BOOKGROUP AWARDS 2006

Have you voted yet?

BOOKGROUPER	BEST BOOK	WORST BOOK
ROS	Carry Me Down	The Secret River
MARGARET	The Book Thief	Bad Faith
STELLA	????	?????
JANE	????	????
MOY	?????	??????
PAT R	????	????
CLAIRE	????	????
PATRICIA	????	????
SUE W	????	????
SUE W	????	????
CARMEL	????	????

VOTE FOR BEST BOOK/ WORST BOOK OF 2006

Make your selections from the following list for best/ worst:
Time Traveller's Wife
History of Tractors in Ukranian
The Accidental
We Need to Talk about Kevin
The Kite Runner
March
Bad Faith
Secret River
Kafka by the Shore
Book Thief
Carry Me Down.

Click on 'comment' to reply - specially our absent friends!

Reporting in on the November meeting.

No December meeting of course, Merry Christmas to all.

Next book is The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai, and we will meet at Jane's house, on 28 January 2007.

The copies I have seen of the paper back are green - this must be the hardcover version.

The February book will be Mister Pip by the New Zealand writer Lloyd Jones (text publishing) It is set during the Bougainville blockade.

Here's a review:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20677237-5003900,00.html



The discussion of Carry Me Down went well, with varied responses. Ros voted it her best book of 2006, while some others found the main character unconvincing, and did not believe it was a serious Booker contender. Everyone agreed that MJ Hyland writes well.

Everyone agreed that Stella's food was great, and begged for recipes. These should set us up for the Xmas season:

Katie's Brownies ........... mmmmmmm

180g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
330 g dark good quality cooking chocolate
3 eggs
270g (1 1/2 cups) caster sugar
90g (3/4 cup) plain flour.
handful of walnuts, raising or currants, chopped in food processor.

Preheat overn to 175. Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler. Place the eggs and sugar into a mixing bowl and whip until they are light, fluffy and pale in colour. Add the melted chocolate to whisked egg & sugar mixture. Stir well to combine. Add the sifted flour and the chopped walnuts/ fruit and stir well.

Pour into a lightly buttered 25 cm x 30 x 30 cm baking tray lined with parchment paper (don't skimp). Smooth out using a spatula or knife. Bake for 30 - 35 mins until skewer in centre comes out clean (often a good deal longer). Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tray before cutting into squares and serving, sprinkled with icing sugar.

Prunes in white wine
Soak prunes overnight in white wine. Add zest of orange and chopped rosemary. Mix well and serve in with cheese platter.


Cream cheese with Capsicum Jam
Cook chopped red capsicum slowly with vinegar, dash of tabasco sauce and brown sugar until mixture starts to become sticky. Watch carefully!

Allow to cool a little and pour over round of philadelphia cream cheese. Serve with water biscuits or similar.

NOTE: Stella doesn't measure, so you're on your own with the quantities.

January 2007

The Booker Prize Winner - The Inheritance of Loss by Kirin Desai.

Have a think about your best book of 2006 for next meeting at Stella's place - last meeting of the year.

We all admired Markus Zusak's virtuoso writing in The Book Thief ( even Sue, who thought the Death conceit was a bit overdone in places!) We all admired Markus Zusak himself, interviewed by Caroline Baum on the ABC and videod by Stella. Some are vowing to follow up his Young Adult Fiction titles.

Emergency Sex - now on the stage at STC.


Only $10 to see a play based on the book we read last year, Emergency Sex and other desperate measures.
Next weekend.

Wharf 2LOUD
Imagine winning a prestigious award then hearing from the custodians of the prize that they refuse to be associated with your work on the basis of its 'pornographic' subject matter.

Imagine your boss sending you into war-torn battlefields, only to threaten you with disciplinary action when you attempt to recount the truth of your time there.

These were the experiences of the writers behind the next Wharf 2LOUD Push.

PUSH #5 STRANGE FRUIT
Writer Juliet Lamont Director Wayne Blair With Patrick Dickson, Jody Kennedy, Bojana Novakovic
3 SHOWS ONLY - Thursday 26 - Saturday 28 October 8:15pm

PUSH #6 EMERGENCY SEX (AND OTHER DESPERATE MEASURES)
Writer Damien Millar Director Chris Mead With Ewen Leslie, Belinda McClory, Rhys Muldoon Based on the book by Kenneth Cain, Heidi Postlewait and Andrew Thomson
3 SHOWS ONLY - Thursday 2 - Saturday 4 November 8:15pm

ALL TICKETS $10 or see PUSH #5 and PUSH #6 for only $15

Wharf 2
Book Now (02) 9250 1777
wharf2loud.com

WHARF 2LOUD is supported by UBS

More Sugar Art

Ned Kelly's Courtroom scene snapped at Beechworth in the heart of Kelly Country recently.

Not as good as Moy's work. And it needed the whole Wodonga branch of the Cake Decorators to do it.

Regards
Patricia

PS. I'm liking The Book Thief a lot.

November (Xmas) Book Group
Will be at Stella's place and the book is 'Carry me Down' by PJ Hyland.

Lots of talk on the Murakami - very stimulating and a bit challenging. One that perhaps we wouldn't have tackled without the book group and we were glad we did.

October Meeting is at Margaret Lackenby's place at Kirribilli.

We are reading a book by Markus Zusak, The Book Thief. Here is a Review from the New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/27/books/27masl.html?ex=1301115600&en=27f7ef5024b19445&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss


Remember that the September book meeting is at Sue Woods house at Seven Hills, where will be talking about Kafka on the Shore.

Book Club news: Sue's son Chris is engaged; Moy has sold her house; it's the new fashion to wear an arm sling or a finger stall.

Follow-up on August meeting - Great meeting at Ros's place. Everyone wanted the recipe for the Lumberjack Cake and the Passionfruit Cake so here they are! Energetic discussion on Kate Grenville's The Secret River.

Response from Kate Grenville

Dear Patricia, thank you so much for sending the info about your book group and especially the picture of the cake. It is WONDERFUL. How many writers have had their book immortalised in cake? I feel very privileged & fortunate. I really like the sound of your group (I like your comment that men visited but didn't stay!) & suspect that 10 years might be some kind of record. Please tell Moy that I think she's immensely talented - although I'm sure she already knows that.
Great idea to have the sculpture used to promote book groups - and as you mention I'd love to use it too - I have a website( with a page for readers groups about the Secret River) and plan to update it soon. I'd planned to put up the pic of me meeting the Queen ( as part of the Commonwealth prize) but would love to have a pic of the cake there too just to complete the worldview! My agent wasn't able to forward the pic - would it be possible for you to send it to me directly?
I like the little piece about the bookgroup that you included - engaging & witty & inspiring. Congratulations on everything.
Warmest wishes
Kate

September book group meeting at Sue Wood's

By the way, on Betty's recommendation, the next book choice, after The Secret River, is Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakawi. Betty also recommended bookbrowse.com for book information. Kafka on the Shore appears VERY controversial in the SMH/AGE reviews. More reviews at:

http://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm?book_number=1540

For the 15th anniversary, Moy did a photo album. Remember when we all dressed up in 1986 clothes for the 1996 celebration? Remember when we were Leaning to Infinity in the spirit of the Sue Woolfe book.

From the 10th anniversary celebration, where Moy made these wonderful cakes, based on some of our recent books at that time.

 

20th Anniversary Weekend at Blue Bay
Moy, the artist with her wonderful cake. The chocolate cake was tasty too.
Cake (clockwise from 1 o'clock) Clare, Betty, Patricia (with wine bottle), Sue, Moy (the artist), Stella (the scribe), Ros (the constant hostess) and Jane.
At Blue Bay, Clare and Margaret couldn't come, Pat Rayner was there.

August Bookgroup: The Secret River by Kate Grenville.

I've bought a copy. Ros has Hornsby Library copy.

Here's a review.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/reviews/the-secret-river/2005/07/08/1120704543439.html

JULY book is Carmen Callil's book Bad Faith: A Forgotten History of Family and Fatherland.

There's an interview by Jill Kitson here on the ABC bookshow at:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2006/1650667.htm

That's at Stella's Beach House at Blue Bay (The Entrance) Its an overnight stay - last Saturday/ Sunday in July.

Another idea - Moy suggests that we all bring another book we have enjoyed, or a review, so that we can discuss other books too. Sounds excellent to me! Specially because this is such a BIG Event. Too big for one book.

Change of plan for the June book group meeting (the book March) - it's now at Clare's place, not Jane's.
I read March a while ago and was sufficiently interested to go back to reread Little Women.
And now its won the Pulitzer Prize.

Hi all

June meeting

At Jane's place

Book is March By Geraldine Brooks

Pulitzer Prize winner - fiction based on Little Women

Also planning for the 20th Anniversary Celebration.

Forward planning - 20 years of book group

Hi, Today we talked about The Accidental by Ali Smith. Generally agreed it was a well-written, clever book deserving of prizes/ nominations. Repaid study and thought. Most took a while to warm to it though and won't immediately be passing it round to everyone as a fun book as we did with Tractors in Ukranian.

April book We need to talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver will be at Stella's place; it's available in the 3 for 2 offers at Borders Bookstores.

So is the May book, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. He is an Afghani writer living in California. So if you buy the two, you can get one free! I got Gilead by Marilyn Richardson, on the strength of it winning the Pulitzer Prize in 2005, but there are some lighter offerings too. That is at Clare's place.

June meeting will be at Jane's place in Lindfield. No book yet.

July meeting is our TWENTY YEAR CELEBRATION. Overnight stay is planned at Stella's beach house at beautiful Blue Bay on Saturday 29th July. Put it in your diary now.

Pat R, Babette, Sue E - have you got this message?

Love
Pat

April Meeting
April 30th meeting will be at Stella's and the book is We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver. It is an Orange prize winner, and yes Lionel Shriver is a woman.

Change of Venue for March meeting
March 26 meeting will now be at my place (ie Patricia Strauss) as Stella will be away. Book is The Accidental by Ali Smith.

FEBRUARY MEETING - TRACTORS IN UKRANIAN - IS AT MOY'S PLACE.

The March book is The Accidental by Ali Smith and will be at Stella's place.

Pat

Hi
Sorry about the long absence.

TheFebruary book, Stella tells me, is A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, by Marina Lewycka. I got it for Christmas and read it in a day, and handed it on to various family and friends who immediately absented themselves from company until they had finished reading it. Men and women. A top holiday read. A kind book with interesting politics and characters. Look forward to talking about it. See a review at:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Reviews/Tractors-in-Ukrainian/2005/05/19/1116361670048.html