Hobbies and Crafts

As usual choose two book

suggestions for April-May for vote
The Silent Boy by Andrew Taylor
A Promise Given by Meg Hutchinson
While my eyes were closed by Linda Green
Yew Tree Gardens by Anna Jacobs
Love and other near death experiences Mil Millington
The Blue Hour by Douglas Kennedy
Excursion to Tindari. by Andrea Camilleri. (An Inspector Montalbano Mystery.)
The Book Thief. by Markus Zusak.

Review date 26 May

My votes go to:-

The Silent Boy. by Andrew Taylor.

Love and Other Near Death Experiences. by Mil Millington.

Well this is a futile exercise for me.

I looked up one book from each of you:

A promise given (1998) must be too old for our libraries, not here nor further north where I was nor any of the oceans of Auckland Libraries.
Several years ago our local library, went in the space of a weekend from a library full of books to hardly anything on the shelves - nearly all early stuff had been removed..There is 1 copy in the basement at Auckland in the city and it is out , and another person is waiting for it. That shows you they should have more than 1 copy for the whole of Auckland.

While my eyes are closed .. not even here yet it is a 2016 book and Auckland ordered it end of 2015 before release but they are still waiting.

Excursion to Tindari - again I think there was one copy somewhere and I would have had to order it and make a special trip to Auckland to collect it at my nearest library which is an hour and a half drive away.

Result: I am going to Auckland on Saturday and I can get Yew Tree Gardens by Anna Jacobs (two of the South Auckland Libraries have it) and as I try and read one from the list and my two this will be it.

So my vote is

Yew Tree Gardens by Anna Jacobs

A Promise GIven.. by Meg Hutchinson

(never know might get to read it one day will keep in my notebook to look in Charity shops etc)

The silent boy
A promise given

result

Greaders suggestions for April-May for votee
Silent Boy by Andrew Taylor 11
A Promise Given by Meg Hutchinson 11
While my eyes were closed by Linda Green
Yew Tree Gardens by Anna Jacobs 1
Love and other near death experiences by Mil Millington 1
The Blue Hour by Douglas Kennedy
Excursion to Tindari. by Andrea Camilleri. (An Inspector Montalbano Mystery.)
The Book Thief. by Markus Zusak.


So, the books to read are The silent Boy and A promise Given.

However, voting is a bit of a farce with so few of us so please read and comment on any if you can't get the first two. Luckily both those are on Kindle.
Perse, i might well have read the Blue hour but the cheapest i could find was £17 and I don't have time for the library this month. Thats eems to be a very new book here and not on Kindle. :-)

Thanks Ann will be going to the library on Saturday to request the books I voted for.

I too checked Birmingham Libraries Catalogue on-line before voting.

While My Eyes Were Closed.
and
The Blue Hour
were not in the catalogue at all. I.e. none of the libries have a copy.

Luckily I can request books either on-line. (sometimes unsuccessfully) or in any branch of the library. The book will then be sent to the library of my choice. I then have about ten days to collect the book ( in theory).
This doesn't always work out but at least there is a system, of sorts, in place.

As a cost cutting exercise Birmingham have a restriction on buying new books at the moment. Also for a long while they have bought fewer of each book, hence the "request system". My local library now is " happy to receive". any books that their customers no longer want.
These are then either become library books, or if deemed "unsuitable". they are put onto a special free shelf and the customers can help themselves.

Anything that keeps the libraries open has a thumbs up from me. So I am NOT complaining! (even if I do have a little counter now and again).

Well I think you all know I will be reading Yew Gardens.

I will see if any have The Silent boy.. I hadn't checked that out..

Yep I can get that locally so may give that a go..

Might save me trying to get the other one back to an Auckland Library.

It's good when we get different reviews of the same book.

Yes it is, and because we have had so many difficulties lately I was again wondering if we should disband. BUT I have read so many books I would not otherwise have read that I am reluctant to do that. trying to think of another way of doing things to make life easier. I do tend to go for Kindle books and I know Pammy and Mersey have Kindles, but I also know Perse and Tess don't so i try and get books available in both types. I thought both mine were available in paperback. Will check again.

Ah, my fault there, While my eyes were closed is released as a paperback on 5 May, I didn't notice that.

Hi all,
As usual I sit and watch threads and don't often add anything. But I think anninglos has just said what I personally have been thinking for a while.
I wont buy new books when they can be found so cheaply at boot sales.
I read the list of books each month then go onto the library web site and more often then not our library don't have them.
More often then not the books I read are not newly released and ones that I have picked up next to nothin and put on the book shelf till I get round to reading them.
At the moment I am reading Patricia Cornwell Dust.

Anne

Anne , instead of just reading the thread, why not join in next time and suggest a couple of the cheaper books you have picked up. Have you got a Kindle the two books this month cost 99p and £1.45 so not a big spend. (If you have a kindle) :-) is the main library not good now? It used to be quite good.

Anne , instead of just reading the thread, why not join in next time and suggest a couple of the cheaper books you have picked up. Have you got a Kindle the two books this month cost 99p and £1.45 so not a big spend. (If you have a kindle) :-) is the main library not good now? It used to be quite good.

Hi Anne,
Well I don't often get into the library but I go online and you can order books if they have them but they never doo, or I am doing it wrong.
I have a Tesco hudl so not really sure which book app to download. I will join in next month.........at least it will give people two more choices.

Anne

That would be great Anne, a bit late for me tonight as I am going to bed but I have a Hudl aand there may be a way for you to get the Kindle books. I will have a look into it.

Another Ann - good to see you on the thread. I'll look forward to seeing your suggestions next month.


Re. books available from Birmingham Public Libraries ,.... I think that this month the percentage of books held by the library was very good (66%). I think that it usually lower than that. Perhaps you will have better luck next time, or if still in difficulty, perhaps a phone call to your local library, asking them to reserve a book for you might meet with success.

Good luck and happy reading.

Tess

Good on you Another Glossie Ann, the Greaders need more. Even when I left I was sort of still here via Glossie Ann 1.

I will only be renewing because of the book group.

You could try this site Anne
www.pcadvisor.co.uk/.../how-open-books-kindle-android-app-hudl-426..

Or you could go into Amazon, then Kindle and try their tech support.

I did google and got a forum on Hudle Tech support. I can actually get books on my Hudl but that may be because I have a Kindle and can transfer them with the Kindle App.

Have got. The Silent Boy, and. A Promise Given, from the library. Will read them as soon as I've read and reviewed. The Stone Cutter. ,(from last months selection,.)