Hello everyone, Recently I sent out a link to the 'All About a Book' Quiz. If you haven't submitted a response yet, here's the link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=9EPCA0QPBUalZ76rIxkEQ25OGiv8-PZMjAwDzv-qGG9UQUxIV0pSUktWVzhYRjlNRzFSQTRBVURKRS4u Feel free to submit another entry if you haven't already. I've looked through the responses and here are some of the results. For question one, there was quite an array of answers. We had several 'Lord of the Flies' and 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' which may have something to do with studying those books at school... There were quite a few 'Harry Potter' books and lots of other books of some variety. Question 2: Here's the graph of the genres read - Question 3: Lots of variety; very few capital letters. Question 4: This question was nearly exclusively answered as English, British or American. There was one American-Chinese, one German, two American-Indian, two Japanese, one very descriptive 'half Venetian but born Manchester', two Irish, one American-Venezuela, one African-American, one Canadian and one 'Unknown.' Out of 276 responses, only 13 were not British or American; that's about 4.7%. I think shows the lack of diversity of multi-ethnicity in our reading habits even today. Question 5: Here's the graph showing when the books were written - It's interesting to note that we are reading almost exclusively modern literature but still we don't read books of different backgrounds and diversity. Question 6: Most book were described as 12+ or teenage. Question 7: Here's the graph for the characteristics of the main protagonist - Question 8: Here's the graph for the setting of the book - Question 9: About rating the books out of ten (overall a very positive score) - Question 10: Again, a very varied result. Lots of people said that the book was good because it was interesting or they could relate to the character's lives and compare them with their own.
To see the answers to each of these questions in more detail, follow this link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/AnalysisPage.aspx?id=9EPCA0QPBUalZ76rIxkEQ25OGiv8-PZMjAwDzv-qGG9UQUxIV0pSUktWVzhYRjlNRzFSQTRBVURKRS4u&AnalyzerToken=Ih1qrzZzzHaIGhmF3Qjtw8Tt7h6j4cBP It gives you all the data from the responses. Thank you all for submitting responses - it is really lovely to hear what we like to read as a community and to identify strong points and weaknesses in our reading habits. I think the main weakness that I've identified is the lack of diversity in the nationality of the authors, and I think this is a really important thing to work on. On the positive sides, the answers we've got show a great variety of interests and styles of book which shows a healthy reading diet across the community as a whole. Thank you for all your support - keep your eyes open for the next reading activity for us all to enjoy!
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Hello everyone, Thank you all for submitting your answers to the Book Quiz - we've had lots back and its great to see everyone giving it a go. It doesn't take long, and the link still works, so, if you haven't already, please do still send in your answers - it's great to see them. Please also comment on the blogs - either this one or the previous one - on how you found the quiz and any improvements you might suggest. We'd love to hear some feedback so that we can make activities better in the future. So, without further ado, here are the answers: You can check your answers against the ones in the word cloud - the right answers are all there. If you would like me to tell you the answer to a particular question, or you would like me to give you your score, then do get in touch via the blog and I will gladly do so.
So, thank you to those who have submitted, and do look out for our next activity here on the blog. Hello everyone! I've made a new Book Quiz which has 25 fun questions all about books. All the answers are actually in the information around the website, so, depending how well you've read it, it should be easy! Here's the link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=9EPCA0QPBUalZ76rIxkEQ25OGiv8-PZMjAwDzv-qGG9UMDhLWkpKOUUzRVRNRTBDTFNWOTJRVE8yWC4u Paste that into your search bar and you should get a Form with a title that looks something like this: The quiz it really fun and it will literally take ten minutes of your time so please, please have a go!
As I said, all the answers are on the website, but I will do the quiz myself and share the answers on another blog some time next week, so look out for that to see how well you've done. I would also really appreciate it if you could comment on this blog about what you thought of the quiz, how many you thought you got right, if any books on it interested you, if you thought it was too easy or too hard...anything, really. I'd love to hear your responses and feedback so that I know how to make the website and any other quizzes in the future better. So, have a go at the quiz and see how you get on, and do comment on this blog to tell me all about it. Good luck! How many times have you been asked that question? Honestly, try to count it - I can't! People ask this all the time. When they meet you, if they see you reading, if books are mentioned, if they feel like it, if they're getting to know you...it's a question we're all asked at some point, and one which is worth having a good, solid answer to. The worst response is 'I don't know' or 'Oh, there's too many to pick from!' This is a serious question which requires a serious answer. OK, I have to admit, sometimes I am one of those really annoying, 'I don't know,' sort of people, but that's only because it's really hard explaining to a stranger that the Hobbit would be mine, but then Hornblower would feel left out, but then This Thing of Darkness and The Name of This Book is Secret are both so good, and what about Around the World in Eighty Days, or The Count of Monte Cristo, or To Kill a Mockingbird?
Choosing your favourite book it hard. Some days it changes. Sometimes you say one book, and then a completely different one when your asked next. Sometimes you just say a random book because you hadn't thought about it or the question caught you off guard. But your favourite book tells you so much about your own interests, reading levels and personality, and it can be really nice to find one and be proud of what it is. This is why I'd like it if you could comment on this blog about what your favourite book is and why. It doesn't have to be long and it can be literally any book you like - from Winne-the-Pooh to Charles Dickens to a non-fiction book all about the Solar System. Anything you like. Anything you enjoy. Anything you'd be happy to go back and read time and time again. Please do comment - I'd really love to hear what your favourite books are, as it is the ultimate question for readers, and it really is a fun one to answer. Even just the title and author with one sentence about it would be perfectly fine! Let's see how many of us can take the plunge and decide once and for all what our favourite book really is. Hello everyone, This is the last week of the summer reading challenge and I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have. This time, we're looking at poetry and plays, to end the challenge reading a different type of text. So, let's start with the poetry. It don't know about you, but whenever anyone mentions 'poetry' I think immediately about something very long-winded and highbrow dotted with lots of 'doth' and 'speaketh' which makes all very boring, melodramatic and tedious to read. Right, forget all that - it doesn't have to be like that. Let's start with something simple. 'Michael Rosen's A to Z: the Best Children's Poetry.' Most people have heard of his 'Chocolate Cake' poem, but, in this collection, there are a mixture of humorous and more serious poems to introduce children to. I personally still like reading some of them, my particular favourites including: 'GRRRR' by Francesca Beard (true), 'Attack of the Mutant Mangoes: A Fruit Salad Ballad of Baddies' by Andrew Fusek Peters (bizarre) and 'The Painting Lesson' by Trevor Harvey (hilarious). I think my favourite, though, has to be, 'How was school?' by Lindsay MacRae - I thought it was so funny. This book is a great introduction and a way to find a nice, easy style of poetry to suit your taste. Another great book is the 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats' by T.S. Eliot. It's a of poems by the same author all about different cats, including Macavity the Mystery Cat, Magical Mr Mistoffelees and Old Deuteronomy. Not the most scholarly of his works, but thoroughly entertaining. The poems were also the inspiration behind the musical 'Cats' where many of the lyrics from the songs come from the original poems. I also love the 'Jabberwocky' by Lewis Carroll. It's a nonsense poem, but that doesn't make it difficult. It's not like those poems which, if you don't understand, you're through, because, at the end of day, it wasn't really written to be understood. It's also a fun one to read aloud, getting your tongue around the twists and turns in the words. There's also 'Hunting on the Snark' which, though incredibly longer, is no less fun. 'The Highwayman' by Alfred Noyes is a good one, too, as it was rhythmic stanzas with an interesting rhyming scheme which takes you through the story of the highwayman on his night's mischief. 'Eldorado' by Edgar Allen Poe might be one of my favourite ever poems, and it takes only half a minute to read. 'Sea Fever' by John Masefield is yet another poem which is short and sweet, but still with meaning. For something more, the poem 'If' by Rudyard Kipling is charming and thoughtful, or there is 'Kubla Khan' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which is in an older and more challenging style, but is beautiful nonetheless. Some of the more challenging poems named here are not part of a collection or larger books, but that doesn't mean there not worth reading. You can have a go at a few of them, and see what sort appeals to you, before maybe finding a collection of similar poems or more by the same author. Poetry is a very subjective thing, so I'd recommend giving all different types a go before committing yourself to reading something which you don't like and is going to cloud your judgement on poetry in the future. So, there's that done - not so scary after all. Now for plays. When I think of plays, I think of them on the stage. I think of them being acting to the accompaniment of a booming orchestra or, perhaps, adapted on the screen. Reading plays doesn't occur to me straight away, but they are different and exciting formats for reading stories of all varieties, and everyone should give them a go. The first play I read was 'Wicked' - the script of the Broadway musical. Not a hard read, as most of it is song lyrics, but I enjoyed. All the songs were playing at the back of my mine and it was a really fun way to accustom myself to the different layout and feeling of a written play. An interesting thing to note about 'Wicked' is that the play is considerably more famous than the book - 'Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West' by Gregory Maguire - on which it was based. That book was, in a way, inspired by the 1939 movie on a similar theme. It's all very tangled up, but the fact remains that the play is more famous than any previous interpretations of the story, and it is a lovely one to read. (I have a copy of the full play in a book called 'Wicked: the Grimmerie' which has information on everything about the production.) 'The Importance of Being Earnest' by Oscar Wilde is my favourite play, though. It's so witty, so quick, and so delightfully clever. There's nothing complicated or intimidating about it, and the mind simply whirrs through the hilarity of it all before wanting to go back and read it all again. If you're still a bit worried about reading it, watching a filmed version beforehand (or, even better, going to the theatre to see it), might help you understand the plot so that, when you read it, you can appreciate the nuances. If you still want more, there's always Shakespeare. People have written such a lot about him I don't think I have anything original to add. I would only advise that you read examples of his work which appeal to you with their plot and characters (so, for example, if you're a light, bubbly, happy sort of person, Hamlet might not be your cup of tea) because that will make ploughing through the text more fruitful. I say 'ploughing' but that's not quite the right word - though Shakespeare's English may seem incomprehensible, it is still English, and, as such, not as hard to understand as may first appear. It requires only a little bit of patience, understanding and imagination to decipher. Having a plot summary of the play might help you follow it more, but I personally think that takes away from the drama and excitement of the reading, so perhaps it might be better to search up particular passages or phrases when you happen upon them. And so, there it is - the Summer Reading Challenge has been completed. All the books and texts I've talked about will be updated throughout the website during the next couple of days, so that you can find them across the website in their rightful categories. Hopefully, you have found something across the genres we've covered which you've really enjoyed reading, and, if so, do comment about it on the blog; I'd love to hear from you!
This website is all about encouraging people to read books which they might not have chosen before, and to enlarge literacy skills across different texts which are more challenging to make confident, capable readers. And, really, it's all about having a bit of fun on the way. I hope you have done just that, and have enjoyed trying new sorts of books, and feel like you've had a go at reading something different. I'd love to hear any feedback on what you've read or learnt, and I hope you've all had a wonderful holiday. Goodbye! Hello everyone, So, this week it's non-fiction. I love non-fiction, especially when I'm reading it to break up the routine of novels and other books. It's a great genre to get stuck into and discover a new interest in something. There are also so many different types of non-fiction. Some books have short text and lots of pictures, some read almost like a novel but contain real events and facts in them, some are designed for learning, others are about people's lives and achievements, some explain a particular topic in depth...the list goes on and on. This week I want to look at three different non-fiction books. These are all ones which I have read and I hope they show some of the diversity in this genre. There really is something for everyone here! The first book I wanted to talk about was 'Fifty Ships that Changed the Course of History: a Nautical History of the World' by Ian Graham. In the words on the blurb, 'it's a virtual history of the world told through the boats and ships that influenced how and where people lived, with whom they traded, the ideas they exchanged, and how they won and lost the battles that set the course of later generations and millennia.' And the ships in it really do go across the world, including: Pharaoh Kufu's Solar Barge, the Mayflower, Potemkin, Kon-Tiki, USS Nautilus, Rainbow Warrior and SS Torrey Canyon, to name but a few. The book has small chapters on each ship with pictures and diagrams, and text explaining the ship's functions and lifetimes and, ultimately, their effects on history. It's a clear and graphic guide which approaches world history from a fascinating angle. There are also other books in the series on a range of topics; see the book covers below. Next, 'The Book of General Ignorance' with a foreword by Stephen Fry. A book which aims to find the real answers to questions in common knowledge and misunderstanding, this book 'will make you wonder why anyone ever bothers to go to school.' Some of the questions in answers include: How long can a chicken live without it's head? Where do most tigers live? Who blew the nose off the Sphinx? How many legs does a centipede have? What's the name of the capital city of Thailand? When did the most recent Ice Age end? The answers to the questions are supposed to make you feel a little silly for all your misconceptions...and they do. They show how the truth dissolves into misunderstanding and mistakes. Everything is explained with clarity and humour, too, with short sections and interesting topics. As the blurb says, 'If you still think that Henry VIII had six wives, that the earth has only one moon, and that Mount Everest is the world's tallest mountain, then you need this book. Urgently.' And, finally, 'Natural Wonders of the World' with a foreword by Chris Packham. This book - and the 'Man-made Wonders of the World', too - shows features from across the globe with bright images and bold text. Every glacier, river, lake, mountain, coral reef, weather phenomenon and forest from every continent is examined with high-quality pictures and information which reveals the truth behind the most stunning examples of nature in the modern world. With a comprehensive glossary, directory and index, this book is fun, factual and easy to navigate, with lots of detail and topics covered. Such an easy book to get completely engrossed in. And that's everything. I've really enjoyed reading about things that interest me this week, and exploring different types of non-fiction books, and I hope you've enjoyed it to. What sort of non-fiction do you like to read? Is there a topic which really want to find a good book on?
Do get in touch about what you're reading - I'd love to know! Last week in the Summer Reading Challenge next time...I'll see you then! Hello everyone, So, this week we're looking at biographies. I have to admit that I've barely read any before now, because I find them really difficult books to deal with. First, finding a person who interests and inspires you can be a challenge - you don't want to fall into that I-was-just-an-ordinary-sort-of-person-but-now-look-at-me formula, because no one finds that interesting. You also want to read about someone you know about, but don't know too much about, and someone whose life you find fascinating. Finding that someone can be tough. And the writing of a biography, especially an autobiography, can be a difficult thing as the author must find a way to '[...] steer a ticklish course between the Scylla of open boastfulness and the Charybdis of mock-modesty,' to quote from one of my favourite books, Lord Hornblower by C.S. Forester. On top of all of that, there is the question for the writer of what to include and what not too, to keep the reader on board and satisfy the reader's desires and expectations. As you can probably tell, biographies are hard to write and that makes it hard to choose which ones to read. I had a hard time of choosing what to read for this week. There were always the regular bunch to pick from - the biographies that everyone reads - or some person I vaguely knew of who'd written a book about themselves, or someone else that, but I wanted to try something...different. One thing which I think is unique to this genre is the character of the writing, if its done well, which gives a flavour of different experiences, times, places, opinions and lives. There is no point in reading about someone exactly like you, I think, when there is such a variety of books about different people to read instead. In the end, I read 'Martin Johnson: the Autobiography' about 'a living rugby legend and one of England's greatest ever players,' as the blurb claims. Well, one thing's for certain: this is like no other book I've ever read. Parts of it were rather amusing. The chapter titles were rather odd, including 'Ugly Mug' and 'Terminator in Shorts', and all the characters were introduced by their full names before coming back into the narration with nicknames almost always ending in -o or -y or with a 'z' in them - Johnno, Stimmo, Backy, Daz, etc. - which I found mildly irritating as well as funny. One of the best nicknames, I thought, was 'El Tel' because it was ridiculous, longer than the man's actual name, and nothing like it either. I think his real name was Terry. Parts of it were confusing. There was always 'a cup' or 'a league' and I had no idea which was which. The dates were a bit confusing, jumping from the 1990s to early 2000s in throw-away comments whilst trying to keep a chronological layout with the rest of it. There were also some lengthy technical discussions, not only about rugby and how the game worked, but about finances, payment, professionalism, sponsors, coaches, advertising rights, physios, injuries and suggested improvements about the way rugby was organised. Some of this I found a bit tedious, but I suppose it affects the players and is an important, if lesser known, element of playing sport professionally. The blurb talked about 'the shy, wry and thoughtful man' underneath 'Johnson's glowering on-field persona', but I'm not sure how much of the shyness I picked up. There always seemed to be some sort of brawl or argument or fight going on, such as the picture of three players having a grabbing tussle with a somewhat nonchalant caption of: 'Here I compare shirt material with Nick Stiles and Glen Panaho.' There were players (including Johnson) who were banned for weeks or months for violence towards other players, which he seems to feel no great regret about, only the annoyance that meant he couldn't play for however long. But I suppose those are the parts where he 'examines the line between acceptable and unacceptable violence in his sport.' Another example of a casual comment in relation to something confrontational was in a match against a French side: 'At one point, a woman sitting two or three rows in beckoned Richard Cockerill over, shouting "Monsieur, monsieur" at him. As Cockers wandered over to see what she wanted, she spat at him, to cheers from all around her. Impeccable taste, the French.' And that was that. I wouldn't call it a favourite book my a long way, nor one I'd be likely to go back to any time soon, but I would call reading it something of an experience. It was certainly different, in any case. I've found a genre I'd virtually never tried before, but what about you? Did you read about someone you admire, or like, or even never heard of before? How did you find the style of writing? Next week is non-fiction...one my of favourites... Hello everyone, I have to confess that I've been looking forward to this week. I love science-fiction as a genre, but I feel so sorry for it because I think that very few people enjoy reading it because they're afraid of it being boring or they haven't found the type that suits them. You very rarely come across a large science-fiction section in a library or bookshop, and it's not often that you find a bookworm who says that it's their favourite genre. I think this is partly because it can be hard to write science-fiction properly, or because in our heads it's all aliens-invading-and-taking-over-the-universe stuff, which to us sounds clichéd and a bit silly. That's what I personally think people believe about science-fiction, but, whatever people say, it really is an interesting genre: it takes the imagination of fantasy, the thrill of adventure, the intensity of a mystery and the wonderful but terrifying prospects of science, technology, time and space. When I was younger, science-fiction wasn't really my thing - no one talked about it and no one read it. But I've taken an interest in it recently and have tried to read different books across the genre. This week, I want to talk about two books which I think show the variety in this genre and how it has something for everyone. The first book I want to talk about is 'Dune' by Frank Herbert. On the blurb (of my copy at least) it says: 'Before The Matrix, before Star Wars, before Ender's Game and Neuromancer, there was Dune - the greatest science fiction novel ever written.' Wow, I thought - that's a statement to live up to. So I started reading. At first, I was a bit like, 'Yeah, yeah, in the future, space travel, evil Emperor ruling the galaxy, stuff like that, whatever.' But, even after a few chapters, I realised that this wasn't just another save-the-universe job; it was the save-the-universe job, the original, the starting place. This book might have looked like a cliché, but I think that it made the clichés - as in, people copied the ideas and soon they were sort of fixed in our minds as the definitive 'science-fiction.' Immediately, as a reader, you feel unsettled by this book: there are so many things going on that you don't understand or recognise, and yet you still feel hooked and want to know what's happened. At the heart of the book there is a mystery: the desert planet, Arrakis, also known as Dune. We don't know anything about it, but we really, really want to know more. It's also quite disorientating to begin with. Kwisatz Haderach, Reverend Mother, House Harkonnen, Caladan, Fremen, Mentats, CHOAM Company, the Guild, the Landsraad Houses, Sardaukar ... so many things we don't know at first, and each presenting a little puzzle for us to wonder about and try to solve. You never feel like the book is deliberately trying to show things to you, or its going out of its way to make things clear - it almost takes your knowledge of the setting and the people as granted, and that is very unusual, but it works. It makes you feel like the book is part of a whole, something bigger, something darker ... it makes it feel more real. So, perhaps the book looks like a typical science-fiction thing, with the sort of redemption, coming-of-age discovery theme to it, but it is so much more than that. Every nook and cranny is filled with ideas and thoughts to explore, and many of them or covered or hidden, with bits and pieces for you to try and understand. The writing is immersive, and you never actually feel like you're reading a book; you're living through a moment in something much, much bigger, which don't understand entirely, but which is meaningful nonetheless. I really enjoyed it. It was different. And, as my mum said, whether you like it or not, 'you'll never read another book like Dune.' OK, so the other book I wanted to talk about was 'The Lost World' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Wait - what? Conan Doyle? The Sherlock Holmes man? That's what you're all thinking. But it's true: it's the same author. This book looks at first glance like something completely new to science-fiction: the main character is a journalist who goes on an expedition to a remote plateau in South America where, separated from the rest of the world for centuries, dinosaurs and murderous ape-men still live in the last remnants of the prehistoric world. What's not exciting about that? And, more crucially, there are no invading aliens in sight. To begin with, I think this book would have been written very differently if Conan Doyle was alive today. The scientific references mainly include forgotten geologists or doctors who we've never heard of today, or a very bad representation of stereotypical dinosaurs. But, really, who can blame him? Science was very different in 1912, when the book was set, and also in the time of the author's life (1859-1930). Anyway, I think the naïveté of some of the science is part of the book's charm. However, on reading the book, it seems to diminish a little in originality. The ideas are sound, and the characters believable, but there runs through it a very old and over-played theme. There's the young main character, Edward Malone, in love with the beautiful Gladys, and she's the reason he goes on the expedition with the eccentric Professor Challenger, the mocking Professor Summerlee and the virile Lord John Roxton. They all go off following a dead explorer's notebook to guide them, have a few death-defying escapes, solve a few mysteries, then return to London and shock the well-to-do society before discovering that they had found diamonds on their travels and that they were all rich and famous. OK, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I felt like that was the general undertone to the story. It was, at heart, an over-used and over-played theme with a few cool things added on top. I enjoyed it, as I do have a particular soft spot for anything about dinosaurs, but I couldn't call it original. So, there we have it. Two books in the same genre, about completely different things, and both what you wouldn't expect them to be. As I said at the start, science-fiction is an under-rated genre, and I hope you find something out of the wide variety which suits your reading style. What do you look for in a book? Do you enjoy science-fiction? Which book in that genre has surprised you the most? Biographies next week...more books to explore.... Hello everyone! You may have noticed that, this week, we're actually looking at two week's worth of genres - both fantasy and historical fiction. This is due solely to my lack of understanding dates, figures and statistics. I got myself confused between the July-August break so - sorry! - we're doing double this week. But, no matter, because, on the bright side, we get to do double reading! So, let's start off with fantasy. When I was younger, it was literally my favourite (and perhaps only) genre; my reading went from wizards to dragons to witches to magical beasts then straight back to wizards again.] As I got older, the fantasy-fanatics wore off a little, as I began to explore and appreciate different genres. Naturally, my favourite fantasy book is 'The Lord of the Rings' by Tolkien. I have two things to say when it comes to this book: (1) Read it at the right time and (2) Read it before you watch the films. I know its a bit of a divider-of-opinions, but I'm just going to quote Tolkien himself from the 'Foreword to the Second Edition' of 'The Fellowship of the Ring': 'It is perhaps not possible in a long tale to please everybody at all points, nor to displease everybody at the same points ... some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd or contemptible; and I have no cause to complain since I have similar opinions of their works, or the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.' I think that sums everything up nicely. Anyway, back to the point: fantasy books. Considering we've got two genres to look at, I went back to a set of books I had already read a while ago, rather than reading something fresh: The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. I looked more particularly at the first book - 'Eragon' - which is named after the hero of the books set in the fantasy land of Alagaësia. I remember vividly reading the beginning few chapters of this book in the pouring rain, and the pages at the beginning of the book are crumpled where they were soaked through. The beginning had all the glory of the fantasy genre - legends, dragons, a mysterious world, a tyrannical king and an unlikely hero - with a simple, refreshing narrative voice and engaging language. This was classic fantasy, yes, but this was something modern too, with new excitement and adventure.
As I read further, though, some of the initial excitement wore off, and the book got to the gritty details and wound up to the dramatic ending. I still liked it, and devoured it quickly, but I began to have a premonition of an up-coming cliché...which I found grew through the second and third books and was, in part, justified by the fourth. For, though the books had a new voice and vigour, I thought some fundamental parts were a bit too well-known, too formulaic, and not original enough. However, that similar story of the farm boy to fantasy world leader might be some of the books' collective charm, the thing which gives them their edge - I'm not sure it worked for me entirely, but I still read them right through and enjoyed it. So, overall, a decent book which I liked, though didn't fall in love with completely. Right, that's not it yet - straight on to historical fiction. Okay, so historical fiction hasn't always been a genre I've enjoyed, and its only really something I've come into recently. Historical novels for younger readers are few and far between, though I must say the 'Roman Mysteries' by Caroline Lawrence were a favourite of mine, and, as you get older, it can be hard to slot into that elusive genre. It's not just finding an author, style or tone that you like; you've got to find a period in history which appeals to you, too, and that can be a challenge in itself. A friend of mine told me that she'd found a book that she thought I'd love. I wasn't so sure...our reading tastes differ on most points. She showed it to me anyway, and, just reading the very brief blurb, I knew that I had to read this book. It was set in the 1800s - tick! Naval officers - tick! Scientists - tick! Voyage around the world - tick! Charles Darwin - tick! True story - tick! This book had literally everything I loved in it; it was like it had been written for me. And, even if it sounds like quite a niche market, this book - 'This Thing of Darkness' by Harry Thompson - should not be read just because you are obsessed with Victorian-era navies, explorers and scientists (like me), but because it is a compelling and original book: it is like no other book I've ever read. Well, actually, that's not true. I read a similar book - 'The Dinosaur Hunters' by Deborah Cadbury - but that book was very academic and measured. Thompson's re-telling of the lives of Captain Robert FitzRoy and Charles Darwin as they both reversed between the fates of fortune and disaster was true, honest, witty, fast-paced and endearingly human. The characters, long dead now, were alive again, and the wonder, confusion, tumult and adventure of science, religion and society in Victorian England was captured wonderfully. It was pitched in that soft spot between taking facts and making up something fanciful and the other end of the spectrum with being so inhibited by the facts and realities that the book ceases to be a story and starts to be a critical essay. The book captured the science which I'd been through in biology lessons; it encompassed the geography, both human and physical, of the world at the time; it touched on politics, society, beliefs and prejudices of the era; it discussed colonial, naval and social issues of the time; but most of all it took the reader with the characters from the vivacity of youth through to the reflective contemplation of older years with a stunning yet unsentimental story about the dark things that lurk in both life and history. So, if you haven't guessed already, I really, really, really loved this book! And that's everything! Two weeks' worth of reading done and discussed in one...the most productive mistake I've ever made! Please do comment on either genre, what you like about them and which books from them you've enjoyed - I'd love to hear what you think as well! And next week it's science-fiction - I wonder what we'll all read then... Hello everyone! I'm going to start by saying, quite frankly, that mystery and horror isn't usually my thing. Yes, I enjoy a detective story once in a while - a bit of Sherlock Holmes, or an Agatha Christie's Poirot, or 'The Moonstone' by Wilkie Collins - and I remember I used to love the 'Mariella Mystery' books by Kate Pankhurst when I was younger, but...at the end of the day, it's not really my cup of tea. That's why I was so surprised when I really liked this book. I was looking on the Story Museum website - it's a fantastic museum in Oxford celebrating children's stories....here's the link: https://www.storymuseum.org.uk/ - and I read that there was going to be a visit from an author I'd never heard of before, come to talk about her newest book. This must've been ages ago...maybe a year or two? Anyway, I remember looking on it and I couldn't make the talk, but I scribbled down the name to look up later: Frances Hardinge. A few months later, I brought some of her books, and popped them on the 'To-read-whenever-I-get-a-moment's-peace' pile...and that's where many of them stayed for a long while. However, I picked up 'Fly by Night' and skimmed through the blurb, thinking, 'OK, so this isn't my normally my first choice, but let's give it a go.' I was fully prepared to give up half way through if it didn't catch my interest from the start. I was delighted with the Prelude, with the widowed historian Quilliam Mye talking to his baby daughter. He was looking at her and realised with embarrassment that he needed to talk to her. He said, almost to himself, ' "Well, I suppose if you are to be of any use to me, then I had better start putting sense into your head before foolishness can blot the page." ' I thought that had a wonderful balance of humour and awkwardness, which brought Mye's nervousness out brilliantly, and captivated me from the start. He goes on to tell his daughter the story of the world they live in, a historical recount he feels secure in relating, and we begin to get a feeling that this is a distorted, twisted version of our own world, a familiar yet imaginative interweaving of things we know and things we believe. The characters were instantly struck and you felt as though you knew them already, and the strange, distorted world of the setting - with its dark myths and vaguely historical turmoil - comes alive from the beginning, as the forefront of the book's plot. I also loved the disclaimer at the end of the book, too, where the author had written: 'This is not a historical novel. It is a yarn. Although the Realm is based roughly on England at the start of the eighteenth century, I have taken appalling liberties with historical authenticity and, when I felt like it, the laws of physics.' I think that's pure genius. It didn't take me long to read, and I don't think that I could really describe to anyone the events in the book, but the feeling of it stayed with me: that murderous, secretive, furtive world, with the intrigues and culture wonderfully creative and somehow a little known, as if you has seen some of those things before. It had what all good mystery stories do: an atmosphere. So, overall, this wasn't my favourite genre, and I wasn't overly keen on the book at first glance, but I really did find an author - a style - a world - which I really enjoyed. I think I'm going to read the second one - 'Twilight Robbery' - and I think I can say, once again quite frankly, that I really have discovered a book which I enjoy, but which I wouldn't necessarily have read, if I hadn't swallowed my prejudices and given it a go. But that's enough from me - what about you? What have you read? Was it scary, creepy, mysterious, spooky? Have you given a new type of book a go? I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to fantasy books next week! |
AuthorHi, I love reading all kinds of books. Here, we can talk about different types of books we're reading and recommend reads to each other. Maybe share with us your reading 'ideal meal' or one of your favourite books. Archives
August 2020
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