Sorting my bookshelf

This is a very beautiful, special Spring.  Maybe, as a friend commented this morning, it's because of all the rain we have had.  Maybe it's just a gift from the universe but it is magical to see the blossom on all the trees, the flowers everywhere in gardens and on the verges and to feel the softness in the air after winter.  It brings with it the urge to clean and sort and dump unwanted/uneeded stuff.  I have no idea why but spring cleaning is a real phenomenon in my house.  My own version of this has been to sort my bookshelves and as I have been doing this I have reflected on just how much work books really are in my life. 

Owning books requires one to house them somewhere - obviously - and this requires furniture and the takeup of space. Since I have a small house, not wishing to burden the universe with my heating and cooling bills, my space is limited.   The books take up rather a large proportion of it.  Not only that but they get dusty. I have to clean the shelves and the books themselves and not being a perfect housekeeper this can be a big chore when I do finally get to it.  Then once a year I need to cull.  Take some off the shelves and donate them to the Lion's bookshop  which is where a lot of them came from in the first place.  This process is very time consuming.  I am a reluctant culler of books, possibly because I have trouble identifying what I may never want to read again.  After all,I got the books in the first place because I wanted to own them, right?  It is easiest with what I would describe as fast fiction.  Books that are just time fillers; the sort you leave behind in the holiday house or hotel  because to take it further is a waste of your bag space.  Patricia Cornwell, Maeve Binchy, Robert Ludlum; books of that ilk get culled mercilessly.  But all the rest undergo a patient scrutiny that can make the job a very long one indeed and since I have a habit of using anything to hand as a bookmark I first have to flick the book open to see what might be hidden between the pages. 

Recently I was helping Emily Rodda, aka Jenny Rowe prepare for the Blue Mountains book sale she and a friend organise each year.  This involves wiping each book carefully with Mr Sheen (who'd have thought?) and following this with a flick of the pages.  The most fascinating things flick out sometimes. Death notices, photographs, newspaper review cuttings.  We looked at what people had culled from their collections - rather a lot of the aforementioned style of works made up the bulk - but there were also a great number of the coffee table style of book that appears to have gone out of fashion.  The sort that have been 'hand made' by Chinese workers applying top and tail bands, ribbons, sticking down the hard covers.  The kind that don't fit on any ordinary presses.  I was soon lost in thought about the place all those books had once occupied in the lives of their owners.  Some so well-worn they were barely holding together.  Others looking as thought they had never been opened.

All this reflection leads me to the 21st century's recent offering to book lovers - the e-book.  No shelving.  No dusting  Heartless culling at the flash of a finger because, probably, the hard drive is full, and anyone can write one which means - what?  Definitely it has led to bookstores closing down so fast the books haven't had time to leave their cartons.  Is literature is being debased by things like FSOG becoming a multi zillion best seller?  Should we worry that now anyone can write a book without the aid of an editor or publisher?  Does anyone care about standards in literature anymore or are we all keen to leave those rubbishy books behind in cyberspace, hidden forever from dust, needing no shelves, taking up no room in our homes or our hearts?

I return to my floor, my enormous pile of dusty books. I replace them, dusting as I go, one by one. 
Turns out I haven't got any unwanted books this year.
I eye the bookcase.  It's not so big really; a very good friend like this doesn't take up a lot of space my in life when I think about it.  And besides, my grandchildren have so much fun pulling the books off the shelves.   
I think I will try the kitchen cupboards next.  I'm sure I'll find at least two veggie peelers I dont want.

Spring books

The spring air has warmed up the vegie oil in the ol' bus and we are jugging along at our top speed (a leisurely stroll) as we head into the best book-buying time of year (yes, it's time to talk Christmas in the retail world). Let's have a peek, shall we?

Following the success of Clancy the Courageous Cow comes a new picture book by the talented Lachie Hume. It doesn't matter how many times you (have to) read it, 'haystation' is always funny.

Speaking of Christmas (sorry, I mentioned it again), if you have to make an early purchase to post to a small person overseas, The Gift by Penny Matthews (illustrated by Martin McKenna) would make a super neat package.

For the bigger young people, we have the incomparable, inimitable Be Home for Armageddon by Luke Edwards. Guaranteed wackiness.

And for the history buffs, the latest from the ever-mysterious LS Lawrence, Hammering Iron. In this novel set in ancient Greece, Paramon's destiny is to discover a secret that will change everything, a secret that men will not hesitate to kill for ...

And that's not all! Check back soon for more lovely, lovely picture books and summer reading!

RIP Margaret Mahy

We are sad today to hear of the death of Margaret Mahy, superhero children's author and the first non-British author to be awarded the Carnegie Medal. Mahy was a New Zealander who worked as a children's librarian and wrote her early novels at night after her two daughters were in bed. The author of over 100 picture books and 40 novels, Mahy will be sadly missed.

The Moon & Farmer McPhee by Margaret Mahy, winner of theNew Zealand Post Children's Book of the Year award 2011 

July books

This month we're very excited to see our new favourite picture book (we have a new favourite every month!) out on shelves and already being mentioned (thanks, Readings). A brilliant new collaboration between sparkling new author Emma Allen and the incomparable Freya Blackwood, The Terrible Suitcase is the story of a little girl's first day of school and how she copes with the tremendous injustice of being given a terrible suitcase instead of the red rocket backpack she wanted for her new school bag.

Also out this month is a time travelling adventure from new-to-kids'-books author Craig Cormick. Time Vandals crosses time, continents and even into zombie-land as Time Rangers Mai and Jack attempt to put the space-time-continuum back to 'normal'. It's hard to know whether to be more worried about whether Ixi the garden gnome in disguise can be trusted or whether the rampaging gargoyle will finally catch up with them. The only way to find out is to read on!

Congratulations, Mr Lawrence!

We're very pleased to note the appearance of the mysterious Mr L.S. Lawrence's latest book, Horses for King Arthur, on the shortlist for the Western Australian Premier's Book Awards. Lovely! Congratulations, Mr Lawrence! And to his fans, look out soon for his next epic historical novel, Hammering Iron, out in September.

New Unsolicited Manuscript Guidelines

We've been struggling with the work associated with the hundreds of unsolicited manuscripts we receive at Omnibus for a very long time now and finally the time has come to stop. We just don't have enough time to enter, read, return and re-enter the looming pile anymore. But rather than stop reading we have decided to change the rules.  So please pay close attention!

If you look on the web here you will see that we have totally re-jigged our guidelines.

1. NO manuscripts will be returned, regardless of whether or not they include return postage. So don't include a stamped self-addressed envelope anymore.

2. You will ONLY hear from us if you are successful. If you don't hear within three months assume you were unsuccessful and try elsewhere.

3. We will not let you know your manuscript arrived. Assume the postie is good at his or her job and will deliver it safely or return it to you if you've put your address on it.

4. Don't call us to ask if your work has been read yet. We haven't got time to answer any queries and we can't anyway because we no longer enter unsolicited work onto a database.

5. Don't send anything original (as in you don't keep a copy) because we will be putting all unsuccessful work into a secure paper recycling bin. And don't worry, this is a very safe system. No one will be able to read/steal your work. It gets shredded in a giant commercial shredder. We pay for this system.

6. There is absolutely no advantage in sending your submission with a cover letter from an Assessment Agency. We highly recommend that applicants avoid this expensive process completely, as the letters make no difference whatsoever in our final decision on whether work will be published or not.

BUT WE WILL READ EVERYTHING!  We always did, we always will. That's how we discovered Marcus Zusak, Michael Gerard Bauer, Lyn Lee and a host of other award-winning super-successful writers. We know you're in that pile somewhere ... and we will find you if you are.

If your work is already here with its stamped self-addressed envelope then we will faithfully return it to you but in a very short while we will not. All the rest of the guidelines are up on the web - go see for yourself.

Every night I get on my knees and pray for a monster best-seller to appear in the unsolicited pile. If the nuns were right then I probably shouldn't hold my breath. But as my dear mother likes to say - live in hope, even if you die in despair.

A note from your Conductor

Wintery reading

There's nothing quite as nice as popping into your local bookshop on a cold and frosty day for a browse of the shelves. The hush, the smell of ink, and the feel of all that solid paper is always a treat. The new books from Omnibus you might see on the shelves this winter are all warming and guaranteed to smell slightly of ink.

The much-anticipated The Friendship Matchmaker Goes Undercover by the inimitable Randa Abdel-Fattah is out in June. How will Lara manage her new best-friendship with Tanya, as well as continuing her friendship matchmaking duties? She goes undercover, of course! And how do we think this will work out? Oh, Lara, you have a heart of 10-carat gold and we love you in spite of your many and varied faults.

There is also book 2 of the Tales of the Blue Jade series by Peter Cooper, The Mapmaker's Apprentice. Fill up your hot-water bottle and keep cosy as Dillen, Koto and Tajni trek through the icy mountain pass on their next quest. 

'Once again Cooper has captured the reader’s imagination and their heart, familiar characters leap of the page and new characters tweak the reader’s interest.

The Mapmaker’s Apprentice weaves together themes of courage, friendship, overcoming hardship ... resulting in yet another spectacular book in this anticipated series. Twists and turns within the plot keep young readers turning the pages hungrily to see what Dillen and his friends will face next.

Overall a stunning story, Cooper does not disappoint. A highly recommended read for younger and older readers alike. 10/10!' - bugreviews.wordpress.com

For those of you hanging out to see how Raven Lucas is going in her search for her missing father, wait no longer! Raven Lucas 2: Dead Wrong by the ever-spirited Christina Harris is out now.

But don't worry, summer will return and Wombat is here to remind you what that might be like. Yes, One Woolly Wombat is turning 30! He hasn't aged a day, has he? Happy birthday, you dear old wombat.