Library lovers day

February 14th used to be Valentine's Day... now it's library lovers day!

http://www.librarylovers.org.au/

We will be hosting a 'Blind date with a book' stand - selected books will be wrapped up and identifiable only by a 'lonely hearts' ad on the front. E.g. 'Seeking adventurous reader who enjoys sailing, history and romance...'

Pop into the library on the 14th of Feb to pick up your blind date!

Tuvalu

By Andrew O'Connor. Allen & Unwin, 2005.

Cover design by Commitee.

I picked up this book because it won the 2005 Australian/Vogel Literary Award, and because when I was at uni I dreamed of taking a year off and going to Japan to teach English like the protagonist Noah. The writing was interesting in style and I guess it was at least partly autobiographic since the author also taught English in Japan. The life he depicts is somewhat hellish - living in horrific boarding houses, teaching children who delight in poking you in the private parts. The women in the novel seem otherworldly, especially excentric and beautiful Mami, and were hard for me to believe at times - as though she were a kind of dream woman. The whole novel has a sadness and pathos hanging over it, but Noah seems to get through it and I kept wanting to see how he managed. The ending did sort of disappoint me but like one of the endorsements on the back of the book suggested, I did keep thinking about it for days.

- Anne.