs, but I loved this and was suprised to see the Irish-born author lives in Sydney. It's worth reading just to find out about the ancient sheela-na-gig, St Declan's role in promoting Christianity in Ireland and St Brigid's relationship to the Celtic goddess. Available as an eBook.

In the evil day by Peter Temple

Action and intrigue taking place across Hamburg, London and Johannesburg. Available as an eBook.

The Dinner by Herman Koch

The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland

The Convent by Maureen McCarthy

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

Some of these titles are available as eBooks in our EBL eBook collection. Search for them and many other delightful December delectations below:

Visit Newcastle Region Library's Catalogue and Website.

Natasha's picks for November/December 2012

Welcome to one of our NEW regular posts on The Book Crowd!

Every second month one of our staff will share some books that have delighted and intrigued them and you, our dear reader, may discover something new...

Gaysia :  Adventures in the Queer East by Benjamin Law
In his second book Ben takes on a journey to find out what it is like to be LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) in countries throughout Asia. This is a fascinating and enlightening read, taking me from tears to laughter from one line to the next. Ben has a wonderful way of capturing personality and emotions in his writing and you really feel the personal experience in each story. From Ladyboy beauty pageants in Thailand to sham marriage social network sites in China to heartbreaking stories of people who simply want to be themselves without shame and persecution from their families and culture. This is a wonderful read and another brilliant piece from one of my favourite writers.

For more information about Ben, this book and his writing visit his website:
http://www.benjamin-law.com/gaysia/

The end of your life book club by Will Schwalbe
This is the wonderful and moving story of Will and his mother Margaret, her battle with cancer, their love of books and their connection through reading and all the knowledge, inspiration and courage it can give us in life. Each time Margaret goes for chemotherapy treatment, Will comes with her and they end up discussing a great many things but most often it is based around the question 'What are you reading?'. Eventually, as Margaret's treatments continue they start to pick the same books to read and use these strange and difficult blocks of time together to discuss them like a book club. I am still reading it and it is lovely...

The Convent by Maureen McCarthy
Maureen McCarthy has been a favourite of mine since I was in my teens. Queen Kat, Carmel and St Jude has seen me through countless rainy days and tension filled Easter long weekends! So of course I had to check out her latest YA novel The Convent. This story is based around Peach, a young girl who is taken on a journey of self-discovery when she starts working at a cafe in the Abbotsford Convent. Here she uncovers family secrets and is challenged in ways she never imagined. I confess that I have only just started reading this but I know it will be delightful and very soon it shall consume me completely as Maureen's books always tend to do. I urge anyone to read Maureen McCarthy's writing, remember young adult books are not just for young adults and these days they are some of the best reads out there.

This book is available as an EBL eBook. You can search for it and other wonderful eBooks below:

For an interesting discussion about Young Adult fiction watch this wonderful special episode from Jennifer Byrne of The First Tuesday Book club Jennifer Byrne Presents: The Harry Games here

Visit Newcastle Region Library's Catalogue and Website.

EBL eBook Feature - Fashion Geek

For something a little different try Fashion Geek. You can borrow a print version from one of our branches or as an eBook from EBL.

This book will teach you to:

Hack a pedometer to create sparkling shoes

Sew headphones into a handmade monster hat

Disguise your flash drive as a fabulous necklace

Create light-up buttons to sew onto any jacket

Author: Diana Eng

Publication Date: 2009

Publisher: North Light Books

Visit Newcastle Region Library's Catalogue and Website.