Mosman Readers

"Book lovers never go to bed alone"

All Blog Posts (316)

Full of FAIL

Via Meanjin here's a blog called Literary Rejections on Display - a vast public collection of real-life rejection.

Reading it will only make your day better.

Added by Mosman Library on August 13, 2009 at 18:11 — No Comments

The Unofficial Thomas Pynchon Guide to Los Angeles and vice versa

Little known fact: Thomas Pynchon, the paranoid poet of the information age, is LA's greatest writer. To be sure, Los Angeles—whose aerial view he likened to a printed circuit board—has always been central to the elusive writer's weird weltanschauung, his hallucinogenic stir-fry of Cold War hysteria, high tech anxiety, and low-brow pop-culture references. But did you know he actually lived there in the '60s and early '70s, while writing Gravity's Rainbow, the Moby-Dick of…

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Added by Bern on August 10, 2009 at 16:00 — No Comments

Jon Doust, the author, lives in Western Australia and is staying with me next week (Auguist 9-15). His book is THE Australian boarding school story, tightly written, makes you laugh and cry.

The blurb:

"In the boarding house it doesn’t matter who hit you first, or if they miss-hit, you have to get them back. It’s kid against kid, dog against dog. We all have rabies. We all have pinks disease. We’re all foaming at the mouth. Tit for tat, the strong rule the weak, the weak cry.… Continue

Added by chris pash on August 7, 2009 at 11:34 — No Comments

BBC Big Book List

The list below of taken from the BBC Big Book List (as voted on by the British public)

How many have you read? Post your tally below.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien

2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman

4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams

5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling

6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper… Continue

Added by Amy B on August 5, 2009 at 15:30 — 1 Comment

How to cope with Monday mornings

Reading is the best way to relax and even six minutes can be enough to reduce the stress levels by more than two thirds, according to new research.

And it works better and faster than other methods to calm frazzled nerves such as listening to music, going for a walk or settling down with a cup of tea, research found.

Psychologists believe this is because the human mind has to concentrate on reading and the distraction of being taken into a literary world… Continue

Added by Mosman Library on July 20, 2009 at 10:30 — No Comments

Win $100 worth of books in July

Jane Floyd won our Good Reading competition for June, and picked up $100 worth of books. Thanks Jane!

In July, we have another $100 book bag, this time for a Mosman Readers member who joins during the month. A name will be drawn at random from a book club bag.

Small… Continue

Added by Mosman Library on July 9, 2009 at 15:30 — No Comments

Internet filtering

A court case in America is attempting to conclude whether a Library should be allowed to refuse to disable internet filtering software. One question the case has raised is "Is the Internet a collection unto itself or can a collection development policy be applied to it, thus blocking constitutionally protected speech?" Currently US libraries are required to unblock sites on the request of an adult, US vs. ALA 2003, which the library in question has not done. The case itself seems to be a… Continue

Added by Tim on July 8, 2009 at 17:00 — No Comments

Newsweek's top 100 Books - the Meta List

Newsweek has crunched the numbers from the 10 top books lists (Modern Library, the New York Public Library, St. John's College reading list, Oprah's, and more) to come up with The Top 100 Books of All Time. It's a list of lists — a meta-list. Let the debate begin.

Added by Jane B on July 7, 2009 at 15:51 — 1 Comment

Breath Wins Miles Franklin Literary Award 2009

The Miles Franklin Literary Award 2009

On Thursday 18 June at a gala dinner held at the State Library of New South Wales. Tim Winton was announced as the 2009 winner for his novel Breath.

It is twenty-five years ago when Tim won his first Miles Franklin Literary Award for Shallows. This year's win means that he is the only writer ever to have won four times in his own right.

On his win, Tim Winton said that this award has tried to do its part over time to stiffen the… Continue

Added by Jane B on June 22, 2009 at 12:00 — No Comments

Getting kids reading & reading more

Saw a tweet from Courtney Johnson of the The National Library of N.Z. this morning... "Hate to sound like I'm pimping our work, but if you have kids & haven't seen our Create Readers blog, you're missing out"!

Create Readers is a blog about children's and YA literature (especially New Zealand), literacy research, and ways to get, and keep, kids reading.… Continue

Added by Mosman Library on June 19, 2009 at 10:00 — No Comments

Tweet Library

A very clever person on Twitter has started a book tweet described at 'Books edited to less than 140 letters'

Posts include the following: 'Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Crybaby abates her insecurities by traveling around the world. How nice for her. The End.'

Good for a giggle. Check it… Continue

Added by Amy B on June 17, 2009 at 14:00 — No Comments

My Sister's Keeper

The film adaptation of Jodi Piclout's My Sister's Keeper is due to hit Australian theatres on July 30 2009. But if you can't wait that long Jodi's web site has links, podcasts and trailers about this long awaited film.

My Sister's Keeper tells the story of Anna, a girl conceived to provide a bone marrow match for her leukemia-stricken sister. Now a teenager, Anna begins to question her moral obligations to… Continue

Added by Amy B on June 11, 2009 at 15:23 — No Comments

Jonathan Ross's Twitter book club

U.K. TV & radio presenter Jonathan Ross has a book club with, right now, 6,425 members (give or take a few hundred spam bots). The Guardian reports that booksellers are taking an interest after sales spiked for his first pick, Jon Ronson's Men Who Stare at Goats.

People seem to like his "refreshingly… Continue

Added by Bern on June 10, 2009 at 21:30 — 1 Comment

Win $100 worth of books in June

Good Reading is a great Aussie monthly about books and authors. With your Mosman Library card, you have a free subscription to the online magazine.

Have a read and win!

Question: Which author does Good Reading profile in the article ‘Killing them softly’?

Hint: You can find this article on page 24 of the June magazine.

Email your answer to… Continue

Added by Mosman Library on June 2, 2009 at 11:11 — No Comments

Real Men Read Twilight

It seems no one is safe from the Twilight phenomena...even the guys!

All Things Considered (a radio program on National Public Radio in the States) has started a series called 'My Guilty Pleasure' where writers talk about 'books they've loved only secretly — until now.'

Brad Meltzer, the author of The Book of Lies, talks about his love of Twilight.

Added by Amy B on May 28, 2009 at 13:00 — No Comments

Alice Munro wins 2009 Man Booker International Prize

Alice Munro was announced as the winner of the third Man Booker International Prize yesterday 27 May.

The Man Booker International Prize is worth £60,000 to the winner and is awarded once every two years to a living author for a body of work that has contributed to an achievement in fiction on the world stage. It was first awarded to Ismail Kadaré in 2005 and then to Chinua Achebe in 2007.

Munro is best known for her short stories and is one of Canada's most celebrated… Continue

Added by Jane B on May 28, 2009 at 11:28 — No Comments

Mosman Library Book Club Kits are finally here!

Mosman Library is launching its new collection of Book Club Kits on Thursday 28 May and will be following up on this event by running special seminars for those who want to set up their own Book Clubs.

Book Clubs have become increasingly popular over the last few years. Mosman Library runs six Book Clubs including a special Men’s Reading Discussion Group and we are receiving many requests for multiple copies of books from people running their own book clubs. The new collection of 25… Continue

Added by Lindach on May 27, 2009 at 11:00 — 1 Comment

Win $100 worth of books in May

Good Reading is a great Aussie monthly about books and authors. With your Mosman Library card, you have a free subscription to the online magazine.

Have a read and win!

Q. Which public figure does Good Reading interview about his favourite books in the May 2009 issue of the magazine?

Hint: You can find this interview on page… Continue

Added by Mosman Library on May 6, 2009 at 12:30 — No Comments

A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED: libraries and the Google Library Project Settlement

Three major library groups, in comments filed today in federal district court, say they don’t oppose the pending Google Book Search Settlement, but warned that high costs and opaque controls “could compromise fundamental library values such as equity of access to information, patron privacy, and intellectual freedom.” http://bit.ly/2lZeKx

Here is a guide for the Perplexed,… Continue

Added by Tim on May 5, 2009 at 13:46 — 1 Comment

Harry Potter misses out in the Children's Laureate list of favourite books...

The top 35 favourite books as chosen by Children's Laureate authors do not include J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter, despite the series having been at the top of most other lists for the last ten years:

http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/Classic-children39s-stories-top-list.5210866.jp

Added by Kate on May 1, 2009 at 18:15 — 1 Comment