Well another bust week here at Books N Gifts with plenty of great new January book releases arriving including some fantastic teacher approved workbooks to help younger readers in readiness for the new school year.
Here are just some of the great new book releases that have arrived in store this week:
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens
Shankari Chandra
Adult Fiction
Welcome to Cinnamon Gardens, a home for those who are lost and the stories they treasure.
Cinnamon Gardens Nursing Home is nestled in the quiet suburb of Westgrove, Sydney , populated with residents with colourful histories, each with their own secrets, triumphs and failings. This is their safe place, an oasis of familiar delights , a beautiful garden, a busy kitchen and a bountiful recreation schedule.
But this ordinary neighbourhood is not without its prejudices. The serenity of Cinnamon Gardens is threatened by malignant forces more interested in what makes this refuge different rather than embracing the calm companionship that makes this place home to so many. As those who challenge the residents? existence make their stand against the nursing home with devastating consequences, our characters are forced to reckon with a country divided.
Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is about family and memory, community and race, but is ultimately a love letter to storytelling and how our stories shape who we are.
The Good Son
Jacquelyn Mitchard
Adult Fiction
What do you do when the person you love best becomes unrecognisable to you? For Thea, the answer is simple and agonising: you keep loving him somehow.
Stefan was just seventeen when he went to prison for the murder of his girlfriend, Belinda, a crime he has no memory of committing. Three years later, he's released to a world that refuses to let him move on. Belinda's mother, once Thea's good friend, galvanises the community to rally against him. Neighbours, employers, even some members of Thea's own family turn away.
Meanwhile Thea struggles to understand her only son and begins to suspect darker forces are at play. If there is so much she never knew about Stefan, what other hidden secrets has she yet to uncover ? especially the shocking truth about the night Belinda died!
Eli's Promise
Ronald Balson
Adult Fiction
Love and Retribution
Catherine McCullagh
Adult Fiction
School of Monsters Fun with Numbers
Sally Rippin
Illustrated by Chris Kennett
Education
The School of Monsters has begun.
Let's learn about NUMBERS ; just for fun!
The School of Monsters: Learn and Play series bridges the gap between school and home to ignite the spark of learning.
Kids getting ready for kinder and school will love practising real schoolwork with their friends at the School of Monsters ; in a funny, silly (and smelly) way!
Each book is full of teacher-approved worksheets and activities to promote school readiness!
School of Monsters Fun with Letters
Sally Rippin
Illustrated by Chris Kennett
Education
The School of Monsters has begun.
Let's learn about LETTERS ; just for fun!
The School of Monsters: Learn and Play series bridges the gap between school and home to ignite the spark of learning.
Kids getting ready for kinder and school will love practising real schoolwork with their friends at the School of Monsters ; in a funny, silly (and smelly) way!
Each book is full of teacher-approved worksheets and activities to promote school readiness!
Emily Eyefinger No 11 and the Secret from the Sea
Duncan Ball
Illustrated by Craig Smith
Junior Fiction
In these thrilling new adventures, Emily - the girl with an eye on the end of her finger - is chased by mysterious gargoyles in Paris, rescues a runaway movie star, disguises herself as a baby elephant to catch 'the ghost gang', outsmarts the master criminal Arthur Crim, creeps into a super-computer to catch the world's smartest mice and flies to the middle of the ocean with her Great Aunt Olympia in search of the long-lost secret of the Sea People. Ages: 7+
The Violet Veil Mysteries - A Case of Misfortune
Sophie Cleverly
Junior Fiction
The second title in this breakout new detective series, from the author of the spine-tingling Scarlet and Ivy series.
Violet Veil is ready for her next big case and with trouble afoot at the Grecian Theatre, Violet and her dog Bones are hot on the trail. But just who is the mysterious fortune-teller, Lady Athena, whose predictions keep coming true? Is it all just a case of smoke and mirrors? Or is there something more sinister going on??
Looking After Country With Fire
Victor Steffenson
Illustrated by Sandra Steffenson
Childrens Books
Mother Nature has a language. If we listen, and read the signs in the land, we can understand it.
For thousands of years, First Nations people have listened and responded to the land and made friends with fire, using this knowledge to encourage plants and seeds to flourish, and creating beautiful places for both animals and people to live.
Join Uncle Kuu as he takes us out on Country and explains cultural burning. Featuring stunning artwork by Sandra Steffensen, this is a powerful and timely story of understanding Australia's ecosystems through Indigenous fire management, and a respectful way forward for future generations to help manage our landscapes.
First Day
Andrew Daddo
Illustrated by Jonathan Bentley
Childrens Books
Are you ready? It'll be fun! You'll make new friends. New BFFs! You might have to be a bit brave ...
It's the first day of school, but who is the most nervous about the big day? An adorable picture book about first-day nerves from the team who brought you I Do It and Check On Me.
Head Bookseller
Tammy