Monthly Book Club - Pilot Meeting: The Name of the Rose A quick update today to introduce the monthly book club, which began last night in The Rising Sun, Manchester, to discuss Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. The Name of the Rose is, essentially, a murder-mystery novel, that uses the plot to debate philosophical ideas about truth, interpretation, power, religion and political rule.  It is told in first-person by a medieval monk, Adso, who has accompanied an older monk William of Baskerville (note the Sherlock Holmes connection) to an old and grand monastery where William will act as a judge in a dispute between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor.  On arrival at the monastery, they discover a young monk has taken in own life in mysterious circumstances and this is quickly followed by another death, this time a murder.  William and Adso are given the task of discovering the murderer before the Pope and Emperor arrive. There were five of us last night to discuss the

The Beast from the East has given us the perfect excuse to stay in and read on World Book Day... Well World Book Day is a bit of chilly one here in the UK - Winter is Coming (Or has already arrived)!  But this is the perfect time to put the fire on, or crank the heating up to the max, and enjoy a good book.   So if your school, college, work has closed and you're stuck at home, here are some books that will either evoke the snowy weather you can see outside your window; or, if you'd rather banish thoughts of snow and ice and have your imagination whisked away to sunnier climes, there are some suggestions for you here as well. If You're a Snowy Owl, Try: 1. A Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin So you've probably seen the TV show, but have you read Martin's series of books?  It's a long wait until HBO's final season - if you can't wait until then for your next dose of Westeros, you could use the time to read through Martin