Urban bookshelf

Iliada Ndoci

Pumpkin library bookshelves

The pumpkin, carved by local children and decorated by library staff, features several Lego people sitting in the comfort of their own mini-library under a tangled string of lights. For Halloween, the Lego people will even be adorned in costumes.
Boston Globe and Truro Library

The Writers Game

I've been working on this concept on and off for the last three years (readers with good memories will remember that I tried to crowdfund it with Unbound) and now The Writers Game is 'published' today by Laurence King. It's essentially literary top trumps, good wholesome fun for all the family in a rather snazzy box. Here's what LK say about it:

Who had the most commercial success in their lifetime, Ernest Hemingway or Agatha Christie? Whose work has the most adaptations, F. Scott Fitzgerald or Franz Kafka? Who courted the most scandal, Colette or James Joyce? Pit 32 of the world’s greatest modern writers against each other with these beautifully illustrated cards. An ideal gift for the book lover in your life.

Oyster bookcase

Aylin Özdemir

Shelf Life

As some of you know, away from the world of bookshelves, I also write books (frequently on bookish subjects). The latest is out today, Shelf Life, published by The British Library. Here is some bumph about it:

Books; reading, collecting and the physical housing of them has brought the book-lover joy – and stress – for centuries. Fascinated writers have tried to capture the particular relationships we form with our library, and the desperate troubles we will undergo to preserve it. With Alex Johnson as your guide, immerse yourself in this eclectic anthology and hear from an iconic Prime Minister musing over the best way to store your books and an illustrious US President explaining the best works to read outdoors. Enjoy serious speculations on the psychological implications of reading from a 19th century philosopher, and less serious ones concerning the predicament of dispensing with unwanted volumes or the danger of letting children (the ‘enemies of books’) near your collection

Available from all good bookshops (please buy local if at all possible) as well as the usual suspects online.

Books on Prescription for World Mental Health Day

Books on Prescription helps you to understand and manage your health and wellbeing using self-help reading. The books are chosen by health experts and people living with the conditions covered. People can be recommended a title by a health professional, or they can visit their local library and take a book out for free. The scheme is available in 98% of English library authorities.
More at Reading Well here and here

ASCIUTTO bookcase

Wooden bookcase
Silvia Fabris

Sedbergh Book Shelter

Bibliophiles in the community, which claims to have the most books for sale per head of population anywhere in England, have created what is believed to be Cumbria’s first ‘Book Shelter’. The ‘novel’ facility makes use of a redundant bus shelter in the town’s Main Street where locals and visitors have access to four shelves of books. The Book Shelter can be used as a mini library where books can be borrowed and returned or as a book exchange.
The Westmoreland Gazette

 Incidentally, I shall be doing a book signing at the Sedbergh Book Festival this weekend.