Staff Summer Book Event

Please come along to the Library on Friday 24th June from 12.30pm onwards. As well as books galore there will be wine and nibbles.

If you have a book you would like to exchange please bring it with you.

There will also be a few books available to buy for a token amount.

It is an ideal opportunity to see all that the Library has to offer and maybe borrow a few books to read over the summer. You might be surprised by the selection of fiction books that the Library has.

So if good company, book talk and a glass of wine is your idea of heaven then please join us in the Library - 12.30 June 24th!

Case histories

One of my favourite books is 'Case histories' by Kate Atkinson, also known for her novel 'Behind the scenes at the museum'. Case histories has now been made into a BBC series and the first part starts on Sunday 5th June at 9pm starring Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie the lead character. It has been filmed in Edinburgh and I am looking forward to seeing if the TV series does the book justice. 'Case histories' is one of those books which has an absolutely absorbing first chaper and is unputdownable thereafter. It is basically a detective mystery novel but so much more. If you become hooked on this Jackson Brodie tale then you will be pleased to know that there are another three thereafter. The other three are: 'One good turn', 'When will there be good news', and 'Started early, took my dog' (great title that last one!)

For more information on Kate Atkinson's novels: http://www.kateatkinson.co.uk/

For details of the TV series: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011whc9/

Dark matter:a ghost story by Michelle Paver

I really enjoyed Michelle Paver's children's series - Chronicles of ancient darkness - and having seen her talking about Dark matter on a television book show I had high hopes of this her first book for adults.

The book is set in 1937 and is about a group of young men who go to the Arctic on a scientific expedition. The five young men are left with their eight huskies to survive the dark Arctic winter alone. A series of events mean that eventually Jack, the main charcter, is left on his own with the huskies unable to leave because the sea freezes and there is no way to leave even if he wants to. But is Jack really alone, or is there a ghost walking the ice and wanting revenge?

The book is well written and very descriptive but I thought the ghostly presence was just a bit too obvious and far from original. I had expected something more of a scientific phenomenon to be the cause of Jack's unease given the 'dark matter' of the title. Not as terrifying as all the reviews would have you believe and ghost notwithstanding Jack is never entirely alone. But worth a read if only for the interesting insight into preparing for an Arctic expedition in the late 1930s.

One of our Thursdays is missing by Jasper Fforde

Stopped reading all the books I had started as soon as this dropped through the door. I LOVE everything written by Jasper Fforde and especially his Thursday Next series. If you have not read any of these books it is best to start at the beginning with The Eyre affair. Thursday Next is a literary detective who has to investigate why characters are going missing from Jane Eyre by entering the world of books in an effort to retrieve them. Thursday's world is 1980s Swindon, the Crimean War is still raging, mammoths go on annual migrations and cloned dodos are popular pets!

If you love reading and books, you will love reading these books!! Full of literary references, silly names and bizarre happenings the books are easier to read than describe. Well worth trying and once you are hooked there is more at Jasper's very addictive website : http://www.jasperfforde.com/

Jasper Fforde is also appearing at Aye Write at the Michell Library in Glasgow on Friday 4th March: http://www.ayewrite.com/

The winter ghosts by Kate Mosse

This book is set in the Carcassone region of France in 1928. Freddie, the main character, travels there hoping that a change of scene will help ease the grief he has suffered from since the loss of his brother in the First World War. Travelling in the winter Freddie's car skids off the road and he seeks help from the people in the nearby village. But all is not as it seems...

I really enjoyed Kate Mosse's other books and was looking forward to this, much shorter book. I enjoyed the first part of the book but felt that what happened to Freddie after his crash was very predictable and not at all spooky. The ending in many ways was a bit too like parts of Labyrinth and the ghost part of the story was neither spooky nor unexpected. However the opening of the book telling of Freddie's grief and loneliness is very poignant and the descriptions of his journey through the French countryside make it worth a quick read.

Welcome

With just over a week to go to World Book Day welcome to my new blog for ICHS Staff. The blog will not only review books but also draw your attention to books in the news and any interesting websites that are book, literacy and education related.

If you would like me to include your views on any books you have read, fiction or non-fiction please contact me in the usual way.