2019: A New year

It's January again and the children will be back at school before we know it.  For those on holidays, I hope everyone is having a great summer break and for those who are not - may you have one soon to re-energise those batteries.

The store is back to it's normal operating hours of 9:30am to 5:00 pm Monday to Saturday for all your reading needs.

Hope to see you in store soon

2018 Opening Hours

After reviewing the store's opening hours and patronage, we have decided not to open on Sundays in 2018.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

2017 Miles Franklin Literary Award

And the Winner of the 2017 Award is .....

Extinctions

Josephine Wilson

Professor Frederick Lothian, retired engineer, world expert on concrete and connoisseur of modernist design, has quarantined himself from life by moving to a retirement village. His wife, Martha, is dead and his two adult children are lost to him in their own ways. Surrounded and obstructed by the debris of his life – objects he has collected over many years and tells himself he is keeping for his daughter – he is determined to be miserable, but is tired of his existence and of the life he has chosen. When a series of unfortunate incidents forces him and his neighbour, Jan, together, he begins to realise the damage done by the accumulation of a lifetime’s secrets and lies, and to comprehend his own shortcomings.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Josephine Wilson has become the fifth Western Australian writer to take out the top prize. Ms Wilson said: "As a Western Australian writer published by a local publisher, it is often hard to be embraced by the national writing culture. I am honoured to be included with my peers under the name of Miles Franklin."

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.