Don't forget we are also on twitter

Follow us for news from library staff.
http://www.twitter.com/wingecarribee

Thursday, September 18, 2008

4 ingredients by Kim McCosker and Rachael Birmingham

"Over 340 quick, easy and delicious recipes using 4 or less ingredients"
This is absolutely correct!.
I can't believe at last there is a cookbook for the "cook" that REALLY DOES have simple and delicious recipes that can be made from ingredients that usually are already in the "basic" kitchen pantry.
At last! A cookbook for the person that loves to eat but does not wish to use 20 ingredients, need a dictionary to look up cooking terms, have a professional state-of -the-art kitchen, 10 different pots, pans and other utensils, a research librarian to find out where the ingredients can be located, and has NO TIME TO COOK. You also don't need to spend a fortune.
This is a brilliant find.
Bring on "4 Ingredients 2" PLEASE.
Tracie

Monday, September 15, 2008

LIfe isn't all ha ha hee hee by Meera Syal

For those of you unfamiliar with Meera Syal - she is an award winning author, scriptwriter, comedian and actress. Among the roles she is most well known for is the SBS comedy show – “Goodness Gracious Me” and also for playing the Grandma on the ABC TV Show – The Kumars at No. 42.
Being born and raised in Britain in an Indian family, she is quite well placed to show how
two cultures can sometimes intersect or sometimes collide. “Life isn’t all Ha Ha Hee Hee”, takes place in modern day Britain and centers on a trio of girls – Chila, Sunni and Tania, all friends from childhood, who are now in their 30s, living life, getting married, having careers and raising children, not always in the way they would have liked. Many of their personal problems, which is the central theme of the book, stem from the identity crisis they all experience, in trying to work out if they are Indian women living in London, British women living in London, Modern women, Traditional Women or a combination of all four.
Because the narration of the book is told through the eyes of the three women, you get a better understanding of each of the characters. As much as this book is fiction, you get the feeling that what you’re reading about comes from the heart, and that Meera Syal is putting some of her own cross cultural life experiences into the story.
Sometimes humorous, sometimes sad, sometimes very enlightening, it’s well worth a read if you want to see into someone else’s world.
Chris

Swallow the air by Tara June Winch

I was first introduced to Tara June Winch through an article about the Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young Australian Novelists Award, printed in Spectrum, June 2-3, 2007. Tara was one of those winners.
Tara has been awarded the 2003 Queensland Young Writers Award runner up and encouragement award, the 2004 David Unaipon Award, the 2006 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Indigenous writing, the 2007 Dobbie Award for a woman’s first book and the 2007 UTS Award for New Writing in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.
I followed up my interest by reading one of her stories published in ‘The Best Australian Stories 2005’, - Cloud Bursting.
The title alone was full of imagery, the story even more so and the quality of writing, for me, was an absolute joy.
‘Cloud Bursting’ was taken from the ‘novel’ ‘Swallow the Air’.
Although not a recently published book, (2006), ‘Swallow the Air’, introduces a vibrant talent into Australian literature, one, I feel strongly deserving of the awards and recognition bestowed upon her.
I was interested to read indigenous literature for the first time, to grasp her perspective on life and her interpretation of language.
Read as a novel or a collection of short stories, ‘Swallow the Air’, has the advantage of interpretation on both levels. Tara’s talent shows through in her vivid use of language and her first hand knowledge of the Aboriginal experience brought to life through settings eg Redfern and the interaction of characters in a white landscape.
From the opening sentences ‘I remember the day I found out my mother was head sick. She wore worry on her wrists as she tied the remaining piece of elastic to the base of the old ice-cream container.’ to the closing ‘An excavator starts its smothering engine over the torrent of each barrel. Over the sun. Over the blue. And I wonder, if we stand here, if we stay, if they stop digging up Aunty’s backyard, stop digging up mother’s memory, stop digging up our people, maybe then, we’ll all stop crying.’, May’s story of loss and longing is told with honesty and passion.
May Gibson, the protagonist of ‘Swallow the Air’, is 15 when her mother commits suicide and she and her brother Billy are taken in by their Aunty. They struggle to make sense of their loss, Billy’s anger at life and injustice, fuelled by alcohol and drugs flares, and he leaves May, to search in her own way for her unsure identity. May wanders the lonely path of mental solitude. Alone, she meets people who try to drag her down or draw her in but May’s strength lies in her longing to find her father, to find her people, to belong somewhere, where her life will matter. Her journey takes her from Australia’s east coast to Waterloo and Redfern’s Block, Lake Cowal and the Lachlan River in central NSW, and a mission in Eubalong.
Her physical journey is overshadowed by the people she meets and it is these people, who teach her what it is to belong, the robust, endearing and caring character of Aunty – strong, yet vulnerable, the good-natured Block resident Joyce who tells May ‘You gotta go, May, you got sumthin to find, fire in the belly that ya gotta know’, and the amiable, helpful Pete, the truckie, heading for Darwin, who gives May a lift and has compassion for her situation.
May Gibson is an endearing character, not easily forgotten. Her vulnerable portrayal as a misfit 15 year old, develops confidence and pride in her roots as she ‘thinks’ her way through the novel and Tara’s engaging use of language, describes vividly what she thinks and feels and what makes up place. I look forward to reading more of Tara’s work as she continues to explore and develop her poetic prose.
Alison.

Brida by Paul Coehlo

As a non-spiritualist person, I must say I did enjoy this book in a non-relative way. This story starts off in August, with a setting of a 1983 Ireland, the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.
The story unfolds around a young lady named Brida. Her quest is to find her soul mate “...knowing that [he] would come one day...”through the understanding of the tradition of the moon, and the tradition of the sun.
Her journey leads to two important people, The Magus and Wicca. The Magus is a mysterious person who lives in the forest by himself while Wicca is a woman of such extensive knowledge and mystery. Collectivity, these two important characters give great guidance to a naive Brida.
From the author of ‘The Alchemist”, Coelho makes a wonderful description of how a what-could-be real person experiences throughout her spiritual path. However, there are so many more twists and turns to this novel which wants me to tell you but I must prevent myself from doing so. I highly recommend “Brida” to anyone and in hoping that you do, I anticipate that you enjoy it as much as I have!!
Sara

Monday, September 8, 2008

Something borrowed by Emily Giffin

I think this is a book that people will either love or hate. When I first read the description of this book, I was put off; I could never like the story of a girl that steals her best friend's fiancé. But Giffin does a fantastic job at seeing the “other side of the story”.
Rachel and Darcy have been friends since primary school, but their friendship is based on Darcy always being better than Rachel. On the night of Rachel’s 30th birthday, too much alcohol leads to Rachel sleeping with Darcy’s fiancé Dex, a guy that Rachel went to law school with. Rachel wakes up horrified, determined to put it behind her, unfortunately throughout the course of the novel discovers her feelings for Dex are real.
I definitely recommend this book, its chick lit with depth! The characters are flawed, real people who you can relate to. Like them or hate them the characters make you feel real feelings.
Bec

Blog Archive