Something From the Trolley?

Something from the trolley?

Book Gems I’ve come across accidentally.

I love my job in the library. Not only do I work with fantastic people and get to help wonderful library users, I have fallen in love with so many books I would never have come across if it weren’t for the place I work.

I frequently take advantage of the staff ‘perk’ of free reservations to order in books I’ve heard about, seen advertised or had recommended to me. As a result, I’ve managed to read a lot of great stuff. However, I’ve also done a lot of unplanned reading that has been great too. Books I’ve come across on the returns trolley or on a display shelf or in the course of returning a title to its rightful place on the library shelf. I’ve discovered some brilliant new fiction this way and some incredible new authors, but I’ve also, and more interestingly, found some fantastic non-fiction titles too. Here are just a few of those gems:

Singled Out by Virginia Nicholson – an inspirational and humbling exploration of the achievements of the surplus women of the Post WW1 generation.

I Quit Sugar  by Sarah Wilson – I lost a stone and my eating habits will never be the same again.

Stitches in Time by Lucy Adlington – an incredibly well-researched and fascinating history of the clothes we wear.

Hillsborough Voices by Kevin Sampson – heartbreaking accounts from those closest to the tragedy.

Too Marvellous For Words by Julie Welch – billed as the real story of Malory Towers. It sort of is and a jolly good read for anyone who ever wanted to go to boarding school.

The Making of Swallows and Amazons by Sophie Neville – prompted me to realise the ambition of a lifetime and take a holiday in the Lake District so I could see the real Wild Cat Island. Neither the book nor the holiday disappointed!

None of these are books I would have gone looking for, but they're books I’m so glad I found.