Christmas Time

Just a quick word to say thank you for reading the blog & forum this year and I hope you'll carry on in 2014.
The book blurbs for this month are all books which have been read (and enjoyed) by our Library staff, for their Reading Journeys.
Have a lovely break, whatever you may be doing and we'll get back to the chat about books in the New Year.
Merry Christmas!!

Poem for the Day

To help any of you budding poets out, who would like to enter our Poetry Competition, but are finding it hard to get started, I thought I would put an extract, or whole poem on the blog. We have a book available at Lower Mounts Library called Read Me and Laugh by Gaby Morgan, which is a collection of funny poems by lots of different writers. I will post each day's poem until the end of the competition, and maybe longer, if it proves to be popular. It will be on the left-hand side of the blog, under the 'Quote of the Week'. Have fun reading them!

New card design for the Reading Journey

For those of you who are ready for their next step in the Reading Journey, or for anyone who would like to join (pop into any Library Centre and ask staff for details), we have a beautiful wintery scene adorning our latest card.

Makes you feel warm and toasty doesn't it?

Library Poetry competition

We will be launching our annual Poetry Competition on Monday 25th November and would like as many of our staff and students to enter as possible. You can chose any topic, any length and have until Thursday 19th December to hand in your masterpiece. There will be entry forms available from any of the three libraries, downloadable from our website or you can e-mail your entry to:

 library@northamptoncollege.ac.uk

We'll announce the winner/s in the New Year. Prizes will be awarded later in the academic year at a big prize-giving ceremony. GOOD LUCK.

PS: here's what the entry form should look like, but this poem won't be entered in the competition!!

 

New ways of talking about books

If you are a regular reader of the blog, you may have noticed that we have a new tab at the top of the page. This tab will take you to our forum, where we hope you will find it easier to chat about books. There will be different topics and different threads within those topics. You can register as a member, if you want to, but it's not necessary in order for you to leave a comment. It will ask you for a name (which you can make up if you like) and an email address (but this won't be made public). Then you can respond to our comments or make up something of your own.
At the moment we have a thread running on Room 101, where you can chat about characters in books who you've really disliked. There's already a few names on there, so why not have a look and see if you agree or if there is anyone you would like to add.

Reading Journey

Good Morning,

How’s the Reading Journey going for everyone? I know we’ve already had a few people finish and enjoy their free treat from the canteen. Well done to them. Don’t forget all you need to do is read four fiction books & get your loyalty card stamped, fill in a book review and then you can go to any of the three canteens (Lookout Express at Booth Lane) to claim your free coffee, tea, flapjack or muffin. It’s a pretty good deal! Ask in the Library for more info.

We are also in trialling a forum, which is attached to the blog. We’re hoping that this can be used as place for people to get into some really good discussions about books/characters/storylines they love/hate/find funny etc. We are still playing with it at the moment, so it’s a work in progress, but keep your eyes peeled.

That’s it for now, happy reading!

Get Caught Reading!

We're starting a new campaign this term, continuing our aim of enveloping Northampton College with a culture of reading. We've taken some happy snaps of ourselves reading our books in unusual places and we'd like you to join in.

Find a spot that you wouldn't normally think of reading your book in and either take a selfie, or ask a friend to help out. Don't take any silly risks though, we only want safe fun.

Bring your piccie into the library and you could find yourself on one of our campaign posters, or you could even feature in our 'Picture of the Month'.

Go on, you know you want to!

 

 

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again”… After approaching Rebecca when I was younger, my memories of it seemed almost like a distant dream, so I decided to revisit Daphne Du Maurier’s bestselling novel after many years. Just like the protagonist and narrator, I was instantly transported back to the imposing and psychologically haunting estate of Manderly, with its winding roads, dark woods and grotesque rhododendrons. I felt the grasp of Du Maurier’s gothic take hold and I knew I would be unable to put her novel down for the second time. 

 

The narrator tells of her travels as the companion of Mrs Van Hopper and the reader discovers whilst holidaying in Monte Carlo, the narrator meets Maxim De Winter, a wealthy Englishman and widower. Whilst Mrs Van Hopper is recovering from illness, Mr De Winter courts the young narrator and after two weeks proposes a rushedmarriage.                        

 

Returning to his estate of Manderly, as Mrs De Winter, the narrator soon realises it is not going to be the marriage she dreamed of. Haunted by the memory of the former Mrs De Winter, who drowned whilst sailing, we experience first-hand the madness that begins to engulf her. Wherever she turns, whatever she uses, whoever she sees, most notably the chilling housekeeper Mrs Danvers, reminds the new Mrs De Winter that Rebecca haunts the Manderly halls still.

Will Rebecca’s reign over Manderly and all those who live there continue? An unexpected shipwreck threatens the already fraught household of Manderly and the secret that Mr De Winter has kept hidden for so long…

 A gripping read that kept me up into the late hours!  Daphne Du Maurier’s combination of the Gothic and psychological realism captured my imagination and emotions and I myself became haunted by Rebecca and the power she had as a character in the book.  Just like Bertha in the attic, readers have been and will be haunted by Rebecca for years to come and I encourage you to be one of them!

New Year, New Books

Welcome back to all those people who are returning to the College after the summer break and a big HELLO to all those staff and students who joining us for their first year. We hope you will enjoy your time at the here and make good use of the Library and all the other facilities the College has to offer.

Thank you to all those who joined the Reading Journey before and during the summer. We've already had a few people complete the challenge and have enjoyed their cup of tea or flapjack in the canteen. We have had over 50 people join so far, which is fantastic. College staff have been really supportive and are just as keen as the Library to encourage a culture of reading across the three sites. Big thanks to those people. We're looking forward to seeing how the Journey goes this year as well as hoping to continue (and build) on our Six Book Challenge Success.
http://readingagency.org.uk/adults/news/colleges-celebrate-six-book-challenge-success.html

We will be updating this blog regularly with reviews of fiction books, any new fiction we have in at the Library and any books we might recommend as a good read.

If you have something you'd like to say about any of the books we chat about, or have some recommendations of your own then please do post comments. We'd love to hear your thoughts and feelings about any fiction which you have enjoyed, hated, loved, unveiled some emotions etc.

This year we may be collaborating with some other readers, outside of the College, to discuss specific books- almost like a book club but you don't have to attend a meeting. To that end we will be developing the blog over the next few weeks. We hope you'll like how it looks but drop ua a line if you have any suggestions.

There will be some book reviews appearing in the next few days from texts library staff have read over the summer, so have a look through and see if anything appeals to you. Look out for different campaigns and competitions running in the Library throughout the year, that you may like to contribute to.

As ever...happy reading!! 

Don't forget the Reading Journey

If you'd still like to join Northampton College Library's Reading Journey, then just pop into one of the three centres and talk to a member of staff. They'll be happy to explain how the journey works and give you your loyalty card.

Let us know about any books you:

• are reading at the moment
• are planning to read
• have read in the past

Recommend some reads or tell us why you'd never read that book again; anything you like about books, we want to hear it. Just comment on any of the posts on this blog and we'll get a discussion going. Enjoy the summer weather, happy reading!

My Reading World

Hello people. Just thought I'd let you know what I thought of the two books I mentioned in my previous post. Interestingly, both of them are told from a retrospective point of view, which was by coincidence, rather than design.
The Execution of Noa P. Singleton- I enjoyed this book, for the most part. It was a good examination of the American justice system, specifcally the death penalty which still operates in certain states of the US. There are parts of the book that broke this information down into facts and figures, which I felt jarred slightly with the tone of the rest of the book, even though it made interesting reading. Noa herself narrated the story, which she told in retrospect from the discomfort of her prison cell. We see her life from infancy, teenage years and young adulthood, up to and including the events which caused her to be in the terrible situation she finds herself. This back story is interspersed with letters from Noa's victim's mother, who is writing to her dead daughter to try to explain her current actions. Neither of the these two main characters are particularly warm and whilst you feel symapthy for both of them at certain times, you feel the exact opposite at others. There were times when I felt the author could have given the reader the chance to feel more emapthy but perhaps these were missed on purpose. I'd recommend reading it, particulary if you enjoy a different take on the crime genre or films such as The Life of David Gale.
The Ocean At The End Of The Lane- Of the two books, this was probably my favourite. I've read a few Neil Gaiman books recently (having read Good Omens written with Terry Pratchett a number of years ago- but I'm not saying how many!). This evoked memories of the freedom, boredom, mystery, wonder and and overall powerlessness of being a child. It is the story of a boy and his strange experiences with the three women who live in the house at the end of his road. It is a blend of the supernatural with the normal and everyday. At a time when he is feeling alone and abandoned by his family, these three are able to offer him the comfort and safety he desparately needs, albeit in a unsual but wonderful way. Beautiful book, which I recommend to anyone but especially those who enjoy fantasy or rites of passage stories.


I am just starting The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes. It is the story of a serial killer who is able to go through time targeting the young girls who will grow up to be women of renown. I'll let you know how it goes. Keep reading everyone, and let us know all about it.

What's going on in your reading world?

Just wondered what people are reading at the moment. I am currently reading The Execution of Noa P. Singleton (Elizabeth L. Silver)- a story of a woman who has been on death row for ten years and is fast approaching her 'end' date. She is visited by a lawyer and the mother of the victim, who she has never denied killing. Noa narrates the story and we are told in a kind of flashback what happened all those years ago; what led to the circumstances which put her in this terrible position. I'm about half-way through (so no spoilers, please if anyone has read it!), seems a fairly good book and I'm pretty sure there are going to be some twists and turns before I reach the end. I'll let you know.

Really looking forward to the next book I have lined up:        Neil Gaiman's The Ocean At The End Of The Lane (OAEOL- for short). I've been reading a lot of his stuff recently and this is getting rave reviews, so I can't wait.

New Reading Challenge

To help encourage reading for pleasure across the whole college, we are hoping to start a new reading challenge. Keep a look out for more information as the launch date approaches, which we hope will be the week beginning July 1st. There's a teaser picture, just to keep you intrigued. Pop in and ask at any of the College Library centres if you want some more info. Happy reading!

New look, new layout

Welcome to the new look blog. We will soon be advertising our resources on a new Library website, so this has given us the opportunity to re-vamp this blog slightly and devote its use to our love of reading fiction. We hope that students of the Northampton College, members of staff or anyone from anywhere who happens to come across BooksBlogBlurb, will join in with our chats about what's tickling our fancy storywise. We want to get open discussions going, with all voices being heard. So please, if you have something to say about a book you are reading, a book you want to read, or a book someone else is reading, comment on our posts. Let's have a massive love-in for books and reading!!

Apologies for disruption

Blog is currently undergoing a make-over. It will be shiny and new in a few weeks, please come back and look at it then. Thank you.

Revision Tip of the Week

Turn off your social network sites- If you are half concentrating on your revision and half concentrating on what someone is saying on Facebook or Twitter, then your progress is not going to be very good. Turn off your phone, close your internet browser (unless you're using it for revision) and pay attention to your work. You could try doing an hour of study and then rewarding yourself for 10 minutes by turning your phone back on. Give it a go, see how you get on.

Photography Competition winners

After hearing all about the success of the Photography Competition and seeing the images on display in the libraries, we thought you'd like to see some of the creative people behind those winning shots.



Lewis Blanch- Winner



Ryan Sexton- Library Choice



 


Jason Brackel- Runner-Up

Well done to all our winners



Nearly there 6 Book Challengers!

Just two weeks to go now until the end of the Six Book Challenge. We've had over 180 people complete the Challenge so far, well done to them.

For those of you who are still taking part, make sure you come into the Library to get your diary stamped for each book/article/magazine you've read.

Don't forget about the great prizes on offer for those who complete, including the chance to win an overnight theatre trip to London.

DEADLINE: Friday 24th May 2013

Good luck everyone!

Revision Tip of the Week

Get Organised- Make sure you have organised your revision so that you avoid any last minute panic. Use a revision timetable, plan which work has priority, find out when, where and at what time your exams are. Leave wiggle room, so that if your priorities change it won't affect your planning too much. Making sure you're organsied will (hopefully!) make revision and exam time a little easier to take.

World Book Night Winners

Thank you to all who took part in our World Book Night event. It went really well and we hope it has encouraged some of you to do some more reading for pleasure.

Here are a couple of our students (and lovely Librarian!) with their book prizes.

 

Photography Competition Winners

Well done to everyone who entered, but there have to winners and here's a list of those lucky people.

1^st place: Lewis Blanch  – ‘Northampton’ (Booth Lane)

"The winning image shows an original approach to the historical industry of the town and its decline, an extra effort has been made by shooting the image out of context in a studio environment."   - Photography Department judges

  

2^nd place: Rebecca Higginson – ‘Derelict’ (Booth Lane)

2^nd place: Natasha Brooks – ‘Sywell Church’ (Booth Lane)

 
3^rd place: Charlie Brammer – ‘Eery’ (Booth Lane)

Runners up: Shannon Edwards – ‘Winter Sun’ (Daventry)

Runners up  Jason Brakel – ‘Northamptonshire’ (Booth Lane)

Library’s choice:

Ryan Sexton – ‘Radiant Northamptonshire’ (Booth Lane)

Anonymous – ‘Summer Touch’ (Daventry)

Congratulations to all winners and thank you to everyone that entered!
If you'd like to view the winning photographs you can see them on display in the Library.

Need help revising?

Revision...Exams

Learning Facilitators and Librarians at the Library sites are happy to help you with your assignments (structure, finding resources etc), revision and any preparations for exams. Please drop-in at any time to ask for help.

All A Level students are welcome to participate in Catch up Workshops at Booth Lane:

                                

        Tuesday              1.30pm - 4.30pm

        Wednesday        1.30pm - 3.00pm

        Thursday            11.00am - 12.30pm

        Friday                  9.15am – 10.45am

Keep on studying!!

Revision Tip of the Week

If you aren't comfortable or are easily distracted, then you won't be able to study properly, so choose a good study space. Make sure that you feel comfortable, there aren't too many distractions, there is enough light, that you know the closing times (if you've chosen a library or cafe etc). If you find the right study space, you'll work more effectively.

Six Book Challenge update

The Six Book Challenge is starting to draw to a close, so this is a reminder to all those Challengers who still have a book or two left to read. The official end date is Friday 24th May so you have about 4 weeks left. We have already had around 132 students finish the Challenge across the 3 sites, so a huge well done to them. For anyone struggling with the last few books remember the incentives:

• a certificate to add to your portfolio
• a prize from the Library for all those who finish
• a prize for the 3 best diaries
• entry into a national prize draw for completers - a trip to London for the winner and guest including a show and £150 spending money and a Kobo touch eReader for three runners-up

Looks pretty good. We have lots of fiction books including Quick Reads, you can read newspapers or magazines, you can read an article on a website, you can use parts of your textbooks. Just fill in your diaries and bring them into the Library. Happy reading.

Photography Competition

Thank you to all the students who have subitted an entry to the Library Photography Competition. There are some fantastic images (around 40 entries)- looks like it will be difficult to select a winner. We have the experts coming in to judge this week, and we hope to announce the winner(s) by the end of next week. If anything changes, we'll let you know. Thanks again to all our snap happy students!