Finding myself watching more tv than usual now that the nights are drawing in and the weather is getting - slightly - colder, I was pleased to stumble across a new series of the book programme 'Between the Covers'.
Last time, a key find was the novelist Mary Lawson, championed by Graham Norton. I'm not sure I'm going to follow his latest recommendation, but there were still a couple of books to add to my reading list. The participants also opened the box on whether it's acceptable to read the end of a book first...?
I was fortunate to hear Graham Norton speak about his own writing at a conference the other week. He has written three novels now and is getting good reviews. I've added them to my list.
He was asked about choosing books to read and whether, as he is such a familiar face, he is able to browse bookshops without being interrupted. He said that as people were likely to talk to him about books, he didn't mind as he was always happy to do that!
Last week I was in the bookshop talking about the titles nominated for the Yoto Carnegie children's prize. There have been 67 books listed for the writing prize and 58 for illustration. That's a lot of books. They have all been chosen by librarians and it's a great list to work from for Christmas gift ideas. The shortlist follows in March and young people are invited to engage with the list in discussions, reviews and events, ultimately voting for their winner which is announced in June.
But if you're keen on getting some reading ideas closer to home, we'll be having our annual book group recommendations evening on Monday 28 November. Please let me know as soon as possible now if you'd like to come along and, more importantly, if you'd like to share the details of a favourite book!
Thank you for reading.