You can check the due date of your loaned items on SOLO to confirm if you can have it for the duration of the holiday. You can also check with the library staff if you're interested in taking out an item for the vacation.

Only please remember to bring all your books back with you in January!

"An eerie tale of an uncertain, unnamed young woman who marries a recent widower. She moves into his grand house in the English countryside, and is confronted by lingering sinister reminders of his recently deceased wife, Rebecca."

– Jules, Graduate Trainee, reading ‘Rebecca’ by Daphne du Maurier

"Partly a novel about the decline of the Irish 'big house', William Trevor switches between characters with astonishing skill, building a picture of profound resonance, humanity and compassion."

- Frank Egerton, Head of Reader Services, reading ‘The Story of Lucy Gault’ by William Trevor.

“A novel of metafictional madness, written in the form of three dictionaries (one Christian sources, one Islamic, one Jewish). There's a reincarnation murder-mystery plot running throughout too.”

– Gareth, Reader Services Supervisor, reading ‘The Dictionary of the Khazars’ by Milorad Pavic.

"I'm currently reading 'Dracula' by Bram Stoker, inspired by Halloween, and am also going back to my history student roots and reading 'Mantel Pieces' by Hilary Mantel. I alternate between reading fiction and non-fiction, but due to Halloween decided to do both at once!"

– Megan, Library Assistant

“The true-ish story of Tarare, a 18th century French peasant with an endless appetite. Reads like a Hieronymus Bosch painting, with vivid descriptions of the smells, tastes and violence of the time. Not to be read when you're eating.”

- Olly, Graduate Trainee, 'The Glutton' by A.K. Blakemore.

"A guide to how storytelling developed, from Viking sagas to Austen. It goes through how the style of storytelling has developed. He picks out people who were ahead of the common practice, and it's not always who you think."

– David, Premises team, ‘A History of Story-Telling’ by Arthur Ransome.

“This is a schlocky, 1000 page brick of genre fiction. Space vampires try to restore their lost empire through excessive violence. I wouldn't have it any other way. 10/10 cosy autumn comfort read.”

– Morgan, Library Assistant, reading ‘The Night Lords Omnibus’ by Aaron Dembski-Bowden.

“A fun seasonal read about a bunch of odd characters gathering in preparation for a mysterious full moon ritual on Halloween. The narrator and protagonist is a watchdog who is involved in these preparations.”

– Francesca, Library Assistant, ‘A Night in the Lonesome October’ by Roger Zelazny.

"A collection of short stories set in mid-century America during deep winter. It's all about how being in deep snow warps your reality. Things that begin in reality don't end that way."

– Matt, Premises team, reading ‘In the Heart of the Heart of the Country’ by William H. Gass.

And that's how to find the databases we subscribe too!

We hope this was a helpful #TopTipThursTAY. Please do ask us here, by email, or at our enquiry desks if there's anything else we can help with!

Plus, let us know if there's anything you would like us to cover in the next #TopTipThursTAY

Want to access a database not listed in the Databases A-Z?
Unfortunately that means we don't subscribe to it. You can suggest we get a subscription though, by pressing the blue 'Purchase Request' button on the top bar of SOLO, or contacting the relevant Subject Librarian

Alternatively, if you already know which database you would like to look at, you can access it through SOLO.

Log into SOLO, and then search for the title of the database. Click on the record it brings up, and then the blue link that appears under 'View online'.

As you can see, we have subscriptions to 1,854 databases to help with your research!

The LibGuide is a great way to discover helpful databases you may not have known about, as well as allowing you to easily access them.

The easiest way to see all of the databases we subscribe to, and access them, is to go to our Databases A-Z LibGuide

You can access any databases by clicking on its title. You'll automatically have access on a Bodleian Reader PC, but will be asked to sign in with your SSO if not.

An important note to start with: You can only access the databases through the Bodleian if you have a Bodleian card.

University members can access them anywhere from their own devices, whereas Bodleian Reader Card holders must access them from Bodleian Reader PCs, within our libraries.