Thursday 12 April 2018

Books Unlocked April 2018 - Written in the Stars

‘Written in the Stars’


23rd April is World Book Night and to join in with the national celebration of reading for adults we have acquired this year’s World Book Night titles to inspire you to read something new or different this month. Reading is widely accepted as a way to improve mental well-being, so why not escape for an hour or even just a few minutes and choose something from our collection “because everything changes when we read”.
The World Book Night titles are on display for you to borrow at our Bedford, Luton and Aylesbury campuses and you can view them all here http://worldbooknight.org/books
If these books don’t grab you, our libraries have a great selection of other books that can be read for pleasure. The Bedford library has a selection on the 1st floor, showcasing some ‘Quick Reads’ if you are short on time, some other titles similar to the WBN titles, and a selection of Young Adult fiction from our Teaching Practice collection – not just for teaching students or young adults!
Why not share a review of a book you love too and think others would enjoy too? Here are a few reviews of this year’s World Book Night from members of the library staff:


5 High school children get a detention but only 4 leave the detention room.
The book is read from the prospective of 4 different High School students, Bronwyn, Nate, Copper and Addy. This book doesn’t contain chapters but is set out instead as narratives from each different student. Each narrative has the Students name as a heading and the date.  I sometimes over looked this as I was reading, which caused me some confusion and I found this quite difficult to get used too. I enjoyed the book and it did keep me hooked, it is a very good ‘who done it’ with a lot of twists. I found it easy enough to visualise the Characters and surroundings. I thought it was very well written once I got used to the layout of the text. I would recommend this book to young adults and adults.  It isn’t that graphic but it does contain adult themes in places.

The underworld was a man’s game, now its Maura’s.
The book starts in the year 1950 and is based in London. 1950 is the year that Maura Ryan was born.  As the book progresses you follow Maura as she grows up in a poor family of 8 older brothers.  Different trials and tribulations through her life cause her to choose a path which is unthought-of for a woman in the 70’s. I absolutely love this book and have read it twice. It is a really good page turner                 and even when you get to the end of a chapter it is very hard to put down.  I have read all of Martina Cole’s books and think she is an excellent author. This book is defiantly for adults who are not easily offended, it is very graphic and has adult themes and language throughout. I would recommend it and all of her books to those who love a good gangland story.



A moving story of a boy trying to find his way against the odds.

Leon is a boy struggling to come to terms with the constant feeling of not being good enough and the challenges that he faces as a mixed-race, taller than average nine-year-old boy growing up in the care system in the 80’s, who just wants the love and comfort of his family. The book jacket and description didn’t make me instinctively want to read this book but I’m glad I did.  The chapters are short so it was easy to pick up and put down—but I couldn’t put it down!
It’s an incredibly moving story that saddened me but also inspired me and showed the softer side of humanity. I found myself really rooting for Leon and those who had shown him kindness and can truly say it was a page-turner.

You’ve probably heard of Mindfulness—this book really does try to explain it guide you through it


I tried this book after having little success with another Mindfulness title. I found having the CD to help with some of the exercises particularly useful. I think it would be well-worth reading this alongside mindfulness sessions (the University offers these at Bedford campus) as it can be a daunting topic to enter into on its own but has so many uses.

Aylesbury Library

Luton Library
Bedford Library

Bedford Library