May 2013 at Jeffreys Books
Welcome to May! I'm going to start by introducing two May titles that you're 
going to have to wait for - in a good way - like looking forward to Christmas when you're five years old! The first is Dan Brown's latest Robert Langdon quest Inferno. It's due in-store on 14 May. The second is Khaled Hosseini's And The Mountains Echoed. You will remember The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns so be prepared for Hosseini to sweep you up again. He will take you through generations while visiting Kabul, Greece, Paris and San Francisco. It's a must read - due 22 May.
You can pre-order now.
Each month there are so many new titles that reach our shelves and there are titles that sit there waiting to be read, that keep pulling you in. One such title for me at the moment is The 
Midnight Dress. For me the jacket is darkly beautiful. And I keep reading great 
reviews but I haven't spoken to a real life person who's read it. If you've read it I'd love to hear your comments or if you have finally sat down with a book that you've been pining over, visit our Facebook page and tell us about it. You might just help someone move a great read to the top of their reading pile.
Happy Birthday to Lonely Planet who are celebrating 40 years this May. As it gets colder many of us dream of warmer places. While we love the crisp mornings and enjoy Melbourne's fine Winter, we also like variety and a chance to warm the bones. If you're planning your next getaway, come visit our Travel section and be tempted. There is also a chance to have your very own Lonely Planet t-shirt with your holiday caption. More details in-store.
Have a wonderful month - Happy Mother's Day to all the mums out there.
Event - Memory Trap by Andrea Goldsmith
Join us at the Stonnington Library to hear Andrea Goldsmith discuss her latest release The Memory Trap
Wednesday 15 May
6.30 pm
Stonnington Library, Toorak/South Yarra branch
Book online or call: 8290 8000
Miles Franklin Shortlist
The Miles Franklin 2013 shortlist has been announced. If you're struggling to choose the next book club book, take a look at this list.
Jeffreys Last Tuesday Book Club
The Silver Linings Playbook - Matthew Quick
You may have seen the movie? This is a sensitive look at mental illness and we wish the jacket didn't suggest rom-com. I highly recommend this - there is more than meets the eye. Pat Peoples knows that life doesn't always go according to plan, but he's determined to get his back on track. After a stint in a psychiatric hospital, Pat is staying with his parents and trying to live according to his new philosophy: get fit, be nice and always look for the silver lining. Most importantly, Pat is determined to be reconciled with his wife Nikki. Pat's parents just want to protect him so he can get back on his feet, but when Pat befriends the mysterious Tiffany, the secrets they've been keeping from him threaten to come out ...
7pm Tuesday 28 May. Purchase the book to reserve your place.
Dear Uncle Jeffrey,
I’m a popular guy – I can hold an audience 
around the water cooler, I can discuss the latest AFL round, I can be compassionate and kind – but I have a strange hobby that I feel I need to hide. I love spending time doing it and I’ve lost girlfriends who think I’m keeping a far more sinister secret. I’m not driving for enigmatic, I just want to be accepted. I feel that until I can reveal this quirk of my nature I won’t find my true place in the world.
You seem like an ‘interesting’ man – how do you cope?
John Smith, Caulfield
Dear Evan
I love the quirks. It’s the quirks that maketh the man. Spending time in a bookshop is a funny thing. You find yourself drawn to things (ie books) that surprise even yourself - it may be the jacket, the title or just something about the feel of the book. There are quirky books: books that you wouldn’t think someone would publish. And if someone did publish them that surely no bookshop would stock. But see, now you’ve got me caught up in a tizz, in a euphoria of booklover delight. You can probably picture me sliding my finger along the spines 'They’re even real...Absolutely real - have pages and everything.’ (Baz Luhrmann had better have included this line in his Great Gatsby movie or I will leave the cinema. I will, I’ll leave.)
Everyone’s quirk is another’s ticket to fame. It’s all about seeing the treasure and not the trash. And you are a treasure my friend. I don’t know what your thing is but here are some of the more unique books you’ll find in Jeffreys – and I bet there will be at least one of them that you’ll want to flick through: AIRBRUSH.
Celebrate uniqueness - May the 4th be with you. (Ah, now you’d need to be a Star Wars drone to get this one – and then you’ll want to scroll to the bottom of newsletter – trust me!)
Yours in solidarity
Uncle Jeffrey
Featured Fiction
Burial Rites - Hannah Kent
In northern Iceland, 1829, Agnes Magnusdottir is condemned to death for her part in the brutal murder of two men. Agnes is sent to wait out the time leading to her execution on the farm of District Officer Jon Jonsson, his wife and their two daughters. Horrified to have a convicted murderess in their midst, the family avoids speaking with Agnes. Only Toti, the young assistant reverend appointed as Agnes' spiritual guardian, is compelled to try to understand her, as he attempts to salvage her soul. As the summer months fall away to winter and the hardships of rural life force the household to work side by side, Agnes' ill-fated tale of longing and betrayal begins to emerge. And as the days to her execution draw closer, the question burns: did she or didn't she? Based on a true story, Burial Rites is a deeply moving novel about personal freedom: who we are seen to be versus who we believe ourselves to be, and the ways in which we will risk everything for love. In beautiful, cut-glass prose, Hannah Kent portrays Iceland's formidable landscape, where every day is a battle for survival, and asks, how can one woman hope to endure when her life depends upon the stories told by others?
Featured Non Fiction
Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology - Caroline Paul
Caroline Paul was recovering from a bad accident (she had been flying a plane when it happened) and thought things couldn't get worse. But then her beloved cat Tibia disappeared. She and her partner, illustrator Wendy MacNaughton, anxiously waited for his return, before resigning themselves to their loss. But weeks later, Tibia waltzed back into their lives. His owners were overjoyed. They might also have been a bit jealous. All right, they were very jealous! Where had their sweet anxious cat disappeared to? Had he become a swashbuckling cat adventurer? Did he love someone else more? His owners were determined to find out. Using methods as diverse as GPS technology, cat cameras, psychics, the web and animal communicators, they embarked on a quest to discover what their cat did when they weren't around.
Featured Young Adult and Middle Readers
House of Secrets - Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini
THE HOUSE OF SECRETS follows three siblings and their family as they are forced to move to a mysterious new house in San Francisco and end up embarking on a journey to retrieve a dark book of untold power. When Brendan, Cordelia and Nell move to Kristoff House they have no idea that they are about to unleash the dark magic locked within. For the house once belonged to a crazed writer, whose stories have come to life. Literally. Now the Walker kids must battle against deadly pirates, bloodthirsty warriors and a bone-crunching giant. If they fail they will never see their parents again and a power-mad Witch will take over the world. No pressure then ...House of Secrets is the first book in a major new series. It's going to be epic.
'A break-neck, jam-packed, rollercoaster of an adventure' J.K. Rowling
Featured Children's Books
My Happy Life - Rose Lagencrantz and Eva Eriksson
Dani is probably the happiest person she knows. She's happy because she's going to start school. She's been waiting to go to school her whole life. Then things get even better - she meets Ella. After that, Dani and Ella Frida stick together through wet and dry, sun and rain, 
thick and thin. They do everything together. But then things start to happen that Dani isn't prepared for ... 
Star Wars Day - May 4 - May the Force be with You
Purchase from the Star Wars range in the first week and May and receive a Star Wars novelty activity. Some suggestions from the Star Wars range:
