Enjoy the break and have a happy new year!
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Alan Gold will be our first guest for 2024. He's a prolific writer who will regale you with his stories when he joins us on 22 February 2024. To join us online each week - or whenever you can make it - just click on the link to my Zoom conference room on Thursdays at 8pm*
* with a break over school holidaysJOIN BOOK CLUB ON ZOOM Dear Friends
And suddenly 2023 is coming to an end! Tomorrow night is our last Thursday Book Club for 2023 and I'd be delighted if you could bring a list of your three top reads for the year (new, old, classic whatever books you most enjoyed reading this year).
If you can't be with us online tomorrow, please email me your selections and I'll pop them in the newsletter when we come back next year. You'll also go in the draw for our first giveaway for 2024.
We have some terrific writers set to join us at Thursday Book Club in 2024. We'll kick off with Alan Gold in February before welcoming a host of other writers including debut author Liz Foster, internationally bestselling novelist, Karen Viggers and The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award winner, Marija Peričić, who all have new novels coming out in 2024.
I asked Marija Peričić and Liz Foster for their summer book recommendations. Marija chose Sagittarius by Natalia Ginzburg, Is Mother Dead by Vigdis Hjorth and A Far Cry from Kensington by Muriel Spark. Liz Foster chose The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose, The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes and Behind the Seams:My Life in Rhinestones by Dolly Parton. Scroll down for a bite-sized review of Liz's recommendations.
To you all, our Thursday Book Club community, thank you for your support and energy and good wishes this year - I relish your company in all its guises: online, by email and in person.
I'd also like to give a big shout out to Abbey's Bookshop and Katrina Davis for their fabulous book recommendations. I'm looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us next year.
In the meantime, may you all have a happy festive season and a peaceful and happy new year.
NEW RELEASE RECOMMENDATION
DAY
Michael Cunningham https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/day-9780008659998.do
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- Set on the same day - 5 April - over three successive years - 2019 to 2021. In 2019, Isabel loves her work and hates the job. Her husband Dan once had fleeting success as a musician, but is now a house husband. Her brother Robbie is moving out of her brownstone’s attic because her children Nathan and Violet need the space, and to get over the nastiness of his last boyfriend. 2020 shows how the pandemic has affected them, and 2021 shows the aftermath. An exquisite novel about family, love, limitations and acceptance. Lindy
Enter the code THURSDAYBOOKCLUB at the checkout for a 15% discount on Abbey's new release recommendations. This code will also get you a 15% discount on the books by my guests on Thursday Book Club and my novels, The Teacher's Secret, The Deceptions, Running With Ivan and The Watchful Wife. JUNIOR READERS
IMPOSSIBLE CREATURES
Katherine Rundell
https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/Impossible-Creatures-9781408897409.do
ABBEY'S BOOKSELLER PICK ----- When Christopher is sent to his unknown Scottish grandfather, he is unimpressed. That is, until he climbs a forbidden hill and a horde of impossible creatures appear. He’s found the entrance to the Archipelago, where all the animals of myth and peril are safe, and where Mal, a flying girl, lives. But the realm’s magic is dimming and the special beasts are beginning to sicken and die. When Christopher crosses into the Archipelago, the two join together to fight the evil force that threatens the world - and what adventures await them both! Absolutely marvellous! Ages 10-13 Lindy
LIZ FOSTER'S
summer book recommendations
The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose – the sequel novel to the international bestseller The Maid.
This is the most original cosy crime novel you’ll ever read with the most original endearing protagonist, Regency Grand Hotel head maid Molly returning to uncover the truth behind a new mess and new murder.
The Last Letter from your Lover (re-release) by Jojo Moyes – now a major motion picture.
Highlighting the lost art and power of letter writing. When journalist Ellie looks through her newspaper's archives for a story, she doesn't think she'll find anything of interest. Instead she discovers a letter from 1960, written by a man asking his lover to leave her husband - and Ellie is caught up in the intrigue of a past love affair. Despite, or perhaps because of her own romantic entanglements with a married man.
Behind the Seams, by Dolly Parton.
What’s not to love about this inspirational feminist who’s set a reachable bar for all women around the globe? A beautifully illustrated celebration of Dolly Parton's iconic sense of style through entertaining personal stories and 450 full-color photographs, including exclusive images from her private costume archive.
* * Liz Foster's debut novel, The Good Woman's Guide to Making Better Choices, is out next week.
I’m Katrina Davis and I’m a firmly stuck-on member of Thursday Book Club. All my life I have loved reading. After spending the best part of a year helping out in the not insubstantial book section of a local op-shop, I have developed a passion for bolstering my to-be-read pile with second-hand literary gems. Every week I'll review one of these not-so-newly released treasures. You'll also find me on @RescueReads and @rescuereadsau.
Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray
by
Anita Heiss
My repertoire of droll analysis finds itself barren in the face of this lovely heartful book by Anita Heiss. Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray is Wiradyuri language; it translates as river of dreams. Its story takes place along the Murrumbidgee River in the mid-nineteenth century and follows the calamity and triumph of young Wiradyuri woman Wagadhaany. It’s a book that reads easily and I suspect would be well received by younger readers as well as adults. Opening with a colossal flood and loss of life, the narrative takes in other acts of God and colonial violence but always Wagadhaany and the reader are held by an orientation to family and country.
NEWSAwards
The shortlists for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards have been announced.
Fiction ($25,000)
But the Girl (Jessica Zhan Mei Yu, Hamish Hamilton)
Edenglassie (Melissa Lucashenko, UQP)
Only Sound Remains (Hossein Asgari, Puncher & Wattmann)
Serengotti (Eugen Bacon, Transit Lounge)
Stone Yard Devotional (Charlotte Wood, A&U)
Wall (Jen Craig, Puncher & Wattmann)
Highly commended
Burn (Melanie Saward, Affirm)
Paradise Estate (Max Easton, Giramondo)
Southern Aurora (Mark Brandi, Hachette)
Nonfiction ($25,000)
Cruel Care: A history of children at our borders (Jordana Silverstein, Monash University Publishing)
Fat Girl Dancing (Kris Kneen, Text)
Flawed Hero: Truth, lies and war crimes (Chris Masters, A&U)
Killing for Country: A family story (David Marr, Black Inc.)
The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel exports the technology of occupation around the world (Antony Loewenstein, Scribe)
Personal Score: Sport, culture, identity (Ellen van Neerven, UQP)
Indigenous writing ($25,000)
Close to the Subject: Selected works (Daniel Browning, Magabala)
Firelight (John Morrissey, Text)
Personal Score: Sport, culture, identity (Ellen van Neerven, UQP)
Highly commended
Dirrarn (Carl Merrison & Hakea Hustler, Magabala)
Etta and the Shadow Taboo (J M Field & Jeremy Worrall, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
Children’s literature ($25,000)
Ghost Book (Remy Lai, A&U)
It’s the Sound of the Thing: 100 new poems for young people (Maxine Beneba Clarke, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
Who’s Afraid of the Light? (Anna McGregor, Scribble)
Highly commended
Australia: Country of colour (Jess Racklyeft, Affirm)
The Goodbye Year (Emily Gale, Text)
Drama ($25,000)
Jacky (Declan Furber Gillick, Currency Press & Melbourne Theatre Company)
The Jungle and the Sea (S Shakthidharan & Eamon Flack, Belvoir St Theatre & Currency Press)
Loaded (adapted by Christos Tsiolkas & Dan Giovannoni, Malthouse Theatre)
Highly commended
The Dictionary of Lost Words (adapted by Verity Laughton, State Theatre Company South Australia)
Nosferatu (Keziah Warner, Currency Press, commissioned by Malthouse Theatre)
Telethon Kid (Alistair Baldwin, commissioned by Malthouse Theatre)
Poetry ($25,000)
the body country (Susie Anderson, Hachette)
Chinese Fish (Grace Yee, Giramondo)
Kangaroo Paw (Claire Miranda Roberts, Vagabond)
Writing for young adults ($25,000)
A Hunger of Thorns (Lili Wilkinson, A&U Children’s)
The Quiet and the Loud (Helena Fox, Pan)
We Could Be Something (Will Kostakis, A&U Children’s)
Highly commended
We Didn’t Think It Through (Gary Lonesborough, A&U Children’s)
Unpublished manuscript ($15,000)
‘Garbage’ (Hayley Elliott-Ryan)
‘Laughing River’ (N J Madden)
‘Panajachel’ (Rachel Morton).
Booker Prize 2023
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch has been named the winner of the Booker Prize 2023. Receiving a prize of £50,000, Paul Lynch was presented with his trophy at a ceremony held in London on Sunday, November 26.
Congratulations to those writers longlisted for the 2024 Indie Book Awards, presented by Leading Edge Books
Fiction
Lola in the Mirror (Trent Dalton, Fourth Estate)Restless Dolly Maunder (Kate Grenville, Text)
The Seven (Chris Hammer, A&U)
Edenglassie (Melissa Lucashenko, UQP)
The Hummingbird Effect (Kate Mildenhall, Scribner)
Homecoming (Kate Morton, A&U)
God Forgets About the Poor (Peter Polites, Ultimo)
Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect (Benjamin Stevenson, Michael Joseph)
The Bookbinder of Jericho (Pip Williams, Affirm)
Stone Yard Devotional (Charlotte Wood, A&U)
Non-fiction
Bright Shining (Julia Baird, Fourth Estate)The Man Who Wasn’t There (Dan Box, Ultimo)
Showing Up (Nedd Brockmann, S&S)
The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse (Peter FitzSimons, Hachette)
Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s invisible life (Anna Funder, Hamish Hamilton)
Best Wishes (Richard Glover, ABC Books)
The Queen Is Dead (Stan Grant, Fourth Estate)
The Remarkable Mrs Reibey (Grantlee Kieza, ABC Books)
Killing for Country: A family story (David Marr, Black Inc.)
Heartbake (Charlotte Ree, A&U)
Debut fiction
The Collected Regrets of Clover (Mikki Brammer, Penguin)Fed to Red Birds (Rijn Collins, S&S)
The House of Now and Then (Jo Dixon, HQ Fiction)
Green Dot (Madeleine Gray, A&U)
The Visitors (Jane Harrison, Fourth Estate)
Duck à l’Orange for Breakfast (Karina May, Macmillan)
Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder (Kerryn Mayne, Bantam)
At the Foot of the Cherry Tree (Alli Parker, HarperCollins)
Salt River Road (Molly Schmidt, Fremantle)
Things That Matter Most (Gabbie Stroud, A&U)
Illustrated nonfiction
Paul Bangay (Paul Bangay, T&H)The Year I Met My Brain (Matilda Boseley, Penguin Life)
The Milkwood Permaculture Living Handbook (Kirsten Bradley, Murdoch)
The New Modernist House (Patricia Callan, T&H)
The Bird Art of William T Cooper (Wendy Cooper, National Library of Australia)
Bush Flowers (Cassandra Hamilton & Michael Pavlou, T&H)
Getting to Know the Birds in Your Neighbourhood: A field guide (Darryl Jones, NewSouth)
A Seat at My Table: Philoxenia (Kon Karapanagiotidis, Hardie Grant Books)
Good Life Growing (Hannah Moloney, Affirm)
Songs from the Kitchen Table (Archie Roach & Ruby Hunter, S&S)
Children’s
If I Was a Horse (Sophie Blackall, Lothian)
Australian Animals: From beach to bush (Brentos, Affirm)
The Lonely Lighthouse of Elston-Fright: An Elston-Fright tale (Reece Carter, A&U Children’s)
Walk with Us: Welcome to Our Country (Adam Goodes & Ellie Laing, illus by David Hardy, A&U Children’s)
The 169-Storey Treehouse (Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton, Pan)
Neil, the Amazing Sea Cucumber (Amelia McInerney, illus by Lucinda Gifford, Affirm)
The Impossible Secret of Lillian Velvet (Jaclyn Moriarty, A&U Children’s)
Silver Linings (Katrina Nannestad, ABC Books)
Kimmi (Favel Parrett, Hachette)
Millie Mak the Maker (Alice Pung, illus by Sher Rill Ng, HarperCollins)
Young adult
Saltwater Boy (Bradley Christmas, Walker Books)
Grace Notes (Karen Comer, Lothian)
The Lorikeet Tree (Paul Jennings, A&U Children’s)
Welcome to Sex (Melissa Kang & Yumi Stynes, Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing)
The Isles of the Gods (Amie Kaufman, A&U Children’s)
We Could Be Something (Will Kostakis, A&U Children’s)
Some Shall Break (Ellie Marney, A&U Children’s)
The Sinister Booksellers of Bath (Garth Nix, A&U Children’s)
Stuck Up & Stupid (Angourie Rice & Kate Rice, Walker Books)
Robert Runs (Mariah Sweetman, Magabala).Events
GenreCon
23-25 February 2024
State Library of Queensland
The Bondi Literary Salon - Prophet Song by Paul Lynch6.45pm - 8.45pm Tuesday 12 March 2024
Gertrude & Alice Café, shop 2/46 Hall St, Bondi Beach NSW 2026
Bonnie Garmus: Lessons in Chemistry
Sunday 26 May, 2pm | Sydney Town Hall
Bonnie Garmus will be at Sydney Town Hall to share insights into her runaway hit Lessons in Chemistry. After a male colleague took credit for her work, Bonnie Garmus channelled her rage into the unforgettable protagonist of Lessons in Chemistry Elizabeth Zott – a chemist-turned-celebrity cook who surreptitiously teaches housewives to subvert the status quo.
Writing Opportunities
31 Dec: Letter Review Prize
The Letter Review Prize for Short Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Unpublished Books is awarded every two months, offering a yearly prize pool of $30,000 USD, and publication for the winners.
27 January 2024: Local Word Writing Prize
One entry of up to 3000 words is welcome from emerging and established writers in prose fiction and creative nonfiction.The winner of the prize will receive: a prize of $2000; a one-hour mentoring session with a Deakin University writing practitioner; publication on GRLC’s website and announcement in GRLC’s e-newsletter. Commended writers will receive a prize of $250; publication on GRLC’s website and announcement in GRLC’s e-newsletter.
9 February 2024: Bundanon Group Writers Residency
This week-long retreat at Bundanon Homestead will allow eight emerging or established South Coast writers to focus on developing or completing works. While participants will be primarily spending their days working on individual projects, this retreat is also designed as a supportive group retreat that will enable writers to work and learn together as a writing community.
9 April 2024: Creative Australia - travel funding
Individuals or international literary organisations may apply to support authors and illustrators to travel to attend events and activities associated with publication and promotion of their work in international markets. The proposal should include a program of activities designed to engage international readers. This funding may assist with international air fares and other travel costs associated with participation in literary festivals, book tours or other promotional events.
Open submission:The School Magazine
The School Magazine is taking submissions for very short stories, plays and nonfiction, especially for younger readers.
What is Thursday Book Club?
Thursday Book Club is a relaxed, friendly book club connecting readers online. We meet on Zoom from 8 - 8.30pm. There are no scheduled books to read: we simply chat about books we like & books we’re reading. Once a month, I interview a guest writer.
Author Alan Gold will be our first guest for 2024 when he joins us on 22 February 2024
Zoom in as you can – it doesn’t matter if you’re late or have to leave early. Just join my Zoom conference room between 8pm and 8.30pm (between 10am and 10.30am if you're in central Europe) by clicking on this link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/8521042343
If prompted, here are the details to manually enter:
Meeting ID:852 104 2343
Password 886 196
Thursday Book Club Recommendations My recommendation
Lullaby by Leila Slimani
Your recommendations
Noela A
The Paris Cooking School by Sophie Beaumont
Mrs Winterbottom Takes a Gap Year by Joanna Nell
Suzanne R
The Deceptions by Suzanne Leal
Scrublands by Chris Hammer
Home Fires by Fiona Lowe
The Last Letter From Your Lover by Jojo Moyes
Lowbridge by Lucy Campbell
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
Katrina D
Podcast:The Rest is History
Documentary: Ben Roberts-Smith Truth on Trial (Stan)
Take care,
Suzanne
PS. Would you like me to drop in to your book club?
If your book club has chosen to read The Watchful Wife, The Deceptions, The Teacher’s Secret or Running With Ivan, I’d be delighted to attend your meeting by Zoom (whether your group is meeting online or gathering together in person) to answer any of your questions. To schedule a date, please email me here.
JOIN BOOK CLUB ON ZOOM
My new novel, The Watchful Wife, is out now You can buy it from Allen & Unwin here or at your favourite bookshop.
You can buy Running with Ivan here
You can buy The Deceptions and The Teacher’s Secret
directly from my publisher here:
Kindle version
Paperback
*****Enter the code THURSDAYBOOKCLUB at the checkout at Abbey's for a 15% discount on my novels, The Watchful Wife, The Teacher's Secret, The Deceptions and Running With Ivan.
The Deceptions Paperback
Audible QUESTIONS? EMAIL ME You can buy
The Watchful Wife, The Deceptions,
The Teacher’s Secret
and
Running With Ivan
online and from your favourite bookshops, including https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/the-deceptions-suzanne-leal-9781760875275.do
https://www.gleebooks.com.au/product/deceptions-the/
https://www.gertrudeandalice.com.au/product/the-deceptions/
Booktopia
Suzanne Leal | suzanne@suzanneleal.com |
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