Category: Libraries

Women’s work identity: Convenience Store Woman & The Librarian

21/8/2018

Too few novels recreate the reality of the working environment, so hurrah for another two about women at work. From a contemporary Japanese supermarket to a library in a late 50s English country town, these depict women who take their work identity very seriously indeed. But the arrival of a man, alongside their own passion for the work, brings complications. Can Keiko and Sylvia hold onto their jobs?

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Fiction versus non-fiction: which do you prefer?

31/8/2017

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When my mother took me to the library as a child she always insisted I take out one non-fiction book along with the novels I readily devoured. An obedient child, I did as instructed, but I wasn’t happy about it. Although I can remember one notable title (although I imagine I was quite young when I read The Air Is All Around Us), I’m not sure much was achieved. Even though I loved a series of biographies of the childhoods of the famous (which felt like cheating, as these were stories), very few of the facts have stuck. A half century on, my preference for fiction over non-fiction has not budged.

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How to have a book launch party

11/8/2017

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While babies might have naming parties, couples wedding parties, a book launch party can be both celebration of a significant milestone and a marketing opportunity. I might be only on my second novel, but I have a fat party-to-publication ratio of 3:2. So, still buzzing from my latest, I hope these pointers based on my experience of hosting a launch party might be of use to others who have yet to foist one on your friends.

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The joy of rewriting

11/3/2017

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If there’s a honeymoon period in the transition from writer to author to novelist, it’s got to be the publication of that debut novel. It’s a place which might have haunted our dreams for years, without any confidence we’d actually reach it. No wonder it seems almost magical to see other people with your book in their hands.

By definition, a honeymoon can’t go on indefinitely. There is no fairy-tale happy ever after when real life intervenes. After two lovely launch parties for my debut, I came back to earth with a bump when I learnt that, as with being married, there’s nothing particularly special about having written a book.

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Libraries, Fictional Heroines and International Women

7/3/2016

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Who doesn’t love a blog poll? This time last year, I asked you to choose between five fictional heroines to mark International Women’s Day, and I enjoyed it so much I thought I’d have another bash, especially when I realised that World Book Day falls only a few days before International Women’s. I’ll admit that I haven’t ploughed systematically through a whole twelve months of reviews to select my shortlist, but I think this year’s five are a good representation of the range of heroic female characters we might encounter on the page. I’m presenting them in alphabetical order and, remember, it you don’t have to have read the books, or even the reviews, to vote.

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