What’s the collective noun for a load of Sunday Snapshots?

Posted on 10/05/2015 by Kim A Howard

It’s been a few weeks since my last Sunday Snapshot. I’ve had quite a few things happening, some of which you may be aware of through my re-blogging other people’s posts. Some others I might write about later on. I don’t want you to think I haven’t been reading, however. You only have to look at these photographs to know that isn’t the case. I promise I’m not going to discuss all the books at length, I’ll just make comments on a few personal favourites.

The writer Mal Peet died recently. Twitter was full of praise for his writing. I looked at his page on Fantastic Fiction, my go-to place for finding out about writers and their books, and confirmed I hadn’t read anything he had written. Life: an Exploded Diagram is a coming of age story set primarily in Norfolk against the background of the cold war. I found the social and agricultural history fascinating, particularly as the protagonists were only a few years older than me.

I’ve loved Berlie Doherty ever since I read Paddiwak and Cosy, a delightful picture book about introducing a new cat into a household. Her novel The Company of Ghosts is a brilliantly atmospheric ghost story. A young girl finds herself abandoned on a remote island, cut off from everyone and everything she knows.

I really enjoy Maggie Stiefvater’s writing. The Wolves of Mercy Falls series told stories about werewolves who felt like real people and The Raven Cycle is equally gripping. Blue Lily, Lily Blue is the third book in the series. Foolishly, I had expected it would be a trilogy as these things so often are. I got to the end of the book and looked up, gasping “There’s going to be a fourth book!” much to the bemusement of my family. The Raven King is due out in 2016.

If you enjoyed the Disney film One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing, you may well enjoy How Kirsty Jenkins Stole the Elephant. Just before he dies, Kirsty’s grandfather asks her to take care of his allotment and she promises that she will. Unfortunately that means nothing to the man from the council. Kirsty and her half-siblings try a number of ways to convince Mr Thomas that he should follow granddad’s dying wish. Can you guess what their final plan involves? It is truly ingenious.

As I’ve mentioned before, I am curating a series of book lists for Hampshire County Council with the umbrella title When a Book Might Help. The idea is to provide some suggested book titles that might be of comfort and support to families dealing with difficult situations. As a result I get to read lots of picture books and early readers. There were some lovely picture books in this collection. My favourite was Slug Needs a Hug, a delightful story about a little slug who thinks his mum doesn’t hug him because of the way he looks. He listens to a host of different creatures who all suggest ways he might improve his appearance and he tries to follow their advice – all at the same time. His mum tells him how much she loves him and wants to hug him. Unfortunately she can’t because they don’t have arms, so they kiss instead. This will shortly be added to the ‘Body Confidence’ book list.

I look forward to every new book from Harlan Coben. He writes gripping stories with clever twists and engaging characters. The Stranger didn’t disappoint and I really hadn’t expected it to end the way it did.

Please don’t think I haven’t enjoyed, or at least found something of merit, in all the books I’ve read over the last few weeks. I just didn’t want to bury you in an avalanche of reviews. I’ll try to be back on track next week and just have a handful of books to how you.

Another Sunday Snapshot

Posted on 19/04/2015 by Kim A Howard

Magazines and books For someone who writes middle grade fiction and reads more children’s books than anything else, this week’s pool may come as a bit of a surprise. At first glance there’s not a lot of ‘happy’ in this heap and certainly nothing for younger children.

I was really pleased to get three issues of Writing Magazine from the library. They get it in every month and it is available to borrow but, as there is a Creative Writing group that meets in the library, the magazines are in high demand. You can’t reserve magazines, so it’s a case of first come, first served. It’s taken me until this week to get hold of the February, March and April editions. I’m really chuffed to have got hold of the April copy so quickly. I’m loathe to buy a subscription for something I can get for free but, by the time I see them, the competition deadlines have often passed. Perhaps I could suggest it as a birthday present?

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? by Henry Farrell is the story on which the famous film starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford was based. I kept hearing their voices in the dialogue, with occasional hints of Bette Midler. It was creepy and atmospheric but I don’t know if I would had enjoyed it as much without the voices in my head.

I read Minty by Christina Banach for one of the book groups I’m a member of. The premise was intriguing and the story had some really interesting themes and ideas – the death of a twin, what happens after death, an obsession with Roman history and mythology. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel the structure of the book was quite right and so the story suffered. I needed to know more about the twins and the Roman stuff at the beginning of the story, and I could have done with a lot less middle – but that’s probably just me.

The biggest surprise for me was Watchers by Dean Koontz. This had been recommended by someone at our Sci-Fi book group, so I put in a request at the library. I was a bit put off when I saw the spine label was for horror – not something I generally enjoy (although I do read Stephen King). I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this book. I’m adding it to my birthday wish list so I might be able to have my own copy and stroke it at regular intervals. Yes, there are some very sad and lonely people; yes, there are murders; yes, there is a monstrous creature; yes, it gets very tense. But there is love and friendship and happiness and hope and a heroic dog. It’s the sort of book I want to go back and read again, especially the afterword by the author. He sounds like a really decent bloke who I might like to share a beer with.

Sunday Snapshot – April week 2

Posted on 12/04/2015 by Kim A Howard

I’ve read so many books this week I needed two photographs to fit them in, but that’s what happens when you include picture books and early readers in your TBR heap.

I absolutely loved Please Mr Panda by Steve Antony. A gently funny book that reminds children to use their manners and say ‘please’ if they want to get the goodies.

The Dot by Peter H Reynolds is a charming story about doing your best, believing in yourself and not giving up, but it also encourages the reader to pass on the support they have received to other people who are struggling – great advice, no matter what age you might be.

The Memory Tree by Britta Teckentrup and Fox by Margaret Wild are both ‘issue’ books about Foxes. In The Memory Tree, Fox dies after a long life and his forest friends gather to remember their happy times together. Margaret Wild’s fox is a trickster who tries to break up a mutually rewarding friendship between a blind dog and a wing-damaged bird. Both books have been very well received but, unfortunately, neither of them resonated with me.

One of the story books I read this week didn’t have many more words than the picture books. Under a Silver Moon by Anne Fine is full of good messages about friendship, exercise and healthy eating but, first and foremost, it is a lovely story with glorious line drawings. Funnily enough, that same description would apply to Clean Break by Jacqueline Wilson, but with the addition of family break-ups.

The rest of my books this week were all YA / adult. Maybe I’d been reading too much Early Years stuff, but none of them were nearly as satisfying or comfortable as the books for young children – but then again, they weren’t meant to be!

It seemed appropriate to read The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson over the Easter weekend, as that was where the book started. A mix of social history, witches and magic it was a well crafted novel, but the story was very bleak and some of the descriptions were gruesome. Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill is a dystopian novel that made me snarl with feminist indignation. Set in a world where a chosen few women give birth to only male children and females are designed and made to order I also questioned the science, minimal though it was. Not a book to read if you are looking for a happy (or even a hopeful) ending. I really don’t know what to say about the final book in this week’s selection. A Confederate General from Big Sur by Richard Brautigan defies any sort of neat categorization. It is funny, trippy, decidedly off-beat and not particularly politically correct and I absolutely loved bits of it.

What will next week’s book bundle bring? You’ll have to come back in seven days time to find out. What have you been reading? Would you recommend it?

Easter Sunday Snapshot

Posted on 05/04/2015 by Kim A Howard

There is plenty of variety in this snapshot of my reading over the past seven days. I mentioned Minnow on the Say in an earlier blog. It is a gentle mystery adventure story written in the 1950s, when it was not uncommon for children to be off exploring the countryside on their own at eleven years of age. Although many of the problems of the modern era were featured (dementia, death, poverty, greed) I felt very comfortable when reading about them. I can’t decide if this is because I was reading as a grown-up, because of the way it is written or if it’s something to do with the setting. As someone who grew up with Enid Blyton, Arthur Ransome, Monica Edwards, Noel Streatfield and the Pullein-Thompson sisters, it felt like coming home to read this story.

The Fastest Boy in the World, The Butterfly Club, and Flora & Ulysses all had something in common – they were illustrated to varying degrees. Flora & Ulysses was subtitled ‘The Illuminated Adventures’ and had as many pictures as it did words. I do love to see pictures in children’s story books, even if they are just occasional pen sketches. My childhood memories include many books where there were a large number of pen and ink drawings, especially at the beginning of a chapter, with half a dozen coloured plates inserted at strategic points. The coloured pages were on a different sort of paper to the rest of the book so they were easy to find. I would often flick through to those glowing illustrations before I started to read the story and try to work out what might be going to happen.

The illustrations for Revolver were all in my head, but no less vivid. I listened to the story on spoken word CD and as the voice told the story my mind drew scenes in monochrome. They were pencil sketches and watercolour washes, overlaid with occasional shocking flashes of colour. At times it reminded me of the black and white westerns I watched with my family on Sunday afternoon television when I was young.

For Animal Farm, the illustrations came on two different channels. Last Saturday I went to the Progress Theatre in Reading and saw the story performed by some very enthusiastic young people. Their use of Lego in the production design was innovative. The moving parts of the set, including the windmill, were all Lego and the human characters wore yellow Lego masks, complete with the stud on the top of their heads. The animals were in rustic settings and wore masks that showed much more of their own features than the human masks. I’d decided not to re-read the book until after I saw the performance so you might expect that the images in my head as I read were reflections of the stage performance. Instead, I saw black sketches on cream paper, much like those in the stories of my youth.

Why EVERYONE should have a pair of welly boots.

Posted on 03/04/2015 by Kim A Howard

It’s definitely been wellie boot weather just recently. There’s something very satisfying about splashing through puddles, feet safely encased in their rubber shields.

Scout loves puddles, too. She sticks her snout into them, up to the eyebrows for preference, and roots out interesting things from the bottom. They get unceremoniously dragged to the surface and killed, terrier style, by a jolly good shaking. If I kick at something floating on the surface or flick water at her she pounces and bounces, yipping and growling with happy excitement. I feel sorry for the children being walked through the park by adults who carefully steer them around the puddles. What fun they are missing!

I’ve been thinking about the story I’m going to write for my dissertation and reading other people’s stories on similar themes. As part of my story takes place on a river, I read Minnow on the Say by Philippa Pearce. It was written in 1955 – 4 years before I was born – and feels like a different world. Eleven year old children earning money from a paper round; travelling the countryside by bicycle and canoe without adult supervision, but not until after they’ve finished their household chores. Taking packed lunches wrapped in sheets of paper and bringing home treasures in their handkerchiefs.

I’m not saying that was necessarily a better way of life, but sometimes I feel like modern children are missing something special. I understand that parents feel protective, but are the pictures on television as thrilling as those we see for ourselves? Can finding out about flora and fauna on the internet ever compare to finding a bird’s nest or watching a newt slip into a pond at first hand? What about climbing trees, padding in streams, building dens. They miss so much … and then I saw this.

After the dogs had finished investigating the den, we left the park and headed home. I had a huge grin on my face. For all those parents steering their offspring around the ‘dangerous, dirty’ puddles, there are still children who are out exploring and creating their own adventures. Am I foolish to find hope in this this small thing?

A Sunday Story Snapshot

Posted on 29/03/2015 by Kim A Howard

If you were to ask me if I enjoy reading Historical Fiction, I would probably say ‘No!’. I suppose it makes me think of history classes at school, bodice ripping, the politics of marriage and dry lists of Kings and Queens. Now look at the six books in this picture – all of which I have read (or re-read) in the past week. Four of them could easily fall under the Historical Fiction banner, albeit 20th century, and I thoroughly enjoyed every one.

I think they made such a strong impression on me because they are all jolly good stories with strong characters and well crafted narratives. No preaching or thrusting handfuls of things I ‘ought’ to know in my face, even though they are full of fascinating and sometimes horrific detail. In retrospect it is obvious that the authors have put a great deal of effort in researching the historical settings but they never let their research get in the way of telling the story. If you haven’t read Code Name Verity, Buffalo Soldier, Homer and Langley or I, Corriander because you are wary of historical fiction, please give them a try. They are all well worth requesting from the library.

So, four historical novels and three fantasies – yes, I know that adds up to seven, but I Corriander has a very pretty foot in both camps. Now I’ve finished Pretties I’ve requested the third book in Scott Westerfeld’s series, so I won’t say anything more about that for now in case you’ve only read the first book. That just leaves Phoenix. Wow! A breathtaking combination of illustration and text that I absolutely adored. I read it in less than a day and am thinking about reading it again before it goes back to the library. I may have to add it to my wish list in the hope that the birthday bunny will bring me my own copy.

Kim A Howard

Reading, writing, ruminations and random requests.

Category Archives: Reading