New Year’s Resolutions?
Exercise your little grey cells at Bexley’s Libraries,
“the gymnasiums of the mind” - (Leotards not required…)
New Year’s resolutions?...
Diet?
Keep fit?
‘Pumping Iron’?
Whatever you choose, Bexley Libraries have books to get you started…
But above all, dear readers, exercise your little grey cells ~ Libraries have been described as “gymnasiums for the mind”, and – unlike other gyms - they’re free, you won’t get too sweaty, and not many staff wear leotards!
Look, I’ve been doing some research:
* “People who read for fun are usually better at it…”
* “All official studies show that the early years involve the highest rates of learning, and the reading habits formed at a young age will stay with them for a lifetime…”
* “Everyone knows that reading expands your horizons, and book clubs help to do this at an even greater level…”
* “A huge advantage of fiction is that when reading it you can train your imagination…”
I could go on, but you don’t want to hear too much, do you? You want to read, don’t you? Go on, now’s your chance; you know it makes sense!...
So, dear Blog followers, make yourself some New Year’s Resolutions; follow our simple, three point plan –
1) Keep your brain in trim…
2) Go to your nearest Bexley library…
3) READ MORE!...
And don’t forget to suggest other stimulating book ideas to other readers; fiction, self-help, brainteasers, Captain Underpants, Jeffrey Archer, anything!…Just post them in the comments box below, and revel in the Bexley book-based cerebral maelstrom you’ve just become part of…
(As for me, I`m going to be an exception to that rule, pop on my library leotard, and get back to my blog).
Enjoy your reading & Happy New Year!
TTFN
20 comments:
Happy New Year to one and all! To help this happen in the dark days of January, there will be a display of mood-boosting books at the Central Library in Bexleyheath. Come and borrow one or more to brighten your days and nights - choose from inspiring tales, humour, romance, poetry and lots more. Find the display on the end of the Mind Body Spirit shelves.
Jill
Thanks, Jill ~
Mood boosting books at Bexleyheath? This sounds good, I’ll take a look (but not in my leotard, that might startle the borrowers and dampen their spirits somewhat…)
What types of books are there? Anything you’d particularly recommend?
Thanks again.
Pam Ayres' poetry always raises a smile [got given one of her books for Christmas - found a very appropriate poem for New Year - it's about clutter in the house, called Heaps of Stuff]
I like Simon Brett's Mrs Pargetter stories - mysteries with a touch of humour - try Mrs Pargetter's Point of Honour.
There are some good classic titles too - for example - Cold Comfort Farm, The Diary of a Nobody, Three men in a boat...
Which leads me to think of another favourite, P.G.Wodehouse, some of his books are there too and also the Joyce Grenfell monologues. Oh, and Spike Milligan, for a touch of zaniness.
Thanks, Jill ~ there’s some great choices there…
I note the bit about ‘clutter’…It’s one of my New Year’s Resolutions to create more mess and clutter at home, as those who know the Blogbrarian intimately will appreciate him to be a meticulously tidy fellow…
My other resolutions for 2011 are to read more histories, crime novels and – above all - ‘chick lit’…
Anyone else ready to reveal their reading resolutions?...
TTFN
My New Year Reading Resolution is rather embarrassing for a librarian - it's to get to the end of the next book I read, having abandoned the last 4 part way through. And as these include "The Slap" and "Room", I'm a bit disgusted with myself. [The other two were a teenage supernatural story "Beautiful Creatures" - why did I let myself be persuaded to read that? - and " Listening to Britain : home intelligence reports on Britain's finest hour", a book of extracts from the Mass Observation archives which was interesting, but too episodic to engage me]. I think I might have finished "Room" in a slightly different mood, but "The Slap"? - no, I don't think so.
However, I've just started "Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria in Britain, 1933-1970" by Anthony Grenville, and will definitely be reading that right through.
My New Year's Resolution is to cook more... although those made to suffer at the dinner table may well persuade me to drop this resolution fairly sharpish.
Anyway, the cause for all this unusual determination was in getting Nigel Slater's Real Food cookbook for Christmas - very highly recommended particularly as it's not terribly complicated (which is saying a lot as I'm generally bamboozled by the can opener).
I'm also just about to join the queue for a copy of 'Toast', Nigel Slater's memoir of a foodie childhood - in the hope it provides more inspiration!
My mother is 90, has read all her life and is still as sharp as a tack. She loves detective stories and although Agatha Christie gets regular visits she still loves the Sherlock Holmes tales most of all, even after several previous reads. She is not keen on too much violence; can the Blogbrarian recommend another suitable detective?
Dear anonymous ~
Thanks for this, and it’s good to hear that your Mother still enjoys her reading…Glad to hear, too, that she doesn’t like too much violence in her books – so, following on from Sherlock Holmes, why not suggest she try Dorothy L Sayers’ aristocratic sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey ? (A gent of the old School). Or, how about Jacqueline Winspear’s Masie Dobbs?...(A lady sleuth from the `Upstairs Downstairs` era).
Hope that’s of use?
TTFN
Thanks, Rachel, for your food-themed resolutions….I didn’t see the Nigel Slater `Toast` programme on TV, but heard it was quite good? The book is a great read – but, don’t forget here in Bexley Libraries OTHER COOKBOOKS ARE AVAILABLE!
(By the way, still on toast, there’s a good science book which might stimulate the little grey cells…”Why the toast always lands buttered side down: the science of Murphy’s law” by Richard Robinson…it may even teach you how a can opener works!)
TTFN
My personal resolution for 2011 will be to stop wasting time watching rubbish television and read more books. And by the way, I like Masie Dobbs books too.
H.
Thank-you, H.
Good idea to stop watching "rubbish" TV...I wish I could!
And another vote for Jacqueline Winspear for find of the year?....
TTFN
I'm going to carry on watching rubbish TV (because I love it) and I'll still find time to read loads of books.
My resolution is not to read a worthy book next Christmas! I'm struggling through Catch-22 and not enjoying it at all. Next Christmas I'll stick to favourite authors - David Mitchell, Kate Morton, Maggie O'Farrell... Tried and tested and much loved. I'll be glad to say goodbye to the Catch-22 boys.
So, the New Year resolution question for 2011 is "TV or not TV"...?
It's true, though, that a lot of people are disappointed when they read Catch-22...What if it was made into a television mini-series?
But no more "worthy" books? Surely not...any suggestions, anyone?
Well, no more 'worthy' books at Christmas, at least.
I'll be re-reading To Kill A Mockingbird soon.
Having enjoyed returning to Charles Dickens last year, I have chosen Pickwick Papers for this year [a Dickens I have always fancied reading]. I've been told that it is an excellent choice. [I always thought I'd read Catch 22 too one day - is it really so disappointing, or does anyone love it?]
Hi Terri - Pickwick Papers is on my 'must read sometime' list. Let me know if you enjoy it.
I can't say anything good about Catch-22, I'm afraid. I found it tedious and extremely irritating. I think maybe it appeals more to men, though?
Dear correspondents…
Interesting comments, but I must admit that – regarding the discussion around Catch 22 - I find the usage and close proximity of the words “tedious”, “irritating” and “men” somewhat startling… But never mind.
My New Year resolution is to read another book the excellent German author of Alone in Berlin,Hans Fallada, my best read of 2010. Why did it take so long to put it into translation?
Thanks, Mary ~ wise words, as ever.
Yes, Hans Fallada is indeed an author to try, but I fear that the poor fellow died in 1947, so any new books may be few & far between...
Oh yes, I too loved "Alone in Berlin". Very poignant, knowing that it was based on a real couple - so incredibly principled, determined and brave.
On the other hand, Jacqueline Winspear - no-o-o-o-ooooooooo. I can't stand Maisie Dobbs, or Winspear for writing her.
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