YC Reading

This winter, the Learning Centre at Yeovil College is delighted to introduce our new, modestly sized but carefully chosen, graphic novel and manga collection, available to borrow for all Yeovil College students and staff, and our external borrowers. Based on feedback from both staff and students, and demonstrating our continued commitment and enthusiasm for promoting literacy, English skills and reading, we decided to choose a selection of the best, the newest and most interesting graphic and manga novels. These range from the stalwart superheroes of the DC and Marvel universes to alternative takes on the genre, spectacular prequels and re-tellings of fictional favourites and collections of the bestselling and most exciting manga series. We hope that these novels and stories will capture hearts and imaginations, and help encourage those who are not confident or interested in reading to try something different, that is both visually stimulating and good to embed and develop integral

'Tis the season to be jolly... except sometimes, it can all be rather overwhelming. With all the stresses and strains of the holiday season, not to mention that sometimes the gulf between what we believe we should be feeling and what we actually feel can be quite large. And so, rather than picking our favourite Christmas books, instead here are our recommended reads to cheer and console. Based on our popular Good Moods display, our Learning Centre team at Yeovil College picked the books, both fiction and non-fiction, that they turn to when in need of story-based solace...  Karen: “I have spent the summer reading all of the Diane Chamberlain books. There are definitely better authors to pick from, but I like her books because they are easy to read and have lots of twists to keep the reader interested. This American author always focuses on the family in her stories and they often involve children, love and a bit of a mystery. Try the ‘Keeper of the Light Trilogy’. Star

We read fiction for many reasons. We may read to escape, or to immerse ourselves in an imaginary world. We can explore and experience emotions, situations and places through the mindset and words of another. We may be challenged to think, or to consider things differently. And we read to learn. The pursuit of knowledge through reading is fundamental to its importance and centrality in our society. It’s yet another reason why literacy has been so vital, and the role of libraries in advocating and encouraging literacy remains a key aspect of our ethos.  A fiction book which seeks to fulfill all of these needs simultaneously aims high. You could say that this multifaceted identity is what allows us to call these aspiring books, “literary fiction.” Despite the contentious label, any book which manages to deliver on all these points is quite rightly praised. And “We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves” is one of these books.  Billed as a family drama of the cloyingly emotional type on

Looking Back: Our Literacy Events.   The Yeovil College Learning Resource Centre is  enthusiastic about promoting literacy and literature. As we reach the end of 2015, we thought we would take a retrospective look at our previous successful literary events which have taken place over the past eighteen months - and start excitedly planning our 2016 schedule.  We hope you enjoy finding out what we have to offer. For more information, or if you are a writer or literacy initiative who would like to work with us, please contact us at: learningcentre@yeovil.ac.uk    Poetry Day - October 2015 For National Poetry Day, the Learning Centre took inspiration from the famous "Poems on the Underground" initiative and asked our staff to choose their favourite or most significant poems for display around campus. Learning Centre Co-Ordinator Chris Canning with a Poetry Day poster. Students, staff and visitors alike were greeted with visually arresting posters across campus,

Our October Book was "The Miniaturist" by Jessie Burton .  A much hyped novel, which has uniformly received glowing reviews from leading critics and popular authors, we were all hoping for great things. The group met yesterday and were instantly in agreement that this novel did not deliver, and that it was a book that some felt obliged to finish and others just couldn't stand to continue it. Some great conversation followed, and what follows is a summary of what we covered. I've paraphrased as best as possible, just to give a flavor of this discussion, which got very lively and passionate in places. Here's why: Sijla : Silja summarized the issue very pithily with this comment - (slight spoiler alert!)   " If I don’t care about a dead dog, something’s not right!" As an experienced writer, Silja felt that this book read like someone’s first novel   produced for a creative writing exercise, or by a recent graduate, and felt very amateur and

What We’re About: We’re passionate about books. A book is both the key and the door to other worlds, places and times; it speaks to us from both past and future, from imaginary worlds and our world, in many voices. A book can entertain or educate, invoke desire or despair, awaken thoughts, emotions, dreams and ideas. Basically, we love to read and we love to talk about what we read with like-minded folk who are equally passionate about books. And sometimes, we have cake.   What We Read: Each month, we read a book, chosen by our members. It could be anything, from the latest YA bestseller, to a cult classic or a popular genre novel, to literary prize-winners and classics.   We read widely and well. By broadening our perceptions and ideas about what makes a good book, and what we enjoy about reading, it allows us all to try new genres or types of fiction. This can be a surprising process.   Books we’ve read so far have included “TheGoldfinch” by Donna Tartt, “The Fau

Recently The Guardian ran an article discussing Prue Leith’s comments on contemporary cookbooks. ( “Cookbooks’ key ingredient now design not recipes, says food writer.” CarolineDavies and Nicola Slawson, Guardian website, Tuesday 18th August2015.) In this article, the authors discuss Leith’s comments regarding modern cookbooks being primarily aesthetically pleasing, rather than designed for practical use and, well, actual cooking. This got me thinking. Which cookery books do I actually use? And which ones do I enjoy? Are the two necessarily different?  Currently, cooking shows and competitions such as Masterchef and the Great British Bake Off are highly popular. The resurgence of baking has led to a massive boom in all things cupcake. Food festivals, gourmet fast food and local produce have all become more mainstream affairs rather than specialist pursuits. This would suggest a nation which is growing more passionate about food, and therefore cooking. Cookbooks themselves ar