Book Affair

Each year the Drug ARM organisation holds a massive Book Affair in the St Paul’s Church Hall in Ipswich (Queensland, Australia). Thousands of secondhand donated books are on sale for the price of a $1 or $2 coin. I try to get along to it every year and always come away with an armload of treasures.

Today I was a little restrained and only walked out with one bag full of books, but the sale goes for another two days yet so there’s still time for another visit! Some of today’s finds:

      

 DRUG ARM (Awareness, Rehabilitation and Management) provides vital care and compassion to support people, families and communities throughout Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia, with a range of programs and services that include education, outreach, prevention and treatment.

Recent Reads–June 2012

I’ve been trying to get through at least one book a month this year, reading in the spare moments between family time, work shifts and study.


Here are just a few items off my recent reading list:

Okay, so not really one book but eight. Great series with well-rounded characters and storylines that really pull you in. If you like Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire series (Sookie Stackhouse / True Blood) or Laurell K Hamilton’s Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series, then you’ll like these too.

I’ve loved 99.9% of everything I’ve ever read of Neil’s and this book was no exception. Aimed at younger readers, it’s such a well written story that adults will have no problems being drawn in too. If you like stories that flow magically along and aren’t adverse to a slightly darker than norm setting, then grab a copy and settle in for a lovely treat.

I have to admit to always having had a tiny little bit of a crush on Mr Fry and his absolutely British sense of humour. I’d just watched his documentary on the Gutenberg Press, followed by Fry’s Planet Word and was compelled to hunt down one of his books. The Fry Chronicles proved to be an excellent choice, containing an autobiographical account of his years at Cambridge and subsequent rise to fame.

This one was a really interesting read. I have to be honest, I didn’t really know if it was going to be a book I would get all the way through. I love watching Corinne Grant on TV, and I’ve been reading a lot of books and blogs about decluttering and simplifying lately, so I thought that … just maybe … it would be a book I might find interesting.

Was it ever! I don’t know if it had anything to do with us being practically the same age, growing up in the same era in Australian towns and having similar pack-rat tendencies, but this book simply resonated with me. I read it in one sitting, cover to cover, and then went back and re-read pertinent parts. It’s funny, it’s heartbreaking, it’s warm, it’s honest, and I enjoyed every last word.


Have you read any interesting books of late? Anything you’d recommend that I add to my “To Be Read” list?