The Bookworm by Swanshurst Library

The Bookworm Spring 2012 KS4 reading at Swanshurst

Dystopian Days. From 1984 to The Hunger Games.

Editorial Welcome to the first edition of The Bookworm, Swanshurst library’s regular new guide to good books for KS4 students, parents and teachers. As librarians at Swanshurst we love reading and we’re always trying to think of new ways to share that passion for books. This guide includes new books and old books, long novels and short novels; recommendations from us, from authors and from some of our own teachers. We hope you enjoy our recommendations and look forward to hearing your opinions.

‘The Team’ ‘Mary Wollstonecraft’ Wild ‘Harper Lee’ Lea ‘Radclyffe Hall’ Hopkins ‘Branwell Bronte’ Beniston

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CONTENTS Dystopia 101

Bali Rai at Swanshurst

Prize News

All the latest news on the Carngie, Costa and Red House Awards.

Scared? You should be 10

Extreme Reading

Each issue we’ll interview a member of staff. To start with it’s our very own Mr B.

The Bronte’s

Be inspired

Mrs Quayum remembers falling in love with Stephen King’s novels when she was a teenager.

The List Page

Some people just like lists . . .

We love English teachers 22 We love Miss Osgood and Ms Moody. Take a look at their recommendations - a favourite classic and a favourite contemporary novel.

Swanshurst Recommends 26 The Book Doctor

Get in touch

The Hunger Games

(Below) Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss and Liam Hemsworth as Gale. (Bottom right) Suzanne Collins

Special thanks to Yusra Mian, Sarina Saqib and Taliesen Colbourne for doing our fabulous Hunger Games display in Upper Library.

Suzanne Collins’ best selling novel has been a huge hit at Swanshurst—our most read novel of 2011/12. Quite right too. The main character, Katniss, is a strong, sassy, no-nonsense kind of gal. Teenage fiction needs more strong heroines like her. The film is already breaking box office records and getting good reviews. Jennifer Lawrence has proved herself to be one of best young actresses around - excellent in X-men: First Class and utterly brilliant in Winter’s Bone. The film was released on 23rd March. Have you seen it yet?

DYSTOPIA 101

The Hunger Games is a dystopian novel. Dystopias are often set in the future or a slightly altered present where governments run very repressive regimes. 1984 by George Orwell (1949) and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1931) are perhaps the two most famous dystopian novels, though you shouldn’t miss out on Ray Bradbury’s Farenheit 451 (1953). A more modern classic is The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood - it won the inaugural Arthur C Clarke Award in 1987. They are all well worth reading. In the last few years a number of brilliant dystopian novels have been written for teenagers. Perhaps it’s the ecological crisis or the economic crisis or the dumbing down of culture with reality TV - but whatever the reason, there are some exciting and thought-provoking novels being produced. Why not try Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, The Declaration series by Gemma Malley, The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan or Zenith by Julie Bertagna. There’s a full list here.

Author visits Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been very lucky over the last year as three authors have visited Swanshurst - Keith Gray, Marcus Sedgwick and most recently Bali Rai. Bali stands in the tradition of writers like Robert Cormier, Melvin Burgess and Malorie Blackman - writers who produce fiction for teenagers and are unafraid to confront issues of race, sex, violence and addiction. For many readers desperate to find books relevant to their own lives these novels can be enormously rewarding and liberating. A few find them more difficult - challenging their ideas and views of what novels can do. Baliâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s visit was full of fascinating insights and intense debateâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;it was just a brilliant day. Lots of students bought books and got them signed by Bali at lunchtime. Research shows that events like this, promoting fiction for pleasure, can have a significant impact on reading, writing and literacy throughout the school. More author visits will be announced soon.

"Rai never shies away from difficult topics, and here tackles the controversial issue of honour killings. It's utterly compelling, and will be much-debated." - Fiona Noble, The Bookseller

Prize News It’s that time of year again. The Carnegie Medal is one of the most prestigious awards for children’s and teenage fiction and this year’s short list is out. The novels (with links to reviews or interviews) are: My Name is Mina by David Almond Small Change Stuart by Lissa Evans The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett Everybody Jam by Ali Lewis Trash by Andy Mulligan A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys This is another strong list - My Name is Mina and A Monster Calls are GREAT novels that will be read for many years to come. Shortlists are brilliant because they generate discussion, help us to clarify our ideas and help us to consider current trends in fiction. We urge you to have a look at the full long list too, because several notable novels did not make it onto the shortlist. Get reading!

Novels by Alan Gibbons, Chris Priestley, Anna Perera, Malorie Blackman and Gill Lewis could have all easily made it onto the shortlist. However, leaving out Mal Peet’s Life:An Exploded Diagram and Twilight Robbery by Francis Hardinge is, I would suggest, unforgiveable (I know—strong words!). Hardinge is set to join Diana Wynne Jones, Philip Pullman and Philip Reeve as one of our best fantasy writers. Peet’s novel is so good that I can only feel sorry for the judges (other librarians!) - they should know better and clearly need to develop some taste. So there! We hope you’ll try some of these novels and check out Peet’s and Hardinge’s previous novels too. [Mr B]

Our congratulations to Patrick Ness for winning this year’s Red House Award

This year’s winner of the Costa Children’s Award is Blood Red Road by Moira Young

The Horror of it all

That Harry Potter bloke is getting a bit old!

Susan Hill wrote The Woman in Black back in 1983 but the new film adaption starring Daniel Radcliffe has brought it to the attention of a new generation. For most teenagers reading the tale for the first time this will be the scariest novel they will have encountered - so be warned! Susan Hill riffs on the classics of psychological horror, especially the short stories of Edgar Allen Poe, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James and The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Indeed The Woman in Black stands along side Peter Straub’s Ghost Story, Graham Joyce’s The Tooth Fairy and many of Stephen King’s novels as masterpieces of the genre.

Authors of YA fiction are also becoming braver when it comes to horror breaking down the boundaries between teenage fiction and adult fiction. As usual Melvin Burgess was one of the first to tackle ‘horror’ full on. Try Bloodtide. The other YA novelist who has mastered psychological horror is Cliff McNish. Try Breathe: A Ghost Story, The Hunting Ground and Savannah Grey. Check out a couple of interviews with him here and here. Michelle Paver’s Dark Matter is one of those books that the publishing industry sells with different covers for the adult and YA markets. A similar tactic is used with some of Neil Gaiman’s books - most of you will know Coraline and The Graveyard Book. He also writes chilling fantasies with elements of horror. You could try American Gods and Neverwhere.

Each issue we’ll be interviewing a member of staff about their reading and cultural life. For the first issue we’ve been talking to our own Mr B. TBW: Can you remember the first book you fell in love with? MrB: My memories of Primary School are pretty hazy but I remember having a copy of Fantastic Mr Fox and reading that time and again. The first book that I really fell in love with was The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, which I got for my tenth birthday. It’s kind of science fiction with comedy. The BBC made it into a TV series, a year later - I loved that too. Ahh . . . Vogon poetry, Slartibartfast and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe - those were the days! TBW: Whatever you say Mr B. So would you say science fiction has always been an important influence? MrB: Definitely. I grew up with films like Star Wars, Alien (and Aliens), Blade Runner, The Terminator, 2001 and Silent Running; with TV series like Doctor Who, Star Trek and Blakes 7. A comic called 2000AD has also been a huge influence on my imagination—you can now get lots of the old stories as graphic novels. Everybody should try The Ballad of Halo Jones and Robo-Hunter and of course Judge Dredd. Weirdly though I didn’t discover sci-fi novels and short stories until much, much later - in my twenties. TBW: So what were you reading as a teenager? MrB: Nothing very profound I’m afraid - lots of old crime fiction like Agatha Christie; fantasy - stuff like The Belgariad series by David Eddings and The

Dragonlance Chronicles. Lots of escapism. There wasn’t the wide range of teenage fiction that we have now. Finally when I was about 15 I discovered Horror - mainly James Herbert and Stephen King. Loved it. TBW: That’s lots of genre fiction. When did you discover ‘serious’ literature. MrB: Firstly I think that’s a false distinction. Yes, a lot of genre fiction is purely escapist even when its well written but there is also a tradition of genre fiction that is extremely well written and subtle, deeply concerned with the world, and deeply concerned with challenging stale and conservative ideas—just think of writers like Patrick Ness, Philip Pullman, Ursula Le Guin or China Mieville in YA fiction. However to answer your question, I read The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles for my A level. It literally blew my mind. Here was a book that is essentially a romance, but that talks about history, science, politics and much more in the most amazing ways. From then on I was hooked and my world was transformed within a couple of months. First I read all of his [Fowles] other books. Then I devoured some of the classics - Thomas Hardy, the Brontes, Austin, Dostoevsky—and then went onto contemporary authors like Jeanette Winterson and Paul Auster.

TBW: So what do you prefer now? MrB: I love all sorts. I’ve grown to love sci-fi more recently, simply because I’ve discovered so many books that I wish I’d read decades ago. Most of all I love authors that deliberately mess with genre expectations and distinctions—authors like David Mitchell, M John Harrison, Hilary Mantel and Christopher Priest. I also love the tradition of female writers that begins with Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf—people like Elizabeth Bowen, Elizabeth Taylor, Rosamond Lehmann, Doris Lessing and Muriel Spark, and more recently, Ali Smith and Sarah Waters. TBW: What about your taste in teenage literature? MrB: One of the things I really like about teenage fiction is that all genres are used and appreciated. Some of the authors I admire I’ve already mentioned - Ness, Pullman and Le Guin - but there’s loads of others I’ve discovered— all of David Almond’s books are brilliant, or Elizabeth Laird, Marcus Sedgwick, Margo Lanagan, Philip Reeve and Francis Hardinge. Bali Rai was brilliant when he came to school—brave and fearless.

TBW: Sorry to bring this up but we’ve heard you don’t like Harry Potter or Twilight. What have you got to say for yourself? MrB: OK . . . What I’d say to that is when someone comes into the library I’ll encourage them to read anything and everything including Harry Potter and Twilight. That’s the only way you develop your own taste, plus I remember what it was like to fall in love with reading—why would I want to spoil that for anyone? However I also think its part of my job to encourage those readers who already love reading to try different things and to challenge themselves - as readers and as human beings—and not always stay in their comfort zones. If someone asks me what I think then I’m not going to lie. Bella in Twilight—what a wimp! I like my heroines to look after themselves and kick ass! And Potter— don’t get me started. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. . . . TBW: On that final note of madness I think we’ll wrap it up. Thanks very much. MrB: A pleasure . . . well almost a pleasure anyway. So Long and Thanks for All the Fish.

The Brontes

Haworth (main picture) and Mia Wasikowska in Cary Fukunagaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent adapation of Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre vs Wuthering Heights The writer China Mieville believes you are either a Jane Eyre person or a Wuthering Heights person. He’s definitely on Charlotte Bronte’s side, having called Jane Eyre “the greatest book in English”: “Charlotte Brontë’s heroine towers over those around her, morally, intellectually and aesthetically; she’s completely admirable and compelling. Never camp, despite her Gothic surrounds, she takes a scalpel to the skin of the every day.” It’s certainly true that both novels have had a lasting impact on novelists and readers for nearly two centuries. Countless film and TV adaptions have been made and the two most recent were both well worth watching. There’ll be a longer article on the Bronte’s in the next issue of The Bookworm. For now we want you to be part of the debate so get reading and bring your opinions and insights to the library! And of course, we don’t mind if you like (or dislike—booooo) both novels. Charlotte Bronte’s other novels Shirley and Villette are well worth reading as is The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte. If you want some background you could read Elizabeth Gaskell’s biography of Charlotte too.

“I have read and enjoyed so many of his books over the years that choosing one is an impossible task. So I narrowed it down to two: Cujo and Needful Things. Cujo is about a much-loved pet who accidently gets bitten and starts to develop rabies (as you can see – I was interested in biology even then!). Cujo is a BIG dog and eventually a situation arises where a mother and her young son are trapped in their car in a remote garage location in very hot conditions – she cannot telephone for help (yes - there was a time when mobile phones were not around!) and she cannot access any water for herself or her son – the dog is in the way. Thoughts are also given from the dog’s perspective so it makes the story even more interesting… I won’t tell you the ending – you may want to read it for yourself!”

Be Inspired

“I was introduced to Stephen King in my middle to late teens by an older brother – i.e. I picked up a book from his room and thought ‘this looks interesting’ – I had exhausted the library of all other books aimed at teenagers and was becoming bored of the same old stories being produced. I was looking for stories that would come to life in my imagination - where every word written could lead to another corner of my mind. Since then I have been an avid fan! Stephen King writes brilliant horror stories with a twist.”

Stephen King was born in Maine (USA) in 1947. He got his English degree in 1970 and in 1973 his first novel Carrie was published. King has written 50 novels and 9 short story collections. Many are regarded as classics - try Salem’s Lot, The Shining, The Stand, Cujo, Pet Semetary and Misery. Recent books like Duma Key, Under the Dome and Full Dark, No Stars are just as good.

BIG THANKS to Mrs Quayum for writing about her love for the great Mr King. “Needful Things is a book that makes me think about how people could behave towards each other just because they want something. A shop (Needful Things) is opened where all the residents in the town find something that they ‘need’… and I’m not talking about just an everyday need like you need to have some breakfast or you need to have some free time… they REALLY NEED the item the owner has to sell – even though to anyone else it looks like an average everyday object. They are prepared to do ANYTHING to get the item… and when they carry out what appears to be a harmless favour, there are terrible consequences… and I will leave you just there!” “There are many more excellent examples of his work – some have been made into films (long before your time I’m afraid) However, the books are far better for the imagination. So if you are thinking of reading a Stephen King novel… be prepared to be frightened (I could not even turn over the pages when I read Cujo!)… and expect the unexpected!”

Lists Sometimes you don’t want loads of chat, or interviews, or pictures. You just want a list and a quiet place to figure out what you want to read . . .

is for Dickens, Donoghue ….

Isak Dinesen Out of Africa

am h n w y Do n n e J I Die e r o f - Be

Da ph ne d - R u Ma ebe u cca rier

Helen Dunmore - The Seige

ns s ke n Dic tio es ecta arl p Ch t Ex ea Gr

Sir Art hu Do yle r Co na –St ori n es

Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa - The Leopard Sio Philip K Dick Roddy Doyle b A S han D wif Paddy Clarke ha, ha, ha Do Androids Dream t P owd ure of Electric Sheep Cr y

Joe Dunthorne - Submarine

Emma Donoghue - Room

These days you can find lists everywhere - papers, magazines, TV and especially online. Here are some ideas. Guardian Top 10s The Guardian has a brilliant feature where it asks authors to choose, you guessed it, a top 10 on a chosen theme. There are 433! Try Charlie Higson’s top 10 fantasy for teenagers, Derek Landy’s top 10 villains, Mary Hoffman’s top 10 Christmas books or Patrick Ness's top 10 'unsuitable' books for teenagers - or just browse through until you find what you’re looking for. There are currently 44 lists in the Children’s top 10s too. Goodreads is a really good website. Sign up , rate 20 novels (I mostly chose books that I love and then a few I really dislike) and the website generates recommendations. The rating system is very basic (1 to 5 stars) but nevertheless you end up getting some really good ideas.

“A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.”

Franz Kafka

There are lots of brilliant authors who don’t get quite so much publicity as some of the ‘bigger’ names. Why not check out these authors at their websites:

Rhiannon Lassiter Chris Wooding Tim Bowler Sarah Singleton Lots more ideas next time

ENGLISH TEACHERS ARE

COOL*

Miss Moody and Miss Osgood have chosen a favourite classic and a favourite contemporary novel. They have shown exceptionally good taste! We hope you enjoy their recommendations. Cold Comfort Farm is my absolute favourite. I have to have a copy with me where ever I go, just in case I desperately need to re-read a particularly brilliant chapter. The problem is that, as far as I’m concerned, all of the chapters are brilliant. Over the years this has led to my buying four copies of the book to leave in different places, so one is always to hand. You might ask what is so brilliant about a book that seems at face value to be about a young orphan girl going to stay with her terrible relative. Well, it is brilliant because it is utterly hilarious. If I was pushed to pick the most fantastic comic section of the whole novel, it would be when the bull, Big Business, escapes from the field. But it could also be Mrs. Smiling’s collection of bras, Mrs. Beetle’s plans for an infant jazz quartet or Cousin Urk’s obsession with water-voles. Probably it is the totally unshakable belief in The Higher Common Sense by the heroine, Miss Flora Poste. I love Flora’s immense practicality and the forthright way in which she sets about organising her confused, bemused and backward country cousins. She manages them all, from the bed bound and batty Aunt Ada Doom to the misguided, lovelorn Elfine. When I first read this book, probably about ten years ago now, I loved the whimsical, and often downright bizarre, way in which all the character spoke to each other. I loved the comic names. I loved the terrible country stereotypes. But most all I loved, and still do, how much it made me laugh. I still read Cold Comfort Farm at least once a year. And yes, it still makes me giggle.

*most of the time!

‘The circus arrives without warning’ This quote sums up part of the reason why I absolutely love The Night Circus. It is mysterious. Really mysterious. I really like the idea of a circus of dreams, which only opens at night and is full of magical wonders. I really believe in reading the first few pages of a book before you decide to take it out, or buy it, so I often stand in book shops flicking through potential reading material- one of my favourite past times. What I remember really clearly about picking up this book for the first time, in the middle of a crowded book shop, was that as soon as I read that first line everything else seemed to disappear. It was like being sucked into the world of the circus. Once I’d bought the book and gotten it home, I sat down to read it straight away. I read it all in one go. It is one of the very few books that was so good that it made me voluntarily give up eating, answering my phone and sleeping for an entire evening, until it was done. After I was finished I was a little bit sad to have left the circus behind. Ordinary life seems so much duller than the complex, mysterious and vivid world of The Night Circus. I wish I could read it anew over and over again.

‘It is a truth universally acknowledge that a single man, in possession of a large fortune, must be in want of a wife’. Those immortal words can probably be quoted by most speakers of the English Language, even if they have never picked up a copy of Jane Austen’s books in their life. I personally read Pride and Prejudice for the first time when I was about fifteen. Like every other woman I completely fell in love with Mr Darcy, but the truth be told, I fell in love with all the characters. Mrs Bennett, the mother of the family, will have you in stiches with her nerves and desperation to get all of her five daughters married off to eligible men (with lots of money of course), as will Mr Bennett, with his cynical remarks and quick wit. The sisters though are probably the best. Lydia and Kitty are the kind of girls we all know; flirty, full of life, always up for a good time, while Mary is the eternal wallflower who never gets asked to dance (we’ve all been there or at least know someone who has). But of course it’s Elizabeth Bennett, the second eldest in the family, and the heroine of the novel, who really makes it for me. She’s confident, sassy, intelligent, and probably most importantly, never gives in to peer pressure to become anything other than who she is. She was definitely my role model growing up. You’ll get lost in the world of balls, stately homes and romance. There is something for everyone in this book. Whether you’ve ever been compared to elder siblings, fallen in love with the wrong person, been irritated by parents who just don’t understand you, or had to deal with the catty remarks off other girls, this novel is for you! Go on, read it! Read it now!

Jane Austen was born in 1775. She wrote six fantastic novels. Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1816) were published in her lifetime; Persuasion and Northanger Abbey were published the year after her death in 1818.

I was given the The French Lieutenant’s Woman to read at University. I was initially reluctant to give it a try; being a confirmed fan of the Classics, a contemporary novel seemed out of my comfort zone. However I soon found that’s what makes this novel so perfect. It’s a Classic novel with a modern edge. Each time I read it I find something new in the story that I hadn’t seen before, but at the same time I still get lost in the drama of the plot, the tension and the fear that the hero, Charles, feels as he begins to learn more and more about the ‘Woman’ of the title. The ‘Woman’s’ real name is Sarah Woodruff, a figure shrouded in rumour and scandal. Charles, like the reader, soon becomes totally bewitched by the layers of mystery that surround her. She is possibly one of the most perfect heroines ever written, she’s so alluring that Charles can’t resist her, despite being engaged to another woman. The alternate endings are brilliant, and give the otherwise ‘Classic’ style of the novel a great twist. Look out the for reference to PreRaphaelite painter Rossetti at the end. If you love the paintings like I do it really adds to the appeal of the story, and if you’re not sure who I’m talking about, look him up, his paintings are breathtaking! Read this if you like mystery, drama, romance, or simply just gripping storylines. Whether you’re a Classics fan like myself, or prefer something more contemporary this novel is for you.

Can Patrick Ness get any better? He has wowed the world with The Chaos Walking Trilogy, winning all the prestigious Book Awards along the way. Now A Monster Calls is gathering even more praise from critics and readers alike. At Swanshurst we can’t get enough of him. All of his books are sophisticated and thought provoking, but they’re also compulsive page turners too. If you haven’t tried a Ness book you just haven’t lived!

Swanshurst Recommends

S E (Susan Elouise) Hinton started writing The Outsiders when she was 15 and got it published 2 years later in 1967. How amazing is that! The novel tells the story of Ponyboy, Sodapop, Dally, Johnny and Darry—all members of a gang called the Greasers—and they’re rivalry with a group of wealthy boys, the Socs. It was hugely controversial when it was published and has remained so, in the USA, at least. It’s a story that gets to heart of what it’s like to be a teenager. It’s about class, about growing up and trying to find your identity in a difficult, unfair, unequal world. It’s portrayal of violence and murder, family dysfunction, drinking and smoking, and it’s downbeat tone mean that it’s just as relevant today as it was then.

Wanna be a rebel? How the Light gets in is M J (Maria Joan) Hyland’s first novel, published in 2003. The main character is Lou Connors, a sixteen year-old working class Australian girl. She’s sassy and extremely bright, but also unhappy, disaffected and a complete pain-in-the-ass, and moves to the USA when she wins a scholarship. Lou just can’t help pushing her luck, even when she gets chance after chance. This is an amazing book, especially if you have your own self-destruct button - when you can’t seem to say or do the right thing even when you know you shouldn’t be doing it. Hyland’s second novel Carry Me Down is also excellent and was short-listed for the Booker Prize in 2006.

The Book Doctor SD: I’ve heard you’re recommending The Outsiders in this first issue of The Bookworm (see P22—Ed) but I’ve already read it. What could I try next? TBD: You could go in two directions I think. First you could start to explore some of the other classics of Twentieth Century American fiction. Novels like The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, The Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger, The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller or Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut. There’s also The Chocolate Wars by Robert Cormier and The Giver by Louis Lowry—both of these are now regarded as YA (young adult) classics. These are all page-turners but they’ll stretch you too. Whilst you’re reading those you could try looking for rebels in various contemporary YA novels. Try Bali Rai’s two tales of gang life - The Crew and The Whisper. Of course Katniss in The Hunger Games is a great rebel and there’s Katsa in Graceling by Kristin Cashore. Easily my favourite though is Hester in Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines Series. Reeve gives us the kind of story, characters and satisfying complexity that other authors of YA novels can only dream about. When you’ve finished your exams and you’re ready for some summer reading why not settle down with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It’s not ‘Great Literature’, and it’s pretty violent but Lizbeth sure is a great rebel for our times.

RI: I love crime dramas and thrillers on TV and in films but there aren’t many crime novels in Upper library. What have you got in the 6th Form library that I might like? TBW: YA fiction has its fair share of excellent suspenseful thrillers like A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly or Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick. However It’s true that YA fiction isn’t so good at crime - perhaps because crime fiction as a genre tends to deal with lots of the grisly, unpalatable aspects of society; there’s often swearing and violence too. Nonetheless as long as you’re prepared for some of those dark themes then we have lots of good books to recommend. There are some great ideas here and here, too. The popularity of Henning Mankell and Stieg Laarson has helped to unleash a cold blast of Scandinavian crime fiction onto our bookshelves. Much of it is very good. Try Jo Nesbo, Mari Jungstedt, Arnaldur Indridason and Camilla Lackberg. Of course there’s plenty of excellent crime fiction coming over from the USA. We have novels by Jonathan Kellerman, R J Ellory and Sarah Paretsky. Some of you might have heard of a brilliant US series called The Wire. Writers for that show - Denis Lehane, George Pellicanos and Richard Price - are all well worth reading. Good old Blighty also has its fair share of fantastic crime writers - try Ian Rankin, P D James, Belinda Bauer, Lee Child and Val McDermid.

Calling ALL readers We don’t care whether you come to the library every day, occasionally or never. We know that there are lots of you that don’t use the library but have your own books or e-reader and are reading loads. Whatever your reading habits we want to know what you’re reading and we want your recommendations. Please spare the time to send us an email, a note or provide us with a review. You can help us improve the library and we can pass on your passion to others. The Bookworm can evolve too, with more input from you.