Top 5 for Friday - What's Hot on the Holds shelf

It's been another one of those busy weeks, when best laid plans get overtaken by events. And then there was the weather yesterday(foul). Which is my very sad excuse for it being Friday afternoon before the Top 5 is posted.

One of the things I'v noticed working in the Library is how what other people are reading is fascinating to our customers when they come in and pick up their books off the hold shelf. Just like our New Books and Recentlty Returned shelves, the Holds shelf is a great source of inspiration. After all, if someone else wants it (or if you see it more than twice on the hold shelf) it must be good. So that is my inspiration for today.

1. Fall of Giants: Book one of the Century Trilogy (Ken Follett). Lisa almost did a dance in the workroom next to me when I put her request for this on her desk. So I am pretty sure I know what she will be doing this weekend. This first part of the trilogy "follows the fates of five interrelated families - American, German, Russian, English and Welsh - as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage". Looks like something I might have to request.


2. Dolci di Love (Sarah-Kate Lynch). Sarah-Kate braved the weather last night to come up to speak to a packed theatre at Matakana and all reports are that it was well worth everyone turning up. There are already several copies of this on the Holds shelf and I expect after last night there will be more. Manhattan workaholic comes to Tuscany to find her cheating husband. However the underground network of ancient widows in Montevedova are at work to get her a happy ending - whether she wants it or not.


3. The Jefferson Key (Steve Berry). Several copies of this have been unpacked here this afternoon to go on the holds shelf. I have always been fascinated by the coincidences between the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy. This book takes that one step further by including all four presidents who have been assassinated and weaves together a plot where Justice Department Operatives race across the nation to break a secret cipher originally possessed by Thomas Jefferson, concocted by Andrew Jackson and which may mean that these seemingly unrelated events were actually all part of a larger plan which still continues today.


4. Knitting and cooking are just as popular as ever. Annabel Langbein's The Free Range Cook, any slow cooking or comfort food title and everything from beginners to advanced when it comes to knitting.


5. DVD's are particularly popular at this time of year with people taking the chance to watch everything from the latest offerings like The King's Speech to some awesome documentaries (most of the free) to reliving old favourites The Onedin Line and Poldark. There really is something here for everyone.