Located in an award-winning building in the heart of Perth’s CBD, the City of Perth Library recently marked 10 years at its home, 573 Hay Street. Welcoming visitors from around the world, it also serves local residents, city workers and students.

GOOD READING spoke with some of the library’s wonderfully knowledgeable staff to discover what they’re currently reading.

Disha – Library Officer

What are you reading now?
Jane Austen’s Bookshelf: The women writers who shaped a legend by Rebecca Romney

Why did you choose this book?
I’m trying to read more non-fiction and as I tend to gravitate toward books that stray from traditional formats, finding the right book can be a challenge. I discovered this book after reading a review referring to it as a unique collection of essays on Jane Austen’s contemporaries. As someone who loves Austen and enjoys literary criticism, it seemed like the perfect blend.

What’s it about?
This book is a literary investigation into the overlooked 18th-century women writers who influenced Jane Austen, it is a mix of biographies of eight of her contemporaries, reviews of their works, insights into the art of rare book collecting, and a critique of the Western literary canon.

Are you enjoying it?
Not only am I loving this book, but I’m also enjoying building my own little bookshelf by collecting copies of books by the authors Austen loved and who inspired her stories, so I can explore their works once I finish it.

Heather – Library Officer

What are you reading now?
What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

Why did you choose this book?
A co-worker recommended it. Quite a few of the books I have read recently have been recommended by the people I work with, and I have found some great books through their suggestions. One of the perks of working at a library – well-read colleagues!

What’s it about?
It is set about 100 years in the future in a flooded England and follows an academic researching a poet from the early 21st century, whose most famous work has been lost. The novel provides the academic’s fictional account of what happened on the night the poem was read to its first and only audience, before moving on to his attempt to locate a physical copy of the poem and concluding with an artefact found during this attempt.
What We Can Know focuses on how we frame the actions of those in the past, how we attribute motivations to others, and the things we lose due to environmental and societal change. It allows us to ask what we can know about history, about the world around us, and about the people in our lives.

Are you enjoying it?
I am loving it. I have read a few of Ian McEwan’s novels, and enjoyed them all, but this one is particularly beautiful in its examination of human relationships and how our understanding of each other and the world is always partial due to the secrets we keep and the misunderstandings that are perpetuated. Something I really love about the novel is that it interrogates the notion of the individual genius and shows how the domestic labour and unrealised goals of others allow such people the time to produce works that become historically relevant.

Kathryn – Customer Service Officer

What are you reading now?
The Underworld by Sofie Laguna

Why did you choose this book?
Laguna never disappoints and this book is no exception. I particularly love that her books are set in Australia, a relatable landscape. She has this uncanny ability to speak to a reader on such a personal level and to be able to make her characters come to life.

What’s it about?
The main protagonist Martha Mullins is somewhat of a misfit in her curated family landscape. Yet finds refuge in the arms of a group of friends at an all-girls boarding school and the fantastical world of Roman mythology ‘The Underworld’. At times I found this book heart wrenching but also tender to see how she endures her adolescence and transcends into an intelligent, strong, independent woman.

Are you enjoying it?
This is an emotionally engaging and a rewarding read as you see yourself championing Martha every step of the way.

Sarah – Library Officer

What are you reading now?
Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Kiefer

Why did you choose this book?
My special interests are slashers and yarn crafts. The front cover is crocheted and I loved Kiefer’s previous book, This Wretched Valley. There is no universe where I do not choose this book.

What’s it about?
After being outed as bisexual, Ruth is fired from her job at a craft store owned by the evangelical church that dominates life in the area. In an act of revenge, she attempts to shoplift some yarn but is caught. Instead of calling the police, the employees lock her in the store and attack her, leaving Ruth to fight for her life using whatever craft supplies she can find.

Are you enjoying it?
As a horror fan, it’s exactly what I wanted. It’s fun, gory, topical and fast paced. It would make a great movie. As a crafter, I’m disappointed that there isn’t more creative use of the craft store setting.

Joanna – Coordinator, Library and Town Hall

What are you reading now?
Kill Your Boss by Jack Heath

Why did you choose this book?
I know of Jack Heath as a writer for young adults, and this caught my eye as one of his titles for adults. It looked like it would be an intriguing read, as it is set in a public library (and yes, I am the boss!).

What’s it about?
The story features Detective Sergeant Kiara Lui, who is breaking up a brawl in front of the library when a body falls from the sky – it’s the Head of Library Services, and she later discovers that he was hated by all his staff and by library borrowers too.

The investigation unfolds in an unpredictable way, and keeps the reader hooked to find out who the killer is, and why they committed the crime. There are lots of twists and turns, several more bodies, and I didn’t predict the ending.

I enjoyed the depiction of the pros and cons of living and working in a small town.

Are you enjoying it?
I enjoyed it very much and have recommended it to my book club – we’ll be discussing all of the ‘Kill Your’ titles.

I also accidentally took it to a meeting and my colleagues were a little horrified that I was carrying around a book called ‘Kill Your Boss’ – I assured them that it was not a how-to manual but was a very good read!

Suzanne – Young Peoples Services Librarian

What are you reading now?
I’m reading Luna Express by Campbell Whyte

Why did you choose this book?
Campbell is a WA comic artist and the book is set in a futurist version of Perth, so it’s full of local landmarks and familiar places – and the colour palette is insane.

What’s it about?
It’s about art and capitalism and a bakery. And local kids getting magical powers, and a few inanimate objects becoming sentient and rampaging.

Are you enjoying it?
Yes! It’s like drinking a crazy mocktail with warheads in it.

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