Reading Cafe - Meet Jarad Henry

Criminologist Jarad Henry works for the Police Strategy Unit,he has taken this experience and created Detective Rubens McCauley. Rubens first appeared in Jarad's first book Head Shot and returns in the long awaited Blood Sunset.

Jarad's books have been shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Awards, and the Ned Kelly Awards. His second book Spider Web was shortlisted for the Vogel Awards and won the Fellowship of Australian Writers' Jim Hamilton Award.

Jarad will be a conducting a crime writing workshop at the forthcoming Maroondah Writers and Readers Festival.

Books available for sales and signing.

When: Monday 4th August 12:30pm
Where: Lilydale Library, Anderson Street, Lilydale
Cost: $7.50 includes lunch
Bookings essential phone 9294 3120

Cheers, Maryanne

Microsoft Office 2007

Those branches that have had an update of equipment will have the new version of Microsoft Office installed with the new layout of Word 2007. We've compiled a quick cheat sheet available below or you can view the tutorials available on on the desktop of the public PCs to learn more.

Microsoft Word 2007 Cheat Sheet (PDF 394Kb)

Cheers, Maryanne

Supper with the Crippens

A little food, a little wine and a very ghastly crime. The year is 1911 and Mrs Cora Crippen has organised supper for friends. Little do they realise that their hostess is in deadly danger. Join Adrian Puckering for a glimpse of the crime that gripped a nation. Supper will be served.

Born in Yorkshire, Adrian’s first love has always been history. With degrees in history, economics, engineering and education he is an accomplished historian with 2 books to his credit and a third due for publication this year. He has been a tourist guide from Whitechapel to Gallipoli and many points in between. An accomplished and entertaining speaker Adrian is Deputy Principal at a Melbourne Secondary College.

When: Friday 25th July 7:30pm
Where: Millers Homestead, Dorrigo Drive, Boronia
Cost: $5
Bookings essential phone 9754 7266

Regards, Sasha

Gardening Talk

Are you interested in growing gourds in your backyard? Mr He will share his years of experience and answer your enquires. Free Mandarin Talk.

When: Friday 25th July 10-11:30am
Where: Knox Library, 425 Burwood Highway, Wantirna South
Cost: Free event
Bookings essential phone 9801 1422

Thanks, Sasha

Learn a language with Bill Handley

Bill Handley will show you the fast easy way to learn a language.

• Have fun building your vocabulary in record time
• The easy way to get to grips with grammar
• Why you should use more than one textbook
• How to use your 'lost time' to learn faster
• What to do when you feel like giving up
• How to write your own 'survival skills' course
• How to get the most from the Internet
• Plan your own language Immersion Days
• Enjoy learning with comic books
• Advice for school and university students
• Setting goals
• How to make a successful comeback after giving up

When: Thursday 24th July 7pm
Where: Lilydale Library, Anderson Street, Lilydale
Cost: Free event
Bookings essential phone 9294 3120

Welcome, Sasha

Chocolate fantasy

Master chocolatier Didier Cadinot from Kennedy and Wilson will be demonstrating how to create your own special chocolate goodies.

When: Thursday 24th July 1:30pm
Where: Rowville Library, Stud Park Shopping Centre, Stud Road, Rowville
Cost: Free
Bookings essential phone 9294 1300

Ta, Sasha

Literary Lunch – Sharyn Munro

Sharyn Munro lives alone in a solar powered house on a beautiful mountainside in the Hunter Valley. Her only close neighbours are a few horses and the wildlife that lives in the surrounding bush. Her life is a busy one, baking bread, keeping the stove supplied with wood, maintaining the garden, but still managing to write for magazines and journals. Sharyn’s love for the environment is captured in her blog which features photographs and observations of her beautiful surrounds. An award winning short story writer, Sharyn has shared her story in Woman on the Mountain published by Exisle Publishing in 2007.

When: Thursday 24th July 12:30pm
Where: Belgrave Library, Reynolds Lane, Belgrave
Cost: $7.50 includes lunch
Bookings essential phone 9754 7266

Chin chin, Sasha

Writing workshop

For the beginner and would-be writers who want to know where and how to start, this presentation will cover basic skills and storyline ideas.

Presented by local award winning authors Amanda le Bas Plumetot & Vicki Thornton.

When: Saturday 2nd August 1:30-4pm
Where: Ringwood Library, 4 Melbourne Street Mall, Ringwood
Cost: $10
Bookings essential phone 98700177

Cheers, Maryanne and Sasha

The Eastern Regional Library Show 2nd July 2008

Classic books made into movies or TV series can be loved or hated. Very occassionally they meet with qualified approval. The trouble is that we all have such a clear mental picture of our heroes and heroines, that it can be hard for us to relate to what we see on the screen. For Lyn Baines, Timothy Dalton as Mr Rochester in Jane Eyre did the trick, for me, I'm still waiting for a truly satisfying Jane Eyre on screen. However, if we're talking of Mr Darcy, I must say I am quite content with Colin Firth as the hero of the TV series, Pride and Prejudice made some 10-15 years ago now. Lyn has purchased many of the various adaptions of the classics for TV and movie screen, so if you have a favourite, check our collection.

We can't have Lyn on the show without some new book reviews too, and today she broke the mould rather, by bringing along a romantic comedy. Katie Fforde's Wedding Season, is a light hearted and satisfying romp through several couples romantic trials and tribulations, all with a happy ending of course. Lyn says that the formula of ordinary working girl plus 100% gorgeous fantasy man makes for a good rainy afternoon read (don't forget to put the chocolate by your elbow, as you won't want to get up once you've started).

Of course it's not a visit from Lyn without some detective fiction, and today she had the latest book by Susan Hill, The vows of silence, and Anne Cleeves White Nights, the second of a quartet set in the Shetland Islands. Both full of quirky characters, plenty of twists and turns, and a thirst for the next in the series.

Cheers, Paul McWhirter

The Eastern Regional Library Show 9th July 2008

The Shetland Islands, in fact any of the wilder places of Scotland, are a romantic location for a good novel. Last week Lyn Baines introduced us to the first two of a detective series set in the Shetland Islands, Dark Raven and White Nights by Anne Cleeves. For a thorougly researched and engrossing read, try the historical novels of Dorothy Dunnett, the Lymond series, set in Scotland in the 1500's, with the hero Francis Crawford involved in the endless Scottish fight for freedom.

Further out even into the wild northern Atlantic than the Shetlands are the Hebridean islands, the setting for some delightful, humourous reminiscences and novels by Lillian Beckwith. Miss Beckwith retreated to this remote location in the 1960's to recover from a period of ill health, and came to dearly love the place and the people. The hills is lonely was her first of seven books about life on the island of Bruach, and they are all thoroughly good reads.

Another autobiography which is full of humour, quirky characters and gentle reflection is Stargazing : memoirs of a young lighthouse keeper by Peter Hill. As a University student in the 1970's wanting to earn some money in the summer break, Peter worked as an assistant lighthouse keeper on an island off the west coast of Scotland. A great read, which has also been read onto CD by the author.

Music today was from the CD The voice with Teddy Tahu Rhodes.

Cheers, Paul

Graphic Novel workshop with Nikki Greenberg

Do you want to create a graphic novel or a comic book? Do you have loads of ideas for your story, but not quite sure how to get started? Then this workshop is for you. Author and illustrator Nikki Greenberg will inspire you and give practical guidance on how to create your own comic book.

At age 15 Nikki Greenberg wrote The Digits series which sold over 380,000 copies. Since then she has published several novels for children but her real passion is comics and graphic novels. In 2007 she created a graphic novel adaptation of The Great Gatsby. Somehow she still finds time to work as a solicitor.

Suitable for ages 12 - 18 years

When: Saturday 19th July 10am
Where: Ringwood Library, Ringwood Street Mall, Ringwood
Cost: $10 payable prior to the workshop
Bookings essential phone 98700177

Cheers, Paul

Why Me? with Yvonne Chamberlain

Yvonne Chamberlain is the author of a new book Why Me? Kicking Cancer and other Life Changing Stuff. Cancer made Yvonne re-evaluate her life, examine her lifestyle and relationships in order to rebuild a new more fulfilling future. She shares her journey and her skills in this worthwhile and fascinating talk.

Yvonne's book will be available for purchase on the evening.

When: Thursday 17th July 7pm
Where: Belgrave Library, Reynolds Lane, Belgrave
Cost: Free event
Bookings essential phone 9754 7266

Cheers, Paul.

Croydon Library closed on Friday 11th July

Hello all,
First the good news........

Good News:
The new Croydon Leisure and Aquatic Centre is very close to completion.

Now the bad news.......

Bad News:
The electricians need to have an entire day to add some finishing touches. This will entail switching off the power to the Library on Friday 11th July. Unfortunately we will be closed all day but we will be using the time productively to rearrange our collection.

You can return your items to Ringwood or Mooroolbark Libraries. If you would like to renew your items please ring the following number - 1300737277. This will take you through to one of our other branches.

The Toddler Time for that day scheduled at 11am has also been cancelled.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

Regards, Paul

Wine tasting at Rowville cancelled.

Apologies for the late notice but the Wine Tasting with Bianchet Winery at Rowville has been cancelled. Once again our apologies to all you wine lovers out there.

Cheers and chin chin, Paul.

Book Bites - meet Ilsa Evans @ Croydon Library

Since her debut novel Spin Cycle was released in 2002, Ilsa Evans has gone on to publish five further novels. Drip Dry and Odd Socks continued the Laundry Series to be followed by two stand alone novels Each Way Bet and Flying the Coop. The sixth novel Broken (2007) was a complete breakaway in style from light fiction, to a work that looks at marriage breakdown and its effects on the family. Broken was selected as an Australian Women's Weekly Good Read, and as a Summer Read in the State Library of Victoria's Summer Reading list.

Ilsa has successfully completed her PhD in the area of women's studies, and manages to combine writing with a family and a career in community information and welfare.

When: Thursday 10th July, 12:30pm
Where: Croydon Library, Civic Square, Croydon, 3136
Cost: $7.50
Bookings essential phone 9294 5640

Cheers, Paul