"FATHER BOB" - Book Signing

This is a wonderful opportunity not only to meet Father Bob but also to buy his book. This book signing will be a treat for the folk of the nearby foothills of the Dandenongs and visitors from elsewhere.

Your January diary must include a day out to the Hills. Wednesday 22 January at 2.00 pm will see Father Bob at Rainy Day Books, 1301 Mountain Highway, The Basin (telephone 9762 0862). 

Visit Father Bob at Rainy Day Books (the best little bookshop in the Hills), situated at the foot of the Dandenongs at 1301 Mountain Highway and Forest Road, at the roundabout in The Basin.

WALKING THE CAMINO WAY - A WOMAN'S 240 KILOMETRE PILGRIMAGE

This is an extraordinary story of a 64 year old Australian woman who took on the challenge of walking the Camino Way.    Her story of walking 240 kilometres is an inspiring one, and portrays her determination and resilience as well as courage in undergoing this walk.

If you're looking for a book that will inspire you, then you need look no further.   Contact Meryll for your copy.

EVIE and the EVERGREEN FOREST

Evie and the Evergreen Forest – Tamara Jarowyj.

Evie is a fairy who lives in the Evergreen Forest. She loves having fun with all the native animals and birds until one day the forest starts dying. There is just no water, but Evie and the wildlife save the day.

Delightfully drawn characters and a wonderful ecological message make this a great book for young children.

Available $15

SUMMER HOLIDAY READING

There is nothing nicer than long lazy days 

when you can start a new series of books 

and hopefully reach the end before your holidays finish.

Most people read a little at night when they are tired and sleepy but holidays are a different matter. You can start the day slowly with a good book, read over lunch, laze away the afternoon in a hammock with a book and a box of chocs and then because there is nothing worth watching on tv most nights you can finish the day with a good read.

The Elm Creek series by Jennifer Chiaverini are a heartwarming, friendly 13 book series set around a quilting school and the friends who run it. Lots of historical quilting information is sewn into tales of close female friendships.

Another of the same warm, friendly type is the Ladybug farm series by Donna Ball. Four retired women friends buy and renovate a lovely old house then launch a catering business.

A good time to start the Diana Gabaldon Outlander series. 7 books (so far) of a long family historical saga that starts in Scotland and moves to America.

I really enjoy a good murder mystery and the best way to get to know the main characters is to read the books in sequence. The development or degeneration of the detective is clearly seen in this way. Henning Mankel with his Wallander set, Kate Ellis with Wesley Petersen and the archaeology series, Simon Beckett’s great forensic anthropologist quartet, all show the development of the police main character.

Happy summer reading.

ONLY FOUR WEEKS TO GO!

I looked at the calendar this morning and realised it's only another four weeks until Christmas.   Have you made out your list of gifts as yet?   Have you decided on buying books for some of your family members and/or friends this year?


If you know their favourite authors or have some idea of the books these special people like, then email Meryll with requests and she'll do her best to get these books in as fast as she possibly can in time for Christmas.   She'll even give you the names of other authors who write in a similar way.   Don't leave it too long though, because time is at a premium.


For that matter, why not buy yourself a special book as a Christmas gift to yourself!  As the advertisement says, You're worth it!


I've just been introduced to a new author - Rebecca Tope who writes light, entertaining murder mysteries set in the beautiful Cotswolds (U.K.)   She's written a number in the series, and I first got to know her and her heroine Thea in book 4.   I'm now reading book 1, A Cotswold Killing.   They're easy to pick up and you don't necessarily have to start at book 1 - they're all deliciously self-contained!


Thea Osborne is the heroine, a 42 year old widow, who with her beloved cocker spaniel, goes house-sitting in one of many small villages.    Of course there's a body either in the garden, or in a pond, or in the house next door, but the secret is to find any clue that will lead you to the killer before the killer finds his/her way to Thea.

..... Rosemary (an avid reader and regular visitor to the bookshop)

Christmas Gift suggestion

Flying Over the Rainbow – Living in Australia 

- the Bird-Lover’s paradise 

by Liz Davies

A great book by a local author originally from the US. She is an avid bird fan of both wild and tamed birds and is totally in tune with her own birds and her bird visitors.

Lovely descriptions of the bush around her area and of her many contacts with the local bird life.

Many hilarious stories of encounters with cockatoos, parrots and also lyrebirds.

Her deep love of all birds and her sincere interest in wild life makes this very easy reading.

Would make a great Christmas gift

Book available now at Rainy Day Books $20

A good read!

Alys Clare   
Out of the Dawn Light (Severn House 2009) introduces Lassair, a 14-year-old girl in a Fenland village in 1087 England. Lassair has the gift of finding lost objects and dowsing for water, and is in training with her aunt to be a healer. But Lassair has more important things on her mind — will her friend Sibert ask her to dance even though her womanly shape refuses to emerge? William Rufus has just taken the throne after the death of William the Conqueror, and the common people are not happy with the harsh new regime. Lassair’s father is hard pressed to support his large family and comply with the demands of the Norman overlord. When Lassair’s older sister Goda, who delights in making everyone miserable, becomes pregnant with her first child, Lassair is sent to care for her. Sneaking out for the Midsummer Night festival, Lassair meets Romain, an attractive and wealthy stranger, who convinces her to set off on a quest with Sibert to find a mysterious object on the coast. Eager to escape Goda’s demands for a few days, and to finally see the ocean, Lassair agrees, though neither Romain nor Sibert will tell her anything about the object they are searching for. Treachery, murder, and the clash between the pagan gods and Christianity enliven this first in a series.

TODAY'S NEWS

Johanna Verweerd – THE WINTER GARDEN

Written by Holland’s most beloved Christian novelist.

After 15 years garden design artist, Ika receives a letter from her sister to say that her mother is dying. She moves back home to be with her and opens a Pandora’s box of memories and hurtful episodes. As her mother’s condition detiorates Ika tries to discover the secret of why she has always felt so unloved by her family.

 

THE BEE AND BEEKEEPING DISPLAY IN THE WINDOW looks lovely and bright with many interesting titles including:

Maya, the adventures of a bee – Waldemar Bonsels

The sweet life of bees – Sue Monk Kidd

Bee boles and bee houses – A M Foster  

The keeper of the bees – Gene Stratton-Porter

Bee season – Myla Goldberg

 

Looking forward to the new window we will be featuring gardening books about ferns and I am planning to bring from home a huge potted rabbit’s foot fern to show.

 

THE MAIN ITEM OF INTEREST in the shop at this time is an amazing rotating bookcase from the late 1800s complete with a 1877 ninth edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica. This is the final English edition before it transferred to the USA.

Two libraries have shown interest in this beautiful piece so come in quickly if you would like to see it.

Meryll’s latest reads!

Donna Ball

Keys to the castle

Light weight but satisfying romance set in a French chateau, with an English man and an American woman struggling over a complicated inheritance in a crumbling chateau. Written by the author of the Ladybug farm series.

 

Tony Kevin

Walking the Camino

A special interest of mine, I am fascinated by the Santiago pilgrimages, I will do this walk in another life. This interesting book covers the religious aspects, the solitude, the food and the travel descriptions. Written by an overweight, sedentary, 63 year old, former Australian diplomat.