Do you ever go into book shops and become overwhelmed with choices? I do. Mainly because my budget doesn’t allow me to buy everything I want to, nor does time allow me to read all the books that are begging me to buy them!
I hope that the next few posts might be able to help.
I’ve asked a few author mates to give me one of either their Top Five picks for 2011 OR the five books they’ll be giving as Christmas presents.
Charlotte Wood
Charlotte Wood
Charlotte Wood who write this this year’s release Animal People (received with much acclaim) has chosen her Top Five of 2011
- The Transit of Venus, Shirley Hazzard
- The Life, Malcolm Knox
- The Forgotten Waltz, Anne Enright
- The Professor and Other Writings, Terry Castle
- Man with a Blue Scarf: On Sitting for a Portrait by Lucien Freud, Martin Gayford
Helene Young
Helene Young
Helene Young top 2011 picks are:
- Memoir: Ahn Do’s The Happiest Refugee A witty, wry, warm look at life told in Ahn Do’s inimitable fashion.
- Fiction : The Book Thief, Markus Zusack This is still my favourite book for 2011. I laughed, I cried, I cheered, I cried, I empathised, and I cried some more. It may be on the literary lists (which normally make me shy away from recommending books as presents), but it is so much more than that.
- YA : Hunting Elephants, James Roy I had the pleasure of hearing James Roy speak at the Gloucester Writers Festival early in the 2011. His books are as entertaining as he it, but most importantly they touch on issues that our children are grappling with and demystify them.
- Cookbook: Supper at The Victorian Room Sumptuous but simple, with gorgeous photos. I’m always a sucker for beautiful cookbooks and this one is a visual feast.
- Poetry : Out of Australia, David Delaney. Australian Bush Poems are finally starting to gain more recognition and so they should. This is David’s at times amusing at times poignant take on Australia.
Kerry Greenwood
Kerry Greenwood
Kerry Greenwood is a fellow A&U author and the creator of the fabulous, The Honourable Phryne Fisher, and Corinna Chapman, baker and reluctant investigator. Her latest novel is Cooking the Books in the Corinna Chapman series. Her Phryne Fisher series will be able to be seen on ABC TV around March/April of next year!
“I don’t actually have five books, but I do recommend Snuff by Terry Pratchett, Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason (an Icelandic police procedural, perfect for an Australian summer, it’s so cold!) and Picadilly Jim, a reprint of an old Wodehouse which is part of a general reprint of the whole oevre, nothing could be better! Also, Georgette Heyer, a superb biography of the writer by Jennifer Kloester.”
Mark Abernethy
Mark Abernethy
Mark Abernethy, is also a fellow A&U author and his thriller books must be compared to Lee Child, Dan Brown and Tom Clancy has shared what he WANTS for Christmas!
- The Street Sweeper, Elliot Perlman: I’ve never read Perlman but this one looks intriguing. Could be a summer brain-twister.
- Hiroshima Nagasaki, Paul Ham: Australia had a pivotal role in the events of Japan’s defeat and proconsular administration. Time to read the Aussie perspective.
- Boomerang, Michael Lewis: Still the best writer for explaining how the world works and why it sucks.
- The Bounty Hunters, Elmore Leonard: I’ve been meaning to read his first novel for a while now, way back when he was writing Westerns.
- The Cut, George Pelecanos: Sometimes all you want is to kick back and relax with a finely-honed work of paranoia and high tension. Pelecanos can deliver.
Stay tuned for more!
