YC Reading

     Our latest book is 'City of Bones' by Cassandra Clare.     To get yourself a copy pop into the Yeovil College Learning Centre or email learningcentre@yeovil.ac.uk for more information.

Sharon: I read the first few lines of AMLP and absolutely fell in love with the story and James Frey. I found his writing style unlike anything I have ever read before, the repetitiveness was amusing and correct for the story. Frey was writing like he was having a “Brain-dump”, he writes his words just as his brain thinks them, he was descriptive but at the same time bare. I felt like I was egging Frey on in the book: I wanted and willed him to get better and be healthy. His complete disregard and disrespect for the ’12 Step’ program made him endearing and even more so “normal”. AMLP leads nicely on to ‘My friend Leonard’, to which I have just started reading. In contrast I am finding in ‘My Friend Leonard’ Frey is more controlled in his writing style and explains a lot about Leonard that I wanted answered in AMLP. Overall I would recommend this book to anyone; it is a book that is definitely worth reading at least once! Ann: I first read AMLP having hear...

There are some films out there that you only need to watch once. ‘Titanic’, ‘The Road’ and ‘Schindler’s List’ are three such films. One viewing will shock you in all the right places, sadden you and make you smile where it’s designed, but watching it again loses the impact. ‘A Million Little Pieces’ is like that in a book.   ‘A Million Little Pieces’ is a tricky book. Its part memoir and part fiction and for me, bloody hard to review. After checking out information about the book and from what I’ve heard, it appears that it’s been subject to controversy because some of the events may or may not have happened. Well, for the sake of the review, I’m going to judge it as a work of fiction. The truth behind the events are irrelevant, because as a story it is incredible.   First things first, James Frey (author and protagonist) is an alcoholic and an addict and after an undescribed incident on a plane, he’s sent to rehab where the book stays to the end. He describes his t...

    Check out the latest display that the Book Club has to offer at the Yeovil Library!        

Congratulations Nick on winning 1st prize in our Book Club competition! Here is your fantastic prize! What a haul!

It is my pleasure to announce the Book Club competition ‘What Reading means to me’ winners: 1 st - Nick Barton Nick produced a piece titled “The Strangers we’ve become’- Jo Canning (judge) said the piece is “ A powerful and imaginative response that explores the relationship between books and real life in an engaging narrative format.” Congratulations Nick- You will be receiving the following prize: A copy of: And the Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini The Cuckoo’s Calling - Robert Galbraith The Catcher in the Rye - J.D Salinger Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami Atonement - Ian McEwan One Flew over the Cuckoo’s nest - Ken Kesey The fault in our Stars - John Green City of Bones - Cassandra Clare A million little pieces - James Frey 2 nd - Samantha Wiltshire Samantha produced a poem entitled “Read me, Read me”. Jo Canning said “'Read me, Read me' is a brilliantly titled poem about the joys of reading. I especially love the firs...

Our three lucky winners of the Book Club competition will be announced tomorrow morning at 10am! Get ready by the phone and stand by your emails! All the entrants have done a fantastic job though-well done they were all fabulous. Speak to three of you tomorrow! -Carey

'And the Mountains Echoed' is the reason I joined the book club after spotting   it on display in Yeovil Library and having read kite runner and splendid suns. Well, this novel didn't disappoint me. Hosseini wrote as beautifully ever, I literally glide through his books. He carries me through. I love the way he paints pictures with his words. Reading his books is effortless. His characterisation is brilliant and I think he writes children really well especially their emotions eg. Abdullah and Paris; Parwana and Masooma; Adel and Gholam. I also absolutely adore how Hossieni's characters have these little rituals and quirks like the dream catchers and the wishes from the tree. His characters can make the ordinary more magical.He also has a knack for pinpointing some truths about life that make me exclaim aloud in that they are so obvious, how could I have missed them. One such example is how people are ruled not by what they want but what they are afraid of. ...

Feddback like this makes my already fantastic job so worthwhile! - Carey

       

Tomorrow is the last day for entries for the Book Club competition- so get yours in fast! Simply tell us what reading means to you and you can be in for a chance to win some fantastic prizes!

I have always carried a book with me, wherever I go. It’s one of those great love affairs, timeless as Cathy and Heathcliff or Romeo and Juliet.   I can count back the years like playing cards through turning the pages of books I have loved. Their covers, softened, have the patina of much loved photographs .They are tangible and real to me, as old friends or pets, curated in their stacks and shelves as lovingly as a museum collection.   I pick up a book and recall, vividly, where it came from. Where I first read it. How it made me feel, or how the experience of reading it changed me, either very subtly like the infinitesimal graduations of waves on a summers day – or as a flash fire sweeps across prairies and grasslands, scorching and altering all beyond belief, bringing forth an entirely new world. To those of us absurdly in love with the talismanic properties of books – glorifying them beyond paper bindings and oblong shapes –   an e-reader is tantamount to b...

There were mixed feelings this month about the book, some fantastic, some not-so fantastic! Here are our reviews:   Ann: I had seen the film previously to reading the book so I was intrigued to see the comparisons. However upon reading I immediately visualised Jack Nicholson which may have possibly stilted my portrayal.   I felt this was a great read, especially considering the subject matter, it is well written and I would recommend it.   Wendy: I have yet to finish this book (I am not finding it an overly easy book to pick up as and when), however I am enjoying what I have read so far. The subject matter is quite intense and while I can imagine the setting it is quite hard to visualise the characters because Kesey tends to swing from one character to the next and includes schizophrenic images which leads to more distortion. After doing some background research on Kesey it is evident that his time spent in similar surroundings...