We’ve scoured the web (well, Eventbrite mainly) for festive fun online. Scroll for our guide to bookish events on a winter/Christmas theme. There’s something for everyone – kids, romantics, nature lovers and thrill seekers.
A special day of online events, brought to you via Edinburgh International Book Festival’s YouTube channel or Facebook (@edbookfest)
10.30am DrawAlong with Eilidh Muldoon! (5yrs+) 11.00am Four Seasons – Storytelling with Macastory (3yrs+) 11.30am Self Portrait Poems with Leyla Josephine (7yrs+) 12noon Drawings Diaries with Katie Chappell (5yrs+) 12.30pm Where Snow Angels Go – A Reading by Maggie O’Farrell (5yrs+)
2.30pm Pass the Zine with Edinburgh Zine Library (11yrs+) 3.00pm Music from the Tinderbox Collective (all ages) 3.30pm Poems for Today with Courtney Stoddart (14yrs+) 4.00pm Route of Memories with Eleanor Thom (11yrs+)
6.00pm The Incredible Adam Spark – A Reading by Alan Bissett (YA and adults) 6.30pm The Citizen Collective Stories and Ideas (YA and adults) 7.00pm Citizen Writers’ Group – Sharing (adults) 7.30pm Daughter of Stories – A Reading by Nadine Aisha Jassat (YA and adults)
Lyceum Christmas Tales is an advent calendar of stories, combining new and familiar festive tales penned and performed by some of Scotland’s best-loved writers, musicians and artists. Each fifteen-minute, family-friendly festive tale will be available to watch free throughout December.
Yes, Santa and Mrs Claus have recorded some wonderful Christmas stories especially for us bairns! Every Thursday at 6.30pm, head to Falkirk Community Trust’s Facebook page to hear a new story. You’ll be able to catch them later on the FCT You Tube channel and Facebook page if you miss them.
For the first 12 days of December the Play Talk Read team are sharing a simple Christmas-themed activity a day. They’re on their Facebook page, so you can dip into the fun, whenever you like.
Q&A with classic crime collection editor Cecily Gayford, discussing her new book which features short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers, Ruth Rendell, Ellis Peters and more.
Ian Rankin and National Library of Scotland curator Rosemary Hall discuss Rankin’s remarkable archive, donated to the Library in 2018. Delivered via Zoom.
Join Edward Parnell, author of GHOSTLAND, on a journey through the lonely moors, moss-covered cemeteries, and folkloric woodlands that were familiar to the likes of MR James, Alan Garner and Susan Cooper.
The conversation will be followed by a reading of a classic ghostly tale: Between Sunset and Moonrise by Richard Malden, performed by Robert Lloyd Parry of Nunkie Theatre.
Fire up memories of Christmas past with home movies capturing the wonder of children on Christmas morning and visit a proper toy shop to buy some presents. From Co-op adverts, to Hogmanay parties, and snowy scenes, there’s something for everyone in this fun film show.
Have we missed any events? Tell us in the comments or social media.
Our endless search for ways you can get your hands on free books, continues.
This week we had a trawl through Spotify – the web/app-based music library.
While their audiobook selection isn’t exhaustive, there is A LOT on there – kids’ books, adult non-fiction, crime thrillers, romances, teen titles…
Our pick of Spotify audiobooks
Adult books
Ibram X. Kendi: Stamped from the Beginning
Ibram’s How to be an AntiRacist has become required for reading for anyone with an active interest in systemic change. His earlier book Stamped from Beginning is currently on Spotify for free.
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby
This is one of hundreds of classic fiction titles available, but has the distinction of being read by actor Michael Shannon, who you’ll recognise from Boardwalk Empire and The Current War.
Have a root around and you’ll find Agatha Christie, Jane Austen, George Orwell, Kurt Vonnegut and lots more.
Crime and Thriller fiction
The Crime and Thriller Fiction podcast playlist takes a bit trawling, but we came up with Scottish author Denzil Meyrick, some Victorian crime fiction and Neil White’s Dan Grant trilogy.
Teen Books
Three brilliant teen series, in their entirety, that adults will love too.
The Hunger Games (complete series) by Suzanne Collins
The Raven Boys (complete series) by Maggie Stiefvater
Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve
Children’s fiction
Two titles guaranteed to have your youngsters howling. Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants and Rachel Renée Russell’s Dork Diaries.
How to find audiobooks on Spotify
Spotify doesn’t have every author or book. The classics are always there and modern titles come and go – so don’t be disappointed if you look for author and can’t find them.
Spotify is easy enough to navigate if you’re looking for music, but audiobooks are a little bit trickier.
This Bookriot article provides a fairly comprehensive How To:
If you want to just browse what’s available the best thing to do is search for audiobooks and find and follow the audiobook profile. Take a scroll through the profile’s public playlists to see what’s on offer. It’s also worth listening their full-length audiobook guide to find out how to get started.
Let us know if you come across any more in the comments below or on social media.
N.B. All titles present at time of writing – these are subject to Spotify updates.
Falkirk Libraries have the pleasure of leading an audiobook group at Forth Valley Sensory Centre. The individuals who attend the group each experience some degree of sight loss, so audiobooks are a hugely important source of information and entertainment.
While we don’t always share the same opinion of a story, we all agree on one very crucial thing: The narrator plays a big role in your enjoyment of an audiobook.
So, for HiVIS fortnight, we’ve pulled together a small selection of audiobooks with great narration. All of the books listed can be found in Falkirk Libraries’ RB Digital audiobook service.
Audiobooks with a single (sometimes famous) reader
The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Yearby Sue Townsend, read by Caroline Quentin Sue ‘Diary of Adrian Mole’ Townsend’s books are always emotional and funny. How do you make them even better? Add Caroline Quentin!
Tiny Sunbirds Far Away by Christie Watson, read by Adjoa Andoh Adjoa Andoh animates the funny, tragic and moving tale of Blessing, and her brother Ezikiel, who are forced to leave behind their comfortable, air-conditioned life in Lagos to live with their grandparents in the Niger Delta.
The Detainee by Peter Liney, read by Jeff Harding Reading group member, John, is a big fan of Jeff Harding, who reads most of the Lee Child and John Connolly novels. Here, he brings to life an elderly mafia enforcer who tries to save his fellow pensioners from a dystopian prison island.
Elizabeth is Missing read by Anna Bentick Anna Bentick does a lovely job bringing Maud’s struggle with dementia – and the whereabouts of her friend Elizabeth – to life.
Why READ a celeb biography when you can hear about their life in their own words?
Gillian Anderson reads We, which isn’t an autobiography, but a ‘Manifesto for Women Everywhere’. Cowritten with Jennifer Nadel.
Beastie Boys’Beastie Boys Book doesn’t just feature AD-Rock and Mike D, but a full cast that includes Steve Buscemi, Elvis Costello, Chuck D, Snoop Dogg, Will Ferrell, Bette Midler, Amy Poehler, Ben Stiller and many more.
Blondie’s Debbie Harry invites us to Face It. She’s had an incredible life and you’ll find it hard to tear yourself away.
Businesswoman Gina Miller successfully challenged the UK Government for triggering of Article 50 without parliamentary approval. She tells her story in Rise.
First LadyMichelle Obama‘s memoir Becoming has been enormously successful – and with good reason!
Multiple narrators
Audiobooks that use multiple narrators often really bring a story to life. Here’s some of our favourites
Love from Paddington by Michael Bond, read by Jim Broadbent Is there a lovelier audiobook than a Paddington story that features Jim Broadbent’s grandfatherly tones?
The Big Mog Collectionby Judith Kerr Charming stories of our favourite storybook cat, read by different people, including Andrew Sachs.
Julian Clary’s Bolds series/David Walliams’ books Julian Clary and David Walliams both read their own stories, to obvious great comic effect.
All of the above titles are available from our RB Digital audiobook service. The easiest way to access is by downloading the app from your app store. You’ll find ebooks, audiobooks and popular magazines all in the one place.
HiVIS Fortnight champions accessible library services, alternative formats, and service providers that deliver reading to those for whom standard print is not an option. The campaign is promoted by Share the Vision. You can find out more on their Reading Sight website.
