World Book Night

World Book Night celebrated books and reading on an epic scale with 1m books being given away throughout the British Isles. 25 World Book Night titles were chosen, alongside 20,000 passionate readers to share these books with their local communities.  

 Mary Cousins, Librarian at The Family Library in Douglas, was appointed as the Island's book giver for Case Histories by Kate Atkinson and donated free copies to Onchan Book Group, and to other local libraries. Sandra Henderson from the Mobile Library service arranged for the mobile library to act as a collection point to help with distribution.

Thank you to Mary and Sandra, who made sure that Onchan Book Group had their books ready for last Thursday's meeting on World Book Day. It's often difficult to source enough titles for everyone to read before the next meeting, so these gifts are really very much appreciated. 

Kate Atkinson's first novel, Behind the Scenes at the British Museum, won The Whitbread Book of the Year. Case Histories introduces readers to Jackson Brodie, former police inspector turned private investigator, and won the Saltire Book of the Year Award and the Prix Westminster.Here's more from Kate Atkinson's web site:

Investigating other people's tragedies and cock-ups and misfortunes was all he knew. He was used to being a voyeur, the outsider looking in, and nothing, but nothing, that anyone did surprised him any more. Yet despite everything he'd seen and done, inside Jackson there remained a belief — a small, battered and bruised belief — that his job was to help people be good rather than punish them for being bad.

Looking forward to reading this as a group, and hearing how everyone got on at the next meeting on 7th April.

Pam

Richard Matheson - I am Legend

Image from www.amazon.co.uk

 I am Legend
I remember a local legendary 'Vampire's Grave' covered in rusty old chains sparking my curiosity about vampire legends, so when Karen offered me the loan of 'I am Legend' I thought it would be my sort of book. But it's not really about the vampires she said, and so it turned out.

It was written in the 50s and set in the future - the seventies! But it didn'treally feel dated to me. A virus created for germ warfare has turned the human race into vampires, and Robert Neville thinks he may be the last surviving man on the planet.

He's living his life under siege, and dreads overcast days when darkness can creep up on him unawares. By day he repairs damage from attacks on his house, stakes vampires in a rather matter of fact way, and hangs up more garlic. He's discovered that crosses only work with Christian vampires, and that, contrary to popular belief, vampires do have reflections. By night, he drinks steadily and uses ear plugs to drown out the jeers of the undead menacing round his home.

Robert struggles to hang on to his sanity and suffers flashbacks from losing his wife to the vampire plague. When he's on the verge of giving in, finding a dog gives him the will to fight on. He goes on to meet a woman who may / may not be a vampire, and that challenges all his beliefs about how he's been living.

Although I'd been expecting dark and gothic, it was more bleak than I'd been prepared for. It's not lurid, and all the more powerful and atmospheric for that. Stephen King described this book as an inspiration.
Pam