Monday 29 January 2018

Booktuber of the month



Hi Everyone,

I am amazed at how quick January always moves by here.  We have Christmas, New year, school holidays (our summer break) and planning for 2018.  This year we have seen the most beautiful summer in... forever.  Yes, I seriously mean that.  We have had one of the best summers on record.

Anyway, to this this months Booktuber...

I have been scanning through some of the Booktubers who take the time to review children's books too.  There are plenty of Booktubers who review the latest books, especially young adult genre books.  But what about children's books, after all it is children that I teach and I have to say I really enjoy children's literature.

On my travels through the world of Booktubers I have come across Words of a reader and really like her channel.  She seems honest and genuine.  I say this because in this book haul she has even included a Little Golden Library Book.  I smiled with the memory of my Little Golden Library Books.  I still have many of them in my tutoring room and the kids still enjoy reading them - after all these years!

Click any one of the above links and you will be transported over to her Youtube channel.  Do take the time to look in on what she is reviewing, she has quite a wide range of reading.  I like the reviewers who keep their content wide, after all the whole family reads.  I have subscribed to her channel so I can keep checking in on what she has to show us.

Happy reading

Sunday 28 January 2018

Polyanna

Polyanna
Author: Eleanor H. Porter
ISBN: 978-0786181407



Hi Everyone,

Oh my goodness!  I love this little Gem.

I loved the movie as a child.   I still enjoy the movie.  But the book is the best!

I was impressed by the characters in when compared to the movie.  Most were the same and as I have watched the movie a few times now I was able to almost hear their voices πŸ™…  The only thing that I found different was the way in which Pollyanna loses the ability to walk.  There is no sneaking out to a fair and then falling while climbing back in the window in the novel.  I actually like the novels idea better it kept Pollyanna good, sweet, and innocent in comparison to sneaking out of the house.  Other than that most of the book was the same.  I wonder why movies so regularly take away the innocence of a novel?  I found Pollyanna just a treasure in character and plot, there was no real need to change her/it for a movie... in my opinion anyway.  But, I still love the movie none the less.

Overall, I am so pleased I read this.  I should have read it years ago 😊


Description:

"Oh, Aunt Polly, I don't know how to be glad enough that you let me come to live with you!" As soon as the orphaned Pollyanna arrives in Beldingsville to live with her strict and dutiful maiden aunt, she begins to brighten up everybody's life. The sick, the lonely, and the just plain miserable all fall under her spell and are transformed--until one day something so terrible happens that even Pollyanna doesn't know how to feel glad any more. First published in 1913, the tale of Pollyanna and the "glad game," the game of finding a silver lining in every cloud, is one of the most popular and enduring children's stories of all time.

Description from: https://www.amazon.com/Pollyanna-Eleanor-H-Porter/dp/0786181400


This was available from: Amazon


Happy reading

Wednesday 24 January 2018

Today's quote

136 years ago it was different than today 
for the women of the world


Hi Everyone,

Google tells me today is Virginia Woolf's 136th birthday!  Born in 1882...that seems like so long ago and yet her books are still read today.  Isn't that just amazing.

Virginia Woolf was famous for her writing and was also in many movies.  Take a look over at her Wikipedia page, here is the Link.

I read and studied her novel, To the Light House.  I notice it is one which I never reviewed for you.  That may be because I found it quite a 'different' sort of read.  I can remember reading and re-reading trying to get a grasp of what we were studying at the time.  Maybe I should go back a re-read it again, but this time for pleasure.

If you have read To the Light House and enjoyed it, leave me a comment.  If I get inspire by you all I will pick it back up again, and this time review it.

Happy reading

Friday 19 January 2018

Hollow city

Hollow City
Author: Ranson Riggs


Hi Everyone,

I really enjoyed the first book, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and I have now finished Hollow City which is the second book in this trilogy.  I kind of cheated and listened to this one, but I am so pleased I did.  The audio was fantastic.

The narration of this audio made the book was just perfect for bringing alive the characters.  I would have done this in my own little mind, but in this case I think the audio did a better job than I would have.  I give credit to the presentation of the audio version which I purchased through Kindle as an add on to the book.

Now to the plot.  Also fantastic!  I have enjoyed both books and where the author is taking me is unstoppable.  I have to read the next one too, I can't be left stranded now.

The presentation is also something that gives this trilogy life.  The characters are very unusual but the pictures, which look like photographs, enable the reader to envision the characters the way he has.  Very clever!  And as for these peculiar little kids I am impressed by the imagination behind the creation of each one.  They all fit into the plot in their own unique way.

Overall, a series I am pleased I didn't disregard, like I was tempted to when I first came across it.  I have enjoyed this book even more than the first, and the movie.


Description:

This second novel begins in 1940, immediately after the first book ended. Having escaped Miss Peregrine's island by the skin of their teeth, Jacob and his new friends must journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. Along the way, they encounter new allies, a menagerie of peculiar animals, and other unexpected surprises. Complete with dozens of newly discovered (and thoroughly mesmerizing) vintage photographs, this new adventure will delight readers of all ages.

Description taken from: https://www.bookdepository.com/Hollow-City-Ransom-Riggs/9781594747359?ref=grid-view&qid=1516396778364&sr=1-1

This was available from: Book depositoryAmazon and Fishpond


Happy reading

Hollow City (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children, #2)

Sunday 14 January 2018

The fellowship of the ring

The Fellowship of the Ring
Author: J. R. R. Tolkien
ISBN: 978-0-261-10235-4

Lord of the Rings Part 1


Hi Everyone

I have finally finished The Fellowship of the Ring.  Like any classic, it has a lot of depth to the plot, characters, and world building.  I often felt like I was reading and reading but going nowhere, only to be suddenly taken by world and characters again as I travelled through he pages with Frodo and his hobbit friends.

The world which J. R. R. Tolkien develops, is the captivating asset of this novel.  The story is about a hobbits journey as he tries to destroy the ruling ring of power but I found the world being developed around him, as the author started the hobbits journey that proceeds in the next two novels, intrigued me more than the plot.  I have watched the movies and I can't help but watch the world behind those either.

I loved the characters.  It all started with The Hobbit... I could read about the little hobbits and never grow tired.  I thought the dark riders were a little dull.  In the movies they seemed to be much more lively, dark, and scary.  I didn't find this matched up with my imagination while reading the novel.  I  often find it interesting that 10 people can read a book and all get a different vision.  We all watch the same movie on screen but not so in our heads while reading.  This was the case for me when it came to envisioning the hobbits, dark riders and wizards.  My head just didn't go the depths of character creation which the movies did.  So, if you read this and envision the characters different from the movies, leave me a comment I would love to hear how you imagined them.

Overall, a good read.  A long read!  But a good solid classical novel.  Just like any classic I have picked, they far out weigh the language, structure and style of today's books and I had to keep reading till the end to get a fill grasp of the plot. I have the next two books here to read, but I will take a break from the Middle-earth for a while and read some of the lighter books awaiting my eyes.


Description:

In the sleepy village in the Shire, a young hobbit is entrusted with an immense task.  He must make a perilous journey across Middle-earth tot he cracks of doom, there to destroy the Ruling Ring of Power - the only thing that prevents the Dark Lord's evil domination.

Thus begins J. R. R Tolkien's classic tale, which continues in The Two Towers and The Return of the King.


This was available from: Amazon, Book depository and Fishpond


Happy reading


Monday 8 January 2018

Traitor - The case of Benedict Arnold

Traitor - The Case of Benedict Arnold
Author: Jean Fritz
ISBN: 978-0-698-11553-8

Traitor: the Case of Benedict Arnold

Hi Everyone,

I have had a fantastic Christmas break and holiday!  I have biked, walked, and read my way through the last 10 days and it was just brilliant.  So, there will be a few updates coming your way as I take in all that I have been reading.

I finished this just before I headed away on my summer break.  It is part of the Sonlight Curriculum program which I am always impressed with.  So when I picked this one from the list awaiting my reading, I was a little sceptical.  

What was that come, did I over come my scepticism?

Actually, by the end I did.  It started off good and my boy quickly wanted more.  I got half way through and got a little stuck on the length of history; my son didn't he was still enjoying it.  Well, some people's history is not shortπŸ˜ƒ and it doesn't read like Benedict Arnold left his mark on history over night.  In fact it reads like quite the opposite.  He wanted fame and acknowledgement but never got it to the degree that he demanded.  There was actually a few places that I agree with him, he was short changed a little.  That was until he crossed over and went to the side of treason instead.

It was actually quite good to read this side of history.

What I do like most about the Sonlight Curriculum is that they base learning around 'living books', that is novels not text books.  This is where I struggle a little with Jean Fritz writing, this book included.  From time to time I felt like I was reading a text book.  But... It did just remain on the novel side.  Jean Fritz seems to writes in depth history novels for kids/young adults, and I have to give credit to the author because although it did seem a little text booky, my son loved it!  Jean Fritz writes for kids/young adults, and accomplishes good results with that audience, this book included (in our house anyway).


Description: 

Benedict Arnold always carried things too far.  As a boy he did crazy thing like climbing atop a burning roof and picking a fight with the town constable.  As a soldier, her was even more reckless.  He was obsessed with being a leader and the hero in every battle, and he never wanted to surrender.  He even killed his own horse once rather than give it to the enemy.

Where did the extremism lead Arnold?  To treason.


This was available from: Amazon


Happy reading