Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2014
Congratulations to Richard Flanagan
and Steve Carroll, joint winners of the Fiction Award at The Prime Minister's Literary Awards, 2014.
There are six award categories: fiction, poetry, non-fiction, Australian history, young adult fiction and children’s fiction.
Fiction
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
A World of Other People by Steve Carroll
Poetry
Drag Down to Unlock or Place an Emergency Call by Melinda Smith
Non-fiction—joint winners
Moving Among Strangers by Gabrielle Carey
Madeleine: A Life of Madeleine St John by Helen Trinca
Prize for Australian history—joint winners
Broken Nation: Australians in the Great War by Joan Beaumont
Australia’s Secret War: How unionists sabotaged our troops in World War II by Hal G.P. Colebatch
Young adult fiction
The Incredible Here and Now by Felicity Castagna
Children’s fiction
Silver Buttons by Bob Graham
The shortlists span many genres, styles and subjects, reflecting on contemporary Australian life, significant moments in Australian and world history as well as gripping readers with fictional stories that captivate young and old readers alike.
Shortlisted books:
Fiction
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
The Night Guest by Fiona McFarlane
Coal Creek by Alex Miller
Belomor by Nicolas Rothwell
Non-Fiction
Moving Among Strangers by Gabrielle Carey
The Lucky Culture by Nick Cater
Citizen Emperor by Philip Dwyer
Rendezvous with Destiny by Michael Fullilove
Madeleine: A Life of Madeleine St John by Helen Trinca
Broken Nation: Australians in the Great War by Joan Beaumont
First Victory 1914 by Mike Carlton
Australia's Secret War: How unionists sabotaged our troops in World War II by Hal G.P. Colebatch
Arthur Phillip: Sailor, Mercenary, Governor, Spy by Michael Pembroke
The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka by Clare Wright
Young Adult Fiction
The Incredible Here and Now by Felicity Castagna
Pureheart by Cassandra Golds
Girl Defective by Simmone Howell
Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil
The First Third by Will Kostakis
Silver Buttons by Bob Graham
Song for a Scarlet Runner by Julie Hunt
My Life as an Alphabet by Barry Jonsberg
Kissed by the Moon by Alison Lester
Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan
Ten Book Tuesday...A Christmas novel list.
The Christmas countdown is on! Check out these Christmas themed novels of 2014...
My true love gave to me: Twelve winter romances edited by Stephanie Perkins
Take one Queen Bee: Annabel Buchanan, with a perfect house in the country, a rich husband and a beautiful daughter, Izzy . . .
Includes mouth-watering recipes. Rosie Hopkins, newly engaged, is looking forward to an exciting year in the little sweetshop she owns and runs. But when fate strikes Rosie and her boyfriend, Stephen, a terrible blow, threatening everything they hold dear, it's going to take all their strength and the support of their families and their Lipton friends to hold them together. After all, don't they say it takes a village to raise a child? Treat yourself and your friends to Jenny Colgan's heartwarming new novel this Christmas.
In bestseller Elin Hilderbrand's first Christmas novel, a family gathers on Nantucket for a holiday filled with surprises.
Mr Miracle by Debbie Macomber
Harry Mills is a guardian angel on a mission: help twenty-four-year-old Addie Folsom get her life back on track--and, if the right moment strikes, help her find love. Posing as a teacher at a local college in Tacoma, Washington, Harry is up to the task, but not even he can predict the surprises that lay in store. After trying to make it on her own, Addie has returned home to Tacoma for the holidays, but this time she plans to stay for good, enrolling in the local community college to earn her degree. What she doesn't plan to do is run into Erich Simmons. Addie and her next-door neighbor, Erich, are like night and day. Growing up, he was popular and outgoing while she was rebellious and headstrong, and he never missed an opportunity to tease her. Now she intends to avoid him entirely, yet when they're suddenly forced to spend Christmas together, Addie braces for trouble. Perhaps it's the spirit of the season or the magic of mistletoe, but Addie and Erich soon find they have more in common than they thought--and that two people who seem so wrong for each other may actually be just right.
As the holidays draw near in Caerphilly, Mother volunteers to take part in in a big Christmas-themed decorator show house—each room of a temporarily untenanted house is decorated to the hilt by a different decorator for the public to tour. Of course, Mother insists that Meg pitch in with the organization, and she finds herself surrounded by flamboyant personalities with massive egos clashing and feeling their professional reputations are at stake. Then the rooms start to be sabotaged, and an unfortunate designer turns up dead—making Mother a prime suspect. Can Meg catch the real killer in time to save Mother the indignity of arrest?
A New York Christmas by Anne Perry
Dark secrets threaten the highest of New York society in the twelfth Victorian Christmas novella
New York, 1904. Jemima Pitt arrives in a city where new American money and old English aristocracy collide. She's here to chaperone her friend, Delphinia, who has crossed the ocean to marry one of New York's richest men, but Jemima discovers a secret that could destroy Phinnie's future.
Drawn into the crisis, Jemima desperately wants to protect her friend. And she must use all her courage and wits
to decide whom to trust, and how to thread her way through the snowy streets of this brash new city.
A Christmas feast by Katie Fforde
Add some extra sparkle to your Christmas by joining Katie Fforde for a perfect, romantic Christmas feast of short stories. Collected together for the first time and including one brand new story.
Make your Christmas wishes come true...
The mistletoe promise by Richard Paul Evans
A love story for Christmas from the #1 bestselling author of The Christmas Box and The Walk. Elise Dutton dreads the arrival of another holiday season. Three years earlier, her husband cheated on her with her best friend, resulting in a bitter divorce that left her alone, broken, and distrustful. Then, one November day, a stranger approaches Elise in the mall food court. Though she recognizes the man from her building, Elise has never formally met him. Tired of spending the holidays alone, the man offers her a proposition. For the next eight weeks--until the evening of December 24--he suggests that they pretend to be a couple. He draws up a contract with four rules: 1. No deep, probing personal questions 2. No drama 3. No telling anyone the truth about the relationship 4. The contract is void on Christmas Day The lonely Elise surprises herself by agreeing to the idea. As the charade progresses, the safety of her fake relationship begins to mend her badly broken heart. But just as she begins to find joy again, her long-held secret threatens to unravel the emerging relationship. But she might not be the only one with secrets
My true love gave to me: Twelve winter romances edited by Stephanie Perkins
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . .
This beautiful collection features twelve gorgeously romantic stories set during the festive period, by some of the most talented and exciting YA authors writing today. The stories are filled with the magic of first love and the magic of the holidays.
Take one Queen Bee: Annabel Buchanan, with a perfect house in the country, a rich husband and a beautiful daughter, Izzy . . .
. . . and one large, loud family: the Bensons.
What happens when their worlds collide?
When Izzy suddenly falls dangerously ill, adoptee Annabel has to track down her biological family to see if they can help her daughter. But can she see past the Bensons' brash exteriors to the warm, loving people they are at heart?
With December just around the corner, is it too much to hope that the Bensons and the Buchanans can have a proper family Christmas?
The Christmas surprise by Jenny Colgan
Includes mouth-watering recipes. Rosie Hopkins, newly engaged, is looking forward to an exciting year in the little sweetshop she owns and runs. But when fate strikes Rosie and her boyfriend, Stephen, a terrible blow, threatening everything they hold dear, it's going to take all their strength and the support of their families and their Lipton friends to hold them together. After all, don't they say it takes a village to raise a child? Treat yourself and your friends to Jenny Colgan's heartwarming new novel this Christmas.
Winter street by Elin Hilderbrand
In bestseller Elin Hilderbrand's first Christmas novel, a family gathers on Nantucket for a holiday filled with surprises.
A family Christmas gathering at Kelley Quinn's Nantucket inn is thrown into turmoil by his four adult children's personal dramas and the discovery of his second wife's infidelity. Colin Quinn owns a Bed and Breakfast on Nantucket and is a proud father of four-Patrick, Shane, Ava, and Bart, all grown and living in varying states of disarray. As Christmas approaches, Conor and his wife Mitzi anticipate a wonderful family reunion. But when Bart, the golden child and a recent Dartmouth graduate, announces that he has joined the Marines and is leaving for Afghanistan two days before Christmas, Mitzi is so distressed that she confesses to having an affair with a long-time guest at the Inn. As more secrets unravel and chaos ensues, it's up to Ava to piece together the holiday before everyone leaves--possibly forever.
Louise Young is a devoted single mother whose only priority is providing for her daughter, Mia. Louise has a good job as a PA in a huge international corporation. The only problem is her boss who can't keep his hands to himself. What she really doesn't have time for is romance - until she meets the company's rising star, Josh Wallace. Louise has always said no to nights out, but for one night only she's decided to let her hair down. It's the office Christmas party, and she's looking forward to some champagne and fun. She's completely unaware that others around her are too busy playing dangerous games to enjoy the party - until she's pulled into one of those games herself...
The nightingale before Christmas by Donna Andrews
As the holidays draw near in Caerphilly, Mother volunteers to take part in in a big Christmas-themed decorator show house—each room of a temporarily untenanted house is decorated to the hilt by a different decorator for the public to tour. Of course, Mother insists that Meg pitch in with the organization, and she finds herself surrounded by flamboyant personalities with massive egos clashing and feeling their professional reputations are at stake. Then the rooms start to be sabotaged, and an unfortunate designer turns up dead—making Mother a prime suspect. Can Meg catch the real killer in time to save Mother the indignity of arrest?
A New York Christmas by Anne Perry
Dark secrets threaten the highest of New York society in the twelfth Victorian Christmas novellaNew York, 1904. Jemima Pitt arrives in a city where new American money and old English aristocracy collide. She's here to chaperone her friend, Delphinia, who has crossed the ocean to marry one of New York's richest men, but Jemima discovers a secret that could destroy Phinnie's future.
Drawn into the crisis, Jemima desperately wants to protect her friend. And she must use all her courage and wits
to decide whom to trust, and how to thread her way through the snowy streets of this brash new city.
A Christmas feast by Katie Fforde
Add some extra sparkle to your Christmas by joining Katie Fforde for a perfect, romantic Christmas feast of short stories. Collected together for the first time and including one brand new story.Make your Christmas wishes come true...
The mistletoe promise by Richard Paul Evans
A love story for Christmas from the #1 bestselling author of The Christmas Box and The Walk. Elise Dutton dreads the arrival of another holiday season. Three years earlier, her husband cheated on her with her best friend, resulting in a bitter divorce that left her alone, broken, and distrustful. Then, one November day, a stranger approaches Elise in the mall food court. Though she recognizes the man from her building, Elise has never formally met him. Tired of spending the holidays alone, the man offers her a proposition. For the next eight weeks--until the evening of December 24--he suggests that they pretend to be a couple. He draws up a contract with four rules: 1. No deep, probing personal questions 2. No drama 3. No telling anyone the truth about the relationship 4. The contract is void on Christmas Day The lonely Elise surprises herself by agreeing to the idea. As the charade progresses, the safety of her fake relationship begins to mend her badly broken heart. But just as she begins to find joy again, her long-held secret threatens to unravel the emerging relationship. But she might not be the only one with secretsLet NSW State Government Candidates Know Library Lovers Vote Too!
Sutherland Shire Libraries are participating in the Day of Action on Friday 5 December by asking residents to contact their local NSW State Government candidates in the 2015 election and highlight the need for increased funding from State Government to protect the future of public libraries.
The Day of Action is an important strategy in the ongoing NSW Public Libraries Association’s Library Funding Campaign, which was launched in April 2014.
“Thousands of Shire residents have already shown their support by signing a state-wide petition which gathered 70,000 signatures asking for increased funding from the State Government, but more needs to be done,” said Lyn Barakat, Manager – Library Services, Sutherland Shire Council.
Library funding was once split 50:50 between State and Local Governments. The State Government currently contributes just 7 cents out of every dollar and local councils now have to fund 93 per cent of the cost of providing public libraries.
NSW Government recurrent funding to support the public library network is the lowest percentage of total budget of any State, and about half of that provided in Victoria and Queensland, the two most comparable networks. Previous NSW State Governments have put in less and less in real terms every year.
The NSW Public Libraries Association acknowledges the additional capital funding provided by the NSW Government in the 2014-15 budget, and for coming years.
“What needs to be made clear is that the funding under this increase is available by application to the grant program, and is not universally spread across the state. While this funding will provide enhanced facilities for those councils which are successful, without funds for resources or the staff to make it work, then it is a pointless exercise,” she said.
“If opening hours are reduced or branches closed it will be because funding pressures on councils have become too great. For a modest increase in recurrent funding, the NSW State Government can prevent this,” said Ms Barakat.
For more information on the campaign, visit www.nswpla.org.au or talk to your local library staff.
The Day of Action is an important strategy in the ongoing NSW Public Libraries Association’s Library Funding Campaign, which was launched in April 2014.
“Thousands of Shire residents have already shown their support by signing a state-wide petition which gathered 70,000 signatures asking for increased funding from the State Government, but more needs to be done,” said Lyn Barakat, Manager – Library Services, Sutherland Shire Council.
NSW Government recurrent funding to support the public library network is the lowest percentage of total budget of any State, and about half of that provided in Victoria and Queensland, the two most comparable networks. Previous NSW State Governments have put in less and less in real terms every year.
The NSW Public Libraries Association acknowledges the additional capital funding provided by the NSW Government in the 2014-15 budget, and for coming years.
“What needs to be made clear is that the funding under this increase is available by application to the grant program, and is not universally spread across the state. While this funding will provide enhanced facilities for those councils which are successful, without funds for resources or the staff to make it work, then it is a pointless exercise,” she said.
“If opening hours are reduced or branches closed it will be because funding pressures on councils have become too great. For a modest increase in recurrent funding, the NSW State Government can prevent this,” said Ms Barakat.
For more information on the campaign, visit www.nswpla.org.au or talk to your local library staff.
ABC Book Club: Ten Classic Beach Reads
The ABC Book Club Top Ten Classic Beach Reads, as voted by viewers, were announced on Tuesday night. Have you read all of these?
1. Death on the Nile by Agatha ChristieAbout the book:
The tranquillity of a cruise along the Nile was shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway had been shot through the head. She was young, stylish and beautiful. A girl who had everything… until she lost her life.
Did you know?
Published in 1937 and still in print, this is the17th of 33 books featuring Hercule Poirot, the famous Belgian detective.
About the book:
This is the debut novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini.
It is the unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant
Did you know?
The author was rejected more than 30 times before finding a literary agent willing to take him on.The kite Runner has been made into a movie and a graphic novel. Khaled Hosseini has also since written two more New York Times bestselling novels And the Mountains echoed and A Thousand Splendid Suns.
About the book:
Richard, a gap-year student, is introduced to a beautiful island by the mysterious Daffy. But with drugs and the glamorized violence of Vietnam War films haunting his perception of his Thai paradise, Richard soon finds the hideaway becomes a nightmare.
Did you know?
This cult debut novel was published to critical acclaim being reprinted 25 times in less than a year. Garland also wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of the book called 28 days later.
About the book:
Quoyle, a third-rate newspaper hack, with a “head shaped like a crenshaw, no neck, reddish hair...features as bunched as kissed fingertips,” is wrenched violently out of his workaday life when his two-timing wife meets her just deserts. An aunt convinces Quoyle and his two emotionally disturbed daughters to return with her to the starkly beautiful coastal landscape of their ancestral home in Newfoundland. Here, on desolate Quoyle’s Point, in a house empty except for a few mementos of the family’s unsavory past, the battered members of three generations try to cobble up new lives.
Did you know?
This book won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Her short story Brokeback Mountain was released as a movie in 2005, to massive critical acclaim and winning three Academy Awards.
About the book:
A tragi-comic novel, this is the life and times of T. S. Garp, the bastard son of Jenny Fields, a feminist leader ahead of her time. The life and death of a famous mother and her almost-famous son.
Did you know?
With more than ten million copies in print, published in thirty languages in more than forty different countries, John Irving's fourth novel has been a worldwide best seller since its publication in 1978.
6. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
About the book:
Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and for ever.
Did you know?
This is the debut novel of Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Donna Tartt.
About the book:
A charming and comic autobiographical novel. Fleeing the gloomy British climate, the Durrell clan move to Corfu carrying the bare essentials of life: acne cures for Margo; revolvers for Leslie; books for Larry and a jam jar full of caterpillars for Gerry.
Did you know?
This book has been made into a movie. It is the first book in the Corfu Trilogy. Gerald 'Gerry' Durrant OBE, was an author, naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist and television presenter.
About the book:
Just how well can you ever know the person you love? This is the question that Nick Dunne must ask himself on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they aren't his. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what really did happen to Nick's beautiful wife? And what was in that half-wrapped box left so casually on their marital bed? In this novel, marriage truly is the art of war...
Did you know?
This is Gillian Flynn's third novel, preceded by Sharp Objects and Dark Places.
About the book:
The disappearance forty years ago of Harriet Vanger, a young scion of one of the wealthiest families in Sweden, gnaws at her octogenarian uncle, Henrik Vanger. He is determined to know the truth about what he believes was her murder. He hires crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist, recently at the wrong end of a libel case, to get to the bottom of Harriet's disappearance. Lisbeth Salander, a twenty-four-year-old, pierced, tattooed genius hacker, possessed of the hard-earned wisdom of someone twice her age--and a terrifying capacity for ruthlessness--assists Blomkvist with the investigation. This unlikely team discovers a vein of nearly unfathomable iniquity running through the Vanger family, an astonishing corruption at the highest echelon of Swedish industrialism--and a surprising connection between themselves.
Did you know?
The first book in this trilogy was published in 2005, one year after the author Stieg Larsson’s death.
It received The Glass Key Award from Crime Writers of Scandinavia in 2006.
The Millennium Trilogy has together sold 60 million copies in more than 50 countries.
It received The Glass Key Award from Crime Writers of Scandinavia in 2006.
The Millennium Trilogy has together sold 60 million copies in more than 50 countries.
10. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough (Electronic
About the book:
The epic story of a priest torn between God and human passion and a beautiful girl desiring only what she cannot have, spanning five decades of ambition, fear, longing and revenge, and set against the vast horizons of Australia's Outback.
Did you know?
A global publishing phenomenon, this novel made Colleen McCullough, a neurophysicist, a multimillionaire overnight.
Want more? Find all thirty titles in the Library catalogue by searching under Classic Beach Reads 2014.
Novelist & Who Else Writes Like...? can help you locate your newest favourite book.
What happens when you've caught up on all your favourite author's books? Or finally plowed through the eclectic pile beside your bed?
Do you stop reading?........NO!
You could come in to one of your library service's eight locations and spend some time allowing serendipidous discovery to direct you to a title which is just what your were looking for.
You could pester your friends for their favourites and borrow those, only to be quite surprised by the numerous shades of grey, you get and what that might say about the one who suggested it!
Or you can use one of these online Reader's Guides, to find a title or two which matches your reading preference of the moment, check the library has it, request it and then briefly drop in to pick it up at the library location of your choice. All from the comfort of your own lounge.
What could be easier than looking up your favourite author, (for the argument's sake) Matthew Reilly, in
Who Else Write's Like...?
THEN use the Author A - Z to browse OR the Search bar
CHOOSE a new author to investigate in the library catalogue from the information provided
To find a book by it's content, use Novelist
ENTER your key elements for a great read OR browse through the
lists provided
CHECK title availability in Sutherland Shire libraries catalogue.
SHORTEN a results list using the appeal factors on the left.
Be left with just what you are looking for!
TIP: If the Check the Library Catalogue search does not find the title
do the search yourself just using the Author's name. Titles of the same
book often differ between publishers or editions.
If it is still not held by Sutherland Shire Libraries and you really want it,
please take advantage of the InterLibrary Loan service.
For more information about these services please ask our staff in person or by phone.
Do you stop reading?........NO!
You could come in to one of your library service's eight locations and spend some time allowing serendipidous discovery to direct you to a title which is just what your were looking for.
You could pester your friends for their favourites and borrow those, only to be quite surprised by the numerous shades of grey, you get and what that might say about the one who suggested it!
Or you can use one of these online Reader's Guides, to find a title or two which matches your reading preference of the moment, check the library has it, request it and then briefly drop in to pick it up at the library location of your choice. All from the comfort of your own lounge.
What could be easier than looking up your favourite author, (for the argument's sake) Matthew Reilly, in
Who Else Write's Like...?
THEN use the Author A - Z to browse OR the Search bar
CHOOSE a new author to investigate in the library catalogue from the information provided
To find a book by it's content, use Novelist
ENTER your key elements for a great read OR browse through the
lists provided
CHECK title availability in Sutherland Shire libraries catalogue.
SHORTEN a results list using the appeal factors on the left.
Be left with just what you are looking for!
TIP: If the Check the Library Catalogue search does not find the title
do the search yourself just using the Author's name. Titles of the same
book often differ between publishers or editions.
If it is still not held by Sutherland Shire Libraries and you really want it,
please take advantage of the InterLibrary Loan service.
For more information about these services please ask our staff in person or by phone.
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