Sound Reads

Books are brilliant!! 

And summer is a great time to escape into a different world or travel to a different dimension from the comfort of home or the garden or the park! 

But what to read? 

And the grass needs cutting, the kitchen floor needs a good clean so what is a reader to do?? 

Listen to a podcast of course! 

There are lots of literary podcasts available to inspire your next choice of book, including author interviews, actual stories and dramatisations, discussion and reviews by fellow book lovers and maybe a quirky few that may lead you in an unexpected but welcome new direction! 

Plug in your headphones, (earbuds, phone speaker system)  and have a listen to the suggestions below (click the pic) or choose your favourite podcast app and do a search for ‘books’ or ‘summer reads’ and head off on a journey of discovery!!

    

 

If you have other suggestions or comments, we do like to hear from you; 

find us on Twitter and Facebook and we'll share any gems that we find.

One of us: Forrest Dunbar

What do you read if you work in a library?  We ask one of our own, Forrest Dunbar, who also studied at UOB....

My name is Forrest Dunbar and I first came to the University of Bedfordshire (Bedford Campus) as a student in 2013. My degree course in first year was English Studies, then I switched to the English Literature course in my second year.

After graduating in July 2016, there was no question whether or not to do a Masters degree in English Literature, I was determined to do it and funnily enough my masters was my most enjoyable year for learning. My MA year was immensely pleasant and the lectures were engaging.

I have worked for the university since September 2016 and I sometimes have to remind myself that I was a student before and not just a member of staff. It was in May 2019, that I joined the Reader Services Team on the Luton Campus, for once spreading myself around and dipping my toes onto another campus that wasn’t on Bedford grounds. Now that I have become so familiar with the Luton Campus Library and have adapted so comfortably with the excellent team, I now have to remind myself that I did have a life on the Bedford Campus before 2019.

I read a completely different range of books, for example the month of June, I read The Bridges of Madison County (published in 1992) in one sitting because I couldn’t bear pausing the novella between chapters. Then I re-read The Warden (published in 1855), followed by Mr Loverman (published in 2013). When I finish reading a book, I always have ‘go-to-books’, I will re-read The Railway Series or The Wind in the Willows, Duncton Woods, Billy Bunter, Love Is Where It Falls, The Pickwick Papers, The Twits, the list goes on and on and on…

I never plan in advance to read a particular genre, I normally find books sporadically, instead of just remaining with a token genre and if I really enjoy a book, I will study the author and read through the profile and make a note of their other books. During my A-Levels, I read The Regeneration Trilogy by Pat Barker and loved it so much that I became hooked onto First World War Literature! Not just the novels but also the poetry.

Thank you, Forrest!

If you are interested in perusing some of these titles then do browse the Library Catalogue and find a Summer Read for you.

We found some electronic copies to start off with: click the pic to find the ebook.

The Warden by Anthony Trollope

Returning to an old favourite is a great way to de-stress and give your mind a time-out, and even if you don't have a physical book to hand these e-books are perfect to download and read wherever you are.

The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

Summer Reads feature: Famous Folk from Bedfordshire

Today, we had a World Wide Web look at some of the famous folk from the Bedfordshire area to find out about their favourite reads. Here’s what we found……. 

Nadiya Hussain born in Luton on Christmas day, rose to fame after winning the Great British Bake Off back in 2015 and has since written several books, including cookbooks for adults and children, and two novels.   

The last book I read was... The Last Days Of Rabbit Hayes by Anna McPartlin – a book about the last seven days of a woman’s life, with a surprising amount of humour. I read it over six months when I could steal moments in-between baking. 

The last book that made me cry was... The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. So upsetting. So beautifully written. I bawled solidly from about a quarter of the way through. 

The book that makes me want to travel is... The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald. The description of 1920s New York is so glamorous and opulent, it makes me want to live in that time and place. 

My favourite book of all time is... The Hobbit by JRR Tolkein. I remember reading it for the first time when I was 17, being sat at home with my brothers and sisters, but feeling like I was in another world.

 

My favourite children's book was... The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. My teacher read this to me when I was five. The whole caterpillar-to-butterfly thing was magical to me then, and still is now. 

 

Carol Vorderman MBE was born in Bedford on Christmas Eve, she co-hosted the game show Countdown for a number of years and has written a number of educational and diet books. Here are her favourite books: 

Heidi by Johanna Spyri 

My favourite when I was a child. I was an avid reader. My brother bought me this at a jumble sale. I used to read and read it. I loved the adventures. I was probably influenced by The Sound Of Music too. 

eBook available

The Children’s Encyclopaedia by Arthur Mee  

This set of ten books was first written before the First World War, then updated. It’s not set out in any order so you get flags of the empire then a tale from the Bible, or how to light a fire with straw. I loved that surprise. Because they’re historic now, you learn about attitudes in a previous time and see things in context. 

Special Collections item: by appointment

My Husband’s Wife by Amanda Prowse

I don’t read a lot of fiction, except those written by my best friend! She writes about women and always includes some kind of taboo but they’re uplifting. This is her latest, about passing your child to your ex-husband’s new wife. 

[If you'd like to read the next novel Amanda Prowse wrote we have copies in UOB Library]

 

Julia Jarman is a children’s author who has written over 60 books and lives in a Bedfordshire village north of Bedford.  Julia’s advice for aspiring writers is: read read read, write write write and don’t expect it to turn out right first time.  Most writers do many drafts. I do.   

Her favourite books as a child included:  

Little Women (and all the sequels) by Louisa M Alcott

I became a writer because I wanted to be like Jo March in all these books.

   eBook available

Bows Against the Barons – a brilliant book by Geoffrey Trease.  It’s about a boy who joins Robin Hood’s band of not-always merry men. I loved all Robin Hood stories. Fighting for a fairer world. He’s one of my heroes.   

If you would like to take a look at the books we stock written by Julia please browse our Library Catalogue