New Book Highlights
ANIMAL STORIES
| Durrell, Gerald | My family and other animals |
| Michie, David | The Queen’s corgi |
The Queen’s Corgi / David Michie
Rescued from unscrupulous breeders who plan to destroy him because of his floppy ear, when the Queen’s littlest corgi arrives at Windsor Castle, he finds himself in a world of red carpets, gilded chambers – and not a pile of dirty laundry to be seen. Charming his way into the affections of the royal household, Nelson offers a dog’s-eye view of life with the Queen. He eavesdrops on her encounters with celebrities, philanthropists and advisers, catching rare insights into the secrets of a purposeful life. Through one of Her Majesty’s most mysterious advisers, he discovers how the ancient ways and powerful symbols continue to exert a transformative presence. He also becomes familiar with the Queen’s most surprising quality: her gentle but firm expectation that everyone she encounters is striving to be the best that they can be. The Queen’s Corgi bursts with zest, humour and adventure. Romping through the litany of Nelson’s misdemeanours are a warm-heartedness and deep wisdom sure to delight anyone who has known the smiling face and warm tongue of a dog. It is not by chance that you hold this book in your hands.(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31927265-the-queen-s-corgi)
BIOGRAPHY
| Biggs, Minnie | Shards of ice |
| Le Carre, John | The pigeon tunnel |
| Macklin, Robert | Hamilton Hume |
| Matar, Hisham | The return |
| Morley, Paul | The age of Bowie |
| Wall, Mick | Prince |
Pigeon tunnel / John le Carre
Always insightful, frequently charming, and sometimes sobering, the memorable tales told by master storyteller le Carré about his life will surely delight both long-time fans and newcomers. Le Carré’s stories take readers around the world, covering his posting as a young intelligence officer in post-WWII Germany, his time in Gorbachev’s Russia, and research trips for his novels. His witty reminiscences of situations both dangerous and absurd, and his well-delineated portraits of exceptional and quirky figures, bring to life the extraordinary adventures that fed his novels. Those novels deal with the slippery world of espionage, political intrigue, and secret agents—most famously through the exploits of English spymaster George Smiley. In perhaps the most serious chapter, le Carré talks candidly about his con artist father, Ronnie, and the failings of both father and son. But his self-deprecating humour and wit are never far away, and he proves a most elegant and genial host on this tour of his life and work. (Publishers Weekly, vol 263, issue 24)
GENERAL FICTION
| Abbs, Annabel | The Joyce girl |
| Adiga, Aravind | Selection day |
| Amsterdam, Steven K. | The easy way out |
| Bee, Deborah | The last thing I remember |
| Brody, Frances | Halfpenny dreams |
| Burke, James Lee | The jealous kind |
| Church, Elizabeth | The atomic weight of love |
| Cohu, Will | Nothing but grass |
| Corry, Jane | My husband’s wife |
| Crowley, Cath | Words in deep blue |
| Davies, Peter Ho | The fortunes |
| Foer, Jonathan Safran | Here I am |
| Forman, Gayle | Leave me |
| Gentry, Amy | Good as gone |
| Grey, S. L. | The apartment |
| Groen, Hendrik | The secret diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 years old |
| Gross, Andrew | The one man |
| Grushin, Olga | Forty rooms |
| Hannah, Kristin | Between sisters |
| Harper, Karen | The royal nanny |
| Haruf, Kent | Plainsong |
| Hayes-McCoy, Felicity | The library at the edge of the world |
| Heathcote, Elizabeth | Undertow |
| Heiss, Anita | Barbed wire and cherry blossoms |
| Holm, Chris F. | Red right hand |
| Hoover, Colleen | It ends with us |
| Koch, Herman | Dear Mr M. |
| Leisure, Constance | Amour Provence |
| Lewis, Steve | The shadow game |
| Livett, Jennifer | Wild Island |
| Lupton, Rosamund | The quality of silence |
| McEwan, Ian | Nutshell |
| McInerney, Jay | Bright, precious days |
| Miralles, Francesc | Wabi-sabi |
| Modiano, Patrick | So you don’t get lost in the neighborhood |
| Montefiore, Santa | Daughters of Castle Deverill |
| Patchett, Ann | Commonwealth |
| Patric, A. S. | Black rock white city |
| Ridout, Sarah | Le chateau |
| Suter, Martin | Montecrisco |
| Tanenbaum, Robert K | Infamy |
| Whitehead, Colson | The underground railroad |
Selection day / Aravind Adiga
At the centre of the novel is cricket, a national obsession in contemporary India. The Kumar brothers – handsome Radha, the prodigy who all the selectors are fighting over, and his younger brother, Manju – have been working all their lives under the family’s status through cricketing greatness. A sponsor decides to support Radha, and their father has persuaded him to take Manju on as well. the family circumstances immediately improve. They leave the slums behind and enjoy a certain celebrity in the junior cricketing world and even beyond; everyone seems to be watching the progress of the Kumar brothers. But as the boy’s world opens up, they’re introduced to more than just new cricketing techniques. This is especially true for Manju, who befriends one of his brother’s fierce rivals. This friendship transcends cricket and makes Manju realise that there are other dreams out there for him too – the dream of becoming a forensic investigator and even the dream of finding love and acceptance outside cricket. But as Manju’s batting improves, it seems he will never be able to escape the game. A stunning study of family, exploitation, conformity and the desire to make something out of oneself. (Goodreading Magazine, September 2016)
The apartment / S. L. Grey
After masked men break into Mark and Steph’s Cape Town home, they both begin to suffer from paranoia and insomnia despite the fact that neither they nor their daughter was physically injured. Though they’re strapped for cash, they find a website that facilitates house swaps and agree to trade a week in South Africa for a week in Paris, hoping that this time away will soothe their anxieties. But from the very beginning of the trip, nothing goes as expected: the Paris couple never shows up in Cape Town, and the apartment in Paris is like the set of a horror movie, complete with a creepy neighbour who utters cryptic warnings. Mark and Steph have had enough and return home but Mark has been infected by the darkness and continues to have supernatural visions of a dead girl. Steph has to protect herself and her daughter as Mark’s behaviour becomes more and more sinister. There are moments of true scariness that emerge from a sustained, deep-seated sense of discomfort, and the novel is very visual, providing cinematic descriptions. Grey’s characters are not deeply developed, but they don’t have to be. Chills and thrills enough to attract and please fans of supernatural horror. This one will keep you up all night. (Kirkus Reviews, August 2016)
HISTORICAL FICTION
| Graham, Winston | The four swans |
| Kent, Hannah | Good people |
| Potzsch, Oliver | The Ludwig Conspiracy |
Good people / Hannah Kent
After reading her début novel about Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last person to be executed in Iceland, no one is likely to pick up a book by Hannah Kent expecting a frothy comedy set in a sun-drenched contemporary location, but even for the author of Burial Rites (2013) this compelling new historical novel ventures into grim and shadowy territory. The Good People was inspired by an article about an unusual Irish trial that Kent came across while doing research for Burial Rites. As the London Morning Advertiser reported in 1826, the main witness claimed that the actions undertaken by the accused were not done with intent to harm the child ‘but to cure it – to put the fairy out of it’. As Kent acknowledges in an author letter included in advance copies, she writes books ‘about dark happenings in cold places’. However, where Burial Rites gradually moves towards understanding, acceptance, and redemption, The Good People is far bleaker, with few characters left unscathed. Setting the tone for the novel by prefacing it with the lyrics of an Irish murder ballad from 1600, Kent dives deep into the murky waters of human nature, finding there is nothing so potentially lethal as the combination of desperation, false hope, and blind faith when added to grief, superstition, and ignorance. (Australian Book Review, October 2016)
MYSTERY
| Adams, Ellery | Murder in the secret garden |
| Ashton, David | Mistress of the Just Land |
| Barclay, Alex | The drowning child |
| Bartram, Peter | Headline murder |
| Bartram, Peter | Stop press murder |
| Bowen, Rhys | Crowned and dangerous |
| Bretherick, Diana | The devil’s daughters |
| Carr, Caleb | Surrender, New York |
| Casey, Donis | The wrong hill to die on |
| Chan, Ho-Kei | The borrowed |
| Charlton, Karen | Sculthorpe murder |
| Coco, Nancy | All you need is fudge |
| Coleman, Reed Farrel | Robert B. Parker’s debt to pay |
| Cotterill, Colin | Slash and burn |
| Evanovich, Janet | Curious minds |
| Fluke, Joanne | Wicked |
| French, Tana | The trespasser |
| Graham, Heather | Deadly fate |
| Hall, Rachel Howzell | Trail of echoes |
| Hanley, C.B. | Brother’s blood |
| Hannah, Sophie | Closed casket |
| Harrod-Eagles, Cynthia | One under |
| Harrod-Eagles, Cynthia | Blood never dies |
| Hodgson, Antonia | A death at Fountains Abbey |
| Inbinder, Gary | The hanged man |
| Manzini, Antonio | A cold death |
| Marsons, Angela | Silent scream |
| Masterton, Graham | Living death |
| McCall Smith, Alexander | Precious and Grace |
| McDermid, Val | Out of bounds |
| McKevett, G. A. | Buried in buttercream |
| Moshfegh, Ottessa | Eileen |
| Owen, David | 13-point plan for a perfect murder |
| Penny, Louise | A great reckoning |
| Perona, Elizabeth | Murder under the covered bridge |
| Persson, Leif G. W. | The dying detective |
| Pryor, Mark | The Paris librarian |
| Ravatn, Agnes | The bird tribunal |
| Robb, J. D | Apprentice in death |
| Serong, Jock | The rules of backyard cricket |
| Todd, Charles | The shattered tree |
| Weeks, Lee | Cold killers |
| Wolfe, Inger Ash | The night bell |
A great reckoning / Louise Penny
The latest entry in Penny’s popular series places Armand Gamache in a new role as commander of the Sûreté Academy du Québec. Prior to the start of the term he is given an old map of the village of Three Pines with some curious symbols. This map becomes the focus of an investigation after a copy is found in the apartment of a murdered professor. Suspicion shifts from student to professor and back again as the story takes unexpected twists. Rooting out the corruption in the academy remains an underlying theme as Gamache mentors students who seem to be on the wrong path. The transport of these students to Three Pines and the involvement of the villagers in the investigation adds depth and interest. While this book may stand alone, fans of the series will enjoy revisiting old friends. Gamache remains admirable yet human, as he seeks to return the Sûreté to the force he first knew. A look back at World War I and an explanation about one mystery surrounding the little village round out the story in a satisfying manner. This riveting read, with characters of incredible depth who only add to the strength of the plot, will keep readers guessing until the last page. (Library Journal, vol 141, issue 12)
The night bell / Inger Ash Wolfe
Wolfe’s provocative yet ponderous fourth Hazel Micallef mystery highlights the mistreatment of those at the margins. After residents of a new housing development in Port Dundas, Ontario, begin finding bones in their yards, the police comb an adjacent field. Behind an old orphanage that abuts it, they discover bones from 18 adolescent boys, all of them murder victims. Meanwhile, an officer is kidnapped, and three people associated with the development are savagely murdered. The Mounties take over the case, displacing Hazel and her team, but the 64-year-old detective inspector remains determined to identify the dead children, rescue her colleague, and bring past and present criminals to justice. Flashbacks to 1957 follow 14-year-old Hazel’s efforts to locate a missing teenager. Factual and thematic ties bind the two story lines and provide the foundation for a sprawling mystery with emotional heft, but Wolfe’s attempts to raise stakes and add a ticking clock render the plot improbable (Publishers Weekly, vol 263, issue 22)
NON FICTION
| Albitston, Isabel | The best things in life are free | TRV 910.202 ALBI |
| Ball, Philip | The water kingdom | 951 BALL |
| Chaudry, Rabia | Adnan’s story | 364.1523 CHAU |
| Evans, Sian | Queen bees | 941.082 EVAN |
| Gellborn, Martha | Travels with myself and another | TRV 910.4 GELL |
| Greggio, Simonetta | 101 beautiful small towns in France | TRV 914.4 GREG |
| Gurian, Michael | The wonder of aging | 613.2 GURI |
| Harris, Steve | Solomon’s noose | AUS 364.6 HARR |
| Saviano, Roberto | My Italians | 945.0930922 SAVI |
| Talese, Gay | The voyeur’s motel | 306.770973 TALE |
| Wickenden, Dorothy | Nothing daunted | 371.1 WICK |
Adnan’s story / Rabia Chaudry
The author, whose brother was Adnan’s best friend, approached Sarah Koenig with Adnan’s story to set in motion the popular podcast. With more than 100 documents and letters spread throughout the book, Chaudry walks through the state’s case, issues with Adnan’s attorney (who was disbarred a few months after her client’s conviction), and other pieces of the story that don’t stack up. She gives the readers more background on Adnan’s family and how his conviction tore them apart, the reward paid to a key player in his prosecution, and how Adnan has survived his incarceration. The author peppers the narrative with Adnan’s letters, which provide his perspective and reflections on the legal process and his life behind bars. Her writing is clear, eloquent, and engaging, and her case is convincing. After Serial, Chaudry recruited accomplished legal and investigative minds to track down mistakes, conflicts, and new evidence for Adnan’s case. These insights seem to exonerate Adnan and point to a different suspect. Any murder is a tragedy, but a young, potentially innocent suspect sentenced to life in prison after a cursory, slipshod investigation full of cultural bias only magnifies the travesty. For Serial and true-crime fans, this book is a page-turner perfect for a quiet weekend. (Kirkus Reviews, June 2016)
ROMANCE
| Lennox, Marion | His Cinderella heiress |
| Carlisle, Susan | Married for the boss’s baby |
| Hawkes, Charlotte | The army doc’s secret wife |
SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
| Aaronovitch, Ben | Foxglove summer |
| Dozois, Gardner | The mammoth book of best new SF 29 |
| Reynolds, Alastair | Revenger |
| Spjut, Stefan | Stallo |
| Walton, Jo | Necessity |
Revenger / Alastair Reynolds
Alastair Reynolds is a step above most other sci-fi authors when it comes to one thing: making the extraordinary look mundane. While others make up ludicrous excuses for bypassing laws of physics, Reynolds’ loyalty to science lends them believability – even when there are immense, super-sentient whale gods swimming around ocean planets involved. So that’s why in Revenger, Reynolds conjures up a world of juxtapositions, like so often before. In following the young adventure-seeking sisters of Arafura and Adrana, desperately seeking escape from their over-protected, boring upper-class lives, we’re taken into space on a part-solar-powered, part-ion-drive ship of amazing innovation, setting out to find lost treasures and uncover secrets of abandoned worlds. And they find adventure, danger, wondrous discoveries, some signature Reynolds mundanity and pirates. Revenger stars a fascinating hero in Fura, one with quite a character arc, and it has some stirring prose, often at its most potent and emotional at the story’s bloodiest and darkest moments. The world of Revenger is undeniably fascinating, and with Reynolds as your storyteller, a journey into it is definitely worthwhile. (http://www.tor.com/2016/09/15/book-reviews-revenger-by-alastair-reynolds/)
New additions to eBooks at SMSA
eBooks & Audiobooks help
EBOOKS
| Cooking | Wright, Caroline | Cake magic! |
| General novels | Rose, Heather | The Museum of modern love |
| Historical fiction | Jackson, Douglas | Caligula |
| Mystery | Buzzelli, Elizabeth Kane | A Most Curious Murder |
| Mystery | Haseldine, Jane | The last time she saw him |
| Mystery | Krueger, William Kent | Manitou Canyon |
| Non fiction | Condon, Matthew | All fall down |
| Travel | Carlson, Craig | Pancakes in Paris: living the American dream in France | |
AUDIOBOOKS
| General novels | Estes, Kelli | The girl who wrote in silk |
| Mystery | Rosenfelt, David | Blackout |
SMSA (Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts)
