Gordy is a member of our Collections team. Consequently, her desk sees lots of interesting items pass across it. Here are some of her recommendations of books and DVDs for this year.
Matt Haigh
Did you enjoy Matt Haig’s previous book ‘The Midnight Library’? I did, so I was keen to read this new book – The Impossible Life, which even came with a glowing recommendation from one of my favourite actors Benedict Cumberbatch who said it was 'A beautiful novel full of life-affirming wonder and imagination' and I think he was right! 'What looks like magic is simply a part of life we don't understand yet . . .' When retired Maths teacher Grace Winters is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan. Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the Balearics Grace searches for answers about her friend's life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past. Filled with wonder and wild adventure, this is a story of hope and the life-changing power of a new beginning. Just a few days ago in an interview Matt Haigh himself said, 'I’m an optimist, but it’s something I’ve had to work on'. …I certainly can relate to that!
Request a copy via our catalogue
By Germaine Leece & Sonya Tsakalakis
It's the perfect time of the year to reflect on relationships and books read or to embrace new books such as 'Reading the Seasons' which not only offers an entryway to new titles but affirms the power of books to console, heal and hold us together as friends and as individuals. Reading the Seasons charts the evolution of a friendship through candid letters between bibliotherapists Germaine Leece and Sonya Tsakalakis. Ignited by a shared love of reading, of finding a book for every occasion, every emotion – both for themselves and for their clients – their conversations soon confront life’s ups and downs. The authors they reach for range from Stephen King to Javier Marias, Helen Garner to Maggie O’Farrell, as they reflect upon loss, change, parenting, careers, simple pleasures, travel, successes, fears and uncertainty. This is a warm-hearted and beautiful celebration of reading and all it achieves in our lives. Thank you for following Gordy’s Desk, it has been fun for me and a pleasure to share these titles with you, I hope you have enjoyed the variety of recommendations and tried some new books. The very best wishes from Gordy’s Desk for a fulfilling new reading year in 2025!
By Emily Maguire
The motherless child of an English priest living in ninth-century Mainz, Agnes is a wild and brilliant girl with a deep, visceral love of God. At eighteen, to avoid a future as a wife or nun, Agnes enlists the help of a lovesick Benedictine monk to disguise herself as a man and devote her life to the study she is denied as a woman. So begins the life of John the Englishman: a matchless scholar and scribe of the revered Fulda monastery, then a charismatic heretic in an Athens commune and, by her middle years, a celebrated teacher in Rome. There, Agnes (as John) dazzles the Church hierarchy with her knowledge and wisdom and finds herself at the heart of political intrigue in a city where gossip is a powerful—and deadly—currency. And when the only person who knows her identity arrives in Rome, she will risk everything to once again feel what it is to be known—and loved. One of my other favourite writers, Charlotte Wood (author of the wonderful book Stone Yard Devotional ) beautifully quoted : “Rapture is astonishing – a scorching vision of a book. Drawing on history, legend, speculation and gossip. Maguire’s medieval girl-Pope story is made of many things: flesh, earth and blood; ambition and abegnation; rage and transcendence, all pouring into this pagan, biblical, strange and mighty work from an imagination in soaring flight.” Also as a bonus Emily Maguire will be at Adelaide Writers' Week!
Edited by Felicity Lewis
Here is a compelling companion for the curious reader! Something a little lighter and bit of fun for this holiday period and for anyone who has ever wondered … just about anything! This is the book for you. What's the meaning of a bee's waggle dance? Who thought budgie smugglers into being? And why is cancer so damn hard to cure? In these lively and surprising Explainers, writers from Australia's leading mastheads reveal the mysterious workings of the world, from outer space and the deep sea to our own backyards. Navigate life's quirks and curiosities with journalists from these newsrooms-across health, science, culture and human behaviour as they ask some of the deeper questions in life. Does handwriting still matter? What are rogue waves? And how do you make the right decisions? Who knows? But at least you can have a laugh finding out. The curious reader will enjoy the variety of subjects in this book. Queueing for brunch is mentioned and also the known history of the queue which is thousands of years old!
Visit Gordy's recommendations for 2022 , 2023 and 2024
Click here to view form.