Frankston City Libraries Book Club Collection 2015 Title
Author
Notes
A world of other people (FIC) Addition (FIC)
Steven Carroll
After darkness (FIC)
Christine Piper
The Alchemist (FIC) - graphic novel Alfred and Emily (FIC)
Paulo Coelho
All that I am (FIC)
Anna Funder
All the birds singing (FIC) And the mountains echoed (FIC)
Evie Wyld
Animal kingdom (FIC) Anna Karenina (FIC)
Stephen Sewell
A supremely life-affirming evocation of love in war-time, when every decision, and every day matters. A novel about a loveable and vulnerable young woman who happens to have an obsessive compulsive disorder. It is early 1942 and Australia is in the midst of war. Dr Ibaraki is arrested as an enemy alien and sent to a camp in South Australia. New graphic novel adaptation of the classic novel of self-discovery. An intimate and revealing book that explores the lives of Lessing’s parents, each irrevocably damaged by the Great War. An exploration of bravery and betrayal, of the risks and sacrifices some people make for their beliefs, and of heroism hidden in the most unexpected places. Something is killing Jake Whyte's sheep. She's not sure if it's an animal, or the local kids, or something worse. A novel about how we love, how we take care of one another, and how the choices we make resonate through generations. Revenge killings and payback explode on the streets of Melbourne. An epic tale of love, infidelity and vengeance set in Russia in the 19th century.
Atonement (FIC) The battle for Lone Pine (NON FIC) Before I go to sleep (FIC)
Toni Jordan
Doris Lessing
Khaled Hosseini
Leo Tolstoy ; translated by David Magarsback Ian McEwan David W. Cameron
S.J. Watson
Between sky and sea (FIC) Birdsong (FIC)
Herz Bergner & Judah Waten Sebastian Faulks
Black and blue (FIC) Blackbird house (FIC) Book of lost threads (FIC)
Anna Quindlen Alice Hoffman Tess Evans
Pages 278
218
297
208 274
369
229
404
234 942
A novel about childhood, love, and war.
371
Tells the story of four days in August 1915 when Australians and Turks were thrown into some of the fiercest fighting of the war. A psychological thriller about a woman whose amnesia means that each morning she’s forgotten the day before. A moving portrayal of people pushed to the limit. Spans 3 generations dwelling on the uncrossable gulf between those who lived through WW1 and those who came after. A story about an abused wife with a 10-yearold son who escapes her husband. Traces the lives of various occupants of an old Massachusetts house over 200 years. In the small town of Opportunity, four mismatched people discover the unexpected power of kindness.
385
368
215 503
277 225 354
Page 1
Frankston City Libraries Book Club Collection 2015 Title
Author
Notes
The book thief (FIC) Border crossing (FIC) The boy in the striped pyjamas (FIC) Blood witness (FIC)
Markus Zusak
A story of courage, friendship, love, survival, death, and grief. Psychological thriller that ponders the border between good and evil. Tale about the death camps, with a twist.
584
Alex Hammond
One man’s search for justice plunges him into the violent world of Melbourne’s underbelly.
322
Breath (FIC) A breath of fresh air (FIC) The broken shore (FIC) Burial rites (FIC)
Tim Winton
A story of exploration of fear and adrenaline.
264
Amulya Malladi
214
By the River Piedra I sat down and wept (FIC) Café Scheherazade (FIC) Candy (FIC)
Paulo Coelho
Story of a modern Indian woman and the difficult choices all women must make. Set in the coastal region of South West Victoria, local cop Inspector Cashin finds himself involved in an intriguing murder case. Based on the true story of the execution of a woman accused of a double murder in Iceland in 1829. A poignant, richly poetic story that reflects the depth of love and life.
223
The casual vacancy (FIC)
J. K. Rowling
Catcher in the rye (FIC) The chronicles of Harris Burdick (FIC)
J. D. Salinger
Tales from an Acland street café of Jewish refugees from Europe. A novel of love and addiction. An electrifying and frightening glimpse of contemporary life and love. Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, this is J.K. Rowling's first novel for adults. A modern classic of the coming of age genre. This collection of short stories is based on the original illustrations of Chris Van Allsburg, featuring best-selling authors of both adult and children's literature. Comic novel published in 1932, parodies the romanticised, sometimes doom-laden accounts of rural life. Murder mystery of sorts told by an autistic fifteen-year-old boy.
223
Currawalli Street links families and neighbours, their lovers and friends, in a powerful and moving dance through time. A moving and emotional story about the author’s adoption from an orphanage and her return to India.
297
Pat Barker John Boyne
Peter Temple
Hannah Kent
Arnold Zable Luke Davies
Chris Van Allsburg
Cold comfort farm (FIC)
Stella Gibbons
The curious incident of the dog in the night–time (FIC) Currawalli Street (FIC)
Mark Haddon
Daughter of the Ganges : a memoir (NON FIC)
Asha Miro ; translated by Jamal Mahjoub
Christopher Morgan
Pages
280 215
345
338
180
327
503
192
232
271
274
Page 2
Frankston City Libraries Book Club Collection 2015 Title
Author
Notes
The day the world came to town:9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland (NON FIC) Defending Jacob (FIC)
Jim De Fede
244
Deranged marriage (NON FIC)
Sushi Das
The Diggers Rest Hotel (FIC)
Geoffrey McGeachin
The dinner (FIC) Dissection (FIC) The dressmaker (FIC) Elizabeth is missing (FIC)
Herman Koch
A positively heart-warming account of the citizens of Gander and its surrounding communities and the unexpected guests who were welcomed with exemplary kindness. A novel of an embattled family in crisis – a suspenseful, character-driven mystery that is also a spellbinding tale of guilt, betrayal, and the terrifying speed at which our lives can spin out of control. An affectionate, often hilarious, memoir of growing up in London in the 1970s in an Indian household, and avoiding an arranged marriage. Set in 1947, Charlie Berlin re-enters the police force to investigate a spate of robberies in rural Victoria. An exploration of how two families deal with an explosive event. A local GP loses her confidence when she is sued for negligence. An Australian gothic novel of love, hate, and haute-couture. Maud is forgetful. She makes a cup of tea and doesn't remember to drink it. But there's one thing Maud is sure of: her friend Elizabeth is missing. This is a rare behind-the-scenes look at the much-loved ‘people’s priest’, Father Bob Maguire. A riveting examination of the nature of sex and power in contemporary society. Original story of the afterlife and the meaning of our lives on earth.
Kate Morton
A story of tragedy, secrets, and discovery.
554
Jonathan Franzen
A portrait of a Midwestern family, as they struggle to learn how to live in an ever confusing world. Historical novel around the creation of Johannes Vermeer's famous painting by the same title. Memoir of growing up in an unconventional family in Sorrento and Melbourne during the thirties. A true story of religion, abuse, prostitution & recovery. A young boy in New York City, Theo Decker, miraculously survives an accident that takes the life of his mother. Alone and abandoned Theo struggles to make sense of his new life.
562
William Landay
Jacinta Halloran Rosalie Ham Emma Healey
Father Bob: the larrikin priest (NON FIC) The first stone (NON FIC) The five people you meet in Heaven (FIC) The forgotten garden (FIC) Freedom (FIC)
Sue Williams
Girl with a pearl earring (FIC)
Tracey Chevalier
The girls (NON FIC)
Robin Levett
God's Callgirl : a memoir (NON FIC) The goldfinch (FIC)
Carla van Raay
Helen Garner Mitch Albom
Donna Tartt
Pages
421
285
316
309 233 296 274
347
222 232
248
264
508 771
Page 3
Frankston City Libraries Book Club Collection 2015 Title
Author
Notes
Gone girl (FIC)
Gillian Flynn
The grapes of wrath (FIC)
John Steinbeck
The great Gatsby (FIC) The Guernsey literary and potato peel pie society (FIC) The happiness show (FIC) The heart garden (NON FIC)
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The help (FIC)
Kathryn Stockett
High sobriety: my year without booze (NON FIC) The household guide to dying (FIC) The ice house (FIC) The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks (NON FIC) In her blood (FIC) In my skin (NON FIC) Infidel (NON FIC)
Jill Stark
Debra Adelaide
In a thrilling story full of surprising twists, Gone Girl tracks the course of a marriage gone spectacularly wrong. A novel that captures the horrors of the Great Depression and probes into the very nature of equality and justice in America. A portrait of the American Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess in the 1920s. A tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name. A story about love, fidelity and the messiness of second chances. Explores the work and life of Sunday Reed and the circle of early Australian Modernists she drew to her house at Heide. In 1960s Mississippi the black maids see and hear everything in their white employer’s world, but say nothing. Until a young, aspiring writer decided to record their stories. A funny, moving, and insightful exploration of why we drink, how we got here, and what happens when we turn off the tap. A novel about loving and grieving.
Minette Walters
A murder mystery set in the South of London.
430
Rebecca Skloot
384
Is it just me? Confessions of an over-sharer (NON FIC) Jasper Jones (FIC)
Chrissie Swan
A portrait of the Lacks family that captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences. A crime fiction set in London after the global financial meltdown. A confronting memoir of a substance-abuse prostitute. Memoir of a Somali girl from her traditional Muslim childhood to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands. From weight to wee, children to crap dates, nothing is off limits for Chrissie Swan, selfconfessed ‘over-sharer’.
408
Journey from Venice (NON FIC) Kidnapped (FIC)
Ruth Cracknell
Tension, injustice, young love and hypocrisy set in an Australian country town in the 1960s. A powerful account of her greatest personal tragedy – the death of her husband. Adventure story set in the mid-eighteenth century in Scotland about a boy who sets out in the world to seek his fortune and undergoes hardship and danger in his travels.
Mary Shaffer
Catherine Deveny Janine Burke
Annie Hauxwell Kate Holden Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Craig Silvey
Robert Louis Stevenson
Pages 399
535
154 265
288 552
451
307
386
260 285 353
203
273 240
Page 4
Frankston City Libraries Book Club Collection 2015 Title
Author
Notes
Killing me softly (FIC) The language of flowers (FIC)
Nicci French
358
Life of Pi (FIC)
Yann Martel
The light between oceans (FIC)
M. L. Stedman
Light of day (FIC)
Jamie M. Saul
Little Bee (FIC)
Chris Cleave
The little coffee shop of Kabul (FIC) Little Dorrit (FIC) Lola Bensky (FIC)
Deborah Rodriguez
A gripping, totally consuming, psychological thriller. A vivid portrait of a woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her troubled past. A story about a boy who finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and a 450pound Bengal tiger. 1926. Tom Sherbourne is a young lighthouse keeper on a remote island off Western Australia, and lives there with his wife. One morning a boat washes ashore carrying a dead man and an infant. Love, loss and the unforeseeable darkness that lurks around the corners of everyday life. A literary thriller of the highest calibre. The lives of a British woman and a Nigerian girl collide in this novel of lost innocence and survival. Afghan culture seen through the eyes of five extraordinary women in a coffee shop for expats in the heart of Kabul. A classic tale of imprisonment.
267
The longing (FIC)
Candice Bruce
The lost continent : travels in small town America (NON FIC) The lovely bones (FIC)
Bill Bryson
Lovesong (FIC)
Alex Miller
Love with a chance of drowning (NON FIC) The Madonnas of Leningrad (FIC)
Torre DeRoche
The novel follows a 19-year-old rock journalist as she traverses the music scene from London to LA in the 1960’s for an Australian music magazine. A novel about loss, finding home and the significance of history - what is recorded and what is left unknown. An inspiring and hilarious account of one man's rediscovery of America and his search for the perfect small town. This moving and compelling story shows how a tragedy can tear a family apart and bring them back together again. Set mainly in a Tunisian café in Paris, this is a story about the sweetness of love and the sometimes awful cost of those caught up in it. A city girl with a morbid fear of deep water embarks on two-year trip sailing the world with her handsome Argentinean lover. Marina memorizes the precious artworks that once hung on the walls of the hermitage museum while she endures the horrors of the siege of Leningrad.
231
Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Charles Dickens Lily Brett
Alice Sebold
Debra Dean
Pages
336
319
362
324
304
291
740
359
349
328
354
336
Page 5
Frankston City Libraries Book Club Collection 2015 Title
Author
Notes
Magical journey: an apprenticeship in contentment (NON FIC) Margaret Whitlam: a biography (NON FIC) Me & you (T FIC) The memory keeper’s daughter (FIC) The memory of salt (FIC)
Katrina Kenison
A book for every woman whose children have grown up, but who's not done growing herself, in which the author explores the belief that even as old identities are outgrown, new ones begin to beckon. An intimate biography of Margaret Whitlam.
269
A powerful novel about adolescence and the relationships between siblings. Lingers in the mind, a story of family secrets, relationships and love.
128
The memory trap (FIC) Middlesex (FIC) The miniaturist (FIC)
Andrea Goldsmith
Mister Pip (FIC)
Lloyd Jones
My sister's keeper (FIC) My story (NON FIC)
Jodi Picoult
The night circus (FIC) Night games: sex, power and sport (NON FIC) Not the end of the world (FIC)
Erin Morgenstern
Not the end of the world (FIC) Of a boy (FIC)
Geraldine McCaughrean Sonya Hartnett
Susan Mitchell
Niccolo Ammaniti Kim Edwards
Alice Melike Ulgezer
Pages
404
401
A novel which deals with cross-cultural marriage, parenting, mental illness and family dynamics. A rich and compelling story of marriage, music, the illusions of love and the deceits of memory. A fable of the intricacies of gender and the untidy promptings of desire. It is 1686 and 18-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin life as the wife of Johannes Brandt. His gift of a doll’s house, furnished by a miniaturist, mirrors their life in unexpected ways. Set in Bougainville during the civil war in the early 1990’s, this novel shows what magic a child’s imagination makes possible, even in the face of terrible violence. Examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, and a good person. This is Julia Gillard's chronicle of her turbulent time as Prime Minister; a candid self-portrait of a political leader seeking to realise her ideals. A novel that blends fantasy and reality.
295
Anna Krien
With a balanced and fearless look at the dark side of footy culture Anna Krien offers this account of the rape trial of an AFL footballer.
270
Kate Atkinson
A collection of short stories which show that when the worlds of material existence and imagination collide, anything is possible. A no holds barred description of Noah’s Ark as if might actually have been. A story about the perceptions of childhood, friendships and fears.
335
Jeffrey Eugenides Jessie Burton
Julia Gillard
344
529 416
220
423 512
416
174 188
Page 6
Frankston City Libraries Book Club Collection 2015 Title
Author
Notes
Oranges and sunshine (NON FIC)
Margaret Humphreys
383
Painting Mona Lisa (FIC) The Paris wife (FIC)
Jeanne Kalogridis
People of the book (FIC)
Geraldine Brooks
A prayer for Owen Meany (FIC)
John Irving
Q and A (FIC)
Vikas Swarup
The Red Queen : a transcultural tragicomedy (FIC) The red tent (FIC) Revenge: eleven dark tales (FIC)
Margaret Drabble
Margaret Humphreys is a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovered one of the most significant social scandals in recent times: the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom. Historical fiction told through the voice of Mona Lisa herself. Fictionalised account of Hemingway’s life told through the eyes of his first wife, Hadley Richardson. Based on the true story of the survival of a rare illustrated Jewish book, the Sarajevo Haggadah, as it travels from 15th century Spain to Sarajevo in 1992. Tells the story of John and his best friend Owen, growing up together in a small New England town during the 1950-60s. Teenage winner of an Indian TV game show describes how his life’s experiences enabled him to know the answers, win the show and land up in jail as a fraud. Follows the lives of two women, more than two centuries and half a world apart.
321
Rocks in the belly (FIC)
Jon Bauer
Room (FIC)
Emma Donoghue
The Rosie Project (FIC)
Graeme Simsion
The round house (FIC)
Louise Erdich
Salvation Creek (NON FIC)
Susan Duncan
Sarah’s key (FIC)
Tatiana de Rosnay
A different perspective of womanhood set in and around Egypt in biblical times. Eleven short stories, linked through recurring images and motifs. Each story follows on from the one before while introducing new characters and themes. The story of an eight year old and the adult he becomes; and the destruction we wreak on each other in the pursuit of our own happiness. Jack is five. He lives in a single locked room with his Ma. A story about resilience and the love between parent and child. A hilarious, feel-good novel narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love. A novel about a teenage boy’s efforts to investigate an attack on his mother on a North Dakota reservation. Heartbreak and tragedy compel Susan to start a new life, relinquishing her career as editor of top women’s magazines, confronting her mortality with wit and vigour. A compelling portrait of France under occupation which reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.
Paula McLain
Anita Diamant Yoko Ogawa
Pages
564 400
390
636
303
357
176
296
336
329
352
402
294
Page 7
Frankston City Libraries Book Club Collection 2015 Title
Author
Notes
Saturday (FIC)
Ian McEwan
279
The scapegoat (FIC)
Daphne du Maurier
The secret life of bees (FIC)
Sue Monk Kidd
The secret river (FIC)
Kate Grenville
The signature of all things (FIC)
Elizabeth Gilbert
A novel set within a single day showing how life can change in an instant, for better or for worse. The story centres around two strangers who are identical in appearance but have starkly contrasting lives. Young girl’s search for truth about her mother leads her to three beekeeping sisters who take her into the mesmerizing world of bees, honey and a mysterious Black Madonna. A novel about the pioneers of New South Wales who wrested a new life from the alien terrain of Australia and its native people. A glorious, sweeping novel of desire, ambition and a thirst for knowledge follows Alma Whittaker’s explorations & discoveries.
Sister (FIC)
Rosamund Lupton
384
Sisters of Spicefield (FIC)
Fran Cusworth
The snow child (FIC)
Eowyn Ivey
The spare room (FIC)
Helen Garner
The sparrow (FIC)
Mary Doria Russell
Speechless (NON FIC)
James Button
Stealing Picasso (FIC) The swan book (FIC)
Anson Cameron
Beatrice’s sister has been found dead. The police have ruled it suicide but Beatrice sets out to discover the truth. This book explores friendship, grief and family, as one woman delves into the secrets that might make a broken life worth living again. A modern retelling of the Russian fairy tale about a girl (made from snow by a childless couple) who comes to life. Garner illuminates the ethics of hoped-for cures and the emotional journey of all, in spare and honest writing. A story that takes you on a journey to a distant planet and to the centre of the human soul. The story of what happens behind Canberra's closed doors by leading speechwriter James Button. Hilarious satire of the art world.
340
The time traveler’s wife (FIC)
Audrey Niffenegger
Time’s long ruin (FIC)
Stephen Orr
A tiny bit marvellous (FIC)
Dawn French
Set in the future, with Aboriginals still living under the intervention in the North, the story follows the life of a mute teenager called Oblivia, the victim of gang-rape. Unconventional love story that centres on a man with a strange genetic disorder that causes him to unpredictably time travel. A novel based loosely on the disappearance of the Beaumont children from Glenelg beach on Australia Day, 1966. Written in diary format, through the eyes of a mother and her two teenage children, about family life, sibling rivalry and growing up.
Alexis Wright
Pages
373
375
334
501
297
423
195
408
246
243
518
432
338
Page 8
Frankston City Libraries Book Club Collection 2015 Title
Author
Notes
To kill a mockingbird (FIC) True North (NON FIC)
Harper Lee
Truth (FIC)
Peter Temple
The tweleve tribes of Hattie (FIC)
Ayana Mathis
Unpolished gem (NON FIC)
Alice Pung
Wanting (FIC)
Richard Flanagan
We need to talk about Kevin (FIC)
Lionel Shriver
Well done, those men. Memoirs of a Vietnam veteran (NON FIC) White teeth (FIC)
Barry Heard
Wild: a journey from lost to found (NON FIC) Wolf Hall (FIC)
Cheryl Strayed
The women in black (FIC)
Madeleine St. John
The year of magical thinking (NON FIC) Year of wonders. A novel of the plague (FIC) The year we seized the day (NON FIC)
Joan Didion
A coming-of-age story about a brother and sister in 1930’s Alabama. Explores the entwined lives and careers of two gifted daughters of the Durack pastoral dynasty in the Kimberley district of Western Australia. A novel set in Melbourne about a man, a family, a city. It is about violence, murder, love, corruption, honour and deceit. And it is about truth. A novel about one family’s journey from the segregated South through five and a half turbulent, soul-searing decades. A girl's own story about her experience growing up as a second generation immigrant in Melbourne. Tells two parallel stories: about the novelist Charles Dickens in England, and Mathinna, an aboriginal orphan adopted by Sir John Franklin, governor of Van Dieman’s Land. A fictional school massacre seen from the perspective of the killer’s mother. A challenging read. A look back at life before, during and after the Vietnam War and also a personal account of the author's post-war breakdown. Wise and funny book about unassimilated immigrants in London, genetic engineering and human destiny. A story of an eleven-hundred-mile solo hike that broke down a young woman reeling from catastrophe—and built her back up again. Shows Tudor England as a half-made society, moulding itself with great passion, suffering and courage. A novel about four women who work in the ladies gowns section of a department store and follows stories over the Christmas period. Insights into the author’s experiences through grief. A tale of fragile hope pitted against overwhelming disaster inspired by the true story of the village of Eyam in Derbyshire. An inspiring, moving and funny account of two hapless pilgrims on a journey on the Camino de Santiago pilgrim trail.
Brenda Niall
Zadie Smith
Hilary Mantel
Geraldine Brooks
Elizabeth Best & Colin Bowles
Pages 320 291
387
241
282
272
400
303
541
315
653
233
227 321
321
Page 9
