Book: Darkening Skies

Summary: Investigative journalist Jenn Barrett never intended to return to Dungirri, the small town she escaped as a teenager. But startling revelations about local man Mark Strelitz have reopened the investigation into the accident that killed Jenn's cousin, Paula, and she is determined to find out what really happened.
For eighteen years, a gap in Mark's memory has concealed the facts - that he was driving when Paula died and a corrupt police investiation sent an innocent man to prison. Mark has finally learnt enough of the truth to know he has to set the record straight. As Jenn and Mark start to ask questions, evidence is destroyed and witnesses murdered. Someone wants the past to remain buried and anyone probing into it to be stopped - permanently. Mark and Jenn's discovery will shock the whole town, but only if they live long enough to reveal it.

What I thought: I really enjoyed this. Story was very far fetched (how many incidents can occur in 3 days) but still it was a page turner :)

Bookgroup: The Rosie Project

Summary: Don Tillman is getting married. He just doesn’t know who to yet. But he has designed the Wife Project, using a sixteen-page questionnaire to help him find the perfect partner. She will most definitely not be a barmaid, a smoker, a drinker, or a late-arriver. Rosie Jarman is all these things. She is also fiery and intelligent and beautiful. And on a quest of her own to find her biological father—a search that Don, a professor of genetics, might just be able to help her with. The Wife Project teaches Don some unexpected things. Why earlobe length is an inadequate predictor of sexual attraction. Why quick-dry clothes aren’t appropriate attire in New York. Why he’s never been on a second date. And why, despite your best scientific efforts, you don’t find love: love finds you.

What I thought: LOVED IT! So cute and quirky and just a little bit different. Highly recommend!

Bookgroup: Piano Lessons

Summary: In this remarkable memoir, Anna Goldsworthy recalls her first steps towards a life in music, from childhood piano lessons with a local jazz muso to international success as a concert pianist. As she discovers passion and ambition, and confronts doubt and disappointment, she learns about much more than tone and technique. This is a story of the getting of wisdom, tender and bittersweet. With wit and affection, Goldsworthy captures the hopes and uncertainties of youth, the fear and exhilaration of performing, and the complex bonds between teacher and student. An unforgettable cast of characters joins her: her family; her friends and rivals; and her teacher, Mrs Sivan, who inspires and challenges her in equal measure, and who transforms what seems an impossible dream into something real and sustaining.

What I thought: A beautiful book... I have wanted to read this for a while as I heard Anna speaking in Clunes a few years ago. Mrs Sivan - gorgeous! Wish I was more musical now. LOL

2013 Health Libraries Inc Conference #vital

Way back in October last year I went to the HLI Conference in Melbourne. Again it was wonderful to catch up with people and meet new ones and to learn about what people are doing in other organisations. Here are my notes from the day:

Susie Morton - Epworth - Secrets of an invaluable library

Quote - I think it's only fait to warn you that I am, in fact, a LIBRARIAN!
It is ok to discontinue services
Library user survey - must do!
Provide premium library services to key stakeholders
Align with strategic plan
Libguides as Department homepages
Quote - Librarians - just like regular people, only much smarter!

Susan Monaghan - RMH - Library Training Programs

600 staff per year roughly trained in library resources
Essential computer skills - word, excel, powerpoint $
Endnote $
Library databases - free
Developing content and support material
Increased proficiency or efficiency
Bought new PC's with $
Word "library" in inboxes frequently

Helen Shipperlee - SVH - Mental Health Specialist

Mental health champion
Research committee
Psych email - professional research librarian; highly experienced; post grad; background knowledge; save time; make you look good
Fortnightly mental health update
Goes to Jnl club/book club - is visible!

I got the most out of Helen's talk for the day. There were also other presentations but they included me presenting on our Digital Repository and also the launch of the HLI/HLA ROI Report. This meant I spoke in the afternoon also as I was the Health liaison for the report. So it was a huge but highly enjoyable day.

Book: My Story

Summary: For the first time, ten years after her abduction from her Salt Lake City bedroom, Elizabeth Smart reveals how she survived and the secret to forging a new life in the wake of a brutal crime. On June 5, 2002, fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart, the daughter of a close-knit Mormon family, was taken from her home in the middle of the night by religious fanatic, Brian David Mitchell and his wife, Wanda Barzee. She was kept chained, dressed in disguise, repeatedly raped, and told she and her family would be killed if she tried to escape. After her rescue on March 12, 2003, she rejoined her family and worked to pick up the pieces of her life.

Now for the first time, in her memoir, MY STORY, she tells of the constant fear she endured every hour, her courageous determination to maintain hope, and how she devised a plan to manipulate her captors and convinced them to return to Utah, where she was rescued minutes after arriving.  Smart explains how her faith helped her stay sane in the midst of a nightmare and how she found the strength to confront her captors at their trial and see that justice was served.

What I thought: A really good read. So sad what happens to innocent children.

Book: Essie's Way

Summary: Miranda McIntyre thinks she has it all sorted. She s a successful lawyer, she's planning her wedding and ticking off all the right boxes. When searching for something old to go with her wedding dress she remembers an antique necklace from her childhood, but her mother denies any knowledge of it. Miranda is sure it exists. Trying to find the necklace, she discovers evidence that perhaps the grandmother she thought was dead is still alive.Ignoring the creeping uncertainty about her impending marriage, and the worry that she is not living the life she really wants, Miranda takes off on a road trip in search of answers to the family mystery but also in search of herself. Ultimately, she will find that looking back can lead you home.

What I thought: A lovely little country romance. I wasn't swooning over the "spunky man" though because he had an earring and long hair which just ain't my thing! But a nice story otherwise.

Bookgroup: The Book Thief

Summary: It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still...  Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

What I thought: BRILLIANT! So good to start a new year with a fabulous read. This is definitely a slow read where you devour bits piece by piece. So sad yet so beautifully written.