Ben’s Book Club featuring ‘The Things That Matter Most’

Join Ben Hobson in conversation with author Gabbie Stroud to discuss her debut novel The Things That Matter Most. This event will be hosted on Zoom, and the link will be sent to all attendees on the day of the event.

Gabbie Stroud is a freelance writer and novelist and recovering teacher. After years of juggling the demands of the primary classroom, she made the painful decision to leave the profession she had loved. In 2016, her critical commentary of Australia's education system was published in Griffith Review's Edition 51 'Fixing the System', which went on to be shortlisted for a Walkley Award. Gabbie's smash-hit memoir Teacher was shortlisted for Biography Book of the Year at the 2018 ABIA Awards. Gabbie lives on Yuin Nation on the far south coast of New South Wales with her totally awesome daughters, Olivia and Sophie.

During this digital book club, guests will have the opportunity to ask questions, interact with the authors, and enjoy a well-rounded bookish discussion.

Ben’s Book Club is a free monthly digital book club hosted by author Ben Hobson – brought to you by OverDrive Australia. We welcome guests to join us the fourth Tuesday of each month to engage and interact with authors from all genres. The Zoom link will be emailed to all attendees on the day of the event.

This month’s featured title, The Things That Matter Most, should be available to borrow from your local library with no waitlists or holds! If not, you can request your library buys this title. Download Libby and find your local library to start reading: meet.libbyapp.com

About the title

The staff of St Margaret's Primary School are hanging by a thread. There's serious litigation pending, the school is due for registration, and a powerful parent named Janet Bellevue has a lot to say about everything. As teachers, they're trying to remain professional; as people, they're unravelling fast.

There's Tyson, first year out of uni and nervous as hell, Derek the Assistant Principal who's dropped the ball on administration, Bev from the office who's confronting a serious diagnosis, and Sally-Ann who's desperate for a child of her own.

Thank goodness for kids like Lionel Merrick. Lionel is the student who steals your heart and makes the whole teaching gig worthwhile: he's cheerful, likeable, helpful – and devoted to his little sister Lacey. But Lionel has a secret of his own. As his future slides from vulnerable to dangerous, will someone from St Margaret's realise before it's too late?

As secrets threaten to be exposed and working demands increase, each staff member struggles to recall the things that matter most.

Ben's Book Club is brought to you by OverDrive Australia and your local library. Libby is compatible on all devices with iOS 10+ and Android 5.0+ and KOBO. If you have a Windows computer, Mac computer, or a Chromebook, you can use Libby in your web browser at libbyapp.com. We suggest using the latest version of Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge.