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Sarah Perry is the author of After Me Comes the Flood and The Essex Serpent. She has a PhD in creative writing from Goldsmiths University. Her thesis was about the Gothic, and her books are written in this style. Her first book was shortlisted for the Guardian 'First Book Award' in 2014, while The Essex Serpent went on to win multiple awards including Book of the Year and Fiction Book of the Year at the British Book Awards 2016, The Waterstones Book of the Year 2016.
October 16, 2017
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This year, the UK is celebrating Banned Books Week to highlight the history of censorship. One of the most famous examples is Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence. The book was famously banned in the UK because of its explicit content. In 1960, Penguin Books won a court case to publish it due to the 'Obscene Publications Act'. This act said that any book considered obscene but with "redeeming social merit" could be published. After six days, the jury found the book was not obscene. It sold out across the UK on the first day of publication, with 200,000 copies bought. Almost 60 years on, this is considered a landmark case that represented the end of an era.
September 25, 2017
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The story concerns warring families in the fictional land of Westeros. They compete to be the ruler of the seven kingdoms and sit on the Iron Throne against a backdrop of dragons, zombies and giant direwolves. But how do you decide what books to read after Game of Thrones? Whether you relate more to the conniving Cersei Lannister, headstrong Arya Stark, or mother of dragons Daenerys Targaryen, here are books to read based on each family to tide you over until the next series.
September 18, 2017
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If you're finding reading difficult, school can be particularly daunting. There always seems to be so many things to read! This is where our Sound Learning service comes in. We record educational audiobooks from ages 7 and up so that at least getting through the reading doesn't have to be difficult. We've collected some of the best back to school audiobooks in our library, so get a head start on listening!
August 23, 2017
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It’s the final day of our book recommendations, and we’ve saved the best for last with six sensational stories to listen to! From crime to dystopian speculative fiction to humour, whatever you’re looking for, we’ve got an audiobook for you.
June 22, 2017
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It can always be difficult to pick your next title to listen to. Whether you've just come off the back of listening to a book you loved or one that you're not sure was quite right for you, or if you've never listened to an audiobook before, how do you pick from the vast range of books out there?
June 5, 2017
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161 years ago today L. Frank Baum, best known as the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was born. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was the best-selling children’s book for two years after its initial publication in 1900. But it was just one of the 55 novels, four ‘lost works’, 83 stories and 200 poems that Baum wrote. So for his birthday, we thought we delve a little into the varied and fascinating life of Lyman Frank Baum.
May 15, 2017
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May is Local and Community History Month - a great time to find out a little more about how your village, town or city grew up into what it is today. The more you dig, the more you'll find that people, events and buildings all have fascinating pasts.
May 8, 2017
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It started when an American academic noticed how frequently the acknowledgements sections of weighty academic tomes featured a male author thanking his nameless wife for typing.
May 2, 2017
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This week is MS Awareness Week, and the Multiple Sclerosis Trust are celebrating specialist MS nurses and the work they do, as well as making it a priority that everyone living with MS has access to a specialist nurse.
April 25, 2017
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