23 March 2017
Gilded Cage by Dr. Vic James - discussion questions
Vic James is a current affairs TV director who loves stories in all their forms, and Gilded Cage is her debut novel. She as twice judged the Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize, has made films for BBC1, BBC2, and Channel...
23 March 2017
Gilded Cage by Dr. Vic James - a prologue
A thrilling Orwellian vision of Britain, with a rebellious Hunger Games heart. Gilded Cage is the astonishing debut novel from Vic James, and the first title in her electrifying The Dark Gifts Trilogy. Britain’s magically-skilled aristocracy compels all commoners to serve them...
23 March 2017
The Novel of the Century by David Bellos - an introduction
The Novel of the Century brings to life the extraordinary story of how Victor Hugo managed to write his novel of the downtrodden despite a revolution, a coup d’état and political exile; how he pulled off the deal of the...
23 March 2017
FAQs for Health Libraries
Frequently Asked Questions for health libraries delivering Reading Well Books on Prescription. Including information on working alongside public libraries, signing up to the Reading Well newsletter, and providing support for health professionals.
14 March 2017
How to run a reading circle
Adapted from article by Angie Simms- NATECLA News, Autumn 2010 and inspired by Oxford Bookworms. With thanks to Jenny Roden. Looking to experiment with your reading group? The reading circle is an exciting new approach which could enhance your reading group...
13 March 2017
Shakespeare Week 2017 Chatterbooks Activity Pack
Here is a special Chatterbooks activity pack for Shakespeare Week 2017 with details of books for young people about Shakespeare, retellings of his plays, ideas for discussion and activities in your Chatterbooks reading group and suggestions for more reading. ...
10 March 2017
Fathers and Sons by Howard Cunnell - an extract
As a boy growing up on the south coast of England, Howard Cunnell’s sense of self was dominated by his father’s absence. Now, years later, he is a father, and his daughter is becoming his son. Starting with his own...
10 March 2017
All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai - discussion questions
Elan Mastai was born in Vancouver and lives in Toronto with his wife and children. He writes movies and his credits include the award-winning script for What If, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan and Adam Driver. He is currently developing...
10 March 2017
All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai - an extract
You know the future that people in the ‘50s imagined? Flying cars, teleportation, jetpacks and moon bases? Well, it happened. And it was just as great as we hoped it would be. It’s 2016 and in Tom’s world, technology has solved...
09 March 2017
S.C.R.E.A.M: The Mummy's Revenge book extract
Read the opening chapter of S.C.R.E.A.M: The Mummy’s Revenge, the latest book from Andrew Beasley
09 March 2017
Uncle Shawn and Bill video extract
A.L. Kennedy reads the opening from her novel Uncle Shawn and Bill and the Almost Entirely Unplanned Adventure, illustrated by Gemma Correll, in which a brave and handsome young badger called Bill meets two extremely dreadful sisters and begins an...
09 March 2017
The Dark Days Club video trailer
Discover the world of The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman… Combining Jane Austen’s high society and Cassandra Clare’s supernatural underworld, Alison Goodman’s Lady Helen trilogy will delight fans of historical fiction and fantasy.
09 March 2017
The Cherry Pie Princess activity sheets
Download these sheets inspired by The Cherry Pie Princess to share with your Chatterbooks group. This bundle includes a drawing activity, short story prompts and more!
01 March 2017
World Book Day 2017 Chatterbooks Activity Pack
This year is very special. It is the 20th year there’s been a World Book Day, and on 2nd March 2017 children of all ages will come together to appreciate reading. In this pack you’ll find lots of ideas for your...
21 February 2017
Help! I'm An Alien activity sheet
Download this fun wordsearch inspired by the hilarious Help! I’m An Alien Series for your Chatterbooks group!
21 February 2017
Rita the Rescuer Activity sheet
Download this Rita the Rescuer colouring sheet to share with your group!
20 February 2017
World Book Day 2017 Toolkit
Are you wondering how you can support World Book Day 2017? This Toolkit has been designed so that authors, illustrators, publishers, librarians and booksellers can join in with #WorldBookDay20. There are loads of ideas, such as how you could use social...
07 February 2017
CWA 2017 Longlist - Brian McGilloway
Brian McGilloway is the bestselling author of eight crime novels, five featuring Garda Inspector Benedict Devlin and three in the DS Lucy Black series. In addition to being shortlisted for a CWA Dagger and the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime Novel...
07 February 2017
CWA 2017 Longlist - Chris Ewan
Born in Taunton in 1976, Chris Ewan now lives in Somerset with his wife, Jo, and their daughter. Safe House, his first stand-alone thriller, was a number one bestseller in 2012 and was shortlisted for the Theakston’s Old Peculiar Crime...
07 February 2017
CWA 2017 Longlist - Nicola Upson
Nicola Upson was born in Suffolk and read English at Downing College, Cambridge. Her debut novel, An Expert in Murder, was the first in a series of crime novels whose main character is Josephine Tey – one of the leading...
07 February 2017
CWA 2017 Longlist - Alison Bruce
Alison Bruce is a crime novelist and creator of the Cambridge-based Gary Goodhew series. Her seventh novel is Cambridge Black. She has also written two factual crime books and a number of short stories. Alison is an RLF Fellow at ARU...
07 February 2017
Thin Air by Michelle Paver - discussion questions
It is 1935, and young medic Stephen Pearce travels to India to join an expedition with his brother, Kits. The elite team of five will climb Kangchenjunga, the world’s third highest mountain and one of mountaineering’s biggest killers. No one...
04 February 2017
Holding by Graham Norton - discussion questions
Duneen is a quiet place, far enough from the big towns to have kept its own rhythms. Its residents include cast down policeman PJ who lives a lonely, uneventful life punctuated only by the next meal – until now; the...
31 January 2017
We Chose to Speak of War and Strife by John Simpson - an extract
In corners of the globe where fault-lines see the into bloodshed and civil war, foreign correspondents have, for hundreds of years, been engaged in uncovering the latest news and – despite obstacles bureaucratic, political, violent – reporting it by whatever...
31 January 2017
Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germay by Norman Ohler - an extract
The Nazis presented themselves as warriors against moral degeneracy. Yet, as Norman Ohler’s gripping bestseller reveals, the entire Third Reich was permeated with drugs: cocaine, heroin, morphine and, most of all, methamphetamines, or crystal meth, used by everyone from factory...
31 January 2017
Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe by Kapka Kassabova - discussion questions
When Kapka Kassabova was a child, the border zone between Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece was rumoured to be an easier crossing point into the West than the Berlin Wall so it swarmed with soldiers, spies and fugitives. Today, this densely...
31 January 2017
The Girl Before by J. P. Delaney - an extract
Enter the world of One Folgate Street and discover perfection … but can you pay the price? Jane stumbles on the rental opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to live in a beautiful ultra-minimalist house designed by an enigmatic architect,...
31 January 2017
What the Dog Knows by Cat Warren - an extract
A New York Times–bestselling book which has been featured on the Radio 2 Book Club: Fact Not Fiction. When Cat Warren adopted Solo, an unruly German shepherd puppy, she soon began to wonder what she’d let herself in for. Solo’s boundless...
31 January 2017
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi - an extract
Effia and Esi: two sisters with two very different destinies. One sold into slavery; one a slave trader’s wife. The consequences of their fate reverberate through the generations that follow. Taking us from the Gold Coast of Africa to the...
30 January 2017
Where's Wally activity sheets
Celebrate the 30th anniversary of Where’s Wally with these fun activity sheets! This download includes colouring sheets, word puzzles and a maze activity
