Library News - 20th October 2008
5th Form Library Quiz:
With our team (just about) selected, a captain/co-ordinator appointed (Archie Brooke), a diligent scribe delegated (Patrick Faulkner), we are set to go. The minibus is booked. This quiz is bigger than we thought: fourteen schools are participating this year, including heavyweights (in pupil numbers, we presume, not intellectual capacity) such as St Mary’s, Gonzaga, Mt Anville and St Andrews. Other schools will attend as observers with a view to taking part next year. Thursday 23 October is the day, 2 – 4 p.m. the time. So, your starter for ten—can you tell me the names of three of Sarah Palin’s five children?
The Booker Prize:
This year’s Booker Prize was a disappointment, said Eileen Battersby in The Irish Times, with ‘geographical spread’ being the criteria instead of quality. The winner, Aravind Adiga’s The White Tiger will be appearing in the Library’s New Books display case soon. The Library as a rule doesn’t buy all the books on the Booker shortlist. This year we chose Sebastian Barry’s The Secret Scripture, which was the popular favourite, and continues Barry’s investigations into hidden Ireland, firstly Irishmen who served in the First World War (A Long Long Way), and in this case, those incarcerated in mental institutions. We also have Steve Toltz’s A Fraction of the Whole, an Australian son’s tale of an erratic, and errant, father, and two other books that made news by failing to make the shortlist—Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland and Damon Galgut’s The Impostor, both of which are serious but accessible reads.
More Good Reads:
The Library recommends Show Me the Money by Alvin Hall of personal finance fame. This book is directed at the Junior reader, and is more than just a self-help guide to managing pocket money—it gives a good insight into how business, trade, money and banking work. Essential reading too, maybe, for some of those post-boom adults who are wondering where it all went wrong…. Also recommended in the Junior Library is Patrick Ness’s The Knife of Never Letting Go. Set in a future world of ‘Noise’, where men’s thoughts can be heard as if they were conversations, and there are no women, young Todd Hewitt discovers first, that he can talk to his dog (and vice versa), second, that there is a girl, and with her comes complete silence, and third, that he must flee. It sets off at a cracking pace. More than that I cannot tell you, as the Librarian’s copy was borrowed against his wishes. Bang! The Complete History of the Universe by Patrick Moore, Brian May of the rock band Queen, a very able astronomer in his own right, and Chris Lintott, co-presenter with Patrick Moore of The Sky at Night, is an examination of the origins of the universe and all that followed. To this non-scientist the opening few pages offer the clearest exposition of the big bang theory that you are likely to find. And staying in astronomy mode, with the Astronomy Society being revitalised by Ms Hennessy, Mr Coldrick and Mr Higgins, the Library is pleased to announce it will be stocking the excellent BBC magazine tie-in of the TV programme, also called The Sky at Night.
Library Tip:
The Librarian is often asked, “is my book is overdue yet?” or “how many books do I have on loan at the moment?” One way of finding out for yourself is to scan your Library card as if you were borrowing. At the top of the screen you will see a yellow ‘folder’ icon. Click on this and your current loans, with dates due, will be listed.
