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Issue One

Tea in the Music at Tea in the Library Himalayan Children’s supports the Smith Family – live jazz or classics Thursday Foundation “Learning for Life” evenings and Sunday afternoons benefits from Tea in the Library. through November and December. Literary lounge room brings soul to the city On the awning over The Gotham Mart on New York’s West 47th Street is a sign that says “Wise men fish here”. Plagiarism is not in the It was important to Annette to find a niche best traditions of not currently filled by other booksellers, , so you’ll and to create an ambiance and approach not find the same to the retail experience that is unique. She motto at Tea In The has certainly achieved that with her Library. But Sydney’s “literary lounge room” atmosphere newest Bookstore/Cafe embraces the reminiscent of a New York literary concept of those celebrated New York discussion club, a private club in Boston literary haunts where ideas are wealth and or Washington, or even an English talent is currency. country house library. Tea In The Library is not so much about Despite the fact that contemporary sales targets as it is about making a novelists have been mysteriously silent significant contribution to Sydney’s on the subject of gingered ricotta with intellectual landscape. It is the vision of honey and pinenuts, Tea In The Library Annette Freeman, BA/LLB (ANU), takes its food as seriously as its fiction. LLM (UTS), an intellectual property The discreet cafe kitchen offers creative lawyer whose original arts degree was fresh dishes, juices and excellent teas and taken with a major in English Literature. espresso coffees. Annette – who has retained a life-long But while the ambiance may be relaxing, passion for – sees Tea In The a key element of the bookstore will be the Library as essentially “a bookstore for informed personalised service of staff booklovers”. who are passionate about books and What Tea In The Library is not, is bookstores. Heading the team is Lorraine “another bookshop”. This one has trained Reed who has an impressive background staff and personalised service instead of as a bookseller and buyer, as well as discounts and remainders. It is about the impeccable credentials as an antiquarian cultural value of books and , not bookseller and valuer, in both Britain and the intellectual vacuum of anecdotes Australia. from the previous cricket tour written by Lorraine’s expertise in buying and selling fast bowlers. It is an influential destination practices is reflected in the high “tech- Join us for relaxation and discussion. Inset: Annette Freeman bookstore for the sales of books on awareness” of Tea In The Library – using cultural and social matters of concern, as advanced information technology to well as high-quality fiction. provide accurate and detailed data for As the template of a literary community, customers. A special services desk will Tea In The Library has taken on the key handle orders, deliveries, information and gift-wrapping. Philip Adams to Open Tea role of providing a lively forum for the dissecting, analysis and judgment of In her commitment to promote the literature and the issues literature most cultural value of books and reading, In The Library! importantly addresses. Expect, then, an Annette Freeman has undertaken to environment as stimulating as it is support the wide distribution of books to Elected one of provocative opinions to challenge Book of Australian Jokes, Talkback, contemplative. children both locally and in developing Australia’s 100 National thought and stimulate debate. For Retreat From Tolerance and A Billion countries by donations of books and Annette is confident of Tea In The Living Treasures, Phillip almost 50 years Phillip’s columns Voices. Library sharing a common fascination money to charitable enterprises such as Adams writes weekly have provoked discussion and outrage. Who better then to open the newest with, and enjoyment of, bookstores, by the Smith Family and the Himalayan columns for The His writing has appeared in many of and most interesting bookstore to encouraging lingering, browsing and Children’s Foundation. Australian newspaper Australia’s most influential publi- appear on the Australian relaxation. Back in the 19th Century, Tea In The Library Bookstore and Café and is in constant demand as a speaker, cations and he has been a contributor scene? We look forward to an evening Augustine Birrell wrote that a man will open seven days a week and most chairman and moderator at public and to The Times and The Financial Times of stimulating, provocative and surrounded by at least 2000 books would public holidays. Initially, business hours private sector conferences. In his in London and to the New York Times. amusing discussion at Tea In The have at least one place in the world in will be 7.30am–6pm Mon to Wed and speaking engagements, broadcasts and Library. We also anticipate that this will which to be happy. At Tea In The Library, Fri; 7.30am–9pm Thurs; 10am–5pm Sat; writing, Phillip tackles the urgent He is the author of over 20 books be the prelude to many regular literary ✹ he would have been in Heaven. and noon–4pm Sun. questions facing society in the 21st including The Unspeakable Adams, events to be held at our new city century using wit, humour and his Adams Versus God, The Penguin bookstore. ✹

WHAT’S INSIDE: STAFF PROFILES • BOOK REVIEWS • COMING EVENTS • BOOK CLUB NEWS November 2003 READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN: The Books of Alexander A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

r Nadisi’s novel is set against the background of the Islamic revolution in Iran and describes the attempt McCall Smith E ' S R E by ordinary Iranian people to retain some vestige of R V D I I intellectual endeavour in the face of that revolution with its A E Alexander McCall Smith has catapulted to fame with his five novels set in L W rigid doctrines. C

• Botswana: The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Tears of the Giraffe, Morality • Azar Nadisi is a lecturer at the University. She is at times C L W for Beautiful Girls, The Kalahari Typing School for Men, and The Full Cupboard not able to teach but she gathers a group of her best A E I I students and some interested bystanders to meet each R V E ' R E of Life. The sixth in the series is due out next year, and McCall Smith is under week at her home to discuss some of the icons of Western S contract to write two more. literature such as Vladimir Nabokov, F Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James and Jane Austen. She also becomes, in the eyes of her students, a beacon in the darkness. We get to know her students and their lives as A truly original book is a well as her own. N ' S R L Y E V rare occurrence, but E I C E original, delightful, Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this book is the way in which W O Western literature, even the cosiness of Jane Austen, enhances and J quirky and funny

• • is quite remarkable. reflects the lives and concerns of the Iranian students. This novel will have J you reaching for your Henry James and Jane Austen, seeing those novels O W To write convincingly E C I in the voice of a in a fresh light. E V L E Y N ' S R woman when you are a Nadisi’s tale comes across as totally authentic. Humour, love and the man is an achievement, human spirit strive to assert themselves under this difficult and myopic but to write convincingly as a regime. It is a novel which does not make a strong political statement but Botswanan woman when you are a quietly reflects the writer herself and the small victories she is able to win. Professor of Medical Law living in The regime’s greatest crime is to take away the imagination of the Scotland is even more of an achievement. The creator of these beautiful and Points of Sausage Dogs’and ‘At the Villa of populace and replace it with indoctrination. Never has the issue of art in Alexander McCall Smith’s five novels gentle books is a multi-talented man Reduced Circumstances’ all featuring the society been better explored than in the gentle persuasion of this novel. about Precious Ramotswe, the owner and who grew up in Zimbabwe and taught unnaturally tall and wonderfully eccentric The dark clouds of revolution gather and we are reminded of the chief detective of Botswana’s No 1 at Botswana University. He has written Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld. unexplained disappearances of individuals, women accused of moving Ladies’ Detective Agency, is the most prolifically in the fields of medical and Next year we can look forward to too seductively or being reprimanded for running, the crime of showing a pleasurable read I have had in some time. criminal law, writes novels, short more books by Alexander McCall stories and children’s books and, few strands of hair. These things are a backdrop to the artistic exploration As the owner and chief detective of amongst numerous other interests, is Smith in another series. within the novel. Like Dr Nadisi’s students, we experience a sense of loss Botswana’s No 1 Ladies’ Detective the founder and resident bassoonist of Jocelyn Munday – Book Reviewer when she finally leaves Iran. Agency, Mma Ramotswe’s cases the curiously named ensemble, The Profile. include an eclectic mix of errant I recommend this book to anyone who is a lover of literature and who Really Terrible Orchestra. husbands, beauty pageants and Trained as a librarian in Adelaide and enjoys a beautifully crafted and well written novel as well as anyone who witchdoctors. You can almost feel the In addition McCall Smith has written worked first as a reference and then a seeks insight into life in Iran. heat and smell the smells, so clearly a series of three, recently released school librarian. She has also been a Reviewed by Claire Fitzpatrick – Booklover, writer and (because she has does McCall Smith evoke the country, books which he calls ‘entertainments’. teacher. At the moment she claims to to!) sometime legal eagle. its people and its vibrant culture. ‘Portuguese Irregular Verbs’, ‘The Finer have retired and “dabbles” in writing.

T REVEALED! Ever thought of joining a book or setting up your own? That Old Ace In The The Australians HE Tea In The Library offers a wide range of book club services. Come and join us for a fire side discussion Hole – Annie Proulx Who Triumphed over a cup of coffee or glass of something nice… in the Air To read or not to read Annie Proulx, of The Shipping Tea In The Library will run its own book clubs with a B News fame, visited Sydney recently According to David Marshall who first dedicated staff member to cater to your every whim (some to promote her latest novel, called had the idea of creating a book about restrictions apply)! Meetings will be held at our store so you Australian aviators “Dreamers, Doers can sample our culinary delights and wide selection of tea and intriguingly That Old Ace In The

OOK & Daredevils is a Trojan Horse”. coffee whilst mulling over the latest Annie Proulx and JM Hole. The book is set in the pan- Coetzee. Though the book ended up covering handle area of Texas (the bit of the the lives and achievements of more Benefits include: state that sticks up) amongst the than 65 heroic men and women from • Great discounts on book club choices cattle ranchers, who are gradually many countries, like the Trojan Horse of Greek mythology the book has • Coffee (or tea) loyalty card being encroached upon by the • Information pack to get you started. hidden within its covers a small army corporate hog farms, in the case of of amazing Australians who are • Reading guides for each book the novel, one Global Pork Rind revealed as vital contributors to the • Club column in “TITLE” – our newsletter. C development of international travel (definitely the baddies). Our philosophy is to emphasise intelligent discussion on and aviation. stimulating topics – we welcome and encourage all Fans of The Shipping News might be a little disappointed with this book, LUB contributions, no matter how big or small! The groups will be which reads rather like the author's research notes (albeit very interesting) intimate and informal, hopefully fostering new friendships strung together with a thin plot. However, for evocation of a locale, and of whilst stimulating the mind. people, it is superb. The characters have names like Bob Dollar (the mild We offer a variety of clubs to suit everybody. A general club protagonist), Rope Butt, Jim Bob Bill Skin, and Tater Crouch, and they all for the latest releases and prize winners; specific genre clubs meet at the Old Dog Cafe. such as crime or classics; even a singles book club for those During her Sydney visit, Annie Proulx mentioned that she was not working on wanting a little romance to spice up their reading. a full length novel at the moment, but planned to concentrate on short stories. Going out on a limb Ace reads a bit like a of short stories, all set in the same place. It is, however, a quirky and fascinating place, and well worth visiting with Proulx. If you’d like to set up your own book club or already belong to one, we will be more than happy to help. We can supply a Annette Freeman comprehensive guide to setting up your own book club and offer great benefits for your club which will include: • Information pack for starting up • Discounts on books chosen The book is a collector’s item, lavishly • Coffee loyalty card illustrated in colour, with archival • Free notices in TITLE photographs, maps, references and timelines to appeal to the general • Experienced help and advice from dedicated staff members AT TEA IN THE LIBRARY Music reader as well as the aircraft buff. Contact our staff in store or email us at Learm more when David and his [email protected] for further details of our Live jazz or classics through writer collaborator Bruce Han visit individual service November and December. Tea in the Library. Thursdays 6 – 8.30pm Wild About Flying: Dreamers Doers Sundays 1.00 – 3pm & Devils is published by Random House and will be available at Tea In The Library. November 2003

EMMA DRINKWATER PAUL STEVENS life long love of books made it aul has worked in the book trade Aeasy for Emma to move from a Pin various capacities since 1975 and career script children’s most recently at the Adyar Bookshop in television to work as a bookseller. Sydney. Even deducting time Originally from the UK, she has for overseas travel and P R O F worked in various bookshops since full time studies, this F I F L A E moving to Sydney and brings still approximates a T S enthusiasm and experience in planning quarter of a century. S

• events and running book clubs to ‘Tea “It’s certainly not • S S T in the Library’. How better to spend an the money that E A L afternoon or evening than discussing a attracts”, says Paul, F I F F book over a coffee or glass of wine? “Booksellers are still P R O Taste Temptations from Tea In the Library Café Emma’s favourite authors include Kurt paid the wages of shop Vonnegut, Haruki Murakami and assistants. What keeps me and others in Lauren Child. She says she can’t resist the trade is that books are a commodity Tea in The Library Café has a philosophy of using quality ingredients with a strong emphasis on great storytelling and a quirky sense of like no other. Books are the fruit of the organic foods, fresh homemade produce and unusual ingredients with plenty of seasonal variation. humour. imagination and the intellect, they are a The flavours are a fusion of Northern European, Mediterranean and Asian with an emphasis mirror to our selves, they inform and on individual flavours in oils such as avocado, hazlenut and walnut and complimented by a range entertain. This is true whether they are of vinegars such as balsamic, raspberry and lavender. TODD GRIFFITHS written by Patrick White, Simon Schama or Dick Francis and Spike Milligan. Our menu will constantly evolve, offering taste sensations to tempt even the most jaded palate. odd remembers starting to learn One other thing that keeps me in the A selection from our opening menu: T words off boxes and book covers well before primary school and being industry is the people that books attract to sent to the ‘misbehaver’s’ corner for both sides of the counter. If the truth were yelling “I can read” after finishing his known, most booksellers would work for Breakfast in the Library first (albeit two sentence) book! With nothing!” Homemade Muesli with Seasonal Fruits encouragement from his father, his Yoghurt with Warm Berries early childhood authors of CS Lewis LORRAINE REED Selection of Warm Breakfast Pastries and AA Milne were quickly replaced by the likes of Tolkien, Asimov and EE ooks have always been Lorraine’s Thick Toast with a Selection of Homemade Jams Cummings, and for the rest of his Bpassion and have given her some Potted Eggs on Toast school days he nurtured a passion for of the happiest experiences of her life. French Toast coated with creamy Eggs and topped with crispy Bacon books. Realising that the only thing he Like most people who come to wanted to do was work with books, bookselling, she has a checkered Todd dropped out of a maths and history. Morning & Afternoon Tea in the Library computer based degree at a Western Australian University and began work She was born in South Wales and left Lime Muffins with Creme Fraiche and Smoked Salmon at a Perth bookshop. Advancing from while still in her teens to live in New Scones served with Fruit Conserve and Mascapone or King Island Cream customer service, to shop floor manager York...but that, she says, is another Mascapone & Berry Tartlets – Lemon Curd Tartlets he quickly developed skills as a story. Biscuits and Slices, including Panforte, Eccles Cakes, bookseller before becoming a sales Eventually Lorraine decided to settle in Greek Almond Crescents, Shortbreads and Mini Florentines representative for four book publishing New South Wales but it was while she companies. On moving to Sydney, Todd A daily selection of Dessert Cakes was spending an extended time in achieved record sales results with Gary Scotland that she discovered that she Cheese Platter Allen Pty Ltd. Annette Freeman had a talent for recognising “a good eventually wooed him away from a book”. She used this knowledge to rather secure career on the publishing become a full time bookseller, Lunch in the Library side of bookselling and he is now successfully dealing in old and rare applying almost a decade of experience A selection of daily Soups with crusty breads books. “The rare book trade is to what he considers the most exciting changing, since the birth of the Internet. Warm Empanada Wraps – with Chilli King Prawns new bookshop in Australia…Tea in the There are few true rare books anymore,” Rice Wraps – Chinese BBQ Duck with Shallots & Hoi Sin Sauce Library Lorraine says. “I needed a new Three Cheese Tart challenge and through the Oven Roasted Vegetable Frittata DI REGTOP thoughtfulness of a friend, I was Fresh Fettuccini with Balsamic Tomatoes & Smoked Salmon introduced to Annette Freeman. Annette has a romance with books, which A range of salads including Fresh Figs with Prosciutto & Parmesan, i met Annette Freeman through a mutual friend who knew of her echoes my own. I am excited at the Warm salad of Oven Roasted Vegetables, D zest for both food and books. prospect of running a bookshop where English Spinach, Prosciutto, Pinenuts with Lemon Wine Dressing the emphasis will be on attention to She says she has re-invented herself a detail and customer service. I also hope number of times throughout her life. to use my experience of rare and out of She has worked as an indexer and print books, by offering a valuation editor, but eventually finding freelance service for customers who may believe Tea In The Library Café will open from 7.30–6.00pm weekdays (Thursday night until 8.30pm). editing too financially precarious, Di they own a treasure.” Open for a leisurely breakfast on Saturday, 10am–5pm and Sunday from noon until 4pm. looked for a real job in the corporate “Being a bookseller is a privilege, that NEWSFLASH! LIQUOR LICENSE ON THE WAY! sector. After three interesting years where she discovered their values were allows me to act as a bridge between the not hers, she fled to the Blue Mountains person seeking knowledge and the to open a cafe in a National Trust location of that knowledge. And so with Historic House and garden. Bliss!...until the team of Tea In The Library finally she realised that she had walked into assembled, we are ready for lots of Our Chef/Café Manager Reviews the another hornet’s nest of local politics. work but most of all – FUN!!” Di eventually returned to Sydney to do In our next issue meet the great “front of Commercial Cooking-Asian at TAFE. house” café team. Latest Cookbook from Maggie Beer She catered for business and private functions but was still looking, looking...then she met Annette. Join Maggie Beer at home in the Barossa Valley as “Here was everything I had imagined while I was re-inventing myself...food, she feeds her family and friends books, an ethical philosophy, a fabulous team,” says Di. Together with Annette, Review by Di Regtop recipes such as authentic Christmas she has put together a menu, helped Pudding with Brandy butter, usually plan the kitchen, found suppliers, done She offers classic recipes using only found in old cook books long out a Restaurant Licensee course, exceptional ingredients and following a of print. discovered how to make perfect coffee seasonal theme. (and clean the machine). Di says she is The photos are rich in atmosphere, the The book presents baked and slow looking forward to working with a R F E V food looking so good you can almost fascinating team, immersing herself in F I cooked dishes, sauces, condiments, A E smell it. books, ideas, food and customers while T W desserts and more using the purest S produce. It is a hearty square format with hard helping to develop a thriving business.

• • covers that sit flat on the benchtop. “I can train anyone to stack the S If you have ever bought interesting T W dishwasher or be a perfect Barista...we A E ingredients such as preserved lemon, An extensive index makes it easy to find I will all be able to extract 30mls of F V verjuice, truffle oil but don’t know quite that special dish. F R E coffee in 30 secs – the industry how to use them, she will guide you. Maggie’s Table published by benchmark,” she says. Throughout this book I discovered Viking/Penguin November 2003 A personal comment from the EED GO NT OD A R founder of Tea In The Library R E A A U D G The philosophy behind Tea In The Library is based on three

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• strong values – a respect for books and their value in our

G community and the world; a commitment to service that is U D A A beyond all expectations; and strong community involvement R E A R through events, discussion groups and a forum for “having N D TEED GOO your say”. Giving back where we can is also fundamental. The value of books underpins any is a hallmark of a good independent good independent bookstore, and we bookstore, and our professional plan to share this by providing a well- booksellers can help you find that selected range of books, both new book you are looking for, arrange gift- releases and backlist, as well as wrapping, delivery – with personalised unusual and beautiful books whenever expertise. What ’s in store... we can find them. Our store will be a A WOMAN OF INDEPENDENCE Our original and lovely ambiance place for bibliophiles and booklovers. provides a great venue for bookclubs, Kirsty Sword Gusmao We can source out-of-print books and author events, book launches, provide a valuation service for your From her first visit to East Timor in 1990, Kirsty Sword fell in love with the discussion forums – and a little live treasured old books. Our store will country and its people and became determined to help them in their music. Our customers will have the support local charities calling for seemingly hopeless struggle for independence. Little did she know then opportunity to hear, see, question, and books and third-world projects where where her passion for the cause would lead her. participate – in a convenient city venue. schools and need help, and Over the next decade, Kirsty worked as an undercover activist in Jakarta, these will be showcased in the store. And of course our cafe — with lovely becoming an increasingly valuable operative within the East Timorese We believe in giving back. light meals, great coffee, more than 15 independence movement. In 1994 her work brought her into contact with specialty teas (and a liquor licence to Our service philosophy will be an the jailed leader of the resistance movement, the charismatic Xanana follow soon) — supports all of these antidote to the “phone queues” and Gusmao. Through their letters, smuggled in and out his prison, they fell in values and helps us deliver on our bad service that plague modern life, love. This unlikely but remarkable romance, no less passionate for their promises! and we will strive to exceed our being so forcibly separated, was further tested when Kirsty was compelled customers’ expectations. Great service Annette Freeman to flee Indonesia one step ahead of its feared intelligence service.

JOURNEY TO THE STONE COUNTRY E Alex Miller Check our store and website for coming events – Journey to the Stone Country moves from the great southern city of author visits, , debates, discussions, knitting Melbourne to the forbidding and beautiful isolation of the high ranges of VENTS club, literary trivia quiz nights, book launches. the Bowen Basin, the ancient heartland of the Jangga people in remote Special guests, current topics of interest, and of course North Queensland. the latest book releases. Make Tea In The Library your destination bookstore. Betrayed by her husband, Annabelle Beck retreats in confusion and pain to the supposed sanctuary of her old family home in tropical Townsville. • Live jazz or classical music every Thursday evening There she meets and begins to work with Bo Rennie, an ex-stockman and and Sunday afternoon from 20th November through Jangga. Annabelle is increasingly intrigued by Bo's modest assurances until the New Year: free entry. Join us and RELAX! that he holds the key to her future and she sets out with him on a path of recovery that leads her back to her childhood. • Wednesday 3rd December 2003 Wine tasting, wine chat and review of the latest wine THIS OVERHEATING WORLD & food books. $5 entry at the door includes

Not so much the state we're in as the mess we're getting into. The world C refreshments. 6 pm we were born into has gone. We shall never completely recapture its climate, its seasons, the way its plants grew and its animals lived. This is • Wednesday 10th December 2003

not a wild-eyed prediction, a man on the street with a placard. ALENDAR “Wild About Flying”: artist David Marshall and Respectable science knows it and says it. Nine of the world's ten warmest author Bruce Harris visit Tea In The Library. A great years since records were kept have occurred in the past fourteen years. event for flight buffs and aviation history enthusiasts. Every month, an English garden moves south, climatically, by a distance $5 entry at the door includes refreshments. 6 pm of one hundred yards. Who is responsible? We are our habits. Can we prevent it? Too late. Can we moderate it, slow it, reverse it?

THE NAMESAKE Jhumpa Lahiri The Namesake is the story of a boy brought up Indian in America, from 'the kind of writer who makes you want to grab the next person and say "Read this!"' Amy Tan. Gogol Ganguli is headed for paradise, a place of satisfaction and fulfilment. He doesn't really know it as he travels through his life toward this destination. He is only aware that he is not quite at ease with himself, and for a long time he thinks it's all because of his name… In The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri presents her reader with the entirely satisfying novel that those who loved the clarity, sympathy and grace of her prize-winning debut, the story collection Interpreter of Maladies, longed for and anticipated. It is a triumph of humane storytelling.

Reply to Tea in the Library Fax: 02 9261 1231 Contact Details Email: [email protected] TEA IN THE LIBRARY PTY LTD Snail Mail: PO Box Q547, QVB, NSW 1230 119 York Street, Sydney Please place me on your mailing list New South Wales 2000 I enclose a I have written for the next of TITLE (publication at editor’s discretion) (opposite the QVB Building) I am interested in joining a bookclub and or attending events – please send me details PO Box Q547, QVB New South Wales 1230 Name: Telephone 02 9261 1123 Email: Facsimile 02 9261 1231 Address: www.teainthelibrary.com.au Phone: