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ezine welcome to the october 2010 edition of the village books ezine for further festival events check out www.fingalarts.ie/writing3.0 october events writing 3.0 this year s fingal writers festival began with a lively night of discussion and chat in malahide library on friday the 1st october and village books was there to support the authors stuart neville author of the twelve and collusion and kevin mccarthy peeler entertained a crowd of avid readers with passages from their crime fiction novels bookfest to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the national children s book festival children s books ireland has released a new edition of bookfest ­ a guide jam packed with this year s recommended reads for children and teens bookfest is a must have with detailed reviews and recommendations perfect for choosing the right book for your child get your free copy of bookfest from village books today village books also attended an evening with colin bateman on thursday 7th october at the draíocht theatre in blanchardstown ex-journalist bateman is a critically acclaimed novelist and screenplay writer a very interesting evening was enjoyed by all 1 village books ezine october 2010

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book club updates room by emma donoghue was the latest book up for discussion in our book club donoghue s book aroused a controversial debate over the voice of the child the narrator members could not agree on whether his voice was authentic or just monotonous all in all however it was agreed that room is an excellent read the next meeting of the village books book club will take place on tuesday the 9th of november where crazy in alabama by marc childress will be us for discussion this month s books include the death defying pepper roux by geraldine mccaughrean and three cups of tea by greg mortenson join the book clubs to join the village books book club or junior book club waiting lists just get in touch phone us on 845 5073 email us on info@villagebooks.ie or pop into the shop village books exclusives current offers halloween shop stock up for halloween with our range of creepy accessories including fingers teeth eyeballs buckets and the all time favorite halloween torches hello kitty we have a new hello kitty range including mini-lava lamps bags purses wallets books and even digital cameras malahide postcards perfect to send to relatives abroad or for your own collection this selection of images captures the beauty and magnificence of malahide for only 50c junior book club every thursday at 4.30pm the lovely calm of vilage books transforms into chaos with the meetings of the junior book clubs packed full of energetic and insightful kids no books is safe from the judging of the book clubs when hitler stole pink rabbit by judith kerr proved to be last month s favorite read it is an adventure story of a family on the run from germany just as the nazis come to power 2 village books ezine october 2010

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book news the man booker pirze winner new releases skulduggery pleasant mortail coil by derek landy skulduggery pleasant and valkyrie cain are back in the action packed 5th adventure of the skulduggery pleasant series landy has experienced enormous success with his fast paced witty and imaginative detective stories most recently his sharp and humorous skeleton crime fighter has beaten off competition from such irish heavy weights as colum mccann ceceila ahern and john banville to be named as irish book of the decade by the bord gáis energy irish book awards village books highly recommends skulduggery pleasant and it is one of our junior books club s favourite series of all time the finkler question by howard jacobson won the booker prize on tuesday the 12th of october 2010 we at village books are a bit disappointed with this selection as we really liked room and it was our book club pick we think the finkler question win was a safe establishment choice the man booker shortlist parrot and olivier in america by peter carey room by emma o donoghue in a strange room by damon galgut the finkler question by howard jacobson the long song by andrea levy c by john mccarthy the oh my god delusion by ross o carroll-kelly the recession has finally caught up with ross join him on his journey through ireland s economic down turn and watch as he fights to protect the thing most precious to him 3 village books ezine october 2010

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wasters by shane ross nick webb uncover scandal upon scandal within ireland s community of `wasters ­ the people benefiting and profiting from the outrageous overspending while everyone else is picking up the tab the weight of silence by heather gudenkauf review by emma book reviews winnie s amazing pumpkin by valerie thomas review by siobhán as the seasons have changed october brings us pumpkins and witches and what better way to get a flavour for both than with our favourite witch winnie fed up of her shopping flying off her broomstick winnie turns her hand to gardening and sets about growing her own vegetables finding it hard work she decides a magic spell might help resulting in some enormous vegetables and one `amazing pumpkin wonderfully illustrated the ending is imaginative and quite frankly pretty ace over the last five to ten years a solid new genre has steadily planted itself firmly between those disparate literary segments that often held opposing camps general or popular fiction and literary fiction often called modern fiction it s a genre that bridges the divide appealing in different ways to both sides of the partition offering serious well-written fiction that is delivered to the reader in an engrossing engaging way without the over-literary aspect that has deterred many readers of populist fiction it functions by entertaining and enlightening without ever allowing itself to be termed ­ what has now sadly wrongly and quite derogatorily been applied to much popular fiction chicklit the weight of silence falls firmly into this new integrating genre it has been quite correctly compared to the work of jodie picoult strong storyline an element of mystery and drama featuring modern ethical dilemmas and issues and has much to offer readers who enjoy her books 4 village books ezine october 2010

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set in the out-of-town and neighbourly rural area of willow creek in iowa the story begins by introducing callie clark seven years old and mute since she witnessed a particularly bad run-in with her violent wife-beating father griff three years ago alcohol-crazed and on a serious bender her father decides to haul his little girl off in the nearby forest for a father-daughter bonding session but rather obviously so it all goes wrong they get lost callie becomes terrified and everything turns a very dark shade of bad at the exact same time callie s best friend petra the only one who can understand her despite her lack of speech goes missing from her home with no real clues left behind for her parents or the local sherriff to follow his hunt for this girl is made all the more intense due to the feelings he still has for her mother someone he had a relationship of sorts with when they were younger as simultaneously the two girls are sought after by the people who love them and those who simply need to find them the tangled web of emotions that is woven around the adults surrounding them thickens the tension builds and the picture of what may have happened to them becomes almost impossible to discern amidst the fog of emotion prejudice and past learning the dark setting of the story in the heartlands where threats comes from all sides -and not only from the adults surrounding these small children but from the very nature they have grown up close to makes it all the more stressful to untangle the truth the author s skill at building and sustaining the suspense for the reader right to the very end is masterful and yet combined with the gentle lyricality of her writing is a rather refreshing voice the juxtaposition of the harshness of the story with the subtly and innate softness of her writing lends a very curious feel to it the reader feels alternately terrified safe abroad and at home with what is taking place and this tends to heighten the sense of danger throughout the weight of silence is a very very good first novel one that readers of any book club books modern fiction literary and general fiction type novels will be sure to enjoy immensely it is a clever bridge between two literary genres full of drama but beautifully rendered and i await with anticipation the author s next book contact us if you would like to get in touch you can contact us by phone email or simply pop into the shop tel 845 5073 email info@villagebooks.ie opening hours monday ­ saturday 10am ­ 5.30pm sunday 2pm ­ 5pm we look forward to hearing from you 5 village books ezine october 2010

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