The Reluctant Fundamentalist - The Tubridy Show Book Club choice for October

This novel is written as a monologue that Changez, a young Pakistani, delivers to a mysterious American at a café table in Lahore. Among the brightest and best of his graduating class at Princeton, Changez is snapped up by an elite New York financial company. He thrives on the energy of New York and the intensity of his work and falls in love with a beautiful – and unavailable – young woman. But everything changes when Changez realizes that he is half-gladdened by the World Trade Centre attacks and this begins a process of inner transformation that results with his return to Pakistan. As the monologue progresses, we never learn the American man’s identity and by the end of the book, the author Mohsin Hamid lets us decide for ourselves whether Changez is the hunter or the hunted. A novel filled with tension that entertains at the same time as it makes you think, The Reluctant Fundamentalist was published by Penguin in 2007.

"Paddington Here and Now" - Paddington’s fiftieth anniversary year

Adult fans of Paddington Bear will treasure this new creation from Michael Bond. This solid hardback with charming illustrations will transport Paddington lovers back in time on a journey of nostalgia. The same old Paddington gets caught up in all sorts of scrapes, with the police, with travel agents and he still has the odd run-in with Mr. Curry from next door, coming out on top in a satisfyingly predictable way. This is Paddington’s fiftieth anniversary year so what better time to choose the book as an ideal gift for children aged 8 or 9 who can read it independently or for adults who would like to share it with their children. Paddington Here and Now is published by HarperCollins, 2008

Times have changed at Mills & Boon

Mills and Boon has joined the e-book revolution by converting 200 of its books to e-book format. The downloads on the Mills and Boon website went live in October and are also on sale at Waterstones. The publisher will now convert 70 of its titles a month in an attempt to have as many of its books as possible available as e-books. Harlequin (Mills and Boon's Canadian parent company) has been selling e-books for two years and it has grown month upon month. Mills & Boon has launched a crime and thriller series in its first venture beyond romance publishing since it was founded 100 years ago. Black Star Crime kicked off in August with five titles, and will initially publish five titles every two months. In a sharp departure from the traditional Mills & Boon offering, the publishers will also launch a new raunchier series of books next year under the Spice imprint. Claire Somerville, Mills & Boon's marketing director says “You can chart the development of social and sexual mores, the history of women and the evolution of women's role socially and sexually, all through Mills & Boon." However, the publishers are still guaranteeing its readers a happy ending!

Children visit the library in their thousands for Children’s Book Festival 2008

Children’s Book Festival in Clare libraries was an outstanding success this year with all branches packed to capacity for a bumper programme of events which included the best in children’s entertainment. Puppet theatre, drama, art and craft workshops and visits by best-selling children’s authors were just some of the events that took place during the month-long celebration of books and libraries. The aim of the festival is the celebration of books and reading and the encouragement of library use from a very early age. With this aim in mind, librarians throughout the county welcomed children and teachers from local schools to their individual programmes of events. The library service would like to thank all teachers, parents and children who supported the festival this year. One of this year’s most popular events was the Super Furry Animals Show. During this show children were treated to an interactive demonstration lecture on the wild mammal species found in Ireland with the added bonus of seeing first hand the special features of these elusive animals as presented in “stuffed” specimens. Artist Alan Shoosmith brought his Halloween art workshop to half of Clare County Library’s branches. Cereal boxes became haunted towers, dungeons and homes to dragons & scary creatures in 3D collages, that now decorate the young artists’ homes for the weekend ahead. Authors Karen McCombie, Kate McMahon, Áine Ní Ghlinn, Judi Curtin and Roisin Meaney did the rounds speaking to children and teenagers about writing and publishing their books and proved that drawing on your own experience is the best way to become a writer. They provided much food for thought for young book enthusiasts, some of whom left the libraries with thoughts of becoming writers themselves. Storytellers Joe Brennan and Niall de Burca were simply first-rate entertainment from beginning to end of their hour-long sessions. Stories new and old were delivered by both with a generous helping of myths and legends, plenty of humour and stimulation for the imagination. The Miriam Lambert Puppet Show performed a very special version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears for young children introducing them to an imaginative puppet world with lots of interactive fun to entertain and stimulate them. Sean O’Laoghaire from Cork presented ‘It’s My Planet Too’ a puppet show for older children set in Nature’s Garden, where the animal inhabitants are threatened by the villain Pollution. Growing up in a house full of stories, magic and tradition, Sean has a wealth of experience to draw on. He has written and performed puppet shows and run storytelling workshops for many years now. Clare County Library would like to thank all local businesses who sponsor Children’s Book Festival each year. One of Ireland’s biggest arts festivals, CBF provides approximately 1,500 free events for children all over Ireland each year.

Booker Prize Winner

Aravind Adiga was named the winner of the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2008 for his debut novel The White Tiger. The winning novel is described as a ‘compelling, angry and darkly humorous' novel about a man's journey from Indian village life to entrepreneurial success. It was described by one reviewer as an ‘unadorned portrait' of India seen ‘from the bottom of the heap'. One of the Booker judges, Michael Portillo, explained that the novel had won overall because of 'its originality'. He said that The White Tiger presented 'a different aspect of India' and was a novel with 'enormous literary merit'. Balram Halwai is the White Tiger – the smartest boy in his village. His family is too poor to afford for him to finish school and he has to work in a teashop, breaking coals and wiping tables. But Balram gets his break when a rich man hires him as a chauffeur, and takes him to live in Delhi where he takes the violent action that secures his place among the rich.

Potter best-selling book ever on Amazon

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince has been revealed as the biggest selling book on Amazon.co.uk's website since it began trading ten years ago. In fact the chart has been dominated by the wizard since Amazon started trading in 1998. In its first year, The Prisoner Of Azkaban was Amazon.co.uk’s best-selling book. The following year, The Goblet Of Fire topped the chart. The Order Of The Phoenix was its biggest-selling book of 2003 and The Half-Blood Prince was No.1 in 2005 and is the best selling book on Amazon ever. In July 2007 two million pre-ordered copies of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows were delivered around the world by Amazon in a single day. The Deathly Hallows - the final book in the series – lies in 2nd place on the chart of best-selling books ever. The top ten is entirely comprised of titles that were published during the past five years. The website had its origins in the online retailer Bookpages, which began trading in 1996 and was bought by Amazon.co.uk in 1998.
The top 10:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J K Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J K Rowling
The Dangerous Book for Boys - Conn and Hal Iggulden
QI: The Book of General Ignorance - John Lloyd and John Mitchinson
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
Nigella Express - Nigella Lawson
Does Anything Eat Wasps?: And 101 Other Questions - Mick O'Hare
Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze?: And 114 Other Questions - Mick O'Hare

BookFest: The Children’s Book Festival’s Recommended Reading Guide

The Children’s Book Festival’s Recommended Reading Guide, edited by Liz Morris and Sarah Webb, is a collection of age ranged books for eveyone from babies to young adults.
The review panel is made up of teachers, librarians, booksellers, editors, lecturers, authors, illustrators and parents and their selection offers a wealth of excellent books to choose from. Copies of The Children’s Book Festival’s Reccommended Reading Guide are available free of charge from all branches of Clare County Library and the featured books are available for borrowing from library branches.

Language Centre at Clare County Library

The Shannon Language Centre, a joint initiative of the Shannon Town Commissioners and Clare County Library, offers access to modern language learning resources in a comfortable, private setting in the Seán Lemass Library, Shannon. Language learners have access to booths fitted out with cassette, compact disc, video and satellite television facilities. The Centre provides access to many modern languages, as well as various other languages including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Thai. Learners can choose their preferred level - beginners, intermediate or advanced - and select appropriate material. The Centre caters for a wide cross-section of the community, including secondary and tertiary level students, holiday makers, adult learners, business people and professional linguists. The audio-visual resources of the Centre are backed up by a selection of print resources, including dictionaries, grammars, word lists and vocabularies. Contact: Sean Lemass Library, Shannon Town Centre, at 061 - 364266.

Music Recording Scheme - Clare Arts Office

The Arts Office of Clare County Council is offering musicians, singers and storytellers based in Co. Clare the opportunity to record. The scheme will provide a number of hours in a recording studio (including sound engineer) in a selected studio in County Clare. “The scheme offers musicians, singers and storytellers of Clare an opportunity to record, whether it be for a commercial cd or for a demo. Making a recording is still quite expensive so this scheme aims to help artists in tough economic times when other doors seem to be closing” comments Tara Connaghan, Traditional Arts Specialist with the Clare Arts Office. The scheme is open to musicians, singers (in any genre) and storytellers. Interested artists should contact the Clare Arts Office on 065-6846267 or email arts@clarelibrary.ie to register their interest and complete an application form by Friday 14th November 2008. Application forms can also be downloaded here… Late applications after this deadline cannot be accepted and studio time must be used by December 31st, 2008.

The Builders - new book by Frank McDonald and Kathy Sheridan

In the past fifteen years, Ireland has gone from being one of the poorest countries in the EU to one of the richest in the world. Of all the factors in this extraordinary transformation, none has been more prominent than the astonishing boom in construction. The transformation was created by a relatively small number of men, mostly from humble, rural backgrounds. In The Builders, Frank McDonald and Kathy Sheridan tell the stories of these men, of the local and national governments that have helped them, and of the changes - physical and psychological - they have brought about. They also go behind the facades of these secretive men, explaining what drives them and what they do with their vast wealth. The story of Ireland's property developers has been the great untold story of the country's growth - until now. The Builders is published by Penguin Ireland, 2008.