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“Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself.”
- Angela Carter
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Book Groups COVID-19 Update
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As you are aware, coronavirus (COVID-19) is affecting many countries. We are working with our warehouse provider, Yooralla, to ensure the safety of staff and members. Yooralla has confirmed with us that they will remain open for the next few weeks. During this time, we will send as many boxes as possible, with all groups expected to receive a book for their April meeting.
As a precautionary measure, after this period Yooralla will close for a time. We will continue to send you updates and we will advise you as soon as possible about when we can start despatching books again. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and will discuss making up deliveries later in the year or other options for groups once normal deliveries resume.
If you do not wish to receive books at this time, please contact us to discuss and we can certainly look at other options.
We will continue to provide updates to Book Groups secretaries, and plenty of book news through this newsletter. We thank you for your understanding and support. We hope you are all staying safe and well during this difficult time.
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Tips for a Healthy Book Group
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We encourage groups not to meet face-to-face at this time and to look into alternative means for discussion.
- If you are unwell, please contact your healthcare provider for advice and do not attend meetings. Please refer to the Department of Health for more information.
- Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water or hand sanitiser after handling book boxes and books, and before handling food.
- Consider conducting meetings remotely, such as via Skype, social media, email or phone.
- Our eBooks program is available and free for members if you do not have a physical book to read. Please contact us if you do not have a login or would like further information.
If you have any concerns, please contact us at bookgroups@cae.edu.au or by phone on (03) 9652 0611.
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The 2020 Stella Prize Shortlist has been announced. Some of the titles include Favel Parrett’s There Was Still Love, Charlotte Wood’s The Weekend and Tara June Winch’s The Yield. https://www.cae.edu.au/news/women-in-literary-history/
In international news, the longlist for the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced, with titles such as Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light, Anne Enright’s Actress and Deepa Anappara’s Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line. The International Booker Prize, which celebrates translated fiction, has also revealed their longlist. Titles include Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann and Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor.
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Women in Literary History
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March is Women’s History Month and a great time to discover historical fiction, biographies and books written in the past, by women about women, from Australia and around the world. There are many great titles to explore.
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Book Groups Reaction of the Month
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Sarah Thornhill by Kate Grenville
Members agreed that Kate Grenville’s writing evokes the people, place and time of the settlement of the Hawkesbury area of Sydney. The story told through the voice of an illiterate woman of the 19th century gives us an understanding of her life as a young girl and her growth to womanhood in a harsh and difficult environment. She is strong, resilient and compassionate, particularly in response to the plight of the local aborigines. Interestingly, many of those issues resound today. This novel brings home the hardships of the early settlers and their determination to succeed given the adversity and privation of distance.
Milton 1
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The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
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Alaska, 1974. Untamed. Unpredictable. A story of a family in crisis struggling to survive at the edge of the world, it is also a story of young and enduring love.
Cora Allbright and her husband Ernt, a recently-returned Vietnam veteran scarred by the war, uproot their thirteen-year-old daughter Leni to start a new life in Alaska. Utterly unprepared for the weather and the isolation, but welcomed by the close-knit community, they fight to build a home in this harsh, beautiful wilderness.
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With her trademark combination of elegant prose and deeply drawn characters, Kristin Hannah has delivered an enormously powerful story that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the remarkable and enduring strength of women.
Thanks to Pan Macmillan
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Anyone is welcome to enter! Simply email us at competition@cae.edu.au and tell us your favourite book set in the past. Include your name and postal address. Entries close on Wednesday 1 April. Winners will be notified and answers may be used on social media.
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