Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Crying over books
Have you ever found yourself nearly crying because you have finished a book (or the last of a series of books)? Do you find yourself remembering scenes and characters that have captured your heart and become quite real in your imagination? Have you found yourself reading something where you dread getting to the last few pages of the book, because you just don’t want the story to end? You may even feel unable to move on to read another book as you need to take some time to let go of your last read.
When a book is well written, it is as if the author has the power to weave a spell over you, enticing you further and further into a book, causing you to become emotionally invested with the story and characters. Before you know it, the story ends, and you find yourself remembering scenes, characters and quotes from the book, feeling sad and bereft that you can no longer pick up this book and read more. I guess this is one reason why series of books and fan fiction are so popular.
Have you ever found yourself fighting back tears, maybe even crying, as you mourn the death of a fictional character? Do you find yourself imaging alternative scenarios where the character survives? Although causing the demise of particular characters is certainly an effective (and often convenient) ploy used by authors to draw the reader in, it can be absolutely heart wrenching and so sad!
How easy for people to say it’s just a book, or it’s just a fictional character, they’re not real! They just don’t understand. Often these characters have become like friends, whom you can relate to, think and care about; albeit that they are friends that solely inhabit the pages of a book.
It is a compliment to the authors that they have the ability to evoke such emotion with stories and characters created from their imagination, even if they do make us cry. It is a comfort that at least we are able to re-read these stories, time and again, and for me, this is one of the reasons I love reading.
So next time you decide it’s time to re-visit these books, make sure you don’t forget your tissues!
Monique
Feel-good Fiction
Continue the celebration of the National Year of Reading's April theme of "Feel" this month by reading some feel-good books! If you are feeling down, don't feel like reading anything dark or depressing, and/or just feel like reading something uplifting, upbeat or positive, try one these books. With some old titles and some new titles to read, these books are not all light and fluffy, but they are all books that will make you feel that the world's not such a bad place!
A room with a view by E. M Forster
The art of racing in the rain by Garth Stein
A town like Alice by Nevil Shute
Cold comfort farm by Stella GibbonsThe Guernsey Literacy and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Shaffer
The Limpopo Academy of private detection by Alexander McCall Smith.
I've got your number by Sophie Kinsella
Pride and prejudice by Jane Austen
To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee
And if you feel like some feel-good non -fiction, try:
At home: A short history of private life by Bill Bryson, or
Bossypants by Tina Fey.
Tell us about your favourite feel-good fiction and non-fiction reads!
Photo credit:Flicker user Jinx! "Day1-Relaxing"
Do you think you've got no time to read? Think again!
So you think you don’t have time to read? Think again!
Here's a short list of tips to get you thinking about how you can get reading:
• Just do it.
Pick up a newspaper or a magazine. Read a twitter post or a recipe. Keep reading this blog (it's short). Whatever you read, for however long you read it, whether it's a couple of minutes or a couple of hours, it all counts as reading.
• Swap something else for reading.
Read instead of watching TV, or swap surfing the net for reading an e-book. (You can download them free from the library via Overdrive).
• Read one page a time.
You don’t have to read a lot, just a little bit at a time. Try reading an article, or even one or two pages of a book. Those couple of pages may be all it takes to get you hooked on a book.
• Keep it short.
Read a short story, or a short book. Try one of the less-than-200 page Quick Reads, a collection of novellas by well-known authors available from the library.
• Just ten minutes a day.
Aim to read for ten minutes a day. Early in the morning, at morning tea, afternoon tea or lunch time, in the bath or before bed.
• Seize the moment.
Take a book, or an e-reader (loaded up with those books you’ve been wanting to read) with you everywhere, to give yourself more opportunities to read.
• Listen.
Download an audio book onto your ipod and listen while you exercise, cook or garden. Try listening to a CD audio book as you drive.
• Learn to speed read.
Read more in less time!
• Read about what you love.
Reading the genres and topics that interest you, means you’re more likely to keep reading it –and to finish it.
• Read to someone.
Take the time to read a bedtime story to a child. A great way to spend some quality time together and create a reading habit; a gift that can last a lifetime.
Would you like to be read to? Come along to Adult Storytime at Sutherland Library (bring your lunch), the first Wednesday of each month from 1.00pm. Listen as library staff read short stories to you during your lunch break.
photocredit: Flickr user Moriza "On the platform reading"
Adult Summer Reading Club Weekly Draw 2
We have another winner! In the second weekly draw of the Adult Summer Reading Club, we would like to congratulate Lorraine from Sutherland on winning the weekly prize of a gift bag of reading. Lorraine read "The second last woman in England", by Maggie Joel, a book she had originally read for the first time in her book group. Lorraine borrowed the book again after the book group discussion, to re-read it and try and capture some more insights into this very detailed story. She tells us in her brief review of the book:
"Good characterisations, so much detail of the setting and era. Suspenseful, captivating in its class structure and the dialogue of 1952". (rated five stars).
Everyone is welcome to join the Summer Reading Club. Its easy, kids can register at any branch of the library and teens and adults can simply borrow books from any Sutherland Shire Library over the summer break, read it, and when you return it, fill in an entry form for a chance to win. Get the whole family into reading this summer, because the more you read, the more chances you have to win!
Amazing Mondays; Amazing Reads!
It's Amazing Monday! Here is a list of amazing reads created by Sutherland Library Service Outreach Team Leader, Jacinta Craine. Don't forget to fill in your Summer Reading Club entry form for each book you have borrowed and read from the library, for your chance to win some great prizes.
1. Weaveworld by Clive Barker. If you are after a truly amazing read then this is the novel for you. It revolves around the world of the Fugue, a magical world which lies woven within a rug. It is a mix of fantasy, horror, erotica, mythology and spirituality. One is thrown from the imaginary world to the real and back until the two are impossible to unweave.
2. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett Set in 12th century England it is a grand scale story of the building a of Cathedral. Based around three men and their family’s fortunes. It details the minutiae of daily life and the influence of the church over the general population. One gets caught up in the magnificence of the building and the methods employed to do it, which are truly amazing.
3. Mordants Need by Stephen Donaldson It tells the story of a woman named Terisa who travels from our modern world to a medieval setting where political and military struggles are entwined with the power of Imagery, a form of magic based on mirrors. The books deal with themes of reality, power, inaction and love in the context of a fantasy adventure.
4. The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood The image from this book which stays with me is the birthing of a child by the ‘handmaid’. I t typifies the extraordinary lengths to which the society has gone to try and normalise a very abnormal situation. It awakened me to the way those in power will rationalise what they do to others in order to save themselves.
5. Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card This is an alternative history/fantasy story set in the US where everyone has an ‘knack’, everyone is good at something, even if they don’t know it. Seventh sons have strong knacks, but Alvin is the seventh son of a seventh son and this means he is a Maker. There has only ever been one other and it’s a long time since He walked on water. This is the beginning of a great series, for those who like their stories to (almost) never end.
6. The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield The Celestine Prophecy is not a literary masterpiece by any measure, but it does offer a number of interesting (and sometimes common-sense) insights into how people think. A bestseller in the seventies it is an entertaining, easy read peppered with observations that caused me to pause and think about my actions toward others, and myself. As Redfield states, it's meant to be more of a parable, a thought-jogger for readers of all ilks to take in and use in their own lives.
7. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller This story is about an American pilot in WWII and his attempts to finish his service and get back home. It is not an easy read, but has some very funny moments and it gave me an insight into the arbitrariness of military life. It also very clearly explained the phrase, ‘it’s a Catch-22 “ used when an impossible situation reared it’s head, where no matter what you do, the outcome can’t be changed.
8. The Dark Tower (series of 7) by Stephen KingFans of Stephen King would know him as a horror writer and so may be caught by surprise with this one. It fits more into the fantasy genre than any of his others, but to fully appreciate it one should really have read most of his other works. It weaves a tale full of suspense which incorporates elements form his other stories and even features himself. This tale is his only series, which he wrote sporadically and so it was many long years before it came to a conclusion. But the ending was well worth the wait. It tells of the need to do the right thing at the right time.
9. The Lord of the Rings by JRR TolkeinI nearly wasn’t going to put this one in, as I thought everyone knows it from the movies, if they haven’t already read the book. Then I started to think about it and realised some of my favourite bits were left out of the movies as they were not central to the story. It is often the small inconsequential parts of a story that did not ‘need’ to be told that make the tale a truly amazing read. Therefore, if you enjoyed the movies and have not read the books, you really should take the time to do so.
10. The Circle and the Cross by Caiseal Mor I have read many fantasy stories loosely based on Celtic mythologies and practices. This is the best!! The author has extensively researched his base material, written histories and oral traditions to produce a story which feels like it accurately describes the peaceful coming of Christianity to Ireland and then the violent beginnings of ‘The Church’, leading to the demise of the druid culture. Much of what is described fits in with
11.The Life And Death Of A Druid Prince : The Story Of An Archaeological Sensation Anne Ross And Don Robins which is my bonus amazing read. What the forensic scientists were able to piece together about the person who’s body had been preserved in the bog and marry with the knowledge of the historians, was truly amazing!
1. Weaveworld by Clive Barker. If you are after a truly amazing read then this is the novel for you. It revolves around the world of the Fugue, a magical world which lies woven within a rug. It is a mix of fantasy, horror, erotica, mythology and spirituality. One is thrown from the imaginary world to the real and back until the two are impossible to unweave.
2. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett Set in 12th century England it is a grand scale story of the building a of Cathedral. Based around three men and their family’s fortunes. It details the minutiae of daily life and the influence of the church over the general population. One gets caught up in the magnificence of the building and the methods employed to do it, which are truly amazing.
3. Mordants Need by Stephen Donaldson It tells the story of a woman named Terisa who travels from our modern world to a medieval setting where political and military struggles are entwined with the power of Imagery, a form of magic based on mirrors. The books deal with themes of reality, power, inaction and love in the context of a fantasy adventure.
4. The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood The image from this book which stays with me is the birthing of a child by the ‘handmaid’. I t typifies the extraordinary lengths to which the society has gone to try and normalise a very abnormal situation. It awakened me to the way those in power will rationalise what they do to others in order to save themselves.
5. Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card This is an alternative history/fantasy story set in the US where everyone has an ‘knack’, everyone is good at something, even if they don’t know it. Seventh sons have strong knacks, but Alvin is the seventh son of a seventh son and this means he is a Maker. There has only ever been one other and it’s a long time since He walked on water. This is the beginning of a great series, for those who like their stories to (almost) never end.
6. The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield The Celestine Prophecy is not a literary masterpiece by any measure, but it does offer a number of interesting (and sometimes common-sense) insights into how people think. A bestseller in the seventies it is an entertaining, easy read peppered with observations that caused me to pause and think about my actions toward others, and myself. As Redfield states, it's meant to be more of a parable, a thought-jogger for readers of all ilks to take in and use in their own lives.
7. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller This story is about an American pilot in WWII and his attempts to finish his service and get back home. It is not an easy read, but has some very funny moments and it gave me an insight into the arbitrariness of military life. It also very clearly explained the phrase, ‘it’s a Catch-22 “ used when an impossible situation reared it’s head, where no matter what you do, the outcome can’t be changed.
8. The Dark Tower (series of 7) by Stephen KingFans of Stephen King would know him as a horror writer and so may be caught by surprise with this one. It fits more into the fantasy genre than any of his others, but to fully appreciate it one should really have read most of his other works. It weaves a tale full of suspense which incorporates elements form his other stories and even features himself. This tale is his only series, which he wrote sporadically and so it was many long years before it came to a conclusion. But the ending was well worth the wait. It tells of the need to do the right thing at the right time.
9. The Lord of the Rings by JRR TolkeinI nearly wasn’t going to put this one in, as I thought everyone knows it from the movies, if they haven’t already read the book. Then I started to think about it and realised some of my favourite bits were left out of the movies as they were not central to the story. It is often the small inconsequential parts of a story that did not ‘need’ to be told that make the tale a truly amazing read. Therefore, if you enjoyed the movies and have not read the books, you really should take the time to do so.
10. The Circle and the Cross by Caiseal Mor I have read many fantasy stories loosely based on Celtic mythologies and practices. This is the best!! The author has extensively researched his base material, written histories and oral traditions to produce a story which feels like it accurately describes the peaceful coming of Christianity to Ireland and then the violent beginnings of ‘The Church’, leading to the demise of the druid culture. Much of what is described fits in with
11.The Life And Death Of A Druid Prince : The Story Of An Archaeological Sensation Anne Ross And Don Robins which is my bonus amazing read. What the forensic scientists were able to piece together about the person who’s body had been preserved in the bog and marry with the knowledge of the historians, was truly amazing!
It's that time of year again!
It's that time of year again, I hope you remembered to move your clock one hour forward for daylight saving! Whether you love it or hate it, getting up an hour earlier in the morning offers the advantage of an extra hour of daylight in the evening. A great way to spend this extra 60 minutes of daylight is to read. Make this your reading hour of the day. You can even multitask, by listening to an audio book you have downloaded from Overdrive while you partake of an evening stroll, as you spend time weeding the garden, or even while you hang out the washing. You can take your reading to the park, the beach, or sit on the verandah and just read. Here are twelve timely books to get you started with your reading hour.Only time will tell by Jeffery Archer
No time for goodbye by Linwood Barclay
The thief of time by John Boyne
The time waster diaries: A year in the life of by Robin Cooper
The time trap by Peter Corris
Timeline by Michael Crichton
The curious incident of the dog in the night time by Mark Haddon
The time travellers wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Timecatcher Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick
Time bomb by Gerald Seymour
The time machine by H.G.Wells
About time a series of four books about time by Brian Williams
Or, if you would like to read more about the what, why and where of daylight saving, try these two books.
Spring forward: The annual madness of daylight saving by Michael Downing
Saving the daylight: Why we put the clocks forward by David Prerau
Photo credit: On a pink, green, and white cloud, two young women reading a book at Greenlake, with a daisy chain in a field of flowers, Seattle, Washington, USA by Wonderlane, from Flickr
Banned Books Week, 2011
Its Banned Books Week, 2011, from 24th September until 4th October, 2011. Celebrating its 30th year, this is an annual awareness campaign sponsored by the American Library Association (A.L.A). It is celebrating a love of reading, opposing censorship and promoting freedom of speech in the United States of America.Books are challenged and banned for all sorts of reasons including to protect children, due to religious, racial or political content or because of what are deemed to be (by some), to be inappropriate themes. But doesn't the fact that a book has been challenged or banned just make it all the more desirable to read? Don't you want to read it simply to find out what all the fuss is about?
One misdemeanour I’m sure many of you have committed is reading the Harry Potter series! This series has caused controversy and mayhem in the U.S. due to its wizardry and magical content. (Some books in the series have even been bestowed with the dubious honour of becoming burned books in some states).
So, if you are feeling a bit rebellious, (or even just curious), and would like to read a banned or challenged book, a good place to start is by reading from this list of the top ten frequently challenged books of the past year, created by A.L.A. You can request copies of these books from the library.
1. "And Tango Makes Three" by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
Reasons: Homosexuality, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
2. "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Offensive language, Racism, Sex Education, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group, Violence
3. "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
Reasons: Insensitivity, Offensive Language, Racism, Sexually Explicit
4. "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins
Reasons: Drugs, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit
5. "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group, Violence
6. "Lush" by Natasha Friend (available via Interlibrary Loan)
Reasons: Drugs, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group
7. "What My Mother Doesn’t Know" by Sonya Sones
Reasons: Sexism, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group
8. "Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich
Reasons: Drugs, Inaccurate, Offensive Language, Political Viewpoint, Religious Viewpoint
9. "Revolutionary Voices" edited by Amy Sonnie (available via Interlibrary Loan).
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit
10. "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: Religious Viewpoint, Violence
Reasons: Homosexuality, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group
2. "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie
Reasons: Offensive language, Racism, Sex Education, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group, Violence
3. "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
Reasons: Insensitivity, Offensive Language, Racism, Sexually Explicit
4. "Crank" by Ellen Hopkins
Reasons: Drugs, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit
5. "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins
Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group, Violence
6. "Lush" by Natasha Friend (available via Interlibrary Loan)
Reasons: Drugs, Offensive Language, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group
7. "What My Mother Doesn’t Know" by Sonya Sones
Reasons: Sexism, Sexually Explicit, Unsuited to Age Group
8. "Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich
Reasons: Drugs, Inaccurate, Offensive Language, Political Viewpoint, Religious Viewpoint
9. "Revolutionary Voices" edited by Amy Sonnie (available via Interlibrary Loan).
Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit
10. "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
Reasons: Religious Viewpoint, Violence
2011
,
banned books
,
books
,
readers advisory
,
reading
Prime Ministers Literary Awards, 2011.
The winners of this year's Prime Minister's Literary Awards were announced on friday, 8th July, 2011. The prizes were awarded by Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Canberra. Each winner received a cash prize of $80,000, with the short listed titles in each category receiving $5000.
Congratulations to the following winners:
The fiction prize was awarded to Traitor by Stephen Daisley.
The non fiction prize winner is The Hard Light of Day by Rod Moss.
The young adult fiction prize was presented to Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley.
The children' s fiction prize was received by Shake a Leg by Boori Monty Pryor and Jan Ormerod.
Congratulations to the following winners:
The fiction prize was awarded to Traitor by Stephen Daisley.
The non fiction prize winner is The Hard Light of Day by Rod Moss.
The young adult fiction prize was presented to Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley.
The children' s fiction prize was received by Shake a Leg by Boori Monty Pryor and Jan Ormerod.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)