Edinburgh International Book Festival

We really enjoyed our visit to the Edinburgh International Book Festival today. 

As well as trying out all the activities at the Teen Takeover Day, we loved browsing through all the wonderful books in the Book tent (and Mrs Lumsden's 'wish list' is longer than ever). Too many books, too little time!

We attended a talk with with Lauren (Wren) James, a prolific author who read from their new novel, 'Last Seen Online'. They also spoke about the writing process and love of crime novels, and true crime. Lauren also talked about her work with the 'Heartstopper' series and the adaptation of 'The Loneliest Girl in the Universe.' Students were also gifted a copy of Lauren's latest novel and were delighted to be able to meet them and get the books signed after the event. 

 

Advent Count Down-Book 22

The Dogs

I love crime stories and this is a great psychological thriller about a boy and his mother who are constantly on the run.   The question for Cameron is, is it all necessary? Or are he and his mother both paranoid? Full of tension with lots of twists. Click on the link above to view a book  trailer.

Advent Count Down - Book 17

This was my favourite read of the senior/staff book group. A crime from the past and a crime from the present are threaded together in outback Australia. This novel has a strong sense of place and the geography, the weather (the heat) and the landscape all build up the tension to make this a gripping read.

Christopher Brookmyre- awesome!

On Thursday 14th November we went to hear Christopher Brookmyre give a talk on his literary work. He talked about things such as the public's reaction to his novels, his use of colourful language, how he decides what to base his stories on. A great hint he gave us was to write about something you hate! Overall we found it to be an amazing, enjoyable and humorous experience and it gave us great insight into the writings of a Scottish author.by L, L and E.

The Dry

Thanks to the senior pupils who came in from study leave to join us for our final session of the term. We had varying views on the novel but mostly really liked the different twists and turns the author took us on as the story unfolded. There was a really strong sense of place and we totally got how the heat of the Australian outback and two years of drought affected the characters: both financially and emotionally. We also like how in a small town things could get hidden away until one event brings everything out in the open. Highly recommended!

My Purple Scented Novel.

The February break is just a long weekend so I thought we would try and read a short story. I have chosen a tale by one of my favourite authors Ian McEwan. And this is perhaps the perfect literary crime!

Please see Dr Carter if you want to read it and come and join us on the Friday following the February break in the library for refreshments, traybake and discussion.