Our thanks to those who were able to join us for our SLAV online Book Club on Thursday November 12th, 2023, to discuss the topic: Short Stories and Short Books. We asked members to share short story collections or short books that work well with their students. As always, our members had so many wonderful contributions to share with us and we had a great deal of fun!

This was our final book club meeting for 2023, and we want to say a very special thank you to all who have attended and contributed to these informal and informative meetings. We cannot wait to see you all next year, your generosity is greatly appreciated.

We absolutely encourage you to reach out to the wonderful Jenny at The Younger Sun as an invaluable resource, for further information and recommendations. The staff at The Younger Sun are incredibly knowledgeable!

 Disclaimer: The lists generated as a result of Book Club discussions are not, by any means, an exhaustive list of all titles or authors for each genre/category discussed. Nor will all titles be suitable for all libraries. We advise staff discretion when referencing these lists, to properly confirm individual title suitability for individual libraries, school and student’s needs. These are suggested titles only, shared by our members and inclusion on, or exclusion from, a list does not suggest SLAV endorsement or rejection of a title.

Titles Discussed

• The Simple Gift by Steven Herrick
• The Little Wave by Pip Harry
• Life on the Refrigerator Door: a Novel in Notes by Alice Kuipers
• Foster by Claire Keegan
• Alice Oseman’s Novellas
• Minutes Of Series by Jack Heath
• Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
• M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman
• Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock.
• Only the Animals by Ceridwen Dovey
• I Am the Mau and Other Stories by Chemutai Glashee
• Dust Makers – edited by Penny Jaye and R.A. Stephens
• Off the Map by Scott Gardner
• Things a Map Won’t Show You and Where the Shoreline Used to Be Edited by Susan La Marca and Pam McIntyre
• Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher”
• Astonishingly Good Stories by R.A. Spratt
• YOLO Juliet by Brett Wright and William Shakespeare
• Darcy Swipes Left by Courtney Carbone and Jane Austen
• OMG classics
• All in an Hour by Kate Chopin.
• The Pink Bow Tie by Paul Jennings
• The Pedestrian by Ray Bradbury
• The Butler by Roald Dahl
• The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
• Bulletcatcher series by Chris Bradford the Mission Alert series by Benjamin Hulme-Cross
• The Defenders series by Tom Palmer (sport)
• Needle by Patrice Lawrence (realistic fiction)
• Firebird by Elizabeth Wein (war)
• Conkers series by Tom Palmer (war)

Aussie Nibbles of course for primary…have been re-issued as they were so successful. One title that was a bestseller for some reason, was “No Cat and that’s that” by Bruce Dawe illustrated by Andrew McLean.

• The Saturday Portraits – Maxine Beneba Clarke
• Tim Harris’ Exploding Endings have been amazing hook books for upper primary at my school.
• Smart Ovens for Lonely People – Elizabeth Tan
• The Mist by Stephen king
• A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
• Unbreakable, Women share stories of resilience and Hope. Edited by Jane Caro.
• The Big Issue Presents Letter to my Younger self by Jane Graham
• Jon Scieszka – https://jonscieszka.com › guys-read – Commissioned and edited by real-life literature legend Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: True Stories is a brain-bending collection of essays, biographies, how-to guides …
• Other Short Collections – Growing up Wiradjuri / ed. by Anita Heiss.
• • Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia
  • Growing Up Muslim in Australia
  • Growing Up Disabled in Australia
  • Growing Up African in Australia
  • Growing Up Queer in Australia

Quick Adult/YA Reads for Secondary Students

Disclaimer – some of the books on this list contain complex adult themes, we trust you to use your discretion when stocking these titles in your library, as you know your students and your school community best.

• Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
• We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson
• The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
• Sula by Toni Morrison
• My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
• The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide, Eric Selland
• Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
• Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
• Crudo by Olivia Laing
• Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
• Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, Ginny Tapley Takemori
• Crimson by Niviaq Korneliussen, Anna Halager
• A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro
• The Incendiaries by R. O. Kwon
• Indelicacy by Amina Cain
• Dolores by Lauren Aimee Curtis
• Strange Hotel by Eimear McBride
• Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami, Louise Heal Kawai, Jo Walker
• The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker
• The Death of Francis Bacon by Max Porter
• Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier
• The Union of Synchronised Swimmers by Cristina Sandu
• Night Blue by Angela O’Keeffe
• All Systems Red by Martha Wells
• A Dream Life by Claire Messud
• People From My Neighbourhood by Hiromi Kawakami (Y), Ted Goossen
• The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun, Lizzie Buehler
• Heatwave by Victor Jestin
• A Girl Returned by Donatella Di Pietrantonio, Ann Goldstein
• Nostalgia Has Ruined My Life by Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle
• Winter In Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin
• Heaven by Mieko Kawakami, Sam Bett, David Boyd
• My Phantoms by Gwendoline Riley
• Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au
• Burntcoat by Sarah Hall
• A Slipping Down Life by Anne Tyler
• Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner (Y)
• Heartburn by Nora Ephron
• Napoleon’s Beekeeper by José Luis de Juan, Elizabeth Bryer
• Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss

ADULT – What We Have Been Reading

• Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
• Women and Children by Tony Birch
• Question 7 by Richard Flanagan
• The Empty Honour Board by Martin Flanagan
• Exiles by Jane Harper
• Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
• Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
• So Late in the Day: Stories of Men and Women – Clare Keegan
• All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
• ‘The Inaugural meeting of the Fairvale book club’ – Sophie Green.
• Lola in the Mirror by Trent Dalton
• The Librarianist by Patrick Dewitt
• Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth
• All the Light we cannot See by Anthony Doer
• Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang