We were thrilled with the way you engaged on World Book Day. Many of you are clearly well read and you made such interesting recommendations for things others should read. I’ve summarised the list of suggestions below so you can see what everyone else is recommending that you read! It’s certainly a varied and interesting list. What’s even better is that we have quite a few of these in the Library already that you can either read right now online or borrow in print!

We are always looking for new ways to make learning more fun and interesting. To that end, one of our resident sci-fi enthusiasts has pulled together a reading list of science fiction books we have in stock that were all written by People of the Global Majority.

Happy World Book Day! Explore five books from around the world that will take you on a journey from the artworks of feudal Japan to the mysteries of philosophy and from the worldview of a man in self-imposed social exile to a fantastical parody of pre-war Soviet society and a poignant view of the arrival of British colonialism in Africa told from an African perspective.

Losing yourself in a book can have a profound impact on body and mind, akin to entering an altered state of consciousness. The effect is rapid, too. After reading for just six minutes, the average person’s stress levels fall by two-thirds as the mind is taken away from its habitual thoughts and the body relaxes. Reading works can relax you even faster than listening to music.