Okay, a little confession time for me right about now. The Non-fiction books that they picked is Evolution of God by Robert Wright. The Fiction book is the Tin Drum by Gunter Grass. There is a different section that is talking about the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lews because many people just don't want to talk about the differences of God and such.

My confession is the new book out for our next discusion for the Non-fiction book. The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking! Looks very interesting.

Is part of your confession that you will join us in reading and discussing The Grand Design!?

You bet your chips I'm gonna discuss this book. I just got it here at the library, and I'm rearing to read it. You?

I've been reading it. I got a Kindle from my brother for my birthday and "The Grand Design" was my first purchase.

One statement that he makes in the beginning is going to cause quite a stir with some of our members. He says, "Philosophy is dead." LOL I'll let you read his explanation...but I have to agree with him.

I recently read the new book [Always Jack] by Susanne Gervay. It has been given the stamp of approval from one of Australia’s most influential bodies – the Cancer Council. It’s a rare endorsement from the organisation, commending the novel for its exploration of cancer and its impact on families. Worth a read!

I'll be joining on the Grand Design. Just need to get my hands on it.

[ALWAYS JACK] by Susanne Gervay

Despite tackling some serious issues (war and serious illness), this is a sweet and rather endearing book, the third in Susanne Gervay’s ‘Jack’ series. Her 12-year-old protagonist seems pretty well adjusted—everything in his life is going along swimmingly. His family has just moved into a new house, with plenty of room for his soon-to-be stepdad, mum, nanna, sister and pet rat. There are only a few niggling concerns: Jack is not too pleased about having to be a penguin (in bow tie and suit) for his mum’s impending wedding, and is unsure about the position Leo, his future stepbrother, has in the extended family dynamic. Then comes the news about his mum’s breast cancer and Jack’s happy world implodes. The novel charts how a community of well-wishers rallies around to help support a suddenly shell-shocked family. With a light touch, Gervay portrays blended and multigenerational families co-existing with little friction. Jack’s best friends, Anna and Christopher, are from Italian and Vietnamese ancestry, respectively, so the novel also manages to explore different cultures, albeit in a neceassarily simplified manner to cater for a young teenage readership. Reassuringly for a YA market, there is a happy ending. But perhaps just a bit too cosy and rosy.

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine (September 2010, Vol 90, No. 2) is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2010, Thorpe-Bowker.

I am reading the new book of an Australian Author Susanne Gervay! ''Always Jack'' is amazing. In the book, Gervay tackles the effect of cancer on a family, and does so with her trademark warmth, insight and sensitivity. Worth a read!