June Newsletter
Author Spotlight:
Fredrik Backman
Fredrik Backman is a Swedish author, blogger and columnist. His first novel A Man Called Ove (2012), was a #1 New York Times bestseller and sold more than 500,000 copies in its native country. His books are published in more than forty countries, and more than twenty-five languages all over the world.
Other titles by Backman include My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry (2013), Britt-Marie Was Here (2014), Beartown (2016), Us Against You (2017), The Winners (2021), Anxious People (2019) and novellas, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer (2015), The Deal of a Lifetime (2017) and The Answer Is No (2024) as well as one work of nonfiction, Things My Son Needs to Know About the World (2019).
Fredrik Backman lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with his wife and two children. Backman is notoriously private, especially about his family, averse to the fame that comes with having several international bestsellers, including one that was made into a Tom Hanks movie “A Man Called Otto”. Interviews and public appearances make him anxious. In a recent interview with USA Today he said “I am not good with crowds; I’m not good with strangers. I don’t give a good first impression to people. I’m comfortable with maybe seven people.”
In the same interview, when asked if hope is something he wants to share with his readers, Backman responds with an engaging description. “At the end of the night (when) you’re just exhausted and someone in your life who loves you and cares about you just turns around and looks at you and says, ‘You did good. You did good. I can see that you struggled, and I can see that you did your best,” Backman says. “That’s what I’m looking for in my books, and maybe that’s interpreted by some people as hope, and maybe it’s redemption and maybe it’s something else. But I’m looking for that. I’m looking for you to close the book at the final page and feel like it’s OK.”
His next novel, My Friends, is out this month. See below for more information.
In store now
My Friends
Most people don’t even notice them-three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an artist herself, knows otherwise and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures.
Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their difficult home lives by spending their days laughing and telling stories out on a pier. There’s Joar, who never backs down from a fight; quiet and bookish Ted who is mourning his father; Ali, the daughter of a man who never stays in one place for long; and finally, there’s the artist, a boy who hoards sleeping pills and shuns attention, but who possesses an extraordinary gift that might be his ticket to a better life. These four lost souls find in each other a reason to get up each morning, a reason to dream.
Out of that summer emerges a transcendent work of art, a painting that will unexpectedly be put into eighteen-year-old Louisa’s care. As she struggles to decide what to do with this bequest, she embarks on a surprise-filled cross-country journey to learn the story of how the painting came to be. The closer she gets to the painting’s birthplace, the more she feels compelled to unleash her own artistic spirit, but happy endings don’t always take the form we expect in this fresh testament to the transformative power of friendship and art.
Gosh, this book was a wonderful surprise. I’ve been in something of a reading funk this year with nothing really, really pleasing me. Having not yet read a Fredrik Backman novel, I decided it was time to give one a go – and I have not been disappointed. This book beautifully captures the fragility of humans and our ability to both care for and damage one another. I laughed out loud in parts and cried freely in others and just felt fully taken in by the characters and story Backman has created. With a focus on the importance of creative expression and art and how it can change people and lives, most of all I just loved the authenticity of the voices of each character. (Trigger warning: this book does contain references to suicide and self harm)
Reviewed by Kate
Books of the Month
FICTION
If you enjoy stories that delve into complex family dynamics and themes of love and loss, you will enjoy A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan.
A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan
As the summer holiday stretches ahead, with her older sister more interested in boys, her mother disappearing on long walks and her father, beer in hand, watching the cricket, the youngest in the family often finds herself alone.
At the beach, she meets Kahu, a boy who tells her a tragic story about a little girl who went missing, presumed drowned, a couple of years ago. Suddenly, the summer has purpose-they will find the missing girl and become local heroes.
With her family caught up in their own intrigue, she is free to diligently search for clues with her new friend. It also means she is the only one to notice her next-door neighbour, in turn, watching them.
Among dips in the ocean, afternoon barbecues and lazy sunbaking, their detective work brings to the surface shocking discoveries that will change all of their lives forever.
This thrilling debut is an assured, nostalgic meditation on growing up. A time where the space between what is observed and what is understood holds an innocent truth, on the cusp of being overtaken by an adult knowing. All seen through the eyes of a brave and funny protagonist, who is worthy of a place in the pantheon of beloved child narrators.
An eventful summer forever changes the lives of a family in the most gripping thriller you’ll read this year.
You can read Jennifer’s interview about A Beautiful Family with Allen & Unwin here.
NON FICTION
If you enjoy books that explore how seemingly small errors, blunders, or poor decisions can have significant consequences on the course of history, you will enjoy 10 Mistakes That Changed History by Paul Coulter.
10 Mistakes that Made History by Paul Coulter
A comic tour of history’s greatest mistakes and how they have shaped our world, packed with reckless rulers, hare-brained plans, monumental mistakes and disastrous accidents.
From breakups that ended empires to naps that sank ships, 10 Mistakes That Changed History reveals how overlooked historical errors are responsible for some of the most era-defining events of the past.
Featuring many of the most recognisable characters and episodes in history, from Cleopatra to the sinking of the Titanic, comedian and historian Paul Coulter reframes our understanding of these pivotal moments, revealing how human errors and their unintended outcomes have governed our world – and will likely determine our future.
Packed full of surprising facts and funny stories, 10 Mistakes That Changed History is a greatest hits of bad leadership decisions, misguided acts of heroism and mankind’s most catastrophic lapses of judgement. These are the very human stories that have shaped our world, all with monumental consequences.
KIDS & YA
A heartwarming picture story book about being kind to strangers and promoting multicultural communities. The illustrations in this book are just beautiful, depicting an older lady’s long life of love and loss. The story weaves in both English and Arabic text, and includes a glossary at the end.
Reviewed by Kate
A Lemon for Safiya by Jemima Shafei-Ongu
A little girl and her family help a lost and confused stranger to find her way home in this moving story about compassion, ageing and identity.
They reached a giant lemon tree.
The old woman sat up, tapping an urgent finger against the window.
‘Hay! Hay! Hanna zarr’et ha. Hay!’
‘She’s saying that Hanna planted this tree,’ Mama said as Dad pulled over.
‘It’s a beautiful tree, shajrah hhelweh,’ Mama said to the old woman.
When a little girl, Safiya, and her family help Maryam, a lost and confused stranger by the side of the road, to find her way home, they begin to understand who she is and the rich and remarkable life she has lived. Through kind-natured Safiya, we come to see Maryam, a woman who had been made invisible by society because of her ethnicity, race, religion, language, age and now dementia.
With Arabic text interspersed throughout, A Lemon for Safiya is a wonderful exploration of language, diversity and culture.
June New Release Highlights
Fiction
Non-Fiction
Kids & YA
Staff Spotlight:
Jacq
- Favourite place to read a book? – At the breakfast table – preferably when the sun is up & on my back. Book usually propped up unevenly on the salt bowl, sewing kit or any other at hand surface to give it a bit of an angle for better viewing
- Which book character would you prefer to be trapped in an elevator with? The Cat in the Hat – entertaining & inventive though probably infuriating after more than 5 minutes by which time I’d hope he’d have sprung us out of there – more likely though they’d’ve left me with a massive mess & a desire to scream.
- Hardback, paperback, eBook or audiobook? – I love the look & feel of the hardback & I nearly always want to own this edition but for reading I often find them a little unwieldy (if they’re large) & harder to carry around – so, Paperback is my preference. eBook is only for travelling & audio I haven’t done for years but I miss it – great voices & transporting me in a very different way – I tend to listen more to the Radio National Book Show or The Bookshelf & interviews with authors.
- The last book you loved? – not yet finished but loving Ocean Vuong’s Emperor of Gladness
- Which book character do you think you’d be best friends with? – Olive Kitteridge- grouchy, prickly, opiniated, often inappropriate & always a little loud but big hearted, honest & generous.
- Greatest book of all time? –What a hard call – 35 years ago I would have said the Bone People by Keri Hulme. 15 years ago, I’d have said A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. Right now, I’m less decisive but Robbie Arnott is up there & I’d find it hard to choose the best between his last 3 novels – Dusk, Limberlost & Rain Heron. (I would say however that one of the most important books of all time, & especially for this time, is Apeirogon by Colm Mcann)
- One fun fact about you? – Often when totally engrossed in a book, if I’m telling someone about it, I can find it hard to remember the author or the title; not the best look when working in a book shop.
Staff Spotlight:
Belinda
- Favourite place to read a book? – At the beach with a coffee … everyone knows this about me!
- Which book character would you prefer to be trapped in an elevator with? Willy Wonka!
- Hardback, paperback, eBook or audiobook? – Paperback for everyday, hardback for the classics.
- The last book you loved? – Six Summers of Tash and Leopold, by Danielle Binks.
- Which book character do you think you’d be best friends with? – Nagi from Recipetin Eats, does this count?
- Greatest book of all time? – Big Magic, by Elizabeth Gilbert, maybe not the greatest of all time, but definitely up there for me!
- One fun fact about you? – I have more books that I could ever possibly read in this lifetime … oh well.
Events
Book Club 2025
Competitions
2025 Kids’ Story Writing Competition
It’s that time of year again! Time to dust off your pens, pencils, keyboards, chalk or quill and ink – whatever your tool of choice – and GET WRITING!!
This is the 10th YEAR we have run our Kids’ Story Writing Competition (we have no idea where the time went either), but we can’t wait to see what wonderous adventures you create for us this time around. This year we continue the theme of a sentence prompt to be included in your story or poem.
“As I opened the letter, a ticket fell out…”
As usual, the competition is being run for Mornington Peninsula Preps to Year 12s, with all of Term 2 to draft and hone your stories, and entries closing on Sunday 27 July.
Winners will be announced at an in store event with special guest author, Amelia Mellor, on Saturday 16 August (the very start of Children’s Book Week). And guess what? Amelia grew up on the Peninsula and became a real life published author! So who knows?! With practice and patience and lots of creativity, maybe this could be the start of your writing careers as well…
Check out the full Entry Guidelines and competition details as well a link to last year’s winners for some inspiration: HERE.
HAPPY WRITING!!
Exciting New Titles On Their Way!
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