Word of the Week - Recent Winners!

Discovery Library

Unappealing

Adjective: Not attractive or pleasing.
chosen by Max (7 ST)

Pulchritude

Noun: Physical beauty.
chosen by Gabriella (8 TN)

Anaesthetic

Noun:  A drug that makes you fall asleep.
chosen by Comert (7 ST)

Menagerie

Noun: A collection of wild animals kept for exhibition.
chosen by James (7 ST)

Confusticate

Verb: Perplex, confound or confuse.  It blends together the words “confuse” and “complicate”.
chosen by Atheminee (7 MD)

Epipelagic

Adjective:  Relating to, or inhabiting the upper zone of the ocean from just below the surface to 100 metres deep.
chosen by William (8 NA)

Pusillanimous

Adjective: It means that you are timid or cowardly.
chosen by Aurora (8 NA)

Egocentric

Adjective: A self-centred person who thinks only of themselves instead of others.
chosen by Laine (7DV)

War Memorial Library

Pancomputationalism

Noun:  The theory of how the universe is a self-calculating computer and all energy and matter can be described digitally.
chosen by Mr Carrick (Science)

Exocytosis

Noun:  The release of substances from a cell via membranous vesicles.
chosen by Alfie (12 BN)

Inscrutable

Adjective: Mysterious or enigmatic. 
chosen by Maria-Sophia (12 BA)

Frowzy (or Frowsy)

Adjective: Untidy or unkempt in appearance; shabby.
chosen by Miss Gallagher (English)

Asinine

Adjective: Foolish, lacking sense or knowledge.
chosen by Harry (12 MS)

Ubiquitous

Adjective: Being or seeming to be everywhere at once.
chosen by Charlie (12 MS)

Polynominal
Adjective: An algebraic expression consisting of the sum of a number of terms e.g. x4+x³+3x²+7x+10
chosen by Peshali (12 GD)

Incandescent

Adjective: 1. Emitting light as a result of being heated.  2. Full of strong emotion; passionate.
chosen by Mrs Nolan (Librarian)

Read me ... if you dare!

 

We have put together a display of horrifying, spine-tingling books - from terrifying ghost stories like The Woman in Black to supernatural tales of werewolves, vampires and zombies such as Darren Shan's Zom-B and Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampires series.

Borrow them if you dare!

Books into film!

This month sees the release of the film adaptation of Markus Zusak’s acclaimed novel, The Book Thief.  Set during World War II in Nazi Germany, the book is narrated by Death and the story centres around Liesel Meminger, a young girl who has been sent to live with a foster family on Himmel Street.  When her brother dies and is buried, she steals the gravedigger’s handbook and becomes hooked on reading.  Although immensely sad it is also uplifting and well worth a read!  You can find a copy in the Discovery Library.

To view a trailer of the film:

Book Thief film trailer

Other acclaimed books that have recently been adapted for the big screen are the Nelson Mandela’s autobiography A Long Walk to Freedom and The Railway Man by Eric Lomax, a moving true story of a man who was taken prisoner and tortured by the Japanese in the Second World War and how he comes to terms with his experience many years after the war.  Both books can be found in the War Memorial Library.

Children's Laureate writing competition

To celebrate the release in paperback of Children’s Laureate Malorie Blackman’s new novel, Noble Conflict, publisher Random House and Movellas.com have launched a writing competition.  Entrants must read an extract from Noble Conflict online and then write a 3,000-word account of the different sides of the dispute.  The winner will take part in an exclusive Q&A with Malorie Blackman and three runners up will receive a signed copy of her book.  The competition is now open and all entries must be submitted by 28^th February.

Click here for more information and how to enter.

Noble Conflict is on our wish list and should be available shortly, meanwhile we have many other Malorie Blackman titles in both the Discovery and War Memorial Libraries including Noughts and Crosses, Pig-Heart boy and Trust Me.

Welcome back!

Hope you all had a great Christmas and enjoyed reading lots of good books! 

Let us know if you took part in the Christmas Mini Reading Challenge – we would like to post reviews of any of the books you read on the blog!

Look out for library competitions, with lots of prizes to be won, recommended reads and author visits this term!  As well as asking your librarians for advice, why not have a look at the 'new books' and 'book review' pages of the blog for ideas of what to read next.