Riverbend Book Chat, Tuesday 25 November, 2008

Last night I visited Riverbend Books at Bulimba to attend a Book Chat with owner Suzy Wilson.

It was wonderful! A good book chatter can get you excited about books you would never choose yourself, simply by their contagious passion and Suzy is an excellent book chatter. She discussed a range of fiction, non-fiction, junior and YA books. Her passion for the book business really shone through, as did her wide knowledge of literature and attention to what people were drawn to when entering Riverbend.

Being a librarian, with an insiders view so to speak, most of her recommendations were not surprising - they really are the guaranteed good reads of the season. Some which I've read that are worth mentioning are: The Comfort of Figs by Simon Cleary, Addition by Toni Jordan, Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schafer. Others included: American Wife by Curtis Siddenfeld, Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill, Wanting by Richard Flanagan, The Tall Man by Chloe Hooper, The Private Patient by PD James, The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, The Other Hand by Chris Cleave and Goldengrove by Francine Prose. 

If you get the chance, I would highly recommend attending one of these sessions, held periodically at Riverbend. According to the Riverbend website, bookchats are held in winter and summer, or you can get a group of 6 people together for a tailored, private bookchat - what a great idea for a special bookclub meeting!  

For those who enjoy reading and don't work with books, attending a bookchat is a terrific way of choosing your reading selections for the next little while. I'm certainly planning on reading quite a few of the books Suzy talked about, so I will post reviews as I read them.

I have so many favourite independent bookstores in Brisbane that I won't list them all here, but I will say that you can certainly see why Riverbend consistently wins so many awards - it really is just a pleasure to visit. And when you go, don't forget to ask the staff to recommend a book, you won't be disappointed!

Books of the Years

Every year, my husband and I nominate a Book of the Year. 

Being the librarian of the house and therefore the bringer of all books, I normally discover these books and then say "OMG You Have Got To Read This". He then reads it and is suitably blown away and it becomes our Book of the Year. It is the book you just can't put down, the book you recommend to everyone you know, the book you buy anyone whose birthday happens to be around the time you read it - you know the kind.

Anyway, here are our Books of the Years to date:

2008: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

2007: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

2006: The Time Travellers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

2005: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

2004: The Witch of Cologne by Tobsha Learner

2003: Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Trust me, if you don't read anything else I ever recommend, READ THESE!!!

Blood Red Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick

Well, it's been a long time between books believe me, but this one was certainly worth the wait. 

I discovered this book while reading the November edition of Good Reading magazine and, being one of those people who does judge a book by it's cover, thought it looked interesting. (BTW the cover is just gorgeous and the book is beautifully printed, for those of us who notice and appreciate such things!)

Blood Red Snow White tells the story of Arthur Ransome, a British journalist/author who worked in Russia during the time of Lenin and the Russian Revolution. Ransome is famous for his adventure stories for children, written later in his life, but also wrote a book of Russian fairytales in English much earlier. His fascination with Russia led him to travel there prior to the Revolution, and he worked as a correspondent and became entangled in events - eventually becoming a foreign agent. This fictional tale, based on true events and documents only recently released by the British government, is a fascinating snapshot of a time and place.

I had never heard of Ransome before reading this book and did not know a great deal about this period of Russian history, but like the best fiction, it made me want to know more.

Classified as a Young Adult novel, this is not a particularly difficult read, and I finished it in a weekend. I wouldn't recommend it to young teens, as it is fairly dark and grim in sections. The story is well-written and Sedgwick is a great storyteller, interweaving history and fairytale, fact and fiction skillfully. Highly recommended! Check out the website here.