Friday, 29 April 2016

The Cross Sports Book Awards 2016

This is a major annual promotion for Sports Writing & Publishing. 

The shortlist for the Cross Autobiography of the Year category has been revealed.




The other categories are
International Autobiography of the Year
Biography of the Year
Cricket Book of the Year
Football Book of the Year
Rugby Book of the Year
Cycling Book of the Year
Illustrated Book of the Year
Outstanding General Sports Writing Award
New Writer of the Year
Lifetime Achievement Award

The six nominees will hope to follow in the footsteps of Welsh rugby legend Gareth Thomas, whose winning autobiography went on to win the Cross Sports Book of the Year Award in 2015.



The winners of all the categories and the overall winner will be announced  at an awards ceremony to be held at Lord’s Cricket Ground on 1st June 2016.

Friday, 22 April 2016

World Book Night - 23 April 2016






23 April 2016 is World Book Night. It is also the day we remember William Shakespeare, our most famous poet and playwright, who died 23 April 1616 (400 years ago) aged 52. It’s widely believed that his birthday also fell on 23 April.



What better day then to encourage people of all ages to read and reach out to the 36% of the UK’s population who don’t regularly read for pleasure or own books. This is what World Book Night seeks to do. Volunteers are recruited who will give away free books from a collection of 15 titles, thereby getting books into people’s homes and lives. The titles chosen are enjoyable, compelling and very readable. They also include a variety of genres, fiction and non-fiction and books aimed at young adults.


World Book Night Titles 2016

It’s too late to apply to give away World Book Night titles this year but you can still be involved. Why not give out any book you choose on the night – one you already own, or one you buy specially. You can also choose who you want to give the book to – a friend, neighbour or complete stranger, anyone in fact. So follow the link below and register your intention to spread the word, literally, that reading for pleasure is just that, a pleasure.

Friday, 15 April 2016

Charlotte Bronte Bicentenary

Born 21 April 1816, next week marks the Bicentenary of Charlotte Bronte’s birth. Her life story is told in a new biography by Claire Harman which we expect to reach the library shelves very soon. 



Raised motherless on remote Yorkshire moors, watching five beloved siblings sicken and die, haunted by unrequited love: Charlotte Bronte’s life has all the drama and tragedy of the great Gothic novels it inspired.


Of course we can’t celebrate Charlotte Bronte’s birth without mentioning her best loved books.

Jane Eyre
A troubled childhood strengthens Jane Eyre's natural independence and spirit - which prove necessary when she becomes governess at Thornfield Hall. When she finds love with Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice.


Villette
With neither friends nor family, Lucy Snowe sets sail from England to find employment in a girls' boarding school in the small town of Villette. There she struggles to retain her self-possession in the face of unruly pupils, an initially suspicious headmaster and her own complex feelings.

Friday, 8 April 2016

National Pet Month “Promoting Responsible Pet Ownership”

The R.S.P.C.A and Cats Protection are running a neutering campaign across Wales. Under the campaign you can get your pet cat neutered and microchipped for just £5.


You should qualify for help if:
you receive a state benefit
you’re on a low household income
you’re a full time student or pensioner

For more information:
Tel. 03000 121212 
(Monday – Friday 9.30 am -1.00 pm)
www.RSPCA.cymru/neutering
www.cats.org.uk/walescampaign

Dog owners don’t get caught out! 
It's now a legal requirement to have any dog over the age of eight weeks microchipped in England and Wales.


Books in celebration of our wonderful four legged friends 

Vicki Myron – Dewey: the small-town library-cat who touched the world 
The story of how one adorable and lovably roguish library cat touched the lives of everyone he came into contact with. 




Judith Summers – The Badness of King George
Her five-year relationship has finally ended and her son is off to university - for the first time since her husband died, Judith Summers is living alone. Well, not entirely alone. She still has George, her King Charles spaniel. But when Judith becomes a canine foster carer, George has to adjust to sharing his owner with some new dogs.



James Bowen – A Street Cat Named Bob 
The moving, uplifting true story of an unlikely friendship between a man on the streets and the ginger cat who adopts him and helps him heal his life.




Sheila Hocken – Emma and I
As a girl, Sheila never let her gradual descent into blindness prevent her from trying to do everything a sighted person could do. Then, at 17, she found herself dreading her future in an 'ever darkening vacuum'. But then Emma - a chocolate Labrador - enters her life, and Sheila begins a journey of independence, love and happiness.


Rachel Wells - A Cat Called Alfie
Edgar Road used to be your typical London street; a road full of people who barely said a word to one another. Then Alfie came along - a big grey ball of fur who changed the lives of every family he met, and brought a community together. But now a new family have moved into Edgar Road and they, more than anyone else, need Alfie's help. Can he bring light to their darkest times? Or is it already too late to stop them from falling apart?


Will Barrow – Buster: the dog who saved a thousand lives
This book tells the story of Buster and Will describing how each came to save the other's life. It is a relationship that produced some heroic feats in the dust and desert heat of Afghanistan - and the most decorated dog in military history.






Friday, 1 April 2016

Reading Well Mood Boosting Books 2016



Feeling a bit low? For a guilt free pick me up why not try a mood boosting book. There are no calories or side effects and no hangover in the morning. However, addiction may become a problem.

The list contains 25 titles including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, short stories and children’s books.

Here are my favourites. 


Ross Poldark by Winston Graham
I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but this one certainly boosts my mood! 


Mort by Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett’s quirky, satirical take on the world as demonstrated in his Discworld novels, always makes me smile.

The Road to Little Dribbling by Bill Bryson
Twenty years after “Notes From a Small Island” was published, Bill Bryson takes another trip around this green and pleasant land to see what has changed and once again gives us his perceptive and hilarious insight into all that is best and worst about Britain today.



The Emergency Poet edited by 
Deborah Alma
If you’re having one of those days when the world is just too much for you, dip into this anti-stress poetry anthology and try reading “Inessential Things” by Brian Patten and “Leisure” by W H Davies.



The Penguin lessons by Tom Michell
A heart warming tale of Juan Salvador, the penguin rescued from an oil slick in Uruguay by a young British teacher, Tom Michell. “I was hoping against hope that the penguin would survive because, as of that instant, he had a name, and with his name came the beginning of a bond that would last a lifetime.”

View the full list here Mood Boosting Books 2016