Dear Students and Staff,

Well done all on a very busy start to Term 4! Wishing you all well over the exam period.

Remember, if you’d like a book suggestion or to suggest a book for us to get into the library I’d love to hear all your ideas.

The Readers' Cup Challenge 2022: Winners Announced

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year's Readers' Cup Challenge.

The Readers' Cup Challenge took place today (07 Oct) during lunchtime and it was lovely to have such great team participation.

Well done to everyone who participated, you all did so well and it was great to see you engaging with the short stories we focused on in this challenge and that you were all encouraging your team-mates.

A big congratulations to Team Pythag for winning the Readers' Cup 2022!

William Jackson

Ling Yu (Luna) Kan

Osel Loh

Yuyan Ma

I will mention that many of this team were on last year's winning team- you certainly maintained your title :)

To the other teams, well done! It was such a close race, you all did beautifully and I hope you all enjoyed the challenge.

Winners will have their names engraved on the Readers’ Cup Trophy.

Here are some resources both for your personal reading and studies:

Overdrive eBooks:

Our library subscribes to Overdrive, a service offering a great selection of both eBooks and eAudiobooks. Listening to eAudiobooks in particular is a great way to give your eyes a rest from the screen and have narrators tell a story.

Link to Overdrive

Goodreads:

A good challenge and a fun way to enjoy your personal reading is to start up a GoodReads account! You can start tracking what you’ve read and even challenge yourself with the Goodreads personal annual reading challenge. There is no pressure and it is a fun way to track your personal reading, seeing your online bookshelf is a great wat to see what kind of books you really enjoy and what you read most of. This can lead you to trying new genres and even suggested reads from GoodReads.

Link to GoodReads

The SLV and Public Libraries: Sign up today!

Signing up to the State Library Victoria (SLV) is a really helpful resource and beneficial for your research. Signing up is free, can be done online and you will have access to all their databases and journals online.

Sign up to State Library Victoria (SLV) to become a member: Sign Up

1. free to join

2. access academic journal articles

Video 'Get to know State Library Victoria's online resources'

Please remember that public libraries have fantastic online resources. If you are already a member of your public library it is worth looking into what they can offer online and if you aren’t already a member you can sign up easily online to be a member and have immediate access to their online resources. Their online resources often include: eBooks and eAudiobooks, online magazine publications, subscriptions to services such as Linda.com and video streaming services.

Issues in Society:

We have the online .pdf versions of Issues in Society a very current and Australian focused publication which tackles interesting issues facing society in a graphic and easy to follow format with up to date statistics, illustrations and graphs. We also have the current issues in print at the library!

Here is a direct link to our site and it can also be found on the portal.

These can be accessed digitally from the portal and Issues in Society site and as a print copy through the library.

New Books at the library:

We have some great new books at the library, come up to have a look!

New Scientist Essential Guides:

We now subscribe to the New Scientist Essential Guides as print resources and have received our first editions focusing on:

NO1 THE NATURE OF REALITY

NO2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

NO3 HUMAN HEALTH

NO4 OUR HUMAN STORY

NO5 QUANTUM PHYSICS

NO6 EVOLUTION

NO7 THE HUMAN BRAIN

NO8 CLIMATE CHANGE

NO9 NUTRITION AND DIET

NO10 EINSTEINS UNIVERSE

NO11 LIFE ON EARTH

NO12 CONSCIOUSNESS

NO13 THE SOLAR SYSTEM

NO14 HUMAN SOCIETY

Ted Talks

With the exams approaching and the term gearing up, I thought it would be a good time to share some great Ted Talks to help take your mind off a little when you need a bit of a break and to be kind to yourselves. I hope you enjoy:The benefits of not being a jerk to yourself The happy secret to better work The cure for burnout (hint: it isn't self-care)

October Book Review: Retrieved from The Guardian Review 2015 Sapentia

The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo

– review from the Guardian Review 2015 Sapentia

‘Amidst swindlers, tribe wars and endless sand, Santiago finds his one true love, learns alchemy and the language of his heart, and of course, fights to reach his treasure’

‘’When you really want something, the universe always conspires in your favour.

This is one of the key repeated phrases found in The Alchemist, and as overly inspirational poster–y as it may sound, there might be some truth to it. After all, I really wanted to read something beyond exceptional after trudging through too much un-original dystopian fiction – and the universe gave me The Alchemist!

Quips aside though, Coehlo’s short 163–page book is a singularly inspirational masterpiece. The plot line is that of a simple quest – a Spanish shepherd boy, Santiago, keeps getting the same dream that there is treasure lying underneath the Egyptian pyramids. After meeting an old king who offers him some advice and some magic stones, Santiago embarks on his journey to cross the Mediterranean and the Sahara to find his treasure and accomplish his Personal Legend (a concept equivalent to our purpose in life). Amidst swindlers, tribe wars and endless sand, Santiago finds his one true love, learns alchemy and the language of his heart, and of course, fights to reach his treasure.

But reading this book simply for the plot would be akin to viewing Starry Night as globs of paint – losing at least 70% of the beauty Coehlo truly presents. With a dreamy and pensive writing style, the author weaves into the storyline multiple sage concepts which a philosopher could ponder for years on. Insightful ideas about one’s own destiny, about rising above failure, about the unity of the universe, are all things Coehlo pens into the comparatively simplistic diction of the text. The descriptions are awe–inspiring and the word choice is immaculate, but really it’s the depth of soul behind Coehlo’s words that spin the magic of this novel.

For anyone who reads not only to escape reality but also to understand reality, The Alchemist can offer the best of both worlds. The events of the novel sit just on the borderline of miraculous and the ambience is simply just not that of our humdrum teenage world. However, The Alchemist also supplies insight and inspiration that extends beyond Santiago’s Sahara and into all lives, whether young, old, or teenage. The Alchemist may not be your regular YA fiction book, but it most definitely still deserves a place on your bookshelf!

All the very best for the rest of Term and for your studies!

Take Care All!

Ms. Veldsman

John Monash Science School

Issue 7 · 28 Oct 2022

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