Central Bedfordshire Libraries: DocuBooks, Memoirs and Biographies through our Select & Collect Service
Date Added: 13/10/2020
“Tis strange - but true; for truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction”. Byron
Books based on a true story have become increasingly popular – memoirs by ‘ordinary’ people doing extraordinary jobs, true crime, investigative journalism, business successes, popular science, travel logs, environmental discoveries, personal tales of overcoming grief, anxiety or disability. And so on.
True stories give hope and inspiration. You can get true stories (non-fiction) as well as fiction, through our Select and Collect Service to borrow library books. You may choose to make specific title requests for non-fiction, or you may also make a bundles request, by completing the additional information free-text box to request books on a specific subject. If you opt for a bundles request, try to give as much information as possible in the additional information box, or you may use the telephone service. Here are a few topical suggestions:
COVID
In current circumstances, some people may be interested in books on aspects of COVID, ranging from the experiences of NHS GPs, to scientific accounts of the virus and vaccines. Follow the link to reserve these new books on COVID.
Environment
Alternatively, you may be interested in books on the environment, which many people were able to appreciate more during lockdown. We have prize-winning Underland, by Robert MacFarlane, the story of the world beneath our feet, with scope ranging from glaciers to Bronze Age burial chambers, available through Select and Collect or our audiobook service. Or there is Dark Skies, in which Tiffany Francis investigates how our experiences of the night-time world have permeated our history, folklore, science, geography, art and literature. There are environmental books with a campaigning angle, such as The uninhabitable earth or Our house is on fire, the story of Greta Thunberg’s family, also available as audiobook.
Animals
Many pet lovers appreciated their pets particularly during lockdown. Life-stories which celebrate the relationship between people and animals include Kika and me, the story of a guide dog, also available as audiobook; Max the miracle dog, the story of a dog who supports the author following a road accident; and Homing: on pigeons, dwellings and why we return by Jon Day, which has some amazing reviews, such as “will make any reader look at our cooing, waddling, junk-food-loving feathered friends very differently in future”- Daily Mail and “Rich and joyous ...The book's quiet optimism about our ability to change, and to learn to love small things passionately, will stay with me for a long time” - Helen Macdonald, the author of the also joyous H is for hawk, which is a story of overcoming grief.
Vets
Caring for animals in vet stories has regained popularity with the new TV screening of All Creatures Great and Small. The series of James Herriot books is available, as are more recent vet memoirs, such as The Yorkshire Vet books by Julian Norton; Listening to the animals by Noel Fitzpatrick; Secret Life of a Vet by Rory Cowlam; and Animal Matters: Diary of an Inner-City Vet by Charlotte Rea.
Useful links
Spread the word: do tell your friends and neighbours about the library’s Select and Collect Service. And remember: no fines or reservation charges currently.
Join the library
Reminder of pin number
Select and Request bundles form
Select and Request title requests
Ebooks and audiobooks
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