May 6, 2008
Prizes, What to Read
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I mentioned the longlist, so I should point out that the short list for the Miles Franklin award has been released. These books seem to be everywhere. I found multiple copies of each of them at my new local bookstore this morning. Of course, I don’t buy new books that often - I just went in there to fondle them and remember what they smell like! So they are:
I have just run through the Librarything ratings for those books. There are only a couple of readers of each book. Landscape of Farewell and Sorry are both leading the chase with an average of 4 stars (both from 4 readers).
I was tempted to try to set up a bookcrossing ring for all of these books, as it is sort of a pity that I don’t read Australian fiction as much as I should. However, the judges mention they all are, in some way, non-linear and deal with the nature of time as one of their themes. Not my favourite type of reading, but talk about “expanding your reading horizons.”
March 26, 2008
Prizes
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The Miles Franklin Award* longlist has been released, and offers some great suggestions for reading new Australian fiction. Some of the nominees have been much-hyped, but there are others that are a bit unknown. If you haven’t read much Australian fiction, then this would be a great list to start with.
59 books were selected and the long list is 9 books. A short list will be announced on April 17, and the final winner will be announced on June 19. The Miles Franklin is awarded for “the novel of the year which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases.” Previous winners include Carpenteria (Alexis Wright), The Ballad of Desmond Kale (Roger McDonald), Eucalyptus (Murray Bail), Voss (Patrick White), and the winners list basically includes great Aussie literary fiction from the last 50 years.
The Nominees:
Landscape of Farewell - Alex Miller Allen & Unwin
Love without Hope - Rodney Hall Picador (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Orpheus Lost - Janette Turner Hospital Fourth Estate (HarperCollinsPublishers)
Secrets of the Sea - Nicholas Shakespeare Harvill Secker (Random House)
Sorry - Gail Jones Vintage (Random House Australia)
The Fern Tattoo - David Brooks University of Queensland Press
The Memory Room - Christopher Koch Knopf (Random House Australia)
The Time We Have Taken - Steven Carroll Fourth Estate (HarperCollinsPublishers)
The Widow and her Hero - Tom Keneally Vintage (Random House Australia)
*I must make a comment here, that the website for this award is very badly designed, so if anyone is listening, then PLEASE FIX IT! It is appalling that we have an Australian award that is most-likely being underpromoted because of poor technology. There is not even a feed for news from the award!
March 25, 2008
Prizes, What to Read, Why reading?
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I have been reading this years’ Booker shortlist, with a bookcrossing bookgroup. One of the books that I have enjoyed is Indra Sinha’s Animal’s People . It is the story of a town tormented by a chemical spill and the consequences for the town’s poor. The opinions of my virtual bookgroup can be read here. I thought the book was very powerful and I think it has broadened my reading experience. I suspect I wouldn’t have read it if it hadn’t have been for the list. IT si one of those novels written in a unique voice - difficult to start but rewarding to finish.
The novel is based around a real town that was devastated by chemical disaster, Khaufpur. Amazing as it sounds, I had never heard of this disaster at the time, and this book enabled me to learn a little about it. I find that lots of friends and family are quite interested in discussing the events in Khaufpur, and although the book doesn’t make me an expert, it gives me fresh conversational ammunition.
This week it was announced that Indra Sinha is the winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Europe and South Asia. I think this prize is an excellent way to get to reading novels from different regions. The regional winners act as a short list for the overall prize. So here are the winners for 2008:
Africa
Best Book: Karen King-Aribisala (Nigeria) The Hangman’s Game Peepal Tree Press
Best First Book: Sade Adeniran (Nigeria) Imagine This SW Books
Canada and Caribbean
Best Book: Lawrence Hill (Canada) The Book of Negroes HarperCollins Publishers
Best First Book: CS Richardson (Canada) The End of the Alphabet Doubleday Canada
Europe and South Asia
Best Book: Indra Sinha (India) Animal’s People Simon and Schuster
Best First Book: Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh) A Golden Age John Murray
South East Asia and South Pacific
Best Book: Steven Carroll (Australia) The Time We Have Taken HarperCollins
Best First Book: Karen Foxlee (Australia) The Anatomy of Wings University of Queensland Press