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Janet

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  1. I'm studying Philip Pullman's Northern Lights for A level English.

     

    In it, a person has a daemon - an animal that is a separate part of them but that can't move far away from their person - it's like a human's soul.

     

    When young, a person's daemon can change form, but once a child passes puberty, the form settles into one animal and then can't change.

     

    Whilst reading my book, I found that a character called "Ma Costa"'s daemon was a hawk on page 56, but by page 105 it's a wolf. I was going to mention this in my coursework essay but my tutor questioned it and when we checked her book, the daemon is a hawk on both those pages.

     

    I'm guessing it was an oversight on Mr Pullman's part which was amended in later additions (which is a shame, because I can't refer to it in my essay now!).

     

    Has anyone else found any mistakes in books - either rectified like this one, or not?

  2. I've just finished Mister Pip which I really enjoyed. I don't think at any time he specifically says Bougainville is the location, which is odd. But it obviously is Bougainville, both from the civil war and mining and papuan references, and (on checking an atlas) the town names.

    It's mentioned on page 12. :lol:

     

    Bouganville is one of the most fertile places on earth.
  3. Playing with the Moon Eliza Graham

    Reeling from the death of their baby son in a car accident, Minna and her husband Tom take refuge in a lonely coastal village commandeered by the military in 1944 and only recently reopened to the public. Tom and Minna find the remains of a black American GI on a beach. He

  4. On the back of today's Guardian review is an advert for 'New Books' magazine. Aimed at readers and reading groups. Does anyone subscribe?

    I subscribe, and have done for a couple of years now. :D I love it - it's great.

     

    They also offer cheap books with every edition. I recently bought The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies for just the price of p&p - £2.95 delivered, iirc.

  5. From that list I've read - or have an interest in reading...

    Early years

    3. The Tiger Who Came To Tea by Judith Kerr
    I read this to my children

    5. The Tale of Samuel Whiskers by Beatrix Potter
    Read this one to my niece (she used to call her Bixtree Potter awww) - mine never really liked BP.

    7. Fungus the Bogeyman by Raymond Briggs
    Someone bought me this when I was about 19!

    9. Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
    I got this for £1 on ‘World Book Day’ when my son was little

    10. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
    A classic!

    11. The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss
    I read these as a child. My children didn’t like these though. (The recentish film version is freaky - urgh!).

    12. Charlotte's Web by EB White
    I love this book - have read it to my children

    13. The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
    When Babar sees his mother shot he reacts as any modern child might: a few tears, then off on a shopping spree. Nice green suit, though.

    Had to leave the Daily Telegraph’s comment in as it made me laugh. I read this as a child but I don’t remember it affecting me either - I guess I’m a modern child at heart too!

    14. Winnie-the-Pooh by AA Milne, illustrated by EH Shepard
    Aww - I still have my childhood copy

    Middle Years


    16. Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
    I bought this a few weeks ago after seeing the BBC adaptation at Christmas. I didn’t read it as a child - more of an Enid Blyton girl!

    18. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
    Have it in the loft but never read it

    19. The Borrowers by Mary Norton
    I read it as a child - can’t remember an awful lot about it though.

    21. The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
    Another classic

    31. The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear
    Who doesn’t know this story?!

    34. Peter Pan by JM Barrie
    I read this as a child too. I recently bought it to reread, and its new sequel, Peter Pan in Scarlet

    36. The Water Babies by Charles Kinglsey
    I thought it was one of those ‘should read’ books - until I read Kell’s review LOL!

    37. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
    Aww love it!

    38. I'm The King of the Castle by Susan Hill
    On my Amazon ‘Wishlist’

    41. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
    Another childhood read

    43. The Firework-maker's Daughter by Philip Pullman
    On my Amazon ‘Wishlist’

    44. Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
    I love this one. Must reread it one day...

    46. The Silver Sword by Ian Serrallier
    I read this about two years ago and enjoyed it.

    47. Cue for Treason by Geoffrey Trease
    Love the sound of this one *Adds to Amazon Wishlist*

    50. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
    Loved all these!

    51. The Chronicles of Narnia Box Set by CS Lewis
    Ditto - have reread TL, TW&TW and The Horse and His Boy recently and aim to read the rest of the set sometime soonish!

    52. His Dark Materials Box Set by Philip Pullman
    I’m currently studying the first one for my A level English Lit coursework - I will read the final two after June.

    56. The Railway Children by E Nesbit
    I adore this book.

    The two film versions are probably my favourite ‘children’s film’ - the second (where Jenny Agutter plays the mother rather than Bobbie) is truer to the book - but the first film is the one I remember most fondly!

    58. Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
    Read as a child

    Early teens

    63. Call of the Wild by Jack London
    This one’s in the loft unread too!

    64. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll Love these books - must reread soon

    66. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
    Ugh - read this one in 2006 and hated it!

    68. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
    Read 2007 and loved it!

    69. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
    On my Amazon Wishlist (am currently reading Mister Pip which is what prompted me to add it)

    73. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
    Read January 2008 - about time too!

    76. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
    I enjoyed it but it didn’t inspire me to go on to the LoTR books!

    77. War Horse by Michael Morpurgo
    On my ‘to read’ pile

    84. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
    Read this last year but found it rather dull.

    87. Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee
    I really ought to read this

    92. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
    I’ve just read Huck Finn for English Lit - I might try this when my A Level is over.

    94. Holes by Louis Sachar
    Mater B loved this - I ought to read it

    96. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
    Read this in 2006 - utterly charming

    97. Coraline by Neil Gaiman
    *Adds to Amazon Wishlist*

    98. Carrie's War by Nina Bawden

    Aww loved this one as a child

  6. Continued...

     

    Early teens

     

    63. Call of the Wild by Jack London

    Jack London introduced some dark themes into this story of Buck, a sled dog in the Yukon who rediscovers his wild nature when put to the test.

     

    64. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

    Never was mathematical and philosophical playfulness given such entertaining shape. Tenniel's line-drawings crown these classics.

     

    65. The Outsiders by SE Hinton

    This powerful novel about school gangs was published when SE Hinton was just 18. The Greasers and the Socs clash in typical teenage fashion - but then someone dies.

     

    66. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

    Smith is better known for A Hundred and One Dalmatians, but although this, her first novel, is quieter, it shines brighter. Narrated in diary form by 17-year-old Cassandra, it documents the lives of her eccentric family.

     

    67. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken

    1832, and wolves have over-run a fictional kingdom of England. Orphans Sylvia and Bonnie fall into the hands of an evil Miss Slycarp and must use all their wits to escape. A mercilessly shadowy thriller.

     

    68. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

    A classic story of America's Deep South. Scout and Jem see their father, Atticus, defend Tom Robinson - an innocent black man - from the charge of rape. Atticus is inspiring without being priggish.

     

    69. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

    The rousing story of Pip's rise, fall and rise pips Oliver Twist as the best book with which to start reading Dickens, purely on account of his description of being in love.

     

    70. The Owl Service by Alan Garner

    Welsh myths, a portrait hidden behind a plaster skim, adolescent yearnings

  7. Continued...

     

    Middle Years (Continued)

     

    34. Peter Pan by JM Barrie

    JM Barrie's Neverland adventures were first performed as a play, and later turned into a novel. Clap your hands if you believe.

     

    35. Mr Majeika by Humphrey Carpenter

    Mr Majeika, with his tuft of hair, is ever ready to cast spells on unruly pupils - most notably Hamish Bigmore, whose rudeness gets him changed into a frog. Charming and funny in equal measure.

     

    36. The Water Babies by Charles Kinglsey

    Tom the sweep drowns after being chased from a rich household and falls into a sub-aquatic purgatory. But once he proves his worth he is allowed wonderful adventures.

     

    37. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

    Seven-year-old Sara Crewe is sent back from India to Miss Minchin's Seminary for Young Ladies in England, to discover she has lost her fortune to a swindler and her father to disease. A stirring tale.

     

    38. I'm The King of the Castle by Susan Hill

    A powerful and claustrophobic study of bullying, this has a real narrative grip and a frightening message. No reader remains untouched.

     

    39. The Wave by Morton Rhue

    Teacher Ben Ross doesn't think his students understand what it was like to live in Nazi Germany, so he devises an experiment. A powerful story about the risks of conformism.

     

    40. Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

    Pippi is impulsive, irrepressible, red-haired and so strong you won't believe it. Her bizzare adventures delight children and confound health and safety.

     

    41. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

    Charlie Bucket's adventures in Willy Wonka's factory - the chocolate rivers, the minia-tuarisation room, the Oompa Loompas - will live for ever.

     

    42. Bambert's Book of Missing Stories by Reinhardt Jung

    Shy Bambert sends his half-written stories into the world attached to balloons for whoever finds them to finish. Stories come back from all over the world, and the final story is heartbreaking.

    43. The Firework-maker's Daughter by Philip Pullman

    Lila's father doesn't want her to follow his career in fireworks so she must prove herself on an epic quest that takes in dragons and pirates.

     

    44. Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce

    As Tom lies in bed preparing for the most boring holiday of his life, the clock strikes 13. Racing downstairs he sees daylight and a beautiful garden where there should be darkness. Incredibly exciting.

     

    45. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

    A bored young boy pushes his toy car through a toy tollbooth, and finds himself in the kingdom of Wisdom. Genius wordplay, slapstick and a real sense of fun.

     

    46. The Silver Sword by Ian Serrallier

    Just after the Second World War, a group of children navigate war-torn Europe armed with little more than a letter opener. Tense, demanding and adult.

     

    47. Cue for Treason by Geoffrey Trease

    After Peter Brownrigg chucks a stone at his landlord, he has to flee to London. Here he meets Shakespeare and uncovers a plot to kill Queen Elizabeth. Tudor derring-do.

     

    48. The Sword in the Stone by TH White

    The trials of Arthur have never been more amusingly described. Merlin is the archetype for all dotty wizards.

     

    49. A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K LeGuin

    LeGuin's fantasy lands are scrupulously realised, but it is emotional complexity that makes her books so engrossing. Here a young wizard has to come to terms with the destructive power of his magic.

     

    50. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling

    The third book may be the best in JK Rowling's series. All the usual Potter tricks are here, but the highlight is the Dementors, the terrifying guards of Azkaban prison.

     

    51. The Chronicles of Narnia Box Set by CS Lewis

    The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe isn't the only Narnia story worth reading. The Silver Chair is a powerful allegory of mental slavery; and Voyage of the Dawn Treader sees a talking mouse paddle over the edge of the world.

     

    52. His Dark Materials Box Set by Philip Pullman

    Pullman's riposte to CS Lewis is a trumpet-blast against dogma - but, above all else, a gripping adventure.

     

    53. The BFG by Roald Dahl

    At the witching hour, a giant blows sweet dreams into children's bedrooms. When orphan Sophie sees him one night, he takes her to his cave. Beware whizzpoppers!

     

    54. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome

    Childcare used to be a bit less hands on ("Better drowned than duffers. If not duffers won't drown") and one cannot read the adventures of these four children in a lost Eden without a lump in the throat.

     

    55. Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now by Lauren Child

    At first glance one for the girls, but boys should read it too. Over the series Clarice has matured from an infant with a quirky vocabulary into a complex, engaging teenager.

     

    56. The Railway Children by E Nesbit

    When their father is accused of treason, Bobbie, Peter, Phyllis and their mother move to the country. They pass the time watching trains go by and proving their father innocent, which is nice.

     

    57. The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde

    Wilde's giant wants to keep children out of his garden so that he can have it to himself. But it stays shrouded in snow until one day, when the giant's hard heart is softened by one of the boys

  8. This list was published in The Daily Telegraph on 19th January but I forgot all about it! Better late than never.

     

    Obviously this is only their view, but I like lists!

     

    Early years

     

    1. The Twits by Roald Dahl

     

    Mr and Mrs Twit pass the time playing nasty tricks on one another. They're both horrid. In his hairy beard, Mr Twit "was always able to find a tasty morsel to nibble on".

     

    2. Burglar Bill by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

    "I'll 'ave that," is the catchphrase of the rogue who stars in this engaging and beautifully illustrated tale. When Bill accidentally burglarises a baby, it turns out to be a blessing in a stolen basket. "Runfrit, Boglaboll!"

     

    3. The Tiger Who Came To Tea by Judith Kerr

    Newsnight's Emily Maitlis has a theory that this book is an allegory about sex. Most children understand it as the story of a tiger that eats its hosts out of house and home. Debate continues.

     

    4. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

    When Max engages in mischief, he is sent to bed without his supper. That's just the start. Sendak's paintings sing, and the text is a joy.

     

    5. The Tale of Samuel Whiskers by Beatrix Potter

    Tom Kitten learnt nothing from his parents about the consequences of curiosity. Abducted by a psychotic rat, he comes within a whisker of being turned into a pudding. Nightmares guaranteed.

     

    6. Yertle the Turtle by Dr Seuss

    Theodor Geisel's response to Hitler was more oblique than Stauffenberg's, but as effective. Yertle, king of the pond, commands all the turtles to stack themselves up so he can be top of the heap. Someone's riding for a fall.

     

    7. Fungus the Bogeyman by Raymond Briggs

    What boy won't thrill to the world of the Bogeymen, all snot, armpits and boils? This gave Raymond Briggs's green crayon the workout of its life.

     

    8. The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None Of His Business by Werner Holzwarth and Wolf Erlbruch

    Someone's dropping lands on poor mole's head. Who's the culprit? A farmyard investigation is conducted with Germanic seriousness. Mole's revenge is sweet.

     

    9. Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

    Punchier than The Gruffalo, this has children chanting along as a witch and her animal friends see off a dragon in search of "witch and chips".

     

    10. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

    "In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf…" so begins this classic board book, its pages drilled with holes as the caterpillar eats his way through the week.

     

    11. The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss

    "Look at me! Look at me! Look at me now!" The cat's a big show-off, but he knows how to have fun, and his chaotic antics delight.

     

    12. Charlotte's Web by EB White

    White's 1952 masterpiece describes the friendship between a lonely pig and a talented spider. This poignant tale teaches lessons about love, death and differing life expectancies.

     

    13. The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff

    When Babar sees his mother shot he reacts as any modern child might: a few tears, then off on a shopping spree. Nice green suit, though.

     

    14. Winnie-the-Pooh by AA Milne, illustrated by EH Shepard

    Visit Hundred Acre Wood, and meet Pooh, Piglet and Christopher Robin, based on AA Milne's son. This classic story hasn't aged, and EH Shepard's understated illustrations remain the best.

     

    Middle Years

     

    15. Stig of the Dump by Clive King

    When Barney falls down a dump the last thing he expects is to meet a cave boy. Stig was an eco-warrior before the term was invented. Sprightly, comic, classic.

     

    16. Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

    Adopted sisters Posy, Pauline and Petrova Fossil train as a dancer, an actor and an aeroplane pilot. A bally treat.

     

    17. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

    The Witch of Waste puts Sophie under a spell. To break it, she must brave the castle of the Wizard Howl. Imaginative and terribly funny.

     

    18. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

    Learn how the leopard got his spots and the camel his hump. And remember "The Elephant's Child" - whose "satiable suriosity" turns his "bulgy nose" into a trunk?

     

    19. The Borrowers by Mary Norton

    First published in 1953, this remains a deserved favourite. The Clock family live beneath a floorboard, making do with what "human beans" drop, until one day one of them allows herself to be seen…

     

    20. Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffman

    These pungent 1840 morality tales are not to be taken literally: in one, a boy gets his thumbs chopped off.

     

    21. The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton

    Jo, Bessie and Fanny climb to the top of a magical tree, above which are endlessly circulating worlds: the Land of Birthdays, or, more unluckily, of Dame Slap.

     

    22. Danny, the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

    Danny and his hard-up father bond over poaching pheasants from nasty Mr Hazell's land - before moral dues are paid.

     

    23. George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl

    To cure his grumpy grandmother, George Kranky concocts a medicine from shaving foam, sheep dip, engine oil and brown paint. Granny grows huge. The ending is dark even for Dahl.

     

    24. Underwater Adventure by Willard Price

    Willard Price invented zoologist brothers Hal and Roger Hunt to get children interested in nature. Underwater Adventure takes them into shark-infested seas. Some sharks are human.

     

    25. Tintin in Tibet by Hergé

    After Tintin reads of a plane crash in the Himalayas, he dreams his friend Chang has survived. Uniquely, there are no villains - just a tender yeti and acres of snow.

     

    26. The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales

    Sourced from medieval German folktales by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm in the 19th century, these sanguinary stories deal with abduction, cannibalism and worse.

     

    27. Erik the Viking by Terry Jones, illustrated by Michael Foreman

    Erik tells his wife that he must go to "the land where the sun goes at night"; off he travels on an atmospheric adventure, terrifically illustrated.

     

    28. When the Wind Blows by Raymond Briggs

    Jim and Hilda Bloggs's preparation for a nuclear attack remains enthralling. First comic, then moving.

     

    29. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by TS Eliot

    This delightful collection of verse sees cat-loving Eliot capering about with his trousers rolled. A perfect introduction to the pleasures of poetry for children.

     

    30. The Iron Man by Ted Hughes

    Since it appeared in 1968, the late Poet Laureate's children's book has become a classic. Benign iron bloke falls from sky, battles space-bat-angel-dragon, saves world. Bliss.

     

    31. The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear

    Edward Lear's bizarre story of inter-species elopement and gastronomic adventure still charms and diverts. Runcible.

     

    32. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

    "Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." But reading about Mole, Ratty, Toad and Badger runs it a close second.

     

    33. The Worst Witch Collection by Jill Murphy

    Before Harry Potter there was Mildred Hubble, the worst witch at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches. A tale of flying broomsticks, rivalries and magical pedagogy.

  9. I ought to chop off the rating things really - I copy/paste my reviews from my Live Journal - I tend to base them on other books I've read. So for example, I gave The Kite Runner a 10/10. I also gave Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris a 10/10 because I couldn't put either book down.

     

    I did enjoy this, but I found it rather a plodding read because the diary was repetative and I'm reading it as an adult whereas Anne was a teenager (and from a different generation to boot).

     

    I wondered whether perhaps I should score out of 5 rather than 10 to keep things a bit tighter and anyway, I feel that ratings are rather subjective.

     

    I just felt that for me, I wouldn't say "oh wow - you must read this book" and yet I was glad I had.

     

    Does that make any sort of sense?! :D

  10. Anyone else looking forward to this? I am, although I'm not sure how it will live up to Life on Mars.

     

    I'm going into it with an open mind.

     

    Pity it's on Thursday. :) I was hoping they'd stick with the Monday slot that LoM was in - I have college on a Thursday so I'll have to record it and be very careful to avoid spoilers.

     

    Philip Glenister - mmmmm! :D

  11. I thought this had been reviewed already but I've searched and I can't see one. This is only a short review, I'm afraid!

     

    Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

     

    The ‘Blurb’

     

    When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters and misfits – the Benzini brothers Most Spectacular show on Earth – a second-rate travelling circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town.

     

    Jacob, a veterinary student who almost earned his degree, is put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.

     

    Water for Elephants is illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. It tells a story of love between two people that overcomes incredible odds in a world in which even love is a luxury that few can afford.

     

    Jacob Jankowski lives in a nursing home and is 90. Or is he 93? He can’t quite remember. However, he can remember a time in the 1930s where he ran away and joined the circus and all the adventure that followed as though it was yesterday.

     

    Narrated by Jacob in flashback form, this book is unlike anything I’ve read before but I really enjoyed it. I was captivated by the characters from the start and the story is enthralling.

     

    2008 is shaping up to be an excellent year book-wise!

     

    The paperback is 331 pages long and is published by Hodder. The ISBN number is 978-0340935460.

     

    9/10

     

    (Read January 2008)

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