A Good Read (and so's this)

I was feeling a bit retro, so I thought I would do books.

Beebooks

It’s great fun to knock the BBC, so don’t let me put you off. But I have to say that their website is more awesome every time I look. Try to name a subject for which they haven’t got an in-depth collection of web pages. It’s not easy. Their books pages are exemplary.

If the first page of BBC Books is a bit crammed – actually it’s very crammed – this is because they’ve got so much content to present. Factual writing, fiction writing, films about writers, DIY poetry, a Dickens game, a feature about Joe Orton… the list goes on and on.

The BBC obviously sees its job as being to stimulate reading and writing rather than to flog particular books, which is refreshing. The clever thing is that they use their own resources – sound recordings, video, interactive programmes – to reinforce the attractions of curling up with a good book.

Of course relevant BBC programmes and campaigns get a good mention, but all emphasis is on helping people to read, to read more adventurously, or to write. An ace website.

(From the Gateway to Websites, select “Books”. BBC Books is a Key Link.)

Put your trust in a book

Booktrust is “an independent national charity that encourages people of all ages and cultures to discover and enjoy reading. The reader is at the heart of everything we do.” Sounds like another good bet for readers? - it certainly is.

They administer prizes for literature, baby books, teenage fiction, women and several more categories. They promote reading by giving out books to babies, appointing a Children’s Laureate (presently mega-bookstar Jacqueline Wilson), running the National Short Story competition, and sending writers into schools.

They could do all those laudable things without having a decent website. But they don’t – they use the site to suggest and review recently-published books, list author events and other news, and provide “best book” guides in different formats.

It’s not the most intuitive site on the web – you have to drift around it a bit to find the nuggets. But it’s well worth the time spent.

(From the Gateway to Websites, select “Books”. Booktrust is a Key Link.)