Category Archives: Uncategorized

5 Recommended reads: Chick Lit

Whether you’re planning a beach holiday or just want to find a relaxing escape at home, dive into these reads for some alone time. Here are some great Chick Lit options that have been released over the last year:

https-::covers.booko.info:300:grownHow to be a grown up by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

From bestselling authors Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus comes a timely novel about a forty-something wife and mother thrust back into the workforce, where she finds herself at the mercy of a boss half her age. Rory McGovern is entering the ostensible prime of her life when her husband, Blake, loses his dream job and announces he feels like “taking a break” from being a husband and father. Rory is then, without warning, single-parenting two kids and re-entering the workforce for the first time in years.

China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwanhttps-::covers.booko.info:300:china

Kevin Kwan, bestselling author of Crazy Rich Asians, is back with a wickedly funny new novel of social climbing, secret e-mails, art-world scandal, lovesick billionaires, and the outrageous story of what happens when Rachel Chu, engaged to marry Asia’s most eligible bachelor, discovers her birth father.

 

https-::covers.booko.info:300:friend

My Very Best Friend by Cathy Lamb

From a childhood friendship sustained over years and distance, to a journey of discovery, Cathy Lamb’s poignant novel tells of two women whose paths converge with unforeseen results – and reveals the gift of connection, and the challenges that can change everything for the better…

 

https-::covers.booko.info:300:ruinsBeautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying. And the story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio’s back lot—searching for the mysterious woman he once met…

https-::covers.booko.info:300:BernadetteWhere’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she’s a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she’s a disgrace; to design mavens, she’s a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom. Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette’s intensifying allergy to Seattle–and people in general–has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic. To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence–creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter’s role in an absurd world.

Father’s Day picks

Hunting for that perfect gift for dad? Whether he’s a music buff or a sporting fan,we’ve got all the books to cover every dad’s taste this Father’s Day. Here are 5 different options from a wide variety of genres:

https-::covers.booko.info:300:GudinskiGudinski: The Godfather of Australian Rock ‘n’ Roll by Stuart Coupe

Known to many as GODinski, Michael Gudinski is unquestionably the most powerful and influential figure in the Australian rock’n’roll music business – and has been for the last four decades. Often referred to as ‘the father of the Australian music industry’, he has nurtured the careers of many artists – Kylie Minogue, Jimmy Barnes, Paul Kelly, Skyhooks, Split Enz, Yothu Yindi, to name just a few.

 Life and Football by Jonathon Brownhttps-::covers.booko.info:300:LIfe

AFL legend Jonathan Brown on footy, living life to the full and having what it takes to win three premierships.

 

 

 

 

https-::covers.booko.info:300:dexterDexter is Dead by James Lindsay

Dexter returns in an all-new, all-Australian, blood-soaked adventure written by his creator, Jeff Lindsay. Dexter Morgan isn’t just Miami’s #1 forensic blood splatter expert…he’s also a serial killer who targets other serial killers. But when Dexter travels down under, he quickly discovers that sharks aren’t Australia’s only deadly predator. Who is setting up illegal hunting safaris in the Outback – and are humans in the crosshairs? Dexter investigates as only he can, and that means only one thing…

 Mistborn Trilogy Boxed Set: The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension,https-::covers.booko.info:300:mistborn The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

A boxed set of the landmark fantasy from Brandon Sanderson, the man credited with breathing fresh life into Robert Jordan’s WHEEL OF TIME. An epic fantasy set in a world where the Dark Lord has gained dominion over the world. A world of ash and pain. A world subjugated. But a world where magic can be drawn from metals. A world waiting for a new heroine, a new hope. A word of mouth bestseller in the USA Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy have become a massive hit in the UK, and now in Australia. 

https-::covers.booko.info:300:meatballsMeatballs: The Ultimate Guide by Matteo Bruno

Meatballs make the perfect dish for a Monday night supper, a Saturday night dinner party or a Sunday feast. And here are 60 recipes for meatballs like you’ve never seen them before – Meatballs rustico, devoured with crusty bread to sop up the delectable sauce; Seared beef carpaccio meatballs, best eaten glass of Prosecco in hand; Pork, ginger and lemongrass meatballs; Lobster meatballs. Tuck in!

Big Fat Smile

Big_Fat_Smile

At Booko, we’re hugely supportive of groups that inspire and promote reading. Big Fat Smile is a Community-owned, not-for-profit group who have served children and families since 2012. Big Fat Smile has supported refugee families, women and children fleeing from domestic violence and families who have been affected by drug abuse. All of the children in these families didn’t have any, or enough, appropriate clothing and nothing of their own to play with or read.

Big Fat Smile helps prepare children for the best start in life with packs that include a selection of clothing, a toy and always a book.

Booko has previously gifted a selection of new books to Big Fat Smile to form part of the packs given to children.

If you have new or pre-loved books to donate to Big Fat Smile, they would love to hear from you. All donations can be sent to:

Big Fat Smile
PO Box 190
Olinda VIC 3788

For more information on Big Fat Smile, visit their Facebook page

 

 

Australians cop it again

As if it’s not bad enough that whining Australian billionaires are complaining that international stores don’t have to pay GST, companies which can enforce regional pricing are going to town on Australian buyers.  Apple’s just released their new Mac App Store – the Mac equivalent of the iTunes store already available for iPhone / iPad / iPod devices.  Apple have regional pricing all worked out, so if you think we’ll catch a break with their latest online shopping experience, you obviously haven’t been paying attention.

Take one of my favourite Mac apps – Omnigraffle. Buying it direct from Omnigroup is $199 USD ~= $200.672 AUD

If you’re in North America and you use the Mac App Store US : $199 USD ~= $200.672 AUD

If you’re in the UK Mac App Store – $199 USD ~= $200.672 AUD

If you’re in the Finnish Mac App Store : €149.99 ~= $194.843 AUD

If you’re lucky enough to buy from the Australian Mac App Store, you’ll pay a whopping $249.00 AUD. That’s a 25% premium for living in the lucky country.   See JoshuaGan’s post for more info. (Update: This issue is mentioned in an Omnigroup blog post.)

It’s not just Apple though – check the Steam prices

Call of Duty:  Black Ops from the various international stores:

The UK Steam store : £39.99 GBP ~= $62.058 AUD

The US Steam store : $59.99 USD ~= $60.428 AUD

The Finnish Steam store:  €59.99 EUR ~= $78.447 AUD

And last, (and the opposite of least) the Australian Steam store : $89.99 USD ~= $90.647 AUD

The Steam prices are probably caused by Australian distributors taking some obscene cut. COD4: Black Ops is $89 AUD at both KMart and JB HiFi.