The gifts of books: our recommendations

Books are easy to wrap and many of us have a little more time to read over Summer, which makes them a fantastic gift this Christmas. Choosing the perfect book can be tricky so we asked our staff for some suggestions:

For older children

An excellent picture book came in this week for primary school aged kids and parents with a sense of humour.

The cat, the dog, little red, the exploding eggs, the wolf and Grandma's wardrobe by Diane and Christyan Fox

Cat is trying to read Red Riding Hood to Dog. But Dog keeps interrupting with questions and taking the story off on his own tangents. A great one to read to an older group.


 Another one for older kids is

The book with no pictures by BJ Novak

It's hard to describe but a book made to make everyone laugh with lots of words that most adults wouldn't say (clean ones!) but will make a group of kids or adults laugh out loud when you read them from a book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cREyQJO9EPs

- Carolyn, Knox

For younger children

Stick Man by Julia Donaldson

We just brought two of our friends the picture book, Stick Man by Julia Donaldson, because Arch loves it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swKDQR9fFs4

- Chantell, Belgrave

 

For the creative person in your life... or one who wants to be

The Creative License: Giving Yourself Permission to Be the Artist You Truly Are by Danny Gregory

When Danny Gregory's life was turned upside down by tragedy, he learned to cope by teaching himself to draw. The result was a complete transformation of his life, his priorities, his career, and the way he saw the world.

- Karla, Admin

For teenagers

Any titles by John Green - The Fault In Our Stars, An Abundance of Katherines, Will Grayson, Will Grayson

- Kristen, a teenage member


New Guinness Book of Records for an early teen or someone who just likes facts.

- Heidi, Lilydale

Fiction fans

The new Matthew Reilly (The Great Zoo of China) is awesome for anyone who like an adventure/thriller.

- Heidi, Lilydale

For the tricky to buy for male

Gallipoli by Peter Fitzsimons. His Ned Kelly is great as well.

- Linda, Montrose

Recommend eBooks to the Library with Overdrive

It is #followalibrary day @EasternRegional on Twitter - and to celebrate Eastern Regional Library is rolling out a new feature on the Overdrive eBook Collection that allows people to recommend eBooks and eAudio books to the library.

Yes - you read that correctly! If there is something we don't have, you can search for it in the "Additional Titles" collection. Here you can choose the item you think we should add to the library and click the blue "Recommend" button. Ta Da!! It is that easy.

It gets even better - when you make a recommendation, Overdrive will also give you the option of being notified if we buy the item and can also automatically place you on the reservation list to borrow when it comes in. People will be able to recommend up to 5 items per day.

So, get in there and have your say about what you would like us to have in the Overdrive eLibrary Collection and tweet us @EasternRegional what you recommended!!

Ann Creber recommends

Ann Creber has had a wonderful career as an author, journalist, editor, food consultant and stylist. Ann will be joining us for Book Bites at Croydon Library next week. Join us for a feast of contemporary Australian literature.

When: Thursday 9th July 12:30pm
Where: Croydon Library, Civic Square, Croydon
Cost: $10 includes lunch
Bookings essential phone 92945640

Ann has generously shared a few recommendations with us.

Cookbooks

My cousin Rosa by Rosa Mitchell (Sicilian cooking)
Pete's table by Pete Evans (Australian)
Serendip by Peter Kuravita (Sri Lankan)
Eating for eye health by Ita Buttrose & Vanessa Jones (sounds a bit dull I know, but very good recipes and ita was fun to interview!)
Ingredients by Skye Gyngell
Snowflakes & Schnapps by Jane Lawson (some of the recipes are pretty exotic but both the photography and presentation of the book are gorgeous!)

Factual/biographical/autobiographical/historical

Shooting balibo by Tony Maniaty
On paths of ash by Peter Townsend (POW story)
One for the road by Janelle McCulloch
Roots of civilization by John Newton (beautiful book - lovely to handle)
1788 by David Hill
Foxey's hangout by Cathy Gowie (includes recipes)
The well-dressed ape by Hannah Holmes
Strange places by Will Elliott (an exploration of of his schizophrenia)
The artists' lunch by Alice McCormack & Sarah Rhodes (published late last year but my favourite book for 2008)
Reunion by Andrea Goldsmith
The girl on the landing by Paul Tordray (favourite book so far)
The better woman by Ber Carroll (bit w/weekly but an interesting concept)
A lost life by Steven Carroll ( a really beautiful book to handle and an intriguing theme.... A "story" of T.S. Eliot and the woman who was the love of his life, as Steven interpreted it, juxtaposed with the tale of young lovers whose paths they crossed.

Crime

Close up by Esther Voerhoef (translated from the Dutch)


Other

Penguin anthology of poetry compiled by John Kinsella


Cheers, Maryanne