Comfort reads – podcast 51

Comfort Reads from Tanya's shed

Hello and welcome to the Library Love podcast where we share our love of books and reading from Falkirk Libraries. I’m Tanya recording from home. Today I’ll be recommending comfort reads for times of change. This podcast was recorded during lockdown from my garden shed.

What I have been reading and listening to:

James Herriott – All creatures great and small
Dana Stabenow – re-reading the Kate Shugak mysteries the first one is A Cold Day for Murder
Podcasts: No such thing as a fish. The Magnus Archives. Guided Sleep Meditations

New and forthcoming adult books:
• Rules for Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson
• The Boy from the Woods by Harlan Coben
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
• The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde
• Mum and Dad, Joanna Trollope

New and forthcoming children’s titles:
• (2-6 years) I’m Sticking with You by Smriti Halls and illustrated by Steve Small
• (6 – 10 years) Wigglesbottom Primary: Break-Time Bunnies by Pamela Butchart and illustrated by Becka Moor
• (9 – 13 yrs) The Unadoptables by Hana Tooke and illustrated by Ayesha L. Rubio
• (Teen) One for Sorrow by Zoe Sugg and Amy McCulloch

Viewing Recommendations:
• Primeval (Amazon Prime)
• Good Omens (Amazon Prime)
• Crash course (You Tube)

Our Reading Agony this week:
‘I’m doing more cooking at the moment – any suggestions to help me out as I’m not very good’
Jack Munro – books and blog
Mary Berry (ebook)
Nadiya Hussein (ebook)
BBC Good Food magazine (emagazine)

Staff quote of the day: On a work conference call, “Did you get a good view up my nose?”

Our Discussion: Comfort reads – there is a lot of research about the positive impact that reading has on your mental health, which is great, but I would go one further and say that when things are quite stressful, we need comfort reads. These are my / my colleagues and family’s comfort reads:

  • Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
  • Anything by P G Wodehouse
  • Persuasion or Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  • The Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
  • Mary Poppins series by P L Travers
  • Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
  • Whisky Galore by Compton MacKenzie
  • Knitting books – any and all
  • James Herriott books
  • Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook
  • Pokemon Handbook
  • Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
  • The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
  • The Guernset Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
  • Chronicles of Narnia by C S Lewis
  • Harry Potter series by J K Rowling
  • The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien
  • Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery
  • Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

Did you know?
We have lots of free online resources for you – our ebooks, emagazines and eaudiobooks are brilliant and you can download them easily onto your device – go to our website for information about how to sign up.

You can join our library online – it’s free and easy to get set up and you can use lots of our online resources

Our Falkirk Libraries Youtube channel has videos of storytimes for small people (BSL and spoken) and videos about the history of the Falkirk area too.

Our blog www.librarylovefalkirk.com has lots more information, including fun info about our staff and some ideas for things to do indoors

Thank you for listening to the Library Love podcast, we hope you’ve enjoyed yourself and if you did, then subscribe to our podcast. We love to hear from you and if you’d like to get in touch with us, then go to our blog LibraryLoveFalkirk.com, @LibFalkirk on Twitter, or Falkirk Libraries on Facebook or Instagram. Bye

We Love Libraries – podcast 50

We love libraries - podcast 50

Hello and welcome to the Falkirk Libraries podcast with Vikki, Anna and Tanya

Today’s episode is our 50th podcast and we are discussing our love of libraries and our wonderful childhood memories of using libraries.  All of the books mentioned can be found on our library catalogue

What we have been reading and listening to:

Vikki has been reading:

  • The Hunting Party, Lucy Foley
  • The Family Gift, Cathy Kelly
  • The Lying Room, Nicci French

Tanya has been reading:

  • Hardcore 24 by Janet Evanovich
  • SOS: What you can do to reduce climate change by Seth Wynes

Anna has been reading and listening to:

  • Milk and honey by Faye Kellerman
  • 13 minutes to the moon podcast by the BBC

New and forthcoming adult books:

  • Victim 2117, Jussi Adler-Olsen
  • The Lost Lights of St Kilda, Elizabeth Gifford
  • The Deep, Alma Katsu
  • The Good the bad and the Little bit Stupid, Marina Lewycka
  • Mum and Dad,  Joanna Trollope

New and forthcoming children’s titles:

  • (0-5 years)  When a dragon comes to stay, Caryl Hart, Rosalind Beardshaw
  • (5-7 years)  Billy and the Mini Monsters at the seaside, Zanna Davidson and  Melanie Williamson (Illustrator)
  • (7-9 years) Evil Emperor Penguin (almost) takes over the World,  Laura Ellen Anderson
  • (9-11 years)  The Lost Magician,  Piers Torday
  • (Teen)  The Endsitter, Penni Russon

DVD recommendations:

  • Judy (12)
  • Maleficent: mistress of evil (PG)

Our Reading Agony this week: 

‘I’m planning a trip to celebrate a special birthday can you help me decide where I should go?’

General travel tips:

  • Where to go when the worlds best destinations Dk Eyewitness Travel
  • The Family Travel Handbook, Lonely planet
  • Travel Writer’s Way: Turn your travels into stories , Jonathan Lorie

Specific guides to different countries for short trips or longer ones

Staff quote of the day: “People are silly “

Our Discussion: Why we love libraries: our earliest memory of using the library

We raved about some of our memories of libraries as children:  Malmesbury in Wiltshire, Bath, Campbeltown in Argyll, and lovely Grangemouth Library here in beautiful Falkirk area.

And Vikki had some interesting stats and sound bites about libraries and their use

Did you know?   

A reminder about our requesting service….

You can request items either via our library catalogue using your card and pin…chose which library you would like to pick your item up from. Or in person with your card. if the item isn’t on our system we do charge  £1.20 But if its already on our system then its free

Thank you for listening to the Library Love podcast, we hope you’ve enjoyed yourself and if you did, then subscribe to the podcast.  We love to hear from you and if you’d like to get in touch with us, then go to our blog LibraryLoveFalkirk.com, @LibFalkirk on Twitter, or Falkirk Libraries on Facebook or Instagram.  Bye

Yummy Cookbooks – podcast 49

Yummy Cookbooks - Podcast 49

Hello and welcome to the Falkirk Libraries podcast with Eilidh and Tanya

Today’s episode is about lovely cookbooks.  All of the books mentioned can be found on our library catalogue

What we have been reading and listening to:

Eilidh has been reading:

Safe Haven by Nicola Sparks

Tanya has been reading:

Busman’s Honeymoon and Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers

New and forthcoming adult books:

  • The Dilemma by B A Paris
  • Miss Austen by Gill Hornby
  • Good Economics for Hard Times: Better Answers to Our Biggest Problems by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo
  • Not a Diet Book by James Smith
  • You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters by Kate Murphy

New and forthcoming children’s titles:

  • The Day The Banana Went Bad by Michelle Robinson (author), Tom Knight (illustrator) (0-5 years)
  • Toto the Ninja Cat and the Superstar Catastrophe by Dermot O’Leary (author), Nick East (illustrator) (6 – 9 years)
  • Crater Lake by Jennifer Killick (9 – 13 years)
  • Grief Angels by David Owen (teen)

DVD recommendations:

  • Joker (15)
  • Farmageddon (U)

Our Reading Agony this week: 

‘I’m thinking about changing careers, but I don’t know what I want to do … any books that might give me some good ideas?’

  • The Careers Handbook
  • What color is your parachute by Richard Nelson Bolles
  • My World of Work is extremely useful for anyone thinking about their career

Staff quote of the day: ‘Could there be an amorous llama incident though?’

Our Discussion: Cookbooks – as library staff, people know that we love books, but it’s slightly less well known, that we love food too.  I’m a massive tea and cake fan and always look at the back of all recipe books to see what the puddings are like.  So, we’ve brought in a few that we want to recommend …

  • Jack Munroe, Vegan(ish)
  • The Really Hungry Vegetarian Student Cookbook
  • Honeybuns gluten free baking by Emma Goss-Custard
  • Anything by Madhur Jaffray
  • The Official Dr Who cookbook by Joanna Farrow
  • Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Home Cooking
  • The Great British Bake Off Showstoppers by Linda Collister
  • Mary Berry Quick Cooking

Did you know?   

Libraries have a truly massive cookbook selection, and they give you a chance to try out knew things, without having to buy the book.  Falkirk library has hundreds on the shelves, waiting for you to give them a try, from roasts and mince, to soup and slow cookers, from sweeties to baking, from gluten free, diabetic, heart healthy and vegan, we’ve got a cookbook to meet your needs

Forthcoming  The next podcast is our 50th official podcast and we’re very excited – coming out on the 29th January!

Thank you for listening to the Library Love podcast, we hope you’ve enjoyed yourself and if you did, then rate us on itunes.  We love to hear from you and if you’d like to get in touch with us, then go to our blog LibraryLoveFalkirk.com, @LibFalkirk on Twitter, or Falkirk Libraries on Facebook or Instagram.  Bye

2020 a book Odyssey – podcast 48

Looking forward to 2020, podcast 48

Hello and welcome to the Falkirk Libraries podcast with Vikki and Tanya

Today’s episode is about the exciting new books coming out in 2020

All of the books mentioned can be found on our library catalogue

What we have been reading and listening to:

Vikki has been reading:

  • The Absolution, Yrsa Siguardardottir
  • Violet,  SJI Holliday

Tanya has been reading:

  • Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

New and forthcoming adult books:

  • Philosophy for Polar Explorers ,Erling Kagge
  • The Art of Rest: How to Find Respite in the Modern Age, Claudia Hammond
  • Highfire, Eoin Colfer
  • False Value (Rivers of London 8), Ben Aaronovitch
  • Grown Ups, Marian Keyes

New and forthcoming children’s titles:

  • Greta and the Giants: inspired by Greta Thunberg’s stand to save the world, Zoe Tucker (author), Zoe Persico (illustrator) (3-7)
  • Help Wanted, Must Love Books by Janet Sumner Johnson (Author), Courtney Dawson (Illustrator) (4-7)
  • Your Interests, My Interests: A Visual Guide to Playing and Hanging out for Children on the Autism Spectrum, Joel Shaul (7-14)
  • The Vegetarian Cookbook: More than 50 Recipes for Young Cooks (Dorling Kindersley) (9-12)
  • Reverie, Ryan La Sala (Teen)

DVD recommendations:

  • Downton Abbey The Movie (PG)
  • Dora and the Lost City of Gold (PG)

Our Reading Agony this week: 

“My 14 year old daughter says she isn’t interested in reading anymore as most of the books are boring or lovey dovey and she doesn’t want romance books.  Any ideas to help me out with some good suggestions for her?”

That’s tricky, because there are so many good books that she might like, kids, adult and teen:  How about some manga or comics – like:

  • Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins by Clint McElroy
  • NIMONA by Noelle Stevenson
  • The Graveyard Book Graphic Novel by Neil Gaiman
  • Assassination Classroom by Yusei Matsui
  • My Hero Academia by Kouhei Horikoshi

Or some wonderful novels:

  • Terry Pratchett Discworld novels
  • Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
  • The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
  • Sabriel by Garth Nix
  • Cirque Du Freak (The Saga of Darren Shan Book 1) by Darren Shan
  • Gail Carriger Finishing School Series
  • The Darkest Minds: Book 1 (A Darkest Minds Novel) by Alexandra Bracken
  • Before I die by Jenny Donovan

Staff quote of the day: “It’s too early for a Christmas cardigan, surely?”

Our Discussion: Forthcoming books in 2020 that we are most excited about.

  • Dark Matter, Doug Johnstone
  • Dead to Her, Sarah Pinborough
  • Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid
  • Lift As You Climb, Viv Groskop
  • In Five Years, Rebecca Serle
  • This Lovely City, Louise Hare
  • The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates
  • Djinn Patrol on the Purple Liney, Deepa Anappara
  • Six Wicked Reasons, Jo Spain
  • Three Hours, Rosamund Lupton
  • Below The Big Blue Sky, Anna McPartlin
  • The Other People,  C.J. Tudor
  • The Squiggly Careers, Helen Tupper, Sara Ellis
  • Dragman, Steven Appleby
  • Us Three, Ruth Jones

Did you know?   

Quick Reads!  Launched in 2006, Quick Reads has distributed over 4.8 million copies of more than 100 titles! The books have been loaned more than five million times through libraries and have established a reputation for publishing diverse works by top quality and popular authors, including Andy McNab, Jojo Moyes, Anne Cleeves, Ian Rankin and Benjamin Zephaniah.  

New Quick Reads titles are coming out in February 2020 and for a sneak peak go to the Reading Agency Website

Thank you for listening to the Library Love podcast, we hope you’ve enjoyed yourself and if you did, then rate us on itunes.  We love to hear from you and if you’d like to get in touch with us, then go to our blog LibraryLoveFalkirk.com, @LibFalkirk on Twitter, or Falkirk Libraries on Facebook or Instagram.  Bye