Glug Glug Glug...

Unfortunately due to the flood conditions in Dubbo, the Dubbo Branch Library is closed until further notice (sob!)

If you have any library stuff at home, please do not return it yet - we will wipe any overdue fees that add up during this time.

Also, much to our disappointment, we have had to cancel our awesome Youth Holiday Program! (We are still trying to console Katrina, our Children's and Youth librarian)

But don't despair - you can still participate in our Summer Reading Program which has been extended and will now end on Friday 8 April 2011. So you still have a chance to win a Wii! Reading logs can be downloaded from the Macquarie Regional Library website (http://www.mrl.nsw.gov.au)

Have a great Christmas and New Year - and try to enjoy your holidays without the library...But keep checking the Web - we will let you all know ASAP when we will re-open.

Beat the holiday boredom this January...

It is almost that time again - Christmas fun and festivities followed by the long January break. It's all OK at first,
(Yay! Holidays!) but as the long hot summer drags on, the boredom sets in.

The Dubbo Branch Library has the solution!

Join us at the library for our spooky youth program and 'Scare up a Good Book'. You can use your creative skills to make a Zombie Feltie or beaded jewellery, indulge your competitive side at the 'Play On! game challenge and party hard at the Monsters and Vampires fancy dress party.

And if that is not enough, you can take part in the Summer Reading Program and could win a Nintendo WII - and all you have to do is read!

Contact the Dubbo Branch Library on 68014510 for more information, and get your reading record for the Summer Reading Program from Thursday 2 December.

This book was awesome!

The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Having had another of Carlos Ruiz Zafon's books recommended to me (The Shadow of the Wind), I figured that since I enjoyed that so much I would give The Prince of Mist a try. And I was not disappointed... This author has an uncanny way of sucking the reader into his stories, and his way of describing places and people makes the reader feel as if they are actually a part of the action. I didn't realise that the story had a clown in it - and I am kind of phobic when it comes to clowns ('thanks' Stephen King's horror novel It...) but the novel is meant to be somewhat creepy and it does achieve that end.

The novel begins when Max Carver's father - a watchmaker and inventor - decides to move to a small town on the Atlantic Coast. They move into a house that was built for a surgeon, Dr Richard Fleischmann and his wife but was abandoned when the couple's son drowned in a tragic accident. Behind the house Max spies an overgrown garden full of statues surrounded by a metal fence topped with a six-pointed star. When he goes to investigate, Max finds that the statues seem to consist of a a kind of circus troup. In the centre of the garden is a large statue of a clown set in another six-pointed star.Max has the curious sensation that the statue is beckoning to him. As the family settles in they become increasingly uneasy: they discover a box of old films belonging to the Fleischmanns. His sister Alicia has unsettling dreams and his other sister hears voices whispering to her from an old wardrobe. But Max spends most of his time with his new friend Roland, who takes him diving to the wreck of a boat that sank close to the coast in a terrible storm. Everyone on board perished except for one man - an engineer who built the lighthouse at the end of the beach. During the dive, Max sees something that leaves him cold - on the mast floats a tattered flag and on it is the symbol of the circle and six-pointed star. As they learn more about the wreck, the chilling story of a legendary figure called the Prince of Mist begins to emerge.

Prime Minister's Literary Award Winner

The annual Prime Minister's Literary Awards celebrate the contribution of Australian literature to the nation's cultural and intellectual life.


The Young Adult fiction winner for 2010 was Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God by Bill Condon.

Neil Bridges attends a Catholic boys’ school in which teachers rule with iron fists and thick leather straps. Some crumble under the pressure but Neil toughs it out, just as his Vietnam-bound older brother has done before him. He has to be a man, after all. But at sixteen, how can he be sure of himself when he’s not sure of anything else? He loses a friend and finds another, falls in love and unwittingly treads a path that leads to revenge and possibly murder . . .

Pick up a copy from the Dubbo Branch library today...

Tag-a-tee @ the Dubbo Branch Library

The Dubbo Branch Library runs activities for youth every school holidays. In the July holidays, we held a Tag-a-tee workshop. For more info on youth activities, check out our website: http://www.mrl.nsw.gov.au/

Book Week 2010

Travel across the Story Bridge at Macquarie Regional Library during Book Week 2010. Book Week is the longest-running children's festival in Australia and this year will celebrate its' 65th birthday.

Each year Australian children's and young adult's books are nominated for the Children's Book Council Awards, and 6 books make up the Shortlist in each category. The 2010 winners will be announced on Friday 20 August.

The category for Older Readers has some great candidates - so why not grab a title and see what you think...

And the nominees are:

Stolen by Lucy Chistopher
The Winds of Heaven by Judith Clarke
Liar by Justine Larbalestier
Jarvis 24 by David Metzenthen
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard
Loving Richard Feynman by Penny Tangey

Beat the Boredom!

Don't forget that the Dubbo Branch Library has boredom-busters for young people these holidays!

Use your creative flair to 'Tag-a-t-shirt' on Monday 12 July (bookings required - cost $5) or come along on Friday 9 July and Friday 16 July to Youth Cafe and show off your SingStar or Guitar Hero skills.

Photo credit

The Dubbo Branch is open 10-6 weekdays, 10-3 Saturdays and 11-3 Sundays so come and down to find a great read, use the free internet for research, play games on the PlayStation 2, or catch up with some friends.

LIAR By Justine Larbalestier

Micah Wilkins, the main character in Liar REALLY IS A LIAR!! Continuously throughout this book, I was tossing up whether I wanted to hug her or slap her. But I was only about 20 pages in when I knew I wouldn't be able to put it down before I knew the truth (the whole truth and nothing but the truth!) Now, I am not a fan of 'fantasy.' I like my novels to be realistic, I like to be able to imagine that they're actually happening to me (or at least COULD happen to me). But the 'fantasy' (ie, to me, completely unrealistic and unimaginable) part of this novel snuck up on me so suddenly, that by that time, I was already hooked.

Being a self-confessed liar myself, I totally empathised with Micah's inability to tell her story straight - I know how hard it is sometimes to keep all of your lies together in one neat, little package - and I found the different parts of this book (Telling the Truth, Telling the True Truth, and The Actual Real Truth) hilarious and frustrating at the same time.

The judges of the CBCA awards have really got their work cut out for them this year.. and that's not a lie!! :)

WINTERGIRLS By Laurie Halse Anderson

I first heard about this book here on the MRLYA blog. It made me want to read it. It made me need to read it. Having personally seen both friends and family go through the struggle of 'perfection,' this turned out to actually be a really tough book to read. So personal, you being to wonder if it really is 'fiction' because how can just anyone know the true feelings of an anorexic? This was a little like reading a diary of torment - trying to keep in check the balance between desperately wanting to be the skinniest, versus the need to stay alive.

Wintergirls is Lia's story of her all-consuming eating disorder - her struggle to pull through her own (real and imagined) demons, as her friend Cassie had not.

A shocking and powerful novel, which I read in one sitting.

STOLEN By Lucy Christopher

My dad quite often tells me that, at 23, I am maybe getting just a tad too old to be readying YA novels. I completely disagree. They're (mostly) short, sharp and straight to the point (just how I like my life to be). Stolen didn't disappoint. As one of the nominated books for the 2010 CBCA Children's Book Week Awards, Stolen had the ability of taking me from my lounge room, and pushing me straight into the Australian outback. By the time I'd finished reading, I wanted to raid my piggy bank and book a flight to Perth, to explore the 'nothingness' that Gemma describes. This book is dramatic, suspenceful, and by being written in the form of a letter, will really tug at your heart-strings. I knew that the 'bad guy' was a bad guy, but I just wanted to reach into the pages and give Ty a hug..

Oh, and about halfway through, I thought I was awesome and had solved THE BIG MYSTERY of who Ty was, and why he had taken Gemma. Turns out I was wrong, and I hate being wrong...

New Young Adult fiction @ the Dubbo Branch Library

If you like Science fiction and fantasy try these new titles:

Skinned by Robin Wasserman

No one to trust... everything to lose.
Before the accident, Lia Kahn was happy.Before the accident, Lia Kahn was loved. Before, Lia was a lot of things: Normal. Alive. Human.
Lia no longer lives in before. Six months after the crash that killed her, six months after being reborn, Lia has finally accepted her new reality. She is a machine, a mech, and she belongs with her own kind. It’s a wild, carefree life, without rules and without fear. Because there’s nothing to fear when you have nothing left to lose.But when a voice from her past cries out for revenge, everything changes. Lia is forced to choose: between her old life and her new one. Between humans and mechs. Between sacrificing the girl she used to be and saving the boy she used to love.
Even if it means he’ll hate her forever.

Hive: The Overlord Protocol by Mark Walden

Someone is threatening Number One’s supremacy – very dangerous. The same person is trying to kill Otto, star pupil of H.I.V.E. – even more dangerous, in this hilarious, thrilling and villainous sequel.
Otto and Wing have special permission to leave H.I.V.E.’s secret island location to attend a funeral (all too common in their line of business). But before they reach their destination they are ambushed. Who would risk assassinating Otto Malpense, star pupil of the Higher Institute of Villainous Education and favourite of Number One, the most powerful villain alive? A new power is rising to challenge Number One’s authority, and they need H.I.V.E. and its powerful computer to do so. Otto thought the only thing he wanted was to escape from H.I.V.E., but now he’s desperately trying to save it, and himself!

New titles for Vampire and Paranormal fiction lovers...

The Van Allen Legacy: a Blue Bloods novel by Melissa de la Cruz
With the stunning revelation surrounding Bliss's true identity comes the growing threat of the sinister Silver Bloods. Once left to live the glamorous life in New York City, the Blue Bloods now find themselves in an epic battle for survival.
Not to worry, love is still in the air for the young vampires of the Upper East Side. Or is it? Jack and Schuyler are over. Oliver's brokenhearted. And only the cunning Mimi seems to be happily engaged.
Young, fabulous and fanged, Melissa de la Cruz's vampires unite in this highly anticipated fourth instalment of the Blue Bloods series.

The Splendour Falls by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Sylvie Davies is a ballerina who can’t dance. A broken leg ended her career, but what broke her heart was her father’s death, and what’s breaking her spirit is her mother’s remarriage. Still reeling Sylvie is shipped off to stay with relatives in the back of beyond. Or so she thinks, in fact she ends up in a town rich with her family’s history . . . and as it turns out her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew. More unnerving, though, are the two guys she can’t stop thinking about. Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, is the expected choice. But handsome and mysterious Rhys has a hold on her that she doesn’t quite understand. Then Sylvie starts seeing things – a girl by the lake and a man with dark unseeing eyes peering in through the window . . . Sylvie’s lost nearly everything - is she starting to lose her mind as well?

Feel like a read that is like real life?

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
Lia and Cassie were best friends. But something went wrong and Cassie changed. Now Cassie is dead and Lia has thirty-three unanswered calls on her phone, thirty-three messages from her ex-best friend, all sent the day she died.
How did she die? Why did she cut herself off?
While Lia searches for answers, she drives herself relentlessly down her own path to destruction—to be thin, strong, in control. And completely empty.
Wintergirls is a powerful but intimate story of one girl’s chilling descent into the all-consuming vortex of anorexia.

New books about centaurs and mythology...

Brighid's Quest by P.C Cast

Rather than follow her family's restrictive rules, centaur Brighid chose to set out on her own to make friends and form relationships with humans as well as centaurs.Now she's facing her toughest challenge yet. While helping guide home a grieving human - Cuchulainn, her friend Elphame's brother - Brighid finds herself beginning to care for him. An emotion forbidden by her clan.To add to her troubles, the Great Goddess has awoken the power of the Shaman within Brighid - the first centaur so blessed in ages. And just as she's torn between taking up a power she never expected and a love she's afraid to admit to, Brighid receives a vision of a tragedy that might destroy everyone she's ever cared about.

Halo by Zizou Corder

'Until you know who you are, you're no one.'
Washed ashore as a baby in ancient Greece, Halo is discovered by a family of centaurs. Although her true identity remains a mystery, she is loved as one of their own. But when Halo is dragged away by fishermen, her wild adventure begins . . .
Halo soon realizes that if she is to survive then she must live in disguise – as a boy. A violent war is threatening to erupt and Halo is at the mercy of the mighty Spartan warriors. And as she battles to hide her secret, Halo never forgets her quest to find out who she is – and where she really came from.

The Vampire is just not that into you by Vlad Mezrich

The Vampire Is Just Not That Into You, is a tongue-in-cheek look at the ups and downs of loving a vampire.

Are you in love with a vampire? Are you worried that you might not be his (blood) type? Do you wonder whether that cold stare means he isn't interested ... or if it's because he's been dead for three centuries (nothing personal)? Have you tried to coax him out of his crypt with a flash of your neck or a near-death situation that requires him to save you at the very last possible moment? Have you ever considered what it will be like to introduce him to your mother?

Even though your vampire's skin is transfixingly translucent, he can still be very hard to read. Sometimes he's simply holding back his true feelings, resisting the urge to bite you on the chance that one day you will truly love him. And other times ... well, he's just not that into you. How can you tell? Undead dating specialist Vlad Mezrich has all the answers, utilising quizzes, Top Ten lists, language analysis, real-life (and real-death) testimonials, and fancy charts to show you what you need to do in order to get your vampire and keep him forever.

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

Romance was not part of Nora Grey's plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how hard her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her. Not until Patch comes along. With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Patch draws Nora to him against her better judgment. But after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is and seems to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is way more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel. For she is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those who have fallen -- and, when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost Nora her life.

I really enjoyed this book. It is well-written and I didn't want to put it down. A particularly good quality first novel from Becca Fitzpatrick.

Escape from Shadow Island by Paul Adam

Max is an ordinary north London schoolboy by day, but at night he performs sell-out public shows as an escapologist – nicknamed The Half-Pint Houdini by the tabloid press. His father, Alexander, was also a world-renowned escapologist, who disappeared two years earlier in the Central American state of Santo Domingo. His body was never found, but Max’s mother, Helen, was convicted of murdering her husband by a Santo Domingan court. One evening, after his show, Max receives a visit from a mysterious man from Santo Domingo. Lopez-Vega tells Max that his mother’s trial was rigged and, if Max comes to his hotel room the following night, he has something to give him. When Max goes to the hotel, he finds Lopez-Vega dead, shot through the head. The room has clearly been searched by the killer, but what was he looking for? By chance, Max finds a piece of paper hidden under Lopez-Vega’s wig. Written on the paper is a sequence of eight numbers - 83521113.What do the numbers mean? Are they a code, or maybe the combination for a lock or a safe? Could they be the key to unlocking the mystery of his father’s disappearance and getting his mother out of prison?

Songwriting with Patricia Cruzado

The Dubbo Branch Library held a Songwriting workshop with talented local songwriter Patricia Cruzado on Wednesday 6 January. The young people who attended had great ideas and were very creative.

The Dubbo Branch Library has activities for young people during all school holidays. For more information, contact 68014510.

Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Blood Promise is the fourth in the Vampire Academy series. I believe it helps if you read the books in order, but due to random circumstances I have managed to skip from book 1 (Vampire Academy) to book 4...

Blood Promise continues the story of Rose, Lissa and Dimitri. Apparently (spoiler alert) in book 3, (Shadow Kiss) Dimitri has met a fate worse than death - he has become a Strigoi - basically a blood-sucking killer vampire. Rose, whose job is destroying Strigoi, is understandably upset that her honey has crossed over to the dark side. Rose sets off to Russia, to hunt Dimitri down and kill him. Once she gets there, chaos ensues and Rose finds herself in great danger...

The Vampire Academy series is well written and compelling. Richelle Mead writes believable characters and her world of dhampirs, Moroi and Strigoi will entertain any Twilight fans who are looking for something new to read. Even if you are not a Twilight fan, give this series a try.