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Month: November 2010

Christmas is Coming! What do I get the children?

School breaks up in just over two weeks (less for some schools) so if you are looking for some gift ideas for the children, here are a few suggestions:

For the under sixes:

How cute is the Wonkey Donkey.  The store has both the book and CD set as well as a gift pack which comes with book, CD and cute cuddly toy.

All Through the Year, a picture book by Jane Goodwin and Anna Walker, is a delightful story which tells the story of a year in the life of an Australian family so all the seasons are perfect for us downunder.

For the girls, we have a range of Fancy Nancy books complete with glitter covers, some beautiful fairy pop up books, as well as Precious Little about a little girl in a circus, and Angelina Ballerina’s Sleepover Party and Musical Theatre pop up books.

For the boys there is Graeme Base’s new book The Legend of the Golden Snail, Roadworks featuring all sorts of machinery as well as our pop up book, Amazing Big Marchines featured in the big photo above.

For everyone, there’s Nic Bland’s wonderful stories Twinkle, The Wrong Book, and The Very Itchy Bear, and I hope to have a gift set of The Very Cranky Bear in soon.

For the Older Children:

For our beginner and newly confident readers, the Billie B Brown series is a great introduction to chapter books for girls (well priced stocking filler!), the Great Big Enormous Book of Tashi with all 31 stories, Zac Power Spy Camp pack of five books and a stacker game for the budding spy.  Also available are the Zac Power compilation books Extreme Missions and Mega Missions that feature 4 books in one.

Seen the movie, now read the books:  In stock are the The Legend of Ga’hoole series both as individual books and a collection, The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and coming soon, the latest in the Narnia series to be made into a movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  Also on the shelves is the Lemony Snicket series of books that was made into the movie, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and of course, the Harry Potter books.

Other books that are popular with our younger people are Heroes of Olympus: The Lost Hero where we return to the world of Percy Jackson, and the latest in the Ranger’s Apprentice series, The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

We have a range of beautiful gift versions of the classic Roald Dahl books, The Wind in the Willows, The Secret Garden, The Muddle Headed Wombat, and Snugglepot and Cuddlepie to name a few.

Stuck for Ideas for Teens and Young Adults:
A common theme in books for this age group is where children have to take over the decision making. John Marsden’s Tomorrow, When the War Began is one such book as is Gone by Michael Grant. I really liked Genesis, the first book in a new science fiction series for 13 plus girls called Rosie Black Chronicles, which is an adventure set 500 years in the future and features strong female characters.   For the older teens, If I Stay  is a compelling read (for my review click here).
In the magical and supernatural genre for this age group, there is The Laws of Magic series by Michael Pryor, combining both magic and history and for older readers, Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series features a war between vampires and werewolves.  For the girls, Torment is Lauren Kate’s follow up to Fallen described as a gothic love story. For more information go to the author’s website here.
Don’t forget the children’s non fiction section in the store with books on a range of subjects such as: Whittakers World of Facts 2011, Ripley’s Believe It or Not: 2011, Richard Hammond Blast Lab: Bright Ideas, Dinosaur Diorama, Greek Myths, Big Book of Science Things to Make and Do and Double Daring Book for Girls to name a few.
Hope we see you soon.

Book Trailers – Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld

Many books, especially those for children and young adult readers are now being marketed with book trailers – like the previews before a movie.  The following trailer caught my eye this morning so I thought that I would share it with you.

It’s for a teenage fiction book called Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld.  Some may know Scott Westerfield for his Uglies series but this book and it’s sequel Behemoth sit in the “steampunk” genre and are aimed at the teenage market.

For those who don’t know what “steampunk” is, here’s a definition I found on the wikipedia website:

Steampunk involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era, Britain, that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology or futuristic innovations as Victorians may have envisioned them; in other words, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, art, etc. This technology may include such fictional machines as those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne or real technologies like the computer but developed earlier in an alternate history.

Who’s Story is That? New Biographies and Memoirs

Biographies and memoirs are a popular choice of reading material for my customers and we have a good range building up in the store.  Some that have caught my eye over the last few weeks are:

Even Silence Has to End, Ingrid Betancourt
9781844086122, Hachette Australia, $35.00
Who can forget the television coverage following the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt who had been held by a guerilla terrorist group in the Columbian jungle for six and a half years.  The world was amazed that she had survived, appalled at her story of the abuse and violence she had been subjected to, and sad for the years that she lost unable to watch her children growing up.  Betancourt is an example of the our natural instinct for survival and she tells her story in her memoir released in October this year.  You might want to check out some of this review in Guardian newspaper.


Memories of Spike Milligan, Norma Farnes
Harper Collins, $35.00

Heralded as brilliant and difficult in equal measure, Spike Milligan is one of the most prolific and mould-breaking writers of the twentieth century. Fantastically funny and incredibly talented, on his death in 2002, Spike left behind him one of the most diverse legacies in British entertainment history.
Creative, inspirational, and at times doggedly loyal, yet simultaneously famously tempestuous, treacherous and fickle, Spike was many things to many people. In Memories of Milligan Norma Farnes sets out to interview those who knew him best, amassing an array of personal memories from fellow performers and comedians, long time friends and former girlfriends. Compiled of intimate stories, small exchanges and habits that go into making up a relationship, be it personal or professional, Memories of Milligan captures another side to the performer′s public persona, to build a complete picture of one of the greatest British comic writers to date.


Ranging from interviews with fellow comedian, Barry Humphires, scriptwriters Glaton and Simpson, director Jonathan Miller, stalwart presenters Michael Palin and Terry Wogan, to comic geniuses such as Eric Sykes and producer George Martin, this original book encapsulates a moving portrait of a man who defied definition during his lifetime, but who is synonymous with a unique era in post-war entertainment.
 

Hey, You in the Black T-Shirt, Michael Chugg
Pan Macmillan Australia, $34.99

Michael Chugg was only fifteen years old when he began managing and promoting music in his hometown of Launceston, Tasmania. That was in 1962. Fast forward to the present, and “Chuggi”, as he is affectionately known, has been a pioneer in bringing the newest, biggest and baddest musical acts to Australia.  These include The Police, Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli and Sammy Davis Jr., Fleetwood Mac, R.E.M., Bon Jovi, Guns N Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kiss, Pearl Jam, and many more. Chuggi has developed a reputation as a hard-arse, often walking on stage to shout down the crowd or pull the talent into line. He also never minces words – writing in shocking detail about what goes on behind closed doors when big international acts come to town.



This honest, open and blunt expose of the underbelly of Australian music events is both hilarious and fascinating.

(Courtesy of the Pan Macmillan website)
 

Is That Thing Diesel?  Paul Carter
Allen & Unwin, $24.99

From the author who gave us “Don’t Tell Mum I work on the Rigs….”, comes a new adventure.   At forty years old, a successful writer, husband and father, no longer toiling on offshore drilling rigs, was Paul Carter happily nestled in the cotton wool of suburban life enjoying the fruits of his labour? Was he f**k!


With his manic life left far behind and the perfect opportunity to take it easy stretched before him what else would a middle-aged, bike obsessed, man want?

Yes, that’s right, he’d want to be the first guy to ride around Australia on an underpowered experimental motorcycle that runs on used cooking oil, wouldn’t he? Preferably without getting hit by a semi-trailer full of bridge parts. Is he out of his mind? Quite possibly.
Embark on a rollickingly, downright dangerous and often unhinged quest that starts on an environmentally friendly motorcycle built on a shoestring budget by students, and ends with a plan to break the motorcycle land speed record for bio fuel.
Carter is back to his old balls-to-the-wall style of writing, prepare to laugh out loud.

Come and support your local school or kinder at our Christmas buying day

As a new retailer in the Sandringham Village, I thought what could I do as our first event?  Well, I’ve decided that for those who like to get their Christmas shopping done early, the store will have a Christmas buying day next week in support of our local schools and kinders.

Nominate a local school or kinder from our list, and 10% of what you spend will be donated in the form of a gift voucher to buy books for their library.

The day we’ve decided on is Thursday 18th November 2010, so put it in your diary.

We’ll be staying open late until 8:30 p.m. so that you can come down without the children and shop at leisure if you wish.

See you then.

For the Julia Donaldson Fans

For all the customers who have asked me about stocking Julia Donaldson’s picture books, I now have some in store.  Julia Donaldson is probably known for her books The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child which were illustrated by Axel Scheffler, and as well as these, the store now has two other books by the same team.

Zog
HB, $27.99

Zog is the keenest dragon in school, but will he ever win a golden star.  At Zog’s school he must learn to fly, roar, breathe fire, capture princesses and fight knights. But whenever he gets a bump or a scrape, a mysterious little girl is always there to nurse him better. Perhaps Zog  has a different destiny after all . . .

Tiddler
HB $27.99, PB $15.99, Board book $12.99

The smallest fish can tell tales …
“Sorry I’m late, Miss.  I set off really early
But on the way to school I was captured by a squid.
I wriggled and I struggled till a turtle came and rescued me.”
“Oh, no, he didn’t” “OH, YES, HE DID.”

Do you believe Tiddler’s story?

Welcome to Ulysses Bookstore’s News and Events

Hi everyone.  Welcome to our new blog, featuring book news, bookstore events, and other information you might be interested in.  You can access the latest posts to Tracey’s book review blog, baysidereader.blogspot.com, by clicking on the links on the right of the page. 

Feel free to pass the link on to your friends and family and next time you are in Sandringham, pop in and say hello.

Tracey