lundi 11 décembre 2017

SOMEMORE PRIZES FOR THE RAFFLE

We have some more super prizes


·        Voucher for 50 euros at Carrefour

·        Ice cream cone door stopper

·        3-D crossword puzzle of New York

·        2000-piece puzzle of USA

·        All-in-one picnic backpack (rug, plates, multi-purpose gadget, etc)

mercredi 29 novembre 2017

DECEMBER 2017 NEWSLETTER

Membership is growing, we signed up our 78th member last week. We have come a long way from our humble beginnings !
 
The RAFFLE tickets are on sale at the library, the list of prizes is getting longer
·        A manucure in a swish beauty parlour
·        A laquer tray with six coasters           A pair of earrings
·        An international adaptor                    An apple slicer
·        Two oven trays from Lakeland
·        3 bottles of wine from the Domaine de Causse
·        A bottle of genuine Russian vodka     Three 15-euro vouchers from Super U
·        Voucher for 50 euros for a meal at Le Grillardin
  • and  more to come………  If you have anything to donate do let us know (mail foal34@gmail.com )  Tickets 1 euro & 10 for 8 euros. Draw at the party
 
Our Children’s Corner  is becoming very popular, there are a whole lot more furry toys, we’ll soon have a regular Noah’s Ark…
 
Openings over Christmas  We shall be open on Saturday 2nd December (we shall be decorating for Christmas), Wednesday 6thWednesday 13th & Saturday 16th then closed until Saturday 6th January  when we open for business again
 
OF COURSE Saturday 6th is the BIG DAY, the day of our annual party for FOAL members. We have always held this before Christmas but the dates had already been taken this year  so we thought a 12th night party might be fun

You will be bringing the food (sweet or savoury, easy to handle) & FOAL will be providing the drinks. I will send details for signing up nearer the time but do put this date in your diaries. We will be at Lakanal for the first time.
 
Finally, our FAMOUS LITERARY QUIZ will take place on Friday 2nd February, more details nearer the time , so another date for your diaries
 
The Children's Corner with three happy babies

lundi 30 octobre 2017

New catalogue !

The new catalogue (Title Alphabetical Order) is now online. To download it, just click Here.
Also available : Author Alphabetical Order Here.

Click on “télécharger avec votre navigateur” (download to browser) and then on “ouvrir” (open) or "Enregistrer le fichier" (to save it on your computer).

vendredi 20 octobre 2017

The History of Foal

As membership is increasing I thought it would be a good idea to write a brief history of Foal for our collective memory
THE HISTORY OF FOAL & INFORMATION ABOUT THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE LIBRARY IN MONTPELLIER
The association “The Friends of the Anglophone Library” (FOAL) was set up six & a half years ago once it became clear that we were not going to be able to save the former American Library in Montpellier. We fought long & hard & got a lot of press coverage. Our petition gathered 2200 signatures. Sadly to no avail. The new association wanted to provide a library, not to replace the old one, but at least to offer a good selection of books to English speakers in Montpellier and surrounding areas.
We started out very small in the premises of a language school, then we moved to a member’s flat where we stayed for two & a half years, then we had to move again to a member’s house where we stayed another two years. We believed in the enterprise but it was tough going at times since it was difficult to increase membership with no permanent address. But we persevered thanks to a dedicated Chair Person & Board. We also set up a blog (foal34.blogspot.fr) & Facebook page (Friends of the Anglophone Library)
We have been in our super new premises for a year with well over a thousand books (and counting). For our new acquisitions we concentrate on recent publications and we are very much up to date with what goes on in the publishing world. Right at the beginning we completed a project to collect the 100 Best Novels of the XX century using various lists from internet. We also have the 10 Best Novels of the XX1 century. We have added a Children’s Section in the new premises which we have wanted for a long time but were not able to supply through lack of space. We also have a permanent Book Sale thanks to donations from members. We ask people to send us a list before we accept donations (email to foal34@gmail.com ) Our lending policy is pretty flexible, normally it is 2 books for two weeks, especially new books which need to have a quick turnover. (older books can be taken out for longer)
Annual membership dues: 40 euros family membership 30 euros active member, 20  students.
FOAL also organizes events for members and non-members, we have our famous Book Quiz (February). Regular “Book Chat” meetings for members enable participants to talk about books they have read and exchange recommendations. For more info about this, send an email to mishex@wanadoo.fr Thanks to volunteers we also offer English conversation sessions
Chairperson  Vicki Metherell   Secretary   Daphne Schoenhals  Treasurer  Mike Davison
Venue 23 rue Lakanal Montpellier  Opening hours: every Wednesday 3-6pm & 1st & 3rd Saturday 10-12.30am

vendredi 13 octobre 2017

OCTOBER 2017 NEWSLETTER






OCTOBER NEWSLETTER 2017

 

 I don't seem to be able to copy the images that are in the newsletter. This time there were several teddy bears which explains the first sentence
 

Why teddy bears one wonders ! Because our Children’s Room has gained more fluffy toys, more books & some Beatrix Potter posters. It is a lovely space for small children & we hope to have more & more kids reading books both on the cushions and at home. If you have any children’s books to donate, do bring them along

 


ANTIGONE DES ASSOCIATIONS  We had a stand & a lot of people came up to ask for information. We have had several sign ups since. The conversation sessions are a great attraction but we need to make clear that they are the icing on the cake thanks to volunteers & might be stopped any day for various reasons. People are joining the library, not signing up for conversation, otherwise they might be disappointed if the sessions stop.

 

CHRISTMAS PARTY We have decided to have a change this year ; our party will take place on Saturday 6th January to celebrate Twelfth Night at Lakanal so that we don’t have to turn anyone away for lack of space. More details nearer the time. Just a reminder for new members : you bring along savory or sweet finger food or something that is easy to manage & FOAL provides the drinks. This will be the first time we hold the party in our own home & I would like to thank the Claringbulls & the Grassets for hosting the party in the past

 

RAFFLE We shall soon be selling tickets for our FAMOUS RAFFLE, prizes, collected by board members, have started coming in (if you have anything you would like to donate send an e-mail to : foal@dbmail.com ) The tickets will cost 1 euro with 10 tickets for 8 euros. This is a good way to support the library & of course, you can sell tickets to your friends too. A list of prizes will be drawn up as they come in & will be regularly updated. The draw will take place at the party

 

QUIZ  We can’t fix a date yet for our FAMOUS QUIZ, but it will be either the 2nd or the 9th February depending on availability of venue

 

NEW BOOKS  They have arrived & will be on the shelves for the Wednesday 18th opening. Thank you to the dedicated team which does the covering. 40 new books this time, you have seen the list, another great selection, nearly all published in 2017 plus some back ordering

lundi 18 septembre 2017

Antigone des Associations 2017

We had a stand again at the Antigone des Associations & lots of people seemed interested. they particularly like the idea of the conversation sessions. These are held for paid up FOAL members & are a plus but obviously not the main reason to join the Library. The sessions are hosted by volunteers who may, at any time, for whatever reason be unable to continue. We don't want people thinking they are not getting their money's worth if the sessions cease.
We are gaining more subscribers little by little. A large order will be arriving soon

samedi 8 juillet 2017

Photos AGM 2017

PHOTOS TAKEN AT THE AGM (thank you Marcel)  It was a very, very hot day but we survived thanks to all the lovely food you brought & some nice cool white & rosé
 
 

jeudi 29 juin 2017

June catalogue

The new catalogue (Author Alphabetical Order) is now online. To download it, just click Here.
Also available : Title Alphabetical Order Here.

Click on “télécharger avec votre navigateur” (download to browser) and then on “ouvrir” (open) or "Enregistrer le fichier" (to save it on your computer).

lundi 26 juin 2017

SUMMER NEWSLETTER 2017


We held a most successful AGM & party in spite of the great heat. The library is doing well, we have quite a lot of money in the bank so shall be doing some serious ordering in the autumn.

So please send lists of books or authors you would like to find in the library. We don’t want to be dogmatic about an author (who have their ups & downs) but there are additions to be made. Send an email to foal34@gmail.com   but consult the catalogue first. This is easy if you go to the Foal blog (click on link at the bottom of the email). The lists will be sent to the Selection Committee.

I  have put the above paragraph in italics because I have copied it from the last Newsletter. I have had practically no feedback, only from the Bookchat members. I do sometimes wonder if the newsletter is read…….

SUMMER OPENING

We shall be open on Saturday 1st July with a Grand Book Sale

Wednesday 5th

Wednesday 12th

Wednesday 19th

Saturday 22nd

Then we shall be closed until 2nd September from when we shall be open as usual (1st & 3rd Saturday & every Wednesday)

You are allowed to take out more books for your summer reading (6 per person),  & you will need to leave a guarantee deposit in the form of a cheque for 60 euros made out to FOAL (we will, of course, not cash this & give it back on return of books)

HAVE A SUPER SUMMER

I WILL BE POSTING PHOTOS OF AGM ON FACEBOOK & BLOG

 

The following books are  on order & will be in the library before we close for the summer

Anne Tyler                             Vinegar Girl

Julian Barnes                          The Noise of Time

Damien Lewis                         Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

Nicci French                           Saturday Requiem

Harlan Coben                         Fool me Once

Philippa Gregory                    The Taming of the Queen

S J Parris                                Conspiricy

W Shaw                                  The Birdwatcher

Dennis Lehane                        Live by Night

Camilla Lackberg                   The Ice Child

Georges Mikes                        English humour for Beginners

Mary Higgins Clark                As Time goes by

Hilary Mantell                        Wolf Hall (replacement)

C.J. Sansom                            Revelation

Alan Judd                               Deep Blue

 Most recent donations
David Nicholls                       Starter for ten               PB 2004  GF

Maria Lewycka                       The Lubetkin Legacy     PB  2016  GF     

Tana French                             The Likeness                 PB  2008  Crime

Alison Weir                             The Lady Elizabeth       PB  2008  Historical Fiction

John Harvey                 Darkness & Light   PB  2006 Thriller

Amitar Ghosh               Sea of Poppies     PB 2008  Historical fiction Trilogy

Tash Aw                       The Harmony Silk Factory   PB  2005 Historical fiction

D Moggach                   The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel   PB 2005  GF

A Doerr                       All the light we cannot see    PB 2014  Historical Fiction

Ford Madox Ford        The Good Soldier                   PB 1915   GF

W Boyd                        Brazzaville Beach                   PB 1990  GF

G Orwell                       Down & out in London & Paris    PB  1933  NF

Robert Stone                 Outerbridge Reach                  PB 1992  Adventure  GF

Adeline Yen Mah          Falling Leaves               PB 1997  Historical Memoir  

Marilynne Robinson     Gilead                           PB  2004   GF Literary

A McCall Smith            Love over Scotland       PB 2006   GF

A McCall Smith            Sunday Philosophy Club  PB  2004   GF

A McCall Smith            N° 1 Ladies Dectective agency  PB  1998  Crime

Sue Grafton                    V  is for Vengeance                PB 2011 Crime

Sue Grafton                    U is for Undertow                            HB  2009  Crime

Lee Child                       Never go back                        PB 2013  Crime

José Saramago              Blindness                                PB  GF  1997  GF

Owen Sheers                 I saw a man                                     PB 2015  Crime

Owen Sheers                 Resistance                              PB 2007  Crime

Tana French                  The Trespasser                       PB  2016  Crime

Harlan Coben                Missing you                                     PB 2014  Crime

 

samedi 20 mai 2017


FOAL'S AGM & SUMMER PARTY
 
AGM
The AGM & party will be held on Saturday 24th June starting at 11am
 
FOOD
Would you please send an email to Caroline Grasset  who has kindly offered to coordinate your offerings. Let her know what you will be bringing (sweet  or savoury). Please send her the info before 10th June. We may need to have a cut off for numbers depending on how many of you sign up  (40 maximum), I suggest you email Caroline fast.
FOAL will be providing the drinks.
 
HOW TO GET TO VENUE
To get to the venue which is a large garden and swimming pool kindly provided by Françoise Sorro : Rue des Grèzes is a street just opposite Celleneuve. To get to the Rue des Grezes the best thing is to take l'avenue de la Liberté and follow the direction La Paillade / Millau. You go past le Géant Casino which is on the right (going towards Millau). Keep on going a little further but you cannot turn left when you see the Lidl. You need to turn right as if you were entering Celleneuve to be able to cross l'Avenue de la Liberté. There is a sort of  half circle that enables you to do this. The Lidl is just on the corner. You go up this road and Françoise Sorro’s house is N° 256  It has a white gate.
Bus n°7 direction La Martelle, get off on the last stop but one and the stop is practically in front of the house
 

 
NEW BOOKS MAY 2017
 
ANOTHER INTERESTING SELECTION
 
﻿
Non-Fiction
 Talleyrand in London             Linda Kelly
 
 The New Book of Snobs         D.J. Taylor
 The Complicated Life of Beryl Bainbridge         Brandon King
 The Durrells of Corfu             M. Haag
 The Transatlantic Marriage Bureau Julie  Ferry
 Voyager                                    Russell Banks
 Irresistible                               Adam Alter
 
Fiction
 Birdcage Walk                         Helen Dunmore   General Fiction
 From the Heart                       Susan Hill   GF
 The Patriot                              Sana Krasikov   Historical saga
 When it Grows Dark              Jorn Lier Horst  Thriller
 The Dark Flood Rises              Margaret Drabble   GF
Anything is Possible -              Elizabeth Strout   GF
 The Girl Before                        P. Delaney   Suspense
Ghachar Ghochar                      Vivek Shanghag   Indian novel
House of Names                       Colm Toibin  Historical fiction
The Intrusions                          Stav Sherez   Thriller
 
Dissolution-                             CJ Sansom   Historical crime  (Shardlake, we now have the whole series in library)
Dark Fire                                  CJ Sansom    Historical crime
 
 Sovereign                                   CJ Sansom       Historical crime
 

mercredi 5 avril 2017

Recent donations & some more new books


These books which have been added to the collection are in no particular order.
 
DONATIONS

Jonathan Littell             The Kindly Ones           PB 2009     Historical F

Sarah Perry                            The Essex Serpent                  2016

Patricia Highsmith  A Suspension of Mercy   1965   PB Thriller

Sebastian Faulkes    A possible Life    2012   HB   General fiction

Emma Donaghue       Life Mask        2004     HB    GF

Ben Elton              The First Casualty    2005        PB   GF

Mick Hume           Trigger Warning    2015   PB   Non fiction

Joshua Ferris          Then we came to the end    2007  PB   GF

Margaret Drabble   The Seven Sisters   2002  PB

Alison Lurie             The truth about Lorin Jones                 1988  PB   GF

Antony Doerr            All the light we cannot see   2014  PB  GF

Aldous Huxley          Eyeless in Gaza   1936  5  PB    GF

Tobias Hill                The Love of Stones     2001   PB  Thriller

Tan Twan Eng           The Garden of evening mists    2012  HB  GF

Viet Thanh Nguyen       The Sympathiser   2015 PB  Espionage

Fiona Neill           The Good Girl    2015  PB Thriller

Nick Hornby        Juliet Naked   PB  2009  GF

John LeCarré       Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy    1974 HB  Espionage

G.d’Arcy Wood   Tambora  2014  PB  Non fiction

 
NEW BOOKS

Carlos Ruiz Zafon         Marina   2013  PB GF

Jo Nesbo                       The Redeemer  2005 PB Thriller
Jo Nesbo                       Cockroaches  2013  PB  Thriller (we now have all the Harry Hole books in Library, you will find a document there which gives you the order of the books)                    

jeudi 9 mars 2017

NEWSLETTER MARCH 2017


NEWSLETTER MARCH 2017

The library is going strong in our new premises, 25 new members since the Grand Opening on November 5th & counting. We are feathering our nest with various purchases (vacuum cleaner/steamer to keep the place clean, book stands for better presentation of selected books, new boxes for the book sale for easier handling, etc.) As our finances are flourishing at the moment we want to do some « back ordering » by which we mean either earlier books of authors you like or an addition to an incomplete series  (for example we have just ordered « The Shadow of the Wind »  the 1st volume of Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s brilliant trilogy, « The Cemetery of Forgotten Books. We already have the other two). Please send lists of books or authors you would like to find in the library. We don’t want to be dogmatic about an author (who have their ups & downs) but there are additions to be made. Send an email to foal34@gmail.com   but consult the catalogue first. This is easy if you go to the Foal blog (click on link at the bottom of the email). The lists will be sent to the Selection Committee. Speaking of which, we think it would be a good idea to invite interested members to a book choosing session (the next one will be held sometime in April) We will do this on an alphabetical order, rota basis. Email to same address if you wish to join a session. (this involves quite a lot of work, perusal of catalogue & log book to learn about readers’ tastes, searching for reviews from various publications, etc.)
 Donations
We would like you to send a list to foal34@gmail.com before bringing books to donate to the library. You obviously have some interesting books to donate which can either be added to the collection or go into the book sale BUT we are also confronted with books that have fallen into the bath or are falling apart & too often, chestnuts that we are then encumbered with. So PLEASE, lists from now on. We can no longer accept spontaneous offerings.
 English conversation
Two of our members (Liz Davison & Susannah Hill) have kindly volunteered to hold English conversation sessions  (dates in library). This is becoming popular & has allowed us to glean a new member or two & give something back to the community. We might need another volunteer next year as Susannah will be returning to England in the autumn.
Crèches
We would love to see children sitting on the carpets leafing through our large collection of children’s books (which we have thanks to donations). We came up with the idea of visiting crèches to tell them about the library & I also asked for an appointment at City Hall to meet the person in charge of such things. She were really interested & sent out the information. Our friend Kath Joly has already visited two crèches, taking along a few books from the children’s collection & doing a little presentation. We hope this will bring along some interested parents with their children.
 Annual General Meeting & party for Foal members
 Our friends Françoise has once again offered to hold our AGM and summer party in her lovely garden. The date is 24th June so put this in your diaries. Direction to venue nearer the time. We decided three years ago that a party was the best way to increase attendance at the AGM. We keep it pretty informal & soon  move on to the drinks & eats ! Foal provides the drinks & participants bring the food. We just need to keep our fingers crossed for good weather !

jeudi 2 mars 2017

The new catalogue (Author Alphabetical Order) is now online. To download it, just click Here.
Also available : Title Alphabetical Order Here.

Click on “télécharger avec votre navigateur” (download to browser) and then on “ouvrir” (open) or "Enregistrer le fichier" (to save it on your computer).

jeudi 23 février 2017

jeudi 16 février 2017

New books February


NEW BOOKS FEBRUARY 2017



NON FICTION

Patrick Leigh Fermor              Dashing for the post  HB 2016

Michael Rosen                        The Disappearance of Emile Zola  HB 2016

Edward Sorel                         The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936  HB 2016

Catrine Clay                           Labyrinths : Emma Jung & the early years of

                                                   Psychoanalysis  HB 2016

Artemis Cooper                      Elisabeth Jane Howard : an appreciation  1923-2014

                                                   HB 2016

Hashim Matar                        The Return    Memoir  HB 2016

Forgotten Fatherland              Ben MacIntyre              Biography  PB  2010

 FICTION

Jane Harper                                     The Dry                        Thriller  HB  2016

Emma Flink                                     Little Deaths                 Thriller  HB 2016

Zadie Smith                                     Swing Time                            Contemporary fiction HB 2016

Ratike Kapur                Private Life of Mrs Sharma  Contemporary  Fiction HB 2016

Michael Chabon                     Moonglow                     Contemporary fiction HB 2016

Fredrik Backman                    A Man called Ove                   General fiction HB 2016

David Baldacci                       No Man’s Land             Thriller  HB 2016

Michael Connolly                   The Wrong Side of Goodbye  Thriller HB 2016

Thomas Rydahl                      The Hermit                    Thriller  HB 2016

Ian Rankin                              Rather be the Devil       Thriller  HB 2016

Charlotte Hobson                   The Vanishing Futurist  Contemporary fiction  HB 2016

Sebastian Barry                      Days without End                  Contemporary fiction HB 2016

Margaret Atwood                    Hag Seed                       Shakespeare revisited  HB 2016

Susie Steiner                           Missing, Presumed        Thriller  PB 2016

Francis Spufford                    Golden Hill                 Historical fiction PB   2016    
                                                                    
Philippa Gregory                    Three sisters, Three Queens   Historical fiction HB 2016

Jasin Goodwin                       The Janissary Tree         Historical thriller PB 2006  

Leslie Downer                        The Last Concubine          Historical fiction PB 2008       

Leslie Downer                        The Samurai’s Daughter  PB  2013  HF

Leslie Downer                        The Shogun’s Daughter  HB 2017   HF

Alan Bennett                          The lady in the Van   PB 1999  GF
You will also find a large selection of donations which have been added to the collection
http://foal34.blogspot.com/2017/
foal34.blogspot.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2018-17
251514
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:WB5KOMHXOWRRDBTUPH3BOBGMEKKEKEZZ
<urn:uuid:f812797c-7457-4c17-b7cb-425fa4ba84c5>
2018-04-24T08:46:26Z
216.58.217.161
text/html
sha1:EVF3LNDG4BFNO5NXE4P22KK3OH6SMQDG
<urn:uuid:d2917af8-2852-4e17-9565-d0762e63bc53>
http://foal34.blogspot.com/2017/
response
<urn:uuid:f143bd17-8748-4a05-b7d4-b264799fb78f>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-229-195-56.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-17
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for April 2018
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf