Summer is bringing with it a relaxed and happy vibe into the Gonville Café Library, making my days glide by with a blur of happy summery customers and the books they choose. School holidays are almost over for the majority of the tamariki in our community, which will see the
library become somewhat quieter during school hours!
The holiday programme at the library was a huge success and it was with great sadness that we said goodbye to Tamahaia Skinner, the Children's Book Champion. I wish him well and am grateful for him helping to instil the love of reading into the children he encountered in his role at the library.
The new book club which I will be running is starting on Monday, February 9 at 10.30am at the Gonville Café Library. There are some places still available in this group and the other two that I run for the library. If you are looking for a book club contact me.
¦For more information on any of the activities mentioned above or to comment,call in at The Gonville Café Library, phone 344 5872 or email kelly@wanganuilibrary.com
BOOK REVIEW
Stone Mattress
by Margaret Atwood
I have found a new literary crush, well truth be told, rediscovered is probably more accurate in this busy book-filled world. The author that has my heart is Margaret Atwood, a Canadian writer of fiction, children's literature and non-fiction, renowned poet and winner of the Booker Prize in 2000 for The Blind Assassin. Over the years I have read pieces of her work and I have been both moved and held captivated by her ability to be a master wordsmith but also the emotions she leaves embedded in my literary heart.
Quietly thrilled is how I would describe the feeling I got when her latest offering, Stone Mattress, a collection of short stories, appeared on our shelves at the Wanganui District Library. I became an Atwood glutton for the next two nights, devouring her stories one by one, savouring her dark insight into the human condition and wickedly dark sense of humour that accompanies that insight. The first three stories are linked and are truly magnificent in their own right but as a trio they shine. All nine tales are unique, brilliantly written and another masterpiece.
4.5 / 5 stars
- Kelly Harrison