Newsletter Subscribe to our blog via email. Opt out any time - please see our Privacy Policy
November 2017 marks 100 years since the Battle of Passchendaele ended. To commemorate this we recommend a list of First World War books, from must-reads to forgotten classics.
November 6, 2017
0 Comments
Sarah Perry is the author of After Me Comes the Flood and The Essex Serpent. She has a PhD in creative writing from Goldsmiths University. Her thesis was about the Gothic, and her books are written in this style. Her first book was shortlisted for the Guardian 'First Book Award' in 2014, while The Essex Serpent went on to win multiple awards including Book of the Year and Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards 2016, The Waterstones Book of the Year 2016.
October 16, 2017
0 Comments
Audiobooks about mental health can help everyone understand the affect mental illness has on daily life. Here are 13 of the best.
October 9, 2017
1 Comment
Robert Thorogood is a screenwriter and author. He is best known for the Death in Paradise TV series. In 2008 he was a finalist for the Red Planet Prize, which aimed to find undiscovered writers. This gave him the opportunity to pitch his idea for a television series about an English policeman in the Caribbean to Tony Jordan, the creator of Life on Mars and Hustle. Death in Paradise first aired in 2010, and it has gone on to be one of Britain's most popular TV shows, with an average of 9 million viewers for Series 6.
October 2, 2017
0 Comments
This year, the UK is celebrating Banned Books Week to highlight the history of censorship. One of the most famous examples is Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence. The book was famously banned in the UK because of its explicit content. In 1960, Penguin Books won a court case to publish it due to the 'Obscene Publications Act'. This act said that any book considered obscene but with "redeeming social merit" could be published. After six days, the jury found the book was not obscene. It sold out across the UK on the first day of publication, with 200,000 copies bought. Almost 60 years on, this is considered a landmark case that represented the end of an era.
September 25, 2017
0 Comments
If you're finding reading difficult, school can be particularly daunting. There always seems to be so many things to read! This is where our Sound Learning service comes in. We record educational audiobooks from ages 7 and up so that at least getting through the reading doesn't have to be difficult. We've collected some of the best back to school audiobooks in our library, so get a head start on listening!
August 23, 2017
0 Comments
The character was based on the real son of A A Milne, Christopher Robin Milne. However, as he grew up, he started to hate his portrayal in the Winnie the Pooh books and resent his father.
August 21, 2017
0 Comments
We've collected some of our favourite audiobooks, from crime to memoir! Whether you're travelling to a far-flung destination or relaxing at home, we've got the perfect summer listening for you!
August 14, 2017
0 Comments
Kiran Millwood Hargrave is a poet, playwright and novelist. She's best know for her debut novel 'The Girl of Ink and Stars' and latest release 'The Island at the End of Everything'. Her books, while perhaps more aimed at children and teens, appeal to adults too, and her debut received multiple awards.
August 7, 2017
0 Comments
Ruth Hatfield is a writer and archaeologist, known for her The Book of Storms trilogy. The series is aimed at children and teens and follows Danny, whos parents are storm chasers...
July 24, 2017
0 Comments