Christmas Newsletter

Welcome to Christmas at Cammeray Bookshop!

Can you believe it’s already our second Christmas in our beautiful Cammeray store? We would like to take this opportunity to thank all you loyal customers and welcome all our new friends who have discovered us this year in Cammeray Square. We thank all of you for your support and wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Here at Cammeray we know how stressful Christmas shopping can be; with so many people to buy for, huge crowds to battle, and no spare shop assistants to help cut through the overwhelming range of stocking fillers, novelty items and holiday kitsch to find the perfect gift for each of your loved ones. At Cammeray Bookshop we’ve been careful to select the best books for the summer and we pride ourselves on knowing all about the books we sell so we can help you pick the right book for the right person. And don’t forget, we offer much more than only books; with a fantastic range of jewelry, cards and other gift ideas, there’s something for everyone at Cammeray Bookshop. So if you want to  take the hassle and uncertainty out of your Christmas Shopping, come visit us at Cammeray Bookshop and we’ll help you out.

In this Christmas Newsletter you will find the Independent Book Guide, gift ideas, Signed Copies and Margaret’s Summer Recommendations.

Click here to browse the catalogue

Summer’s Best Reads: That’s right, Christmas is almost upon us once again and it looks like it’s going to be a very long and hot summer. Don’t worry, Cammeray Bookshop’s got it all covered for you. There is no greater gift than a well selected book and no better way to beat the heat than to laze beside the pool with your favourite author. We’ve been thinking long and hard, selecting the best books of the summer and to help you out we’ve put together the Independent Book Guide. You’re guaranteed to find the ideal gift or the perfect read to help you recover from Christmas lunch. You can browse the catalogue right now online by clicking HERE or pick up your copy in store.

Other Gift Ideas: Remember, Cammeray Bookshop offers more than just books. Make sure you come down to look at our terrific range of jewelry, cards and other terrific gift ideas!

Signed Copies: Looking for something extra special for that hard-to-buy-for relative or friend? We have signed copies of two extraordinary autobiographies: Ray Martin’s Stories of My Life and Harry M. Miller’s Confessions of a Not-So-Secret Agent. Stock is strictly limited so don’t miss out!

Margaret Recommends

The Lacuna – Barbara Kingsolver

The first novel in nine years from Barbara Kingsolver, author of the international bestseller, The Poisonwood Bible. The Lacuna is a gripping story of identity, connection with our past, and the power of words to create or devastate. Crossing two decades, from the vibrant revolutionary murals of Mexico City to the halls of a Congress bent on eradicating the colour red, The Lacuna is as deep and rich as the New World itself.

Born in the US, reared in a series of provisional households in Mexico, Harrison Shepherd is mostly a liability to his social-climbing mother, Salomé. From a coastal island jungle to the unpaved neighbourhoods of 1930s Mexico City, his fortunes never steady as Salomé finds her rich men-friends always on the losing side of the Mexican Revolution.
He aims for invisibility, observing his world and recording everything with a peculiar selfless irony in his notebooks. Life is whatever he learns from servants putting him to work in the kitchen, errands he runs in the streets, and one fateful day, by mixing plaster for famed Mexican muralist Diego Rivera. Making himself useful in the household of the muralist, his wife Frida Kahlo, and exiled Bolshevik leader Lev Trotsky, young Shepherd inadvertently casts his lot in with art and revolution.

A violent upheaval sends him north to a nation newly caught up in the internationalist goodwill of World War II. In Carolina, he remakes himself in America’s hopeful image. Under the watch of his peerless stenographer, Violet Brown, he finds an extraordinary use for his talents of observation. But political winds continue to push him between north and south, in a plot that turns many times on the unspeakable breach – the lacuna – between truth and public presumption.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest – Stieg Larsson

The stunning conclusion to the Millenium Trilogy.

Lisbeth Salander is plotting her revenge – against the men who tried to kill her, and against the government institutions that nearly destroyed her life. But it is not going to be a straightforward campaign. After taking a bullet to the head, Salander is under close supervision in Intensive Care, and is set to face trial for three murders and one attempted murder on her eventual release.

With the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist from Millennium Magazine, Salander must not only prove her innocence, but identify and denounce the corrupt politicians that have allowed the vulnerable to become victims of abuse and violence. Once a victim herself, Salander is ready to fight back.

Anyone who read The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo and The Girl who Played with Fire will want to read this book.

Grand Obsessions – Alasdair McGregor

This is a joint biography of architects Walter Burley Griffin, of Canberra fame, and his wife, Marion Mahony Griffin. After their formative years in Chicago – the centre of the Prairie School of architecture made most famous by Frank Lloyd Wright, for whom they both worked – the pair moved to Australia in 1914 after Walter won the competition to design the new national capital. Amid controversy, slander and almost overwhelming opposition, they stayed on in Australia to make material as much of their vision as the stultifying Australian bureaucracy would allow.

They remained here until 1935, designing many buildings in Melbourne – such as Newman College – and in Sydney – particularly in the suburb they created, Castlecrag, where they also played an important cultural role in the local community. In 1935 they moved to Lucknow, India, where Walter designed several important public buildings. But his life was cut short and he died in India in 1937 at the age of sixty-six. Marion returned to a life of obscurity in Chicago, where she died in 1961. Since her death, scholars have come to realise that she was not simply Walter’s helpmate but his equal creative partner.

This is the fascinating story of two dogged individuals of great talent and vision and their fight against the forces of bureaucracy and mediocrity; of the building of Canberra and the troubled birth of the Australian national identity; of a pioneering woman who achieved extraordinary things but was rarely credited with that achievement; and of the nature of fame in a small, young country uncertain of its position in the world.

Kitchen Garden Companion – Stephanie Alexander

If you have ever dreamed of picking fresh salad leaves for the evening meal, gathering vine-ripened tomatoes or pulling up your own sweet carrots, this is the book for you.  Follow in the footsteps of one of Australia’s best-loved cooks and food writers as she reveals the secrets of rewarding kitchen gardening.  Be encouraged by detailed gardening notes that explain how adults and children alike can plant, grow and harvest 73 different vegetables, herbs and fruit, and try some of the 250 recipes that will transform your fresh produce into delicious meals.  Whether you have a large plot in a suburban backyard or a few pots on a balcony, you will find everything you need to get started in this inspiring and eminently useful garden-to-table guide.

Crocodile Tears: Alex Rider Book 8 – Anthony Horowitz

8th title in the thrilling adventure series, Alex Rider!

Targeted by a hitman and under threat of his past being exposed by the media, Alex reluctantly turns to MI6. But their help doesn’t come cheap: they need Alex to spy on the activities at a GM crop plant. There he spots Desmond Cain, a high profile charity organiser, who realises that Alex is on to him and the real plans for the money he’s raising. Kidnapped and whisked off to Africa, Alex learns the full horror of Cain’s plot: to create an epic disaster that will kill millions. Getting word to MI6 only makes matters worse. Now, before even facing the real enemy, Alex must also stop his own side before they unwittingly trigger the death of a whole nation.

Who Wants to be a Poodle? Not Me! – Lauren Child

Trixie Twinkle Toes doesn’t want a maid to plump her cushions. She wants to roll in the mud and paddle in the puddles. She doesn’t want to be carried over them by a butler.

Trixie Twinkle Toes may look like a prancing poodley poodle. But, on the inside, she’s a dazzlingly daring dog ready to make a big splash…

A stunning new book from the award-winning international star and creator of Charlie and Lola, Lauren Child, is always a delicious treat. Prepare yourselves for the chicest, funniest and most stylish picture book of the autumn.