September not only marks the beginning of spring, but also one the largest nationwide celebration of books: Get Reading! month.
If you’ve been to a local bookshop, you might have noticed the Get Reading! stickers on some of their books. These books are listed in the booklet 50 Books You Can’t Put Down, and if you buy a copy you’ll also get a free book!
Last year, the Get Reading! list included a few romance titles. This year, you’ll find Karly Lane’s romantic suspense novel, North Star, on the list. You might remember Lane as a panelist at this year’s Australian Romance Readers Convention.
Although not romance, the list includes titles that many genre readers will be familiar with, such as Suzanne Collins’s hugely popular The Hunger Games. This dystopian teen book is a fast-paced, unputdownable read and features a reality TV fight to the death. Be warned: it features a love triangle, which is not resolved until the third book.
As promised, we’re giving away a signed copy of this awesome book by Melina Marchetta. (My author crush. I’d ask you not to tell her, but she probably already knows, because I’ve spoken to her twice—very briefly—and was almost incoherent both times. I tried to compose myself, but it was just impossible.)
Aaaanyway. You want this book. You really do. Trust me.
BOOK GIVEAWAY: For a chance to win a SIGNED copy of THE PIPER’S SON, tell us your favourite song by a band and why. (Thanks to @SnarkyWench for suggesting the question!)
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Today is National Bookshop Day, celebrating the contribution of local booksellers and suppliers to the community and to literacy. Although most romance readers probably won’t have a romance specialist in their local area, most Australian romance bookshops are pretty great at taking orders over the phone or online.
I’ve put together a list of Aussie bookshops that are romance-friendly. I’ve highlighted those that have been particularly supportive of Australian romance readers by sponsoring reader and author events and conventions and the ARRA newsletter. If you’re thinking of buying a book today, I encourage you to support them.
Did I miss your favourite romance-friendly shop? Let me know!
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Last weekend I went to Melbourne for the R*BY awards, but I thought I’d let you in on some of the things I heard and experienced which I think would be of interest to other readers. You can find all my photos on Flickr.
Anna Campbell now with Grand Central
Anna Campbell has changed US publishers. Her next book will be published with Grand Central, which is part of the Hachette group. She will still be published under HarperCollins in Australia. I had a chat with her about the Australian format for her books (C format, which costs about $30 retail), but I’m not sure if the change will have an impact on the Australian editions.
Dymocks trade stall
The trade stall by sponsor Dymocks (234 Collins St), managed by the lovely Helen, was fantastic. They arranged books in bookshelves and had couches and seating set up for browsing. It was lovely and cosy and so entirely appropriate for a romance convention.
Plenary session – Publishing panel
I heard separately from two people who attended the Saturday morning plenary session featuring representatives from various publishers. The impression I got was that the Australian (non-romance specialist) publishers were very reluctant to even say ‘romance’ and that they didn’t want to know who ends up with whom in the first page.
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Photo: Kat
Last night, as part of National Science Week, Ultimo Library hosted a talk by fantasy author Maria V. Snyder on ‘Storms & magic: controlling the forces of.. fiction’.
Around twenty people ducked out of work early and braved the rain to attend, with library patrons stopping by once in a while to catch snippets of the talk. Although Snyder’s presentation—which she had previously given at the Library of Congress—focused on writing craft, her personal anecdotes made it an interesting albeit rather nerdy hour.
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Last Saturday, the Romance Writers of Australia (RWA) held their annual R*BY (Romantic Book of the Year) awards dinner to honour the best books written by Australian romance authors.
Historical romance author Anne Gracie was given a standing ovation as she accepted her honorary life member award.
The R*BY in the Short and Sweet category went to Melanie Milburne for The Doctor’s Rebel Knight. Lindsay Armstrong took out the Short and Sexy category for The Socialite and the Cattle King. The R*BY in the Long Romance was awarded to Sophia James for her historical novel One Unashamed Night, featuring a blind hero. Romantic suspense author Helene Young won the R*BY for Romantic Elements with her debut novel, Wings of Fear.
The ROMA Award (Romance in the media) was awarded Simon Royal for The Changing Face of Romance (Stateline, ABC South Australia, 28/8/2010), featuring various Australian romance writers and interviews with people in the romance industry.
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The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta
I’ve made up my mind. This is my favourite Melina Marchetta book. If my house caught fire, I’d probably grab it on the way out.
We have a signed copy of The Piper’s Son to give away. We’ll post details of the giveaway this week, so watch this space!
Last year I declared Saving Francesca as my favourite young adult book, but that’s not totally accurate. It’s my favourite teen novel. The Piper’s Son is a little more grown-up, and in this book, Melina Marchetta moves more firmly into young adult territory.
I was crying before I got to the end of chapter one, right through to the end, and I loved every minute of it.
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Photo: svilen001 (via Flickr)
Kelley Armstrong events
Thu, Aug 11 — Sun, 14 — Romance Writers Conference
Mon, Aug 15 — Dymocks Collins St, 6.30pm
Tue, Aug 16 — Galaxy Bookshop, 5.30pm
Wed, Aug 17 — Dymocks George Street, 12.30pm
(Source: Media release)
Maria V. Snyder — Updated list of public events
Thu, Aug 4 — Byron Bay Writers Festival, 11am – 11.45am: Vampires VS Gritty Realism
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Source: stockxchng
Remember that exciting news I mentioned on Twitter last week? It’s been difficult not to spill the beans, but now I can finally officially welcome Envyious to our team of regular bloggers at Book Thingo!
I’ve been thinking of inviting more people to join our group of regular bloggers for a while now, but it wasn’t until I looked at all my unread review copies that I realised there was no way Decadence, Wandergurl and I could possibly get through them. Plus, I’ve known for a while that we needed another blogger whose reading palette includes books that the three of us wouldn’t typically select.
Some of you may know Envious from Twitter, or you may have met her at ARRC, and if so you would know that she’s an avid reader, works for a bookshop, and writes entertaining reviews. (She was a finalist in the Readers Challenge for ARRC 2011 with her review of Dream Master by Maggie Nash.)
As a bonus, Envyious is based in Melbourne, so hopefully we can cover more events outside of Sydney.
But most of all, she’s totally awesome and we’re very excited to have her on board! Her first review goes up tomorrow, so watch this space. In the meantime, feel free to throw some virtual cheers her way. :D
