The Gospel according to Luke/Emily McGuire

The bookclub has this on on our list a couple of months ago and its a great read . The novel is set in contemporary Australia and its about the developing relationship between Aggie Grey – a sexual health counsellor and Luke – an idealistic youth minister who just happens to work next door at the Northwestern Christian Youth Centre . The first meeting sets the scene when Aggie marches into the NCYC and admonishes Luke for the literature he is distributing about the Sexual Advisory Centre .

I loved the relationship between Aggie and Luke – two characters who you think would have nothing in common . But the other more minor characters are funny as well . Particularly Belinda Luke’s over zealous Christian youth worker who conducts talks on Christian Dating? – there’s no such thing and Honey – a vulnerable young pregnant teenager who gets caught in the crossfire .

This is Emily McGuire’s second novel .

Come dear reader fall under a spell – or do books still matter

The world is warming up like a microwave, Iraq is mired in chaos, a college student shot 32 people dead in Virginia. Who gives a damn about books any more?

And who could possibly have time to read one? The web entices us with endless newsfeeds, podcasts, blogs and chat rooms; with YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and Wikipedia. Even people who visit Amazon.com don’t actually read the books. They snack on a buffet of user reviews and recommendations – then buy a memory foam pillow at a 35 per cent discount..

Bitter, bloody face-offs between reality and fantasy have traditionally been the special domain of books. Books tell us how life really is, but they also show us how to escape it, and create magical worlds to escape into. The fact that they can do both things at once has always given them a special claim on our hearts and minds. But now, it seems, the internet is usurping them. So, how can books fight back…

http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/come-dear-reader-fall-under-a-spell/2007/04/20/1176697087488.html

Sophie Gee’s first novel The Scandal of the Season will be published by Random House in May

The Road to Dictionopolis

” There was once a boy named Milo who didn’t know what to do with himself – not just sometimes , but always . When he was in school he longed to be out , and when he was out he longed to be in …” Nothing really interested him – least of all the things that should have. It seemed a great wonder that the world which was so large , could sometimes feel so small and empty ” .

Whenever I read the first page of the Phantom Tollbooth it transports me back to a time when one of the greatest joys of life was to pick up any book or material I could lay my hands on – and the more escapist the better .

I read both adult and children’s books from a young age and had strange tastes. Interpersed with the standard Enid Blyton books were some interesting finds including what I would now describe as Christian cold war books . A sadly forgotten genre . The typical plot usually involved a Christian being persecuted for their faith ( usually by Communists) in prison complete with some fantastic story of their escape . Some of these books were surprisingly well written .

But I read usually read anything I could get my hands on . Magic roundabout comics . Small bites of the World Book Encyclopedia with copious sections on the American presidents . Biggles and Jane Eyre . Nature books …Williard Price .

Reading Lolita in Tehran

This is our chosen books for the next Bookclub Meeting on April 27th . Its a beautifully written book about a very special group of women in Iran who meet under difficult circumstances – they all have different ideas about what’s going on around them but they share a love of literature …

Reading Lolita in Glebe – meeting this Friday at 7.00

Hi and welcome to the Cafe Church Book and Movie Club . We are a Sydney based bookclub that meets on the final Friday evening of each month to discuss books, eat yummy food and explore Glebe Cafes . We also occasionally find the time to go to the movies .

I am hoping that this space will give people the opportunity to have a conversation about books and life in general – we are a small group but mighty powerful ( when we have the time to actually read the books ) But sometimes we don’t read the books – that’s OK too . That’s what the movies were invented for – so we can cheat and pretend – sort of like crib notes . In other words we welcome all people to the bookclub .

The next book on the menu are Reading Lolita in Tehran and our next get together is  April 27th – we are meeting this month at the Well Connected Cafe in Glebe Pt Rd around 7.00 .

So please feel welcome and happy blogging

Kerrie