BOOK lovers are being urged to spice up their reading material by visiting North Yorkshire libraries as part of this year's Orange Prize for Fiction.

County council libraries in Harrogate and Stokesley are offering plenty of new reading ideas and the chance to decide who should be this year's prize winner.

Scarborough library will have numerous copies of the titles in the running when short-listing takes place in May.

County councillor John Dennis said: "We're delighted that North Yorkshire has been chosen to be one of the 100 UK library authorities taking part in this year's Orange Prize for Fiction.

"Our libraries will be offering readers the chance to access exciting, up-to-the-minute fiction, as well as join the discussion about the best of women's writing and whether what men and women read is different."

North Yorkshire's head of libraries and arts, Julie Blaisdale, said: "Books which have been listed for the Orange Prize often include some new and controversial writers.

"All our staff are really excited about the chance to introduce readers to quality writers that they have never tried.