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books ebooks films Indigenous resources libraries literature

Happy Book Week! 17-23 October 2020

This year the celebrations were postponed from August until now. Theme: Curious creatures, wild minds.

The library has some curious trivia questions to be answered, as well as some displays of good reads. This year’s award winners from the Children’s Book Council (picture books, chapter books and young adult) include Bruce Pascoe for Young dark emu and Indigenous illustrator Jasmine Seymour for Baby business.

https://cbca.org.au/winners-2020

https://www.magabala.com/blogs/news/cbca-win-2020

 

What are the benefits of reading?

Benefits include increased empathy, stress reduction, prevention of cognitive decline….

https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-reading-books

https://www.nbcnews.com/better/pop-culture/why-getting-lost-book-so-good-you-according-science-ncna893256

 

Better Reading

Reading suggestions and Weekly Top 10.

Includes All our shimmering skies – Trent Dalton; The survivors – Jane Harper; Honeybee – Craig Silvey; Think like a monk – Jay Shetty.

http://www.betterreading.com.au/

2020 Better Reading Top 100

Includes The tattooist of Auschwitz – Heather Morris; Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine – Gail Honeyman; Scrublands – Chris Hammer; Where the crawdads sing – Delia Owens.

https://www.betterreading.com.au/news/exciting-announcement-the-better-reading-top-100/

More good reading suggestions: http://www.betterreading.com.au/book_list/

 

Goodreads Best Books of 2019

Annual list voted for by readers. Categories include fiction, mystery and thriller, fantasy, science fiction, horror, memoir, non fiction, graphic novels, young adult. Winners include: The testaments – Margaret Atwood; The silent patient – Alex Michaelides; Ninth house – Leigh Bardugo; Recursion – Blake Crouch. 2020 list due in December.

https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2019

 

Magabala Books

Excellent resources from this Broome-based company, specialising in books by Indigenous authors. 15 new titles are published annually – picture books, memoir, fiction (junior, YA and adult), non-fiction, graphic novels, social history and poetry. Includes:

Living on stolen land – Ambelin Kwaymullina. ‘A prose-style manifesto about our settler-colonial present; a call and a guide to action…challenges Australia to come to terms with its own past and its place within and on ‘Indigenous Countries’.’

Blakwork – Alison Whittaker. ‘A powerful collection of memoir, reportage, fiction, satire, critique’ that interrogates our colonial past and present.

https://www.magabala.com/

 

Took the children away – Archie Roach

Archie Roach reads the picture book (2010) of his powerful 1990 song, with illustrations by Ruby Hunter.

https://ab.co/3jhJ3O0

 

Books made into films 2020

Some of these probably didn’t get released this year. Includes: David Copperfield (Dickens); Chaos walking (Ness); The witches (Dahl); The invisible man (Wells); Rebecca (Du Maurier); The secret garden (Burnett); Deep water (Highsmith); Dune (Herbert).

https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/books-becoming-movies-in-2020-46949591?stream_view=1#photo-47180684

 

2020 Ned Kelly Awards

For Australian crime writing. Winner 2020: The wife and the widow – Christian White. Best International Crime Fiction: The chain – Adrian McKinty.

https://www.austcrimewriters.com/news/2020/10/14/the-2020-ned-kelly-awards-winners

 

Dymocks

2020 Top 101: Includes Throne of glass series – S. Maas; Magician – R. Feist; Good omens – T. Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. https://www.dymocks.com.au/getmedia/0adc3f76-c6a3-4f37-a922-1f78d4b6d6a0/Dymocks_Top101_2020.aspx

Top 10 in many categories. https://www.dymocks.com.au/promotions/top-10

https://www.dymocks.com.au/

 

2020 Indie Book Awards

Includes: Tell me why – Archie Roach; There was still love – Favel Parrett.

https://www.indiebookawards.com.au/

 

Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) 2020

Includes Sand talk: how indigenous thinking can save the world – Tyson Yunkaporta.

https://abiawards.com.au/year-won/2020/

 

Books and Publishing: Inside the Australian Book Industry

News, reviews, book awards.

https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/

 

The case for reading fiction

Benefits include increased social acuity, the ability to comprehend other people’s motivations and keeping an open mind.

https://hbr.org/2020/03/the-case-for-reading-fiction

 

Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming

Fiction – the gateway drug to reading.

https://www.betterreading.com.au/kids-ya/neil-gaiman-why-our-future-depends-on-libraries-reading-and-daydreaming/

 

Book quotes

https://www.shortlist.com/news/the-40-most-powerful-literary-quotes

https://www.bookbub.com/blog/famous-book-quotes

https://www.stylist.co.uk/books/the-best-100-closing-lines-from-books/123681

https://bookroo.com/blog/the-100-best-quotes-about-reading

Quiz: https://brokebybooks.com/an-epic-list-of-50-literature-trivia-quiz-questions/

 

Book covers

Iconic covers…The great Gatsby, Catch-22, A clockwork orange….

https://www.abebooks.com/books/rarebooks/book-design-collectible-famous/iconic-book-covers.shtml

https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/book-cover-quiz/

 

How you feel when you finish a great book

This is absolutely a real thing!

https://bookriot.com/psychology-of-a-book-hangover/

 

Categories
books films Google internet literature popular culture sociology TV

Good films and books

The 10th Annual Goodreads Choice Awards

The only major book awards decided by readers – 5 million votes in 21 categories. Best fiction: Still me – Jojo Moyes; Best mystery and thriller: The outsider – Stephen King; Best science fiction: Vengeful  – V.E. Schwab; Best fantasy: Circe – Madeline Miller; Best historical fiction: The great alone – Kristin Hannah…

https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2018

 

Author interviews on ABC One plus one

Always an interesting program. Tune in after xmas for a week of author interviews from throughout 2018 with Jane Hutcheon……or check the archive. Includes Morris Gleitzman, Clementine Ford, Marcus Zusak, Liane Moriarty, Jeff Kinney, Michael Robotham, Tim Winton

https://www.abc.net.au/news/programs/one-plus-one/

https://www.abc.net.au/news/programs/one-plus-one/archive/

 

The dry – Jane Harper

Winner of the 2017 ABIA Book of the Year; 2017 Indie Awards Book of the Year; 2017 Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year and many more. Federal Agent Falk returns to his old hometown to uncover the truth about the death of his childhood friend and face the demons of his past. I have just started reading this and I’m hooked!

‘Something mythic and valiant … a quintessential Australian story beautifully told’ (SMH)

http://janeharper.com.au/Books/The-Dry

 

Film version The dry

Eric Bana will star as Aaron Falk in the film version, to be directed by Robert Connolly. Filming begins February.

https://www.eonline.com/au/news/991937/eric-bana-to-star-in-movie-adaptation-of-aussie-bestseller-the-dry

Harpers other books: Force of nature (2017) – Agent Falk returns to investigate a missing bushwalker at a corporate retreat.

The lost man (2018) – What really happened to the third brother in the isolation of the outback?

The Lost Man is Jane Harper’s third consecutive marvel…and her most marvellous yet…. What an extraordinary novel: part family drama, part indelible ode to the Outback – a thriller as forceful and atmospheric as a brewing storm. Harper works miracles. We’re lucky to witness them.’ (A.J. Finn)

 

La belle sauvage (The book of dust part 1) – Philip Pullman

I have just finished this prequel to the Northern Lights series and loved it! Pullman’s concept of human souls manifested as animal daemons is unique and special. I want one! There will now be 2 series made, with HBO now co-producing with the BBC series; series 1 will air in 2019.  Stars Dafne Keen as Lyra, James McAvoy as Lord Asriel and Lin-Manuel Miranda as Lee Scoresby; directed by Tom Hooper. Northern Lights won the Carnegie Medal and  later named as the finest Carnegie winner of them all. It’s an awesome series that deals with many philosophical issues. Can’t wait for The testaments, the sequel to the novel The handmaid’s tale by Margaret Atwood – due Sept 2019 (series 3 of the excellent TV series due 2019).

https://www.cnet.com/news/his-dark-materials-fantasy-tv-series-release-date-cast-plot-bbc-hbo/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6168651/His-Dark-Materials-TV-series-LOOK.html

https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/28/18116012/handmaids-tale-sequel-margaret-atwood-the-testaments

 

Mortal engines film

In a dystopian future, remnants of humanity form mobile predator cities, where larger cities hunt and absorb smaller settlements. Based on the popular book series by Phillip Reeve, the film has received mixed reviews, but the author states: ‘Christian Rivers has done a fantastic job – a huge, visually awesome action movie with perfect pace and a genuine emotional core…There are many changes to the characters, world, and story, but it’s still fundamentally the same thing.’

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1571234/

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/movies/box-office/lotr-directors-new-film-an-epic-flop/news-story/fd223c75c58072effe5c836dafcfb9f9

 

Mary Queen of Scots and The favourite

Stars Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I and Saoirse Ronan as Mary; directed by Josie Rourke. Explores the battle for power between the 2 women.

‘A darkly compelling, if factually questionable, retelling’ (The Guardian). The film The favourite, starring Emma Stone and Olivia Colman, also looks excellent – an historical comedy-drama about 2 cousins jockeying to be the court favourites of Queen Anne in the early 1700s.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/nov/16/mary-queen-of-scots-review-saoirse-ronan-josie-rourke

https://www.indiewire.com/2018/11/mary-queen-of-scots-review-saoirse-ronan-margot-robbie-1202021017/

https://www.wmagazine.com/story/the-favourite-movie-emma-stone-yorgos-lanthimos

 

Top Google searches 2018

Australian and global. Most searched person: Barnaby Joyce; What is?…bitcoin; How to…opt out of My Health Record…..

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-14/google-top-searches-for-2018/10616794

https://www.smh.com.au/technology/the-year-in-google-what-aussies-searched-for-in-2018-20181214-p50m82.html

Categories
books censorship ed tech future Games and gaming Google human rights internet literature Mental health mobile phones popular culture Science resources sociology websites

Social credit in China, ICT and book news

Social credit in China

You may have seen the intriguing Foreign Correspondent program on ABC 18 Sept. China is undertaking the most ambitious social engineering program the world has ever seen. Their ‘social credit’ system is designed to engineer better individual behaviour. By 2020 China’s 1.4 billion citizens will get a personal digital scorecard, with good behaviour rewarded and bad behaviour punished. Some say it is the world’s first digital dictatorship.

Excellent article with video. Looks at a young woman with a good social credit score and a journalist who lost his social credit and had his access to various services disabled: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-18/china-social-credit-a-model-citizen-in-a-digital-dictatorship/10200278

Foreign Correspondent ABC 18 Sept: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/foreign-correspondent

Black Mirror in China?: https://www.newstatesman.com/world/asia/2018/04/no-china-isn-t-black-mirror-social-credit-scores-are-more-complex-and-sinister

 

Women in physics

The new HSC physics syllabus for NSW will contain no mention of the contributions of female physicists to the field. The syllabus has 25 scientists mentioned 56 times and focuses completely on male physicists and their work. It is also believed that the gender gap in the science workforce will persist for generations, particularly in surgery, computer science, physics and maths. The gender gap was measured using data on 36 million authors of 10 million articles in 6000 scientific journals published since 2003. Globally in science and medicine, women make up 40% of the workforce, but some fields will take many years before the gender gap disappears.

https://theconversation.com/year-11-and-12-students-in-nsw-will-no-longer-learn-about-womens-contributions-to-physics-102988

https://theconversation.com/new-study-says-the-gender-gap-in-science-could-take-generations-to-fix-95150

 

URLs – is it time for something new?

Internet pioneer Tim Berners-Lee regrets developing the double slash after ‘http’. A growing group now think the URL is increasingly complicated and too easily compromised. Google said they are rethinking URLs as they are hard to read and hard to know if they can be trusted. Even the ‘https with a padlock symbol’ doesn’t mean much as both good and bad sites can be encrypted.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-09-16/google-time-to-reinvent-the-url-web-browser/10238296

 

Phenomenal success of Fortnite

Launched in Sept 2017, the online video game Fortnite now has over 125 million players and has made $1.6 billion for Epic Games. It has also been linked to 200 divorces. Fortnite’s success is due to 3 principles: accessibility (it’s free with in-app purchases, on all platforms and simple to play); sociality (players can express themselves and play with others) and spectacle (failure is fun and a spectator sport). Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins, a gamer on YouTube and Twitch, has made up to $500 000 a month streaming Fortnite sessions from his bedroom.

https://theconversation.com/stay-alive-and-if-something-moves-shoot-it-one-year-of-phenomenal-success-for-fortnite-103528

Could playing Fortnite lead to ‘gaming disorder’ (video game addiction)? The World Health Organisation says yes, others disagree.

https://theconversation.com/could-playing-fortnite-lead-to-video-game-addiction-the-world-health-organisation-says-yes-but-others-disagree-98458

 

3 things we can learn from people who don’t use smartphones or social media

They spent more face-to-face time with others – connecting, talking, touching and supporting. They know that switching off is not missing out – it is exhausting to sustain numerous online connections, endless exchanges of trivial information and keep up with the overwhelming flow of information and tasks. They enjoyed new-found vitality because they connected with the world around them, helping them to reset and relax. They also had more free time.

https://theconversation.com/three-things-we-can-all-learn-from-people-who-dont-use-smartphones-or-social-media-103468

 

Man Booker Prize Shortlist 2018

Winner announced 16 Oct 2018. Includes previous winners.

https://www.bookdepository.com/Man-Booker-Prize?utm_source=NL-Body&utm_medium=email-Newsletter&utm_term=button&utm_content=MANBOOKER&utm_campaign=20180920_MANBOOKER_SHORTLIST

 

Man Booker Prize – best of the rest

The bestselling shortlisted titles that didn’t win from 50 years of the Booker Prize. Includes The handmaid’s tale; A fine balance; Cloud atlas; The secret river; Atonement; Empire of the sun; Dirt music; Notes on a scandal….

https://www.bookdepository.com/dealsAndOffers/promo/id/1876

Categories
books literature

Happy Book Week 18-24 Aug 2018! Theme: Find your treasure

New Australian books

Catching Teller Crow – Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina

Told in two voices, half in prose and half in verse, interweaving themes of grief, colonial history, violence, love and family.

‘A totally addictive ghost story, crime story and thriller’.

‘A ghost story as well as a psychological thriller, it seamlessly weaves together the poetic and the everyday. A magnificent and life-giving novel’ – Justine Larbalestier

https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2018/07/05/110971/catching-teller-crow-ambelin-and-ezekiel-kwaymullina-au/

Cicada – Shaun Tan. Cicada has toiled in an office for many years and nobody appreciates him.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2018/jun/29/shaun-tans-cicada-a-meditation-on-belonging-and-bullying-in-pictures

The shepherd’s hut – Tim Winton. A story of survival, solitude and unlikely friendship.

https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/archive/2018/4643-brenda-niall-reviews-the-shepherd-s-hut-by-tim-winton

The Rosie result – Graeme Simsion (Feb 2019). Don and Rosie’s child is now 11. Third and final book in the series.

https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/the-rosie-result

Bridge of Clay – Markus Zusak (Oct 2018). Five orphaned boys live in a house with no rules and discover the secret behind their father’s disappearance.

https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781760559922/

Growing up Aboriginal in Australia – Anita Heiss (ed.) Anthology of diverse voices, experiences and stories. https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/growing-aboriginal-australia

Terra nullius  – Claire G. Coleman. Historical/speculative fiction with multiple perspectives. In the near future, Australia is about to experience colonisation once more. What has been learned from the past?

https://www.theguardian.com/books/australia-books-blog/2017/aug/22/speculative-fiction-is-a-powerful-political-tool-from-war-of-the-worlds-to-terra-nullius

Too deadly: our voice, our way, our business – Us Mob Writing. Poetry, prose and memoir anthology written by Aboriginal women in Canberra. Themes include self-worth, identity, racism, dislocation, grief, love for country.

https://verityla.com/2018/07/10/their-words-blaze-too-deadly-our-voice-our-way-our-business/

 

Dymocks new releases, coming soon etc  (adults and students)

Spinning silver – Naomi Novik; Nine perfect strangers – Liane Moriarty; The three secret cities – Matthew Reilly; The President is missing – Bill Clinton & James Patterson; The lost man – Jane Harper;  Throne of Glass #8 – Sarah J. Maas; The red fox clan (Ranger’s apprentice) – John Flanagan; The marauder’s map guide to Hogwarts – Erinn Pascal.

https://www.dymocks.com.au/

 

Dymocks Top 101 of all time 2018

Voted by readers. 1. Harry Potter – J.K. Rowling 2. All the light we cannot see – A. Doerr 3. Big little lies – L. Moriarty 4. The handmaid’s tale – M. Atwood 5. The dry – J. Harper

https://www.dymocks.com.au/top-101

 

Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) 2018

Nevermoor: the trials of Morrigan Crow – J. Townsend (Book of the Year); Good night stories for rebel girls – E. Favilli (International Book of the Year); Begin, end, begin: a #LoveOzYA anthology – A. Kaufman (Book of the Year for Older Children).

https://blog.booktopia.com.au/2018/05/04/abia-2018-winners/

 

Goodreads Best Books of 2017

Annual list voted for by readers. Categories include fiction, mystery and thriller, fantasy, science fiction, horror, memoir, non fiction, graphic novels, young adult. 2018 list due in December.

https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2017

 

Better Reading Australia’s Top 100 list

https://www.betterreading.com.au/book_list/better-reading-presents-australias-top-100-for-2017/  (2018 list due soon).

Top 50 Kids’ Books 2018: https://www.betterreading.com.au/better-reading-kids-top-50/

Reading suggestions and Weekly Top 10: http://www.betterreading.com.au/

More good reading suggestions: http://www.betterreading.com.au/book_list/

 

Magabala Books

Australia’s leading Indigenous publisher, based in Broome. Support resources will be produced in 2018 for secondary teachers to accompany books by Indigenous authors and illustrators eg. Dark emu – Bruce Pascoe; Grace beside me – S. McPherson; Jandamarra and the Bunuba Resistance – B. Woorunmurra. Fifteen support resources were produced in 2017 for primary teachers eg. Stolen girl – T. Saffioti; Two mates – M. Prewett; Once there was a boy – D. Leffler.

https://www.magabala.com/latestnews/teacher-resources-reading-australia-2018

https://readingaustralia.com.au/2017/05/indigenous-resources-partnership-magabala-books/

4 Magabala Books CBCA Notables 2018: https://www.magabala.com/latestnews/CBCA-2018-Notables

 

Books and Publishing: Inside the Aust. Book Industry

News, reviews, book awards.

https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/

 

Library Reads

Interesting suggestions. The top 10 books monthly, voted for by librarians in the US.

https://mailchi.mp/12958e913745/o7dg41i01d-890285?e=bd3c2b319e

 

The Big Issue 2018 Fiction Edition

Available 10 Aug 2018. ‘Traversing themes of race, identity, body transformation, forbidden love and coming of age, this year’s fiction edition includes commissioned work by authors Garth Nix, Marija Peričić, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Melanie Cheng and Tony Birch. Eight stories were also chosen through the open submission process, which this year received more than 400 submissions.’

https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2018/08/03/112650/the-big-issue-announces-2018-fiction-edition/

 

Literary quotes

‘It sounds plausible enough tonight, but wait until tomorrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning.’ – H. G. Wells: The time machine.

https://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/books/the-40-most-powerful-literary-quotes/96712

 

The life and landscapes of Alison Lester

Podcast – Conversations with Richard Fidler (ABC Radio, 3 Aug 2018).

A hybrid live-action and animated feature film adaption of her book Magic beach is in development, created by 10 leading Australian animators and produced by Robert Connolly and Liz Kearney.

http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/conversations-alison-lester-rpt/10045582

 

IBBY Honor Books exhibition at Woden Library, ACT from Sun 7 Oct 2pm

191 books in 50 different languages from 61 countries plus the Australian IBBY Honour Books from 1962 to 2018.

https://ibbyaustralia.wordpress.com/

 

Trask St and Ena Noel St, Coombs, ACT – named after 2 librarians 🙂

Cool!

https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2018/05/16/107795/two-canberra-streets-to-be-named-after-librarians/

 

Categories
films literature popular culture TV

Female-focused Shakespeare series for ABC

Margot Robbie to produce female-focused Shakespeare series for ABC

Robbie’s production company has partnered with the ABC and others to create a 10 episode series that will tackle the works of Shakespeare from a female perspective. The themes of various Shakespearean works will be used to create episodes set in current times or the future, updated to comment upon our society. The project will share diverse points of view, from writers representing different cultures and areas within Australia. The goal is for the production and creative teams to also be predominantly female. Filming begins late 2018.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/23/margot-robbie-to-bring-female-focused-shakespeare-to-abc

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/margot-robbie-throws-star-power-behind-new-australian-tv-series-20180323-p4z5z1.html

 

Rethinking Shakespeare’s women

‘Find a Shakespearean woman who is clever, strong and powerful and inevitably she will end up mad, silenced or dead. Even when she is shown to have integrity, more often than not she is killed off by the final act. ’ (Kean). The new ABC series will be a challenge, considering the characters and what happens to them in the plays. Some say Shakespeare wrote no soliloquies of note for women and that he relied on 7 stock female characters – from bawdy women to  witty unmarriageable women to tragic faithful lovers.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/27/margot-robbie-shakespeare-women-characters-tv-series

 

Shakespeare and gender: the ‘woman’s part’

Although boys played female roles in early performances of Shakespeare, women have been performing female roles in Shakespearean plays since 1660, when Anne Marshall played Desdemona from Othello. Other female performers were also on stage during Shakespearean times.

https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/shakespeare-and-gender-the-womans-part

 

Shakespeare’s evolving attitudes towards women

Shakespeare’s views of women changed over time – he didn’t understand them at the beginning of his career.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32379759

 

Good resources for studying Shakespeare

Includes No fear Shakespeare; Shakespeare’s summaries; Shakespeare: the app; Lectures on Shakespeare; The playwright game; Interactive folios.

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/best-13-informative-resources-studying-shakespeare/

 

Categories
books literature music popular culture sociology YouTube

Top books and YouTube 2017 and other trivia

Goodreads Choice Awards 2017

Over 3.8 million votes cast – the only major book awards decided by readers. Winners and nominees for categories – fiction, mystery & thriller, fantasy, sci fi, horror, humour, non fiction, science & technology, autobiography, graphic novels, young adult, picture books etc  Winners include: Into the water – Paula Hawkins; Artemis – Andy Weir; Sleeping beauties – Stephen King; Fantastic beasts screenplay – J.K.Rowling; We’re all wonders – R.J. Palacio.

https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2017

 

Top viral YouTube videos of 2017

Includes History of the entire world, I guess; In a heartbeat animated film; Children interrupt BBC News interview: Bad lip-reading of Trump’s inauguration.

http://time.com/5049496/top-viral-youtube-videos-2017/

Australia’s top 10 YouTube: Ping pong trick shots; Superwog skits:  https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/12/australia-these-are-your-top-10-youtube-videos-of-2017/

Top YouTube music videos:  Despacito; Shape of you…https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/6/16741044/top-10-youtube-videos-2017

 

40 best gadgets of 2017

Virtual bikes, smart speakers, toy robots, wireless earbuds….….

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/19/tech-gadgets-toys-luxury-items-of-2017

 

The world’s highest paid celebrities

  1. Sean Combs 2. Beyonce 3. J.K. Rowling…..

https://www.forbes.com/celebrities/list/#tab:overall

 

Categories
books libraries literature popular culture

Happy Book Week 19 – 26 Aug 2017! Theme: Escape to everywhere.

To celebrate, we have had some fun activities on offer. Students can solve the puzzles in the ‘Escape from the library’ game; enter our Signpost quiz (what book is the destination on the sign from?); take part in our ‘Escape to everywhere’ quiz with escape-themed questions or enter the visual art competition.

 

Book Week 19-25 August. Theme – Escape to everywhere.

Each year the Children’s Book Council of Australia chooses the best Australian children’s books in various categories – early childhood; younger readers;  picture books; older readers and information books. The ‘older readers’ books are suitable for high school and college. https://cbca.org.au/

Winners: https://cbca.org.au/winners-2017

Shortlist: https://cbca.org.au/short-list-2017 and Notables: https://cbca.org.au/notables-2017

 

Better Reading Australia

Some great reads can be found in the Better Reading Australia’s Top 100 list. The votes are in – new list for 2017 out soon.

http://www.betterreading.com.au/book_list/australias-top-100-for-2016/

Reading suggestions and weekly best-sellers: http://www.betterreading.com.au/

Themed book lists and book suggestions: http://www.betterreading.com.au/book_list/

Top 50 Kids’ Books 2017: http://www.betterreading.com.au/book_list/better-reading-presents-australias-top-50-kids-books/

Reading helps develop empathy: http://www.betterreading.com.au/kids-ya/the-power-of-reading-how-books-help-develop-childrens-empathy-and-boost-their-emotional-development/

 

Dymocks Top 101 2017

  1. All the light we cannot see 2. The book thief 3. The girl on the train 4. Harry Potter series 5. The light between oceans

https://www.dymocks.com.au/top-101

New releases and bestsellers: https://www.dymocks.com.au/?gclid=CjwKCAjwrO_MBRBxEiwAYJnDLDfzZFhAM-toicJoUPGaO9b4wj2dE2f1slJ9iSBKoeKB-gFRYds63hoCMS8QAvD_BwE

 

Goodreads Choice Awards 2016

The only major book awards decided by readers – over 3.55 million votes. Fiction winner: Truly madly deeply by Liane Moriarty. Sci fi winner: Morning star by Pierce Brown. Mystery & thriller winner: End of watch by Stephen King.

https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-fiction-books-2016

 

Goodreads

World’s largest site for book recommendations, quizzes, quotes – owned by Amazon.

Books with different kinds of escapes: https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/escape

Escaping from difficult situations: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/15465.Escape_Books

 

Indie Book Awards 2017

Awarded by Australian independent booksellers. Winner: The dry by Jane Harper. Young adult winner: Words in deep blue by Cath Crowley. Children’s winner: Circle by Jeannie Baker.

https://www.indiebookawards.com.au/

 

Australian Independent Bookseller

New releases, weekly top 10, literary awards news. The 91-story treehouse by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton is top this week.

http://www.indies.com.au/indie-book-awards#sthash.TCqx1sDo.dpbs

 

Tsundoku anyone?

The condition of acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in your home without reading them….From the Japanese ‘tsunde’ (to stack things) ‘oku’ (to leave for a while) and ‘dokusho’ (to read).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/theres-a-japanese-word-for-people-who-buy-more-books-than-they-can-actually-read_us_58f79b7ae4b029063d364226

 

Artificial Intelligence creates romance book titles!

20 000 Harlequin Romance novel titles were given to a neural network, a type of artificial intelligence that learns the structure of text. The AI created its own titles and authors, including: The savage bride; Surgery seduction; Impossible Santa wife; Under the cowboy and the bestselling Sob over the boss…

https://medium.com/towards-data-science/romance-novels-generated-by-artificial-intelligence-1b31d9c872b2

 

Minimalist book covers

https://au.pinterest.com/nwelindt/minimalist-book-covers/

 

Book covers for 1984 the novel

https://bookriot.com/2017/03/03/1984-in-covers/

 

10 words for book lovers

Hamartia: refers to a fatal flaw that leads to the downfall of a tragic hero. Or maybe you are a librocubicultarist – someone who reads in bed.

http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2015/08/unusual-words-for-book-lovers/

 

Why did they choose that as the book title?

Moments in popular books where book titles are mentioned.

http://forreadingaddicts.co.uk/quotations/book-titles-appear-book/19471

 

25 fun bookish quizzes

Is it a line from The great Gatsby…or is it a Jay-Z lyric? What classical character are you? Match the author with the ailment.

http://bookriot.com/2013/04/10/25-fun-bookish-quizzes/

 

What can you learn from a book?

Biologists at Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries have investigated the 12th century book the Gospel of Luke and discovered holes from 900 year old bookworms, microbes from people who coughed on the book and the various animal skins used in the parchment – 8.5 calves, 10.5 sheep and half a goat. They want to build a parchment DNA library, using ancient DNA from various sources.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/07/goats-bookworms-monk-s-kiss-biologists-reveal-hidden-history-ancient-gospels

 

Why we love the smell of old books

Many people think old books smell like chocolate, followed by coffee. However, old libraries smell ‘woody’, ‘smoky’, ‘earthy’….

http://www.stylist.co.uk/books/old-book-smell-why-love-science-study-chocolate-coffee-scent

 

Interesting literature facts for trivia lovers

https://www.buzzfeed.com/erinlarosa/20-literary-facts-to-impress-your-friends-with?utm_term=.frO83w87L4#.qnkMQJMjkL

 

Canberra Writers’ Festival 25-27 August

http://www.canberrawritersfestival.com.au/

 

OverDrive ebooks and audiobooks

All ACT government staff and students have access to a great collection of over 5000 ebooks and audiobooks  – for primary, high school, college and adults, accessible on all devices. Find them in Oliver, the library catalogue, available in the Backpack. Search for titles, authors and subjects in Oliver (ebooks have a tablet icon), click on it and then click Borrow OverDrive ebook. For personal devices, allow pop-ups in your browser and download the OverDrive app: http://app.overdrive.com . Have a browse – there’s lots of great titles to be discovered!

Categories
books ebooks ed tech future literature pedagogy

Teen reading habits and 21st century skills

Some interesting reads from Teacher magazine and elsewhere…..

 

Teacher magazine

Excellent online ACER publication with interesting articles and quick reads – Evidence + Insight + Action.

https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/

 

Infographic: Teen reading habits

Early findings from a study by Deakin and Murdoch Universities, exploring the recreational reading habits of Australian teenagers. 70% read at least weekly for pleasure; 50% read for at least 15 minutes daily; 63% preferred paper books or disliked reading on digital devices; 12% preferred ebooks.

https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/article/infographic-teen-reading-habits

 

Global education: 21st century skills

Charles Fadel, 21st Century Skills pioneer, delivered the 2017 Australian Learning Lecture – The New Success on 11 May. Young people are likely to have 17 jobs over 5 different careers in their lifetime. Skills needed: broad and deep education, versatility, entrepreneurship, robotics, wellness, creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, mindfulness, curiosity, courage, resilience, ethics, leadership, reflection, lifelong learning, growth mindsets. Fadel believes 4 dimensions of education are necessary: modernised knowledge, skills, character and meta learning. His 2015 book with Bernie Trilling: Four-dimensional education: the competencies learners need to succeed.

https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/article/global-education-21st-century-skills?utm_source=Campaign%20Monitor&utm_medium=bulletin&utm_content=May%2016%202017

 

Preparing young people for the future of work

Australia’s education system is not preparing students for twenty-first century success. Young Australians are studying for longer than ever before but are disengaged and struggling to find permanent jobs. Young people entering technology-rich, global, competitive job markets need different skill sets to what our education system has traditionally valued. Schools need to broaden learning objectives. The most crucial capabilities for the future include critical thinking, creativity, curiosity and communication skills. It is time Australia made changes to prioritise teaching, assessing and reporting capabilities” (Torii and O’Connell).

http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/reports/preparing-young-people-for-the-future-of-work/

 

Education Endowment  Foundation literature reviews

The EEF has conducted literature reviews on Digital Technology, Careers education, Literacy at the transition, English as an Additional Language, Education and neuroscience, Arts education, and Non-cognitive skills.

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/resources/publications/

 

Evidence for Learning

This independent Australian site helps to build, share and use evidence to improve learning in all schools. Find out about new Australian education approaches and  Australian and global evidence summaries of 34 education approaches. Sign up for the newsletter.

http://evidenceforlearning.org.au/

 

Spaced Learning

Evidence from neuroscience and psychology suggests information is more easily learnt and recalled when it is repeated multiple times and separated by periods of unrelated activity. Neuroscience literature supports the use of shorter spaces between learning (around 10 minutes) and cognitive psychology literature supports longer spaces (around 24 hours). The study found that the most effective approach to spaced learning combined both 24 hour and 10 minute spacing between curriculum content.

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/our-work/projects/spaced-learning/

 

Switched off students

Student disengagement is a major hidden issue – 40% of Australian students are regularly unproductive, bored and struggling to keep up with their peers. More students are fiddling with their phones, making snide comments and turning up late than are swearing at teachers or threatening classmates. Reasons include boredom, work too hard or not challenging enough, poor quality teaching and problems at home. An education system overhaul is required to deal with this. Recommendations include higher expectations for students; stronger teacher-student relationships based on mutual respect; encouraging active learning; encouragement; praise and not using ‘old-fashioned discipline’.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/feb/05/almost-half-of-australian-school-students-bored-or-struggling-says-grattan-institute

Categories
Apple books ed tech Facebook films future Google Indigenous resources internet Internet of Things language literature media mobile phones news newspapers pedagogy popular culture robots and drones science fiction sociology TV YouTube

What’s new in ICT, popular culture, media and education?

Some interesting developments – artificial intelligence, robots taking our jobs, disengaged students, Generation Alpha, words of the year, great new films, TV and books….

Previous presentations about What’s New can also be found here.

http://dckclib.wikispaces.com/Technology%2C+media+%26+popular+culture+updates

 

 

Categories
ebooks ed tech literature

Free ebook and audiobook websites

Here are some good free ebook /narrated ebook websites with titles that would be of interest to high school  new English learners with a low reading age (below ESL).

Best sites to read books online without download or registration

Mega-list of 346 legal and ‘safe’ sites last updated May 2015.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/free-books-read-online

 

Awesome Stories

82 collections of 4506 stories with primary sources ‐ all subjects for learners of all ages. An American site but with a good variety of interesting topics. Subjects include language arts, social studies, STEM, arts, film and books. Also has a free option.

https://www.awesomestories.com/

Price: https://www.awesomestories.com/Signup

 

Tumble Book Library

This popular site is often available via public libraries (with logins). It is available via Libraries ACT. Titles include non fiction, graphic novels, ebooks, readalongs, story books and short videos. Many titles are for younger readers but various titles are suitable for EALD students, even those in high school. You can also choose reading levels eg. advanced readers, chapter books etc and make playlists. Any number of students can read the same book at the same time. Books are in English, Spanish and French.

http://preview.tumblebooks.com/BooksList.aspx?categoryID=13

 

International Children’s Digital Library

Acclaimed site for reading books in many different languages. Age ranges 3 to 5, 6 to 9, 10 to 13. Short, medium and long books including true books, award winning books, chapter books etc

http://en.childrenslibrary.org/

Browse titles:

http://www.childrenslibrary.org/icdl/SimpleSearchCategoryids=86&langid=&pnum=1&cnum=1&text=&lang=English&ilang=English

 

Free ebooks

Links to free online book sites from the Uni of Qld: http://guides.library.uq.edu.au/cyberschool-students/schools/free_ebooks

Lots of sites: http://www.freebooknotes.com/free-ebooks-guide/

 

Loyal Books

(Formerly Books Should Be Free). Free public domain audiobooks and ebooks. Many are older public domain titles so the language could be difficult eg. Tom Sawyer. Various languages – Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog…

http://www.loyalbooks.com/genre/Children

 

Some replies……

 

Ziptales is a subscription site, but has ESL material. – Marie Miegel

 

EPIC is a great website. “The only kids’ eBook subscription service that offers thousands of high-quality books from well known publishers like HarperCollins, National Geographic and others”. It is for K-5 but there are lots of great titles that could be of interest to middle school/ESL students including the popular ones like Big Nate, Warrior Cats, Timmy Failure etc. It is free for educators.

https://www.getepic.com/

Kerry Gittens