Please join Alan Brough at a celebration at the State Library on Friday 20 March, 4 - 5pm when he announces the the top five books, as voted by Victorian readers in the State Library of Victoria’s Summer Read program 2008-9, and voter’s prizes.

Experimedia
State Library of Victoria
328 Swanston Street, Melbourne

RSVP by Wednesday 17 March 2009

Telephone                   8664 7555
email                          learning@slv.vic.gov.au
book online                summerreadawards.eventbrite.com

Charmaine O’Brien is next Summer Read author blogging from 11 – 15 January.

A trained chef, Charmaine has worked around the world in a variety of jobs, including establishing a wholefoods café, managing a food and wine education program, and feeding firefighters. She runs the culinary communication and education business Love Food Write.

Her book Flavours of Melbourne is one of the books on the Summer Read shortlist.

Flavours of Melbourne charts the culinary history of Australia’s food capital, from before Europeans arrived, to the influence of postwar immigration and now. We are introduced to many curious characters from Melbourne’s food scene and their insights, and the journey is dotted with recipes from different periods in our city’s colourful history.

As part of the free Summer Read events across Victoria, Charmaine will be appearing at:

• Walking Tour with optional dinner commencing at the State Library of Victoria, 328 Swanston Street Melbourne on Tuesday 10 February 6.00 – 7.30 pm (optional dinner at 7.30pm $45 – payment required on booking) For more information and bookings phone 8664 7522 or email smclaine@slv.vic.gov.au

What Charmaine says about summer reading

“I can’t imagine what life would be like without reading and I don’t necessarily distinguish summer reading from any other type. What I read over summer may be determined by what I receive for Christmas (or what others around me receive). If I am going to indulge in a spot of ‘escapism’ it will be with some crime fiction: last summer I read Wilkie Collins ‘sensation’ novel The Woman in White (closely followed by several more of his books) and PD James The Lighthouse.

My most vivid recent memory of summer reading comes from the Northern Hemisphere though. I was in India last June, the peak of the summer there. The thermometer was reaching 45◦c most days: what else was there to do but laze around in the sheltered courtyard of the fort we were staying in and read. I got through Fast Food Nation and then gave up any pretension of brain function and read an entirely forgettable forensic thriller left behind by another tourist. What I would recommend you read if you found yourself in a similar situation is William Dalrymple’s wonderful White Mughal.”