SMSA (Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts)
NEW BOOK HIGHLIGHTS
ANIMAL STORIES
| Robinson, Lee | Lawyer for the dog |
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BIOGRAPHY
| Robinson, Lee | Lawyer for the dog |
| Alexander, Diana | The other Mitford |
| Karaolis, Jo | With enough love |
| Markham, Beryl | West with the night |
| Pique, Elisabetta | Pope Francis |
| Rebanks, James | The shepherd’s life |
| Schulman, Michael | Her again |
| Taylor, Cory | Dying |
| Wilson, Ashleigh | Brett Whiteley |
Brett Whitely / Ashleigh Wilson
Ashleigh Wilson’s new telling of Whiteley is a remarkable exercise in sustained authorial discipline. There’s just enough on childhood and family life to suggest the man-in-the-boy, followed by the central peak of sustained career success, before the gradient tapers off into distraction and addiction. Wilson has built a robust scaffolding out of Whiteley’s letters, notebooks and published interviews, and clads this with the observations of those who lived, worked and partied with him. There’s a good deal more talk about the art than in previous biographies; more about the ideas Whiteley invested in the works and what he hoped would be their impact. And, with that, the moments at which Whiteley was a properly ambitious and genuinely challenging artist come into focus. Wilson has given Whiteley the biography he deserves. Accommodating, even forgiving on occasion, but never indulgent. Engaged and attentive, unaffectedly interested in the artist, but not uncritical. (Sydney Morning Herald, Spectrum, 13-14 August 2016)
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COOKING
| Lawson, Jane | Milkbar memories |
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GENERAL FICTION
| Angell, Caroline | All the time in the world |
| Besser, Nathan | Man in the corner |
| Browne, J. S. | Guns and goannas |
| Callaghan, Helen | Dear Amy |
| Coetzee, J. M. | The schooldays of Jesus |
| Cross, Mason | The time to kill |
| De Botton, Alain | The course of love |
| Glaister, Seni | The museum of things left behind |
| Gowda, Shilpi Somaya | The golden son |
| Gyasi, Yaa | Homegoing |
| Hashimi, Nadia | A house without windows |
| Higgins, Winton | Rule of law |
| Houellebecq, Michel | Submission |
| Ivey, Eowyn | To the bright edge of the world |
| Lafon, Lola | The little communist who never smiled |
| Lane, William | The salamanders |
| Leather, Stephen | Dark forces |
| Levy, Deborah | Hot milk |
| Mackintosh, Clare | I see you |
| Marchetta, Melina | Tell the truth, shame the devil |
| McDaniel, Tiffany | The summer that melted everything |
| Mildenhall, Kate | Skylarking |
| Morrell, David | First blood |
| Moss, Sarah | The tidal zone |
| Nugent, Liz | Lying in wait |
| O’Neill, Ryan | Their brilliant careers |
| Riley, Lucinda | The olive tree |
| Roger, Marie-Sabine | Soft in the head |
| Sedgwick, Helen | The comet seekers |
| Silva, Daniel | The black widow |
| Thien, Madeleine | Do not say we have nothing |
| Wieringa, Tommy | A beautiful young wife |
Tell the truth, shame the devil / Melina Marchetta
This first foray into crime fiction by Australian author Melina Marchetta is a cracking read. Chief Inspector Bashir “Bish” Ortley is on suspension from the London Met as his life has spiralled into drunken chaos because of the death of his son and the subsequent breakdown of his marriage. When his teenage daughter survives a suspected terrorist bombing of a bus full of students on tour in France, he is unwillingly drawn into the investigation; there are clear links with a case from earlier in his career that has lingered in his mind. As you would expect from a writer of this calibre, the plot is rich and complex. The characters are also complicated and multifaceted, from Bish’s daughter Bee to the enigmatic Noor LeBrac, the woman Bish helped to put behind bars on account of her links with a terrorist attach years earlier. There is much more to Bish than the stereotype of washed up detective and his inner dialogue reveals the high toll that police works demands of its most skilled and experienced officers. The legions of Marchetta’s YA fans will want her back writing for them as soon as possible but I hope we will soon hear more of Chief Inspector Bish Ortley. (Good Reading Magazine, September 2016)
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HISTORICAL FICTION
| Donald, Angus | The death of Robin Hood |
| Gregory, Philippa | Three sisters, three queens |
| Perry, Sarah | The Essex serpent |
| Young, Robyn | Sons of the blood |
Three sisters, three queens / Philippa Gregory
Once again, the prolific Gregory mines the annals of Tudor history to fashion a fictional tale as steeped in history as it is in intrigue and family dysfunction. The three titular queens are Katherine of Aragon, Queen of England and Henry VIII’s first wife; Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scots, wife of King James IV of Scotland and sister of Henry VIII; and Mary Tudor, Queen of France, wife of Louis XII of France and sister of Henry VIII. United in sisterhood by birth and marriage, these three powerful women immediately recognize each other as both allies and rivals in the treacherous world of court and national politics. Their bonds extend beyond natural and expeditious loyalties, as romance, scandal, war, and religion inextricably unite these three for better or for worse. Gregory excels in plucking real-life women out of their secondary places in the historical chorus and placing them stage centre in starring roles. (Booklist, vol 112, number 21)
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MYSTERY
| Bjork, Samuel | The owl always hunts at night |
| Booker, Simon | Without trace |
| Bowen, Rhys | In a gilded cage |
| Bryndza, Robert | The girl in the ice |
| Burnet, Graeme Macrae | His bloody project |
| Carlisle, Kate | The book stops here |
| Casey, Donis | Crying blood |
| Casey, Donis | The sky took him |
| Cato, Joyce | An Unholy Shame |
| Cotterill, Colin | The merry misogynist |
| Cotterill, Colin | Love songs from a shallow grave |
| Daheim, Mary | The alpine zen |
| Dexter, Colin | Last bus to Woodstock |
| Dhand, A. A. | Streets of darkness |
| Fairstein, Linda A. | Killer look |
| Giordano, Mario | Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian lions |
| Gott, Robert | The serpent’s sting |
| Haines, Carolyn | The book of beloved |
| Honda, Tetsuya | The silent dead |
| James, Peter | Love you dead |
| Lewis, Susan | The moment she left |
| Lippman, Laura | Wilde Lake |
| McCall Smith, Alexander | The Bertie project |
| Medina, Kate | Fire damage |
| Novak, Brenda | The secrets she kept |
| Patterson, James | Bullseye |
| Radburn, B. Michael | The Falls |
| Robinson, Peter | When the music’s over |
| Russell, Craig | The quiet death of Thomas Quaid |
| Saunders, Kate | The secrets of Wishtide |
| Shepherd, Lloyd | The detective and the devil |
| Sigurdardottir, Yrsa | Why did you lie? |
| Slaughter, Karin | The kept woman |
| Stangalino, Chiara | Rome noir |
| Staub, Wendy Corsi | Nine lives |
| Tracy, P. J. | Cold kill |
| Walker, Wendy | All is not forgotten |
| Wilde, Darcie | A useful woman |
The silent dead / Honda Tetsuya
Reiko Himekawa, a 29-year-old police lieutenant in the Tokyo Metro Police Homicide Unit, takes on a strange case when a body, carefully wrapped in plastic, is discovered near a local park pond. The victim was tortured before he was brutally murdered. Gathering clues, Reiko concludes that the killer has embarked on a crime spree. The discovery of more corpses expands her investigation. Inspired to become a police officer after she was attacked as a teenager in the park, Reiko has vowed to prove her worth and her skills to her peers. As she pursues the case relentlessly, exploring a cult Internet phenomenon called Strawberry Night, it soon becomes clear that she is being hunted. This Japanese best seller is finely tuned, with extreme twists and surprises. Honda has created a powerful protagonist in Lt. Himekawa, who will leave readers wanting more. This fun summer escapade will be savoured by mystery and suspense readers. (Library Journal, vol 141, issue 8)
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NON FICTION
| Bolt, Andrew | Bolt: worth fighting for | AUS 070.44 BOLT |
| Byatt, A. S. | Peacock & vine | 700.92 BYAT |
| Crystal, David | The disappearing dictionary | 427 CRYS |
| Fadiman, Anne | Ex libris | 028.9092 FADI |
| Fidler, Richard | Ghost empire | TRV 949.502 FIDL |
| Kessler, Ted | My old man | 306.8742 KESS |
| Knopf, Karl G. | Beat osteoporosis with exercise | 616.716 KNOP |
| Lindsey, Kiera | The convicts daughter | AUS 920.720 |
| Moore, Alannah | Create your own website the easy way | 006.7 MOOR |
| Moore, Kate | The radium girls | 363.119681114 MOOR |
| Obermayer, Bastian | The Panama papers | 323.445 OBER |
| Pascoe, Bruce | Dark emu | AUS 338.7630994 PASC |
| Sebba, Anne | Les Parisiennes | 305.409 SEBB |
| Summerscale, Kate | Mrs Robinson’s disgrace | 942.081 SUMM |
| Wakeling, Adam | The last fifty miles | AUS 940.434 WAKE |
| Wood, Charlotte | The writer’s room | 808 WOOD |
Ghost Empire / Richard Filder
With this extraordinarily ambitious book, Richard Fidler throws himself into telling one of the world’s great stories: the rise and fall of Constantinople, the magnificent eastern Roman city that endured for 1000 years and saw every aspect of human nature unfold within and outside its imposing walls. Far from being a dry jaunt into ancient history, however, the conceit of this book is that, several years ago, Fidler travelled to Italy and Turkey with his son Joe, then 14. In just a few words he sketches an outline of his inquisitive progeny that plants itself firmly in the mind, and endures throughout this tale. Ghost Empire is as much about their relationship as it is about the emperors who ruled Constantinople through times of war and peace. Fidler alternates between historical storytelling and conversations with Joe during their month-long journey. Fidler has a knack for such cutting, weighty observation, at once light yet loaded with meaning and emotion. We already know he is an interviewer of great empathy; now we know he mirrors that skill on the page, too. The beauty of this book is its accessibility. It has been written by a man who sits near the centre of Australian culture, and his name on the cover will draw many new readers to this old tale. (The Australian, 6 )
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ROMANCE
| Laurens, Stephanie | The daredevil snared |
| Linden, Caroline | The way to a duke’s heart |
| Mallery, Susan | Daughters of the bride |
The daredevil snared / Stephanie Laurens
Love, lust, and action in the lush jungles of West Africa make up Laurens’s fast-paced third instalment of the 19th-century Adventurers Quartet. Using the map from his brother’s mission in Freetown (in what is today Sierra Leone), Captain Caleb Frobisher has discovered that the kidnapped people from A Buccaneer at Heart are now enslaved in a mining camp overseen by the dastardly Dubois. Frobisher must await a rescue mission, but time is running out. Among those kidnapped, governess Katherine Fortescue is a formidable heroine; her intelligence and strength make her a fitting love interest for the heroic Frobisher, and their chemistry adds to the heat and sizzle of the jungle setting. Laurens’s rich characterization and well-thought-out plot make for a captivating adventure romance and provide elements of danger and surprise throughout the story. The vivid narrative, combined with quick cuts from scene to scene, make for an engrossing read with an ending poised to continue the adventure with yet another Frobisher brother. (Publishers Weekly, vol 263, issue 20)
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SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY
| Aaronovitch, Ben | Broken homes |
| Aaronovitch, Ben | Whispers under ground |
| Crouch, Blake | Dark matter |
| Hearn, Lian | Lord of the Darkwood |
| Kenyon, Sherrilyn | Dragonmark |
| Reynolds, Alastair | Beyond the Aquila Rift |
| Thorne, Jack | Harry Potter and the cursed child |
Dark matter / Blake Crouch
Brilliant scientist Jason Dessen was on the verge of a major breakthrough when his life took a different turn. Instead of completing his work on quantum superposition, he married his pregnant girlfriend and now lives a relatively happy life as husband to the gorgeous Daniela, father to teenage Charlie, and professor of undergrad physics at a small Chicago-area college. All is well until the night he is abducted and bludgeoned, and wakes up in a different time and place or, perhaps, it’s a different plane. Turns out there’s another world, one where Jason didn’t marry Daniela but went on to create a box that can transport someone into a parallel universe. It’s very strange and a little thrilling to him, but all Jason really wants is to get home to his wife and son. This proves quite daunting, as every trip through the box takes him to yet another plane, mostly with disastrous results. Crouch keeps the pace swift and the twists exciting. Readers will probably devour this speculative thriller in one sitting; also offer this one to those who enjoy roller-coaster reads in the vein of Harlan Coban and can appreciate the need to suspend their disbelief. (Booklist, vol 112, number 17)
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New additions to eBooks at SMSA
EBOOKS
| Gee, Emma | Reinventing Emma | Biography |
| Fauda-Rôle, Sabrina | One pot pasta | Cooking |
| Clair, Mae | A thousand yesteryears | Mystery |
| Hoover, Colleen | It ends with us | General novels |
| Stedman, M. L. | The light between oceans | General novels |
| Van der Kwast, Ernest | The ice-cream makers | General novels |
| Maine, Sarah | The house between tides | Historical fiction |
| Gulvin, J. M. | The long count | Mystery |
| Moss, Tara | Speaking out | Non fiction |
| Tilley, Patrick | Cloud warrior | Science fiction & fantasy |
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AUDIOBOOKS
| Reisz, Tiffany | The bourbon thief | General novels |
| Muller, Marica | The night searchers | Mystery |
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New Books — September 2016
The new books for September 2016 are now available to borrow, with new ebooks and audiobooks.
We hope you enjoy them!
- New books may be borrowed for a period of two weeks only and may not be renewed.
- Books remain listed as “New Books” for two months.
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Animal stories
Biography
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Mystery
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