Seeking – Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Do you have a copy of Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat Pray Love” in very good condition? We have a number of people wanting this title. So come on in and recycle your copy! We buy books in very good condition, or can offer store credit if you want to get another book…

Buy a Book for the Nerd In Your Life

I’m a bit of a nerd (perhaps a geek or a dork, or all three), and I’ve selected a few books from the shelves that would be excellent as a nerdy gift. Note bene!

Tools Of War: The Weapons That Changed The World, by Jeremy Black
“Firing 20 arrows a minute, English archers at the Battle of Cre`cy launched a million deadly missiles from their longbows…”
This book is perfect for the history nerd in your life. The sweeping narrative style never gets boring but allows for a lot of historical trivia, too. There are lots of perfect little nuggets of information on warfare and weaponry from prehistory to the 21st Century. Just right to offload while you’re watching an ABC documentary.

Understanding Beer Making: Brewing The Perfect Beer, by Grant Sampson
When conversation about historical weaponry or US Presidential Trivia runs dry (there are only two US Presidents buried in Arlington National Cemetery — can anyone guess who they are?*), geeks like to talk about beer. There’s a lot of science to beer: the taste, the head, the barley, the glucose, yadda yadda yadda. So if you’re a culinary geek or someone who just likes to drink, this is a perfect summer book. Learn how to brew your own beer… with science!

Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
Perfect holiday reading! This never boring book tells us why Europe and the Near East are the cradle of our society. Perfect food for thought and discussion for budding historians, geopoliticians, biologists and scientists. From the author of The Third Chimpanzee. Curl up in bed and wrap your opposable thumb and ex-brachiating arm around this one!

Richard Feynman and modern physics by James Gleick
Not just atomic bombs — there are bongo drums involved too. A great gift for any budding physicists out there, or anyone interested in a biography with pith. Someone should direct a biopic about this guy!

The Devil’s Music: In The Eye Of The Hurricane, by Pete Davies
Think Twister. It certainly “sweeps” you along! (Bad pun intended).

- Agnes.

*Kennedy and Taft

The Crime-fiction Detective Is… Dubious About Elizabeth George.

The station master of my local train station is nice enough to provide a “book table” for the use of patrons. The idea is that you bring in your old books (as a second-hand book-seller in training all I can say is that these are usually not the cream of the crop) and take a book to read on the train occasionally. It’s an honour system. There are usually a whole lot of nice old National Geographics, a few Reader’s Digest condensed books (don’t you think it’d be weird to have a job as a book condenser?), stuff like that. Occasionally you get a nice gem. I’ve picked up a few Sherlock Holmes books, and a couple of science fiction classics.

The other day I picked up a copy of Elizabeth George’s book Well Schooled in Murder. I already had a book in my bag (I’m in the habit of setting my iPod to shuffle and reading to and from the city), but since I’m an omnivorous reader and I vaguely recognised the title and blurb from an ABC drama I’d seen a few years earlier — an Inspector Lynley mystery — I decided to read the book on the train.

The train pulled in to Central and I was three-quarters of the way through, and I was a bit iffy on Elizabeth George. She was one of those authors who I couldn’t decide whether I liked or disliked. The book’s narrative got along fine, but I couldn’t decide whether the descriptions were apt or just plain weird. I finished the book, and I still couldn’t decide. Occasionally I research authors in this fashion, seeking out whether or not they’re worth reading a lot of. Crime fiction is so easy to read that it’s a lot easier to form a complete picture of the author’s shortcomings and strengths very quickly. This is compared to someone like, say John Irving or Faulkner.

I picked up a copy of In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner from the library, since I was “experimenting” and didn’t want to buy it. Well, dear reader, if you’ve read this far into this post I’m going to reward you by telling you that it was absolutely DIRE.

George is an American, and that shows through in her over-exaggerated treatment of Cockney accents and London in general. Inspector Lynley’s friend Simon St. George (can you think of a more cliche` English toff name?) was crippled! In an accident! Years ago! and Lynley feels the need to emote about it much more than I feel his background as a count or an earl or whatever would evince.

Inspector Lynley seemed to be the most balanced character to me, and I will admit that the idea of an English Lord working as a police detective was one of the things that got me interested in the novels in the first place, in a  similar way to the TV series — sort of like a crime fiction version of Carter on ER.

In contrast his sidekick Barbara Havers is overburdened with unattractive descriptions. In attempting to inject some traditional British class division into the book George has made Lynley into some sort of James Bond type while Havers chain-smokes and constantly eats bad food. Not even her POV is sympathetic to her, so I feel a bit sorry for the character.

I didn’t finish the second book. I felt like I got derailed by the high drama going on in the character’s lives, and the murder mystery was so bland in contrast that it didn’t interest me one iota. One jot!

I’m confident that our crime fiction section at JimmyD’s is extensive. When I first came into the shop I was pleased that it encompassed all the crime sub-genres: classic crime, real-life crime, cheesy crime, thrilling crime, procedural crime, cosy crime… The cheesy crime section I feel is well represented by the five or so Elizabeth George books that we have in stock, including In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner.

My question is this: what were your experiences with Elizabeth George? Should I keep reading? Are her “off” moments worth the rather gripping storylines in her other books? Am I being a crime fiction snob – am I too spoilt by P. D. James? Discuss for your chance to win a voucher at JimmyD’s.

- Agnes.

Scandinavian crime writers

Yes, the world is enamoured with Scandinavian crime writers. Ever since Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall wrote their series of ten police procedurals from 1965 to 1975, there have been writers from Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Finland writing a range of thrilling psychological stories. To me they have far greater character depth and development than many of the American or even British authors. The best known of these authors is probably Henning Mankell, who has written a series of stories about Inspector Kurt Wallander and his daughter, which has been turned into a television show. However you have probably seen that The girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Stieg Larsson, has been on the best selling list for many months.

If you enjoy finding crime stories that are a bit different, settings in countries unfamilar or that seem to take things a bit slower, perhaps reflecting real life investigations, you should try some of these great authors. They arent always easy to find second hand – at JimmyDs when we get them they go pretty fast! But persevere and they will turn up.

The link below is something I found recently. My personal favourites at the moment are Kjell Eriksson, Henning Mankell and Arnaldur Indridason. Come in and talk to me about your favourites.

Magda

http://homepages.gac.edu/~fister/scandcrime/denmark.html

Year Of Wonders – Geraldine Brooks

 This book was chosen as Notable Book by both the New York Times and the Washington Post.

On the frontispiece Brooks quotes a poem by John Dryden recounting “…When spotted deaths ran arm’d through every street” — a vision of the plague striking London in 1666. He called this poem the Annus Mirabilis, The Year of Wonders. This titular “year of wonders” is obviously a thread that runs strong through the book. We follow the protagonist, Anna (a housekeeper in the small mountainous village of Eyam) through the plague year of 1666 and beyond. In the beginning  the plague is only vaguely referred to, but as you work through the book the historical detail becomes more precise and very graphic. I was intruiged by the fact that the plague was bought to Eyam via an infected bolt of cloth. The ending isn’t disastrous but Brooks doesn’t sell it out to the cheap trick of a happy ending, either. As a whole the book manages to remain realistic through a sweeping, dramatic narrative.

In summary: A good read, well-researched, an interesting and breathless book by an Australian author.

 If you like this book, we have some other books in stock that you might like:

Wrack by James Bradley, a gripping historical mystery set in New South Wales.

Foreign Correspondence by Geraldine Brooks.

In The Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant, set in 16th Century Venice.

  L’Yan recommends this book for people who like Salley Vickers, Kate Grenville, David Malouf and Valerie Anand.

Agnes

I Am Ned Kelly — John Molony

“Almost every Australian knows the name ‘Ned Kelly’. Few know more than the basic facts…”

In this selection off our Top Shelf, historian John Molony explores the circumstances surrounding the life and death of Ned Kelly. It’s part work of scholarship and serious biography and part speculative fiction. Take a look at this excerpt from the dust-cover:

“On the eve of his hanging, his mother, a prisoner in the same Melbourne Gaol, said to him, ‘Mind you die like a Kelly, son’; he had certainly lived like one. This is the story of Ned Kelly, of his people, who were destined to poverty, degradation and rejection, and of the land that made a legend of him.”

Our copy is a first edition in very good condition, for $25. It surely is an important milestone in Ned Kelly scholarship, but this is no dry historical tome. The early chapters outline Ned Kelly’s childhood without slipping into a laundry list of woes. The book doesn’t seek so much to explain Ned Kelly’s actions as to catalogue them in a very erudite fashion. An enjoyable book for any lover of Australiana or real life crime!

Stephenie Meyer – The Host

This story is a wonderful idea, but it is quite poorly executed. Firstly, the plot is mindnumbingly predictable.  Secondly, the characters are infuriatingly cliched, from the big tough “villain” that comes good in the end (don’t worry, I’m not giving anything away here, as this is predictable too), to the typically sexy love interest and the bee-yootiful narrator. Yawn. Lastly, I do not understand Stephenie Meyer’s fixation on young girls having relationships with older men. (Even though I am one of these girls myself. How hypocritical of me. Oopsie.)  The whole book stinks of formula writing – “dark” themes, “forbidden” lurve etc etc etc. But I guess if you’re onto a good thing, why not stick with it. It seems to work for her!

Yet despite all of the things I disliked about the book (including its creepy cover with an eye that follows you around the room!), I must admit, I didn’t hate it. I could hardly put it down. It is a monster of a book and I was able to read it in two days, around work, which doesn’t often happen. I felt an odd kind of affection for it, and even though I was reading it for work I also felt like I wanted to keep reading it, even though it irritated me. Now that’s a powerful book. With, might I add, not one spelling or punctuation error that I noticed. Hurray!

Verdict: not just for diehard Stephenie Meyer fans (I haven’t read Twilight or seen the film). But you need to be patient and somewhat forgiving. And remember it was written for a teenage market. You might just enjoy it, as I surprisingly did.

L’Yan

Covers so bad… The Other Side of the Night by Edmund Schiddel

You may read this and think we are kidding. The sad thing is, we are not. Here, word for word, is the worst blurb we have ever read:

Their wealth was so great… there was EDWINA, a 400-pound behemoth who believed she was God; her lascivious daughter, JULIE, who thrilled over seducing and then torturing her men; PETER, who sold his soul for a glittery world he now hates; ANASTASIA, raped by a regiment during the Russian Revolution, now despises herself and the son that came of it; and CHARLES, Julie’s weak, impotent husband whose every breath seared with jealous rage.

Surrounded by the luxury and laughter of the very rich, they filled their empty days with exotic drugs and bizarre sex on an endless treadmill of highs and lows.

We love - the cover quote from the New York Times: “…his best book…”. Oh dear.

john connolly

John Connolly is an Irish crime writer who is best known for his series of novels starring a private detective called Charlie Parker who is hunting the killer of his wife. There are six novels in the series which is set in Maine USA. If you like John Connolly, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Lee Child, Harlan Coben, Ross MacDonald, Dennis Lehane, Sara Paretsky.

How cool is this cover? We just had to put it in the blog because ever time we see the cover we stop and comment.

L’Yan’s Adventures in Benalla-land

I always joke that I could live in our shop, but in my “other home” of Benalla in Victoria, there is a magnificant secondhand bookstore that I could seriously set up camp in.  On Tuesday this week I spent almost two hours in there (and could easily have been there longer had I not had to go back to work at my other-other job!)

Good Reading is approximately five times the size of JimmyD’s. It is an adventure in there. In the front room its mostly fiction, there is a room of kids books and craft, a wall of cooking, a wall of travel books, a wall of art books (when my husband loses me he knows to look here… or in the aussie author section) and that is not even half of just the downstairs section! It sounds daunting but if you love books, you will adore this shop.

Like JimmyD’s, Good Reading list some of their stock on Abebooks.com and booksandcollectibles.com.au.  But if you are ever in North-East Victoria, pop in and say hi to Delfina and Anna.  Tell them I sent you!

Happy reading, L’Yan.

P.S. I left with Eragon, Shantaram, Tim Winton’s The Deep, and some obscure historical fiction I can’t wait to sink my teeth into. I just can’t leave that place empty handed!