YC Reading

Welcome to  #FictionFriday, where we ask Yeovil College staff to share their thoughts, opinions and just plain random tastes in books. Each staff member selects questions to answer from a finely honed and crafted selection, designed to entertain and educate us about their reading lives.  Today we're talking to Esther Dobbs, our Print Room Assistant with a background in Creative Writing and an appreciation for a good coffee and a well written read. Esther says that Hufflepuff would be her Hogwarts house, because it sounds like fun! What's the first book you remember reading, or being read?   "The Babysitters Club books, I absolutely LOVED these books! Mary Anne was always my favourite - she was quiet and sensible." What is your favourite book of all time? " 'American Wife' by Curtis Sittenfeld. It's loosely based on JFK and the US political scene. It has everything - her writing is always fantastic." Name one book...

Welcome to  #FictionFriday, where we ask Yeovil College staff to share their thoughts, opinions and just plain random tastes in books. Each staff member selects questions to answer from a finely honed and crafted selection, designed to entertain and educate us about their reading lives.  Today we're talking to Kern Vickers, our resident Librarian. Based in the Learning Resource Centre, our keeper of the books is spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing something to read! A keen hockey player and sports fan, Kern is also a history buff and an avid appreciator of cakes and biscuits - which may explain why his Hogwarts House is Hufflepuff. What is your favourite book of all time? "Chronicle of the 20th Century. I still have it at home. When I first got it, I would read it all the time at the breakfast table when getting ready for school. " Name one book or author that you really can't stand "Cathy Glass - can this author not write a ...

Welcome to our new series, YC Student View, where Yeovil College students can write about their love of all things literary. Whether that's reviewing new fiction, old favourites or adaptations, or talking about what they love - or loathe - about books, we want to hear what our students have to say. They're an enthusiastic and talented bunch who are the reason we do what we do! "Since starting at college last year, I had made the decision to keep my love of books, literature and reading to myself. I didn’t know anyone here who shared this hobby with me, and admittedly I do not see my friends from school often enough anymore to talk with them about it. In fact, now that I come to think about it, I haven’t read a book in a whole year! That is just so unlike me! So, when I received the email that there was going to be a book club, I couldn’t reply ‘yes!’ fast enough. It was and wasn’t what I expected all at once. I thought that just talking about my favourite boo...

Welcome to  #FictionFriday, where we ask Yeovil College staff to share their thoughts, opinions and just plain random tastes in books. Each staff member selects questions to answer from a finely honed and crafted selection, designed to entertain and educate us about their reading lives.  Today we're talking to Carey Bastin, a Business lecturer with fine literary and sartorial taste. Carey was the original book club manager and blogger for YC Reading, and her Hogwarts House is Slytherin - home of Severus Snape and Merlin as well as He Who Must Not Be Named. Here's what Carey told us about her literary loves! What's the first book you remember reading, or being read?   "Roald Dahl's Matilda." What is your favourite book of all time? "James Frey - 'A Million Little Pieces'." ( You can read our 2014 book club review here  and borrow the novel from the Learning Centre.) Name one book or author that you really ca...

Welcome to  #FictionFriday, where we ask Yeovil College staff to share their thoughts, opinions and just plain random tastes in books. Each staff member selects questions to answer from a finely honed and crafted selection, designed to entertain and educate us about their reading lives.  Today we're talking to  Kim Campbell, our Assistant Learning Resource Advisor for FE. Kim is a dedicated runner who has participated in many charity race events, and a big fan of all things stationary (meaning pens, notebooks and sticky notes rather than non-moving objects)- and unintentionally amusing wordplay. Her favourite Marvel character is Harley Quinn, and her Hogwarts House is Gryffindor - perfect for the most intrepid member of the library team! What's the first book you remember reading, or being read?   " "Andy Pandy's New Pet". Read by my parents, who are no longer with me, but my daughter still has the book." What is your favourite b...

Welcome to  #FictionFriday, where we ask Yeovil College staff to share their thoughts, opinions and just plain random tastes in books. Each staff member selects questions to answer from a finely honed and crafted selection, designed to entertain and educate us about their reading lives.  Today we're talking to April Cursons, who is our Assistant Learning Resource Advisor which means she makes sure the YCUC courses have books and reading lists for study and research. She also helps run our literary and literacy events, and occasionally appears in fancy dress for a good cause; recently she was an enthusiastic elf in Santa's grotto at the Yeovil College Victorian Christmas Fayre. April's Hogwarts House is definitely Ravenclaw - very suitable for one of our library staff. What's the first book you remember reading, or being read?   "Being read - my Rainbow Brite annual. Reading by myself - my collection of She Ra and Thomas the Ta...

Welcome to  #FictionFriday, where we ask Yeovil College staff to share their thoughts, opinions and just plain random tastes in books. Each staff member selects questions to answer from a finely honed and crafted selection, designed to entertain and educate us about their reading lives.  Today we're talking to Jon Margetts, who is one of our fantastic learning support practitioners. Jon's Hogwarts House is definitively Hufflepuff; Jon admits, "I did the Pottermore assessment TWICE because I was unhappy with being placed in Hufflepuff initially, and then got placed in Hufflepuff again. I have since accepted my fate." We think you're in good company with Newt Scamander and Nymphadora Tonks, Jon! What's the first book you remember reading, or being read? "My dad used to read me the Roald Dahl books out loud, so the first memory I have is probably of Matilda, or George's Marvellous Medicine. The first book I can remember reading my...