The Trouble With Goats And Sheep

'The Trouble With Goats and Sheep' by Joanna Cannon is a wonderful debut novel published by The Borough Press, who have kindly supplied these beautiful editions for Onchan Book Group to read. 

The group will be collecting their copies at our next meeting on THURS 5th MAY, and will have the opportunity to tweet questions to the author, Joanna Cannon!

The Borough Press say: 'The Trouble With Goats and Sheep' is set during the heat-wave of 1976, and is the story of ten-year-old Grace and her best friend Tilly. 

When Mrs Creasy goes missing and The Avenue fills with whispers, Grace takes Tilly by the hand and starts an investigation to help solve the mystery. as the cul-de-sac starts giving up its secrets, the amateur detectives will discover much more than they imagined. This perceptive and poignant debut novel explores what it is to belong, and how we treat those who don't.

How To Publish an ebook

If you want to find out how to reach a World Wide Audience through publishing your own ebook, pick up a ticket and find out more with Michele McGrath tonight at 7 p.m. Admission free, and refreshments served.

The Scene of The Crime Book Giveaway!

We're celebrating World Book Night by giving away thrilling reads ....

and on Wednesday 20th April there was some criminally good cake and a cuppa too!

World Book Night is all about sharing books with your local community, and opening up the works of these exciting authors to a whole new audience. 

If you love a good thriller, call in on World Book Night, Sat 23rd April. You don't have to be a library member, and the books are free!

Skeleton Road by Val McDermid

Our book of the month for March is a thriller by Scottish author Val McDermid. 

When a skeleton is discovered hidden at the top of a crumbling, gothic building in Edinburgh, Detective Chief Inspector Karen Pirie is faced with the unenviable task of identifying the bones. 

As Karen's investigation gathers momentum, she is drawn deeper into a dark world of intrigue and betrayal.  Meanwhile, someone is taking the law into their own hands in the name of justice and revenge -- but when present resentment collides with secrets of the past, the truth is more shocking than anyone could have imagined . . 

Val McDermid has visited The Isle of Man to speak at an Author's Breakfast organised by Manx Blind Welfare. Another local connection is her book 'The Grave Tattoo', which was based on the rumour that Fletcher Christian returned to the Lake District after leaving Pitcairn Island. He then told his story to former schoolmate, poet William Wordsworth, who based a secret poem on it.

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

 ‘’Year of Wonders’ carries absolute conviction as an evocation of place and mood. It has a vivid imaginative truth, and is beautifully written.’ Hilary Mantel

Our Book of the Month is Geraldine Brooks's Year of Wonders, which describes the 17th-century plague that is carried from London to a small Derbyshire village by an itinerant tailor. 

As villagers begin, one by one, to die, the rest face a choice. Do they flee their village in the hope of outrunning the plague or do they stay? 

The lord of the manor and his family pack and leave. The rector, Michael Mompellion, argues forcefully that the villagers should stay put, isolate themselves from neighbouring towns and villages and prevent the contagion from spreading. His oratory wins the day and the village turns in on itself. 

Cocooned from the outside world and ravaged by the disease, its inhabitants struggle to retain their humanity in the face of the disaster.

Geraldine Brooks is an Australian / American author, and this was her first novel. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 2006 for her second novel, 'March'. 

Book Group News

 Simon & Schuster

We've got some great reads lined up this year starting with a double bill of 'Brokeback Mountain' by Annie Proulx and / or a Susan Hill novella of your own choice. 

Annie Proulx is known for a book group favourite 'The Shipping News' and for her superb short stories. Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, two ranch hands, meet when they're working as sheepherder and camp tender one summer on Brokeback Mountain. They unsuccessfully try to resist the attraction that develops between them, but their relationship survives the years and separations. Although they both marry and have families, it remains the most important thing in their lives. 

The book became a highly acclaimed film, which I felt did more justice to the book than the screen adaptation of 'The Shipping News'

A reviewer on Amazon posted this summary of the book: 

"It will take you an hour to read, but it could be the best hour of your life. Lovely, touching, disturbing and superbly written".


Pam

Book group member and poet, Elizabeth Adams, has just read 'The Mist In The Mirror' by Susan Hill, which inspired her to write this poem:

THE MIST IN THE MIRROR

Well what a story, an age old one

evil trying to destroy good

For all our frailties, God knows

he will not allow all good to fail,

We first in our innocence

Then in our human arrogance

believe so much in ourselves

we close the door on the Lord.

The past ignorance of evil

has been in part tainted

Ghosts, Ghouls who would be such a fool

but wary we must be

the devil will always seek

the gullible, the unbelievers

who close their hearts and minds 

to upsets behind blinds

Elizabeth Adams

Christmas Meeting

The library has a lovely tree on display at the airport this year for The Save The Children Festival of Trees. It was created by our talented Library Assistant and Illustrator Quinn Shipton and incorporates leaves with favourite books chosen by our library readers. 

We decided to read some of the chosen titles for our Christmas meeting, and here's a few of our picks.... 

You can pick up a leaflet with all the favourite books from the library if you're looking for some good ideas for Christmas Reading. Why not call down to the airport and see our tree over the holidays?