Joseph Delaney Giveaway

Win a set of all seven books in The Spook's Series by Joseph Delaney on the fantastic Wondrous Reads blog at http://tinyurl.com/2vxwcta. All you need to do is enter your name and e-mail address to be in with a chance!

Carnegie/Greenaway Winners

The winners of the CILIP Carnegie and Greenaway medals were announced today as:

Carnegie Winner -The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Greenaway Winner - Harry & Hopper Illustrated by Freya Blackwood

You can watch a video from the awards ceremony and read more about the winners on the award's website.

Stewart and Riddell

Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell have written a new book Wyrmeweald: Returner's Wealth. Read the first chapter at http://tinyurl.com/39kwlxj

Book of the Week

Where I Belong by Gillian Cross

There are guns and bandits in this story. And supermodels. And there's drought and starvation too. Are you wondering how they can all come together? Well, that's how life is these days. Things don't happen neatly, in separate little places. We're all caught by the great spider's web of media that spans the world. That's where this story is set. The world. It's the story of Abdi and Khadija and Freya (that's me) and what happened to us because of Somalia ...

Find out more at http://tinyurl.com/23ehbxy

Best Ever Puffin Books

According to a new list from Puffin, to mark their 70th anniversary, Roald Dahl, Richard Adams, Eric Carle and Robert Louis Stevenson are among the writers of the 70 best-ever Puffin books for children. The list is split into categories such as:

The Best Blood and Guts

1. The Enemy by Charlie Higson

2. Dracula by Bram Stoker

3. Being by Kevin Brooks

4. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Best Heroes

1. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

2. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

3. Young Bond: SilverFin by Charlie Higson

4. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

The Best Alternatives to Twilight

1. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

2. Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

3. The Luxe by Anna Godbersen

4. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

For the full list go to http://tinyurl.com/37lsfv7 .

War Horse Moves to the Big Screen

Reports say that Steven Spielberg is adapting War Horse by Michael Morpurgo as a film. Find out more at http://tinyurl.com/3x6xhj3.

Book of the Week

The Witching Hour is an adventure set in 17th century Scotland where a young girl called Maggie becomes a reluctant heroine when she finds herself involved with the Covenanting cause and tries to save her uncle from being hanged. This comes after she herself escapes being executed as a witch!

I really enjoyed this one - Maggie is an inspiring character and you come to care about her very much! Elizabeth Laird really brings the history of the time to life and reading this book certainly made me aware of parts of Scotland's past I wasn't very familiar with. An exciting read!

My Carnegie Favourite

Although I haven't read all of the shortlisted Carnegie books yet my favourite so far has to be The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

When a baby escapes a murderer intent on killing the entire family, who would have thought it would find safety and security in the local graveyard? Brought up by the resident ghosts, ghouls and spectres, Bod has an eccentric childhood learning about life from the dead. But for Bod there is also the danger of the murderer still looking for him - after all, he is the last remaining member of the family. Will Bod survive to be a man?

Winner of the US Newbery Medal The Graveyard Book is highly original, entertaining, sometimes creepy and sometimes funny. I thought it was one of the best books I had read in a long time!

Carnegie Shortlist Announced

The books shortlisted for this year's Carnegie Medal have just been announced as:

ANDERSON, LAURIE HALSE CHAINS (Available from Library)
Bloomsbury (Age range 11+)
ISBN: 9780747598077

GAIMAN, NEIL THE GRAVEYARD BOOK (Available from Library)
Bloomsbury (Age range 9+)
ISBN: 9780747569015

GRANT, HELEN THE VANISHING OF KATHARINA LINDEN (Available from Library)
Penguin (Age range 14+)
ISBN: 9780141325736

HEARN, JULIE ROWAN THE STRANGE
Oxford University Press (Age range 12+)
ISBN: 9780192792150

NESS, PATRICK THE ASK AND THE ANSWER (Available from Library)
Walker (Age range 14+)
ISBN: 9781406310269

PRATCHETT, TERRY NATION (Available from Library)
Doubleday (Age range 11+)
ISBN: 9780385613705

REEVE, PHILIP FEVER CRUMB
Scholastic (Age range 9+)
ISBN: 9781407102429

SEDGWICK, MARCUS REVOLVER
Orion (Age range 12+)
ISBN: 9781842551868

The Carnegie Medal is awarded annually to the writer of an outstanding book for children.
It was established by in 1936, in memory of the great Scottish-born philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919). Carnegie was a self-made industrialist who made his fortune in steel in the USA. His experience of using a library as a child led him to resolve that "if ever wealth came to me that it should be used to establish free libraries."

Carnegie set up more than 2800 libraries across the English speaking world and, by the time of his death, over half the library authorities in Great Britain had Carnegie libraries.

The medal is awarded by CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals and the winner will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on 24 June 2010.

For more details go to http://www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/2010awards/carnegie_shortlist.php

Orange Prize Shortlist Announced

The shortlist for this year's Orange Prize for Fiction has been announced:

Rosie Alison - The Very Thought of You
Barbara Kingsolver - The Lacuna
Attica Locke - Black Water Rising
Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall
Lorrie Moore - A Gate at the Stairs
Monique Roffey - The White Woman on the Green Bicycle

The winner will be announced on 9th June. Find out more at http://www.orangeprize.co.uk/show/feature/home/orange-2010-opf-shortlist

New Book Club Leaflet

The new book club leaflet has just arrived with lots of fantastic offers. Books available this time include the new Skulduggery Pleasant title Dark Days, Lord Sunday by Garth Nix and Spells by Aprilynne Pike. You can look at the leaflet online at http://www.uniflip.com/online-magazines/3/18784/33144/pub/index.html and if you would like to order any books just return your form to the Library by Friday 30th April. Orders usually arrive within 3 to 4 days.

UN International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March. On that day, in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid "pass laws". Proclaiming the Day in 1966, the General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.



To mark this day why not try one of these books, which are all available from the Library:

Ten Things I Hate About me by Randa Abdel-Fattah

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

Divided City by Theresa Breslin

Caught in the Crossfire by Alan Gibbons

Ruby Red by Linzi Glass

Girl in Red by Gaye Hicyilmaz

The Other Side of Truth by Beverley Naidoo

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

Book Trailers

Check out our new collection of book trailers on Vodpod at http://vodpod.com/hgslibrary

Jodi Picoult Event

Jodi Picoult will be discussing and signing copies of her new book House Rules.

When: Wednesday 28th April at 7pm

Where: Glasgow Royal Convert Hall

Tickets £12, to include a copy of House Rules, available from event hotline on 0844 249 0467.

Book of the Week

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Synopsis:
In a world where people born with an exceptional skill, known as a Grace, are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of a skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her Uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to carry out his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him. Finding life under his rule increasingly unbearable Katsa forms an underground Council, whose purpose is to combat the destructive behaviour of the seven kings - after all, the Middluns is only one of the Seven Kingdoms, each of them ruled by their own king and his personal agenda for power. When the Council hears that the King of Liend's father has been kidnapped Katsa investigates . . . and stumbles across a mystery. Who would want to kidnap him, and why? And who was the extraordinary Graced fighter who challenged her fighting skills, for the first time, as she and the Council rushed the old man to safety? Something dark and deadly is rising in the north and creeping across the continent, and behind it all lurks the shadowy figure of a one-eyed king . . .

Evermore by Alyson Noel

I'm currently reading the second in The Immortals series, Blue Moon by Alyson Noel, but I liked this trailer for the first book Evermore. Watch it at http://www.panmacmillan.com/immortals/

Best Bedtime Story

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle has been voted the best bedtime story ever - find out more at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/7359056/The-Very-Hungry-Caterpillar-voted-best-bedtime-story.html

Red House Children's Book Award 2010

The shortlists for the 2010 Red House Children's Book Award have just been announced:

Older Readers
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Available from Library)
Ausländer by Paul Dowswell (Available from Library)
Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur (Available from Library)

Younger Readers
Angel Cake by Cathy Cassidy (Available from Library)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw by Jeff Kinney (Available from Library)
Mondays are Murder by Tanya Landman

Younger Children
A Very Strange Creature by Ronda Armitage & Layn Marlow
Crunch Munch Dinosaur Lunch! by Paul Bright & Mike Terry
The Baby Dragon-Tamer by Jan Fearnley
Bottoms Up! by Jeanne Willis & Adam Stower

My favourite would have to be The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - a fantastic futuristic thriller. Vote for your favourite at http://www.redhousechildrensbookaward.co.uk/vote-now.asp

Percy Jackson Film

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan - film of the book released on February 12th:

Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. I never asked to be the son of a Greek God. I was just a normal kid, going to school, playing basketball, skateboarding. The usual. Until I accidentally vaporized my maths teacher. That's when things started really going wrong. Now I spend my time fighting with swords, battling monsters with my friends, and generally trying to stay alive. This is the one where Zeus, God of the Sky, thinks I've stolen his lightning bolt - and making Zeus angry is a very bad idea...

Book of the Week

Splendor by Anna Godbersen

Eagerly awaited finale to The Luxe series.
It's a brand-new year and in this dramatic conclusion to the Luxe saga, the future of Manhattan's favourite socialites is looking decidedly different from the ones they had imagined for themselves. With old ties being broken and new ones formed, every decision comes at cost. And who knows who can afford it . . .

Hidden Gems

This is a new feature of the blog highlighting fantastic books which have been around for a while but aren't as well known as they should be...

Red Sky in the Morning by Elizabeth Laird

Anna's cares and concerns are those of any teenager - until her baby brother Ben is born handicapped. At first Anna is confused because she loves Ben but she can't bring herself to tell her friends at school about him. Anna learns to accept her feelings about Ben but other problems lie ahead. Can Anna look after Ben while coping with the other concerns in her life - school, a Saturday job and changing relationships with her friends? And will Anna's family remain together?

Book of the Week

The Medusa Project: Hostage by Sophie McKenzie

Fourteen years ago, four babies were implanted with the Medusa gene - a gene for psychic abilities. Now teenagers, Nico, Ketty, Ed and Dylan have been brought together by government agents to create a secret crime-fighting force - The Medusa Project. But now Ketty's brother Lex has stumbled into a dangerous game involving his boss and a hidden bomb. It's up to Ketty to save him without letting on what she knows to the rest of the team. But can she control her psychic visions, and her feelings for Nico, without getting the team's cover - and herself - blown sky high?

Read a review at http://www.wbqonline.com/review.do?bookid=6735553

Aye Write Book festival

The Aye Write book festival takes place in the Mitchell Library from Friday 5 - Saturday 13 March. Pick up your free copy of the programme in libraries and other outlets across the city, or check details at http://www.ayewrite.com/. The events often sell out quickly so make sure you don't miss out on your favourite author!

Waterstone's Children's Book Award 2010

The shortlist for the Waterstone's Children's Book Award 2010 has been announced. Find out more at http://tinyurl.com/yhdqfew

The winner of the prize will be announced on Wednesday 10th February. Previous winners include The 13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison and Ways to Live Forever by Sally Nicholls.

Channel 4 TV Book Club

The creators of the Richard & Judy Book Club are bringing a new book club to your screens this January. Airing on More4 and Channel 4 from January 17th, The TV Book Club is presented by a team of celebrity reviewers and will feature ten new books.

The Library has the following books from the show currently in stock:

• Brixton Beach by Roma Tearne


• The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters


• The Way Home by George P. Pelecanos


• The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick


• Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant


• Blacklands by Belinda Bauer


• Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby


• The Rapture by Liz Jensen

Please contact a member of library staff if you would like to borrow any of them.

Book of the Week

The 13 Curses by Michelle Harrison

Sequel to The Thirteen Secrets which won the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize.

When fairies stole her brother, Red vowed to get him back. Now trapped in the fairy realm, she begs an audience with the fairy court where she strikes a bargain. Her brother will be returned - but only if she can find the thirteen charms of Tanya's bracelet that have been scattered in the human world. Returning to Elvesden Manor, Red is assisted by Tanya and Fabian and a desperate hunt begins. Soon they make a shocking discovery. The charms now have twisted qualities of the thirteen treasures they represent...and the longer they are missing the worse the consequences will be. Can Red, Tanya and Fabian find all the charms? And even if they do, will the fairies keep their promise?

Book of the Week

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The Kites are Flying by Michael Morpurgo

Travelling to the West Bank to witness how life is for Palestinians and Jews living in the shadow of a dividing wall, journalist Max strikes up a friendship with an enigmatic Palestinian boy, Said. Together the two sit under an ancient olive tree while Said makes another of his kites. As Max is welcomed as a guest, he learns of the terrible events in the family’s past and begins to understand why Said no longer speaks.

Find out more from The Bookbag at http://tinyurl.com/y9cmau6