Reading Allowed
True Stories and Curious Incidents from a Provincial Library
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Reading Allowed
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Narrated by:
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David Thorpe
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By:
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Chris Paling
About this listen
Chris works as a librarian in a small-town library in the south of England. This is the story of the library, its staff, and the fascinating group of people who use the library on a regular basis. We'll meet characters like the street sleepers Brewer, Wolf and Spencer, who are always the first through the doors. The Mad Hatter, an elderly man who scurries around manically, searching for books. Sons of Anarchy Alan, a young Down's syndrome man addicted to the American TV drama series. Startled Stewart, a gay man with a spray-on tan who pops in most days for a nice chat, sharking for good-looking foreign language students. And Trish, who is relentlessly cheerful and always dressed in pink - she has never married, but the marital status of everybody she meets is of huge interest to her.
Some of the characters' stories are tragic, some are amusing, some are genuinely surreal, but together they will paint a bigger picture of the world we live in today and of a library's hugely important place within it. Yes, of course, people come in to borrow books, but the library is also the equivalent of the village pump. It's one of the few places left where anyone, regardless of age or income or background, can wander in and find somebody to listen to their concerns, to share the time of day. Reading Allowed will provide us with a fascinating portrait of a place that we all value and cherish but which few of us truly know very much about.
©2017 Chris Paling (P)2017 Little Brown Book GroupListeners also enjoyed...
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- AReader
- 24-10-20
Libraries need all the publicity they can get!
I've come across a cluster of books about libraries, librarians, books and reading recently. While some see libraries as the home of literary fantasy, or even magic, this is more anecdotal. The fantasy encountered by the author is social or even medical in origin, but often gently amusing.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tia Lawrence
- 25-01-24
The characters and the little glimpses we get into their lives
I love this book read it a few years ago and always come back to read it again and again. I love the little light hearted story’s as well as the sadder ones
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ms H. M. Conner
- 29-10-18
excellent
I got this book from the library and immediately invested in the ebook and audible combo, plus a physical copy to give to Barry, who runs the local film club and who used to work for the local library which has closed permanently. I am also going to get my Mum the ebook and audible combo - she is legally blind and hard of hearing but she can read an e-reader with ludicrously large print and hear audible and Alexa with the volume high. She was a teacher and enjoys books on education, which this definitely is. It reminded me of the books about a school inspector by Gervase Phinn.
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2 people found this helpful