Kate Constable's Blog

What I Picked Up At The Library Book Sale

This sale in the local scout hall is my three-monthly treat. Lots of people seem to treat it as a book exchange, so you can often pick up good quality non-library books, too. This was my haul:

For Evie
The Fairy Catalogue, Sally Gardner Full of fairy and fairy tale items (wands, dresses, castles) you can order by wishing.
I Spy School Days I pretend this is to encourage Evie's powers of concentration and observation, but I secretly love these puzzle books myself.

For Alice
The Kid's Book of Chess A good basic primer with lots of pictures of knights and queens and soldiers. Alice knows all the moves but she likes it best when our queens and kings chase each other round the board.

For Michael (who almost became a military historian and knows more about WWI than anyone I've ever met; one day we'll have to write a book together)
A Foreign Field, Ben Macintyre "A true story of love and betrayal in the Great War." Michael's read 100 pages already so it must be good.
Boys of Blood and Bone, David Metzenthen Another war book. I'm looking forward to this one too.

For me
Great Ideas for Tired Parents, Michael Grose Because I can't resist a parenting book. And I'm tired.
Oyster, Janette Turner Hospital Don't know anything about it, but I know JTH is an amazing writer, and I have to read grown-up books sometimes.
Life Lines: Australian women's letters and diaries 1788 to 1840. Now my interest in Aussie history has been piqued, I snatched this up with glee.
Queen of the Flowers, Kerry Greenwood Because I love Phryne Fisher and I haven't read this one!
We Are The Weather Makers, Tim Flannery An early cry to action on global warming. I'm kind of dreading it but I need to read it.
The Adventures of the Christmas Pudding, Agatha Christie I seem to be on an Agatha jag at the moment. If anyone asks what I read as a teenager, I must remember: lots of Agatha Christie. This is short stories so it should take about five minutes to gulp down.
A Sound Of Chariots, Mollie Hunter I grabbed this because it's a Collins Lion from the 70s and some of my favourite childhood books were Lions (Gillian Avery, Noel Streatfeild, Alan Garner). It's a very intense semi-autobiographical account of a young Scottish girl dealing with her father's death (he was wounded in the Great War -- another war book!) by writing. Having never heard of Mollie Hunter I was surprised to see that she's still alive and was writing in 2003, and there was a list of books as long as your arm. and she won the Carnegie Medal. I'm astonished I haven't come across her before. Not sure if it would appeal to kids now, but I'm immersed in this one.

All this for $7, not bad eh?