Tuesday, 5 July 2011
It's a topsy-turvy book world
It's big book news week in Australia with mad, bad and possibly very interesting news coming from all directions. Well, I say all directions, but what I really mean is the collapse of the REDgroup has led to dramatic developments! Firstly, it looks to be all over for Angus and Robertson in Australia. The bookselling chain only managed to sell 2 of its shops, so the rest will shut! That doesn't affect franchises of course, but it looks like all the franchises be undergoing name changes. Then the fabulous Reader's Feast in Melbourne announced it was shutting. DEVASTATION. There was a time when their young adult section rocked my world. So that's the mad and bad news...the interesting news is that Pearson Australia (they own Penguin) has bought Angus and Robertson's online store...which means that Pearson can now sell directly to consumers. Rather interesting! Possibly revolutionary! Especially coming off the news that Amazon has bought the Book Depository. Will Amazon get rid of the Book Depository's policy of free shipping? Will this mean good things for bookshops? Will anyone even notice?
But really, this is a very confusing book world to be in right now. Plus, there was an earthquake in Melbourne this morning, not to mention gale force winds, etc. etc. etc. So what I really need right now is a week of comfort reading. For the rest of this week, I will share the books that will warm you like an old man cardigan and a cup of hot chocolate. Suggested environment for reading comfort books? Curl up on a couch, wearing an old man cardigan with a cup of hot chocolate. You win both ways.
But really, this is a very confusing book world to be in right now. Plus, there was an earthquake in Melbourne this morning, not to mention gale force winds, etc. etc. etc. So what I really need right now is a week of comfort reading. For the rest of this week, I will share the books that will warm you like an old man cardigan and a cup of hot chocolate. Suggested environment for reading comfort books? Curl up on a couch, wearing an old man cardigan with a cup of hot chocolate. You win both ways.
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Doom and gloom
It's official. The final six Borders stores in Australia will close in the coming weeks. It's a sad day for the hundreds of people who will lose their jobs and for all the people who won't have bookshops close to them anymore. We could go on...and on...and on...about the reasons Borders went under. I'm definitely on the side that believes that the failure was due to poor management rather than any fault of the publishing industry.
I'd like to think that the gap in the market that Borders will leave will result in eager booklovers opening independents in areas now bereft of books, or even Dymocks rising to the occasion. But I doubt it. People are feeling so depressed at the moment! Books are dying! Amazon is going to rule the world! Well, I refuse to join this crowd of depressmos! Sure, the book industry is changing and Borders going under is going to make things tough for a while. But there are still amazing books being written; talented editors guiding these books; proofreaders making sure these books are as error free as possible; designers coming up with frankly gorgeous covers; and booksellers reading and then hand-selling these books! And so many more people making the book industry in Australia a delightful place to work in and buy spiffing reading material. As long as the demand for books is there, there will be an industry to answer that demand. It just might not look the same as it used to. Things have changed a lot since Allen Lane went on his train journey and identified a need for affordable paperbacks.
And there are things that need to change in the publishing industry. Changes that our forests will thank us for in the end. I know, I know, most books use paper from specially grown trees. But the pulping of thousands of books a year isn't the greatest thing ever. So it's going to be a time of change. Every industry needs to change. Can you imagine if the computer industry refused to leave the 80s? Moving away from that pretty appalling comparison, I guess what I'm trying to say is have faith in books...but more important than that, keep buying. If you can't afford them, I feel it is my duty to remind you about Australia's spectacular library system.
I'd like to think that the gap in the market that Borders will leave will result in eager booklovers opening independents in areas now bereft of books, or even Dymocks rising to the occasion. But I doubt it. People are feeling so depressed at the moment! Books are dying! Amazon is going to rule the world! Well, I refuse to join this crowd of depressmos! Sure, the book industry is changing and Borders going under is going to make things tough for a while. But there are still amazing books being written; talented editors guiding these books; proofreaders making sure these books are as error free as possible; designers coming up with frankly gorgeous covers; and booksellers reading and then hand-selling these books! And so many more people making the book industry in Australia a delightful place to work in and buy spiffing reading material. As long as the demand for books is there, there will be an industry to answer that demand. It just might not look the same as it used to. Things have changed a lot since Allen Lane went on his train journey and identified a need for affordable paperbacks.
And there are things that need to change in the publishing industry. Changes that our forests will thank us for in the end. I know, I know, most books use paper from specially grown trees. But the pulping of thousands of books a year isn't the greatest thing ever. So it's going to be a time of change. Every industry needs to change. Can you imagine if the computer industry refused to leave the 80s? Moving away from that pretty appalling comparison, I guess what I'm trying to say is have faith in books...but more important than that, keep buying. If you can't afford them, I feel it is my duty to remind you about Australia's spectacular library system.
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
OH MY LORD-EEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Oh my gosh. There I was, browsing the internet like many other under-employed twenty-something-year-olds, WHEN I SAW THESE. I am in love. This is so how I felt about reading Twilight. I felt unclean...but unable to resist Edward's sparkly allure while reading the books...it's only in hindsight that I can look back and regard Edward as a massively old stalker who has sparkly sweat! I'm not gonna post the comic on 'A weekend lost in the Meyer' here cause it is so worth going to Lucy's blog...Ummm...She has Harry Potter posters too! Follow the sparkly brick road.
A Reader's Paradise
Well internets, after reading Lili Wilkinson's A Pocketful of Lies, I feel absolutely devastated that I didn't really get into crime books as a young whippersnapper. Sure, I read Enid Blyton's Famous Five and Secret Seven and Fatuous Four (okay, maybe I made that last one up), and of course got into great American classics like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. But the closest I have ever come to reading Agatha Christie is watching the Doctor Who episode where a giant wasp is killing people at a 1920s house party with Agatha Christie in attendance. And somehow I don't think that counts.
Anyhoo, it seems I will have to let Bee, the super sleuth of A Pocketful of Lies, have all the fun being a teen detective. Bee is such a great heroine. Super-smart, passionate, funny and sometimes a total nob-head, as all the best teenagers are. And if I didn't feel slightly wrong lusting after a 19-year-old (I know I'm only 4 years older, but I normally like men who are 200 years older than me, like Mr Darcy), I would let Toby tell me strange biological facts about animals any day. Glorious teen romance. TICK. Excellent plot. TICK. Great supporting characters, such as Bee's mother, who admits she is a teenage nerd stuck in a middle-aged body. TICK.
I wouldn't want to ruin anything, but basically Bee is working at the Natural History Museum in Melbourne when someone is found dead inside the Red Rotunda. Everyone says its a suicide, but Bee isn't so sure and does a little bit of investigating (with the help of Toby, of course) to find out what really happened...This book is a constant surprise and I did not at all predict the end! I loved this book. You know you are engaged with the characters when you hide under the quilt cover 'cause you are so worried about what will happen to them next.
But apart from my lucky strike with Bee and the kids, I'm still stuck in my reading dry patch. Which is why I think I need to change up my location. So coming soon...best cafes to read in around Melbourne...without the staff getting huffy and kicking you out!
Anyhoo, it seems I will have to let Bee, the super sleuth of A Pocketful of Lies, have all the fun being a teen detective. Bee is such a great heroine. Super-smart, passionate, funny and sometimes a total nob-head, as all the best teenagers are. And if I didn't feel slightly wrong lusting after a 19-year-old (I know I'm only 4 years older, but I normally like men who are 200 years older than me, like Mr Darcy), I would let Toby tell me strange biological facts about animals any day. Glorious teen romance. TICK. Excellent plot. TICK. Great supporting characters, such as Bee's mother, who admits she is a teenage nerd stuck in a middle-aged body. TICK.
I wouldn't want to ruin anything, but basically Bee is working at the Natural History Museum in Melbourne when someone is found dead inside the Red Rotunda. Everyone says its a suicide, but Bee isn't so sure and does a little bit of investigating (with the help of Toby, of course) to find out what really happened...This book is a constant surprise and I did not at all predict the end! I loved this book. You know you are engaged with the characters when you hide under the quilt cover 'cause you are so worried about what will happen to them next.
But apart from my lucky strike with Bee and the kids, I'm still stuck in my reading dry patch. Which is why I think I need to change up my location. So coming soon...best cafes to read in around Melbourne...without the staff getting huffy and kicking you out!
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Wednesday-licious videos!
That previous post was a bit of a frown-fest wasn't it, peppermints? So I have decided to post some videos for your delectation and delight!
Is this going to be the coolest musical ever? Dahl acolytes, unite!
I found this gem on AustenBlog and while my heart belongs to Darcy (sung to the tune of My Heart Belongs to Daddy) Henry Tilney can waltz with me in any ballroom he likes.
Is this going to be the coolest musical ever? Dahl acolytes, unite!
I found this gem on AustenBlog and while my heart belongs to Darcy (sung to the tune of My Heart Belongs to Daddy) Henry Tilney can waltz with me in any ballroom he likes.
Sucking blood is for wimps
I know that everyone else seems to be over the whole vampire thing, but I can't move on until I've finished reading Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series! I picked up the latest in Sookie's adventures on the weekend and devoured it as if I was a vampire and the book was European royalty (a particular delicacy, I've heard). But rather than feeling satisfied, I felt kind of sad. Poor Sookie! Her vampire lover Eric is still delivering on the spectacular sex side, but he seems to have lost his funny. That's right. The man vamp used to be bloody hilarious (har har) but the funny is really lacking in this book. Everything is serious and violent and dour. It's entertaining but missing the giggles I've come to expect from the big Viking stud. I still really enjoy the way that Sookie handles all the crap that comes her way...'Oh, it's nice that elves exist and that there's homicidal vampires tramping around the state, but I have a baby shower to organise, plus my workplace is not racking in the money anymore so I have some bigger things to worry about, y'all.' It really seems to be the way we all react to things. Stressing about the big issues for an hour but then pondering what to have for dinner the next.
It hasn't really been a very cheerful reading week for me! Not only was I reading depressing vampire fiction, but I also re-read Chloe Hooper's The Tall Man, which is about an Aboriginal man's death in custody on Palm Island. If there is any book that makes you want to be a crusading lawyer, it is The Tall Man. It's literary non-fiction, in that the writing is lyrical and powerful, and extremely devastating. I can't even begin to describe how amazing this book is, so I am going to take the cheat's way out and not even try! Read it for yourself and find out.
The other book I've been reading is Berlin: The Downfall, but do we really need to deal with WWII on hump day? Surely that's a Friday sort of book, when your depression about nastiness can be equalled out by the...WEEKEND WOOOOOOOO. And even though there's no royal wedding this weekend, you know what's even more entertaining than crazy royals and their hats? Doctor (please be mine) Who and his big blue love box. He's going to take me on a journey through time and space and that's even cooler than a Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen wedding dress. That's right people! A new season started last week. So wave the union jacks around for an occasion that's really worth it.
It hasn't really been a very cheerful reading week for me! Not only was I reading depressing vampire fiction, but I also re-read Chloe Hooper's The Tall Man, which is about an Aboriginal man's death in custody on Palm Island. If there is any book that makes you want to be a crusading lawyer, it is The Tall Man. It's literary non-fiction, in that the writing is lyrical and powerful, and extremely devastating. I can't even begin to describe how amazing this book is, so I am going to take the cheat's way out and not even try! Read it for yourself and find out.
The other book I've been reading is Berlin: The Downfall, but do we really need to deal with WWII on hump day? Surely that's a Friday sort of book, when your depression about nastiness can be equalled out by the...WEEKEND WOOOOOOOO. And even though there's no royal wedding this weekend, you know what's even more entertaining than crazy royals and their hats? Doctor (please be mine) Who and his big blue love box. He's going to take me on a journey through time and space and that's even cooler than a Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen wedding dress. That's right people! A new season started last week. So wave the union jacks around for an occasion that's really worth it.
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
When you're feeling blue
I just moved from Sydney to Melbourne, and sometimes I get the movin' blues. But nothing gets the love flowing again like a re-read of some of my favourite books. When you're feeling depressed, don't listen to people who tell you to have a bath, or eat lots of chocolate, or watch chick flicks. All you need is a pile of damn fine books and a cup of French Earl Grey. Reading these books always reminds me that moving cities is nothing - I want to move countries, planets, centuries!
I feel like Anne Shirley and I would definitely be spirit friends. I may not have smacked any boys over the head with writing slates recently, but I've frolicked down tree-lined lanes, climbed on fences, talked smack when I should have been tolerant and jumped on way too many beds. But let's be honest. No one is going to be Anne-r than Anne. So rather than try, I prefer to read my copy of Anne of Green Gables and let her do the craziness and magic for me. I'll be the Aurelia to her Cordelia any day. Bonus marks go to Matthew for being more princely than Prince William.
The Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer looks like it belongs in a retirement village for tired novels. But once you get past the too embarrassing for public transport consumption cover and the first 50 pages or so, this book is an absolute ripper (in the sense that it's awesome, not in the old school bodice ripping sense). Mary is out to protect her younger sister Sophie from the attentions of the devilish Marquis of Vidal. But who is going to protect Mary? Uhhh...like she needs protecting! She gets whisked off to Paris, and goes on a wild road-trip, and possibly finds true love? I wouldn't want to ruin anything...This book is witty regency fun, with manners and duels galore (No one was harmed in the dueling of this novel).
Min is pissed off. She gets dumped by a guy who she just wanted to last until her sister's wedding, and then this charming douchebag in a bar makes a bet that he can get her into bed...Or so she thinks. There's a hilarious case of crossed wires in Bet Me by Jenny Crusie, but you know what? When the main couple are this great, I don't really care about the plot. Plot smot. That's right. Cal and Min are so funny, with the kind of rapport you only find in screwball comedies, that I just want to sit back and read them bantering all night long. This book is as comforting as one of those adult snuggies.
The Secret Countess has the sort of heroine who I just can't believe exists in real life. She's kind to everyone, makes friends with old people and animals...but don't let her Snow White-ish antics put you off. Anna is a genuinely endearing and hilarious heroine. When the Russian Revolution strikes, Countess Anna is forced into exile with her mother and brother. Once in England, she gets work as a housemaid. Of course, the other servants are wary of her upper class-ness, but she wins them over, etc. etc. etc. This book is filled with such joie de vivre; such spirit-friendness between Anna and Rupert, Earl of the estate where Anna works; such hilarious Russian outbursts and ballet curtsies and love of the arts that you'll be running out of the house to help old ladies cross the street and remind everyone else of the awesomeness of being alive (and being Russian). What more is needed to chase away the movin' blues? Well...(what, you thought I only needed 4 books? Rookie error internets.)
Yes, there are more books to come! I haven't even touched upon the young adult and romance genre! This list is woefully incomplete! You will sue me for making misleading statements about feeling happy after reading these books! I mean, you will feel happy, but you'll feel even happier after reading Part 2 of the Happy List: Junior High with a little bit of sex ed thrown in. But I don't have time right now...I have some happy reading to do.
I feel like Anne Shirley and I would definitely be spirit friends. I may not have smacked any boys over the head with writing slates recently, but I've frolicked down tree-lined lanes, climbed on fences, talked smack when I should have been tolerant and jumped on way too many beds. But let's be honest. No one is going to be Anne-r than Anne. So rather than try, I prefer to read my copy of Anne of Green Gables and let her do the craziness and magic for me. I'll be the Aurelia to her Cordelia any day. Bonus marks go to Matthew for being more princely than Prince William.
The Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer looks like it belongs in a retirement village for tired novels. But once you get past the too embarrassing for public transport consumption cover and the first 50 pages or so, this book is an absolute ripper (in the sense that it's awesome, not in the old school bodice ripping sense). Mary is out to protect her younger sister Sophie from the attentions of the devilish Marquis of Vidal. But who is going to protect Mary? Uhhh...like she needs protecting! She gets whisked off to Paris, and goes on a wild road-trip, and possibly finds true love? I wouldn't want to ruin anything...This book is witty regency fun, with manners and duels galore (No one was harmed in the dueling of this novel).
Min is pissed off. She gets dumped by a guy who she just wanted to last until her sister's wedding, and then this charming douchebag in a bar makes a bet that he can get her into bed...Or so she thinks. There's a hilarious case of crossed wires in Bet Me by Jenny Crusie, but you know what? When the main couple are this great, I don't really care about the plot. Plot smot. That's right. Cal and Min are so funny, with the kind of rapport you only find in screwball comedies, that I just want to sit back and read them bantering all night long. This book is as comforting as one of those adult snuggies.
The Secret Countess has the sort of heroine who I just can't believe exists in real life. She's kind to everyone, makes friends with old people and animals...but don't let her Snow White-ish antics put you off. Anna is a genuinely endearing and hilarious heroine. When the Russian Revolution strikes, Countess Anna is forced into exile with her mother and brother. Once in England, she gets work as a housemaid. Of course, the other servants are wary of her upper class-ness, but she wins them over, etc. etc. etc. This book is filled with such joie de vivre; such spirit-friendness between Anna and Rupert, Earl of the estate where Anna works; such hilarious Russian outbursts and ballet curtsies and love of the arts that you'll be running out of the house to help old ladies cross the street and remind everyone else of the awesomeness of being alive (and being Russian). What more is needed to chase away the movin' blues? Well...(what, you thought I only needed 4 books? Rookie error internets.)
Yes, there are more books to come! I haven't even touched upon the young adult and romance genre! This list is woefully incomplete! You will sue me for making misleading statements about feeling happy after reading these books! I mean, you will feel happy, but you'll feel even happier after reading Part 2 of the Happy List: Junior High with a little bit of sex ed thrown in. But I don't have time right now...I have some happy reading to do.
Sunday, 10 April 2011
I like to believe impossible things before breakfast
Hi there. My name is Lauren and I'm addicted to reading. Not in a nice, happy-clappy way, but in a I need to get my fix kind of way. So this blog is my attempt to combine two of my addictions (you didn't think I only had two did you?), reading and the Internet, in the hope that they will cancel each other out. So if all goes as planned, you will never read another post from me. If my reading and Internet addiction do cancel each other out, I'll have to focus on my other obsessions of eating at cafes and watching Grand Designs. But until that day! (Being addicted to cafes does mean that if I'm feeling nice, I might reward the internets with pictures of my delightful books enjoying themselves at great cafes.)
I felt so proud of myself last night because instead of starting off the week like I normally do, with a young adult, fantasy or romance book, I started reading Christopher Isherwood's A Single Man. That's right. Literary fiction. Contrary to what you may have heard about the genre, this book was pretty damn amazing. I quickly read up to page 50 before conking out, and I aim to continue reading it, if I'm not distracted by the 50 other books I borrowed from the library. Tom Ford directed (and styled?) a stunning movie based on A Single Man last year, and while I enjoyed the movie, the book really takes you inside George's head. George is a 58 year-old British expat who lives in a saggy, ivy-covered house near the LA coast. He lives alone, and is starting to become the Boo Radley of the neighbourhood, a monster for children's games. The writing is a little bit stream of consciousness, albeit enjoying punctuation and editing, which really allows you to enjoy George's savage humour as well as his constant sadness over the death of his partner Jim. Okay, I know that was a spoiler, but I only read up to page 50! How much can I really spoil? He calls mothers breeders and talks of a highway being a river of flowing traffic, and just really reminded me that literary fiction can be amazing, and can be interesting, and THOUGHT-PROVOKING. So thanks George and Christopher for renewing my faith in literary fiction. I hope I feel inspired to continue reading you even though a re-read of Howl's Moving Castle is just begging to happen...
I felt so proud of myself last night because instead of starting off the week like I normally do, with a young adult, fantasy or romance book, I started reading Christopher Isherwood's A Single Man. That's right. Literary fiction. Contrary to what you may have heard about the genre, this book was pretty damn amazing. I quickly read up to page 50 before conking out, and I aim to continue reading it, if I'm not distracted by the 50 other books I borrowed from the library. Tom Ford directed (and styled?) a stunning movie based on A Single Man last year, and while I enjoyed the movie, the book really takes you inside George's head. George is a 58 year-old British expat who lives in a saggy, ivy-covered house near the LA coast. He lives alone, and is starting to become the Boo Radley of the neighbourhood, a monster for children's games. The writing is a little bit stream of consciousness, albeit enjoying punctuation and editing, which really allows you to enjoy George's savage humour as well as his constant sadness over the death of his partner Jim. Okay, I know that was a spoiler, but I only read up to page 50! How much can I really spoil? He calls mothers breeders and talks of a highway being a river of flowing traffic, and just really reminded me that literary fiction can be amazing, and can be interesting, and THOUGHT-PROVOKING. So thanks George and Christopher for renewing my faith in literary fiction. I hope I feel inspired to continue reading you even though a re-read of Howl's Moving Castle is just begging to happen...
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