Books read in 2014

Books Read in 2014 - by Little M

1. Crown of Midnight - Sarah J Maas (finished 2 Jan 2014)
2. Blood Family - Anne Fine (finished Feb 2014)
3. All the Truth That's in Me - Julie Berry (finished March 2014)
4. Hostage Three - Nick Lake (finished March 2014)
5. The Bunker Diary - Kevin Brooks (finished March 2014)
6. Allegiant - Veronica Roth
7. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak (finished 3 May 2014)
8. The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion (finished 8 May 2014)
9. We Were Liars - E Lockhart (finished 17 May 2014)
10. Rooftoppers - Katherine Rundell (finished 29 May 2014)

Little M has started her own, separate book blog called Manchee & Bones. She'll be listing there from now on!


Books read in 2014 - by M
1. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini (finished 8 Jan 2014)
2. Bird - Crystal Chan (finished 26 Jan 2014)
3. Hostage Three - Nick Lake (finished 4 Feb 2014)
4. Alex As Well - Alyssa Brugman (finished 19 Feb 2o14)
5. The Bunker Diary - Kevin Brooks (finished 6 March 2014)
6. The Wall - William Sutcliffe (finished 7 March 2014)
7. Kindred - Octavia E Butler (finished March 2014)
8. Close to the Wind - Jon Walter (finished 3 April 2014)
9. Bone Jack - Sara Crowe (finished 5 April 2014)
10. The Year of the Rat - Clare Furniss (finished 15 April 2014)
11. Jamaica Inn - Daphne du Maurier (finished 21 April 2014)
12. The Lowland - Jhumpa Lahiri (finished 9 May 2014)
13. The Vacationers - Emma Straub (finished 13 May 2014)
14. We Were Liars - E Lockhart (finished 14 May 2014)
15. Em and the Big Hoom - Jerry Pinto (finished 16 May 2014)
16. The Book of Unknown Americans - Cristina Henriquez (finished 18 May 2014)
17. Flambards - KM Peyton (finished 20 May 2014)
18. The Edge of the Cloud - KM Peyton (finished 21 May 2014)
19. Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys (reread; finished 31 May 2014)
20. Station Eleven - Emily St John Mandel (finished 14 June 2014)
21. J - Howard Jacobson (finished 28 August 2014)
22. The Dog - Joseph O'Neill (finished 7 September 2014)
23. Dear Committee Members - Julie Schumacher (finished 12 September 2014)
24. This Should Have Been Written in the Present Tense - Helle Helle (finished 15 September 2014)
25. The Children act - Ian McEwan (finished 16 September 2014)
26. The Guest Cat - Takashi Hiraide (December 2014)


Ha! This list will be very telling when it's looked back on in years to come. Just another page in my diary.......

Books read in 2013

For our future benefit, here's a list of all the books we read in 2013.

Books Read in 2013 - by Little M

1. Half Brother - Kenneth Oppel (finished 3 Jan 2013)
2. Cosmic - John Cottrell Boyce (finished 4 Jan 2013)
3. The Magic Pony (Jinny at Finmory #7) - Patricia Leitch (finished 7 Jan 2013)
4. My Friend Flicka - Mary O'Hara (finished 18 Jan 2013)
5. Killchase (Codename Quicksilver #4) - Allan Jones (finished 19 Jan 2013)
6. Uglies - Scott Westerfeld (finished 25 Jan 2013)
7. Fractured (Slated #2) - Teri Terry (finished 26 Jan 2013)
8. Tempest - Julie Cross (finished 3 Feb 2013)
9. Vortex - Julie Cross (finished 9 Feb 2013)
10. Life of Pi - Yann Martel (adult, finished 19 Feb 2013)
11. Bluefish - Pat Schmatz (finished 20 Feb 2013)
12. A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness (finished 22 Feb 2013)
13. The Weight of Water - Sarah Crossan (finished 22 Feb 2013)
14. Love Ya Babe - Chris Higgins (finished +/- 23 Feb 2013)
15. Vortex (Insignia #2) - SJ Kincaid (finished 4 Mar 2013)
16. Hold On - Alan Gibbons (finished 21 Mar 2013)
17. Transparent - Natalie Whipple (finished 24 Mar 2013)
18. A Boy and a Bear in a Boat - Dave Shelton (finished 24 Mar 2013)
19. A World Between Us - Lydia Syson (finished 2 April 2013)
20. Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein (finished 8 April 2013)
21. Moon Bear - Gill Lewis (finished 12 April 2013)
22. Oksa Pollock: The Last Hope - Anne Plichota & Cendrine Wolf (finished 19 April 2013)
23. Midwinterblood - Marcus Sedgwick (finished 21 April 2013)
24. Lost Worlds - Andrew Lane (finished 28 April 2013)
25. Race the Wind - Lauren St John (finished 29 April 2013)
26. In Darkness - Nick Lake (finished 10 May 2013)
27. Crown of Dreams (Pendragon Legacy #3) - Katherine Roberts
28. Noble Conflict - Malorie Blackman (finished 15 May 2013)
29. A Greyhound of a Girl - Roddy Doyle (finished 17 May 2013)
30. The Child's Elephant - Rachel Campbell-Johnson (finished 22 May 2013)
31. Maggot Moon - Sally Gardner (finished 29 May 2013)
32. The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness (finished 1 June 2013)
33. The Quietness - Alison Rattle (finished 2 June 2013)
34. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky (finished 14 June 2013)
35. Itch - Simon Mayo (finished +/- 18 June 2013)
36. Pretties - Scott Westerfeld (finished 23 June 2013)
37. Specials - Scott Westerfeld (finished 24 June 2013)
38. Max - James Patterson (finished 28 June 2013)
39. Fang - James Patterson (finished 29 June 2013)
40. Angel - James Patterson (finished 29 June 2013)
41. All Our Yesterdays - Cristin Terrill (finished 5 July 2013)
42. The Elites - Natasha Ngan (finished 14 July 2013)
43. The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness (finished 9 August 2013)
44. Monsters of Men - Patrick Ness (finished 15 August 2013)
45. Fireweed - Jill Paton Walsh (finished 19 August 2013)
46. Rendezvous in Russia - Lauren St John (finished 20 Aug 2013)
47. The Rig - Joe Ducie (finished 31 Aug 2013)
48. Portal 24 - Meredith Stroud (finished 2 Sept 2013)
49. Ketchup Clouds - Annabel Pitcher (reread for book club; pb version though; fin 4 Sept 2013)
50. The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier (finished 8 Sept 2013)
51. Kill All Enemies - Melvin Burgess (finished +/- 22 Sept 2013)
52. The Fault in Our Stars - John Green (finished 2 Oct 2013)
53. Out of This World - Ali Sparkes (finished 5 Oct 2013)
54. Throne of Glass - Sarah J Maas (finished 13 Oct 2013)
55. This Dark Endeavour - Kenneth Oppel (finished 20 Oct 2013)
56. Such Wicked Intent - Kenneth Oppel (finished 29 Oct 2013)
57. Junk - Melvin Burgess (finished +/- 10 Dec 2013)


Books Read in 2013 - by M

1. In Darkness - Nick Lake (YA, finished 9 Jan 2013)
2. The Last Minute - Eleanor Updale (YA, finished 10 Jan 2013)
3. Bluefish - Pat Schmatz (YA, finished 11 Jan 2013)
4. State of Wonder - Ann Patchett (adult; finished 19 Jan 2013; ok, but preferred Bel Canto)
5. The Tragedy Paper - Elizabeth Laban (YA, finished 25 Jan 2013)
6. The Edible Woman - Margaret Atwood (adult; finished 30 Jan 2013)
7. The Quietness - Alison Rattle (YA, finished 3 Feb 2013)
8. Red Ink - Julie Mayhew (YA, finished 6 Feb 2013)
9. Friday Brown - Vikki Wakefield (YA, finished 19 Feb 2013)
10. Life of Pi - Yann Martel (adult; finished 3 March 2013)
11. If You Find Me - Emily Murdoch (YA, finished 4 March 2013)
12. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee (adult; re-read, finished 11 Mar 2013)
13. Midwinterblood - Marcus Sedgwick (YA, finished 14 Mar 2013)
14. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 - Sue Townsend (finished 23 Mar 2013)
15. The Age of Miracles - Karen Thompson Walker (finished 24 Mar 2013; v. disappointing)
16. Blame My Brain - Nicola Morgan (teen; non-fiction; finished 2 April 2013)
17. The Night She Disappeared - April Henry (YA, finished 5 April 2013)
18. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (finished 7 April 2013)
19. Boonie - Richard Masson (children's, finished 8 April 2013)
20. Snapper - Brian Kimberling (adult; finished 11 April 2013)
21. Moral Disorder - Margaret Atwood (adult; finished 13 April 2013)
22. The Dog Stars - Peter Heller (adult; finished 18 April 2013)
23. Instructions For a Heatwave - Maggie O'Farrell (adult; finished 22 April 2013; not my fave)
24. Paper Aeroplanes - Dawn O'Porter (YA; finished 26 April 2013)
25. Half Lives - Sara Grant (YA; finished 29 April 2013)
26. Railsea - China Mieville (YA; finished 14 May 2013)
27. The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (finished 21 May 2013; re-read)
28. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume (children's; finished 22 May 2013; re-read)
29. The Humans - Matt Haig (adult; finished 26 May 2013)
30. As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner (adult; finished 31 May 2013)
31. We Need New Names - NoViolet Bulawayo (adult; finished 8 June 2013)
32. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe (adult; finished 13 June 2013; re-read)
33. Liar & Spy - Rebecca Stead (children's; finished 16 June 2013)
34. When You Reach Me - Rebecca Stead (children's; finished 28 June 2013)
35. Blood Family - Anne Fine (YA; finished 29 June 2013)
36. Yellowcake - Margo Lanagan (finished 5 July 2013)
37. Fortunately, the Milk - Neil Gaiman (children's, finished 11 July 2013)
38. Fireweed - Jill Paton Walsh (finished, 22 July 2013)
39. The Rosie Project - Graeme Simsion (finished 29 July 2013)
40. That Burning Summer - Lydia Syson (finished 1 Aug 2013)
41. Ghost Hawk - Susan Cooper (finished 4 August 2013)
42. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock - Matthew Quick (finished 9 Aug 2013)
43. Phoenix - SF Said (finished 20 Aug 2013)
44. MaddAddam - Margaret Atwood (finished 24 August 2013)
45. The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood (finished 21 September 2013)
46. Stoner - John Williams (finished 3 Oct 2013)
47. The Testament of Mary - Colm Toibin (finished 11 Oct 2013)
48. Freedom - Jonathan Franzen (finished 27 Oct 2013)
49. All the Truth That's in Me - Julie Berry (finished +/- 7 Nov 2013)
50. The Midnight Dress - Karen Foxlee (finished - 14 Nov 2013)
51. Charm and Strange - Stephanie Kuehn (finished 21 Nov 2013)
52. She Is Not Invisible - Marcus Sedgwick (finished 2 Dec 2013)
53. Brock - Anthony McGowan (finished 3 Dec 2013)
54. Rooftoppers - Katherine Rundell (finished 4 Dec 2013)
55. A Tale For the Time Being - Ruth Ozeki (finished 6 Dec 2013)
56. Leopold Blue - Rosie Rowell (finished 11 Dec 2013)
57. Dead Ends - Erin Lange (finished 19 Dec 2013)

We Sat Down For A Chat.....with Fluttering Butterflies

Michelle runs a very chatty, interesting and thoughtful book blog called Fluttering Butterflies. She's one of my favourite bloggers whom I've actually met (!!!) and she's a mum. It's great to have her here today.

M: How did you come up with the blog name Fluttering Butterflies?

Michelle: Hello, and thank you so much for having me here, it's an honour! I really wish that there was some special meaning behind my blog name. If I were to do it all again, I might have made a conscious effort to choose something literary inspired to name my blog, but I didn't. I was browsing through other lifestyle/personal blogs back before my blog became a book blog and I came across a website in which a woman had been doing gardening. She mentioned something about butterflies fluttering about her flowers and I loved the imagery of her words. I wanted something memorable and pretty for my blog's name, and I have been Fluttering Butterflies ever since!

M: You were an American teenager. What were some of your favourites teen reads then?

Michelle: Many years ago, yes! I was an American teenager. I moved to the UK nearly 13 years ago when I was only 18. I have always, always been a reader and as a teenager, I had lots of favourites. I think the two books that were the most influential to me during my teen years had to have been The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and The Outsiders by SE Hinton. I read and re-read both books constantly and both books are guaranteed to make me bawl like a baby.

I remember loving Number the Stars by Lois Lowry, Night by Elie Wiesel and books by Caroline B. Cooney. I was also a huge of the Anne of Green Gables series and Anne's House of Dreams was the first book that I bought for myself. But I mostly read adult books as a teen and I really loved The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, books by Isabel Allende and the complete works of Jane Austen. I went through a big Shakespeare phase and read Romeo and Juliet more times than I can count. But I did also read other Shakespeare's plays and his sonnets, which were lovely. My dad was a big fan of James Clavell and reading his copy of Sho-Gun was a life-changing experience for me.

M: You enjoy reading with your two young sons. What books have you enjoyed reading together?

Michell from Fluttering Butterflies: Happy looks like.....

Michelle: I absolutely adore reading books with my two sons. E is 7 and The Littlest is almost 5 (!!!). I've been reading to both of them since they were still in my belly and I will continue to read to them for as long as they let me! When they were both little, I was pretty limited in what I could read to them, but luckily there are some gorgeous picture books about. Family favourites were always picture books by Julia Donaldson and Oliver Jeffers. Then there was the Bob the Builder/Thomas the Tank Engine phase which I'm glad has passed. Whenever possible, I tried to steer us towards Dr Seuss and funny poetry like Shel Silverstein's, who are both authors that I grew up with.


Now that they're both that little bit older, we've set up a Family Book Club to great success. I haven't been great about updating our progress on the blog like I originally planned, but we've been reading a whole host of books by Roald Dahl - The Twits, Fantastic Mr Fox, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach - as well as How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell and most recently, Emil and the Detectives by Erich Kastner.

The most popular book? Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling. E said I was reading it too slowly and would take the book into his own room to read chapters ahead. He refused to wait for me to read him the second book and decided to read Chamber of Secrets on his own. Same for the 3rd and 4th book and he's currently reading Order of the P
Phoenix by himself. He's 7. I'm so proud of him.

M: Are there any books that you are planning to recommend to your children?

Michelle: Despite E's growing confidence in reading books on his own, I am still determined to keep up with our nightly bedtime routine. And I'm so excited that he seems to have taken up my bookish ways. I've put a small stack of books that I've received for review from publishers aside to read with the boys soon (including Itch by Simon Mayo, The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver and North of Nowhere by Liz Kessler) but I still have a whopping great pile of books that I want to read with them, which includes Holes by Louis Sachar, Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett, The Princess Bride by William Goldman and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I am filled with excitement at the idea of sharing these wonderful books with my beautiful boys!

Already my chats with E about Harry Potter have quickly become one of my favourite parts of the day. He loves to retell bits of the story to me and he asks the most thoughtful questions that I would have never considered before. I love hearing his opinions on a series of books that I've loved so much and his passion for reading and learning and questioning things absolutely inspires me.

 

M: One of your blog features this year is British UKYA (Young Adult). Can you tell us a little bit about this?

Michelle: Sure! A few years ago now, I signed up for the British Books Challenge that Becky from The Bookette set up (this challenge has been ongoing and the host for it has changed over the years from Kirsty at The Overflowing Library last year to Sarah at Feeling Fictional this year). In doing so, I became more aware of how many (and in this case, how few) books by British authors I was reading. I wanted to do more to support British authors and reading and reviewing their books seemed to be the best way I knew how. Over time, I wanted to do more. So I held my first British month during November of 2011. It was actually overwhelming how much support I received during that month, so I held another smaller event the following year.

In December of 2012, as I was sitting down pondering what changes I could made on my blog in the New Year, I began thinking of ways in which I could hold a British month EVERY month on the blog. It seemed crazy, but why not? I started by creating a list on Goodreads of all the books by British authors that I'd heard of which were being published in 2013. Then I got some friends to add to it. And then as publicists began emailing me of all the wonderful new books coming out this year, I thought 'hey! they'd know more, wouldn't they?' And I began thinking about the possibility of guest posts or interviewing some of these wonderful authors. I contacted a few authors and publicists and everyone was very willing and enthusiastic.

My UKYA in 2013 feature now has a snazzy new button that my husband, N, helped me to create and the plan is to post a list of books that are published every month by British authors. I've made it my personal challenge this year to read and review as many new UKYA books as I can and I have had the great pleasure of already having agreed guest posts and interviews by British authors such as Sangu Mandanna, CJ Flood, Holly Smale and CJ Skuse amongst many more to come!
M: Finally, the big philosophical question of our time, do you like ketchup?

Michelle: It's only been in the last few years that I've been able to eat any sauce with my food, actually! I was quite the fussy eater when it came to ketchup growing up, but I've since seen the error of my ways and can't eat a plate of chips without anymore :)

Thank you so much for having me here! It's been such fun!


M: Thank you, Michelle! I loved Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden too and I'm planning on re-reading those soon. Lots of great books on your lists: Little M's read Holes in both primary and secondary school. Lots of books on your planned reading lists that are on mine too.

You can find Michelle on her book blog Fluttering Butterflies and on Twitter: @cloverness

Has anyone else read any of these books. And do you read the same books as anyone else in your family like we do?

CILIP Carnegie 2013 Shortlist

The CILIP Carnegie 2013 Shortlist  has been announced today and it's a whopper. Excellent books with some variety too.  I highly recommend at least 6 of them!
 

The CILIP Carnegie 2013 Shortlist:
1. Maggot Moon - Sally Gardner
2. The Weight of Water - Sarah Crossan
3. In Darkness - Nick Lake
4. Wonder - RJ Palacio
5. Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein
6. A Boy and a Bear in a Boat - Dave Shelton
7. A Greyhound of a Girl - Roddy Doyle
8. Midwinterblood - Marcus Sedgwick.


Numbers 1-5 on the list were picked for my personal shortlist, which includes links to reviews of seven titles on the shortlist.

Next read for me will be Midwinterblood. It's the only one I haven't read and reviewed yet and I've heard marvellous things about it.

Very excited to get going with our shadowing group now.

If anyone would like to join us, please let us know.
Also, Anna James is hosting a shadowing group on Twitter (@acasefobooks #tweetckg).

Little M's List of Books Read in 2012

Books Read in 2012 - by Little M

1. Sky Hawk – Gill Lewis

2. Between Shades of Gray – Ruta Sepetys

3. Divergent #1 – Veronica Roth (read twice)

4. Maximum Ride #1 The Angel Experiment – James Patterson

5. Maximum Ride #2 School’s Out Forever – James Patterson

6. Maximum Ride #3 Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports – James Patterson

7. Maximum Ride #4 The Final Warning – James Patterson

8. The World According to Humphrey – Betty G Birney

9. The House at World’s End – Monica Dickens

10. Summer at World’s End – Monica Dickens

11. Shadow – Michael Morpurgo

12. Cool – Michael Morpurgo

13. The Silver Brumby – Elyne Mitchell

14. Samphire Song – Jill Hucklesby

15. Ruby Redfort Look Into My Eyes – Lauren Child

16. Spy Girl The Dark Side of Midnight – Carol Hedges

17. Kidnap In the Caribbean (Laura Marlin) – Lauren St John

18. Journey to the River Sea – Eva Ibbotson

19. The Star of Kazan – Eva Ibbotson
20. Dolphin Song - Lauren St John
21. Girl, Missing - Sophie McKenzie
22. Hitler's Angel - William Osborne
23. Insurgent (Divergent #2) - Veronica Roth
24. My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece - Annabel Pitcher
25. Wonder - RJ Palacio
26. Sister, Missing - Sophie McKenzie
27. Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Jeff Kinney
28. The Hunger Games (THG #1) - Suzanne Collins
29. Catching Fire (THG #2) - Suzanne Collins
30. White Dolphin - Gill Lewis
31. Mockingjay (THG #3) - Suzanne Collins
32. Flip - Martyn Bedford
33. The One Dollar Horse - Lauren St John
34. Secrets of the Henna Girl - Sufiya Ahmed
35. Slated - Teri Terry
36. The Giver - Lois Lowry
37. A Stallion Called Midnight - Victoria Eveleigh
38. Tiger Wars - Steve Backshall
39. Insignia - SJ Kincaid
40. Uncommon Criminals (Heist Society #2) - Ally Carter
41. Codename Quicksilver #1: In the Zone - Allan Jones
42. Codename Quicksilver #2: The Tyrant King - Allan Jones
43. Emil and the Detectives - Erich Kastner
44. Follyfoot - Monica Dickens
45. The Twice-Lived Summer of Bluebell Jones - Susie Day
46. Kentucky Thriller (Laura Marlin #3) - Lauren St John
47. Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret - Judy Blume
48. Missing Me - Sophie McKenzie
49. The Medusa Project #1: The Set Up - Sophie McKenzie
50. The Medusa Project #2: Hostage - Sophie McKenzie
51. The Medusa Project #3: The Rescue - Sophie McKenzie
52. The Medusa Project #4: Hunted - Sophie McKenzie
53. The Medusa Project #5: Double-Cross - Sophie McKenzie
54. Codename Quicksilver #3: Burning Sky - Allan Jones
55. Scarlet - AC Gaughen
56. One Dog and His Boy - Eva Ibbotson
57. A Sea of Stars - Kate Maryon
58. Silverfin - Charlie Higson
59. The Medusa Project #6: Hit Squad - Sophie McKenzie
60. A Soldier's Secret - Marissa Moss
61. Ketchup Clouds - Annabel Pitcher
62. Ghost Knight - Cornelia Funke
63. Darcy Burdock - Laura Dockrill
64. A Month With April-May - Edyth Bulbring
65. Pig Heart Boy - Malorie Blackman
66. Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer
67. Noughts & Crosses - Malorie Blackman
68. VIII - HM Castor
69.Soldier Dog - Sam Angus
70. Sword of Light (Pendragon Legacy #1) - Katherine Roberts
71. Lance of Truth (Pendragon Legacy #2) - Katherine Roberts
72. Raspberries on the Yangtze - Karen Wallace
73. The Secret of Shadow Ranch (Nancy Drew #1) - Carolyn Keene
74. The Red Pony - John Steinbeck
75. The Christmas Truce - Carol Ann Duffy


PS. There may be one or two more that get finished on New Year's Eve. But we're offline and away in the mountains, so.......tomorrow is another day :)

Yep, there were!

76. Medal For Leroy - Michael Morpurgo
77. Kit Hunter: South American Mission - Peter Grey

It's a Wrap: British Books Challenge 2012

We're ending the year with a wrap on our first book blogging and reading challenge. We both signed up to the British Book Challenge 2012. This was hosted on The Overflowing Library blog this year.

The aim: to read and review 12 books by British authors - or books published in Britain first.

And we've done it! Here are links to our reviews:

M's Review List
1. My Name is Mina - David Almond, Hodder
2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - David Haddon, Vintage
3. Slated - Teri Terry, Orchard
4. My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece - Annabel Pitcher, Indigo
5. Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein, Electric Monkey
6. After the Snow - SD Crockett, Macmillan
7. Emma Hearts LA - Keris Stainton, Orchard
8. Changeling - Philippa Gregory, Simon & Schuster
9. Secrets of the Henna Girl - Sufiya Ahmed, Puffin
10. The Other Side of Truth - Beverley Naidoo
11. Velvet - Mary Hooper, Bloomsbury
12. All Fall Down - Sally Nicholls, Marion Lloyd (Scholastic)
13. The Seeing - Diana Hendry, Bodley Head (Random)
14. Noughts and Crosses - Marjorie Blackman, Corgi (Random)
15. Muddle and Win: The Battle of Sally Jones - John Dickinson, David Fickling
16. Raspberries On the Yangtze - Karen Wallace, Simon & Schuster
17. I Capture the Castle - Dodie Smith, Vintage
18. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome, Vintage
19. Maggot Moon - Sally Gardner, Hot Key Books
20. Flip - Martyn Bedford, Walker
21. Silenced - Simon Packham, Piccadilly Press
22. A World Between Us - Lydia Syson, Hot Key Books
23. Katya's World - Jonathan L Howard, Strange Chemistry
24. Obsidian Mirror - Catherine Fisher, Hodder
25. The Night Sky In My Head - Sarah Hammond, OUP Childrens
26. A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness, Walker
27. Breathe - Sarah Crossan, Bloomsbury
28. This Is Not Forgiveness - Celia Rees, Bloomsbury
29. Knife Edge (Noughts & Crosses #2) - Malorie Blackman, Corgi (Random)
30. Pigeon English - Stephen Kelman, Bloomsbury
31. Hold On - Alan Gibbons, Indigo
32. The Weight of Water - Sarah Crossan, Bloomsbury
33. A Boy and a Bear in a Boat - Dave Shelton, Random House Children's


Little M's Review List
1. Sky Hawk - Gill Lewis, Oxford University Press
2. Hitler's Angel - William Osborne, Chicken House
3. Dolphin Song - Lauren St John, Orion
4. White Dolphin - Gill Lewis, Oxford University Press
5. A Stallion Called Midnight - Victoria Eveleigh, Orion
6. Tiger Wars - Steve Backshall, Orion
7. Codename Quicksilver: In the Zone - Allan Jones, Orion
8. The Twice-Lived Summer of Bluebell Jones - Susie Day, Scholastic
9. Girl, Missing - Sophie McKenzie, Simon and Schuster
10. Kentucky Thriller (Laura Marlin #3) - Lauren St John, Orion
11. Missing Me - Sophie McKenzie, Simon and Schuster
12. Codename Quicksilver #3: Burning Sky - Allan Jones, Orion
13. A Sea of Stars - Kate Maryon, Harper Collins


The British Books Challenge 2013 is being hosted by Feeling Fictional. And we've both signed up. Here's a link to our Challenges page.

Our Carnegie 2012 review list

We've been blogging about the most recent Carnegie medal longlist and our following of it. Here's our look back on what we read from the 2012 nomination and short lists. Links are provided for titles that we have reviewed. The Carnegie medal is awarded to a writer who has written an outstanding book for children.

Shortlist:
A Monster Calls - Patrick Ness (winner)
My Name Is Mina - David Almond
My Sister Lives On the Mantelpiece - Annabel Pitcher
Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys (M's review , Little M's review)

Nominations:
Flip - Martyn Bedford
Sky Hawk - Gill Lewis
One Dog and His Boy - Eva Ibbotson (loved but not reviewed)
Shadow - Michael Morpurgo (loved but not reviewed)


What titles did you read?

Classics Club

It's got to that time when planning for the next year for a lot of us is already well underway. And in the book blogging world, sign-ups for reading challenges start appearing.

One that has caught my eye, and can be signed up to at any time is the Classics Club. Over the summer, we had a family adventure reading some of the children's classics from Vintage. We enjoyed that and it spurred all sorts of discussions. We also just received a copy of The Ultimate Teen Book Guide (thanks YA Library UK) which includes recommendations for all sorts of classic books, some teen, some children's and some adult.

The Classics Club challenge is a big one and it's longitudinal: 50 classics over 5 years - and you need to start off with a proposed list of 50 books.

Because our blog has always tried to focus on sharing and discussion in reading, we thought that this would be perfect for us, so both  myself and Little M are signing up for it. It will be fascinating to see whether our reading lists diverge - or whether we both read the same 50!

We'll likely start this in the new year so we're setting out goal end date as 31 December 2017.

The club leaves the definition of 'classic' open. We'll start off by defining it for ourselves as books that publishers have deemed 'classic' or books that have passed among generations of readers. Our We Sat Down 50 Classics Club reading list includes some books that will be rereads for M and some brand new reads for both M & Little M. Some of the books have been chosen because they are already on our bookshelves! New additions and progress will be posted as time goes on.

1. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
2. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (on our shelf)
3. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Joan Aiken (on our shelf)
4. Emil and the Detectives - Erich Kastner (on our shelf)
5. Black Beauty - Anna Sewell (on our shelf)
6. Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier (M's re-read)
7. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (on our shelf; M's re-read)
8. The Little Prince - Antione de Saint-Exupery
9. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (M's re-read)
10. My Friend Flicka - Mary O'Hara (on our shelf; M's re-read)
11. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne
12. A Wizard of Earthsea - Ursula le Guin (M's re-read)
13. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (M's re-read)
14. A Dream of Sadlers Wells - Lorna Hill (on our shelf; M's re-read)
15. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, aged 13 3/4 - Sue Townsend
16. Franny and Zooey - JD Salinger
17. The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (on our shelf; M's re-read)
18. The Chocolate War - Robert Cormier (M's re-read; on our shelf)
19. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee (on our shelf; M's re-read)
20. Tamar - Mal Peet
21.  Discworld: Monstrous Regiment - Terry Pratchett
22. The Color Purple - Alice Walker (on our shelf; M's re-read)
23. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood (on our shelf; M's re-read)
24. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
25. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (on our shelf)
26. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou (on our shelf)
27. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
28. The Trial - Franz Kafka (on our shelf)
29. Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
30. Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
31. East of Eden - John Steinbeck (M's re-read)
32. Waiting For Godot - Samuel Beckett (M's re-read)
33. My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk (on our shelf)
34. The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco (on our shelf)
35. The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
36. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
37. The Story of an African Farm - Olive Schreiner
38. My Antonia - Cather Willa
39. Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote
40. The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera (on our shelf; M's re-read)
41. Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates (on our shelf)
42. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
43. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
44. Ulysses - James Joyce (on our shelf)
45. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch (on our shelf)
46. The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde
47. Hamlet - William Shakespeare (M's re-read)
48. Othello - William Shakespeare (M's re-read)
49. Travel Light - Naomi Mitchison
50. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
51. Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell (on our shelf; M's re-read)

If you're wondering why there is 51, that's because there was a small typing error which meant that no.51 was originally not numbered!

War & Conflicts - Book List

Sunday was Remembrance Day so  we thought now was a good time to share a list of children's/YA novels about war and conflicts. This is one of Little M's favourite genres too.

Some of these novels are probably best suited to older readers because of the.....uh, violence. Some of these novels are historical fiction, others use the topic of war more loosely to create a different kind of novel. A couple of these books are memoirs.

We have read some of these books and if we've read them recently, there is a link to our review. We've also included a list of books that we haven't read but that have been recommended to us. 

 

Please feel free to include any other books that have war or conflict as a theme in the comments section.

 

 

 

Books we have read:

 

World War I

War Horse – Michael Morpurgo

World War II

Between Shades of Gray – Ruta Sepetys (review 1 & review 2)

Code Name Verity – Elizabeth Wein (review)

The Silver Sword – Ian Serraillier (review)

The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

Hitler’s Angel – William Osborne (review)

Once – Morris Gleitzman

Carrie’s War – Nina Bawden

Goodnight Mister Tom – Michelle Magorian

The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank (non-fiction/only part read)

The Seeing – Diana Hendry (post-WWII) (review)

Hitlers Canary – Sandi Toksvig

 

Civil Wars & Conflicts

Never Fall Down – Patricia McCormick (review)

Now Is the Time For Running – Michael Williams (review)

A World Between Us – Lydia Syson (review)

A Soldier’s Secret – Marissa Moss (review)

 

Afghanistan

This Is Not Forgiveness – Celia Rees (review)

Billie Templar’s War – Ellie Irving (review)

Shadow – Michael Morpurgo

 

Futuristic/Speculative Wars

Insignia – SJ Kincaid (review)

Katya’s World - Jonathan L. Howard (review)

 

 

Other Recommendations 

We have not read these books. They have been recommended by various people.

 

World War I

Private Peaceful – Michael Morpurgo

Also, see Booktrust's list

 

World War II

Far From My Home, Never to Return - Nadia Seluga (Polish child’s WWII Memoir)

The Endless Steppe - Esther Hauzig’s (memoir)

The Upstairs Room – Joanna Reiss (autobiography, Dutch occupation)

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit – Judith Kerr (Jewish girl in Germany)

At the Firefly Gate – Linda Newbury (romantic ghost story)

The Machine Gunners – Robert Westall

Blitzcat – Robert Westall (about a cat)

Tamar – Mal Peet (Dutch resistance)

Once, Then , Now, After – Morris Gleitzmann quartet (We’ve read Once. It's brilliant!)

Waiting for Anya – Michael Morpurgo

A Medal For Leroy – Michael Morpurgo (inspired by first black officer in British army)

The Chalet School in Exile – Elinor Brent-Dyer

The Great Escape - Megan Rix (pets left by evacuees)

I Am David – Anne Holm (escapee from a communist camp)

The Rabbit Girl – Mary Arrigan (evacuees)

 

Afghanistan

The Breadwinner – Deborah Ellis (11 year old who becomes a breadwinner in Afghanistan)

A Million Angels – Kate Maryon

 

Zimbabwe

Out of Shadows – Jason Wallace

 

India

The Wheel of Surya – Jamila Gavin

 

Futuristic/Speculative

How I Live Now – Meg Rosoff


Non-Fiction: Britain & World War I
Here's a list of non-fiction titles on The Guardian website.


There are more suggestions from Alex Baugh (The Children's War blogger) on her Remembrance Day guest post for us.

Have you read any of these books?
Can you recommend any other books with war and conflict as a theme?

 

 

 

CILIP Carnegie 2013 longlist

 The CILIP Carnegie 2013 longlists were announced yesterday. It was a very long list indeed but, purely based on my own reading and a rushed glance of the judging criteria, I think there are quite a few books on it that will form an exciting and strong shortlist; one where judges will be splitting hairs for a winner.

The CILIP Carnegie medal recognises and awards outstanding books for children. They may not be the most popular books but so many of them are truly entertaining and absorbing reads; I've bought books from this list as gifts for both children and adults this year. 

From the 70 odd titles, we had/have copies of 13 books on this year's long list. We've completed reading 9 of them (Little M – 1; M – 8). Here's what we thought of them:

Titles 1-6: I'd be happy to see all of these on the shortlist and recommend them to adults as well as teen readers. All of these books were listed on our own Top 20 Books for Feb-Sept 2012 and each one is extraordinary in its own way. Titles 1-4 are probably more suited to older readers while 5 &6 are wonderful for readers of any age:

1. Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner (Hot Key Books)

2. After the Snow by S.D. Crockett (Macmillan Children's Books)

3. All Fall Down by Sally Nicholls (Marion Lloyd Books)

4.Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein (Electric Monkey)

5. Wonder by R.J. Palacio (Bodley Head)

6. The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne (Doubleday Children's Books)

Titles 7-9: we have read these, enjoyed them and would recommend them:

7. The Seeing by Diana Hendry (Bodley Head)

8. Hitler's Angel by William Osborne (Chicken House)

9. This is NotForgiveness by Celia Rees (Bloomsbury)

 

Titles 10 -13: we haven’t finished reading these for all sorts of reasons:

10.Dying To Know You by Aidan Chambers (Bodley Head)

- really enjoyed the first couple of chapters but think Little M might like to read this at some point before me. I think it'll be very good.

 

11.The Broken Road by B.R. Collins (Bloomsbury)

- still reading this, but quite slowly.

12.Jasmine Skies by Sita Brahmachari (Macmillan Children's Books)

- haven't finished Artichoke Hearts first which is this novel's prequel

13.Saving Daisy by Phil Earle (Puffin Books)

 - not my thing

 You can see the rest of the 2013 longlist on the Carnegie website.

 

 

 

 

Our Top 20 Books (Feb - Sept 2012)

Our Top 20 books for February to September 2012 were revealed this afternoon amidst a frency of teen bookswappers and bookbattlers at our Ilkley Literature Festival fringe event. In the spirit of Spreading the Book Love (the name of our event) our Top 20 supports the aims of Booktrust's Bookstart20 where we pledged to share 20 books in 2012.

The Top 20

(the list is in a roughishly descending order - but it's not set in stone. Titles that were on both M & Little M's lists have been given priority)

see end of post for covers of Maggot Moon and Code Name Verity

Jointly selected (i.e. appeared in both M & Little M's lists)
1. Wonder - RJ Palacio
2. Slated - Teri Terry
3. Flip - Martyn Bedford

Little M's choices
4. Girl, Missing series - Sophie McKenzie
5. Insignia - SJ Kincaid
6. Maximum Ride series - James Patterson
7. The One Dollar Horse - Lauren St John
8. The Medusa Project series - Sophie McKenzie
9. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins (M gives this one a tick too)
10. The Twice-Lived Summer of Bluebell Jones - Susie Day
11. Between Shades of Gray - Ruta Sepetys
12. Laura Marlin series - Lauren St John

M's choices:
13. Code Name Verity - Elizabeth Wein
14. Maggot Moon - Sally Gardner
15. The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket - John Boyne
16. After the Snow - SD Crockett
17. The Fault In Our Stars - John Green
18. All Fall Down - Sally Nicholls
19. Obsidian Mirror - Catherine Fisher
20. The Giver - Lois Lowry



The narrow misses:

• For Little M - Secrets of the Henna Girl by Sufiya Ahmed
• For M (because they're excellent but harrowing): The Seeing by Diana Hendry, Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick and Now Is the Time for Running by Michael Williams.

This is how we chose the books:

• Little M chose her favourite books she'd read this year and whittled it down to about 12.
• M chose her favourite books that she'd read for the We Sat Down blog this year.
• Some of Little M's choices are an entire series - because there's almost nothing better than a series you enjoy.
• Books had to be read this year but not all of them were published this year - so there are some oldies too.
• Favourite books definition: books we enjoyed reading.

Cover for Code Name Verity

 

 

Cover for Maggot Moon