Thursday Thoughts (9)

Hi,

Welcome to my new Weekly post - Thursday Thoughts.

This is going to be a weekly discussion post that I hope will get all my blog readers commenting and giving their opinion. I will pick a topic and write how my thoughts and feelings about it and then hopefully all you lovely readers will leave a comment below with your own opinions.

The only rule I have is that everyone is respectful of each other's opinions, there is no real right or wrong here, this is a chance to experience a topic from someone else's perspective. Please listen to each other and be nice.

If you wish to take a more active part in this discussion and make your own blog post about the topic, I will create a Linky list below that you can link your post to. If more and more people take part - the bigger and better it will become.

Some discussions will be light and silly, others will be more serious but they will all be about books and book related things.

So come on everyone, pull up a chair and lets hear your voice.

This weeks topic is:

Book Bench Hunt! 

This isn't such a discussion post, but I would be interested to hear what you think about the whole thing!

Books about Town

2 July - 15 September 2014

Books about Town is coming to London this summer! Find all 50 unique BookBench sculptures, designed by local artists and famous names to celebrate London’s literary heritage and reading for enjoyment. 

Basically 'Books about Town' in association with the Literacy trust has created 50 uniquely designed benches and placed them around London. There are 4 'trails' to follow to find them all.

My friend and I decided that we had to do this. Being masive book nerds this was something we knew we just could not miss.

So I printed off the trail maps, plotted a route between the benches as best I could. Worked out Tube transfers and got ready to explore.

We started with the 'Bloomsbury Trail', so hopped on the Picadilly line to Holborn and started to explore.

 

We found the first bench quite quickly (Peter Pan) and was so excited. We made our way round the trail, finding them in parks and squares, it was great fun. Some benches had people sitting on them and we had to ask them to move but everyone was really friendly and agreed to take our photo by the bench. The only hiccup we had was the 1984 bench wasn't there anymore - it had been damaged and taken away for repair, so we wasted 20 minutes looking for it which was very annoying but other than that we made good time and was feeling positive. 

I won't flood the blog with pictures, for each Bench we took 4 photos - 1 of the front of the bench, 1 of the back (as they were decorated both sides with a different picture), 1 of the information plaque about the book the bench was based on and 1 of my friend and I next to the bench. 

As you can see there were 11 benches on this trail and we found them all! My favourite was 'The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe' 

We then made it to Russell Square tube and made our way over to 'St Pauls' to complete the 'City Trail'

We knew this one would be slightly harder but I had planned to start with the cluster together on the left then walk up to 'Brick Lane' bench then head to the right and catch the more spread out ones. 

Well, St Paul's is quite a confusing network of connecting streets, but even so we soon found Mary Poppins and those around it, we got the first 4 in about 20 minutes and was feeling hopeful, we then headed to find the Jacqueline Wilson bench, this is where it all went downhill. I don't know how well you can see on the map, but the label for JW covers the road names and there are no particular signs as to where it is. We walked all around this area for 45 minutes, we found the Bridget Jones bench in the process but couldn't get the other. We didn't want to give up, we both read her books as a child and we wanted to get them all.

What I didn't realise when I downloaded these maps were that they were actually interactive and could be zoomed in, but I just printed them how they were thinking that was all you could get. So partially my fault for not checking but the map did cause some problems. We had to give up in the end and because we were so behind time we decided we would miss out the 3 floating ones at the top (Brick Lane, Laura Marling and Cricket) Instead we stopped to buy a drink of water as it was so hot out, and then hopped back on the Tube and got off at Bank to get Stormbreaker etc. 

We were feeling a bit dejected at this point, no benches in almost an hour! but when we got off at Bank we found the next 3 very quickly and our spirits rose again.

We then headed to Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman, this was a highlight for us as we are both massive fans of the books, and we literally ran screaming towards it when we spotted it! 

But I have to say my favourite for this route was actually the last one 'Katie in London' it was beautifully designed.

So slightly more hopeful and with plans to come back later to the ones we missed if we had time we set off across the River Thames to complete the 'Riverside Trail'

Very hot and a bit hungry with aching feet and backs we powered through, determined to see as many as possible. We were on a time limit, our railcards were 'off-peak' only so we had to be on a train home before 4:30 or we would have to wait until after 7:30, but we both had places to be in the evening so that wasn't an option.
It was already nearly 3:00 by this point but we were sure we could do it. We had an hour, that was enough!
The first four were in a nice sqaure and very easy to find and some of the more colourful and beautiful benches. We had a slight problem with the Dr Seuss bench in which case a woman refused to move so we couldn't take a picture, but we did all the others and when we made it clear we weren't going to leave without our pictures she did move. She muttered 'God, it's only a stupid bench'. Which I found equal parts annoying and funny. She just couldn't see why this was important to us. But we got our picture!!!

Most people we met throughout the day were supportive and interested, so it was overall a nice atmosphere.
We got the other 2 close ones, Julia Donaldson's was very busy, but I can tell why, she is amazing and the bench was gorgeous. We then made our way along down the riverfront, as the next 2 look like they are still on the water's edge. As you walk you have to cross London Bridge, which actually means you have to go away from the river a bit, and up some steps into a courtyard area that then leads off into streets, we followed it round. At one point there was a slight fork and we followed the left, as the right hand side looked like a dead end with tall buildings. We soon realised we must have passed the benches somehow but couldn't understand where they were, but by then we had nearly reached the Shakespeare bench so we kept going. We realised we would have to double back to get to London Bridge tube station to get home, so it was easier.
We snapped Shakespeare then made our way back. Still not spotting these benches, but as we came back to that fork we spotted people walking down towards what we thought was a dead end, turns out there is a path hidden in there that leads to a really nice courtyard so hallelujah we found the last 2! Riverside trail complete. Paddington Bear and Great Expectations were our last.

we look so relieved to have found it!!! Finished!

We then walked rather quickly back to the Tube Station to catch a train back to the main station St Pancras and then home. I made it with 5 minutes to spare!!!

We didn't manage to do the 'Greenwich Trail', it's so much further out and needs a DLR connection, we never would have made it, but the way we see it - this means we can go back for another day. Already planning it.

 There are some benches there I am really excited to see so we will be going to do them soon, and also finding the ones we missed on the City Trail. Looking at the website there are also 2 benches not on the trails. There are actually only 48 on the trails, the 2 making it up to 50 are spread out elsewhere, there is an "Around the World in 80 Days" bench near Stanfords in Leicester Square and "Worlds Biggest Flip Book" in Waterloo. So we will try to get them too.

There was a good variety of benches. It was a bit strange but there were 2 Peter Pan benches, one in Bloomsbury trail and the other on City. I was actually disappointed that there wasn't a Harry Potter bench - how could they miss such an iconic series as that? Maybe they will add some extras. A 51st bench has been voted and will be Neil Gaiman 'Neverwhere'.
I would also have loved to see a Percy Jackson bench - how cool would that be!?

If you want to see pictures of all 50 benches just visit the official website and they are all there. Once I have found the rest of them I am going to make an album with all my snaps, can't wait.

Which books would you have loved to see as benches?

Would you go and hunt them down if you could? Or have you done it already?

In September they are going to Auction off the benches with all money going to charity, which bench would you buy if you could afford it? Would you want to own one?
I would definitely buy the Narnia one, but I loved so many of the others too. I wish I could win the lottery!!!

Thursday Thoughts (8)

Hi,

Welcome to my new Weekly post - Thursday Thoughts.

This is going to be a weekly discussion post that I hope will get all my blog readers commenting and giving their opinion. I will pick a topic and write how my thoughts and feelings about it and then hopefully all you lovely readers will leave a comment below with your own opinions.

The only rule I have is that everyone is respectful of each other's opinions, there is no real right or wrong here, this is a chance to experience a topic from someone else's perspective. Please listen to each other and be nice.

If you wish to take a more active part in this discussion and make your own blog post about the topic, I will create a Linky list below that you can link your post to. If more and more people take part - the bigger and better it will become.

Some discussions will be light and silly, others will be more serious but they will all be about books and book related things.

So come on everyone, pull up a chair and lets hear your voice.

This weeks topic is:

Talking to authors the hows and whys

Have you ever met an author in real life? How did it go? I don't know about anyone else but the first time I spoke to one of my favourite authors there was a lot of 'erms' and 'oh my gosh' and awkward stuttering and the inability to form a coherent sentence. I basically turned into a bumbling idiot. BUt why is that? 
To us, these are the people who have created the worlds we love and the characters we relate to. They are the masters of the pen and page. They have done something many of us can only dream of doing. But I'm going to shock you here and reveal something. 
They are actually pretty normal people and once you get over the awe, they are really cool to talk to. Of course we will always admire them but talk to them like you would anyone else and you will get on fine.
I have met a lot of authors now over the years, I have been very lucky in that respect, and I have found first hand that they appreciate you telling them how much you loved their book, but most of the time they then just want a normal conversation. I talked about working in a library with Malorie Blackman, discussed cake recipes with Steve Cole, and martial arts techniques with Derek Landy (to be fair I was wearing a t-shirt with a ninja on it). 
Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to put the authors down or make it seem like they are less impressive or admirable. Trust me I still have moments where I am like "OMG I'm about to meet..." but I am saying that you are more likely to get a conversation back if you talk to them normally. 

Imagine: (italics - internal thoughts)
Me: Hi author, oh my...
Author: Hi, what's your name?
Me: he wants to know my name!!! ahhhh, erm what's my name... awkward pause. Becky 
Author: How are you today Becky
Me: he's asking me a question, omg, what do i do. He's waiting for an answer, give him an answer! Fine thanks. 
Author: Good *signs book
Me: He's signing my book that is so cool, he's got a weird signature, but it's for me *stares at author 
Author: Thanks  *looks at you nervously, why is she staring at me like that? 
*After some nervous shuffling as you try to think of something clever to say, you notice you are being pushed out of the way. You leave realizing you just met someone that awesome and all you could do was look like a goldfish! 

Whereas Imagine this: 
Me: Hi author, oh my...
Author: Hi, what's your name? 
Me: Becky, it's great to meet you deep breaths, stay calm
Author: Thanks, you too. How are you today?
Me: I'm great thanks, I read your book and really enjoyed it so was psyched to meet you
Author: Glad to hear it.
Me: Are you working on anything else right now?
Author: There may be a few projects in the background.
Me: Great, I can't wait to read more from you. I did a promotion for your book at the library last week. I work in a public library you see or told a friend about your book, something like that.
Author: Oh really, that's cool. 
Me: Yeah, as you can tell I love books. *maybe chat for a few more minutes about random stuff.
Me: Well I better not take up too much of your time, I hope you have a good day. If you ever want a promotion - I have a book blog.  

Staying calm and acting like a sane human being will more often than not result in you having an actual conversation. Sure there are times that authors are on a short time frame and won't have time to chat to everyone, but they are more likely to stop and talk to you if you have a sensible questions ready to ask and you stay calm. The hysterical people will be brushed past. So take this advice, deep breaths before it gets to your turn and keep calm. You can totally fangirl and go crazy after you have met them.

I will be implementing my own advice this weekend as I attend YALC in London and meet loads of my favourite authors. I will post about it all afterwards so look out for that. 

Have you ever met any authors? How did it go, did you get to talk?
As you can probably tell, I have experienced both.   

And for a bonus thought - if you could meet any author in the world, who would it be and why?

 

Thursday Thoughts (7) - Read What You Want!

Hi,

Welcome to my new Weekly post - Thursday Thoughts.

This is going to be a weekly discussion post that I hope will get all my blog readers commenting and giving their opinion. I will pick a topic and write how my thoughts and feelings about it and then hopefully all you lovely readers will leave a comment below with your own opinions.

The only rule I have is that everyone is respectful of each other's opinions, there is no real right or wrong here, this is a chance to experience a topic from someone else's perspective. Please listen to each other and be nice.

If you wish to take a more active part in this discussion and make your own blog post about the topic, I will create a Linky list below that you can link your post to. If more and more people take part - the bigger and better it will become.

Some discussions will be light and silly, others will be more serious but they will all be about books and book related things.

So come on everyone, pull up a chair and lets hear your voice.

This weeks topic is:

Read What You Want!

This wasn't the topic I had planned on covering today but I felt like I wanted to change it. Over the last few weeks the internet has been flooded with posts about what we should and shouldn't read, everyone seems to have an opinion. Adults shouldn't read YA it's juvenile, Children shouldn't read below their level it will harm their progress, People shouldn't read Fantasy - it takes away from reality, Crime novels should be banned - they can make us dangerous, Teenagers shouldn't read books about illness or fantasy or vampires or reality or if you really look about it - anything. I have seen a case about practically every genre and type of book. 
I've seen articles that say YA's shouldn't read the Hunger Games because they inspire violence and will make all children turn against each other, they shouldn't read the Fault In Our Stars because it will cause depression, they shouldn't read books about Dragons etc as it will make them lose focus on reality, they shouldn't read Vampire novels because it will cause bad habits, dark behaviour. And on and on it goes. 
When did things start to get so out of hand? Who are we to judge what someone should or shouldn't read, people have been reading these types of books for years, generations of people have been reading these types of books and it's never caused any problems. Just think how long ago Dracula was written, and TFIOS is not the first book about childhood illness, that's been written about for years too, i don't know when it first came out, but My Sister's Keeper has certainly been out for at least a decade. And yes they can be depressing but for some they can also be a beacon of hope. I lost my gran to cancer and reading 'Before I Die' made me feel less alone, someone else was going through the same thing and it was like finding someone to talk to. Some kids/teens/adults need that. I'm lucky enough to have people around me I can talk to, but not everyone has that privilege and these books can be a great source of comfort. 
And Fantasy is one of the oldest, mainstream genres out there. We seem to be underestimating humanity, I'm pretty sure that at least 95% of us can tell the difference between fantasy in a book or TV show and reality. Just because I read Terry Pratchett or Anne McCaffrey or Derek Landy, it doesn't mean I expect to see a dragon flying over head (although that would be cool!). I understand it isn't real, I read it for escapism and enjoyment, but I know it's not going to happen. 
Just like I can enjoy a crime novel (although I am a wimp and can only cope with Sherlock Holmes type) but that doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to go out and commit a crime or try to solve one. I just enjoy the stories.

And it upsets me that the main target of all of these arguments are Teenagers, they get far much more stick for their reading choices than anyone else. And that makes me sad - do you know how hard it is to get teenagers reading in the first place? They are the toughest demographic to target and get interested and then as soon as they are, they get slammed for their choices! What is that about? We should be encouraging them every step of the way, letting them know how wonderful it is, and how much they can get out of those books instead of focusing on these 'negatives' which to me have no real truth behind them.
I know the people most likely to be reading this feel the way I do, but I still felt I had to post it, and if one person reads it and changes their mind then I will be happy. So next time you hear about a best-selling novel for teenagers, or you see someone reading a book - don't judge them, either walk away and leave them to it or ask them what they think about the book, get their opinion instead of shoving yours in their face.

I saw one article (can't find it now grr) but it said something like the topics in books were too grown up for Teenagers and would confuse them, upset them, put ideas in their heads etc etc, it said that they shouldn't be able to read such subjects, parents should take the books away. Which to me is just ridiculous, sure some subjects in some books can be quite mature, but to me the way to deal with that is to let the reader know that they can talk about anything they don't understand or that upsets them. Whether that comes from their parents, teachers, trusted adult or friends - discussing the subject matter and reaching an understanding is much better than just banning it.

And it's not just genres and types of books we argue and judge people on, it's also specific books. I get it, everyone loves different things, but just because you hate something doesn't mean everyone else should too. I will admit, I have been guilty of this on occasion, if you know me - you know I can't stand the Twilight books, and I have made that clear to people, and argued against it. But after one particular moment I had to step back and think. If someone made similar comments to me, that I made to that reader, about a book I loved- how would that make me feel!? And I realised that I would be devastated. Luckily I've never been overly mean, that's not in my character, but I could tell I had offended the person and I didn't like that. Again, luckily it was someone I knew fairly well so no real deep feelings were hurt but I promised not to judge too harshly again. Obviously I can say "I don't like Twilight", but that doesn't mean that someone who does should be made to feel bad. I can recommend other books I think they may like and broaden their choices- but please never put someone down because they are reading something you don't like. 
Say that you dislike it, argue as to why (you have to have a reason!) but then move on. 

We need to stop judging people and making everything such a big deal, at the end of the day reading is a magical experience and something that should be encouraged. It improves comprehension, language skills, imagination, vocabulary and can be a great comfort to some, and it's also fun!

So come on everyone, I want to know - what do you read and have you ever been judged for it? I want all your horror stories.
Have you ever been the one judging?
I also want to know your views, are there some things we shouldn't let people read, teens in particular, or do you agree with me that everyone should read what they want?


 Thanks all.

Next Weeks topic will be - The Importance of Reading to Children and Babies 

Thursday Thoughts (6) - Giving up on Books

Hi,

Welcome to my new Weekly post - Thursday Thoughts.

This is going to be a weekly discussion post that I hope will get all my blog readers commenting and giving their opinion. I will pick a topic and write how my thoughts and feelings about it and then hopefully all you lovely readers will leave a comment below with your own opinions.

The only rule I have is that everyone is respectful of each other's opinions, there is no real right or wrong here, this is a chance to experience a topic from someone else's perspective. Please listen to each other and be nice.

If you wish to take a more active part in this discussion and make your own blog post about the topic, I will create a Linky list below that you can link your post to. If more and more people take part - the bigger and better it will become.

Some discussions will be light and silly, others will be more serious but they will all be about books and book related things.

So come on everyone, pull up a chair and lets hear your voice.

This weeks topic is:

Are you done with that? Giving up on Books

As readers and bloggers we come across hundres and hundreds of books. If you are anything like me your To Be Read pile just grows and grows. For every one book I finish another 3 get added to the list. So this is where you have to question whether or not you read every book cover to cover. 
For years I would persist with a book and read every word, even if I wasn't enjoying it. I would tell myself that it would get better and I would regret not finishing it, that maybe I was missing out on something if I were to give up. I look back at that time and think about how much time I wasted - how many other books I could have read in that time and enjoyed.
For one thing I believe we all read quicker when we are enjoying a book, we get lost in the pages and the words just fall off the page and into our minds, transporting us to this other world, but if we are struggling with a book every word seems to drag and it gets very hard to become lost in that world. 
Now I have been blogging for a few years and my TBR pile is hundreds of books high, I have come to the conclusion that giving up on a book is ok, you can put it down and move onto something else and there is absolutely no problem with that. No consequences. If you feel inclined at a later time you can always go back or you can say goodbye to it forever. 
Which then brings me onto the next part of the discussion - how much of a book do you read before you give up. Everyone i have ever discussed this with has come up with a different answer. My policy is 100 pages - I think this is a good amount to give me a reasonable feel for the story, it's given the book a fair chance to hook me in and given me enough of an idea of where the story could be going and made me feel like I have given it a fair chance. After that if I am not hooked then I give it up. The only exception to this is if the book is only 150 or so pages, and then I figure I might as well finish it regardless as I am so close. Likewise if the book is massive, say over 700 pages I tend to skip a few chapters - about 50 or so pages and then try to read a bit more, but obly rarely will that make me want to read more, very often the 100 pages has been a good enough indicator and I feel secure in my choice to put the book down and walk away.
So I want to know if you give up on books or if you have to see them through to the bitter end. And what is your cut off point, when do you stop reading? 
And lastly would you ever go back to a book you have given up on at a later date. Recently for me I gave up on 'City of Lost Souls' by Cassandra Clare, couldn't be bothered with it - it was irritating me. But I ended up having to go back to it for a review request and after a 2 week break I actually found myself enjoying it. SO in that case having a break from the book and the series did me good and let me come back to it fresh and actually get something out of it. It only happens rarely, but it can happen.
I want to know what you all do, share your opinions. :D

Next Weeks topic will be - The Importance of Reading to Children and Babies

Thursday Thoughts (5) - Audiobooks

Hi,

Welcome to my new Weekly post - Thursday Thoughts.

This is going to be a weekly discussion post that I hope will get all my blog readers commenting and giving their opinion. I will pick a topic and write how my thoughts and feelings about it and then hopefully all you lovely readers will leave a comment below with your own opinions.

The only rule I have is that everyone is respectful of each other's opinions, there is no real right or wrong here, this is a chance to experience a topic from someone else's perspective. Please listen to each other and be nice.

If you wish to take a more active part in this discussion and make your own blog post about the topic, I will create a Linky list below that you can link your post to. If more and more people take part - the bigger and better it will become.

Some discussions will be light and silly, others will be more serious but they will all be about books and book related things.

So come on everyone, pull up a chair and lets hear your voice.

This weeks topic is:

 Audiobooks - Do you love to listen?

If you had asked me just over a year ago if I liked audiobooks, I would have confessed that I had never listened to one, but that I had never wanted to either. They had never appealed to me, if I wanted to read a book I could do it myself, I couldn't understand why people would have them. 
But then I was talking to a colleague at work, we were discussing Harry Potter - a much loved subject for both of us, major fans - and I said that I would love to re-read them again (for like the 20th time) but I didn't have the time to read them. I have so many books piled up that I haven't read yet - both review and personal that I couldn't justify spending time reading the HP's again. She then suggested that I listen to them on Audiobook - narrated by Stephen Fry. I like Fry too so thought it would be a great match. I was still hesitant at first but decided that I would have them on in my car - if I was going to be out and about in my car anyway it made sense to use that time listening to a book instead of the radio. And I haven't looked back since. I constantly have a spoken word CD/Audio book playing in my car. Unless someone else is in the car with me my radio is permanently switched to CD with a book playing. 
Over the last year I have listened to the entire Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, the entire Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy, The Long Song by Andrea Levy, the first 2 books so far in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series by Michelle Paver, and possibly a couple of others but I can't recall them right now. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to them, some were better than others - a lot depends on who is voicing it. Stephen Fry was absolutely incredible - he did all the different voices, put lots of emotion into it and you could tell he loved doing it. The first few Skulduggery Pleasant books were read fantastically by Rupert Degas again he really captured all the characters, but then by book 5 they changed narrator and his voice was very dry and to me unemotive. It really put me off and I found that I wasn't enjoying the story as much because of it. Luckily I have read all the books and love them anyway so it couldn't really put me off, but it still wasn't as good.

Most of the audio books I have listened to so far have been books that I have already read, and it was great to hear them come to life in another way. It really brought the world into another dimension, I could go on long drives and have them feel much shorter with the world of the book around me, inviting me in. 
But I have started listening to other books, books I haven't ever read or even heard of before and that is just as good, in fact I have really enjoyed most of the ones I have tried.

Audiobooks do get a lot of negative comments, some people can judge. I heard someone say that Audiobooks were for people too lazy or stupid to read. Well I'm sorry but that is just offensive. People listen to them for all different reasons. Of course at the library we have quite a large and varied stock and a lot of ours go out to visually impaired people old and young - those not able to read. But we also issue a fair amount to the general public. Anyone who wants one. 
Did someone read to you as a child? A parent, teacher, friend. Many of us have memories of bedtime stories and book time cuddled up together - it's a great time and can be the starting point of anyones love of books. But do you remember how magical it felt to be read to, to have someone else tell you a story and carry you away with their words. Many kids still like to be read to even after they have taught themselves, and in a way I think audiobooks can offer some of that feeling, comfort. There is something really nice about having someone read aloud to you.

I would never replace reading a book myself with audiobooks entirely - don't get me wrong, I still love my physical books and read just as many. And I will never stop doing that. For one thing it is quicker to read a book myself than it is to listen and I can decide on voices etc myself. But there is definitely a place for both.

and the other great thing is that a lot more books are being made into audiobooks these days meaning there is so much more choice - generally something for everyone no matter what age, gender etc. 

So how about you - do you listen to audio books? Have you ever tried it, if not would you consider it? If not - why?
Share the love of the audiobook, they really are magic!

  

Got your own post? Link it here:



Next Weeks topic will be '"Are you done with that"- Do you give up on books?'

Thursday Thoughts (4) - Libraries - Why they still matter

Hi,

Welcome to my new Weekly post - Thursday Thoughts.

This is going to be a weekly discussion post that I hope will get all my blog readers commenting and giving their opinion. I will pick a topic and write how my thoughts and feelings about it and then hopefully all you lovely readers will leave a comment below with your own opinions.

The only rule I have is that everyone is respectful of each other's opinions, there is no real right or wrong here, this is a chance to experience a topic from someone else's perspective. Please listen to each other and be nice.

If you wish to take a more active part in this discussion and make your own blog post about the topic, I will create a Linky list below that you can link your post to. If more and more people take part - the bigger and better it will become.

Some discussions will be light and silly, others will be more serious but they will all be about books and book related things.

So come on everyone, pull up a chair and lets hear your voice.

This weeks topic is:

Libraries - Why they still matter

If you have followed my blog for a while you will know that I work in a public library. If you didn't know - well you do now! 
I have worked there for 7 and a half years and lots of things have changed over that time, but the one thing that has remained the same is the need for borrowers to come through the door and our love for the books.
All across the borough, the council have been making budget cuts and libraries always come under attack. Many argue that we are now obsolete, no longer needed. But I am pleased to say that there are always arguments in our favour. 
A couple of years ago our team of staff were cut practically in half, we had 'self-service' introduced to our library. Where I am, we have 5 libraries under one organisation, out of those 3 of them have been changed to self service and the other 2 are only open reduced hours so haven't been updated. 
But we are always still on hand to help anyone that comes through the door, we still have to shelve the books and tidy and place requests and bundle books. but this isn't a discussion about why library staff matter - it's why the libraries matter.
How many times have you heard someone say "I used to go to the library but now I just download cheap or free books on my kindle." or "Libraries are outdated" or any such alternative or mix. But I argue that we do so much more.
Libraries are the heart of many communities, sure they are a place you can go to get books, but they are also a place you can go to meet friends, sit and read and get warm, use the computers and internet, join one of the many events they run, do photocopying, have a chat, anything and everything is possible in a library. 
I don't know about libraries elsewhere, but we certainly are no longer limited to books. For example, so far this week we have had IT help sessions, Children's Book Club, Baby Rhymetime and Storytime, Homework Help Centre, a local playgroup has come for story readings and we have a 'plant and recipe swap' booked for this Thursday, but usually we have a fortnightly 'Knit and Natter' group. We are running a "Local Memories" session next week for people to come in and share thoughts and reminisce about the past and next month we have a Story Writing/Ideas session taking place. There is always something going on and we try to accommodate for people from all walks of life.
We have public computers that can be used, everyone gets half an hour a day for free. We have people doing anything from printing off boarding passes for holidays, checking emails, online shopping, researching family history, writing CV's, job searching, producing posters, playing games - basically anything and everything you could possibly want and we are on hand to offer help.

If the library wasn't there none of this would be possible. It's a great resource and everything is free, in the current climate where many people are out of work or on minimum wage they can't afford to buy their own books or computers, but through us they still get to experience it all. 

I certainly couldn't afford to buy all the books I read, and think about all the books I didn't enjoy or finish reading, they would have been money wasted, but with the library I have lost nothing. 
I honestly believe that libraries will always be a valuable resource -I can't imagine a time when there won't be people who need them. Sure the needs of those people change and we must change to follow the trends but we are an adaptable service and we do our best to keep up and match those needs.

What do you think? Do you visit your library regularly? Is there anything they could do/offer to make them more appealing? 
Do you think they will stand the test of time? - I sure hope they do.

Discuss. :)

Got your own post? Link it here:

Next Weeks topic will be 'Audiobooks! - Do you love to listen?'

Thursday Thoughts (3) - TBR Piles

Hi,

Welcome to my new Weekly post - Thursday Thoughts.

This is going to be a weekly discussion post that I hope will get all my blog readers commenting and giving their opinion. I will pick a topic and write how my thoughts and feelings about it and then hopefully all you lovely readers will leave a comment below with your own opinions.

The only rule I have is that everyone is respectful of each other's opinions, there is no real right or wrong here, this is a chance to experience a topic from someone else's perspective. Please listen to each other and be nice.

If you wish to take a more active part in this discussion and make your own blog post about the topic, I will create a Linky list below that you can link your post to. If more and more people take part - the bigger and better it will become.

Some discussions will be light and silly, others will be more serious but they will all be about books and book related things.

So come on everyone, pull up a chair and lets hear your voice.

This weeks topic is:

TBR piles - how long is too long to wait to read a book?

I have a massive TBR  pile, there is absolutely no denying that. I have a page with my TBR list on, and that I will admit isn't up to date, add about another 25-30 books and you may be getting close. And it's not that I don't read, sure I have slowed down a bit over the past few months which hasn't helped, but I still read one or two books a week at worst. It's just that for every 1 book I finish - I find another 3 I want to read.
As you may know by now, I work in a library. If you came into the library you could take 10 books out for 3 weeks at a time and renew them up to 10 times, so you can basically take these books home for 30 weeks. As a staff member I am allowed 20 books at a time, this is fab, but it is like letting a kid loose in a candy store, it means I see lots of books I want and can have without worrying. My average number of books out is about 15. We have the same renew limit - 10 times, but as we tell our borrowers, as long as no one else wants the book you can return it after your 10 renewals and then just take it out again - bingo, another 30 weeks possible. Now I try not to keep a book too long, I don't think it's fair on other people - the book should have a chance to be taken by someone else. But last month I was shocked to realise that I had kept a book out for 2 years! 2 whole years!!! I got so used to just renewing and then re-validating that I didn't really realise how long it had been. I felt terrible, this book will have 1 as it's issue figure and no one else has had a chance to read it. 
I confessed to my supervisor and she said 'well if you haven't read it by now you probably never will - just return it' and that made me think - would I ever read it? why hadn't I picked it up in those 2 years? I knew I had it but something 'better' or at least 'different' would always take my attention. Would I ever bother reading it?
I decided that yes - I had kept it so long, it deserved to be read. It meant re-reading book 1 first but that didn't take me long. Turns out I didn't particularly like it, but I was glad to say I had read it. 
But then that also made me think about all the books I had bought/won/been sent by publishers etc that I hadn't read. I've got books on my shelf that I bought cheap from a discount store years ago that I still haven't read. They sit on my TBR pile but I always seem to glaze over them, and it made me wonder - should there be a cut-off point. Should I get rid of these neglected books and make space for the hundreds of other books I still have? Or is it OK to have them sitting there - waiting for their turn. 
I do want to read them, I wouldn't have bought them otherwise or put them on my shelves/pile in the first place. But they are obviously not grabbing my attention, making me desperate to read them. For example the Skulduggery Pleasant books - as soon as one of those comes out I drop everything and read it straight away, because I know it will be awesome. But I guess I don't know about these other books - some of them are ones that I was really excited about and bought around their release date, but for one reason or another I put them aside and never went back.
With hundreds of books being released every month there is always more and more that I want to read, so older ones get pushed even further back. I promise I will read them one day - but will I?

So come on people tell me, is there a limit, should I clear my shelves and give these books a chance with someone else - someone who will open their pages and enjoy their stories, or should I keep them, in the hopes that one day I will pull them down and dive inside. 

Is there a time limit on keeping a book? Do you have a similar problem?

Do you believe the "If you haven't read it by now - you're not likely to" or do you follow the "one day I will read them all"

Discuss. :)

Got your own post? Link it here: 

 

Next Weeks topic will be 'Libraries - Why they still matter'

Thursday Thoughts (2)

Hi,

Welcome to my new Weekly post - Thursday Thoughts.

This is going to be a weekly discussion post that I hope will get all my blog readers commenting and giving their opinion. I will pick a topic and write how my thoughts and feelings about it and then hopefully all you lovely readers will leave a comment below with your own opinions.

The only rule I have is that everyone is respectful of each other's opinions, there is no real right or wrong here, this is a chance to experience a topic from someone else's perspective. Please listen to each other and be nice.

If you wish to take a more active part in this discussion and make your own blog post about the topic, I will create a Linky list below that you can link your post to. If more and more people take part - the bigger and better it will become.

Some discussions will be light and silly, others will be more serious but they will all be about books and book related things.

So come on everyone, pull up a chair and lets hear your voice.

This weeks topic is:

'Books into Films - Is it always a good thing?' 

If you look at the recent and upcoming film releases you will realize that a large percentage of them are book adaptations. It seems that film producers are taking their inspiration more and more from the literary world.
If you are a fan of the book, this can be great, exciting and one of the best ways of delving further into the world. If you're not a fan of the book it can introduce you to the world which can lead you to reading the book.
But is it always a good thing? Are there some books that just shouldn't be made into a film. How do they decide which ones to make?
Obviously best sellers and prize winners are often picked up. Just think Hunger Games, Fault In Our Stars, Harry Potter - all these books swept the nation and sold thousands of copies, and had a big online presence that only got bigger and bigger with the making of the films.
I haven't seen Fault In Our Stars yet of course, but I'm hoping too, as for Hunger Games and Harry Potter - these films were expertly done, I think they did an amazing job with these films and although some details were changed the overall story retains the heart of the book. But what about the films that don't live up to expectations.

One of my all time favourite books was Eragon, I loved it, still do for the most part, so when the film came out I thought my dreams were coming true, but when I saw the film I was terribly disappointed - in my opinion it was awful! They changed so much and it just didn't really make sense. I don't think the producers/writers had even read the book before they wrote the film script, it's like they were told a quick summary, an outline of the story and they just filled in the gaps themselves. I felt so let down and it actually put me off the books for a while, it tainted my view of it.
Do you think a bad movie could also put someone off reading the book? I've seen films I didn't enjoy and would never consider reading the book afterwards.

But then again I ended up finding one of my favourite books through a film - I saw a trailer for 'Now is Good' starring Dakota Fanning, I was always a fan of Dakota so I knew I would see the film no matter what it was about, when I heard it was based on a book (Before I Die) I tracked it down and loved it. If it wasn't for that movie release I wouldn't have ever picked up that book and missed out on such an amazing book, which then led me to some other great books.

So I want to know, is it always a good thing to have a film of the book. If someone offered to turn your favourite book into a movie would you agree or decline, knowing that the film could be totally awesome or really bad. Would it change the way you see the book?

Got your own post? Link it here:



Next Weeks topic will be 'TBR piles - how long is too long to wait to read a book?'

Thursday Thoughts (1)

Hi,

Welcome to my new Weekly post - Thursday Thoughts.

This is going to be a weekly discussion post that I hope will get all my blog readers commenting and giving their opinion. I will pick a topic and write how my thoughts and feelings about it and then hopefully all you lovely readers will leave a comment below with your own opinions.

The only rule I have is that everyone is respectful of each other's opinions, there is no real right or wrong here, this is a chance to experience a topic from someone else's perspective. Please listen to each other and be nice.

If you wish to take a more active part in this discussion and make your own blog post about the topic, I will create a Linky list below that you can link your post to. If more and more people take part - the bigger and better it will become.

Some discussions will be light and silly, others will be more serious but they will all be about books and book related things.

So come on everyone, pull up a chair and lets hear your voice.

The first topic I am going to start with is:

 'Should we re-read the books we loved as children'.

I'm starting with this one as it is currently in my mind, I had to re-read a book for my children's group at work and it was my all time favourite book when I was a child. I was nervous about picking it up again now in case I didn't like it as much.

Have you ever felt that? When you pick up a book you have loved for years and you worry it won't give you that same feeling.
When you read books as a child I believe you are more open and innocent, literally anything is possible and books are a magic gateway into another world (if we're lucky this feeling remains in adulthood). Even if you read a lot there is a limit to the number of books you can absorb at that age and of course you just don't have the life experiences behind you that can change your perceptions.

The book I had to re-read was 'Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nimh' by Robert C O'Brien, this was the book I always said was my 'all-time favourite'.
I first read this book when I was in middle school and fell in love with it. I even drew some fan art (before I even knew what fan art was) for it, and spent weeks telling all my friends how incredible this book was.
The imagery and wonder of this book swept me away, I remember even then, being able to visualise the story as i read it and wanting to absorb as much off the pages as possible. I must have read it at least a dozen times but it never lost that wonder for me. Mrs Frisby and the Rats seemed like friends I could turn to again and again.

And then I moved on to other books and whilst I would occasionally revisit this one as you do with favourites, it happened less and less often. As I was introduced to books about dragons and fairies and magic and Harry Potter my reading tastes changed, I still loved animal stories - in fact one of my other all time favourites is 'The Animals of Farthing Wood' by Colin Dann. But the more I read, the more I wanted to read and soon I had so many books I didn't have time to revisit those favourites as much. And I started to grow up, my views, tastes, time and reading habits all adjusted and changed opening up hundreds of different worlds and experiences.

It must have been at least 5 years since I last read Mrs Frisby if not closer to 10, but even so it remained in my mind as a favourite. So when I chose to re-read it, I really was nervous. I had picked it for my Children's Book Group at the library as I thought it would be something different, and I wanted to see if the next generation with all their magic, monsters, diaries and technology could also love a classic like Mrs Frisby, but in order to lead a proper discussion about it I knew I would have to read it again.

When I picked up that book I had a moment of pure fear - what if this book disappointed me now? My reading tastes have changed so much over the years, especially since doing this blog - what if I didn't like it anymore. Could I really throw away over 10 years of love for a book, could I risk ruining my memory of it.

I started to read and the fear didn't go away, I wasn't instantly hooked and I thought this meant I didn't like it as much, but then I realized that if I stopped thinking about it so much and just let myself read without the pressure maybe I would enjoy it, and I am happy to say I did. I wrote a review for it which you can check out here if you want.

Luckily this turned out in my favour, I read it and still loved it. I wouldn't say I thought it was as incredible as i did as a child but it still struck me as an excellent book so I am pleased. But what if I had ended up hating it?

It has happened before, I used to love, and I mean absolutely adore a book I had about a dragon. I think it was called something like 'A Dragon in Spring Term'. In fact I think it was a series, and i was obsessed. I re-read it a few years ago and just couldn't get on with it at all. I ended up giving away my treasured childhood copies to make space for other books. But I was really upset. What made me love them so much as a child and dislike them so much as an adult? I'm sure timing and mood has a lot to do with it, but some books just last the test of time better than others.

I think in the grand scheme I would have to judge each book as it comes, I mean I would love to re-read the Farthing Wood series, but those books meant a lot to me as a child, they really set up my love of animals and I used to always re-read them when I was down or needed something familiar to go back to. So if I didn't enjoy them now, it would be really hard and feel like I had lost a friend.
I guess it depends just how much we loved those books.

I am pleased to say that my book group did enjoy the book, they said it was like 'nothing they had read before' but that it was 'pretty good'. High praise from them I can tell you.



So tell me - would you revisit old favourites and read them again or would you rather just cherish the memory?

Do any of you not get that feeling? Am I just mad?

Talk to me Book Lovers - do you re-visit childhood favourites and why?

Got your own post? Link it here:





Next Weeks topic will be 'Books into Films - Is it always a good thing?'