It’s National Book Lovers Day on Wednesday 9th August and as one of the UK’s longest-serving providers of cutting-edge library management solutions and passionate supporters of reading for pleasure, of course, we’ll be celebrating!
To mark the occasion, we’ve set ourselves the rather daunting task of picking our favourite books – no mean feat! But before we get into our staff picks, a confession… Not everyone on the team is a big reader and we’re not all necessarily literature buffs! Anyway, we hope our choices inspire you to pick up a book this National Book Lovers Day. Who knows, you may even discover your new favourite novel…
Sara
My favourite book is The Rats by James Herbert. I enjoy a good horror film usually but this book has really stuck with me over the years. I first read it as a teen and would pick it up again every few years. Although I haven’t read it in a long time, my second copy (I lost the first) has a safe space at home. I really enjoy immersing myself in a different world – in this case, one that has such a creepy factor that maybe it could come true!
If that one sounds a little too dark for you, I also love The Paper Dolls by Julia Donaldson. This is one of my favourite books I used to read to my daughter. She now reads it to me. We like to sing the rhyming song together and discuss the different dolls and the story from the illustrations. It has a beautiful innocence about it. We once tried to make our own paper dolls, but I’m not very creative and it didn’t turn out very well.
I have many favourite books to be fair… It’s so hard to choose.
Nick
I would have to go with The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. I remember finding it in the house when I was around 14 and deciding to read it, despite the fact it was about 6″ thick!
It was probably the first book I remember looking forward to reading (although I don’t recall much of it now) and is probably the reason I still enjoy reading today. I remember it having an impact and guess it was the first time I had considered, or even been aware of, apartheid and the notion of real cruelty but also relentless aspiration. Perhaps I am recalling it with an adult’s sensibilities, but I remember being enthralled and it was a step on from Asterix the Gaul (although I did, of course, go back to Asterix)!
Sally
I have to be honest, I’m not really a big reader. My back catalogue mostly consists of 50 Shades of Grey and The Secret! However, I recently read A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and really enjoyed it. As someone who rarely gets hooked on a story, this one grabbed my attention from the start. It was an enjoyable read that had a strong message about overcoming loneliness. This has reminded me that when I put time aside, I do really enjoy reading and now I feel more motivated to pick up a book!
Kevin
My pick would be Orphan X – a 2016 thriller written by Gregg Hurwitz. I very much enjoyed reading this great, action-packed thriller and I’d recommend it to anyone who likes Jason Bourne and that kind of thing. Orphan X is followed by the next novel in the series, Nowhere Man, which is also a very good book. Orphan X is the first in an eight-book series and a television series is rumoured to be in the works so keep an eye out for that if you like a smart, stylish, suspenseful story.
So those are our favourite books for National Book Lovers Day, but we’d love to hear yours. Please leave a comment on our social media channels if you’d like to share your top pick and a few lines as to why you love that particular book.
And don’t forget, as well as making book recommendations, our friendly, experienced team is also on hand to provide expert advice and consultancy should you be considering a new library management system or if you’re looking to upgrade your existing library stock control, security or self-service solutions. Get in touch today for a free, no-obligation chat to consider your options.