Book & Bookgroup: White Tiger

Summary: The White Tiger is the debut novel by Indian author Aravind Adiga. It was first published in 2008 and won the Man Booker Prize in the same year. The novel provides a dark comical view of modern day life in India through the narration of Balram Halwai, the main character. The overall main theme of the novel is the contrast between India's rise as a modern global economy and the working class people who live in crushing rural poverty. Other themes touched on include corruption endemic to Indian society and politics, familial loyalty versus independence, religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims, the experience of returning to India after living in America, globalization, and the tensions between India and China as superpower countries in Asia.

I thought this was a fantastic book as did everyone at Bookgroup (well, those who read it). We agreed that it was hard to get into but then you got suckered right in. It is just so hard to believe that people live so differently to what we do over here. A really fascinating insight into India.

Clunes Booktown 2010

Once again I headed to Clunes for Booktown. I was very restrained this year as I only bought about 7 or 8 books! I was lucky enough to hear a few talks but couldn't stay for them all as I only had the one day in Clunes this year. Here are my notes from the talks:

Begin a writing career, Stefan Laszczuk & Glenda Guest

Both - writing came from university course
Both - both acclaimed writers but say they still have no $

GG - Age in writing makes no difference, however life journeys and experiences can make a difference

SL - Writers are sometimes the quiet ones at parties listening into everyone else's conversations. Observing.

SL - Uni helped nurture his talent. Met other like minded people. However, thinks that you cannot necessarily teach creative writing. Uni provided structure, goals. ie. assignment x due on date y. Forced to come up with work instead of dreaming about it.

GG - Uni opened up other understandings of the world. Opportunities to meet authors, learn their craft etc. As she had a restricted childhood, uni was an eye-opener.

SL - Music sonata form - he adapted this to his novel aka "literary form". This idea was from his mother (a concert pianist).

SL - Really riled by bad reviews when they haven't read the book properly. However, have to remember that you write for yourself.

GG - In review process she listens to everything (doesn't do everything they say) but looks at the comments from the readers view.

Australian Book Publishing Panel

We are one of the top 5 reading nations of the world.
One of the highest literary rates.
Shelf life of a modern author is somewhere between the milk and yoghurt....
8,500 new books published in Australia each year.
Only 20 of books sold more than 100,000 copies in Australia last year.
Only 2 of those were Australian. The Slap, and breath (Tim Winton).
80% dominated by chain stores for sales.
60% of market through 5 publishers.
Challenging for the minority and for all with the changing environment.
E-books. Lots of issues. No Australian publications (as no one makes $), forced by Amazon, licensing issues.
10% of the Australian book market is owned by Amazon.

Malcolm Fraser

Liberal PM 1975-1983. Packed audience - standing room only.
Having a co-author gave added integrity to the book.
Co-author (Margaret Simons) did all the archival digging.
Many jokes - lots of laughter (but all about stuff from before my time).
From Wanon in Western Victoria.
Strong views on today's political leaders - bit at both parties regarding asylum seekers.
Has hindsight regrets but he acted on the information and resources he had at the time - therefore no regrets.

All in all I just love Booktown. Can't wait to go again next year!

HLI: Drug Information Databases Night 28/4/10

Last month Michelle and I headed down to the HLI: Drug Information Night to learn more about the Therapeutic Guidelines and MIMS. It was great to catch up with everyone as I have been out of the library scene for quite a while. Here are my notes:

Therapeutic Guidelines
New 2010 Palliative Care TG
Roughly 3/13 updated each year.
New Antibiotic TG coming soon
Patient information sheets
Mini TG - application based

MIMS
Image search - shape, number, colour etc.
My doctor - consumer health website
Drug Alert = Drug Interaction
PI = product information ie. full PI/abbreviated PI
CMI = consumer medicines information
MIMS PDA - windows based application, updated with downloads
MIMS mobile - internet based, updated monthly

Book & Bookgroup: Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Summary: This work was set in Berlin, 1942. When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance. But, Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than what meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

What a brilliant read. We all loved it at Bookgroup. An easy read, but such a sad ending (which I didn't see coming). Just thinking about how life was so different just amazes me. I really am a very lucky person.

Book: Farmer wants a wife

Summary: Flora Parker is sassy and stylish with a mouth as big as Wembley Stadium and a tendency to act before she thinks, which is how she ends up getting drunk and on the front of a newspaper in her Wonderbra and not much else. Filled with self-loathing she retreats to her aunt's house in the country to look for a little meaning in her life. Instead she finds an overbearing uncle, a farm on the brink of bankruptcy, a child who won't come out of the airing cupboard and a precocious 10-year-old who lists all Flo's faults. As if she didn't already know them. But, being Flo, instead of running away she itches to put it all right...especially when the farmer next door announces an intriguing bet: he will give his farm and glorious farmhouse to whichever of his handsome nephews finds a wife by Michaelmas. So Flo takes up matchmaking full-time, ignoring the fact that it might be she who is the object of their affections. Meanwhile she finds she's falling in love herself...with a way of life that is muddy, smelly and under threat. But is she prepared to put her head on the altar to keep it?

After Blue Skies I had to keep on with the farmer theme. Again, great trashy chick lit. Not much in it but a nice easy read.

Book: Blue Skies

Summary: Blue Skies tells the inspirational story of a young woman battling to save the family farm no matter what it takes. Armed with an honours degree in Agribusiness, Amanda Greenfield dreams of employing all the skills she's learnt at college to help her father turn the family farm from a debt-ridden, run-down basket case into a thriving enterprise.
Then tragedy strikes with the death of Amanda's mother in a car accident. Wracked by grief and guilt, and wearied by the long struggle to keep Kyleena a going concern, Amanda's father argues that they should sell up and get on with their lives away from the vagaries of drought and fluctuating stock and crop yields. Having inherited half the farm from her beloved mother, whom she also grieves for, Amanda determines to summon all her strength, grit and know how to save Kyleena. Along the way she faces mixed fortunes in both love and life...

I loved this book. Read it in a day. Similar to my favourite Rachael Treasure. Definitely trashy chick lit with an Aussie country focus - my fav! Story was very far fetched towards the end but who cares! Not me!

Book: Raw Voices

Summary: In RaW Voices: True Stories of Hardship and Hope, Vanessa Feltz meets men and women who have overcome great difficulties to change their worlds, and asks each to tell their own story.These extraordinary people were brought together from all walks of life by the BBC's Reading and Writing campaign (RaW), and they all show us what we can do to take control of our future, achieve new goals and reach ever-greater heights. These amazing real-life journeys are a tribute to the strength of the human spirit. Gripping, funny, sometimes sad and always inspiring, they will strike a chord in us all.

This was a very quick read and though it is great to hear about people overcoming adversity the quality of writing was pretty poor.

Book & Bookgroup: Tuesday's Child

Summary: Kathy and her partner had spent months agonising over whether to have a third child, then, at thirty-five, Kathy decided it would be now or never. When Caoimhe was born there was nothing to suggest anything was wrong. The following day a midwife baldly told Kathy her baby had Down syndrome. Tuesday’s Child tells of Kathy's journey through shock, anger and grief to, ultimately, a kind of acceptance. From the bombshell of diagnosis - the defining moment that was to reshape her life - she charts her initial obsession with 'Why?', the impact on the family, the often hurtful, ignorant responses of strangers (and friends), and, most importantly of all, the battle to reclaim Caoimhe as an individual, not just a 'Downs child'. As Kathy wrote in her original article: ‘I don’t know where she fits in society, but a family is a world in microcosm. And I do know that right here, right now, she fits perfectly within my arms.’ A compelling mix of heartfelt personal story and insightful journalism, Tuesday’s Child highlights society's attitudes to difference and the ongoing ethical debate about genetics, as well as examining the minefield that is prenatal testing.

I enjoyed the book but I think it was mainly due to my age and situation. When I fell pregnant with Adam I didn't undergo any prenatal testing and I still don't know if I would... It really opened up my eye to disability and the appalling way people are treated. Mixed reactions from bookgroup as most thought the author was wallowing in her grief. We all thought it would be interesting to hear her thoughts now as the child will be about 10. The book however was when she was still very little so it would be interesting to see how she how differently she handles the situation.