Our thanks to those who were able to join us for our SLAV online Book Club on Wednesday August 7th, 2024, to discuss the topic: Bookshops and Libraries. This is a topic close to every reader’s heart, so we were eager to dive into everyone’s recommendations.

We asked our members to share their favorite Fiction and Non-Fiction titles to do with bookstores and libraries. Contributed titles are split into Adult, Books for Students (covering Middle Grade and Young Adult, with additional info provided) and Picture Books.

Many thanks to Deb at The Younger Sun  who is an invaluable resource, providing many recommendations. The staff at The Younger Sun are incredibly knowledgeable, and would be happy to help you with any book-buying needs!

Penguin Books supported this session! They sent three new books (in this meeting’s theme) to one lucky school who participated in the event. A massive thanks to everyone at Penguin Books for helping us encourage reading!

Disclaimer: The lists generated as a result of Book Club discussions are not, by any means, an exhaustive list of all titles or authors for each genre/category discussed. Nor will all titles be suitable for all libraries. We advise staff discretion when referencing these lists, to properly confirm individual title suitability for individual libraries, school and student’s needs. These are suggested titles only, shared by our members and inclusion on, or exclusion from, a list does not suggest SLAV endorsement or rejection of a title.

New Titles shared by Deb from the Younger Sun 

Adult

The Yield – Tara June Winch

Possession – A S Byatt.

The Little Paris Bookshop – Nina George

The Library Book – Susan Orleans

The Giver of Stars – Jojo Moyes

The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians – James Patterson

Cloud Cuckoo Land – Anthony Doer

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop – Bo-reum Hwang

The Secret, Book and Scone Society – Ellery Adams

The Diary of a Bookseller – Shaun Bythell

Dictionary of Lost Words – Pip Williams

The Midnight Library – Matt Haig

The Cracked Spine – Paige Shelton

The Librarianist – Patrick deWitt

The Diary of a Bookseller – Shaun Bythell

The Book of Form and Emptiness – Ruth Ozeki

The Eyre Affair – Jasper Fforde

Dewey – Vicki Myron

That Librarian – Amanda Jones

The Library Book – Susan Orlean

The Librarian: a Memoir – Allie Morgan.

Books for Students

What You are Looking For is in the Library – Michiko Aoyama (Year 9 up)

113th Assistant Librarian – Stuart Wilson (Coming out in November!)

Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares – Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (Young Adult)

The Lost Book of Magic – Amelia Mellor (Coming out in October!)

Land of L – Emily Rodda

The Book that Wouldn’t Burn – Mark Lawrence  (Year 10 upwards)

The Book that No One Wanted to Read – Richard O (Middle Fiction)

The Library Fish – Alyssa Satin Capucilli (Junior)

The Evil Librarian – Michelle Knudsen

Lirael – Garth Nix (Young Adult)

The Phantom Tollbooth – Norton Juster

The Littlest Library – Poppy Alexander

Hooray, Hooray it’s Library Day – Julie Grasso

The Little Street Library – Amy Adeny

I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf – Grant Snider (Graphic Novel)

Left Handed Booksellers of London – Garth Nix (Young Adult)

Mr Lemoncello’s Library series – Chris Grabenstein

Carlo and the Really Nice Librarian – Jessica Spanyol

Library Mouse – Daniel Kirk

Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians – Brandon Sanderson

Rondo – Emily Rodda

Pages and Co – Anna James

The Lost Library – Rebecca Stead

The Secret Library of Hummingbird House – Julianne Negri

The Medoran Chronicles – Lynette Noni

Words in Deep Blue – Cath Crowley

A Library of Lemons – Jo Cotterill

The Bookshop Girl – Sylvia Bishop

The Moonlight Dreamers – Siobhan Curham (Young Adult)

Strange the dreamer by Lani Taylor (Young Adult)

Luna Loves Library Day – Joseph Coelho

Ink and Bone – Roxanne Conrad (Young Adult)

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (Young Adult)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Librarian of Auschwitz – Antoni Hurbe (Young Adult)

Suggested Reading – Dave Connis (Young Adult)

The Travelling Bookshop – Katrina Nannestad

Fairy Tale Fan Club – Richard Ayoade (New)

Whisperwicks – Jordan Lee (New)

Picture Books

The Dictionary Story – Oliver Jeffers (New!)

Books Make Good Friends – Jane Mount

Parsely Rabbit – Frances Watts and David Legge

The Little Street Library – Amy Adeney

Dewey – Vicki Myron

The Librarian of Basra – Antonio Iturbe

Librarian – Busy People series – Ando Twin and Lucy M George

The Librarian’s Stories – Lucy Falcone and Anna Wilson

It’s A Book – Lane Smith

Help Wanted Must Love Books – Janet Sumner Johnson and Courtney Dawson

The Lost Library – Jess McGeachin

Midnight at the Library – Ursula Dubosarsky and Ron Brooks

Our Library – Donna Rawlins

Thanks again to everybody who joined and gave us so many great recommendations.

Our thanks to those who were able to join us for our SLAV online Book Club on Thursday June 20th, 2024, to discuss the topic: STEM. We often view STEM and reading as separate disciplines, but how, where and why do they cross over?

We asked our members to share their favorite Fiction and Non-Fiction titles that relate to STEM topics. As always, you had so many wonderful contributions to share with us and we had a great deal of fun! We anticipated a bit of a struggle for people to find interesting STEM-related books, but fortunately we were completely mistaken and we ended up with a very long list! We also had quite a few recommendations that involved quite complex language or explored difficult concepts, so we have split the Young Adult section into two: VCE and above, and 12+, for more clarity around suiting titles to the appropriate students!

Many thanks to Deb at The Younger Sun  who is an invaluable resource, providing many recommendations. The staff at The Younger Sun are incredibly knowledgeable, and would be happy to help you with any book-buying needs!

Disclaimer: The lists generated as a result of Book Club discussions are not, by any means, an exhaustive list of all titles or authors for each genre/category discussed. Nor will all titles be suitable for all libraries. We advise staff discretion when referencing these lists, to properly confirm individual title suitability for individual libraries, school and student’s needs. These are suggested titles only, shared by our members and inclusion on, or exclusion from, a list does not suggest SLAV endorsement or rejection of a title.

New Titles shared by Deb from the Younger Sun 

VCE and above

White Holes – Carlo Rovelli

The Housekeeper and the Professor – Yoko Ogawa

Parable of the Sower – Octavia Butler

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin

Sea of Tranquility – Emily St. John Mandel

Galileo’s Daughter; Longitude – Dava Sobel

Radium Girls – Kate Moore

Before the Coffee Gets Cold – Toshikazu Kawaguchi

12+

The Wild Robot – Peter Brown

Inside out and Outside In – Maria Snyder

Lifel1k3 – Jay Kristoff

Footprints on the Moon – Lorraine Marwood

Lance Balchin – Botanica and Aquatica

Catch a Falling Star – Meg McKinlay

Two Can Play That Game – Leanne Yong

The Lab – Jack Heath

Moondust – Gemma Fowler

Money run – Jack Heath

Middle Grade

George’s Secret Key to the Universe – Lucy and Steven Hawking

Mysterious Benedict Society – Trenton Lee Stewart

Dragon Pearl – Yoon Ha Lee

Wednesday Weeks – Cristy Burne

Axel and Beast – Adrian Bott

Mortal Engines – Philip Reeve

The Achemist War – John Seven

The Balloon girls – Darrell Pitt

Counting by Sevens – Holly Goldberg Stone

How to Bee – Bren MacDibble

Hi From Outer Space – Fiona Katauskas

The Raven’s Song – Bren McDibble and Zana Fraillon

Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World – Rachel Ignotofsky

Junior 

The Rosie Revere series

The Wonder of Winsome – Kat Murdoch

Life On Us – Emma & Tim Flannery

Professor Branestawm – Norman Hunter

Picture Books

How to Measure the Ocean – Inda Ahmad Zahri

Tree – Claire Saxby

The Beehive – Megan Daley

Seed to Sky: Life in the Daintree – Pamela Freeman

Huge thanks to everyone who joined us for our SLAV online Book Club on Wednesday May 15th, 2024, to discuss the topic: Pets and Animals. There are so many iconic books featuring animals that we were absolutely inundated with book recommendations from many attendees, which is always a good sign! We had everything from pet dogs, to horses and wolves, to dingoes and whales, and pirate’s parrots. We even had some pets join our session; two cats and four dogs.

Our lovely members really brought their all with a flood of recommendations, with many new texts suggested alongside some classics and little-known titles. It was so lovely to hear the experiences shared between members who’d read the same books.

We absolutely encourage you to reach out to the wonderful Deb at The Younger Sun as an invaluable resource, for further information and recommendations. The staff at The Younger Sun are incredibly knowledgeable!

Disclaimer: The lists generated as a result of Book Club discussions are not, by any means, an exhaustive list of all titles or authors for each genre/category discussed. Nor will all titles be suitable for all libraries. We advise staff discretion when referencing these lists, to properly confirm individual title suitability for individual libraries, school and student’s needs. These are suggested titles only, shared by our members and inclusion on, or exclusion from, a list does not suggest SLAV endorsement or rejection of a title.

Picture Books:

Tough Boris – Mem Fox

Junior Fiction/Middle Grade:

Redwall – Brian Jacques

Toby Alone – Timothee de Fombelle

Grimmelings – Rachael King

Wolves of Greycoat Hall – Lucinda Gifford

Tweet – Morris Gleitzman

Tyger – S.F. Said’

Skandar and the Unicorn Thief – A. F. Steadman

Kip of the Mountain – Emma Gourlay

I Am Rebel – Ross Montgomery

Tiny Dogs – Rose Lihou

Love That Dog – Sharon Creech

The Way of Dog – Zana Fraillon

October October – Katya Balen

Silver Brumby – Elyne Mitchell

Call of the Wild – Jack London

White Fang – Jack London

Runt – Craig Silvey

Charlotte’s Web – E. B. White

One and Only Ivan – K.A. Applegate

Grace and Mr Milligan

Marley and Me – John Grogan

A Dog’s Purpose – W. Bruce Cameron

Tale of Despereaux – Kate DiCamillo

Finding Bear – Hannah Gold

Pax by Sara Pennypacker

Paws by Kate Foster

Peggy and Molly – Juliette Wells

Pawcasso – Remi Lai

Honey and the Valley of Horses – Wendy Orr

Funny Folktales

Unlikely Friendships – Jennifer S. Holland

Penguin Bloom – Cameron Bloom

Until the Road Ends – Phil Earle

Bad Guys – Aaron Blabey

Real Pigeons – Andrew McDonald and Ben Wood

Deborah Abela – The Kindness Project

Cora Seen and Heard – Zanni Louise

The Apprentice Witnesser – Bren Macdibble

A Small Collection of Happinesses – Zana Fraillon

Blueback – Tim Winton

“Cozy Reading Dogs” by Enokson is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Our thanks to those who were able to join us for our SLAV online Book Club on Thursday September 7th, 2023, to discuss the topic: New Adult.

We absolutely encourage you to reach out to the wonderful Jenny at The Younger Sun as an invaluable resource in this area, for further information and recommendations. The staff at The Younger Sun are incredibly knowledgeable!

As always, so many of you had so many wonderful contributions to share with us, and it is very appreciated. Join us again in term four where our topics will be:

• Thursday October 12 – Topic: Promotional Tactics
• Thursday November 16 – Topic: Short Books and Short Stories

This was our sixth book club meeting for 2023, and we want to say a very special thank you to all who have attended and contributed to these informal and informative meetings. We cannot wait to see you at our next meeting, your generosity is greatly appreciated.

In term four we will also be asking for feedback and ideas for 2024 – we look forward to your suggestions.

At our September meeting the wonderful Alida shared how her school stores and displays the equivalent of New Adult in their library.  These photos are of their space. Thank you to Alida for sharing.

Download Jenny’s list HERE.

Disclaimer: The lists generated as a result of Book Club discussions are not, by any means, an exhaustive list of all titles or authors for each genre/category discussed. Nor will all titles be suitable for all libraries. We advise staff discretion when referencing these lists, to properly confirm individual title suitability for individual libraries, school and student’s needs. These are suggested titles only, shared by our members and inclusion on, or exclusion from, a list does not suggest SLAV endorsement or rejection of a title.

New Adult Suggestions from the attendees

Crying – Michelle Zorner
Love and virtue – Diana Reed
Lessons in chemistry- Bonnie Gamus
The Modern – Anna Kate Blair
The House in the Cerulean Sea – TJ Klune
13 Reasons Why – Jay Asher
Stephen King titles
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
Convenience Store woman by Sayaka Murata
Chris Hammer titles
Kyle Perry titles
Scarecrow – Matthew Reilly
Ragdoll – Daniel Cole
Beyond the Body Farm – Jon Jefferson
Bridgerton series – Julia Quinn
The Queen is Dead – Stan Grant
Heat and Light – Ellen van Neerven
Norwegian Wood – Haruki Murakami
Stella Prize titles may be appropriate for this category
Tony Birch books,
The Last daughter – Brenda Matthews
The Fell – Sarah Moss
Summer Water – Sarah Moss
It sounded better in my head – Nina Kenwood
Interview with a vampire – Anne Rice
Holden Sheppard – The Brink
The Coast by Eleanor Limprecht
Unnecessary drama – Nina Kenwood
Ninth House’ – Leigh Bardugo

NEW ADULT books we are reading ourselves

The inbetween – Chris Tsolkas
The librarianist – Patrick deWitt
Cuddy – Benjamin Myers
Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here – Heather Rose
Last daughter – Brenda Matthews
Demon Copperhead – Barbara Kingsolver
Yellowface – R F Kuang
Nine Days – Toni Jordan
Different for Boys – Patrick Ness
Lenny Marks gets away with Murder – Kerryn Mayne
The Wager – David Grann
The Lying Life of Adults – Elena Ferrante
Wifedom – Anna Funder
When the coffee gets cold series – Toshikazu Kawaguch
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens – Shnakari Chandran
The Slap – Chris Tsolkas
The Lost Estate by Henri Alain-Fournier
Apples Never Fall – Liane Moriarty
Three Wishes – Liane Moriarty
You Need to Know -Liane Moriarty
The Memory Police – Yoko Ogawa
The Dressmaker – Rosalie Ham