National Year of Reading 2012

January's theme is Amazing Reads.  What a great way to kick off a year of reading celebration, in this, the first month of The National Year of Reading, 2012.

What is an Amazing Read?  It is any reading you find amazing, including any books which might confound, as by fear, wonder or extreme surprise.  An Amazing Read can be any book which astounds or astonishes you greatly. It might be an adventure, a mystery with a surprising twist, the  tale of a wondrous journey, or a story set in a fantastic, imaginative world.  It may be a biography of someone’s inspirational or incredible life, or a simply amazingly well written tome of literary worth.

An Amazing Read could be a book that has been recommended by someone else, or one that has touched your heart and stayed with you. It may be a favourite book of yours that you re-read every year.

It could also be that book you discover you simply can't put down, causing you to forget to eat, to neglect your home, your family and friends.  It could be a page turner with the power to keep you reading throughout the night, thinking 'just  one more page... make that one more chapter'.

This month let the library help you find your next Amazing Read. Try one the books from the weekly lists of  top ten Amazing Reads compiled by Sutherland Library’s Outreach Team. You can find these posted every Monday of January in Sutherland Library News.

Are you participating in the Summer Reading Club? (if not, it's not too late to start).  Don't forget to fill in an entry form (or for kids under 12- get your reading log signed off),  when you return your Amazing Reads to the Library, you have the chance to win some amazing prizes!

The National Year of Reading is officially being launched on the 14^th February, Library Lovers Day! This will surely make you smile, even laugh with happiness as you remember there is a whole year of reading to look forward to. This month's theme of laugh is certainly appropriate.

This is the month to read something that provokes laughter and amusement.  Something that makes you smile, giggle, chuckle or even laugh out loud. A book that cracks you up!

What gives you the giggles? A chick lit novel describing  hilarious takes on the pitfalls of relationships, life and love? Perhaps parody is your thing, with its playful twists on classic literature that can make you laugh out loud. Are you the person who can be found chuckling to yourself as you read something understated and witty? Do you burst into laughter as you read a joke book, or smile to yourself as you read tales of self depreciating comical characters, whether they are real people or conjured up by an authors imagination?

Now is the time to pick up a book that pokes fun at some of the things we take too seriously.This month, read whatever tickles your funny bone, as it is sure to lift your spirits and make you feel good!

The National Year of Reading theme for March is 'Think', meaning this is the month to think about reading.

Reading can expand your mind, inspiring you to think of new ideas and different solutions to problems and puzzles. It can even change the way you think.

If you haven’t read a book in a while, think about joining the library and get back in to the reading habit. For those of you who are already regular readers, think about reading something different to what you normally read; challenge yourself and read something outside your comfort zone. If you normally read romance, try a horror story.  For those fans of the fantasy or science fiction genres, read a biography, it's surprising how life imitates art.

To think more about what you read, join a book group, you may find yourself reading something you would never normally pick up, thinking about the book and the discussion to follow.

Think outside the square with your reading.  Reading isn't just books. It can be the clues of a crossword, instructions (if all else fails…), newspaper or magazine articles, blogs or twitter posts. It can be listening to an audiobook, reading the subtitles on a movie or reading maps and road signs.

Think about where you would be without reading.  Now there’s food for thought.

 The month of April has the theme “feel”, meaning that this month is all about emotions and feelings evoked by reading and how you feel about reading.  It's the month to read whatever you feel like. The written word in all its forms can be very powerful, causing the reader to feel emotions including love, joy, surprise, anger, fear and sorrow.   So read anything and everything, including magazines, newspapers, blog and twitter posts, clues to a crossword, recipes, patterns and of course, books!

No matter how you feel, there is a book in the library to suit your mood.

Feel like being scared out of your wits? Try reading a horror story that gives you goose bumps. Don’t ever believe it when you are told the book version is not as scary as the movie. With a book, you have your own imagination to contend with. Did you really just catch a glimpse of a shadow flitting across your window?

Maybe you feel like an adrenaline rush that makes your heart race.  Try  reading a fast -paced adventure story,  pick up an action packed page turner that you just can’t put down, or try a spine tingling, nail biting, edge of your seat thriller.

 Do you feel like a challenge? Try an epic saga, or start the first book in a new series.

 Read a mystery and solve the puzzle of who dunnit.  The outcome may surprise or shock you, or you may feel a sense of satisfaction that you picked the culprit before the end of the story.

Are you feeling warm and fuzzy?  Curl up with a good romance novel that tugs at your heartstrings. Read about a beautiful heroine being swept off her feet by her knight in shining armour, knowing in the back of your mind that despite the fact that the road to true love is never smooth, there will a happy ending.

Feel can also refer to the tactile, this being the month to learn new crafts. Read all about book folding or make a book sculpture. Why not learn to knit or find a pattern and crochet some tea cosies.

What kind of books do you like to read and how do they make you feel? Tell us on the Library Facebook page!

The National Year of Reading's May theme is Escape, whether it's into the world of reading, or reading to escape from the world.

Now is the time to sit down and read (or re-read) something you love, something that allows you to escape into another time and place and connect with different characters and settings.

You may like to read about escaping from prison or poverty; or  read something that allows you to escape from the mundane of day to day.  Read bout escaping to a desert island, a dystopian world or a brighter future.  Read about escaping reality by visiting exotic lands, or a biography about a famous person you are unlikely to ever be able to meet.

Escape by re-reading your favourite novels, or find some new favourites, some reading material that totally captures your attention, blocking out everything else.  Read something that is pure escapism...

Create a reading sanctuary that you can escape to, and spend some time there reading; at least ten minutes a day. 

This month, only get caught reading.

 June is the month to take time out to read and dream.  

 It is the perfect month to read fantasy, where you can enter wonderful and often whimsical worlds and characters dreamt up by imaginative authors.  Try a biography to be inspired by others following their dreams. Let yourself dream about dreamboats and happily ever after endings as you curl up with a romance novel.  Read about the Dreamtime and find out how the world came into being according to legend.

Do you dream when you read, or does your bedtime reading inspire your dreams? Find out what your dreams mean from a book about dream interpretation.

Reading can help you fulfil your own dreams. Read ideas on planning your dream wedding or read to find or even build your dream home.  

Make your dreams come true and read something on your list of dream reads.  Whatever you read this month, may it bring you sweet dreams, not nightmares!