2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

Trying to inch my total books per year up again. Cracked my goal for this year, so will try and challenge myself a bit more.

*sings* Angie, Aaaangie.
lol sorry, I saw your name and The Rolling Stones song popped in my head.

Anyways! Best of luck with all your goals in 2021, Angie!

Lisa wrote: "*sings* Angie, Aaaangie.
lol sorry, I saw your name and The Rolling Stones song popped in my head.

Anyways! Best of luck with all your goals in 2021, Angie!"

Funny! I was actually named after that song :) My mother used to get told off because I was Angie and not Angela!

Angie wrote: "Lisa wrote: "*sings* Angie, Aaaangie.
lol sorry, I saw your name and The Rolling Stones song popped in my head.

Anyways! Best of luck with all your goals in 2021, Angie!"

Funny! I was actually n..."

lol that's so cool! A friend of mine is called Ruby and she always gets the "so you're named after a gemstone?" "Nope. After "Ruby Tuesday" :D
Both fantastic songs! Can't go wrong with The Stones :)

1. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
2. Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline
3. The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
4. Rosewater by Tade Thompson
5. Tell Me Lies by J. P. Pomare
6. The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
7. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
8. Potiki by Patricia Grace
9. Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith
10. All our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton
11. Arkarnae by Lynette Noni
12. Raelia by Lynette Noni
13. Draekora by Lynette Noni
14. Graevale by Lynette Noni
15. Vardaesia by Lynette Noni
16. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
17. Hot Money by Bill Nagelkerke
18. After the Flood by Kassandra Montag
19. Doppelganger by Alison Lohans
20. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
21. Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
22. House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
23. Triflers Need Not Apply by Camilla Bruce
24. Sunken Forest by Des Hunt
25. Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz
26. The Parihaka Woman by Witi Ihimaera
27. Home Stretch by Graham Norton
28. Miss Peregrine: The Desolations of Devil's Acre by Ransom Riggs
29. Trust by Chris Hammer
30. Sunken Forest by Des Hunt (re-read with Book Club students)
31. The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
32. The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas


Cutting for Stone Book Loving Kiwis Book Pool Jan/Feb 2021, Popsugar
The Particular Sadness of Lemoncake Popsugar
The Virgin and the Whale Kiwi Authors Challenge
The Bone People Kiwi Authors Challenge
The Nickel Boys Popsugar
The Memory Police Popsugar

#1

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Challenge/s: 2021 Reading Challenge January Group Read
Finished: 02/01/2021
Rating 4 stars

A book weirdly apt to finish 2020 with, Station Eleven is based in a post-apocalyptic world after the arrival of a deadly flu, which has rapidly wiped out the majority of the human population. The Traveling Symphony is a group of actors and musicians who travel through this landscape, performing for the people that are left.

I found this a really good read. Yes, because of the similarity to the arrival of Covid, but also the stories of those who survive, the effect that religion can have and our innate need for human connection.

#2

Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline

Challenge/s: Serial Reader 2021
Finished 06/01/2021
Rating 2 stars

Wade Watts has won the race to the egg hidden by one of the creators of Gregarious Games, James Halliday, and brought down Nolan Sorrento. But what now? We find Wade living a hermit-like existence, withdrawn from everyday life as he lives with an online addiction as a result of the discovery of the ONI (OASIS Neural Interface) that changes the interaction between an individual and the OASIS. That is, until Halliday surprises Wade with even more developments.

Not sure about this. We see some development in Wade - not really a discussion about mental health, but certainly some awareness that Wade is really struggling emotionally. The comparison between himself and Halliday is still there in terms of human relationships and empathy.

The plot itself seems to have lost some of the nostalgia - lots of pop culture references, but maybe too many. I found often they didn't seem to serve a purpose but were almost there to fill space and actually took away from the story.

The inclusion of AI as autonomous and offering a life after death scenario was interesting but not enough for me to say I liked the book.

Good luck with your challenge, Angie! :)

#3

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

Challenge/s: Book Loving Kiwis Jan/Feb Book Pool
Finished 10/01/2021
Rating 4 stars

Three sisters, angry, cold and hurt, are drawn back together when a spell is cast over New Salem in 1893 - 100 years after the Salem Witch Trials. Panic ensues, but the sisters, Juniper, Agnes and Beatrice, after years apart and past hurts, begin to find their way back to each other, using magic as a common interest and language. But as they learn and share their knowledge with other women there is another power desperately seeking them and their new-found knowledge.

Similar to The Ten Thousand Doors of January in terms of magic being included in the story, but this time it plays a bigger part. This is sisterhood, feminism and some good old-fashioned nursery rhymes with a twist, spells hidden in plain sight to avoid the earlier persecution of 'witches' - women who wanted more from the world then uncaring husbands, sexual harassment, and crappy jobs.

I found it a bit long in places, but it also brought me to tears which I feel justifies the rating.

Trisha wrote: "Good luck with your challenge, Angie! :)"

Thanks Trisha!

#4

Rosewater by Tade Thompson

Challenge/s: Book Loving Kiwis Jan/Feb Book Pool, Clear the Shelves, Popsugar, Serial Reader 2021
Finished 21/01/2021
Rating 3 stars

Set in a Nigeria of the future, Kaaro is a sensitive - someone that can use the xenoforms - microbiological spores that have been discharged into the atmosphere by alien life forms and kept secret by the secret police, S45 - to read peoples' thoughts, past, present and to a degree, the future. However the sensitives are getting sick and dying, and as one of the strongest he is tasked with finding out how/why this is happening.

The timeline jumped around in this, which I'm normally okay with, but in this instance I found it distracting. There was so much going on in terms of the main character's own story arc in the present, but also at varying points in his past that it was sometimes had to keep track of.

Interesting angle from a sci-fi/fanstasy point of view but I'm not sure if it was enough to get me to complete the trilogy.

#5

Tell Me Lies by J.P. Pomare

Challenge/s: Kiwi Author Challenge, 2021 Reading Challenge Magical Mystery Tour
Finished 22/01/2021
Rating 3 stars

Margot seems to have the perfect life - loving husband, two teenage children and her own business as a psychologist; but one of her patients - or more than one? - isn't being honest with her, and the life she had is in very real danger of falling apart.

JP Pomare is getting better and better. It's quick fiction, good holiday reading, but is a bit predictable and needs a bit more substance to get more than a 3 star rating from me.

#6

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

Challenge/s: Book Loving Kiwis Jan/Feb Book Pool
Finished 26/01/2021
Rating 4 stars

Kentucky, 1936. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) is running - trying to give women employment and to increase literacy, among other goals. Cussy Mary is a book woman in the Pack Horse Library Project - one of the programs run by the WPA, providing a weekly service of delivering books to the backhill people of Kentucky. She is also a 'Blue' and therefore treated as a person of colour, which in the backcountry of Kentucky in 1936, means being treated as much less than she deserves. Despite her daily battles against the prejudice against her colour, but also mens attitudes toward women at the time, Cussy goes about her librarian role with courage, love and determination to bring literature to her community - despite their feelings toward her.

I really enjoyed this. Cussy battles against her father to be independent, her husband to own her body, her pack horse colleagues to do her job and her community and herself for acceptance.

#7

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Challenge/s: Book Loving Kiwis Jan/Feb Book Pool
Finished 31/01/2021
Rating 4 stars

Ernt Allbright returns from Vietnam and finds it hard to settle down, moving his family from job to job and town to town until he inherits a piece of land from a fellow veteran and moves his family to the remote Kachemak Bay in Alaska. He and his wife Cora and daughter Leni (Lenora) are woefully underprepared for life so far north and are also dealing with Ernt's PTSD which gets worse as the family heads into winter. His 13 year old daughter Leni, is growing up and can see that there is something unhealthy about her parents' relationship but is also desperate for the stability and friendships that Alaska brings.

There is some beautiful writing in this, but it also covers some really big content in terms of PTSD and the accompanying diseases e.g. alcoholism, and the effects of domestic violence.

#8

Potiki by Patricia Grace

Challenge/s: Book Loving Kiwis Jan/Feb Book Pool, Kiwi Authors Challenge
Finished 06/03/2021
Rating 4 stars

Told from a number of viewpoints this is a beautiful discussion around the Pakeha concept/construct of land ownership (spiritual connection and guardianship or kaitiakitanga vs the more material ownership) and the accompanying legal and government system and the effect of those ideas and values on Maori. It is especially moving knowing that while this is a fictional piece of land, the struggles have been, and still are, real.

#9

Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith

Challenge/s: Serial Reader, Magical Mystery Tour
Finished 02/04/2021
Rating 3 stars

Book 5 sees Cormoran and Robin running the agency together with an increased workload and extra staff to organise, and investigating the disappearance of Margot Bamborough who went missing in 1974 and has never been seen again.
However, investigating a 40 year old case presents difficulties, especially as the original police investigator had suffered a mental breakdown during the case and was trying to solve the case using some unorthodox methods.
Robin and Strike are going through their own struggles on a personal level too, lending some extra depth to their characters.

#10

All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton

Challenge/s: McLeod's Book Club
Finished 10/04/2021
Rating 3 stars

The world is viewed through the 12 year old eyes of Molly Hook, a young Australian girl living in Darwin, North Australia in 1942. Molly lives an impoverished life with her father and uncle; violent men living with the effects of intergenerational alcoholism and mental health issues. Molly has questions about the curse put on her family before she was born. When Darwin is bombed by the Japanese, Molly takes the opportunity to run and follow clues left behind by her grandfather to try and solve the mystery of her family.
There were things I liked about this but I found the repetition of phrases like 'Run Molly, run', 'Dig Molly, dig' and the continual description of plants overdone. I'm not sure if the author was aiming to make the scenery bright in contrast to the darker elements of the story, magical in comparison to the harshness, but for me it became more of a distraction, interrupting the flow of the storyline.

#11

Akarnae by Lynette Noni

Challenge/s: Serial Reader
Finished 14/04/2021
Rating 3 stars

Recommended by my 11 year old daughter.

Alex's parents are set to head off on another archeological dig, and this time Alex has been enrolled in a boarding school which she is dreading. On her first day, Alex somehow manages to transport herself from earth to Medora, a parallel universe. With no chance of going back any time soon, she instead attends Arkarnae Academy, a school for young people with 'gifts', but finds more, much more, than she bargained for.

In terms of YA this was written fairly simplistically, especially considering the main protaganist is 16, the writing would indicate younger. However the story builds satisfactorily, thre is some good world-building and character development.

#12

Raelia by Lynette Noni

Challenge/s: Serial Reader
Finished 17/04/2021
Rating 3 stars

Book 2 in the Medoran Chronicles series. Alex returns to Medora after the holidays, this time bringing her parents with her. After an adventure-filled year at the Academy, learning of her connection to the Library and the importance of this connection to Aven, the Meyarin prince that has been cast out of Meya, Alex is not expecting a quiet year.

A solid second installment in the series, strengthening the storyline and explaining some of the plot irregularities that popped up in the first book.

#13

Draekora

Finished 22/04/2021
Rating 3 stars

#14
Graevale

Finished 26/04/2021
Rating 4 stars

#15
Vardaesia

Finished 29/04/2021
Rating 4 stars

All books by Lynette Noni
Challenge/s: Serial Reader

It just seemed easier this time to include the remaining three books in one entry.

Alex is continuing on her mission to protect the world of Medora and its inhabitants from the vengeful Meyarin, Aven. She travels back in time to meet Aven as a young man before his hatred takes hold and travels to Draekora accidentally where she meets and befriends Xirasus the draekon. In an effort to bring the various races of Medora together, she also travels to other worlds, all the time keeping her mission and the safety of her friends and her family at the forefront of her mind, honing her skills and growing her knowledge for the day when she will have to face Aven.

#16

Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Challenge/s: Popsugar, Clear the Shelves, Magical Mystery Tour
Finished 02/05/2021
Rating 3 stars

I watched the TV show, so it spoiled some of the twists that may account for the book's popularity. I would call this a great summer read - something you take on holiday or read in your downtime. However it felt a bit light and frothy considering some of the issues it was dealing with and decidedly white. The TV show did a slightly better job in terms of diversity.

Set in the beachside town of Pirriwee we meet Madeline, Celeste and Jane who have children getting ready to start their kindergarten year at Pirriwee Public School. On their orientation day Jane's son Ziggy is accused of bullying Amabella the quiet, gifted daughter of corporate businesswoman Renata, who uses her influence in the school community to try and ostracise Ziggy and Jane. As we discover more of each woman's life, we are also privy to comments made during a police investigation into an incident at the school.

#17

Bug Club Hot Money Red B NC 5b by Nagelkerke Bill

Challenge/s: Kiwi Author Challenge
Finished 09/04/2021
Rating unrated

This is a book read for work - the new Book Club set up for Year 6 reading extension students.

Miles and August are the protagonists of the story - two boys who come from families struggling financially. They are out rIding their bikes one day when the witness the police chasing the suspects of a bank robbery. As the escaping car races past the boys position, a package is thrown from the vehicle. What follows is a conversation on the importance of family, money and morality. This is a good fit for more capable Year 6 readers.

#18

After the Flood by Kassandra Montag

Challenge/s: Popsugar
Finished 14/05/2021
Rating 2 stars

Rating based on Goodreads ratings, 2 stars = it was okay.
Myra is first and foremost a mother. A mother on a mission to find the daughter that was taken from her by her husband after the flood. Living with her younger daughter on the boat her grandfather built before he died, Myra doesn't trust anybody and tries to avoid unnecessary human contact. After years of searching she finally gets a solid lead on her missing daughter, but has not learnt the skill of navigation required to reach the island where her daughter is held captive. Against her better judgement and at the urging of her daughter, she rescues Daniel from his sinking boat and discovers he is able to navigate. However she also realises that her boat is too small to travel the distance required so she must become part of the crew of a bigger vessel, lying about the resources available on the island to encourage the ship's crew to agree to sail there.

It was okay, lacking in any real information around the reasons for the flood. Despite all of Myra's struggles she never felt fleshed out, rather a selfish one-dimensional person who suffers hardship and tragedy yet I never felt particularly moved by it.

#19

Doppelganger by Alison Lohans

Challenge/s:
Finished 24/05/2021
Rating unrated

Year 6 extension Book Club programme.

#20

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Challenge/s: Popsugar
Finished 20/06/2021
Rating 4 stars

The first instalment of Angelou's autobiography that details her early childhood and experiences as a young woman of colour. There are discussions here around sexual abuse and shame, violence, racism, poverty and so on. Powerful in what is discussed but also in what isn't.

#21

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

Challenge/s: Popsugar, Magical Mystery Tour
Finished 04/07/2021
Rating 3 stars

Scott Burroughs, a struggling artist and recovering alcoholic lives on Martha's Vineyard. In his everyday life he meets Maggie, ex-school teacher and now wife to a wealthy businessman, who holidays at the Vineyard. Scott and Maggie develop a casual friendship so when he needs to travel back to the mainland Maggie offers Scott a seat on the private plane her family uses for travel. The plane goes down but Scott survives, somehow also managing to save Maggie's son, and swim the 8 miles to safety. The plane crash is huge news and as various groups investigate the crash, each member on the flight and their history is scrutinised in the hopes of finding a reason for the crash.

#22
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

Challenge/s: McLeod's Book Club, Popsugar
Finished 13/07/2021
Rating 4 stars

Iris tries desperately to be 'normal'. Her two older sisters have left home, left Iris to keep their mum company, and are most definitely not 'normal'. Is this because of their abduction 10 years ago or is it something more sinister? Iris is followed by a minotaur-looking man who makes her feel very uncomfortable, and when her older sister Grey goes missing, Iris is certain that this man has something to do with the disappearance. As Iris and her sister Vivi begin to investigate, they find more questions than answers, the biggest question is - what really happened when they were taken all those years ago?

Dark and a bit twisty, it reminds me of some of the old fairy stories before they were cleaned up and made a bit less scary. With themes of familial love, power and control it brings into question the phrase 'absolute power corrupts absolutely'.

#23

Triflers Need Not Apply by Camilla Bruce

Challenge/s:
Finished 21/07/2021
Rating 3 stars

A fictional account of the life story of Norwegian woman Belle Sorensen who is unhappy in her marriage and resorts to poison to give her some semblance of control over her first husband and eventually kills him. Belle marries again, but unfortunately appears no happier than in her first marriage, so it again ends in the death of her husband. Although there are suspicions held around the deaths nothing can be proved.

This is quite a good read. I had never heard of Belle before and though we don't really know much about her this explores possibilities for her motivation.

#24

Sunken Forest by Des Hunt

Challenge/s: Kiwi Author Challenge
Finished 8/08/2021
Rating 5 stars

Read for my Year 6 extension Book Club programme and rated on the approximate reading age - so far my group are enjoying it (they haven't finished it yet, though I've read to the end for planning purposes.)

Matt has arrived in Gisborne to live with his grandmother as his family struggles to support itself. Matt starts a new school and quickly, through no fault of his own, gets dragged into trouble at school, resulting in attendance at a military-style camp at Lake Waikaremoana. Matt begins to make friends, and they work together to protect Elsa, the giant eel that has befriended Matt.

There are some cool themes in this book for students to explore. Revenge vs. justice, friendship, appearances and so on. We've also enjoyed reading about a beautiful NZ setting and learning more about our country with discussion around geology and geography, and natural disasters. Recommended for students aged 9-13.

#25

Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz

Challenge/s: McLeod's Book Club, Kiwi Author Challenge, Magical Mystery Tour
Finished 18/08/2021
Rating 5 stars

Two women trying to escape troubled relationships arrive in New York on the same day. One survives and one doesn't. As their stories grow and converge we get to know both women and understand why they have arrived in New York. We watch them make friends and begin to build lives while they come to grips with what life has handed them.

I really enjoyed this. Two damaged women from two damaging relationships, both actively looking for a way out. We get to explore death - what does it mean? How does it feel? What is it like to be lonely, what is it like to be alone? How do women keep themselves safe. How women gain strength from each other. Beautifully written and thoughtful, exploring love, grief, death, violence, relationships and feminism.

#26

The Parihaka Woman by Witi Ihimaera

Challenge/s: Kiwi Author Challenge, Popsugar
Finished 25/08/2021
Rating 3 stars

Erenora lives In Parihaka in the Taranaki area, an area where māori are fighting to keep their land as the constant stream of europeans arrive, hungry for space. A white man's parliament has been established, and the Treaty of Waitangi is not being adhered to, with laws being created or changed to marginalise the māori population. The people of Parihaka opt for peaceful resistance to the encroachment of their land, but Erenora and her husband Horitana are more outspoken than others. Horitana is arrested and sent to prison in Wellington, but unlike other men from the village, is not released, so Horitana along with her two sisters Meri and Ripeka leave to find their husbands and bring them home.

I normally love Witi Ihimaera's writing. This is different. Told partly in third person narrative about Erenora's life, and partly by one of Erenora's descendants, the narrative POV is sometimes unclear. While the actions around Parihaka are based on fact, and the systemic racism within Aotearoa is still very real, Erenora's character is fictional. However this does not change the importance of the issues this book covers.

#27

Home Stretch by Graham Norton

Challenge/s:
Finished 27/08/2021
Rating 2 stars

Connor is living in New York, having left the small town of Mullinmore after he is the driver in a car accident that kills four of his passengers. He first moves to Liverpool, then London where he becomes estranged from his family and on to New York, where the story comes full circle and he unknowingly meets his nephew, Finnbar. Life has moved on in Mullinmore though, and as Connor works up the courage to get back in touch with his family, the sleepy town finds that things aren't as they seemed.

I was really looking forward to this, expecting some of Norton's characteristic wit and humour. I'm sure there is accuracy in the small-town atmosphere that he creates, but the book is completely predictable from start to finish, unfortunately. It's a nice easy read if that's what you're after, but I expected a bit more.

#28

The Desolations of Devil's Acre by Ransom Riggs

Challenge/s: Serial Reader
Finished 02/09/2021
Rating 4 stars

Jacob Portman, Noor and the rest of their peculiar friends and ymbrynes are racing against and across time to protect Devil's Acre and all of peculiardom from Caul after his resurrection in Book 5. As they work to understand the prophecy that may help save them all, Caul is only getting stronger and more monstrous, determined to seize power and make all those opposed to him pay.

This runs along a similar theme to previous books in the series. Jacob and his friends looking out for each other and often doing the opposite of what they've been told to do by the more wise and worldly ymbrynes. While I find this a bit irritating, our characters are teenagers who often dont follow the rules or don't do what they're told, so in this respect character behaviour makes sense. It rounds out the series nicely with questions answered and issues resolved.

#29

Trust by Chris Hammer

Challenge/s: Serial Reader, Magical Mystery Tour
Finished 06/09/2021
Rating 4 stars

Martin Scarsden is back for book three. Martin is settling into family life with Mandalay and Liam but may be losing his edge as a reporter ... until Mandy is abucted and Martin is contacted by his old editor, Max Fuller, about a new story. As Martin investigates - and Mandy runs her own investigation - events begin to converge, with implications across the upper echelons of Sydney.

There is some good character development here that I enjoyed, Martin shows more of his nature as a Sydney reporter and is not entirely likeable. We get to see this through Mandy's eyes as she sees how fixated, sometimes thoughtless and glory-seeking he can be. Mandy's character develops and we learn of her backstory.

#30

Sunken Forest by Des Hunt

Challenge/s: Kiwi Author Challenge
Finished 28/09/2021
Rating 5 stars

See above for review.

A re-read with my Year 6 Book Club tamariki.

#31

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

Challenge/s:
Finished 24/09/2021
Rating 4 stars

Nisha is different. Her father is Hindu, and her mother, who died in childbirth, was a Muslim. Due to the partition in 1947, Nisha's family now live in the newly-created Pakistan and must make the journey to a new home as refugees, taking only what they can carry and leaving their belongings and beloved friends behind. The journey is dangerous, but on the way Nisha learns more about herself and her brother, her sometimes harsh Papa, and the mother she has never known.

An epistolary novel - in this case diary entries - this is a fictional novel loosely based on the experiences of the author's family during the Partition of India in 1947. It is innocent and full of hope, yet discusses topics relevant to today - definitely recommended for tweens/early teens.

#32

The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas

Challenge/s: McLeod's Book Club
Finished 3/10/2021
Rating 4 stars

Eugenie is a young, middle-class woman living in Paris in 1885. Intelligent and curious, and possessed with a special gift, when she accompanies her brother to a salon debate and overhears a discussion, she investigates further. After years of feeling that she doesn't belong, Eugenie finally feels like things are making sense, but trusts the wrong person with information and the world as Eugenie knows it comes crashing down.

This is beautiful. Beautiful and evocative, it develops a real awareness of just how dangerous it can be to be a woman. Not purely the physical danger, but an awareness of just how much power men had (and maybe still do) over the fate of women. How little it took for a woman to be cast out and how final those decisions were.

#33

Ride of the Katipo by Stu Duval

Finished 17/11/2021
Rating 4 stars

Read for my Year 6 extension Book Club programme and rated on the approximate reading age. Includes some great examples of figurative language for discussion.

Jack is camping alone when he comes across two dead bodies, which appear to be the result of a shipwreck, but there have been none reported. Jack needs to tell an adult about what he has discovered, but who can he trust on the island?

Great little mystery/coming-of-age tale.

#34

Lord John and the Hand of Devils by Diana Gabaldon

Finished 27/11/2021
Rating 3 stars

A collection of 3 short stories by Diana Gabaldon featuring favourite character Lord John Grey. Nice easy reads that provide some great backstory.

#35

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

Finished 1/12/2021
Rating 5 stars

Read for my Year 6 extension Book Club programme and rated on the approximate reading age. This is a re-read for me as I read it many times as a child, and again as an adult. Great to hear discussion and ideas in a group situation.

The Pevensey children have been evacuated out of WWII London to their eccentric uncle's country home. Lucy is the first to discover the secret entry to Narnia and it is not long before Lucy and her siblings enter Narnia together, where they get drawn into the ultimate good vs. evil battle - trying to free Narnia and all its inhabitants from the clutches of the White Witch.

#36

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Finished 02/12/2021
Rating 5 stars

Read for my Year 4 extension Book Club programme and rated on the approximate reading age. The group seemed to really enjoy this. Some of the language was not familiar to the students, so there was discussion around appropriate language, and also discussions around revenge vs. justice, and all the different faces of a family.

From a very young age, Matilda is ... different. She reads books well above her age, can do complicated maths in her head and is completely underestimated by her parents. When she begins school and meets the kind and gentle Miss Honey, Matilda starts to feel like she may have found a friend, but she still has her family and the Trunchbull to deal with.

#37

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

Finished 15/12/2021
Rating 4 stars

Inti Flynn has arrived in Scotland with her sister, a team of scientists and a pack of wolves. As team leader she is responsible for reintroducing wolves to the Scottish highlands after they were hunted to extinction hundreds of years ago, despite resistance to the plan from the locals, which escalates as a villager goes missing.

Beautiful and thought-provoking on so many levels. The things people will do to protect the ones we love - in nature, as parents and as siblings. The effects of trauma on the brain. The fragility of ecosystems, and how everything is connected.

#38

The Spiral Chrysalis by Glynne MacLean

Finished 21/12/2021
Rating 3 stars

Read for my Year 6 extension Book Club programme and rated on the approximate reading age. Students haven't read yet, this is my preparation for 2022. Fantasy genre, but after having recently read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, found this a bit lacking. Will try and update based on student thoughts.

#39

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Finished 21/12/2021
Rating 3 stars

Nora Seed is alone. Strikingly alone, lonely, disconnected and full of regret. While she waits in the inbetween of life and death she pays a visit to The Midnight Library, where infinite lives await and regrets can be investigated and resolved. But is there such a thing as a perfect life? As Nora explores the never-ending alternatives searching for perfect, she also reflects on the life she has tried to leave behind.

This is a great premise. I really, really loved the idea of this book, and based on all the great reviews (or maybe because of them) was really surprised that I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Nora's unhappiness was repetitively stated, until rather than feeling any empathy for her - it was more of a 'really?! you're still not happy?!' feel. I feel that this is an 'Eat, Pray, Love' kind of book where if you're in the right headspace, this book would be absolutely amazing, but if not it feels like self-help attempting to disguise itself as fiction.

#40

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Finished 31/12/2021
Rating 3 stars

As an old woman, Lily reflects on her life as she transitioned from life as a poor village second daughter to the most powerful wife in the county, and the mistakes she made in her laotong relationship with Snow Flower.

While this isn't my favourite book by Lisa See ('The Island of Sea Women') I can appreciate the amount of research that must go into producing a book like this. The glimpses into traditions like footbinding, laotong arrangements and the numerous celebration days was fascinating, while the treatment of women and the traditions and physical impediments that bound them was heartrending.