Category Archives: Booko

Posts about booko, some technical, some explaining new features

Making the most of Black Friday

November 16, 2015Booko, Hacks, Uncategorized#Bookoalerts, #bookolists, #SaleTeam Booko

The name Black Friday was first used over 50 years ago by Philadelphia police offers to describe the crazy shopping day after Thanksgiving when the city was overrun with traffic flocking to Christmas sales. This year, Black Friday is predicted to generate sales of $50b in the US (matching last years sales). While it’s the biggest shopping day of the year in the UK, sales are expected to top £1b.

Black Friday is scheduled to take place on Friday, November 27 and a number of retailers have already started promoting their offers in preparation. If you want to do some research prior to the sale, visit this site. (It’s a US site but can give you a comprehensive overview of who is selling what).

While it can be a great time to purchase a new TV or laptop, it’s also a smart way to do some of your Christmas shopping early. If you are thinking about purchasing books or DVD’s for gifts, take advantage of the special offers available during the Black Friday sale. Here’s how to make the most of the sale:

Make a list of all the books and DVD’s you want to purchase using the Booko Lists functionality. Booko Lists is a great tool that can help you to plan and manage your purchases for a one off event (like Black Friday) or ongoing. We’ve written a handy blog on how to use Booko Lists or you can visit the page on our website.

If you’ve ever missed a sale on an item you really want, you’ll know that it’s not a great feeling! The Booko Alerts feature can help you avoid that happening to your book purchases. When the price drops on a nominated title, Booko will email you with the new best price. Booko Alerts work for DVDs and eBooks as well as printed books. It is easy to use, and will help you get more out of your money! We’ve written a blog on how to use Booko Alerts or you can visit our website.

Here’s to savvy shopping!

Booko Alerts: never miss a sale again

October 14, 2015Blog, Booko, Hacksalert, Booko, bookoaccount, feature, pricealertKaren Seligman

Have you ever missed a sale on an item you really want? The Booko Alerts feature can help you avoid that happening to your book purchases. When the price drops on a nominated title, Booko will email you with the new best price. Booko Alerts work for DVDs and eBooks as well as printed books. It is easy to use, and will help you get more out of your money! Here’s how:

1. Start by entering details of your item in the search box, then click Search.

2. Choose the item you want from the Results List. Click on its Name or its Cover Image to see the detailed record.

3. On the left hand side of the Detailed Record screen, there are two red buttons directly below the Cover Image of the book. Click on the one on the Left, called “Add an Alert”.

4. This brings up a box where you can specify your preferred price. The box automatically shows the current best price. You can also delete that value and enter a different lower price. Then enter your email address, and click “Add”.

5. That’s done! Booko checks prices daily, and when the price of your item drops below your preferred price, you will receive an email alerting you to the new lowest price, with links straight to the relevant Seller.

Managing multiple alerts

If you are creating alerts for multiple items, then you will find it useful to create a Booko account. Once Logged In, you can view a list of all of your alerts, and update them as necessary. You can also include second-hand books in your price watch.

1. To create a new Booko Account, scroll down to the bottom of the Booko homepage, and click on the red “Sign Up” button.

2. On the Create an Account page, you can either use the form on the left hand side to create a new Booko ID, or you can click on one of the icons on the right, to connect using your account details of your favourite social network. When prompted, allow Booko to share the login details of your chosen social network, and Booko will do the rest.

4. Once you are a registered user, simply Sign In to your Booko account before you create an Alert. The Sign In button is located at the top left corner of the Booko page. When you have signed in, you will not need to supply an email address each time you create an alert.

5. To view the full list of your Alerts, click on “My Alerts” at the top right corner of the Booko page. This will take you to the Booko Sign In page if you are not signed in at the time.

6. The list of Active Alerts shows the current price and the target price for each item. You can change the target prices, or delete alerts here. Check the box for “Include Used” if you want to track the prices of used copies as well as new ones. Don’t forget to click “Save” each time you made any changes!

Inside Out

August 28, 2015Booko, Children#BookReview, #ChildrensLiteratureKaren Seligman

Inside Out is Disney / Pixar’s big mid-year movie release. This engaging story about a young girl and her five emotions (Joy, Disgust, Fear, Anger and Sadness) has been praised for its accurate portrayal of psychology, and its positive messages about the value of different emotions.

If the children in your life are interested in, or have enjoyed Inside Out, this can be an opportunity to discuss how to recognise and manage emotions. Here are some additional resources, suitable for different ages, to help you further that conversation.

For the youngest children:

When I’m Feeling Lonely by Trace Moroney (and other titles)
Trace Moroney has written a series of picture books, each focussing on a single emotion (such as anger, jealousy, kindness, love). She uses a bunny character and lots of descriptive language to help children understand what each emotion means, and how to deal with it. Each book also contains teaching notes written by child psychologists for carers / teachers.

My Big Shouting Day by Rebecca Patterson

My Big Shouting Day won the Roald Dahl Funny Prize and it is easy to see why. Bella is having a Big Shouting Day because nothing seems right – it’s either too hot, too cold, too wet and even too minty! Luckily, her very patient mum reminds Bella that everyone has those days sometimes, and that things may be better tomorrow. Parents and children alike may giggle at the all-too-familiar situations and the increasingly frazzled expression on Mum’s face (After reading this book, my friend laughed, then ruefully said “this is not comedy, it’s documentary”). The ending, with a cuddle and a shy apology, is upbeat and reassuring.

For early- to middle-primary:

Inside Out Driven by Emotions by Elise Allen and the Disney Book Group
This is a novelisation of the movie, aimed at junior readers. Each of its five chapters is a retelling of the Inside Out story from the perspective of a different emotion – Joy, Anger, Fear, Disgust and Sadness. A creative way to illustrate how different emotions can change our perception of events.

The Emotions’ Survival Guide
This non-fiction accompaniment to the Inside Out movie aims to be a survival guide for school-aged children, with expert advice on how to recognise and deal with feelings. Available for pre-order (to be published September 2015)

For pre-teens and teens:

Understanding Myself: a Kid’s Guide to Intense Emotions and Strong Feelings by Mary C. Lamia

Understanding Myself is written by a clinical psychologist with over 30 years’ experience. It defines and explores 18 feelings, including love, envy, shame, loneliness and anxiety, in a supportive and non-judgmental way. Not only can this book be used by young people to understand and manage their emotions, its vocabulary offers a framework to help them articulate and discuss their concerns with peers and adults.

Don’t Let Your Emotions Run Your Life for Teens by Sheri Van Dijk

Teenagers often have to deal with new experiences and emotions that leave them feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope. This is a workbook that uses a structured approach to guide teens on how to stay calm in difficult situations, reduce the pain of intense emotions, and manage overwhelming feelings. The techniques are based on dialectical behaviour therapy, a clinical tool designed to help change unhelpful patterns of behaviour.

Book Week Picks for primary-aged readers

August 25, 2015Booko#Awards, #BookReview, #CBCA, #ChildrensLiteratureKaren Seligman

Children’s Book Week is an annual celebration of Australian children’s publishing, and the authors and illustrators who contribute to this vibrant industry. Look out for activities, such as special story time sessions, offered by your local schools and public libraries as part of the celebrations.

Book Week also means the CBCA Children’s Book of the Year awards, whose winners were announced last Friday (August 21). Last week we looked at shortlisted titles in the Early Childhood category. This week, we spotlight the winning titles in two categories particularly suited to primary-aged children – the Younger Readers award and the Picture Book of the Year award.

Book of the Year (Younger Readers)

This year’s winners are diverse in both style and target ages.

Winner: The Cleo Stories by Libby Gleeson (illustrated by Freya Blackwood)

Libby Gleeson and Freya Blackwood have achieved outstanding results at this year’s awards, with two of their co-creations taking out top honours (the other title, Go to Sleep, Jessie! has won the Early Childhood Book of the Year). Once again, they demonstrate their skill at observing the minutiae of daily life, and at detailing the dramas of childhood with understanding and affection.

The Cleo Stories contain two short stories about Cleo, an imaginative six-year-old. The first thing you notice about this book is its beautiful design – thick silky pages packed with full-colour illustrations. It is halfway between picture book and chapter book, and is perfect for early-to-middle-primary readers.

In the first story,’The Necklace’, Cleo desperately wants a necklace of her own, but she will only be given one on her birthday – which is so far away that Cleo decides to come up with a better solution. Then in ‘The Present’, Cleo is trying to find the perfect present for her mum’s birthday – something that is just from her. These stories show the enterprising Cleo solving her dilemmas with enthusiasm, creativity and humour. A sequel is already in progress and will be available later this year.

Honour Book: Two Wolves by Tristan Bancks
This dark mystery-thriller is a departure for Tristan Bancks, previously known for sassy school stories for pre-teens and teens. Ben is a slightly-chubby, slightly-gawky boy who just loves the comfort and security of his bedroom. Then the Police arrive at Ben’s house looking for his parents. Minutes after they leave, his parents arrive and bundle Ben and his little sister Olive into their car to go on a “holiday”. But Ben’s parents behave strangely – they are not using their credit-cards or mobile phones, they cut their hair and they lie to the police – what’s going on? As Ben uses his amateur detective skills to gather evidence and understand the events, he realises that his parents are in serious trouble, and that he has some tough decisions to make.

First and foremost, Two Wolves is a tense, action-packed story. Tristan Bancks’ background in acting and filmmaking is evident in his vivid descriptions, and dramatic opening – readers are thrown straight into the action, creating many questions that are slowly resolved as the story progresses. The language has a terse rhythm that builds a sense of urgency and threat.

What lifts it out of the ordinary is the convincing portrayal of flawed characters, and of Ben’s personal growth – his developing resourcefulness, self-belief and ability to make difficult decisions. Those moral and ethical dilemmas – about right and wrong, honesty and loyalty, also test us readers and hold our interest right to the last page.

Honour Book: Withering-by-Sea: a Stella Montgomery Intrigue by Judith Rossell
This Honour Book commendation caps off a successful year for Withering-by-Sea, which has already won two awards – the Indie Book Awards (Children’s and YA Book of the Year), and the Australian Book Industry Awards (Book of the Year for Older Children).

High on a cliff in the town of Withering-by-Sea stands the faded glory of the Hotel Majestic. Here, Stella feels stifled by the strict and dull upbringing given her by three dreaded Aunts. She is constantly getting in trouble for unladylike behaviour, because she prefers adventure to deportment and needlework. One day, while hiding in the hotel’s Conservatory with her Atlas, she sees a man hiding a package in a potted fern. Thereafter she is swept along in a mystery that is full of danger, black magic and even singing cats!

Judith Rossell has used period language and the conventions of the Victorian Gothic genre to great effect, resulting in a moody, spooky mystery. The cold mist-wreathed setting seems quintessentially English and echoes the misery of Stella’s predicament. The illustrations, similar in style to Edward Gorey, add great visual impact. A subplot relating to Stella’s mysterious background and parentage is intriguing and paves the way for future instalments.

Picture Book of the Year

Books considered for the Picture Book of the Year award are typically aimed at older children but can be enjoyed by all ages (including adults!). Compared to the Early Childhood category, these stories tend to be more complex, and may also include mature or challenging themes such as death or trauma.

Winner: My Two Blankets by Freya Blackwood and Irena Kobald

2015 is a great year for Freya Blackwood. She has just won a hat-trick at the CBCA awards – each of her three shortlisted titles (Go to Sleep, Jessie!, The Cleo Stories and My Two Blankets) has won in its category. In fact, she is the first creator in the awards’ 70-year history to have been honoured three times in the same year. These wins add to her already impressive tally of past honours, including three previous CBCA wins, and the Kate Greenaway Medal, a prestigious international prize for illustrators.

My Two Blankets offers a child’s perspective on life as a refugee. Cartwheel left her home to escape the war, and has sought safety in a new country. Everything is strange in her new home, making Cartwheel feel isolated and lonely. She seeks comfort in her own language – her “old blanket” of familiar words and sounds. Then Cartwheel meets a friendly girl at the park. As their friendship grows, Cartwheel gains new words – words that she uses to weave a new blanket that is just as comfortable as her old one.

Irena Kobald’s heartwarming story of friendship and acceptance marries beautifully with Freya Blackwood’s gentle, dreamy illustrations. The use of colour and the creative depiction of the abstract concept of ”language” are particularly noteworthy.

Honour Book: One Minute’s Silence by Michael Camilleri and David Metzenthen

A roomful of bored modern-day students are led to imagine themselves in the midst of the Gallipoli campaign as they observe one minute’s silence. One minute’s silence is enough to imagine the thousands of wild colonial boys charging into relentless gunfire; it is also enough to imagine how the Turks felt, trying to defend their homes and their lives, as they watch slouch-hatted strangers run uphill towards them.

One Minute’s Silence is a heartbreaking story conveyed by considered, evocative language and intricate illustrations packed with meaning. By showing the Battle of Gallipoli from both sides, the story extends beyond the history of a single battle, but instead reflects upon the senselessness and horror of all wars. It is a visually stunning, affecting addition to the range of books created to commemorate the centenary of World War One. One Minute’s Silence deserves every one of the three honours it gained in this year’s CBCA Awards – winner of the Crichton Award for New Illustrators, Honour Book in the Picture Book category, as well as Notable Book in the Information Book category.

Honour Book: The Stone Lion by Ritva Voutila and Margaret Wild

Sometimes, stone animals get a chance to become warm, breathing creatures for a short time – if they desire it greatly with a generous heart. The stone lion outside the library longs to become alive, to run free. He is finally granted his wish one snowy day, but two young children desperately need his help – will he sacrifice his own desires for their sake?

The Stone Lion is a poignant story about compassion and selflessness, and also a celebration of libraries.
We see and rejoice in the lion’s transformation from heartless and indifferent – unable to comprehend human emotions – to humanity, with the ability to sympathise and the desire to help.

Margaret Wild is a well-loved author who has won the CBCA Picture Book of the Year award three times in a career of over thirty years. The period setting used in Ritva Voutila’s drawings makes this story dreamy and timeless – a bittersweet fable reminiscent of Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince.

Book Week Picks – Early Childhood Book of the Year

August 17, 2015Booko, Children#Awards, #BookReview, #ChildrensLiterature, #EarlyChildhoodKaren Seligman

Book Week is fast approaching – as advertisements spruiking dress-ups remind us. Book Week also means the CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia) Book of the Year Awards, the most prestigious awards in Australian children’s publishing. This year’s winners will be announced on Friday 21st August, the day before Book Week, a week long celebration of children’s books, literacy and publishing, from August 22-28.

This year, CBCA celebrates its 70th anniversary with the theme “Books light up our World”. Here’s a run down of the different award categories and some titles to watch out for.

Book of the Year (Early Childhood)

The Early Childhood category was first awarded in 2001, to differentiate these works from ones judged under the general Picture Book of the Year category, that may contain more mature, challenging subject matter. The need for two separate awards in picture storybooks reflect a growth and diversification of this format away from the idea that “picture books are only for young children”. In fact, a picture is still worth a thousand words, and the combination of text and graphics offers a multi-layered, powerful approach to storytelling.

This year’s shortlist is dominated by established authors and illustrators, many of whom are past winners.

To further your reading experience, many of these titles come with teaching notes available from the publisher’s websites.

A House of her Own by Jenny Hughes and Jonathan Bentley
Audrey is bigger than she was yesterday, so now she needs a bigger house – a house of her own. Luckily, Dad is there to help her build a wonderful house at the top of a tree, with a bathtub for snorkelling, a blue bed for hiding secrets under – everything that a girl could want. However, when it’s time to turn in, Audrey is not so sure that being big is such a good idea afterall…

Jenny Hughes and Jonathan Bentley have created a delightful heroine and an endearing story. The story, told almost entirely through dialogue, builds a vivid picture of a loving father-daughter relationship (with a single-parent subtext), and captures the essence of an almost-big girl who wants independence but who also longs for security.

Scary Night by Lesley Gibbes and Stephen Michael King

Stephen Michael King is a prolific and versatile author/illustrator who has three works shortlisted for this year’s CBCA awards – two in the Early Childhood category, and The Duck and the Darklings competing for the Picture Book of the Year. In Scary Night, he illustrates the story of first-time author Lesley Gibbes.

Once upon a scary night, a hare, a cat and a pig set out on a journey. They must keep going, even though there are lots of dangers lurking! The story unfolds into a happy surprise as the friends finally reach their destination. The use of repetition and sound effects in the text ramps up the pace and fills it with tension; it is perfect for a dramatic read-aloud. The cute-but-spooky illustrations – I especially love the wide-eyed apprehension in the friends’ faces – will bring delicious shivers to the audience.

Go to Sleep, Jessie! by Libby Gleeson and Freya Blackwood

Libby Gleeson and Freya Blackwood are both multiple award-winners with formidable track-records at the CBCA awards. This year, two of their collaborations – Go to Sleep, Jessie! and The Cleo Stories – are shortlisted for the Early Childhood and the Younger Readers awards, respectively. Moreover, Freya Blackwood has also been shortlisted for the Picture Book of the Year Award, as illustrator for My Two Blankets.

Baby Jessie screams every night at bedtime. Mum, Dad and Jessie’s big sister try all sorts of tricks to help Jessie sleep but the peace and quiet never lasts. The big sister (narrator) grows increasingly frustrated and looks set to snap… fortunately an endearing twist gives the story a gentle, happy ending.

Go to Sleep, Jessie! is a charming, tender story reminiscent of the award-winning The Runaway Hug, that will resonate with many parents (and older siblings!). Once again Libby Gleeson and Freya Blackwood show their great skill in illuminating the drama of everyday life. The use of some comic strip-style layouts add visual flow to the illustrations that help to propel the action.

Other shortlisted titles are:

Snail and Turtle are Friends by Stephen Michael King

A very simple, gentle and cute story about Snail and Turtle, friends who love to spend time together even though they are different. The humour and cheerfulness is guaranteed to bring a smile to everyone’s face. This is the second of three works by Stephen Michael King in this year’s awards.

Pig the Pug by Aaron Blabey

Pig the Pug is greedy and selfish in every way. When Pig refuses to share his toys, it starts a chain of events that leads to a nasty end for Pig! The rollicking rhymes and Aaron Blabey’s distinctive drawings will have children following the story with gleeful giggles. A sequel, Pig the Fibber, is just released and already a bestseller.

Noni the Pony Goes to the Beach by Alison Lester

Noni the Pony is friendly and funny. In this new adventure, Noni and her farmyard friends have lots of adventures on a fun day at the beach. It has the same musical rhymes and adorable illustrations of its predecessor and is a joyful story for even the youngest children.

Interview with an author: Michelle Hamer

August 17, 2015Booko, Young Adult#Chicklit, #Fiction, #HistoricalFiction, #interview, #YATeam Booko

Michelle Hamer is the author of eleven books including the best-selling Australian novel, Gucci Mamas, and its follow-ups, Versace Sisters, Chanel Sweethearts and Armani Angels (which she co-wrote under the name Cate Kendall). She is also a regular contributor to The Age newspaper where she was previously an editor. More recently, she has written the ‘Daisy’ series of children’s books. We were fortunate to speak with Michelle on the writing process:

What piece of writing are you most proud?

I would have to say the Daisy books, which were published by Penguin last year as part of the Our Australian Girl series. The journalist in me enjoyed the research necessary to write historical fiction, and the writer in me enjoyed creating the story that brought the history to life. I’d had seven books published before this series, but this was the first children’s fiction I had written, which fulfilled a lifelong dream to write for kids. I plan to continue writing in the children’s genre. I have a new book coming out next year and am working on a new series.

Do you base any of your characters on people you know?

Mostly the characters come from my imagination and from bits and pieces of other people.

Do you have a process that you use to develop your characters?

I create characters that I like, who I’d like to hang out with and enjoy getting to know as the story develops. I’m often surprised by what they do and say, but once I start writing I try to just go with it and see what happens. It’s fun to create the nasty characters too, especially when I get to teach them a lesson during the story.

Your background is journalism. Is it difficult to move between fiction and editorial content?

It’s a matter of shifting gears mentally and it’s really lovely to be able to have the opportunity to do both. I find I use different parts of my brain to write fiction, non-fiction or journalism in book form. It’s nice to have a smorgasbord of writing styles. Writing an article is so much faster than writing a book, so it’s possible to get a quicker sense of achievement and feedback, but then the satisfaction of finishing a long form work and seeing it on a bookshop or library shelf is huge.

Do you use stream of consciousness as a method of writing? Or do you prefer other methods?

I start with a general plan and direction, I usually know the major plot points before I start, but once I get going I can find that the writing seems to happen without me thinking much about it, and that’s scary at times. I’ll be writing and writing, and thinking: “This is going to be drivel, I should stop,” but I try to silence those inner critics and keep writing, and mostly it turns out well. It’s a fascinating process. I try not to think about it too much in case it stops happening!

I sometimes think that I’ve lost the creativity I had when I was at school. What are your recommendations for getting that back?

Play, dance, sing, draw, read – immerse yourself in the creativity of others as much as possible. I think creativity can be contagious.
We tend to expect ourselves to always be doing something productive; but creativity needs space and time to flourish. Daydreaming is an excellent habit to foster.

I know some people that want to get their first book published. Do you have any advice for them? What is the process like?

The best advice I have is to be tenacious, develop a thick skin and keep trying. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to break into mainstream publishing, but technology has opened up lots of new forms of publishing, so in some ways it’s easier than ever to share your work with an audience.
Sometimes people say: “Oh but all the stories have been told, there’s nothing left to write”. I don’t agree. Your voice is unique, no one else can tell a story in your voice or from your perspective. That’s a valuable asset.

If you are interested in attending one of Michelle’s writing workshops, visit wordsmiths workshops.com.au

The Martian

August 11, 2015Booko, Movies#Father's Day, #FilmAdaptationDan Milne

‘The Martian‘ is the first published novel by Andy Weir. It was originally self-published in 2011, after which Crown Publishing purchased the rights. It was published in 2014 and the movie is scheduled to be released on October 2nd. So you have the opportunity to read the book first! It’s about a NASA astronaut Mark Watney, who is left stranded on Mars when the crew of the Ares 3 mission are forced to leave. With no way to contact Earth, Watney must rely on his scientific and technical skills to survive, growing potatoes in the crew’s Martian habitat (or Hab) and burning hydrazine to make water. He begins to record his experiences so that they might prove useful for future explorers after his death. NASA discovers that Watney is alive when satellite images pick up human activity and they begin a plan to rescue him. This book is the perfect Father’s day gift.

Here’s the film trailer. It looks ah-mazing!

If that’s doesn’t get you interested, here’s Mythbuster Adam Savage interviewing author Andy Weir:

Books to read before their film versions arrive

August 10, 2015Booko, Movies#BookReview, #FilmAdaptationKaren Seligman

Books continue to be a reliable source of inspiration for film studios. The film adaptations of these well-loved stories are arriving over the next two months. It is always fun (and a great conversation starter) to compare books to their film versions, regardless of which you experience first. Hopefully this advance warning will help you finish the original book before heading to the cinemas this time (finally!).

Paper Towns by John Green
(Released July/August 2015)

Although the film has already screened in the US, it was only released in Australia and New Zealand in late July, and the UK release will be in mid August – so there is still time to read the original before heading to the cinema.

Paper Towns is a coming-of-age story about Quentin (“Q”) and Margo, his neighbour and childhood crush. A month before high school graduation, Margo re-enters Q’s life by inviting him to help her exact revenge on several people; they spend one heady night completing their mission. Then Margo disappears; Q is convinced Margo is waiting for him to find her, and becomes obsessed with identifying clues to her whereabouts. Q and his friends eventually find Margo in New York state after a frantic road trip, but…

The Paper Towns movie draws on the star power of Cara Delevigne, a British supermodel in her first lead role; and also of author John Green, who achieved enormous success with both the book- and film-versions of The Fault in Our Stars.
Paper Towns is the latest example of Young Adult (YA) fiction gaining prominence in mainstream popular culture – following blockbusters such as Fault in Our Stars, Twilight and Hunger Games.

Holding the Man by Timothy Conigrave
(Expected release August 2015)

Fourteen reprints, an award-winning stage adaptation and now a film version are testament to the continuing high regard for Holding the Man. This is a tender, honest, raw memoir about Conigrave’s first love – the Captain of their school football team – and their 15-year relationship. It charts the highs and lows of their experiences as young gay men in the 70s and 80s – coming out, the hedonistic gay scene, the scourge of AIDS. It is also distinctly Australian, set in Melbourne and Sydney, with Aussie Rules Football integral to the story. Holding the Man is particularly poignant because it, Conigrave’s “big break”, came several months after his death due to AIDS-related illness.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
(Expected release September 2015)

Bill Bryson’s gentle humour and child-like curiosity has been charming readers for decades, on topics as diverse as roadside diners, the history of the sewing machine and even Vegemite. In A Walk in the Woods, Bryson documents his attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail with a friend. There are plenty of trials and tribulations; the Trail is long (around 3500 kilometres) and challenging, and the two men soon find they are ill-prepared for the task. Despite these difficulties, Bryson remains upbeat and is able to muse on the history and ecology of this scenic route as they go for their little “walk in the woods”.
The film version stars Robert Redford as Bill Bryson (I wonder if he’s flattered – who would you choose to play you on the big screen?) and Nick Nolte as Bryson’s friend.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
(Expected release September 2015)

The “Me” in this novel is Greg, an awkward highschooler who avoids becoming a social outcast by drifting over all the tribes at school. His only close friend is Earl, a fellow cinephile; for years they have been making quirky film parodies together. Greg’s and Earl’s lives change when they are guilt-tripped into spending time with Rachel, Greg’s childhood friend who has terminal cancer.
This, Jesse Andrews’ first novel, is a fresh, funny story with an authentic teen voice; it is uplifting without being sentimental, and deserves the wider attention that its film adaptation will surely bring. The film received a standing ovation (and won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award) at this year’s Sundance Festival, and has become a commercial success in the US. Coming to the rest of the world in September.

Holiday Reading Guide: Our road-tested reads

June 30, 2015Booko#Fiction, #HolidayreadingTeam Booko

When you’re busy packing for holidays, don’t forget to pop a few good reads into your suitcase — ones that you won’t want to put down. The Booko team have road-tested these reads poolside and think they will be the perfect companion to your relaxing break:

The Sunlit Night by Rebecca Dinerstein
Frances had read of a man who painted with only the colour yellow. He lived in the north of Norway. In the beautiful, barren landscape of the Far North, under the ever- present midnight sun, Frances and Yasha are surprised to find refuge in each other.

The Novel Habits of Happiness (An Isabel Dalhousie novel) by Alexander McCall Smith

Isabel Dalhousie is one of Edinburgh’s most generous (but discreet) philanthropists – but should she be more charitable? She wonders, sometimes, if she is too judgmental about her niece’s amorous exploits, too sharp about her housekeeper’s spiritual beliefs, too ready to bristle in battle against her enemies.

The Insider Threat by Brad Taylor
In the eighth action-packed thriller in the New York Times bestselling Pike Logan series, ISIS, the most maniacal terrorist organization the modern world has ever seen, is poised to make their most audacious strike yet. The United States has anticipated and averted countless attacks from terrorist groups–thanks in large part to the extralegal counterterrorist unit known as the Taskforce. But in The Insider Threat, a much more insidious evil is about to unfold…

Go Set a Watchman by Nellie Harper Lee
Scout (Jean Louise Finch) has returned to Maycomb from New York to visit her father Atticus. She is forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand both her father’s attitude toward society, and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood.

The Long Utopia (#4, The Long Earth) by Terry Pratchett
2045-2059. After the cataclysmic upheavals of Step Day and the Yellowstone eruption, humanity is spreading further into the Long Earth, and society, on a battered Datum Earth and beyond, continues to evolve. Now an elderly and cantankerous AI, Lobsang lives in disguise with Agnes in an exotic, far-distant world. He’s convinced they’re leading a normal life in New Springfield – they even adopt a child – but it seems they have been guided there for a reason.

Facebook Login is Live!

June 16, 2015BookoDan Milne

For those users who like the ease of using their Facebook account to log in to other services, we have good news. Booko now allows you to create a Booko account and log in via Facebook. We’ve added it to the list of existing login systems, plus given the whole page a bit of a polish.

If Facebook knows your email address, we’ll attempt to match that to your Booko account. So, if your Facebook email matches your Booko email address, you’ll be logged into your existing Booko account.

Give it a try and let us know what you think!

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