Be part of our all new Facebook timeline...

We have upgraded our Manchester Libraries Facebook page design to the new Facebook Timeline. The new designs features a big lovely cover photo and we would like to use that space to display your  art, photos, illustrations, crafts, cartoons...


We are looking for all kinds of creative artwork to show in the 850 x 315 space at the top of our page and we'll keep it there for one week - just enough time for you to show off to your friends! If you want to submit your work to feature on our timeline send me a message library Facebook page or email me on s.lawson[at]manchester.gov.uk (Artwork cannot contain advertising).


Take a look at our first guest cover photo over on our Facebook page. Our first cover artist is Kim Parkinson, a registered visually impaired photographer, freelance light documentalist, momentist and six word essayist. Kim's photos are abstracted details of an acupunctured book being flicked and are part of a larger sequence collection of light documents. We could only feature one photo on Facebook, but here are three more, for your viewing delight...

Love Sci-Fi? Join the Madlab Sci-Fi book club...

If  you love science fiction you need to join Manchester's Sci-Fi book club. We meet monthly at Madlab, it's free to join and attend and our next book will be Hannu Rajaniemi’s The Quantum Thief.

Come along on March 20 at 7pm to Madlab on Edge Street in the Northern Quarter to discuss the book. Published in 2010, it is one of the most recent Science Fiction novels that the Madlab Sci-Fi book club have read...

"Jean le Flambeur is a post-human criminal, mind burglar, confidence artist and trickster. His origins are shrouded in mystery, but his exploits are known throughout the Heterarchy – from breaking into the vast Zeusbrains of the Inner System to steal their thoughts, to stealing rare Earth antiques from the aristocrats of the Moving Cities of Mars. Except that Jean made one mistake. Now he is condemned to play endless variations of a game-theoretic riddle in the vast virtual jail of the Axelrod Archons – the Dilemma Prison – against countless copies of himself and other criminals. Jean’s routine of death, defection and cooperation is upset by the arrival of Mieli and her spidership, Perhonen. She offers him a chance to win back his freedom and the powers of his old self – in exchange for finishing the one heist he never quite managed . . ."

Following an exciting and close run online poll here's the list of books for following months:

April 17th – The Difference Engine by William Gibson & Bruce Sterling

Following that, dates to be confirmed:

The Island of Dr Moreau by H.G. Wells
Brasyl by Ian McDonald
Embassy Town by China Meiville
Excession by Iain M. Banks
Reamde by Neal Stephenson

There are nine copies of The Quantum Thief , on loan from @manclibraries available to borrow at Madlab and the other books will be available to borrow soon - watch this space...

Stay Connected with Manchester Sci-Fi Book Club on Twitter @mcrsf_madlab using #mcrsf .

Keep up to date with Manchester Sci-Fi book club blog posts at the Madlab website.

There's  also have a Sci Fi Book Club Google Group  which we would encourage you to join.

The oddest book titles of the year...

A history of sand dredging in the Bristol Channel, memoirs of a Hebden Bridge chicken sexer and Estonian sock patterns from around the world - it's my favourite blog post of the year - the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year is back!

The winner will be announced on 30th March. Here is the full fantastic shortlist:

A Century of Sand Dredging in the Bristol Channel: Volume Two by Peter Gosson (Amberley).

Cooking with Poo by Saiyuud Diwong (Urban Neighbours of Hope). Thai cookbook. “Poo” is Thai for “crab” and is Diwong’s nickname.

Estonian Sock Patterns All Around the World by Aino Praakli (Kirjastus Elmatar).

The Great Singapore Penis Panic: And the Future of American Mass Hysteria by Scott D Mendelson (Createspace).

Mr Andoh's Pennine Diary: Memoirs of a Japanese Chicken Sexer in 1935 Hebden Bridge by Stephen Curry and Takayoshi Andoh (Royd Press). The story of Koichi Andoh, who travelled from Japan to Yorkshire in the 1930s to train workers at a hatchery business the art of determining the sex of one-day-old chicks.

A Taxonomy of Office Chairs by Jonathan Olivares (Phaidon). Exhaustive overview of the evolution of the modern office chair.

The Mushroom in Christian Art by John A Rush (North Atlantic Books).

Death of a Diva: Love Death and Betrayal

Discover the extraordinary events which took place in Manchester when one of the world's first superstars, singer & opera diva Maria Malibran died during the 1836 Manchester Music Festival.

With information taken from the local music archive at the Henry Watson Music Library this talk econstructs the events & the media circus which surrounded the singer's death and funeral.

Join Music Librarian Ros Edwards for an insight into the life and death of this legendary singer, who continues to fascinate us to this day.....

Part of the Manchester Histories Festival

Wednesday 29 February 1- 2pm
Free, no need to book
Becker Room, 1st Floor,
City Library,
Elliot House,
151 Deansgate
Manchester M3 3WD

The event will be accompanied by a small exhibition of images & documents from the collection, which will be displayed in the Music Room at City Library throughout the Manchester Histories Festival.

Manchester Histories Festival: Mrs Gaskell's Manchester Walking Tour

This 1.5 hour circular walking tour offers a delightful insight into the life of authoress Elizabeth Gaskell, and her time spent in our city.

She loved to gossip – and we will hear entertaining snippets and readings about her very busy life here. We learn about the people she met and entranced – or enraged! Also the important events that happened in her lifetime as Manchester became the world’s first industrial city, and the famous people who stayed in her home.

You'll visit locations connected with her, including a step back 200 years in time to see the quaint Portico Library, and also a peep into Cross Street Chapel.

The tour is lead by Kate Dibble of Manchester Guided Tours. For more Information visit the Manchester Histories Festival  or book online at QuayTickets.

Mon 27 Feb 2012 10.30am - 12 noon

Tour Starting Point: Manchester Town Hall front steps, Albert Square, M2 5DB

For more Information visit the Manchester Histories Festival  Website

Feeling brave? Help us test our new 24 Hour Library page...

We need your help and feedback. Please can you test a new web page for us?

Our team have improved the look of the 24 Hour Library page and we're giving Manchester Lit List readers a sneak preview. Is it better than the old version?

What do you think?
Is it easier to read/use than the old version?
How does it look on an iPad/tablet or on your phone?
Is the information clear?
Do you understand how to log in to the resources?

We'd really value your comments.  Please leave any comments and suggestions here on the Lit List or fill in the feedback form on the new page.

Thanks!

Literature North West Present: How to Make an eBook in an Afternoon

Literature Northwest have put together a rough guide to making your own eBook and uploading it, using free, open-source software. Three cheers for Literature North West!

How to make an e book in an afternoon

That's my weekend sorted then! If you notice any mistakes, find any of it hard to follow, need to ask questions, or simply have a better way of doing it, PLEASE share it with us in the comments and we'll pass them on to Literature North West.

A Nip and Tipple of LGBT History...

An excellent crowd braved the elements last Saturday to hear an absorbing talk given by Fiona Shaw, about her extraordinary novel 'Tell It To the Bees'(Tindal Street Press).

The novel, set in a small English town in the 1950s, tells of a passionate love affair between two women and the hostility, anger and astonishment they faced from their community.

Speaking with Fiona was Dr. Charlotte Wildman, a lecturer in Modern British Social History at the University of Manchester - Charlotte filled us in on the background against which the novel was set, talking about the lives of women in 1950s Britain, the differences between middle-class & working class lives, and public attitudes towards gay & lesbian relationships.

The event, to celebrate LGBT History Month, was created & hosted by Manchester Library and Information Service in partnership with the Nip and Tipple Cafe in Whalley Range, a fabulous gay-friendly venue run by Annie & Mickey.

Between 60-70 audience members, mostly from Manchester's Gay & Lesbian community and ranging in age from teens to 80s, enjoyed every minute of the talks and a lively debate followed - the highlight being the wonderful Josie Parkinson who was in the audience.....Charlotte had been telling us about the legendary lesbian Gateway Club in London - and it turned out that Josie had been a member and had been present many times when the club was raided! A memorable afternoon.

Send us your book reviews...

It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow and we want to know about the books you love so send us your book reviews!

Everyone has a favorite book, and we'd like to know what yours are. Share with us your favorite fiction or non-fiction book and tell us what you love about it. We'll include as many as we can on the library blog and on the walls of City Library.

We can’t wait to see what your favorite books are! Email your review to libraries@manchester.gov.uk or visit City Library and hand your review to an excited member of staff - you can hand your reviews in to anyone, but if you've time, ask for Dorothy as it would really make her day as the whole book review thing is her idea :)

In the meantime here's a list of seven books NOT to give on Valentine's Day...

Free Workshop: Putting the Science in Fiction

Many people look suspiciously at science in fictional media and may ask themselves: Why don’t the creators of fiction ever talk to real scientists?

In fact, those who write novels, craft television scripts, create movies, and produce stage plays do speak with scientists on a regular basis.

This workshop, on Wednesday 25 April, explores how science provides challenges and opportunities for the creators of fiction. By bringing together leading entertainment professionals, novelists, arts scholars, and scientists the workshop will forge new relationships between the scientific community and the arts/entertainment community.

One goal of the workshop is to begin discussions about creating a “Science and Entertainment” collaboration programme in the UK equivalent to the Science and Entertainment Exchange run by the National Academy of Sciences in the US.

Putting the Science in Fiction is sponsored by the University of Manchester’s Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHSTM), Centre for New Writing, Faculty of Life Sciences, and Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in the Arts (CIDRA).

There is no cost for the workshop, but spaces are limited so you will need to book a place by contacting scienceinfiction.manchester@gmail.com. For further details contact the organisers, Dr David Kirby (david.kirby@manchester.ac.uk) and Geoff Ryman (geoffrey.ryman@manchester.ac.uk).


Visit the The British Society for Literature and Science to see the worshop schedule and get more information, including all the speakers.

LGBT Quiz Night in The Village

A fun and fascinating visual journey through Manchester’s LGBT social history, from politics to partying, Canal Street has seen it all!

Join us for a special retro-slideshow quiz night featuring the collection of Manchester Archives built up by members of the LGBT community.

Contact Jonathan on 0161 234 1939 for more information.

Wednesday 29 February, 8.30


Icon Bar
Richmond Street
M1 3LZ
http://iconmanchester.com/

Download some Digital Dickens for free!

It's Charles Dickens 200th birthday this week - as if you didn't know! Not had time to read any Dickens? We're here to help - Project Gutenberg offers over one hundred free ebooks by Charles Dickens including free epub books and free kindle books. Download them to your device or read them online. It's up to you! There's also a mobile Gutenberg site if you want to read books on the go on your phone or your tablet.

Dickens penned a vast array of famous literature, from Oliver Twist to David Copperfield and Great Expectations, and all his books are available on the Project Gutenberg website. They also have a great deal of his lesser known writings including speeches, sketches and short stories.

All Gutenberg ebooks are high quality and previously published by bona fide publishers. Project Gutenberg digitise and diligently proofread them with the help of thousands of volunteers.

So here, for your reading delight, are the top twenty most downloaded Dickens books at Project Gutenberg:

Christmas Carol (11583 downloads)
Great Expectations (11236 downloads)
Tale of Two Cities (10678 downloads)
Oliver Twist (6663 downloads)
David Copperfield (5277 downloads)
Pickwick Papers (4232 downloads)
Bleak House (3162 downloads)
Hard Times (2165 downloads)
Mystery of Edwin Drood (2039 downloads)
Little Dorrit (1599 downloads)

Visit Project Gutenberg and download some Dickens today!