I hope all the Mums out there are having breakfast in bed or heading off to a decadent lunch or dinner that they didn’t have to cook! If you need a last minute present or feel like a relaxing browse through a bookstore this Mothers Day, we’re open from 10 am until 3 pm.
We’re getting very excited as our meet the author event with the lovely Poh is only a week away – Thursday 1 May at 2 pm. We’ve just received lots of copies of her new book Same Same But Different ready for the day and I thought those coming and those thinking of coming might be interested in this video I found with Poh talking about the new book.
This week the short list for The Stella Prize was announced. For those who aren’t aware 
of it, The Stella Prize celebrates the writing of Australian women. The prize came into being after concerns were raised in the Australian literary scene in 2011 regarding the disproportionate number of reviews of books in major Australian newspapers of books by men versus books written by women and the underrepresentation of women as winners of major literary prizes over the years including the Miles Franklin Prize for Literature. 
The winner of The Stella Prize receives a $50,000 cash prize and, for the first time in 2014, the other five shortlisted authors will also receive prize money of $2000. The Stella Prize is open to works of both fiction and nonfiction.
This year’s shortlist comprises three works of fiction and three of nonfiction: six great books by Australian women.
We are very excited to once again be hosting Jacqueline Harvey, the author of the Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose books. This time we have organised an afternoon tea with Jacqueline at our local cafe, Cuppa Cottage. The young fans will enjoy a milkshake and plate of goodies to eat as Jacqueline talks about Alice-Miranda’s latest adventure in bustling Tokyo and a little about the new Clementine Rose book due out on 1 April.
Copies of Alice-Miranda and Clementine Rose books will be available to purchase during the beginning and end of the afternoon tea, or, if you wish to avoid the rush you could pop in to our store and purchase your books before the event (Cuppa Cottage is just across the crossing and along the street from the bookstore). We also hope that we can arrange to have the new Clementine Rose and the Seaside Escape for sale before its official release date on 1 April.How to Book:
At the Store or By Phone
Visit Ulysses Bookstore at 33 Melrose Street, Sandringham, or phone us on 9521 8020 to make your booking.
Online
Tickets can be booked using our event booking site here: www.trybooking.com/76624
Unable to Attend?
For those unable to attend, you can order and pay for a copy of a particular book(s) prior to the event which we will have Jacqueline sign and you can pick up after the event has been completed. The message can be personalised with a child’s name if you wish.
Many of my customers will be aware that the we have been involved with the Bayside Literary Festival run by the Bayside Library Service over the last few years by providing the author’s books for sale. This year the library is running the programme over the year instead and Ulysses Bookstore will again provide bookselling services.
The launch of the Bayside Literary Series: Words by the Bay will be on Friday 14 February from 6pm. One of the guest speakers is Toni Jordan, author of Nine Days, Addition, and Fall Girl. Book Here
The first author event is on Sunday, 16 February at 2 pm and we are in for a treat with John Safran (Murder in Mississipi) and Father Bob Maguire (Father Bob: The Larrikin Priest) combining to talk about words and John will talk about his book. Book Here
One of my customers bought this book and came in to tell me how her three year old really thought she was doing magic. I found this youtube video of a child reading the book so I thought I would share it with you.
We had a great evening on Wednesday night with Krissy Nicholson, the 
author of “Tsunami and the Single Girl”. I hadn’t thought of the significance of the date, 11 September, until Krissy started her talk and connected the fact that we all knew what happened on September 11 2001 and the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York, but we didn’t know what happened on other dates over the years because these disasters were not in the Western world. Something to think about indeed.
She then talked eloquently about her experiences working in Sri Lanka after the boxing day tsunami of 2004, Pakistan, Uganda, and Papua New Guinea, and the challenges of cultural differences and attitudes. A lighter note was introduced with her funny stories of some of the romances she had along the way.
We also had an unexpected visitor – a beautiful 7 week old puppy about to go into training as a seeing eye dog. You might be able to spot it in the photo at the bottom of the page towards the back.
My thanks to Krissy, our customers that came and Krissy’s family who made it such an enjoyable evening.
Fathers’ Day is just around the corner on Sunday 1 September so we thought we would run a competition for all the children who come into the store.
Does your dad or grandad tell jokes to you that are supposed to be funny? Tell us the one you think is his best joke and you can go into the draw to win a book package.
To win, just print the entry form by clicking the link below, fill it in and drop it back to the store by 5 pm on Thursday 29th August. We’re going to put the ones we receive in the store’s window as part of our window display the last week before Fathers’ Day so walk past and check them out.
For a copy of the entry form, email us at ulyssesbookstore@bigpond.com
