2017 Indie Book of the Year Awards

 
It's that time of the year when Australian independent booksellers have voted for their favourite books of last year and the shortlist has been released.

The twenty shortlisted books will be vying for the top spot as the Indie ‘Book of the Year’ for 2017. Panels of expert judges (all indie booksellers and avid readers) will choose the winners in the five book categories – Fiction, Debut Fiction, Non-Fiction, Children’s and Young Adult. Independent booksellers from around the country will then vote to select their favourite book for the year.




 
This year's shortlisted titles are:

 FICTION SHORTLIST
 
The Good People by Hannah Kent
Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty
Where the Trees Were by Inga Simpson
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith

DEBUT FICTION SHORTLIST

The Birdman's Wife by Melissa Ashley
The Midnight Watch by David Dyer
The Dry by Jane Harper
Goodwood by Holly Throsby

NON-FICTION SHORTLIST

The Hate Race by Maxine Beneba Clarke
Ghost Empire by Richard Fidler
Fight Like a Girl by Clementine Ford
Everywhere I Look by Helen Garner

CHILDREN’S SHORTLIST

Circle by Jeannie Baker
Pig the Winner by Aaron Blabey
The 78-Storey Treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton (Illus)
Wormwood Mire by Judith Rossell

YOUNG ADULT SHORTLIST

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley
Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The Road to Winter by Mark Smith
Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

The category winners and the overall ‘Book of the Year’ winner will be announced on Monday, 20th March, 2017

2016 Man Booker Prize Short List

The six short listed books for this year's Man Booker Prize were announced recently but up until today we haven't had many of the books in stock. Luckily local publishers have been reprinting/obtaining the books, and they've finally arrived.

Here's the short-listed titles:

 Do Not Say We Have Nothing, Madeleine Thien,
The Sellout, Paul Beatty
All That Man Is, David Szalay
His Bloody Project, Graeme Macrae Burnet
Hot Milk, Deborah Levy
Eileen, Ottessa Moshfegh

There's a mix of nationalities with two Canadians, two Americans, one Scottish and one British author and the list is equally split between male and female authors.  There's one debut novelist, Ottessa Moshfegh, and also a crime novel, in Graeme Macrae Burnet’s His Bloody Project and, interestingly, all of the novels feature disturbed protagonists.  Deborah Levy is the only author to have been shortlisted for the Booker before for Swimming Home.

The winner of the prize is announced in London 25 October 2016.

2016 Bayside Children's Literary Festival for Schools

We're very excited to be hosting the 2016 Bayside Children's Literary Festival aimed at our local schools which will be held on Thursday 11 August 2016 at Sandy by the Bay, Sandringham Football Club.  We have a great line-up of authors that schools can bring their students to see including  George Ivanoff, Patrick Guest, Ailsa Wild, Alan Brough, Damean Posner, and Leanne Hall.

Each session will involve a 45 minute talk and questions session after which the students will be able to have their copies of the author’s books signed.  Students can bring the author’s books from home, pre-order them for collection on the day or purchase them at our pop-up store.

Our aim has been to make the Festival affordable for schools so that as many children as possible can hear these authors speak and so instead of a per student ticket price, there is a $25 fee that allows the school to bring up to 60 children per session for each of the six sessions.

To view the Festival Flyer click this link: FESTIVAL FLYER

To view the Festival booking form click this link: FESTIVAL BOOKING FORM

MILES FRANKLIN LITERARY AWARD 2016 SHORT LIST

The 2016 short list for the Miles Franklin Award was announced recently with a really diverse range of books from history to immigrants, dystopia, a coming-of-age story and family relationships.  The winner will be announced at the Melbourne Writers Festival on 26th August 2016.

Afternoon Tea with Children's Author Jacqueline Harvey

We're very excited to be joining with Jacqueline Harvey for a special afternoon tea event to celebrate the launch of Alice-Miranda to the Rescue.

Young fans will enjoy a talk from Jacqueline and answers to their questions, some yummy treats and a drink.  Dress up as your favourite character and win prizes for best in show!

Clementine Rose fans can come along too and there's a new book for you to read, Clementine Rose and the Special Promise.
 
WHEN:

Saturday, 5th March, 2pm – 3.30 pm

Sandringham Primary School Hall, Bamfield Street, Sandringham

TICKETS:

$15 per person, or

$27 with an Alice-Miranda book or

$25 with a Clementine Rose Book

Click on this link to book

 (Please note the Jacqueline will be visiting the grade 2-5 students at St Leonard’s College and the grade 3-5 students at Mentone Girl’s Grammar on Tuesday 1 March 2016)

Christmas Week Opening Hours

Our opening hours for the last week before Christmas are:

Saturday 19th December:      9 am - 5pm
Sunday 20th December:         9 am - 5pm
Monday 21st December:        9 am - 7pm
Tuesday 22nd December:       9 am - 7pm
Wednesday 21st December:   9 am - 7pm
Christmas Eve:                        9 am - 5pm

We will be closed from Saturday 25th December until Monday 28th December inclusive.

Tracey and the staff at Ulysses would like to wish our customers a very Merry Christmas and hope to see you all in 2016.

James Patterson Grant to Get Kids Reading

We are very excited to have been awarded a grant from the $100,000 that author James Patterson has made available to bookstores in Australia and New Zealand to undertake activities to inspire children to read.  As many who visit our store know, I am passionate about having children hear from the authors that write the books they read and the store has hosted children's authors at many schools around our local area.  With the grant, we are planning to hold a children's book festival in 2016 in Bayside so that many more children can come and hear their favourite authors or be inspired by an author to try a new book or series.  Many thanks to Random House Australia and James Patterson for this opportunity.