Pandemic Reading
Pandemic Reading
Spring is here, and, unfortunately, so is coronavirus. These are our top reads and products to inform, uplift and help you pass the time in lockdown (plus a bonus playlist of happy songs at the end of the post.).
KIDS BOOKS
The Great Realisation: A Story of Hope, for a Time of Change by Tomos Roberts
A post-pandemic bedtime tale that has captured the hearts of millions.
First performed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Tomos Roberts's inspiring poem, with its message of hope and resilience, has been viewed more than 60 million times and translated into over 20 languages worldwide. From simple acts of kindness, to the creativity within us all, The Great Realisation is a celebration of the many things that have brought us together at a time of crisis.
With illustrations by Nomoco, the book captures, with magical resonance, the thoughts and feelings of millions worldwide as we adapt to a new way of life, cast aside old habits and reflect on what truly matters to us. It is a story for all readers, young or old, who dare to dream of a fairer, kinder, more loving world.
More Children’s Books:
The Don’t Worry Book by Todd Parr (Ages 0 to 6)
Happy Healthy Minds by The School of Life (9 to 14)
How to Lose it: Mental Health Sorted by Anna Williamson (Ages 9 to14)
In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek (Ages 0 to 6)
Open Your Mind: Learn to Deal with the Big Stuff in Life by Gemma Carey (Ages 12 to 16)
KIDS ACTIVITIES
Art at Home by Lorna Scobie
Art At Home is the wonderful new activity book by best-selling illustrator Lorna Scobie, filled with 200 engaging art activities for children. This creative ideas book features carefully adapted activities from her brilliant 365 series, and is a great way to keep your child busy at home, as well as providing a calm and imaginative way to spend time.
Activities are varied, ranging from relaxing colouring and pattern-drawing tasks, to thought-provoking challenges such as designing a superhero or sketching a self-portrait. There are no rules in this book, but plenty of encouragement to explore, play and develop artistic skills. It is the perfect way to get your child thinking creatively and to stimulate their imagination.
For ages 5 to 10.
More Children’s Activities:
Bluey Fun and Games: A Colouring Book by Bluey (Ages 3 to 5)
30-piece Garden Puzzle by Janod (3 to 5 years)
Glitter Colouring Set by Tiger Tribe (Ages 5 to 10)
Go Fish: A 3-in-1 Card Deck by Oliver Jeffers (Ages 3+)
Kids Can Book by Esther Coombs
My Quiet Book in Blue and Pink (Ages 0-3 with adult supervision)
DIY Mini House: Soho by Rolife (Ages 14+)
PUZZLES
La Buena Vida by Ana San José Cortajarena
Puzzles have had a resurgence in 2020!
Take a trip to a perfect beach day in Spain full of paella, spritz, seafood and sunshine in La Buena Vida ('The Good Life'), the vibrant 1000-piece puzzle of our vacation dreams.
This puzzle takes between 3 to 10 hours to complete and includes an A3 full-colour printout of the illustration to help you piece the image together.
More Jigsaw Puzzles:
299 Cats and a Dog Puzzle by Léa Maupetit
City Limits 1000-piece Puzzle by Charles Lynn Brag
Diverse Women 1000-piece puzzle by Rachael Sarra
Golden Girls 500-piece Puzzle by Smith Street Books
The Great Wave 1000-piece Hokusai Puzzle by Flame Tree Studio
The World of Sherlock Holmes 1000-piece Puzzle by Doug John Miller
TIME KILLERS
I’m Not Ok, You’re Not Ok: Activities for Bad Days, Sad Days and Stark Raving Mad Days by Coree Spencer and Emily Niland
An activity book that offers laughs for days when you are anxious, depressed or feeling down.
Conceived by an author and illustrator who have come to rely on laughter and other drugs to cope with their mental health issues, this book is like being with a hilarious friend who has no good advice but totally gets what you are going through. Use a bingo board to track signs that things may be off.
Consult a list of conversation enders and excuses for staying home when social anxiety creeps in, and track the number of times you’ve canceled plans with a handy punch card. I’m Not OK, You’re Not OK is brightly illustrated throughout but unafraid of the dark side. We’ve all been there, and that’s OK.
More ideas to help pass the time:
365 Days of Art in Nature by Lorna Scobie (find more from this wonderful series here)
Do It For Yourself: A Motivational Journal by Kara Cutruzzula
Leaf Supply: A Guide to Keeping Happy Houseplants by Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan
The Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Colouring Book by Johanna Basford
Sew Step by Step by Alison Smith MBE
NEW THRILLERS
The Survivors by Jane Harper
One of life’s greatest pleasures is to throw yourself into a book you find hard to put down. For a thrilling read try the compelling new standalone novel from Jane Harper, the bestselling author of The Dry.
Kieran Elliott's life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences.
The guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his young family to the small coastal community he once called home.
Kieran's parents are struggling in a town where fortunes are forged by the sea. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn.
When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never washed away...
More Crime Fiction:
The Kingdom by Jo Nesbo
Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
The Safe Place by Anna Downes
Still Life by Val McDermid
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
NEW FICTION
All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton
The bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe, Trent Dalton, returns with All Our Shimmering Skies - a glorious novel destined to become another Australian classic.
Darwin, 1942, and as Japanese bombs rain overhead, motherless Molly Hook, the gravedigger's daughter, turns once again to the sky for guidance. She carries a stone heart inside a duffel bag next to the map that leads to Longcoat Bob, the deep country sorcerer who put a curse on her family. By her side are the most unlikely travelling companions: Greta, a razor-tongued actress and Yukio, a fallen Japanese fighter pilot.
All Our Shimmering Skies is a story about gifts that fall from the sky, curses we dig from the earth and the secrets we bury inside ourselves. It is an odyssey of true love and grave danger; of darkness and light; of bones and blue skies. A buoyant, beautiful and magical novel abrim with warmth, wit and wonder, a love letter to Australia and the art of looking up.
More Fiction reads:
The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante
Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan
A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier
The Mother Fault by Kate Mildenhall
What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez
ESCAPISM
Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood Book 1 by Sarah J. Maas
Feel like a break from reality? Escape into another realm for a while.
Half-Fae, half-human Bryce Quinlan loves her life. By day, she works for an antiquities dealer, selling barely legal magical artifacts, and by night, she parties with her friends, savoring every pleasure Crescent City has to offer. But it all comes crumbling down when a ruthless murder shakes the very foundations of the city and Bryce’s world.
With unforgettable characters and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom and the power of love.
More Fantasy/Sci-fi reads:
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: A Hunger Games Prequel by Suzanne Collins
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence
Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
NEW NON-FICTION
Quarterly Essay Issue 79: The End of Certainty, Scott Morrison and Pandemic Politics by Katherine Murphy
Epidemics are mirrors. What has COVID-19 revealed about Australia, and about Scott Morrison and his government?
In this gripping essay, Katharine Murphy goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the response to the crisis. Drawing on interviews with Morrison, Brendan Murphy, Josh Frydenberg, Sally McManus and other players, she traces how the key health and economic decisions were taken.
Her account is twinned with a portrait of the Prime Minister. She explores his blend of pragmatism and faith, and shows how a leader characterised by secrecy and fierce certainty learnt to compromise and reach out - with notable exceptions. Now, as the nation turns inwards and unemployment rises, our faith in government is about to be tested anew. What does “We're all in this together” truly mean? Will Morrison snap back to Liberal hard-man, or will he redefine centre-right politics in this country?
More Non-Fiction reads:
COVID-19 by Michael Mosley
The Genes that Make Us by Edwin Kirk
Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World by Jess Scully
How to Survive a Pandemic by Michael Greger, MD
The Lonely Century: How to Come Together in a World that’s Pulling Apart by Noreena Hertz
MIND, BODY, SPIRIT
Phosphorescence by Julia Baird
Absorbing, achingly beautiful, inspiring and deeply moving, Julia Baird has written exactly the book we need for these times.
A beautiful, intimate and inspiring investigation into how we can find and nurture within ourselves that essential quality of internal happiness to sustain us even through the darkest times.
In the muck and grit of a daily existence full of disappointments and a disturbing lack of control over many of the things that matter most, how do we find, nurture and carry our own inner, living light – a light to ward off the darkness?
More Self-Help reads:
The Inner Self by Hugh Mackay
The Panic Button Book by Tammi Kirkness
This One Wild and Precious Life by Sarah Wilson
Seize the Yay by Sarah Davidson
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
COOKBOOKS
Flavour by Yotam Ottolenghi and Ixta Belfrage
If there is one cookbook to tide you over this period it is this one!
Flavour-forward, vegetable-based recipes are at the heart of Yotam Ottolenghi's food. In this stunning new cookbook Yotam and co-writer Ixta Belfrage break down the three factors that create flavour and offer innovative vegetable dishes that deliver brand-new ingredient combinations to excite and inspire.
This book is filled with simple recipes for weeknights, low-effort high-impact dishes and standout meals for the relaxed cook. It not only inspires us with what to cook, but how flavour is dialled up and why it works.
More Cookbooks:
Beatrix Bakes by Natalie Paull
Eating for Pleasure, People and Planet by Tom Hunt
How to Raise a Loaf and Fall in Love with Sourdough by Roly Allen
Ikaria by Meni Valle
This Book is About Dumplings by Brendan Wang
Masks
3 Layer Mask in Chevron by AFI
While we’d like to say goodbye to masks, it looks like we’ll be needing them for a little while longer.
Made in Victoria, this machine washable mask is made with 3 layers. With outer layers made from 220gsm woven fabric and a central layer of spun bond polypropylene, it’s adjustable straps tie up to stay in place for hours.
More Masks:
3 Layer Mask in Orange by AFI
Face Mask: Grey by Alimrose
Face Mask: Pink Linen by Alimrose
Youth Face Mask: Blue Linen by Alimrose
Youth Face Mask: Sweet Floral by Alimrose
2021
Paperblanks Journal: Poetry in Bloom
Although 2020 feels a bit like a write-off, we have hopes for a much better 2021. Plan for a happy new year with a beautiful diary.
The cover design for this Poetry in Bloom diary was originally crafted for The Sensitive Plant and Early Poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1910 and is a celebration of the creative spirit. Made by Paperblanks, this diary features a week-at-a-time horizontal format printed on acid-free sustainable forest paper.
More 2021 diaries:
Blue Pocket 2021 Weekly Notebook by Moleskine
Persimmon Mini Day-to-a-page Diary by Paperblanks
Pink Large Day-to-a-page Diary by Moleskine
Pro Weekly Vertical Diary by Moleskine
Safavid Ultra Day-to-a-page by Paperblanks
UPLIFTING PLAYLIST
Need some cheering up? Here’s a list of songs, collected from the staff at Mary Martin Bookshop, to put a smile on your face!
Get Up Offa That Thing by James Brown
Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles
Juice by Lizzo
Valerie by Amy Winehouse
Watermelon Sugar by Harry Styles
Find the complete Spotify playlist here.
Need some ideas? Give us a call on 03 9699 2292 for personalised suggestions!