We will be doing regular interviews with Library staff and visiting authors and other people of interest to the Blue Mountains throughout the National Year of Reading.

Don’t forget there’s also a Book Review Competition each month – to enter the competition, write a book review of between 400 – 600 words. The book reviews must address a fiction or non-fiction book that fits into the theme for the relevant month. Entries are due by the last Friday of each month.

The winner for each month will also have the opportunity to read their winning entry on  Listeners in the Mist.  

February has been Laugh month in the Love2Read / National Year of Reading monthly themes.

Has your February reading been hilarious and side-splitting?

There will be a live Twitter discussion on February 28th, starting at 8pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (and lasting until about 10pm Western Standard Time).  

Join in using the tag #NYR12 as you discuss what made you giggle and snort this month.

#NYR12 Twitter nights will be held at 8pm AEST on the last Tuesday of each month throughout 2012 - put it in your diary now.

We kicked off on Wednesday morning with Cecile Yazbek at Springwood Library talking about her latest book Mezze to Milk Tart.

Not just a book full of yummy recipes, Mezze to Milk Tart is part memoir of Cecile’s interesting life. Born into a Lebanese South African family, Cecile worked as a social activist in South Africa before coming to Australia. Here Cecile eventually set up a successful vegetarian cooking school but she is now retired (doesn’t look old enough, does she?).

Cecile gave a lively and really interesting talk to a small crowd and showed us how to deal with some tricky ingredients. She happily answered our questions about food and other things (including how her belly dancing led to one gentleman having a coronary!) and signed copies of her book which were on sale courtesy of Annie of our local book shop, The Turning Page.

A yummy morning tea was provided by Library staff from recipes from Cecile’s book. They all turned out pretty well and got the author’s approval. Yay!

Afterwards Cecile was interviewed for Listeners in the Mist, the Library’s podcast channel. We will upload that as soon as possible.

You can read a review of Mezze to Milk Tart here.

Mezze to Milk Tart can be found in amongst the other cookery books on the Adult Non-fiction shelves at 641.5636 YAZ

With Library Manager, Vicki Edmunds, as MC the Mayor of the City of Blue Mountains, Cllr Daniel Myles, welcomed everyone and officially launched the National Year of Reading at Blue Mountains City Library.

You can watch the launch on BookcasesintheMist, Blue Mountains Library account on YouTube :

Approximately 30 Library customers were in attendance, some a little startled by our amazing Steampunk guests – at least one of whom is just a little larger than life! They gave a talk about what they are about which can also be viewed on BookcasesintheMist on YouTube :

It was great start to our LOVE2READ events for the year.

Keep a look out in your Library and here for more.

Based on the series by Kerry Greenwood set in 1920s Melbourne, the reviews and previews promise a lot of fun.  And unlike the recent series of the wonderful Zen (by Michael Dibdin) which only ran for three episodes, this series is a much more satisfying 13-parter.

Having been introduced to these books several years ago by a colleague, I’m so excited about this on TV that I might have to give up book group (1st Friday of the month), film club (2nd Friday of the month) and RFS training (3rd Friday of the month) for the next couple of months.

Phrynne is absolutely no Miss Marple. She’s smart like Miss M, but not one for knitting. She’s beautiful, wealthy, adventurous and sexy. (This last caused a bit of consternation when listening to one book on CD with my 10 year old daughter on a long journey home from Wagga Wagga last year; I listened with baited breath to Miss Fisher seducing the local doctor, wondering how long until I had to push the stop button).

And according to my TV guide there are another couple of Australian historical murder mystery series coming on the ABC :

• The Doctor Blake Mysteries - set in Ballarat in 1959
• The Mystery of the Hansom Cab and The Homicide Franchise by Fergus Hume. Published in 1886 this is set in Melbourne in the gold rush glory days.

Oooohhh, right up my alley. History, Mystery and Australia. Can’t wait.

The Phrynne Fisher books can be found on the Adult Crime Fiction shelves at GREENWOOD. Some are also available as Talking Books.

The Aurelio Zen books can be found on the Adult Crime Fiction shelves at DIBDIN.

The Mystery of the Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume can be found on the Adult Crime Fiction shelves at HUME.

Julian Barnes : The Sense of an Ending 

Gustave Flaubert : Madame Bovary 

Favel Parrett : Past the Shallows 

Elizabeth Strout : Abide With Me

Cecile Yazbek

will be at

Springwood Library on Wednesday 22nd February at 10:30am

to talk about her book and her culinary influences.

Cecile will be happy to sign copies of her book which will be available for sale at the Library courtesy The Turning Page book shop.

All are welcome.  Morning tea will be supplied.