Summer 2013

Volume 4, Issue 3

Summer arrives at last! At least that’s what it felt like this past weekend! We should like to wish you all a very relaxing summer after this busy academic year and to make you aware of recent library activities as well as those you can enjoy over the summer…. Read on for inspiration!

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Library News ........................ 2

Staff Book Club………….………..3

Summer reading for you……...4

Summer films to watch………...5

Summer exhibitions…………….6

European Day of Languages

2013 is to be celebrated in

school on Thursday 26th

September and this year we

are going to enjoy all things

German! We will be

focusing on the language, naturally, but will also be thinking

about the beautiful country itself, its traditions, culture and

food. Do visit us in the libraries on that day, we are

aiming to host activities and have German food on offer at

lunchtimes! Don’t forget to check out our German film

collection on DVD, too!

LIBRARY NEWS Did you know that we now write a Learning Technology Blog?

We offer you useful technology tips and snippets about what we’re doing technologically in the Library. To date, posts have included information about useful software we now use such as Easybib and Turnitin. If you have any queries, please

contact us or read the blog on Miss McColl’s E-Learning Blog.

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We are still writing our Library Blog as well, which we try to post to weekly, although this is subject to

time pressures currently. Do take a look if you have time and please make comments, we do

appreciate any communications via the blog, as readers and library professionals… We’d love to

hear from you.

The theme for this year’s Summer Reading Challenge

being run by The Reading Agency in conjunction with

public libraries is Creepy House! Take a trip along to

our King’s Road branch to discover more...

Bookbuzz is the reading scheme brought

by Booktrust to Year 7 pupils as soon as

they enter the school… We offer them a

free book which arrives in time for

Christmas as a boost to their reading

journey within the Go for Gold reading

scheme.

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Are you a keen reader? Do you fancy joining others to

share your enthusiasm for discussing books and authors? We offer a

relaxing environment in which to do so (although sometimes we can become quite passionate about what we’re

reading!) We meet once every half term either in a local hostelry or in King’s Common Room after school,

generally on a Tuesday , as this is the day when there seems to be fewest events scheduled. It’s a great way to

meet some of us whom you don’t generally come into contact with, as we come from all areas of the school. We

all have different reading tastes and have been encouraged to try reading books and genres out of our comfort

zone.

We are also beginning to get involved with national reading projects organised through The Reading Agency (see

their website for more details http://readinggroups.org/) and most recently were invited to participate in the

shadowing of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2013, where the emphasis was on reading translated fiction.

We each read a copy of two of the books on the Prize’s shortlist:

Both novels produced an interesting effect on our readers! We were then treated to a day in London at The Free

Word Centre, where we met with around 300 other reading group members from all over the country and shared

our ideas on the books. We listened to a young Turkish author (Elif Şhafak) talking about how she writes in

English then works with a translator to re-work her oeuvre into her native Turkish… She spoke so eloquently, that

we all wanted to go and read her books (some of us have, already). We were treated to a talk by a young woman,

Ann Morgan, who took a year to read a book in translation from every country in the world which proved to be an

exciting challenge. She had to go to great lengths to find literature from some of the furthest-flung places, where

oral storytelling is the only tradition used for passing down literature, but this has resulted in getting such

literature being published for the very first time. You can read her blog here: http://

ayearofreadingtheworld.com/ .

We ended our day with a translating competition between two translators of the Spanish fiction featuring on the

prize shortlist which was quite fun! They were translating a section of text from Don Quixote by Miguel de

Cervantes. Each translator had her own style and we felt that one was eminently more readable than the other….

It proved one thing: the enjoyment of literature in translation is all down to the skills and art shown by the

translator at work!

If you’d like to join us in September, then please contact me (smaxted@berkhamstedschool.org) and we will be

delighted to welcome you to our first meeting after the break, along with two new members — Gareth Edwards

and Laura Bridle! We will be reading The Detour by Gerbrand Bakker as a core novel over the summer (winner of

the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2013) and a range of other novels we have been saving for the holidays...

Films you may like to see over the summer…..

It goes without saying to those in the know that The Rex Cinema in

Berkhamsted is a wonderful little cinema and, for the moth of July at

least, we know that there is a great selection of films being shown.

For full listings go to http://therexberkhamsted.com/ . Who could

resist seeing The Great Gatsby in this environment? (Tuesday 23rd

July—Thursday 25th, including

matinées.)

Also showing is Thérèse Desqueyroux, adapted from François Mauriac’s novel of the

same name starring the lovely Audrey Tautou in the title role ...

Other great film releases of the summer include:

...a semester or two at

Monsters University (a

much-anticipated

prequel to Monsters, Inc.

in many households)

For fans of Hugh Jackman, there is a new film, The Wolverine, which

continues his year of success following the acclaim of Les Misérables…

If Greek/Persian battles are your thing, check out 300: Rise of an Empire … The

battle of Artemisium takes place on the sea—sounds thrilling, so watch

from the edge of your seat!

Johnny Depp’s summer adventure for 2013 is as a Native American

spirit warrior in The Lone Ranger which also features Armie Hammer as

John Reid, a man of the law. British actors Tom Wilkinson and Helena

Bonham Carter also appear in the film.

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Summer reading recommendations from our lovely members

of staff ...

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Water for Elephants Sara Gruen Brilliant Right Ho, Jeeves Pelham Grenville Wodehouse

Excellent relaxation in a timeless world.

The Cutting Room Jillianne Hoffman GORY!

The Long Earth Terry Pratchett The first ‘can’t put down’ read I’ve had since finishing Game of Thrones.

Waiting for Sunrise William Boyd A pretty good historical spy story

The Forever War Joe Haldeman A sci-fi novel by a Vietnam veteran

Maddaddam Margaret Atwood

- chilling and hilarious

Bedlam Christopher Brookmyre

- very black comedy crime

Sane New World Ruby Wax great book about mindfulness and how to nurture ourselves, typically humorous

A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry

An unusual ‘family’ suffer some

hard knocks under the Indian caste

system

Agent 44 Tom Rob Smith Enjoyed

The Death Sculptor Chris Carter Gory thriller

Music and Silence Rose Tremain

Telegraph Avenue Michael Choban – funky style of writing

The 100 year old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared

Jonas Jonasson Complete fantasy but excellent

The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England Ian

Mortimer [the author’s] curiosity is boundless…

The footballer who could fly Duncan Hamilton Football is the

only real connection between father and son

Back Story David Mitchell Disgusting but hilarious

(Amazon)

Stuff Matters Mark Miodownik Fantastically entertaining

introduction to the strange inner life of materials

The Little World of Don Camillo Giovanni Guareschi Life in a

small village of the Poe Valley in Italy after WWII

The Potato Factory and Tommo and Hawk Bryce Courtenay Based on the story of Fagin, brutal and dark

The Gruffalo Julia

Donaldson

Paddington

Michael Bond

Berkhamsted School Libraries:

Castle: ext 8108

King’s: ext 8182

email:

library@berkhamstedschool.org

Blog: http://

berkschlibr.wordpress.com

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@berkholibrarian

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Exhibitions you may like to visit over the summer…

British Museum: Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum until 29 September,

advanced booking essential

Royal Academy of Arts: Summer Exhibition until 18

August, a must for all art-lovers…

Exchange: 1,000 Good Deeds at the Foundling Museum Each day of the exhibition,

ten people will be invited to choose a cup from the hundreds laid out on tables. In

exchange for agreeing to complete a deed they may keep the cup! Are you up to

this challenge?

When/if it rains this summer, why not take the family to

the Science Museum and experience The Energy Show?

It promises explosive theatre for curious minds….

Then pop next door to view Sebastião Salgado’s photographs of the most

remote places on the planet at the Natural History Museum...

David Bowie is this is the first international

retrospective of the extraordinary career of

David Bowie and it’s at the V&A… Visit

between now and 11 August….

Visit the Saatchi Gallery to see its new exhibition

Paper—you will find all kinds of sculptures made

purely from paper such as this one from pages of

the Daily Mail by Jodie Carey...