Staff Reading Group

Our final meeting of the year, to discuss David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, was most successful - not least because of the sunshine, strawberries and cream. Let's hope it's warm enough in September to repeat the al fresco venue.

Next term's is to be Tobias Wolff's Old School. Some reviews: The Guardian, and another by Blake Morrison; The Independent; and another there by Michael Arditti. In addition, ReadingGroupGuides.com have some suggested discussion points on the novel.

Old School is available from Amazon for £4.79. There is one copy in the library.

Accelerated Reader

Renaissance Learning started Accelerated Reader in 1986 in America. They provide quizzes to books children are reading, currently 7,000 titles, from early primary years to late teens. Children read the books then log on complete the multiple choice tests and receive their results almost immediately. The idea is that by adding a competitive element

1. Children read more
   
2. they reader in more detail
   
3. they see themselves improving
   

The quizzes range from the purely factual to more probing questions exploring emotions and motivations. The programme introduces the idea of reading for pleasure. But the best thing is that it is said not to work "unless school libraries are well stock" and "have competent librarians".

Booktrust Teenage Book Prize

The shortlist for the 2005 prize has been announced. It includes Julie Burchill's debut novel for young people about a lesbian crush, Ann Halam's epic fantasy 'Siberia', and 'Come clean', which I wrote about here a couple of weeks ago. However my money's on 'How I live now', by Meg Rosoff, described in an Observer review as "a likely future classic".

Orange Award for New Writers

The winner of this new award for women's fiction is 26a by Diana Evans. It's not currently in the library, but as it's described as a 'coming of age novel with a difference' perhaps it should be :)

Orange Prize

American author Lionel Shriver has won the 2005 Orange Prize for Fiction, one of the most prestigious awards for female novelists in English, with a story about a teenage mass murderer.

We Need to Talk About Kevin charts the progress of Kevin Katchadourian through the eyes of his mother, who despises him and suspects he was born evil. There is a report on the Times Online.

'Tis a year shows us the man

The author of a new 'partial biography' of Shakespeare, James Shapiro, was talking on Front Row on Radio 4 tonight about his book 1599: a year in the Life of William Shakespeare published this week by Faber & Faber at £16.99. The idea for his book came to him when watching the film Shakespeare in love which may not fill you with confidence! but it is a good idea. The premise has several aspects, first it is very difficult to find anything new about Shakespeare unless you make it up, try to prove he did not exist or look to his own writings for a further insight into his character, then 1599 was a very interesting year not only in Britain, but also in Shakespeare's life: the Globe was built, Henry V was completed, he wrote Julius Caesar and As you like it in quick succession before starting Hamlet (Shapiro argues Hamlet is the Bard's finest play). The Earl of Essex had returned from the Irish rebellion, and Henry V can be seen as a play for country in the middle of a costly and unpopular war.
Shapiro first 'discovered' Shakespeare not at school or university but through visits to England in the 70's and 80's when he would see 25 plays in a summer by touring the length and breadth of the country. There was a good review of the book in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday 4 June 2005.

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize

The longlist was announced at the Guardian Hay Festival of Literature on Friday June 3. The libraries currently stock 4 out of the 8 titles. You can read about them all on the Guardian website.