Falling by
This is a gripping, disturbing book about the seductive power of extremism, the gulf between intentions and consequences, and the need to understand the past and take responsibility for one's actions.
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by
When designer and computer scientist John Maeda was tapped to be president of the celebrated Rhode Island School of Design in 2008, he had to learn how to be a leader quickly. He had to transform himself from a tenured professor--with a love of argument for argument's sake and the freedom to experiment--into the head of a hierarchical organization. The professor is free to speak his mind against "the man." The college president is "the man." Maeda has had to teach himself, through trial and error, about leadership. In Redesigning Leadership, he shares his learning process. Maeda, writing as an artist and designer, a technologist, and a professor, discusses intuition and risk-taking, "transparency," and all the things that a conversation can do that an email can't. In his transition from MIT to RISD he finds that the most effective way to pull people together is not social networking but free food. Leading a team? The best way for a leader to leverage the collective power of a team is to reveal his or her own humanity.Asked if he has stopped designing, Maeda replied (via Twitter), "I'm designing how to talk about/with/for our #RISD community." Maeda's creative nature makes him a different sort of leader--one who prizes experimentation, honest critique, and learning as you go. With Redesigning Leadership, he uses his experience to reveal a new model of leadership for the next generation of leaders.
How I Live Now by
It would be much easier to tell this story if it were all about a chaste and perfect love at an Extreme Time in History. But let's face it. . . Daisy is sent to England from New York to live with her cousins for a perfect summer. There are four of them: Osbert, isaac , Edmond and Piper. Three boys and a girl. And two dogs and a goat. Daisy has never met anyone like them before. Especially Edmond. This summer will change her life. it will change the world too.
Book Thief by
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found. But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jewish fist-fighter in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down. The Book Thief is a story about the power of words to make worlds. In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time. Join in the conversation about The Book Thief with #BookThief
Refuge by
Dramatic novel for older readers. Andrew's sister Anna is trying to shelter a girl fleeing from a hostile regime. Andrew doesn't want to become involved in breaking the law and deceiving his parents, but does he have a choice? The author's other publications include 'I am Susannah', which was an honour book in the CBC Book of the Year awards in 1988 and 'The Dodger' which won the 1991 Australian Children's Literature Peace Prize.
Guantanamo Boy by
In the tradition of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, this is the story of one boy's experience of the war against terror , behind the barbed wire. Khalid is a normal fifteen-year-old. He likes footy, seeing his friends, playing football down the park. He isn't too excited about visiting his family in Karachi, but his Mum and Dad shame him in to going with them - for the family's sake. So he goes, and one day opens the door to an unthinkable nightmare. Kidnapped by unknown assailants, Khalid is forced to go to a place no child should ever see. A place where systematic humiliation, torture and brutality are part of the daily routine. A prison he is powerless to escape. A living hell called Guantanamo Bay. Ages 13+
Birds without wings by
Birds Without Wings tells of the inhabitants of a small coastal town in South West Anatolia in the dying days of the Ottoman empire: Iskander the Potter and fount of proverbial wisdom; Philothei, a Christian girl of legendary beauty who is courted almost from infancy by Ibrahim the Goatherd, their great love culminating in tragedy and madness; Karatavuk and Mehmet-ik, childhood friends who play in the hills above the town, Mehmet-ik teaching the illiterate Karatavuk how to write Turkish in Greek letters; the two holy men of different faiths, Father Kristoforos and Abdulhamid Hodja, who greet each other with the words 'infidel efendi'; the landlord Rustem Bey, his wife's adultery and stoning, and his journey to Istanbul in search of a Circassian mistress. It tells also of Mustafa Kemal, the man of destiny, who by virtue of military genius and sheer bloody-mindedness defeats the Franks and reshapes the whole region in his image. When jihad is declared against the Allies the young men of the town are sent to war. Karatavuk soon finds himself at Gallipoli where he experiences the intimate brutality of trench warfare, the loss of many comrades and of his own innocence. As the great world intrudes, the twin scourges of religion and nationalism lead to forced marches and massacres, hunger grips the town and the peaceful fabric of life is destroyed. Epic, yet profoundly humane, Birds Without Wings is a glorious novel by one of our finest and best-loved novelists.
The german girl by
Weaving dual time frames, and based on a true story, The German Girl is a beautifully written and deeply poignant story about generations of exiles seeking a place to call home.
A Woman in Berlin (Biography) by
Between April 20th and June 22nd of 1945 the anonymous author of A Woman in Berlin wrote about life within the falling city as it was sacked by the Russian Army. Fending off the boredom and deprivation of hiding, the author records her experiences, observations and meditations in this stark and vivid diary. Accounts of the bombing, the rapes, the rationing of food and the overwhelming terror of death are rendered in the dispassionate, though determinedly optimistic prose of a woman fighting for survival amidst the horror and inhumanity of war. This diary was first published in America in 1954 in an English translation and in Britain in 1955. A German language edition was published five years later in Geneva and was met with tremendous controversy. In 2003, over forty years later, it was republished in Germany to critical acclaim - and more controversy. This diary has been unavailable since the 1960s and is now newly translated into English. A Woman in Berlin is an astonishing and deeply affecting account.
Where The Streets Had A Name by
I need to see Sitti Zeynab one last time. To know if I will have the courage to go ahead with my plan. The two nurses look frazzled and smile wearily at me. 'We must leave now,' they say in urgent tones. 'I won't be long,' I reassure them and I jump up onto the back of the ambulance. I can smell the air of her village, pure and scented. I can see her village as though it were Bethlehem itself. I can smell the almond trees. Hear my heels click on the courtyard tiles. See myself jumping two steps at a time down the limestone stairs. I can see Sitti Zeynab sitting in the front porch of the house. I only have to remember that walk through her memories and I know I can make my promise. I've already lost once. I refuse to lose again. 'Stay alive,' I whisper. 'And you shall touch that soil again.' Thirteen-year-old Hayaat is on a mission. She believes a handful of soil from her grandmother's ancestral home in Jerusalem will save her beloved Sitti Zeynab's life. The only problem is the impenetrable wall that divides the West Bank, as well as the check points, the curfews, the permit system and Hayaat's best-friend Samy, who is mainly interested in football and the latest elimination on X-Factor, but always manages to attract trouble. But luck is on their side. Hayaat and Samy have a curfew-free day to travel to Jerusalem. However, while their journey may only be a few kilometres long, it may take a lifetime to complete.
After Darkness by
The winner of The Australian/Vogel's Literary Award 2014. It is early 1942 and Australia is in the midst of war. While working at a Japanese hospital in the pearling port of Broome, Dr Ibaraki is arrested as an enemy alien and sent to Loveday internment camp in a remote corner of South Australia. There, he learns to live among a group of men who are divided by culture and allegiance. As tensions at the isolated camp escalate, the doctor's long-held beliefs are thrown into question and he is forced to confront his dark past: the promise he made in Japan and its devastating consequences. 'Piper draws us deeper and deeper into the compelling story of Tomakazu Ibaraki, a man whose strengths - discretion, honour and loyalty - also lie at the heart of his personal tragedy.' - Danielle Wood, winner of the THE AUSTRALIAN /Vogel's Literary Award in 2002; Vogel's judge 'AFTER DARKNESS is about friendships that transcend cliched notions of mateship. It's also about a man silenced by a promise ... a haunting novel that lingers in a most unsettling way.' - Fiona Stager, bookseller, Avid Reader; Vogel's judge. 'A brave, profound meditation on identity, trauma, loss and courage ... A novel that demands its place alongside Richard Flanagan's THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH and Mark Dapin's SPIRIT HOUSE.' - Stephen Romei, literary editor, THE AUSTRALIAN; Vogel's judge