Oh no, this really wasn't for me. I've read (and enjoyed) other Alan Garner novels but while I could see this novella has hidden depths I couldn't be bothered to unpick them. I wonder if I might have enjoyed it more as an audio book..... but I don't feel tempted to find out!! Really surprised it made the Booker shortlist; it felt like he was trying just that bit too hard to be clever. I know others have loved it but not for me. #JanuaryChallenge

Read these last week. I loved Sally Gardner's atmospheric writing in The Weather Woman, Malorie Blackman's candour about the difficulties she has faced, in her autobiography, and the gently compelling story of Crow Lake. I was less keen on Grinny, which hasn't aged well and I enjoyed We Were Wolves, loved the illustrations but it fits into quite a narrow niche in the YA market.
#JanuaryChallenge

I loved Amari from the start when I was lucky enough to win a draw for a signed advance copy of the first book and a group zoom call with other indie booksellers, with B B Alston (what a warm and humble guy). So I've been waiting patiently until Christmas for this one and a rainy indoorsy day to devour it cosied up by the fire. Brilliant, gripping, magical adventure with awesome female leads, LOVED it.
#MiddleGrade #MGReads #MGFantasy #Magic

A beautifully produced book with wonderful illustrations and with clear environmental and migration messages, as well as friendship and family relationships. Told from two perspectives - 1. the voice of the fox; 2. 12 year old Leila's story (told in the 3rd person). The illustrations and story threads intertwine beautifully. There is one anomaly in the plot timeline which really bugged me (but other readers don't seem to notice!!). #MGReads

I needed a short read and this caught my eye - essays Zadie Smith wrote at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. They start with the pandemic specifically and end with an essay concerning the virus of racism, particularly in America. I found the collection interesting but not as insightful as I'd hoped.

#Essays #ZadieSmith

My partner was given this book for Christmas... Although he tries to show an interest in what I do in the garden - mainly offering to help clear up my prunings - it's really not his thing.... so yay for me 😊 It's a beautiful book and combines plants and history, both of which I love!

#History #Plants #Gardens

I've been an Oliver Jeffers fan since I first discovered The Incredible Book Eating Boy. I haven't loved all of his books but when he gets them right (IMO!) they're brilliant. Yesterday I sat and savoured this. It's quite long on pages, short on words but every single word carefully chosen. It's about humans and space and conflict, earth and history. A beautiful book.

#ChildrensBooks #OliverJeffers #PictureBook #Conflict #Space

My first read of 2023 was the perfect start to my book year. A gentle interconnected modern fable, in that beautiful Japanese philosophical style, about cats and their humans and the relationships woven between the two. I loved this.

The author is also the filmmaker of two anime films I really like - Your Name and Weathering With You.

#Japanese #BooksWithCats #Anime

My last read of 2022 and I enjoyed this MG but it wasn't memorable. CW (and this isn't a plot spoiler as it is introduced right at the beginning) - for death of a parent which remains a strong element throughout.

Also a lovely strong friendship bond and other themes of empathy, school, magic, nature.

Hahaha, I really wanted to not like this book but I'm laughing already:
"Top Five Things That Grate My Gears.
1. People who turn the page back to save their place. Have these savages not heard of novelty bookmarks? Or paper? Or 'memory'? Which part of your body would you most like to have folded back on itself?"
#BooksAboutBooks

Beautiful, original, memorable, gently haunting. Polly Crosby draws you into this uniquely insular and strange island world just off the East Anglian coast, where peculiar mutations have been happening to the wildlife. And yet a place so sparsely populated that strong bonds of friendship can be formed. Set mostly in 1928 and 2018, Marianne is very old and has seen much change here. Can young Tartelin help her?

#LitsyLove #Butterflies 5 ⭐️

This was an unexpected joy. I was reading something else but this arrived so I read the 1st page just to see... and kept reading.

12 year old Kuki has been moved to a new area and school and she isn't very happy... until she makes a new friend. But her Aunty is worried about the Abiku, spirits who steal children and tries to get the family using charms to keep them away. Kuki becomes torn by the secrets she is keeping...

#MiddleGrade #LitsyLove

I love this series and this is one of my favourites. The pace, characters, mystery are excellent. Each of the Adventures on Trains books is based on a real train journey undertaken by Maya & Sam (the authors) and this one is based on a trip I've been wanting to do for a while now, to explore some of the places in the arctic circle in winter. The story is enchanced by Paganelli's brilliant illustrations. Highly recommended MG (but for adults too!).

Lots of lovely books for Christmas has given me the best kind of dilemma - What to read next!! I think I've settled on this one which has been on my wish list for a while. I must have been good as Santa was very generous with book gifts this year 😊🎄. I hope he brought you all wonderful books too.

My #jolabokaflod

My next read - little wintry fairy tale indulgence.

#WinterReads #WintryReads #JoanAiken #FairyTales #QuentinBlake

I enjoyed this on one level as a quick and light read but I was disappointed with the book as a whole; it feels like lazy publishing to make a quick buck at Christmas.

The excerpts have no introduction so there is no context for each piece. It wasn't until I finished that I realised there is a brief paragraph biog of each author at the back but this book would be much improved with a brief introduction to each story. Ok but I can't recommend.

It's a Christmas present... so I've only got a few days to (carefully) read this one!! :-) I couldn't wait for my mum to read it first and lend it back to me so I'm sneakily reading it now. Anyone else have a sneaky read of books you're giving as presents?!!😂

I picked this up on a whim as I've always been interested in Joan Aiken and have only read some of the Willoughby Chase stories before.

12 year old Felix, half-Spanish, half-English, is orphaned and living with his unfriendly relatives in Spain. Felix becomes determined to get to England and hopes to find some relatives who actually care about him.... he sets off ill prepared for his travels but is resourceful and bold...

Vita to Virginia: (talking about writing her novel, The Edwardians)
'It is better to be extremely ambitious, or rather modest? Probably the latter is safer; but I hate safety, and would rather fail gloriously than dingily succeed.'

These were absolutely not allowed, especially at this time of year when there are so many expenses.

But.... aren't they beautiful.... I call them "medicine" and also essential for my work :-)

#BookShopping #BooksAboutBooks

I've been saving this for a gentle me-time self-care indulgence read and what better time than when we're having a week of cold, snowy frosty weather. -12'C last night.

This is a longer picture book and is a similar wintry, child overcoming adversity theme to The Snow Dragon which these two had published in 2019. It's a beautiful book - story and pictures - and I will never look at frost the same way. Highly recommend. #ChildrensBook #PictureBook

Vita to Virginia:
'When I read you, I feel no one has ever written English prose before, - knocked it about, put it into its place, made it into a servant. I wonder perpetually how you do it...'
p.66, 2021 Vintage Classics paperback

A quick cosy murder mystery read, set in Snowdonia National Park, Wales, in a village at the start of a path up Mount Snowdon. Constable Evan Evans has moved there to escape the city crimes and memories of Swansea. But village life isn't quite as quiet as he'd anticipated. When a hiker is reported missing on Snowdon Evan is loath to get the rescue team out until they're sure he hasn't just taken an alternative path down the mountain.

16yo Lilly is dragged off to the ancient medieval walled town of Castello in Italy, leaving behind her rural Maine childhood. Lilly is even less impressed when she gets there to find no internet, wi-fi and a town that seems to be set back 20years. And then there's her really weird first day at school.

All the kids believe in magic. Weird, huh? And it's banned. Not just banned but, well bad things happen to anyone found with magic blood...

YA short novel about Tacky's Revolt, a slave uprising on the island of Jamaica, against the British plantation owners in the 1760s. A very important book, excellently portrayed through the eyes of 14 yr old sugar cane slave, turned warrior, Moa. It's brutal, it's thought provoking and, with its dialect, not easy to read but I can see it making its way onto school curriculums and as class reads very soon.

I knew I shouldn't have started this last night... it's really really good. She IS the original queen of magic. The characters make this - Cat, a young boy with no magical powers and his powerful and overpowering older sister Gwendolen; meet Chrestomanci, powerful and calm enchanter and his family- his kind and gentle wife and his smart children. Can Cat do anything to save his sister (from herself?!). I've ordered the sequel. Highly recommend.

I've accidentally started reading yet another book, even though I have a few on the go. I quite like different books for different moods and just fancied this Diana Wynne Jones from my TBRs. Anyone read it?

I enjoy a magical middle grade so who better than the original queen of the genre... One of my favourite Ghibli films to re-watch when I need a pick me up is her 'Howl's Moving Castle', although that's a rare case of preferring film to book!

Winter Solitude

by Matsuo Basho

Winter solitude –
in a world of one color
the sound of wind.
---------------

I've you're following my posts you'll know I'm racing through the Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes stories at the mo. Dreaming Spies features Japan and some of Matsuo Basho's haikus, so here's one about winter for you. Deceptively simple, yet paints a picture of a 1000 words.
#Haiku #MysteryNovel #CrimeFiction

I can't get enough of this series at the moment. The long dark nights always have me racing through more books than usual as I try to keep the winter blues away. I love how involved the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes stories are and I usually learn something new from reading them too. I've just finished Garment of Shadows, set in 1920s Morocco and this is next - looks like they may be off to Japan but I'm not sure yet. #MysteryNovel #Mystery

I really wanted to enjoy this new MG mystery as I like this author... but it was pedestrian, unexciting and instantly forgettable. I finished it a week ago and when I read the synopsis on the back to jog my memory I didn't recognise it all. I would have bailed but I was away for a few days and only had a few books with me!! #MiddleGrade #ChildrensFiction #Mystery

Conclusion of a 2 part-er within this long Mary Russell / Sherlock Holmes series. It must have been good cos I stayed up until 3am to finish it and I really try not to do that too often!! I love the historical detail in this series and Mary is a fabulous character. No 10 in the series. #CrimeReads #CosyCrime #CrimeFiction #Sherlock #HistoricalCrime #SherlockHolmes #MaryRussell #DetectiveNovel

I've never read the original Sherlock Holmes books but I love the YA Enola Holmes books and this great series by Laurie R King gives an older Sherlock a young and brilliant wife, Mary Russell and she is the narrator of this richly researched historical series. This particular one is the first half of a 2 part-er which is slightly annoying... but I still highly recommend them. #CrimeReads #CosyCrime #Sherlock #HistoricalCrime

Just so good. So addictive. I'm short on time so that's all I'm going to say. They kept me up all night. Read Them! :-) 1. Inheritance Games 2. The Hawthorne Legacy 3. The Final Gambit

#Booktok #YAMystery

“I awake to the sound of glass being clawed at, a horrible, thin, tortured sound that makes my ears ache. My breath plumes as I turn my head and look towards the window, a small cloud of ice particles forming in the air.“

https://uk.bookshop.org/a/3436/9781529057751

#ChildrensBooks #MiddleGrade #Magic #Fiction #Fantasy #WinterStories #KidLit #Owl #BookQuote

A short novel which packs a lot of warmth, depth of understanding, a touch of humour and inner conflict, into its pages. Annie John is growing up on the island of Antigua - she is a good girl, an excellent student and has a loving family life but as adolescence comes upon her she finds it increasingly difficult to be the girl she thinks is expected of her.

#Literature #LiteraryFiction #CaribbeanLit #CaribbeanAuthor #ComingOfAge

This Twisted Tale was an "also ran" for me. It was too long and could have had some tighter editing. I found myself skimming quickly through whole sections to find parts to read more slowly.

Gina's the best character - she stole the show - though Rapunzel is very likeable. Not a keeper for me but I will try some more Twisted Tales.

#YA #YAFantasy #FairyTales #TwistedTales #YAFiction #YAReads #Disney #Fairytale

Folks, you're in for a treat in the spring. The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden is so, so good. I started it last night and am half way through (after staying up way too late). With beautiful evocative writing, it's intriguing, unusual, with gothic mystery and brilliant characterisation. A widowed governess, a lonely little boy, house full of secrets. I have no idea where it's going

pre-order https://uk.bookshop.org/a/3436/9780241556078

I really wanted to enjoy this - I like a good middle grade murder mystery - but, while main characters Bonnie and her Grampa are likeable enough, I found the writing plodding and the plot slow and somehow a bit repetitive.

I wanted Bonnie to be like Enola Holmes - she may even be slightly modelled on the character of Enola (if younger, at about 10) but I wasn't gripped. Sorry. Pub Feb 2023.
#ChildrensBooks #MiddleGrade #KidLit #MGmurderMystery

I was just in the mood for a bit of romance and Disney magic and this didn't disappoint. I've read a few Twisted Tales - a couple of brilliant ones, and a couple I thought were a bit meh. This one by Elizabeth Lim is one of the good ones.

A very likeable Cinderella and Prince and some good strong female characters bring this tale to life.
#YA #YAFantasy #Disney #Fairytale #Fairytales #WeekendRead #Cinderella

Oh dear, that was dangerous. Finished one book, started the next one.... and several hours later it's 2am and I finished it. I have to get up again in a few hours. That makes for high praise for The Inheritance Games - I literally couldn't put it down. It was recommended to me by a school librarian and she tells me books 2 and 3 are just as good. They're going on my shopping list.
#YAFiction #YA #YAmystery

"I have often suspected that it wasn't a love of reading that made Sam Leadbetter spend his scant shillings on that queer mixture of volumes. I feel it was more probably a love of books, a love of all that printed paper stood for: romance, tolerance, wisdom, culture... I even doubted if he had read more than half-a-dozen of the books he sacrificed so much to buy."
#BookQuotes #Virago #WomenWriters

Last night was way too windy outside for sleep so I indulged in a fire and #booktime. Anyone else love reading by the fire? (It's the only source of heating on the ground floor of my cottage - living room & kitchen, just 2 rooms so they warm up quickly). I'm about half way through this and am enjoying the humdrum rural Irish 1920s life depicted in Maura Laverty's Never No More. #IrishBooks #Reading #WomenWriters #IrishWriters #BookLovers #Virago

Courage. Kindness. Friendship. Character. These are the qualities that define us as human beings, and propel us, on occasion, to greatness.
R.J. Palacio, Wonder

I've had the sort of day where I needed to hear this quote. So I'm sharing it with you too.
#ChildrensBooks #MiddleGrade #Kindness #BookQuotes

Squib surprised me at how dark it is but also how brilliantly Nina Bawden writes about the thoughts and feelings of children and the ways in which they might handle difficult situations. A full review would have to spoil the plot for this book so I'll just end with a note on the gorgeous cover art of the puffin edition, by the late, great Shirley Hughes.
#ChildrensBooks #MiddleGrade #MGFiction #ShirleyHughes #NinaBawden

"But in real life there aren't any right true happy endings. You have to get used to things just as they are."

#middlegrade #childrensbooks #book #bookquotes #books #reading #november

Set on Anglesey, Wales in 1870, Wren longs to escape. Her father wants to send her to a strict boarding school, her little brother is horrible, her aunt is erratic and Wren's mother died in a flying accident in an early aircraft she and Wren's aunt invented and tested together.

Good start but then it gets a bit bonkers - I can't give much away without plot spoiling. 3.5/5 #MiddleGrade #ChildrensBooks
https://uk.bookshop.org/a/3436/9781839947230

A delightful pocket size book. Illustrated rhyming verse with wonderful #Ardizzone illustrations. #EdwardArdizzone and #JamesReeves collaborated on a number of books and this is one of their finest.

Jackie Thimble is 16 inches tall. One cold winter's day he exlores a post box while the mailman is emptying it and gets shut inside. He keeps his spirits up by singing and passersby stop to hear the singing post box and post coins in the slot!

A very good middle grade read, with a strong environmental message (at times overwhelming).

The world has introduced stringent environmental laws around the globe, including heavy restrictions on travel, especially by air. Rory is super excited to be joining her geologist mum on a trip to the Arctic. But is the company her mum works for as green as they claim?

https://uk.bookshop.org/a/3436/9781788954471

#ChildrensBooks #MiddleGrade 4.5/5

Mabel loves space and the night sky but has a space in her heart from when Dad left (and not heard from since). Mabel carries around an invisible suitcase of worries; her sister Topaz has too many worries of her own to help. The one hope is mum's boyfriend who shares Mabel's love of the stars but is he all he seems....?

Enjoyable read but not memorable, good for approaching the subject of worries, and sharing them #ChildrensBooks #MiddleGrade