Staff pick: Rachel Clarke's "Dear life"

You can find this book here.

I just finished this wonderful book.

Rachel Clarke is a palliative care doctor working in NHS in England. The book describes how she came to that specialty and what she has learnt from her patients, their families and her colleagues. Her father, a GP, gets cancer and eventually is in need of palliative care himself. I would love to have her as my doctor if the need arose.

I smiled & wept throughout this book which brought me back to some difficult memories but ultimately it was life affirming. 

The last line from Philip Larkin's poem 'An Arundel Tomb' is quoted towards the end.....

"What will survive of us is love."

-- Wendy

How to ... cloudLibrary!

Just a quick post for all you out there who might want a little help with cloudLibrary.

• The first tip is to make sure that if you use cloudLibrary on multiple devices (laptop, tablet, phone, etc.) that you always log in the same way. What this means is that if the first time you created your account you typed in C111111D, then you always need to remember to add the C and D when logging in the next time. 

• We also have a lot of videos on the website here that might help you if you get stuck with anything technically. Try them out!

• You are able to borrow, put items on hold (or reserve) and renew items just like if you were with us in person! The limit for borrowing is generally three (3) items at a time and the length of borrowing is three (3) weeks.

• Items can automatically return themselves ... there are no overdue fines! However, that means if it has disappeared from your account that you will need to re-borrow it if you haven't finished that lengthy tome. 

Jay Kristoff’s “Lifel1k3”

This book can be found here.

‘Lifel1k3’ (or 'Lifelike') is the first in Kristoff's new young adult, dystopian series. As a note, I think the genre really works and the level of writing that Kristoff offers makes this dystopic future believable and realistic. It is gritty and dark and the language that is littered through is stunning, true cert. Though he did describe Ezekiel’s eyes the same way almost every time I was reading about Evie looking into them. You might get bored of that.

The novel centres on a character called Eve who when fighting a machina in WarDome is found to be able to fry electrics. From this moment on she is hunted by multiple factions, including the Brotherhood (the religious order of the day who want to kill her for being impure) and Daedalus (a large corporation of two that controls society so that their way of life and business may continue). Amidst trying to deal with all of this, Eve is confronted by an android called Ezekiel, who challenges everything she has grown up knowing whilst trying to help her save her captured grandfather.

I found the characters very solid and believable. I think Eve was well-done and I think the secondary characters were fun and strong enough to hold their own in the novel. The secondary characters are also given a stronger focus in the second novel; so if you really enjoy them, persevere and read the series!

It is fast and furious (and vehicles do play a nice part); and I also like the dire vision of the future that is played throughout. Kristoff also writes with great depth and has some solid moments of humour.

This is suited for a young adult audience, but if you don’t like gore or swearing, then don’t read it. If you like a mix of grit, humour and solid battle scenes, then read this book!

Links for you:

Jay Kristoff in the library:

Stormdancer ; Lotus wars 1

Kristoff in cloudLibrary:

Aurora rising ; Aurora Cycle 1

Nevernight ; Nevernight Chronicle 1

Author read-a-likes in the Library:

Red Queen ; Red Queen series 1

Victoria Aveyard

Aveyard was chosen because she writes strong rebellious characters and teenage relationships . The work is also dystopic.

Ninth house ; Alex Stern 1

Leigh Bardugo

Bardugo was chosen for the author’s world-building detail and creating characters that are flawed.

Havenfall ; Havenfall 1

Sara Holland

Holland was chosen for her detailed world-building and strong female characters.

Author read-a-likes in cloudLibrary:

Throne of glass ; Throne of glass 1

Sarah J Maas

House of earth and blood ; Crescent city 1

Sarah J Maas

Sarah J Maas has been chosen not just because of the genre connection; but because of how the author world-builds: detailed and descriptive.

Film Review - 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'

Based on Roald Dahl’s children’s novel, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is a 2009 stop-motion film directed by Wes Anderson.

The film is highly visual and features a great level of detail. Compared to modern animation, stop-motion adds an artistic element. There is a nuanced quality, where things are not quite perfect, but that’s what separates it from other animated films.

Mature themes are incorporated into the story arc and this makes the film enjoyable for adults and kids alike.

The film was nominated for numerous awards, including two Oscars and a Golden Globe.

 

 

The Movie Club will be screening “Fantastic Mr Fox” on Wednesday 10 January 6pm sharp at Narellan Library. Tea, coffee and biscuits provided, BYO snacks are more than welcome. Stay after the screening for a short discussion about the film. See the discussion questions to get some ideas.

Film Review - 'Scrooged'

Based on Charles Dicken’s classic, ‘A Christmas Carol’, Scrooged is a 1988 interpretation starring Bill Murray as the scrooge Frank Cross. Frank is a big-shot TV executive who is about to learn the meaning of Christmas from three ghosts.

The film has been criticised for not having enough ‘Christmas spirit’, however, this may be done on purpose to contextualise the story for a contemporary audience.

 

‘Scrooged’ succeeds in pulling off a humorous and current adaptation of the classic Christmas story, however, it cannot be compared to the traditional ‘A Christmas Carol’.

The Movie Club will be screening ‘Scrooged’ on Wednesday 13 December, 6pm sharp at Narellan Library. Tea, coffee and biscuits provided, BYO snacks are more than welcome. Stay after the screening for a short discussion about the film. See the discussion questions to get some ideas.