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

Thanks Chloe for your wonderful final posts on the Summer Read blog.

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

Heaths Road Library, Cnr Heaths Street and Derrimut Road Hoppers Crossing on Tuesday 24 February 2009, 7.00 – 9.00 pm
For more information phone Heaths Road Library 9748 9333 or book online at http://summerread31.eventbrite.com
Northcote Library, 32-38 Separation Street Northcote on Thursday 26 February 2009, 6.30 – 7.30 pm
For more information phone Northcote Library1300 655 355 or book online at http://summerread33.eventbrite.com

Vote for Tall Man or SMS TALL to 13 46 88

Chloe Hooper is the final Summer Read author blogging from 25 – 28 February.

Chloe Hooper won a Walkley Award for her writing on the inquest into the death of Cameron Doomadgee, published in The Monthly and internationally. Her first novel A Child’s Book of True Crime was critically acclaimed around the world.

Her book Tall Man is one of the books on the Summer Read shortlist.

Tall Man tells the story of an Aboriginal man who dies in a watch-house cell, forty minutes after being arrested for swearing at a policeman. The coroner’s report states he died from a fall, sparking community outrage and the locals burning down the police station. The Tall Man tells the true story that epitomised Aboriginal Australia’s haunting racial plight.

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

Heaths Road Library, Cnr Heaths Street and Derrimut Road Hoppers Crossing on Tuesday 24 February 2009, 7.00 – 9.00 pm
For more information phone Heaths Road Library 9748 9333 or book online at http://summerread31.eventbrite.com

Northcote Library, 32-38 Separation Street Northcote on Thursday 26 February 2009, 6.30 – 7.30 pm
For more information phone Northcote Library1300 655 355 or book online at http://summerread33.eventbrite.com

What Chloe says about summer reading

“I remember lying on the beach in the summer holidays reading my school books for English; sand becoming ingrained in the books’ spines; trying to shade the pages so the white glare didn’t scald my eyes. Hours went by like this. I wouldn’t move until the books themselves seemed sunburnt. That’s how I first read Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar: her semi-autobiographical account of a young American girl’s psychiatric breakdown. I was riveted—and too young to realise there were probably people breaking down all over the beach….Of course, what we read becomes ingrained in us. And now whenever I’m swimming in the sea, my pulse-thumping, I always think of Plath’s brilliant line: I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.”

Thanks Jeff for your thoughts on research, writing and the Iceberg Theory. Hope your computer is working soon Jill.

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

Walking Tour departing from City Library, 253 Flinders Lane Melbourne and finishing at The State Library of Victoria, 328 Swanston Street Melbourne on Wednesday 28 January 2009, 6.00 – 7.30 pm
For more information phone 9658 9500 – EVENT BOOKED OUT

Vote for Radical Melbourne or SMS RADICAL to 13 46 88

Jeff and Jill Sparrow are the next Summer Read authors blogging from 21 – 25 January.

Brother and sister Jeff and Jill Sparrow live in Melbourne. They co-authored the books Radical Melbourne: A Secret History and Radical Melbourne 2: The Enemy Within. Jeff’s book Communism: A Love Story was shortlisted for the Colin Roderick Award in 2007. He is the editor of the literary journal Overland. Jill is co-author (with Paul Voermans) of the forthcoming novel Parliament of Sims.

Their book Radical Melbourne is one of the books on the Summer Read shortlist.

Radical Melbourne leads readers through political history via the streets and buildings of today’s inner city – turning familiar city landmarks into monuments to passionate political struggles past. Have you ever wondered why Parliament House contain gun slits, an escape passage and a dungeon? or what city block covers nine thousand corpses?

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

Walking Tour departing from City Library, 253 Flinders Lane Melbourne and finishing at The State Library of Victoria, 328 Swanston Street Melbourne on Wednesday 28 January 2009, 6.00 – 7.30 pm
For more information phone 9658 9500 – EVENT BOOKED OUT

What Jeff says about summer reading

“In the the summer, I read P. G. Wodehouse. The real world might be going to hell in a handbasket but in Wodehouse stolen cow creamers eternally return, the word ‘Eulalie’ keeps the Black Shorts of amateur dictator Sir Roderick Spode at bay, and Jeeves noiselessly appears with restoratives whenever young gentlemen feel rocky after a night at the Drones Club.”

What Jill says about summer reading

“Summer’s a good time to lie in the backyard with a radical book, enjoying (at least for a few hours!) the illusion that doing nothing will help change the world…”

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.”