New Outreach Blog

Morning All,
Just letting you know that we are merging all of the blogs into one (easy) location.

http://mrclOutreach.wordpress.com

Come One Come All

Afternoon All,

Let me start this week’s post with a reminder that the Between the Lines Book Club are meeting this Thursday. Haven’t read the book? Come along anyway, tell us why you didn’t read it and see what everyone else thought of Rosewater and Soda Bread.

 

We’ll all meet up at Gordon White Library at 6.00pm, and sit around have a cuppa and a chat about the book. Bring your book back and pick up next month’s book An Empty Coast by Tony Park.

I’m pretty laid back so we’ll let the conversation roll and enjoy the company of other book lovers.

 

I’ll see you all on Thursday,

Jamie

 

Who Else Writes Like...

Morning All,

Well we’re getting towards the end of the book club month, and by now I think you’ll all have created your own opinion on Rosewater and Soda Bread.

Whether you like or hate the book, here’s some other recommended titles for you to read if you want to try out more titles in this genre.

 

That's all for this week, see you next time,

Jamie

Staff Read (They really do!)

Afternoon All,

Who would’ve thought that staff in the library actually read? This week instead of focusing on the monthly book I want to focus on our staff and what they are reading.

 

 “ Yes!! Finally the continuation of the Jack West series. A little confusing to start with but once he starts the pace is nonstop. Devoured it in 12 hrs. ”  -Jamie

(Four Legendary Kingdoms by Matthew Reilly)

 

“Loving it!!! I'm taking my time because I don't want it to finish” - Kathryn

(The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks)

“Took a bit to get used to but by book three I was totally hooked ”  - Laura

(The Captive Prince Trilogy by C.S. Pacat)

Feel free to add your own quick review in the comments below. We’re always looking for a new book to read.

See you all next time

Jamie

Fishing for a bread winner

Afternoon All,

Let me just say a warm welcome to you all, I'm the new Community Outreach Librarian and I look forward to getting to meet you all in the coming months.

Last Thursday we put Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday to bed. After much discussion the Between the Lines Book Club have decided to give the book a 4 Star rating. Some of the feedback about the book included:

 

"Hilarious"

"Nicely written, believable characters"

"Well-constructed and lovely"

And so we bid farewell to Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and say hello to Rosewater and Sodabread by Marsha Mehran.

Rosewater and Sodabread is about:

More than a year has passed since Marjan, Bahar, and Layla, the beautiful Iranian Aminpour sisters, sought refuge in the quaint Irish town of Ballinacroagh. Opening the beguiling Babylon Café, they charmed the locals with their warm hearts and delectable Persian cuisine, bringing a saffron-scented spice to the once-sleepy village.

But when a young woman with a dark secret literally washes up on Clew Bay Beach, the sisters’ world is once again turned upside down. With pale skin and webbed hands, the girl is otherworldly, but her wounds tell a more earthly (and graver) story–one that sends the strict Catholic town into an uproar. The Aminpours rally around the newcomer, but each sister must also contend with her own transformation–Marjan tests her feelings for love with a dashing writer, Bahar takes on a new spiritual commitment with the help of Father Mahoney, and Layla matures into a young woman when she and her boyfriend, Malachy, step up their hot and heavy relationship.

Filled with mouthwatering recipes and enchanting details of life in Ireland, Rosewater and Soda Bread is infused with a lyrical warmth that radiates from the Aminpour family and their big-hearted Italian landlady, Estelle, to the whole of Ballinacroagh–and the world beyond. - Good Reads

That's all for this week see you agin next time.

Jamie

Fishing for Salmon in the Yemen

Paul Torday is the author of this month's novel, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. This light and easy read can be best described as quirky and amusing, with a satirical twist on government and their politics. 

John Walsh wrote this review for Independent, in short summarising the novel as "A moral tale about the importance of believing in something, and the comparative unimportance of everything else." Other readers who had their say on Goodreads, weren't as inspired as Walsh was. There was some criticism surrounding the 'overly satirical' characters, who in some ways didn't seem real enough to believe. 

What did you think? Our meeting for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen will be held on the 19th of January 2017 at the Gordon White library from 6pm-8pm. Come along and discuss your thoughts and opinions with your fellow bookclubbers, did you see eye-to-eye? We'll find out!

Hope to see you there.

My introduction to my first ever book club last night was very pleasant.  I was made to feel very welcome and it was nice to meet all you enthusiastic book lovers.

As for the book, there were some divided opinions and I was quite glad to realise I was not the only one who hadn't finished reading the book prior to the meeting.  Judging from the comments being passed around, many of the group found the book a little confusing, in the respect that it appeared to jump from the present to the past within a couple of sentences or paragraphs, without the reader realising this at first.  It was a book I wasn't personally keen to keep reading after the first few chapters, but having said that, I continued on and did become more engrossed and will now try to find the time to finish it.

In relation to the tile of the book, the question "what actually is a harrow" was raised and this brought upon some varying responses.  Due to the nature of the storyline I believe it projects the meaning of something painful and distressing, as in a "harrowing experience".

Overall, the get together with the members of the Between The Lines Bookclub was enjoyable and I hope to catch up with you all again in the New Year.

A thriller you should read.

This month's read Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry will be gripping our readers in a psychological thriller.

Berry has been described as an exciting new original voice in thrillers, giving us hints of Girl on a train, Gone Girl and calls to mind Hitchcock's cinematic scope.

Those wanting to get a feel for this literary thriller, New York Times gives us a review which will wet your appetite and create an interest that is I believe is well deserved.

Look forward to your thoughts, disturbing as they may be.

Until then tense reading.

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn is the author of the runaway hit GONE GIRL, this short story The Grownup pays homage to the classic ghost story. Lets see if the story can get you, the reader all twisty (twisted) as Gillian's other novels.

Mechanical is what Natasha Triply had to say about the Grownup, read that review.

What will you have to say on Thursday 27th October at Gordon White library community meeting room 6pm.

The Millennium continues....

The Girl in the Spider's Web continues the Millennium Trilogy started by Steig Larsson, bringing back the characters Salander &Blomkvist. Opening up our readers to questions and comparisons between Stieg Larsson and David Lagercrantz.

Mark Lawson from The Guardian has written a thought provoking article. This could provide you ideas to agree with or disagree with, or just inflame your own thoughts into a different tangent.

Until then happy reading!

Was there enough spirit in the Ghan?

Spirit of the Ghan by Judy Nunn spans over 100 years and contact the present with the past, a melding of historical fiction and contemporary fiction. While at most enjoyed the book, it sparked a varied conversation about some of the hot topics touched upon with the book.

There were many different points of view spoken about Spirit of the Ghan by Judy Nunn. The most consistent view was that the book seem to be disjointed in it's storytelling, having too many jump points along the many varied timelines. Also that the Judy Nunn told a story of soft political correctness and not of the harsh realities that effected many indigenous people of Australia, readers felt that some of the story was irrelevant while others did not delve deeper.

But all in all the Spirit of the Ghan was a light enjoyable read. As to whether this novel would encourage members to read more or reread some of Judy Nunn's book it would remain to be seen.

Back to Australia with Judy Nunn

Our next novel is Judy Nunn's Spirits of the Ghan.

Karen Hardy wrote this review for the  Sydney Morning Herald.

BTLBC will meet to discuss this book at the Community Meeting Room at Gordon White Library on Thursday 25  at 6.00pm!

Happy reading!

Folks not sure whether 'The Invoice' added up

BTLBCers were generally taken with the novelty of the premise of Jonas Karlsson's book but as conversation ensued, we found that we were all a bit short on the detail. Some readers were happy to go with the general flow of the novel while other readers needed more detail on the functionality of the whole World Resources Division concept. There was much discussion on how people could actually go about taking out such large loans and on what basis and how would this affect the national economy and would this affect their happiness? Would the loan bring them so much 'unhappiness' that their invoice amount would have to be decreased? Questions were asked as to whether this money was gathered in to be re-distributed to less happy people and then 'how would this be done?' and 'what would this actually achieve?' Readers wondered whether WRD was Sweden-wide or world-wide?

There was talk about what really constituted a world resource. One of our readers proposed that emotions need to be included in the world's resources and that's why 'The Invoice' calculation of 'happiness' needed to be considered.

Conversation continued as to what really constituted 'happiness' and how could it be measured? Discussion bounced about on the concept that 'happiness' could be 'universalised' ( I can't think of an appropriate word for this)  and thus 'measured' because most folks considered that happiness varied according to the individual - the 'one person's happiness another's nightmare' idea thus making measurement  rather random and unreliable despite Maud's assurances.

There was discussion about a possible difference between 'happiness' (possibly an outer manifestation of emotion) and 'contentment' (an inner, more private emotion). One of our readers brought in a copy of the current World Happiness Index which told us Scandinavians were the top four happiest countries in the world which might have been a catalyst for a Swedish novelist to write a novel like 'The Invoice'?

Someone noted that we never actually knew the name of the main character and we actually know more about Richard and Maud than the main character. A reader commented about Maud being a model typecast government employee and yet appearing to be available 24/7 which does not fit the '9 till 5' stereotype. This led to conversation about the way digital technology had allowed the encroachment of work into employee's personal lives 24/7 and then onto the possibility that Maud actually worked from home.

There was discussion about how the main character's experience of heartbreak from his perspective would decrease his 'happiness debt' but was considered by the WRD as a positive experience as it developed resilience which was a positive emotional resource and thus increased his debt.


One of our readers who has a great eye for detail was quite cross about the cover displaying a male with an ice-cream cone while our main character in the novel enjoyed his ice-cream in a cup! This brought about much hilarity!

In general it seems this novel certainly raised more questions rather than provide answers. As usual the novel under discussion provided much fodder for conversation which covered a range of topics which were only slightly linked. It's always wonderful to try to solve the problems of the world.

Our next book returns us to Australia. At our next meeting we will be discussing Judy Nunn's Spirits of the Ghan.

Happy reading everyone! (No matter where you are in the world!!)

One reader's response to 'The Invoice'!

Security settings within the organisation make true blogging responses difficult. However I am able to receive responses as an email and then I am able to post that response.

Here is one reader's response that I have received. Many thanks for sharing!



On first impression I would call this tale 'Kafka-esque' and in many ways this is a 21st century take on 'The Trial' (first published in 1925); Karlsson' novella hits the same beats as Kafka's. Both stories deal with a man in his thirties being prosecuted by an unknown, remote authority for an absurdist 'crime' (in the case of Karlsson's book it's being happy without paying for it) or something unknowable at all (Kafka's The Trail). Both men are flirtatious with women who work with the totalitarian authority (Josef K with Frau Montag, and Karlsson's character with Maud). The same 'beats' of The Trial are seen in 'The Invoice'. However, the bleak ending of The Trial is rewritten for 21st century audiences in the form of Karlsson's character ...well...his final words certainly would not be 'Like a dog'.

Two questions that came up for me was what is the difference between assessment and interrogation, and a tax/fee and a punishment/consequence? I suppose in many ways little at all.

What surprises me is the central character of Karlsson's work does not question the situation - isn't the happiness we create a product that we create, as opposed to goods/services provided by a government? Shouldn't Karlsson's protagonist be patenting his form of happiness rather than paying tax on it?

However in the 'real' world we truly do 'patent' and sell happiness - in the form of commercials selling us products and the litany of 'self help' books. We need only look at the mission statements of notable companies like Coke and Pepsi that they strive to 'bottle happiness'. As per the log line on the front page 'Can you put a price on happiness? One man is about to find out'. Well, in the 21st century you can!

A theme I would have liked to explore more in Karlsson's book would be how happiness is linked with shame. This is touched on with the romance between Sunita and the protagonist. This small insight into Karlsson's main character is the highlight of the novel yet falls flat when exploring the bigger picture around secret pleasures. How many of us secretly enjoy watching Days of Our Lives? Probably more than we admit.

Overall this is a nice little read on a rainy day. 6/10.

How would your invoice add up?

This month's read is an easy read which poses some uneasy questions. The writer is a young Swedish actor cum author who challenges us to question the value of happiness.

Kirkus Review had this to say about The Invoice while Arifa Akbar wrote this about the book on the Independent website.

Looking forward to hearing what our readers think of this tiny offering about a big question.

Happy reading!

Most considered 'The Runaways' off to a slow start

Most of our readers agreed that Sunjeev Sahota's novel, which was shortlisted for The Man Booker Prize 2015 was a worthy read once one had persisted through the slow start. Most of our readers understood that with such a cast of characters that are spread so widely, there was the need to introduce them all to start gathering them in.

Some of our readers considered the characters one-dimensional while others found it difficult to empathise with them despite their difficult situations. One book clubber while being unable to relate to the actual characters found the story as a whole very engaging. Some of our readers had either travelled through the Punjab and Bihar or lived close by, so were able to relate to the background and context of some of the characters.

There was discussion about how little we really knew of the variety of Indian customs and beliefs. While folks were accustomed to men wearing turbans they were surprised when the female character Narinder was dressed in a turban.

There was much discussion about the caste system and the way that this hierarchy, while associated with Hinduism,  wasn't an integral aspect of this religion as such but rather a social construct of convenience which is now very entrenched. Readers mentioned the way Mahatma Gandhi, while supporting the customs and traditions of multicultural India,  tried to break down the caste system but was unsuccessful. Some folk were surprised about how zealously  this system has been transported with  migration.

There was talk of the degree of corruption required to migrate and how topical it was with these allegations currently being made about Indian migration to Australia. There was also discussion about how often it was other Indian migrants who were making the life of 'our' Indian migrants so miserable. There was chat about the concept that when survival was at stake the niceties of values such as loyalty, equity and fairness were values that were too luxurious to be indulged in.

One of our BTLBCers was very disappointed in the ending and considered it just too tidy while most other folk were relieved that all of the characters' endured ordeals finally resulted in a life that was more comfortable than what they would have had in India. There was discussion about what it might  be like to consider migration to another country as  the best possibility of succeeding in life, especially when working and living conditions that are described in the book have to be endured to attain their goal. Our readers spoke about how one family member would be supported by the whole family and the way this indebtedness then provided a conduit for more family members to migrate later.

One of our readers was most concerned about the Narinder character and there was much chat about the confusion which came about when the traditional roles of women collided with the modern roles of women.

Overall this novel evoked much discussion which ranged over a variety of topics. One of our readers was very disappointed in the novel and another considered it a 'B' version of Aravind Adiga's Man Booker Prize 2008 winning The White Tiger but the rest of the group were generally pleased to have read it and found it an enlightening, engaging read.

Our next read is a small Swedish novel, The Invoice by Jonas Karlsson which offers a change of pace and topic. No doubt we will have yet another interesting book club discussion at the Community Meeting Room at Gordon White Library on Thursday 28 July.

Some reviews for "The Runaways"

This month's read The Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota was shortlisted for the 2015 Man Booker Prize and is the non-sentimental tale of life in Great Britain for Indian migrants fleeing home with a dream of a future.

Lucy Daniel from The Telegraph had this to say about Sahota's novel  while Patricia Wall from The New York Times wrote this review. 

Looking forward to hearing our BTLBCers' reviews on Thursday 30 June 2016 at 6.00pm at the Community Meeting Room at Gordon White Library! 

Happy reading!

'The World According to Anna' fails to impress BTLBC

One of Jostein Gaarder's previous books Sophie's World captured the imagination of readers world-wide. Unfortunately this offering failed to captivate our BTLBCers.

One of our regulars was quite adamant that this novel was written for a Young Adult audience and therefore deemed it quite irrelevant for her particular vintage. There was a shared notion among our readers that this could be the case but we could find no evidence in the book itself to support this  claim. There was discussion about the hard-nosed style turning off YA readers anyway.

Some of our readers felt that the tone was too 'preachy' and thus it lost them as a sympathetic audience. Others considered the genre too muddled for its own good. They did not see the value of the detailed statistics thrown up in the book at regular intervals. Some supported the viewpoint that the author could have either written a novel with an environmental message or flavour, or written a non-fiction book that could utilise the wad of statistics in a more significant way. They spoke of other novels that they had read that endeavoured to convey the possible implications of climate change in a more subtle way and therefore had made a greater impact on them.

One of our readers regarded the climate change message as background noise and concentrated on the ruby ring as the important link in the story. From her perspective, the novel was well-constructed as the story began with the grandmother receiving the ruby wonderful ring from her middle eastern lover and then as the story progresses,  the ring eventually passes to her descendant Nova who falls in love with the Arab boy with the camels who were travelling through Norway due to the increasing desertification of Europe thus, from this reader's perspective, closing the ring neatly. This reader enjoyed the way the colour red was splashed throughout the book.

Other readers found the book easy to read but felt it left no impression on them. They could not connect to the characters and were so uninvolved with the book that once it was read, it vanished from their mental radar. There was much laughter as one of our BTLBCers told us of her decision not to bother reading the book based on her discovering it had such a consistent run of single stars on 'The Goodreading' website. She figured that if this was the opinion of such a variety of readers, it was not worth her effort to read a book that there was a pretty good chance that she would not enjoy! She was happy to agree with their ratings even without reading the book!

There was the notion put forward that Nova was unnecessarily harsh on her grandmother and that Nova could not miss all of the extinct animals as one cannot miss what one has never experienced. There was the idea proposed that as we did not live with dinosaurs we cannot in reality comment on missing them and that Nova was really in a similar situation. Some of our readers would like to experience the green booths and thought hard trying to envisage how this would really work and what it would look like.

Overall, our members were disappointed with this offering from Jostein Gaarder and there was discussion about maybe the message being lost in the translation or whether the story itself referenced a Norwegian or Scandinavian tale that we Australian readers were unaware of and thus missed its significance. Most of our readers scored this novel at below five out of ten. It was unusual to have such general disenchantment with a book.

Our next book club book takes us to London with the story of the Indian migrants' experience of England. The Runaways by Sunjeev Sahota, set in contemporary times, was short-listed for the 2015 Mann Booker prize.

We meet on Thursday 30 June at 6.00pm at the Gordon White Library Community Meeting Room to exuberantly share our experiences of this modern novel.

Happy reading!

'The World According to Anna'

This rather short novel is a foray into dystopian fiction which focusses on the environment rather than the more frequent themes of technology or society. It incorporates inter-generational time travel to develop a sense of urgency.

It certainly has an eye-catching cover. On the Independent website, Max Liu failed to be impressed by Jostein Gaader's novel and wrote this about it while Callie Steven from Planetbooks took a more positive stance.

It is a novel which is accessible to a wide range of ages from young adult through to adult.

Looking forward to hearing our book clubbers' views on Jostein Gaader's latest novel at our next meeting at 6.00pm at the Community Meeting Room at the Gordon White Library on Thursday 26 May.

Happy reading!

'Carrying Albert Home' failed to transport BTLBCers

One of our regular BTL book clubbers put in a special request for a novel that would be amusing rather than angst-ridden, hence the selection of the potentially lighter Carrying Albert Home by Homer Hickman. On previous occasions there has been much discussion about how difficult it is to write humour as it is such a personal thing. Unfortunately this particular book clubber did not make it to this particular meeting so we'll find their views on another occasion.

Hickman claims this hybrid novel/biography was inspired by family history stories passed down to him by his mother who is one of the main characters in the story. However towards the end of the book he does mention in passing, that his mother was fond of fabricating tall tales so it is difficult to fathom the actual fractions of fact and fiction which combine to tell the tale.

One of our readers spoke of the many layers contained within the novel while others deemed the succession of tall stories somewhat ridiculous. Others researched some of the events and found there was an historical basis for many of the incidents encountered by Elsie, Homer and Albert. The inclusion of family photos to support the biographic premise was met with suspicion by some of our readers as, despite the apparent importance of Albert, there were no photos to endorse the actual existence of this particular alligator. This lead to discussion as to what the alligator (or the rooster for that matter) really represented and whether they were 'real' characters or not!

For various reasons several of our readers did not finish reading this month's selection while others enjoyed reading something with a lighter mood and enjoyed it for an undemanding diversion. One of our readers was disappointed in that it seemed, that despite Elsie making such a 'journey', she still appeared to take the 'line of least resistance' and 'settle' thus making the apparent cross-country expedition and its trials (and therefore, to a certain extent, the novel itself) for naught. This dissatisfaction was somewhat amplified when it was revealed that, while Elsie spent her life mooning over the demise of her great 'love affair',  Buddy Ebsen (the other half of the affair) considered the relationship a brief, meaningless fling and was at pains to explain to Homer that Elsie had 'chosen' Homer over Buddy. Did Elsie just take her 'delusions' for a trip across the United States and back again for no apparent reason? Was the novel just an opportunity to 'name drop'?

It seems that for many of our readers this novel-cum-biography posed  questions rather than answers.

For our next read, we venture to Norway and flit between the present and the future with Jostein Gaader's The World According to Anna.

Looking forward to hearing of your experiences with this month's selection at 6.00pm at the Community Meeting Room at the Gordon White Library on Thursday 26 May.

Happy reading!