 BBBAntony Beevor D-Day Tuesday 25th August 6pm for 6:30pm QLD Irish Club, 175 Elizabeth St, Brisbane
'Beevor can be credited with single-handedly transforming the reputation of military history' - The Guardian
From the world's bestselling historian comes D-Day, a definitive acount of the most famous invasion in military history, the battle for Normandy 65 years ago. The Normandy landings that took place on D-Day involved the largest invasion fleet ever known. The scale of the undertaking was simply awesome, with some of the most cunning and ferocious fighting of the war, at times as savage as anything seen on the Eastern Front. As casualties mounted, so too did the tensions between the principal commanders on both sides. French civilians caught in the middle of these battlefields or under Allied bombing endured terrible suffering. Even the joys of Liberation had their darker side. The war in northern France marked not just a generation but the whole of the post-war world, profoundly influencing relations between America and Europe.
Making use of previously overlooked and new material from over thirty archives in half a dozen countries, D-Day is the most vivid and well-researched account yet of the battle of Normandy. As with Stalingrad and Berlin, Antony Beevor's gripping narrative conveys the true experience of war.
Antony Beevor's books have sold nearly four million copies worldwide.
Tickets: $15 $12 concession $10 bulk 6+
American Bookstore: 3229 467 Avid reader: 3846 3422 Coaldrake's Barracks: 3367 8526 Coaldrake's Emporium: 3854 0188
COALDRAKE'S
David Mearns
The Search for the Sydney Monday 17th August 6pm for 6:30pm Coaldrake’s The Barracks 61 Petrie Terrace Brisbane (This event will take place in the Palace Barracks cinemas, right next to Coaldrake’s) In November 1941 HMAS Sydney, the pride of the Australian navy, was sunk with all hands after a battle off the West Australian coast with the German ship Kormoran, which was also destroyed. In 2002 shipwreck hunter David Mearns joined the long list of people who had tried to find the Sydney. The next six years would test Mearns’s talents as detective, engineer, marine scientist and leader, taking him from war archives in Germany to homes of Kormoran survivors to the depths of the Indian Ocean. He would navigate false clues, conspiracy theories, maddening technical problems and cyclones but in 2008 he recorded the astonishing words ‘HMAS Sydney found!’ In his new book David Mearns tells the action-packed story of the hunt for the Sydney - and the Kormoran - and reveals what really happened on that fateful day in November. Accompanied by stunning photographs, many of them never seen before, historical imagery, detailed maps and full-scale models of the cruiser, this is a book to delight enthusiasts and general readers alike, an incomparable adventure set on the high seas. David’s lecture will be supported by photographs and maps, projected onto the cinema screen. Later this year David will begin his search for the Centaur, infamously torpedoed of the South East Queensland coast in 1943. Tickets: $15 Refreshments not included, but can be purchased from the cinema bar. Bookings essential – call one of our stores to book Coaldrake's Milton: 3367 0559, Fortitude Valley: 3854 0188, Barracks: 3367 8526
The Billionaire's Curse
By Richard Newsome
To be launched by James Maloney
Tuesday 18th August 6pm for 6:30pm
Coaldrake’s The Barracks 61 Petrie Terrace Brisbane
This is a free event but bookings essential - call Coaldrakes on 3367 8526
Kids are welcome, and are sure to enjoy the novel by Richard Newsome, which won Text Publishing's Young Adult Writing Prize. It has been described as
'brilliantly original whodunnit which is stylish, funny and very entertaining - and is going to appeal to a broad range of readers.'
THE AMERICAN BOOKSTORE 50th anniversary celebrations continue
This month if you purchase an Allen and Unwin title, you go in the draw to win $1000 worth of Allen and Unwin titles.
Next month it will be Peribo books with $1000 of Peribo titles to be won.
The Book Garden will be selling books at the Ipswich Festival of Children's Literature in the first week of September.
Indigenous Literacy
at the Great Book Swap 2009
hosted by Belinda Jeffrey
Friday 28th August 6pm for a 6.30pm start
Tickets $15 (all profits go to the ILP)
RSVP books@avidreader.com.au
3846 3422
How can you join in?
1. Purchase your ticket and collect your bookmark.
2. Bring along up to 3 books you've loved with your recommendation written on the bookmark.
3. 6:30pm for drinks and celebrity books and art auction - bid to buy a celebrity's pre-loved and signed book or a work of art.
4. Find another book and pay what you think it is worth.
5. Your money goes to the Indigenous Literacy Project.
More about the night...
With help from our special host, Belinda Jeffrey, and local realtor, Leo Tsimpikis, the Great Bookswap will commenmce with an exciting auction that will include
1. Indigenous art from regions supported by the Indigenous Literacy Project.
2. A limited edition art book from local Indigenous art collective proppaNOW. The collective includes Vernon Ah Kee who exhibited at the 2009 Venice Biennale and launched his book "born in this skin" recently at Avid, and celebrated artists, Richard Bell, Bianca Beetson, Andrea Fisher, Jennifer Herd, Gordon Jookey, Laurie Nilsen and Tony Albert who has generously created a beautiful painting that will come with the book.
3. A rare signed copy of the new Nick Cave novel, "The Death of Bunny Munro" donated by the author and Text Publishing.
4. A favorite book from the Premier Anna Bligh and famous local author, Nick Earls with a signed bookplate that says why they love the books they are donating.
There will also be a raffle drawn on the night - the lucky winner will receive a signed set of Tim Winton novels generously donated by the author and Penguin. Raffle tickets will go on sale before the night and all who attend will receive a free ticket at the door.
The Great Book Swap aims to raise much needed funds for the Indigenous Literacy Project. The proceeds will go to the Fred Hollows Foundation who organise books and literacy projects for over one hundred remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, New South Wales and Queensland. These evens are part of an Australiawide push for higher Indigenous literacy levels - a skill which equates to better health and living standards. Last year over $300 000 was raised and this year, with your help, we hope to raise even more.
The Indigenous Literacy Project's Great Book Swap also hopes to increase awareness about the disparity between Indigenous and non-indigenous literacy levels.
Please come along and support Indigenous Literacy!
 PALACE CINEMASBALIBO
East Timor, 1975. As Indonesia prepares to invade the tiny nation of East Timor, five Australian-based journalists go missing. Four weeks later, veteran foreign correspondent Roger East is lured to East Timor by the young and charasmatic Jose Ramos-Horta to tell the story of his country and investigate the fate of the missing men. As East's determination to uncover the truth grows, the threat of invasion intensifies and an unlikely friendship develops between the last foreign correspondent in East Timor and the man who will become President. BALIBO a political thriller that tells the true story of crimes that have been covered up for over thirty years.
To win one of 10 double passes, email bbbcoodinator@yahoo.com.au with the subject 'BALIBO' and your phone and address details in the body of the email. Winners will be chosen at random.
www.balibo.com
 QUEENSLAND THEATRE COMPANY
The Year Of Magical Thinking The Year of Magical Thinking is a candid, poignant and compassionate drama starring Robyn Nevin at Queensland Theatre Company. Directed by Cate Blachett this award-winning memoir is the story of how author Joan Didion coped with the sudden loss of her husband, and her daughter's life threatening disease. This compassionate and heartfelt play is both a love letter to a child, and a tribute to an extraordinary marriage.
Our friends at Queensland Theatre Company are giving away a double pass. For your chance to win simply email bbbcoordinator@yahoo.com.au with your name and contact details in the email and 'QTC' in the subject line. The winner will be chosen at random.
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