The books we have read so far......

I'm in a Book Club with some of my friends.  We all like reading and books and although quite conscientious in general our book club is not very serious or worthy as you fear some book clubs are.  We meet when we can usually every 6 weeks or so and chat and eat cake and drink tea and sometimes talk about the books a lot and other times skim over them as the rest of life intervenes.  We all enjoy being part of a book club and the last 4 years since we began has flown by.

Here is the list of the books we have read so far in reverse order.

The Darling Buds of May - H E Bates

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

Room - Emma Donoghue,
Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
Operation Mincemeat - Ben Macintyre

Guernica - Dave Boling
 The Last of the Mohicans - James Fenimore Cooper
The Diary of a Nobody - George & Weedon Grossmith
Going Gently - David Nobbs
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society - Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
The Daughter of Time - Josephine Tey
The Bean Tree - Barbara Kingsolver
Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton
White Tiger - Aravind Adiga
Girls of Riyadh - Rajaa Alsamea
The Pirate's Daughter - Margaret Cezair-Thompson
Desert Ascent - Simon park
New Europe - Michael Palin
Family Life - Elizabeth Luard
The Elegance of the Hedgehog  –  Marie Barbey
Dreams from my Father – Barack Obamah
St Agnes Stand – Thomas Eidson
Lady Chatterley – DH Lawrence
The Almost Moon – Alice Sebbold
Cider with Rosie – Laurie Lee
Bel Canto – Ann Patchett
Gentleman Players – Joanne Harris
Under Milk Wood – Dylan Thomas
When will there be good news? – Kate Atkinson
Rabbit Run – John Updike
Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
Cloning of Joanna May – Fay Weldon
19 Minutes – Jodi Piccoult
Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
Notes from an Exhibition – Patrick Gale
Blood River – Tim Butcher
Join Me – Danny Wallace
Master  & Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov
Mitford Girls – Mary Lovell
Jekyll & Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson 
Jane and Prudence – Barbara Pym
What Ho Jeeves – PG Wodehouse

Bitter Sweets – Roopa Farooki

Suite Française – Irène Nemirovsky

The Two of Us – John Thaw – Sheila Hancock

Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood

Knots and Crosses – Ian Rankin

Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham

Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Handful Of Dust – Evelyn Waugh

Matricide at St Martha’s – Ruth Dudley Edwards

History of Love - Nicole Krauss

Promise of Happiness – Justin Cartwright

Tales of the City – Armistead Maupin

School getting rid of librarian (& library?)

I read in the Journal today that Durham Johnston School, which is a very good school, is getting rid of it's librarian and presumably it's library.

http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/03/15/durham-johnston-school-library-axed-61634-28335252/

My library tour for #savelibraries

Saturday 5th of February was National Save Libraries Day. There were various events across the country to protest against the planned closures of libraries as part of the government spending cuts.
As there weren't any particular events in this area, the closest being Great Ayton or in N Yorkshire, I decided to do a quick tour of libraries nearby and take books out from each.
First I went to my local library in Sedgefield - it was fairly busy as usual with a few people coming and going getting books and the computers all taken. There are a lot of people who use it on a regular weekly basis. The librarians / assistants are quite friendly, most have been there a long time but they're also quite strict and tell people off. Eg there was a boy who wanted a cut out cardboard sheet to make a dalek from the box on the counter - but oh no, those are for half term & not before. Also I've tried to get fines waived before for son being away at Uni but to no avail. But they are efficient & popular with most users.
Next I went to Bowburn - nice and cheery library - friendly staff. Not very busy but some children and parents were in and it had lots of good books and good atmosphere.
Next to Ferryhill library - it's on the main street and well stocked. The staff looked at me a bit suspiciously but I didn't want to say I was doing a mini tour of libraries for save libraries day in case they thought I was weird. I didn't see any information or details in any of the libraries about the #savelibraries. Got two books out. It's very useful to be able to use the same card across all Durham county libraries. Usually I go to Sedgefield or Clayport library in Durham which is really great.
My last stop was Chilton library - looks grotty from outside but nice inside. Again, lots of good books, only two computers, friendly & efficient staff, got two books out.
I enjoyed my tour and was glad that I did something to support the cause. It would be incredibly sad if you couldn't just walk into a library and enjoy all those wonderful books. Without reading, life wouldn't be worth living.




















Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Voices for the Library Links

Voices for the Library Links
http://paper.li/UKpling/1291059251

Save Doncaster Libraries

Link to Save Doncaster Libraries

Link to Save Doncaster Libraries

Redcar & Cleveland College Library

We visited Redcar & Cleveland College for a HEBP Librarians Group meeting. After the meeting we had a tour of the libraries - there are two, the main library which is quite similar to ours at Middlesbrough College although on a much smaller scale. The other is a new HE library which is very nice, quiet and very focused on the needs of the HE students.

Middlesbrough College Learning Resources Centre

Middlesbrough College Learning Resources Centre.










Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone