Our Book Club
Natalie's Pick of the Month | Tracy's Pick of the Month | Book News | Coming Book Releases |
We all know that books can take us to a magical place and on exciting adventures and OurBookClub has been created as a book review site featuring books that take our fancy. Here we promise to tell you exactly what we think and include independent book reviews, book news, coming book releases, movie and TV tie-ins, book club suggestions and questions and so much more! If you would like to be kept up to date with all our latest news, you can subscribe to our Monthly Newsletter.
Perth Writers' Festival
The Perth Writers' Festival will be held on the beautiful grounds of The University of Western Australia and is a celebration of the written word in all its forms. The festival is a chance to hear the ideas behind the words as some big names in national and international writers engage in readings, talks, debates, workshops and culinary events. This year guest writers include; Barbara Trapido, Germaine Greer, Jo Nesbo (author of The Snowman, The Redbreast, The Redeemer and Nemesis), Chetan Bhagat, David Levithan (author of Dash and Lily's Book of Dares, Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List and The Lovers Dictionary), Janette Turner-hospital, Justice Michael Kirby, Marieke Hardy (author of You'll be sorry when I'm dead), Tom Keneally, Frank Moorhouse, Peter FitzSimons, Ray Martin, Stuart Littlemore, Michael Robothan and Sara Foster (author of Come Back To Me and Beneath the Shadows).
A full program of sessions, including the always popular Family Day and Opening Party, will be released in late January. To receive you free copy, click here. OurBookClub will be attending the Perth Writers' Festival to catch up with our favourite authors and to bring you the latest new release information and any other gossip we can hunt down. So keep checking back for more information as it comes to hand.
Sydney Writers' Festival
Since it’s inception in 1997, the Sydney Writers' Festival (SWF) has become Australia's largest annual literary festival and in 2012 it will be running from 14-20 May. The SWF is predominantly held at Pier 4/5 and Sydney Theatre, Walsh Bay but there are also a multitude of other venues which makes this festival easily accessible for Sydney dwellers. Even better, is the availability of free and paid events which makes attending even more enjoyable. The SWF is not just for adults, there is a significant program for schools and families allowing the whole family to expand their reading interests. The full program for the SWF will be announced in April 2012 and based on previous years, we are expecting it to again capture some of the big national and international literary names. In prior years approximately 300 invited authors are hosted with an audience of 65,000. Previous authors have included Jodi Picoult (2002), Jonathan Franzen, Nichols Shakespeare and David Malouf (2003), Hilary Mantel (2004), Alan Hollinghurst, Tariq Ali and David Suzuki (2005), Naomi Wolf, Susan Orlean, John Banville, Maya Angelou, Kate Grenville, Les Murray, Tim Flannery and Peter Singer (2006), William Dalrymple and Lionel Shriver (2007), Jeanette Winterson (2008), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Kazuo Ishiguro (2009), John Carey, Lionel Shriver, Peter Carey, Les Murray, Ross Garnaut and Clive Hamilton (2010), Howard Jacobson, A.A. Gill, Anthony Bourdain, Téa Obreht and David Mitchell (2011). OurBookClub will be attending the SWF to catch up with our favourite authors and to bring you the latest new release information and any other gossip we can hunt down. So keep checking back for more information as it comes to hand.
Book News
The Book Depository one of our favourite online bookstores is having another massive 24 hour sale! After the success of last year, they will be once again offering up to 80% the RRP of 24 great titles. The deal starts on 2 February and just like last year a different title will be on sale for one hour or until it's sold out. We will keep you posted on details!
Well it's finally happening! Despite selling the movie rights back in the early nineties, script and casting issues have meant that Janet Evanovich's much loved Stephanie Plum series has not made it to the big screen. But that's about to change when the first installment, One for the Money hits the big screen on 16 February 2012. Starring Katherine Heigl as Stephanie Plum, Jason O'Mara as Morelli and Daniel Sunjata as Ranger, this is sure to be the start of a potentially long running film franchise. Click here to watch the preview, which certainly looks like fun!
2012 Movie and TV Show releases
2012 is shaping up to be a huge year for page to screen adaptations, so as well as keeping up to date with new releases for books, we will be busy checking out the new movies and TV shows. In the meantime, check out our Page to Screen section.
2012 Literary Festivals
There are now a huge variety of literary festivals where you can get up and close to your favorite authors. Here at OurBookClub we have selected a few that look interesting as well as book signings and events we are attending. Check out our Literary Events section.
Coming Book Releases
2012 is shaping up to be a blockbuster of a year with the release of new books by some of our favourite authors. Natalie and Tracy are just wondering how we can clone ourselves to read them all.
Eventide by Elle Jasper
The final book in The Dark Ink Chronicles sees newly bitten tattoo artist Riley Poe changing in unimaginable ways. Eli, her sexy French vamp lover sees the changes in her and fears for her humanity. His rival and one of the vampires who bit her, Victorian instructs Riley to go to his father, the only vampire capable of saving her soul. In Romania, Riley is forced to face her worst fears and in doing so she'll have to do the one thing she's been determined not to do, put her trust in Eli. Can she be saved and will she finally admit her true feelings to Eli? You'll find out 6 March 2012. Read previous reviews for Afterlight,Everdark and The Dark Ink Chronicles. And in a move likely to please her fans, Elle has announced she has been contracted to write two more books in the Dark Ink Chronicles. The fourth book, entitled Dark Fallen and set in Scotland will showcase Riley using her new-found tendancies and hunting dark fallen angels with the help of Eli and the others. This book will be out in December 2012.
Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
The second book in the trilogy, beginning with Delirium sees Lena now outside the strict society she has spent her whole life in. Pushing aside the memories of her escape, her thoughts of Alex, her best friend Hana and her old school, Lena is trying to push on with her life, a new life. Aided by the mysterious Raven, will Lena find new love or will Alex be returned to her, uncured and still in love? Full of defiance, forbidden romance and the sparks of revolution, Pandemonium continues the dystopian world where love is considered a disease and cured in everyone at the age of 18. Read previous reviews for Before I Fall, Delirium and Leisl & Po. Available 6 March 2012.
When I was a child I read books by Marilynne Robinson
In this new collection Robinson returns to the themes which have preoccupied her work: the role of faith in modern life, the inadequacy of fact, the contradictions inherent in human nature. Clear-eyed and forceful as ever, Robinson demonstrates once again why she is regarded as a modern rhetorical master. "When I was a child I read books" writes Robinson, "My reading was not indiscriminate. I preferred books that were old and thick and dull and hard…I looked to Galilee for meaning and to Spokane for orthodonture, and beyond that the world where I was I found entirely sufficient." Read the review of Home. Due out on 13 March 2012.
The New Republic by Lionel Shriver
We are already thinking of how to get our hands on this book and can't wait. Shriver takes on terrorism in her newest novel. Reporter Edgar Kellogg is sent to an imaginary outpost called Barba to report on the terrorist activities of the SOB (Os Soldados Ousados de Barba—the Daring Soldiers of Barba). He's replacing the larger-than-life Barrington Saddler, who has mysteriously disappeared. The book's satire is timely; we see reporters hungering for violence, terrorist outfits clamoring for attention, and would-be terrorists rising to positions of respect and prominence. There's also a fascinating plotline that raises the question of whether a terrorist group has to be real to be effective. Read our previous reviews for The New Republic, A Perfectly Good Family, We Need To Talk About Kevin, So Much For That, Double Fault, The Female of the Species, The Post Birthday World, Game Control, Ordinary Decent Criminals and Checker and Derailleurs. Due out on 27 March 2012.
The Missing Shade of Blue by Jasper Fforde
When translator Edgar Logan arrives from his home in Paris to work in Edinburgh he anticipates a period of enlightenment and calm. But with a chance meeting with the philosopher Harry Sanderson and his captivating artist wife, Edgar's meticulously circumscribed life is suddenly propelled into drama and crisis. Drawn into the Sandersons' troubled marriage, Edgar must confront both his own deepest fears from the past and his present growing attraction to the beguiling Carrie. Moving, witty and wise, The Missing Shade of Blue is a compelling portrait of the modern condition, from the absence of faith to the scourge of sexual jealousy and the elusive nature of happiness. Read our previous reviews for Lost in a Good Book, The Eyre Affair and Shades of Grey. Due out on 29 March 2012.
Lover Reborn by JR Ward
The 10th instalment in the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series this time it's Tohr's story. Haunted by the death of his wife and unborn child, can Tohr once again find love and will it be Xhex's newly revealed mother, a woman with strong ties to Tohr's past who helps him? I think we all know the answer to this one! Available 27 March 2012, which gives you plenty of time to read the 9 previous books if you've yet to get onboard with this fantastic vampire series!
The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler
The Beginner's Goodbye is Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Tyler‘s 19th novel. The Beginner’s Goodbye is the story of Aaron, a man who loses his wife suddenly when a tree falls on their house. Aaron and Dorothy’s marriage had been affectionate but not particularly passionate, yet once she is gone he finds himself surprisingly adrift—and continues to see his dead wife everywhere he goes. Can he figure out a way to say goodbye? Being released on 3 April 2012.
Stonemouth by Iain Banks
Stewart Gilmour is back in Stonemouth. After five years in exile his presence is required at the funeral of patriarch Joe Murston, and even though the last time Stu saw the Murstons he was running for his life, staying away might be even more dangerous than turning up. An estuary town north of Aberdeen, Stonemouth, with it's five mile beach, can be beautiful on a sunny day. On a bleak one it can seem to offer little more than seafog, gangsters, cheap drugs and a suspension bridge irresistible to suicides. Tough, funny, fast-paced and touching, Stonemouth cracks open adolescence, love, brotherhood and vengeance in a rite of passage novel like no other. Being released on 5 April 2012.
Scenes from an Early Life by Philip Hensher
The startling new novel from the author of King of the Badgers and the Man Booker-shortlisted The Northern Clemency. Philip Hensher's husband, Zaved Mahmood, was born in late 1970 in Dacca, then a regional capital of Pakistan. In the months following his birth, the eastern part of the country split from the western side in a war of independence of savage violence. In December 1971, after the deaths of millions of innocent victims in the civil war, a new country was declared: Bangla Desh, the Home of the Bengalis. Scenes from Early Life is the story of one upper-middle-class Bengali family, told in the form of a memoir, narrated by Zaved It is an autobiography, a novel and, in part, a history of one of the most ferocious of twentieth-century civil wars. Released on 12 April 2012.
Skagboys by Irvine Welsh
Mark Renton has it all: he's good-looking, young, with a pretty girlfriend and a place at university. But there's no room for him in the 1980s. Thatcher's government is destroying working-class communities across Britain, and the post-war certainties of full employment, educational opportunity and a welfare state are gone. When his family starts to fracture, Mark's life swings out of control and he succumbs to the defeatism which has taken hold in Edinburgh's grimmer areas. The way out is heroin. It's no better for his friends. Spud Murphy is paid off from his job, Tommy Lawrence feels himself being sucked into a life of petty crime and violence - the worlds of the thieving Matty Connell and psychotic Franco Begbie. Only Sick Boy, the supreme manipulator of the opposite sex, seems to ride the current, scamming and hustling his way through it all. "Skagboys" charts their journey from likely lads to young men addicted to the heroin which has flooded their disintegrating community. This is the 1980s: a time of drugs, poverty, AIDS, violence, political strife and hatred - but a lot of laughs, and maybe just a little love; a decade which changed Britain for ever. The prequel to the world-renowned Trainspotting. Released on 19 April 2012.
How Much is Enough? by Robert and Edward Skidelsky
What constitutes the good life? What is the true value of money? Why do we work such long hours merely to acquire greater wealth? These are some of the questions that many asked themselves when the financial system crashed in 2008. This book tackles such questions head-on. The authors begin with the great economist John Maynard Keynes. In 1930 Keynes predicted that, within a century, per capita income would steadily rise, people's basic needs would be met, and no one would have to work more than fifteen hours a week. Clearly, he was wrong: though income has increased as he envisioned, our wants have seemingly gone unsatisfied, and we continue to work long hours. The Skidelskys explain why Keynes was mistaken. Then, arguing from the premise that economics is a moral science, they trace the concept of the good life from Aristotle to the present and show how our lives over the last half century have strayed from that ideal. Finally, they issue a call to think anew about what really matters in our lives and how to attain it. " How Much Is Enough? "is that rarity, a work of deep intelligence and ethical commitment accessible to all readers. It will be lauded, debated, cited, and criticized. It will not be ignored. Released 1 May 2012
The Red House by Mark Haddon
The Red House is a family drama along the lines of his second book, A Spot of Bother but this time, the action takes place during a family vacation that dissolves into a “symphony of long-held grudges, fading dreams and rising hopes, tightly-guarded secrets and illicit desires, all adding up to a portrait of contemporary family life that is bittersweet, comic and deeply felt. The stage is set for seven days of resentment and guilt, a staple of family gatherings the world over. Mark Haddon is a favourite at OurBookClub and we have previously reviewed both A Spot of Bother and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time which became a word-of-mouth hit for Haddon. The Red House is released on 3 May 2012.
Until I Die by Amy Plum
The second book in the trilogy that began with Die For Me, this time Kate and Vincent have overcome the odds (!!) and are at last together in Paris, the city of lights and love. But as their romance deepens, there is one question they can't ignore, how are they supposed to be together if Vincent can't resist sacrificing himself to save others? Although he has promised to do whatever it takes to lead a normal life with Kate (pretty much impossible), will he let innocent people die? When a new and surprising enemy reveals itself, Kate realises that even more may be at stake and that Vincent's immortality is in jeopardy. Filled with heart-pounding suspense, spell-binding romance and a cliff hanger ending that will leave readers begging for the final novel, you can get your hands on this one 8 May 2012.
Home by Toni Morrison
The works of Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison go beyond thought-provoking to what could better be called thought-demanding, with their lush prose, deep themes and occasional touches of magic or mysticism. But that’s just what readers and critics appreciate about Morrison, who is one of America’s most treasured writers. Home is the story of a Korean War veteran who returns to small-town Georgia, disappointed in its racist culture and trying to help his emotionally unstable sister while still recovering from the physical and emotional aftereffects of war. Published on 8 May 2012.
In One Person by John Irving
In typically tragicomic style, Irving sets out to explore sexual identity - difference and desire, togetherness and solitude - through a half-century in the life of his bisexual narrator Billy and a cast of friends and lovers. Irving has always cherished our peculiarities in a fierce, not a saccharine, way. Now he has extended his sympathies still further into areas that even the misfits eschew. John Irving in his latest novel sacralizes what lies between polarizing genders and orientations. Listen to John Irving read an exertp from his latest novel In One Person. Read the review of Until I Find You. Released 8 May 2012.
Bringing up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
The sequel to the Man Booker-winning Wolf Hall. By 1535 Thomas Cromwell, the blacksmith’s son, is far from his humble origins. Chief Minister to Henry VIII, his fortunes have risen with those of Anne Boleyn, Henry’s second wife, for whose sake Henry has broken with Rome and created his own church. But Henry’s actions have forced England into dangerous isolation, and Anne has failed to do what she promised: bear a son to secure the Tudor line. When Henry visits Wolf Hall, Cromwell watches as Henry falls in love with the silent, plain Jane Seymour. In Bring up the Bodies, Mantel explores one of the most mystifying and frightening episodes in English history. Read more information at The Guardian. Due on 10 May 2012.
The Chemistry of Tears by Peter Carey
When her lover dies suddenly, all Catherine has left is her work. The long affair had been kept secret from their colleagues at London's Swinburne Museum and now she must grieve in private. Or almost. In an act of compassion, the head of her department gives Catherine a very particular project, something to cling onto: a box of intricate clockwork parts that appear to be the remains of a nineteenth-century automaton, a beautiful mechanical bird. Once she discovers that the box also contains the diary of the man who commissioned the machine, one obsession merges into another. Who was Henry Brandling? Who was the mysterious, visionary clockmaker he hired to make a gift for his ailing son? And what was the end result that now sits in pieces in Catherine's her studio? The Chemistry of Tears is a portrait of love and loss that is both wildly entertaining and profoundly moving, simultaneously delicate and anarchic. Read the reviews of Parrot and Olivier in America and Oscar and Lucinda. Due on 15 May 2012.
Living, Thinking, Looking by Siri Hustvedt
From the internationally bestselling author of What I Loved and The Summer Without Men, a dazzling collection of essays written with Siri Hustvedt's customary intelligence, wit and ability to convey complex ideas in a clear and lively way. Divided into three sections - Living, which draws on Siri's own life; Thinking, on memory, emotion and the imagination; and Looking, on art and artists - the essays range across the humanities and science as Siri explores how we see, remember, feel and interact with others, what it means to sleep, dream and speak, and what we mean by 'self'. The combination offers a profound and fascinating insight into ourselves as thinking, feeling beings. Released 7 June 2012
Canada by Richard Ford
First, I'll tell about the robbery our parents committed. Then the murders, which happened later. In 1956, Del Parsons' family came to a stop in Great Falls, Montana, the way many military families did following the war. His father, Bev, was a talkative, plank-shouldered man, an airman from Alabama with an optimistic and easy-scheming nature. Del and his twin sister, Berner, could easily see why their mother might have been attracted to him. But their mother Neeva - from an educated, immigrant, Jewish family - was shy, artistic and alienated from their father's small-town world of money scrapes and living on-the-fly. It was more bad instincts and bad luck that Del's parents decided to rob the bank. They weren't reckless people. In the days following the arrest, Del and Berner lock themselves inside the house and wait for the friend their mother said would come. When no-one does, Berner runs away. Del, a solitary child obsessed with bee-keeping and chess, does not have friends to call on. Del is saved before the authorities think to arrive. Driving across the Montana border into Saskatchewan his life hurtles towards the unknown, towards a hotel in a deserted town, towards the violent and enigmatic American Arthur Remlinger, and towards Canada itself - a landscape of rescue and abandonment. But as Del discovers, in this new world of secrets and upheaval, he is not the only one whose own past lies on the other side of a border. In Canada, Richard Ford has created a masterpiece. A haunting and visionary novel of vast landscapes, complex identities and fragile humanity. It questions the fine line between the normal and the extraordinary, and the moments in our lives that take us into new worlds. Released 7 June 2012
Rapture by Lauren Kate
The final book in the Fallen Series sees Luce and Daniel finally together. But for how long? Can history be re-written or are some punishments enternal? With the sky dark with wings, can the angels, both the fallen and the outcast, together with the nephilium save the world from Lucifer and have Luce and Daniel finally broken the curse that has plagued them for eternity? With yet another beautfiful cover, all the answers will be revealed when this final chapter is released on 12 June 2012.
The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead
The second book in the new Bloodlines Series which is the spin-off from Richelle's hugely popular Vampire Academy Series sees alchemist Sydney still hiding out at a Palm Springs boarding school and trying to protect newly discovered Moroi princess Jill Dragomir. As the students at the school carry on with their blissful ignorance as to the existance of vampires, Sydney, Eddie, Jill and Adrian do everything in their power to keep their secret safe. But with the threat of forbidden romances, unexpected spirit bonds and of course the Strigoi, hiding the truth is harder than they thought. Full of new faces, as well as some familiar old ones (yeay Dimitri is back!) this is a must have for fans of her Vampire Academy series. The second book in this new series is out 19 June 2012.
Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness
A Discovery of Witches was book 1 in the All Souls Trilogy, and it ended on a cliffhanger. Shadow of Night plunges Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan London, a world of spies, subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night that includes Christopher Marlowe and Walter Raleigh. Here, Diana must locate a witch to tutor her in magic, Matthew is forced to confront a past he thought he had put to rest, and the mystery of Ashmole 782 deepens. Due for release on 10 July 2012.
The Truth by Michael Palin
Keith Mabbut is at a crossroads in his life. After some early success as a writer, he has become a pen for hire, finding work when and where he can. He and his wife have separated and his son and daughter are both grown up. Then he is offered the opportunity of a lifetime - to write the biography of the elusive Hamish Melville, a highly influential activist and humanitarian. Not only does the offer come with the promise of rich financial reward, it is also a chance to write something truly meaningful. His search to find out the real story behind the legend takes Keith to Orissa, the jungle, and the environmental hotspots of India. The more he discovers about Melville, the more he admires him - and the more he connects with the man he once was, an idealist who wanted to make a difference. Due for release on 12 July 2012.
Gold by Chris Cleave
Chris Cleave, the best-selling author of Incendiary and Little Bee (which was optioned for film by Nicole Kidman), is known for writing books with timely topics. This next book is no exception — it’s about Olympic athletes. Gold is the story of Zoe and Kate, world-class athletes who have been friends and rivals since their first day of Elite training. They’ve loved, fought, betrayed, forgiven, consoled, gloried, and grown up together. Now on the eve of London 2012, their last Olympics, both women will be tested to their physical and emotional limits. They must confront each other and their own mortality to decide, when lives are at stake: What would you sacrifice for the people you love, if it meant giving up the thing that was most important to you in the world? Due for release on July.
Lionel Asbo: The State of England by Martin Amis
An exuberant, acidic satire of modern society and celebrity culture--by a renowned author at the height of his powers which is no parting shot in his literary career (The Independent). Young Desmond Pepperdine desires nothing more than books to read and a girl to love. Unfortunately for him, he's the ward of his uncle, Lionel Asbo (self-named after England's infamous Anti-Social Behaviour Orders), a terrifying yet oddly principled thug who's determined to teach him the joys of pit bulls (fed with lots of Tabasco sauce), internet porn ("me love life"), and all manner of more serious criminality. But just as Desmond begins to lead a gentler, healthier life, Lionel wins £139 million in the lottery, hires a public-relations firm, and begins dating a cannily ambitious topless model and poet. Strangely, however, Lionel remains his vicious, weirdly loyal self, while his problems as well as Desmond's seem only to multiply. Due for release on 21 August 2012.
The Twelve by Justin Cronin
At the end of The Passage, the great viral plague had left a small group of survivors clinging to life amidst a world transformed into a nightmare. In the second volume of this epic trilogy, this same group of survivors, led by the mysterious, charismatic Amy, go on the attack, leading an insurrection against the virals: the first offensives of the Second Viral War. To do this, they must infiltrate a dozen hives, each presided over by one of the original Twelve. Their secret weapon: Alicia, transformed at the end of book one into a half human, half viral - but whose side, in the end, is she really on? Can't wait, EW have released an excerpt here. Released on 30 August 2012.
Zoo Time by Howard Jacobson
Zoo Time is the follow up to Howard Jacboson's Man Booker 2010 prize winning The Finkler Question. Reading is over. Writing is finished. Publishing is dead. Embittered author Guy Ableman knows this, as does his desperate editor; as does the sad whole of doomed literary London. But Guy is dedicated to his dying art, and continues to write for an audience that doesn't exist, loathed by the few readers he does have - feminists who charge him with misogyny, mothers who accuse him of hating children. Against a backdrop of disappointment, failure and loss, Guy is consumed with the temptation of an illicit affair. It distorts every thought in his head, and becomes his next great novel. Fantasy blurs with reality in this furious, hilarious novel about love, loss, mothers and daughters. Frank, poignant and moving. Released on 30 AUgust 2012.
Also look out for new novels by Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith, Paul Auster, Danielle Steel, Alexander McCall Smith, Marina Lewycka, Jo Nesbo and Jeanette Winterson.
If you know of any book releases that are due to be launched in 2011, let Our Book Club know, so we can keep an eye out for them and hopefully review them first.
