Category: Other

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Other

September Summary and Plans for October

September was a very slow reading month for me. I had several weekends away and I was so busy with various other projects that the month just flew by. I only managed to finish 9 books, which I think is a record low for me. I did manage to get a fair way through a few chunksters though, so hopefully my October tally will be larger.

Book of the Month

Books Reviewed in September:

Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro

Bad Karma – David Safier 

Young Hitler – Claus Hant 

Palace Walk – Naguib Mahfouz 

C – Tom McCarthy 

Choo Woo – Lloyd Jones 

Forgetting Zoë – Ray Robinson 

The Elephant’s Journey – José Saramago 

In a Strange Room – Damon Galgut 

Corrag – Susan Fletcher 

The Finkler Question – Howard Jacobson   (DNF)

Waiting for Columbus – Thomas Trofimuk   (DNF)

 

Plans for October

I failed to make much of an indent on my September plans and so most have the books have been transferred straight from that list to this one:

Tinkers – Paul Harding

Solo – Rana Dasgupta

Stonehenge: A Novel of 2000 BC – Bernard Cornwall

Paprika – Yasutaka Tsutsui

Wolf Totem – Jiang Rong

All My Friends are Superheroes – Andrew Kaufman

Stone in a Landslide – Muriel Barbal

I plan to join My Friend Amy’s Lonesome Dove readalong. I’ve had this chunkster on my shelf for far too long so it will be really nice to share the reading experience with lots of other bloggers. 

I’m also currently working my way through The Dark Side of Love which is 800+ pages long. It is fantastic so far, but its length means that it will dominate my October reading.

On top of these I will also be working my way through a few more of Richard and Judy’s book choices.

There is no way I’ll be able to complete all these books in October, but I’ll have fun trying. I better get back to the reading……

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Discussions Other

How Can We Save UK Libraries?

Photo by: Martinrp, Flickr
Photo by: Martinrp, Flickr

Libraries in the UK are in real danger. The number of library visitors is dropping all the time, down 50% in the last 20 years, 9% since 2005.

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In the past five years, library funding in the UK has actually gone up by 25% to £1 billion and with these hard economic times you’d expect people to be borrowing books from libraries instead of buying them, but that isn’t the case.

Why aren’t people in the UK borrowing books?

I have to admit that I didn’t visit a library for seven years. With a full-time job I found it increasingly hard to visit a library regularly. It was always shut in the evening by the time I finished work and I couldn’t guarantee I’d be able to get there on a Saturday morning. The city centre location, with expensive car parking and long queues of traffic put me off. Why would I put myself through that when I could just buy a second hand book from a car boot sale for 50p and not worry about being fined for not taking it back on time?

I eventually signed up to the library when my oldest son was 2-years-old. I wanted him to experience the love of libraries that I’d once had and, as a full-time mum, I had the time to get there. My children love their library, but as an adult I’m not that impressed. They often don’t have the books I want and although I can order some (at a cost of 50p) there are many books that never end up in my library system.

My local library is packed with people wanting free Internet access, but very few people seem to be borrowing the books.

School Libraries too good?

My oldest son started school a few weeks ago and now has access to a wonderful library in his school and computers with sodapdf to access pdf books online. I’m beginning to wonder if there is a need to go to the main public library now that he is bringing school library books home on a regular basis.

Things are different in America

In the US, despite cuts in library funding, visits to libraries are increasing, up 5% since 2006. I was astounded by the number of different initiatives available in some US libraries.

These include:

I’m going to look into the “books by mail” service a bit more and will report back with my findings soon.

The love for US libraries on Twitter was especially heart warming:

We go to storytime about 3-4 times a week at library. They also do lots of weekly crafts, put on a movie & special events. @mawbooks

Sometimes I take my kids to the library just for a family game night. We play board games there. So much fun. @pussreboots

I run a book club at my library, & there are always events like movies, writing groups, game nights, classes, etc. @pookasluagh

My boys have seen/petted more animals up close at the library at various events then they have anywhere else! @mawbooks

Compare the Usage Statistics

A Twitter conversation with @mawbooks led me to investigate her library in Utah. I have compared this with my local library system in Surrey, England.

I am aware that other libraries in both countries may have huge differences to these two, but as they served similar populations I thought it was an interesting comparison.

The difference in library usage can be seen by comparing the statistics:

Library Population Number of Borrowers

Estimated Number of Items that will be Checked Out in 2010
Surrey, UK 1.1 Million 355,000 6 Million
Salt Lake County, Utah, USA  783,000  680,000  15 Million
  • Just 32% of Surrey residents borrow books from the library, compared with a massive 87% of Utah residents.
  • That’s 5.5 items per year for each resident in Surrey, compared to 19 items in Utah.
  • Roughly 4x more items are being borrowed per person in Utah.

The staggering difference can also be seen when you look at the number of copies of new books available to borrow:

 Library Population Copies of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins Copies of Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Surrey, UK 1.1 Million 8 copies on order.   No Holds 12 copies on order.   No Holds.
Salt Lake County, Utah, USA 783,000 962 copies,   2718 Holds 47 copies,   340 Holds

Note: Statistics were correct on the day each book was released in its respective country.

The Future of UK Libraries?

1000 libraries in the UK are threatened with closure in the next year.

I still visit my library, but it is more from a sense of duty than a desire to check books out.

I have been impressed by the recent advances Surrey libraries have made in some areas, including a new free audio/ebook download service, but I’m worried that this isn’t going to be enough to save many libraries from closure.

Drastic changes need to be made if libraries are to compete with the increasingly cheap second-hand book market. I’m not sure what the solution is, but we need to start thinking about it before we lose our libraries forever.

What would encourage you to visit your library more often?

Are you surprised by the difference in library usage across the Atlantic?

Which US initiatives do you think would work well in the UK?

 

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Other Recommended books

Recommendations from a non-blogger #4

It has been a long time since I last featured recommendations from a non-blogger, but I do love seeing lists of people’s favourite books and so I am going to try and make this a more regular feature on my blog.

This month I’m featuring Jacqui who lives in a small town in Warwickshire called Southam. She has a fantastic list of favourite books, so I’ll hand you over to her so that she can explain why she loves them so much:

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I have read lots and lots of really great books over 50 years – reading is my favourite past time – but these days I tend towards ‘the lighter stuff’ as I haven’t the stamina anymore for ‘difficult’ literature. I’m not ‘old’ or ill, just busy with a demanding full time job and other interests. I love that Jackie asked me to do this, but my list is definitely not high brow! Choosing 10 favourite books was very hard but in the end I decided to go with those that I re-read on a (fairly) regular basis. I think this list is a bit predictable and I am sure many of you will have read most of these but here they are anyway:

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Fabulous writing, love the humour, brilliant characters – it makes me smile every time I read it and every time I get something more from it. I have read all Jane Austen’s novels and enjoyed all of them but only re-read this one.

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Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

I think this is on a lot of women’s lists as a favourite. I like the dark Gothic style, I like that the ‘plain’ woman gets the man and I love the whole mysterious plot. I am a big Daphne Du Maurier fan and I sometimes think she is underrated – most of her novels are enjoyable and interesting and she certainly didn’t follow a formula.

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The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

I am not generally a lover of science fiction but this story which I first read as a teenager grabbed form the start. I re-read it quite often and still enjoy the story and the descriptions. I think there are some powerful ‘word pictures’ in this novel and the part where London is described as a crumbling mausoleum a few years after the disaster is just so evocative – to me anyway. Despite not reading a lot of science fiction all of John Wyndham’s novels appeal to me – he is a great story teller.

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Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres

A more contemporary book this time – I love the way this is written, the different viewpoints  and voices and of course the love story that runs through it all. After reading this I read Louis De Bernieres first three books, The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts, Senor Vivo and The Coco Lord and The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman and heartily recommend these too.

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The Time Traveler’sWife by Audrey Niffenegger

What can I say about this book – just gorgeous, clever and I cried buckets the first time and the second time I read it! Hope it makes me cry when I read it again.

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The Seduction of Mrs.Pendlebury by Margaret Forster

Margaret Forster is a brilliant writer and I recommend all of her novels (especially the earlier ones) and her non-fiction. This particular story about an elderly lady who likes to keep herself to herself is so sad and so true to life that it takes my breath away with its wonderful observations on ‘the human condition’.

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Gentleman And Ladies by Susan Hill

A gentle story but also like the one above, in my opinion, a perfect observation of the vagaries of human nature.

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Restoration by Rose Tremain

This is a historical story. Like science fiction I don’t read a great deal of historical fiction although there are a few which nearly made it onto this list e.g. Katherine by Anya Seton. Rose Tremain’s novels are all good but this is the best for me. Very stylish writing.

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The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

Overall Isabel Allende is my favourite author (I think!). House of Spirits is a magical mixture of romance, family life, history, cruelty, hope, despair and triumph. Please read it.

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The Devil’s Feather by Minette Walters

So many books could have made this 10th spot including Katherine which I have sneaked in above and those ‘included’ below but if I am sticking to my policy of including books I re-read then I have to include Minette Walters. Crime is my favourite genre and, quite simply, I think she is the best of the best. These are probably not very ‘literary’ but are very well written. For me her books have unbeatable page ‘turnability’, great plots and appealing characters. This is my favourite closely followed by The Ice House and Fox Evil.

I am slightly surprised at the number of female authors here because I don’t consciously choose to read books by women and certainly read a lot of male authors. The first 3 books on the list were teenage reads that left a lasting impression and I have another favourite read from that era (I am a little reluctant to admit to re-reading this occasionally though!). As a teenager I loved school stories and would pick these up at second hand bookshops whenever I could. There is one that I still own and still love! It’s called The Fourth and Fenella and is by Mary Gervaise. The book has a wonderful plot and is the story of a feisty 14 year old who is sent to boarding school by her long suffering older sister and guardian. Once there she is extremely rebellious and her adventures involve Russian Bolsheviks, recovered fortunes and resurrected reputations and romance (for her sister) – wonderful stuff!

I love this list! The Time Traveler’s Wife is one of my favourite books and I loved The Day of the Triffids and Rebecca. I haven’t read any of the others, but almost all are on my TBR pile. The House of Spirits and Restoration are especially appealing.

A big thank you to Jacqui for sharing her favourites!

Do you love any of these books?

Which appeals to you most?

Categories
Book Prizes Other

The Guardian First Book Award 2010 Long List

Every year the Guardian award £10,000 to the best book written by a debut novelist. Past winners include Zadie Smith and Jonathan Safran Foer, so it is always interesting to see who will scoop the prize.

The 2010 long list has recently been announced. The five books in the running for best debut fiction are:

Mr Chartwell – Rebecca Hunt

Advances for literary debuts are quite rare, so the fact this book was bought at an auction as part of a two book deal for £100,000 makes it very intriguing to me. I’m not sure a book about Winston Churchill appeals, but the mysterious Mr Chartwell might well make up for that!

Boxer, Beetle – Ned Beauman

The literary genes are clearly strong in the Beauman family as this book is written by the son of Nicola Beauman, founder of Persephone Books. It is described as a dark, intelligent book and it’s packed with beetles. I’m really looking forward to reading it.


Things We Didn’t See Coming – Steven Amsterdam

Remember the millennium bug? Imagine if the world had collapsed with that clock change and you get the idea behind this book. Sounds like scary stuff!

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Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto – Maile Chapman

Set in a Finnish mental hospital this book is said to have parallels to The Bacchae, a Greek play. The comparison of civilisation versus savagery makes this sound like my sort of book.

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 Black Mamba Boy – Nadifa Mohamed

Based on the true story of the author’s father’s escape from Somalia in the 1930s, this book gives a fascinating insight into a period of history that isn’t very well known in the Western world. It was long listed for 2010 Orange Prize.

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I wasn’t a fan of Black Mamba Boy, but have heard wonderful things about Boxer, Beetle. The rest of the list are all new to me.

Having researched the books they all appeal to me, but I’m going to resist working my way through another long list. I’m hoping that others will let me know which ones I’m most likely to enjoy.

Have you read any of these books?

Which appeals to you most?

The short list will be announced at the end of October and the winner will be revealed at the beginning of December.

Categories
Blogging Other

My Favourite New Book Blogs

Book Blogger Appreciation Week starts today!

The idea is to celebrate all the wonderful book blogs that are out there through a series of posts.

Today book bloggers are highlighting their favourite new blogs – so if you are interested in seeing which blogs others highlighted, take a look at Mr. Linky on the BBAW site.

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The Reading Ape

When I first discovered this blog I was convinced it was attached to a newspaper or some other professional publication. I was so impressed by the well researched articles and the intelligent reviews that I remained a lurker for a while, convinced that it would already be receiving hundreds of comments. I was therefore shocked to discover that this blog was brand new, run by a lone blogger and had a relatively small following. A blog of this quality deserves a far greater audience and so I urge you to take a look. I’m sure you’ll love it!

The Pink Sheep Cafe

There are so many blogs out there that I often confuse them, so it is quite unusual for me to discover a blog and instantly remember it. The Pink Sheep Cafe is an example of a very well branded blog. I love those pink sheep, but more importantly I love the humor in the thoughtful reviews. Robbie currently lives in Croatia and claims to like isolation, but I’d prefer it if his blog wasn’t so isolated. Go and take a look!

Park Benches & Bookends

Park Benches & Bookends is run by husband and wife, Jess and Chris. Both have a different taste in books and so the blog is a rich mixture of genres. They also include fantastic summaries of their visits to literary places of interest. I’m sure you’ll love it.

Lovely Treez Reads

Teresa has a very similar taste in books to me and always seems to be reading the books that I want to read; so if you like my blog you’re probably better off reading hers as she’ll get to the books months before I will!

Leeswammes’s Blog 

Judith’s blog has only been running for six months, but she has already made a name for herself by starting the wonderful Book Bloggers Abroad feature. She uses this to show how different blogging/book buying is in countries around the world by highlighting a different blogger each week. She lives in the Netherlands and reads a wide variety of fiction. I hope that you’ll decide to add her to your blog roll.

I could go on recommending blogs for a long time, but I wanted to limit it to five. There are lots of blogs that I love, but I felt that these most deserved a wider audience.

Happy BBAW!!!

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Other

Links I Like

My Summer was so busy that I didn’t have time to browse the Internet and so it has been a while since I last had enough links to produce a round-up of my favourites. This means that a few of the links below aren’t as hot-off-the press as usual, but hopefully you’ll still find them interesting.

Books in the news

Desperate science fiction author offers cash for readers

Forget Ads In Books, Lit-Lovers Face An Even More Hideous Prospect

Quaint Brits Cling to Paper

Do you know the difference between mass-market and trade paperbacks?

Just for Fun

If you have a bit of spare time then I highly recommend browsing Today I Found Out. It contains the sort of bizarre facts and explanations that I love.

Amazing art made from pencils thanks to Dolce Bellezza

I loved this Steig Larsson parody.

Did you know that sheep influenced the size of our books?

In the past I have voiced an objection to cat videos on book blogs, but I’ve mellowed a bit now 🙂

An older article explaining how our language has developed. It explains why most of the people in the world could care less.

Is it sweet to tweet or it Twitter twaddle?

A cheap way to take fantastic photos of books

A radical solution to a house overflowing with books thanks to Pink Sheep Cafe

Happy browsing!