Legend: Author: Marie Lu Rating: 5/5 Genre: YA dystopian fiction Pages: 305
BLURB:
What was once the western United States is now the Republic, a nation constantly at war with its neighbours. Born into an elite family, June Iparis is a military prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest circles. On the other side of society is Day, the country’s most wanted criminal. A rebellious street kid from the slums, Day has spent his life fighting against the Republic. When June’s brother is murdered, suspicion falls on Day. Determined to avenge her brother, June is sent to capture him. But as their paths collide, June begins to uncover a shocking truth about the Republic,and realises that the enemy she has been hunting might not be the villain after all.
I rarely ever give books five stars but this book is absolutely brilliant. It starts off with a double point of view with Day and June who are on completely different paths but as it goes on, the emotional journey they go on together changes both of them completely. It’s fast paced and full of action and emotion. The amount of jaw dropping secrets that unfold as the story gets deeper is phenomenal. I love the way Marie Lu portrays differences in class in a dystopian world even though it’s a problem today as well. I would definitely recommend as it’s an excellent fast-paced read, full of action,betrayal and war. As well as an intriguing storyline that includes a twisty murder mystery as well!
If you are anything like me, your reading may well be influenced by the seasons. I like nothing more than a good ghost story from October onwards or stories set in Nordic or northern countries.
However, come Spring, my choice of reading grows…lighter.
So I am asking YOU – what do you recommend? Is there something in our libraries I should be checking out? Send me your thoughts and ideas – and send some for teens and little ones too. I will compile and share. Let’s all encourage each other to read during the National Year of Reading, 2026.
Send ideas to Andrea.Hardaker@bradford.gov.uk. Mark your emails ‘Easter Reads’.
NB It doesn’t have to be fiction. If you have a favourite gardening book, poetry book, cycling book whatever, do send through.
Poetry Lovers! We have a poetry Reading Group that meets every third Tuesday of the month in Keighley Library (6.00 – 7.30).
The next meeting is on Tuesday 17th March. People are welcome to come and bring along either a poem they have written and/or a poem they have read for enjoyment and discussion.
Poems can be sent in advance to christina.wilson@bradford.gov.uk, who will print them out to distribute to members in the group for discussion.
Would be entrepreneurs and those running their own business are invited the second ‘business’ talk at Shipley Business Enterprise Hub, Shipley Library of 2026. Andy Ace Harrison is owner of Acespeed – a specialist company that restores, services repairs and enhances classic cars and historic motorsport vehicles. Andy has over 30 years’ experience in all makes of classic cars, all tried and tested on the track as one of the leading historic race and rally teams. Come along to hear him speak about the challenges he has faced as a local businessman and give expert advice on how YOU can grow your business. Andy is there to answer YOUR questions on how best to develop your business or turn an idea into a dream job.
Event Details Shipley Library Business Enterprise Hub, Shipley Library, Sat March 21st
Do you have an uncanny story? Are you fascinated by ghosts, ghouls and poltergeists? Come along to our spellbinding talk with historian and podcaster Stephen Miller, learn about a famous poltergeist and share YOUR experiences of other-worldy happenings.
Stephen is the author and presenter of The Keighley Poltergeist https://uk.radio.net/podcast/the-keighley-poltergeist. He will be telling the story of haunted mill girl Gwendoline Morley who, from the age of 19, was troubled by paranormal activity. Her story drew the attention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and she spent three months at the British College of Psychic Research in London. As part of this fascinated talk we invite YOU to share your own uncanny experiences! So come along, let’s get spooky and hope there are no ghosts around…
April 18, Keighley Library, (Local Studies) 1.30pm
Poetry Lovers! Come to Ilkley Library on Thurs, March 19 for a spectacular reading of poetry, courtesy of Gill Connors.
Safety In Numbers, a poetic conversation, has been curated by poet and academic Gill Connors. Gill will share her experience of collating the work, bringing together this special big, beautiful 250 page chain of poems that respond and reply to each other.
Gill will share poems she wrote as part of the project, alongside readings from women who contributed to the collection, creating the experience of being ‘in conversation’ through poetry.
There will be the opportunity to take part in a writing activity and join the poetic conversation.
We served up a Michelin Star type menu of events during last year’s Big Tasty Read and we’ve now been named as a finalist in the Bookseller Library of the Year Award.
Our libraries invited people across the district to enjoy a delicious new programme of free events last Autumn as part of The Big Tasty Read – a national celebration of reading inspired by the joy of food.
The Big Tasty Read was part of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture and was run in partnership with The Reading Agency and BBC Arts. We used the universal love of food to bring people together and encourage more adults to enjoy reading.
Throughout the Autumn, libraries across Bradford hosted a tasty mix of events including author talks, writing workshops, food-themed crafts, film screenings, and cooking sessions.
Were YOU at one of our events? What did you think? Reach us at Andrea.Hardaker@bradford.gov.uk
The Beehives are a poetry collective, based in Bradford.
Every month they showcase at City Library.
Next month,on Friday 6th March, 7pm, they will be hosting esteemed poet, Sean O’Brien, alongside Kristina Diprose, one of the co-hosts at the regular poetry night Rhubarb at the Triangle.
Sean O’Brien, will be reading from his new collection, The Bonfire Party, recently published by Picador.
Other publications publications include Embark (2022), Impasse: for Jules Maigret (2023), Otherwise (2023) and Juniper (2024). His collection of short stories The Long Glass appeared in spring 2025.
His poetry has received the Somerset Maugham, Cholmondeley and E.M. Forster awards, as well as the T.S. Eliot and Forward Prizes. O’Brien is Emeritus Professor of Creative Writing at Newcastle University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Sean will be supported by Kristina Diprose, one of the co-hosts at Rhubarb at the Triangle and a fantastic writer:
Kristina Diprose’s shape-shifting writing explores ecological and mythological themes and our entanglement with the more-than-human world.
She won the inaugural Oxford Canal Festival poetry competition in 2024, and has been shortlisted in the Artemesia Arts, Wolverhampton Literature Festival, Ginkgo Prize and Leeds Poetry Festival competitions.
She was an Ilkley Literature Festival New Northern Poet in 2023. Her debut pamphlet, Thin Spells, was published in September 2025 by The Black Cat Poetry Press. She has also written short story commissions for Bradford 2025 in partnership with the Brontë Parsonage Museum, and appeared on BBC Front Row.
Beehive Poets host two poets on the first Friday of every month at City Library at 7pm. Come along for a treat of an evening.
A Head Full of Words: A Creative Writing Workshop for the Neurodivergent
Keighley Library – Monday 9th March 6.00-8.00pm
Are you neurodivergent and interested in creative writing? Are there worlds and words inside your head that need to find their way to the page? Whether you’re a seasoned writer or a complete newcomer, this playful, low-pressure workshop is designed for you.
Led by short story author David Hartley (PhD Creative Writing, University of Manchester), this 2-hour workshop will give you the time and headspace to write flash fictions and/or poetry inspired by neurodivergent ways of thinking and being. You’ll encounter weird and wonderful prompts to spark your imagination, and you’ll explore the experimental edges of the written word to help you express your unique divergence.
This will be a neurodiversity affirming space where difference is empowered and the only expectation is to be as imaginative as possible. No-one will be put under any pressure to share their work, and no-one’s writing will be judged or critiqued. Stimming is welcome, and you do not have to have an official diagnosis to attend. If you’d like to bring a supporting person (such as a parent, sibling, friend or carer) they would be more than welcome as long as everyone is neurodiversity-positive. Let’s all get wonderfully weird together!
David Hartley is a writer based in New Mills, Derbyshire. His PhD focused on explorations of autism in science fiction and fantasy in both literature and film. He was cohost on the Autism Through Cinema podcast and has conducted many creative writing workshops for Writing East Midlands on their autism focused ‘Beyond the Spectrum’ programme. He is the author of Fauna (Fly on the Wall Press, 2021), a collection of weird stories about animals. He lives with one human, two rabbits, and five guinea pigs, and has lately taken up birdwatching. His current favourite bird is the goldfinch. He can be found on Instagram at @DHartleyWriter
