Weblog Archive

Hello

I've been revisiting my childhood this morning (yes, I know, those of you who know me will be saying "What's new there then?!?).  Anyway I've discovered a fabulous website that has been keeping me and my colleagues amused this morning.  It's the website of the Enid Blyton Society and obviously includes full details of her life, writing styles and her work - interesting stuff for those of you who remember her books from childhood.

One of the best bits though is the full listing of everything she ever wrote - including, in most cases, a plot summary and images of all the different covers that it was produced in.  It's amazing how you can recognize a cover of a book that you've not seen for 20 years or more.  But what is even more fascinating is realizing how many books she actually wrote - and just how many of them I remember reading (were there really that many Famous Five books, and have I really read them all?).

If you want a laugh then try the Character Quiz, where you answer questions to find out which Blyton character you are most like.  Slightly worryingly I came out as Mr Twiddle - so I want a recount, or at the very least I'm going to have to do the quiz again to get a better answer!

Let me know which character you are likened to.

Enjoy the sunshine

Suzanne

Hello

It's Thursday so it must be storytime in the Central Library.  It's my turn again and the theme (in keeping with the National Year of Reading theme for July) is "Rhymes".  I've got a few stories planned that are written nicely in rhyme, such as "This is the bear", "Monster bed" and "Mister Magnolia" and then I have to grit my teeth and start with the singing - The wheels on the bus, Old MacDonald, Incy Wincy Spider etc (the last one not being good for someone who's terrified of spiders!).  So if you're passing the library this morning and wonder what the terrible noise is - that will be me and my singing!

MUCH LATER... 

We had 3 gorgeous babies come along today - proof that you're never to young to come to the library.  Babies love books - in fact one little girl took great delight in emptying the books out of one of the kinderboxes - and the earlier they are introduced to them, the better.

Don't forget that our storytimes at the Central Library are running all summer - so do come along next week and join in the fun!

Until next time

Suzanne

Hello

How are you?  Have you had a good week?

Having not really read anything much for a while I've had a really good week where I've been buried deep in some good books. I've finished Marian Keyes' new one "This Charming Man". It took me a little while to get into - I think because I was only reading it in 10 minute chunks - but once I got going it really lived up to the author's usual standard. I like Marian Keyes' books, mainly because the characters are well- rounded and easy to identify with, and whilst being very funny they also contain a lot of quite serious and emotional issues. I'd thoroughly recommend it to you.

I've also just read Kate Morton's "The Forgotten Garden" (it won Richard and Judy's Summer Read in 2007).  In a similar way to the Marian Keyes book which flitted between the stories of the 4 key characters, this switches between three eras and the three characters, Eliza, Nell and Cassandra.  Although I have to confess to having partially guessed the twist at the end there were still other bits that I didn't see coming and it was fairly un-put-downable!

Anyhow, I've now moved on to "The Accidental Time-Traveller" by Sharon Griffiths. It's billed as appealing to fans of Life on Mars etc and whilst I'm not totally convinced of that so far (the characters seem a little flat - although maybe I've just not got into it yet) it does seem to be quite an interesting concept.  I'll let you know what I think when I finish it.

In the meantime, don't forget to keep telling us about what you're reading - either on the discussion boards or by sending a review.

Happy reading - until next time

Suzanne 

Hello

I'm going to give you another great website to visit today.

It's the Children's Poetry Archive.  It's a unique website where you can hear poets (some still very much alive and kicking and others who are distinctly dead!) reading their own poems - and if anyone knows how a poem is meant to be read it's the poet themselves!

You can hear Spike Milligan reciting "One the Ning Nang Nong" (ok, so I'm biased - I've already told you how much I love that poem).  Roald Dahl reads his version of "Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf" in his own unique style.  There's even a recording of William Butler Yeats reading "The Lake Isle of Innisfree".  More new recordings are being made all the time (of the living poets, obviously) so you might like to bookmark the site for the future.

I hope you enjoy it

Happy listening

Suzanne

Hello

It's me again.

Do you remember me telling you that July was all about rhymes and poetry?  Well today I'm going to give you a website that you might want to check out.  It's the Poetry Library in London.  As well as everything you would expect from a poetry library you can also write a virtual poem on their website (by dragging the virtual fridge magnets, which contain some pretty random words).  I won't inflict my poem on you though, as you can probably write a much better one than I can!

They also have a "Poetry queries" section where you can ask them about that poem you can only remember one line of!  You can also go to their "Frequently asked for poems" section and ask other site visitors for help in the "lost quotations" section.  This is the part of the site I used when I wanted to see if anyone else knew "Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I'm going into the garden to eat worms!"  Despite my mum being convinced that I'd imagined this poem, quite a few people got back to me who knew it and told me the full version, so it does work!

Visit it and let me know what you think - and don't forget to write yourself a poem.

Have fun

Suzanne

Hello

I just wanted to tell you about a fantastic event that we have coming up in the autumn - don't forget that you heard it here first.

On 25th October we'll be holding a Readers' Festival with lots of fab visiting authors.  So far we have Sophie Hannah, G.S. Beard and Karen Maitland lined up, and we'll be announcing more shortly.

I can't tell you much yet, but put the date in your diary and watch this space for more details including how to get your tickets.  It should be a fantastic day and I'm looking forward to it already!

Until next time

Suzanne

Hello

It's July and so we have a new theme for the month... and it is Rhythm and Rhyme.  It's all about reading poetry and lyrics, be it Shakespeare or Snoop Dog.  Some people say that they don't like poetry but most people can find something that they like.  I've never been a big poetry fan but Spike Milligan is just about my level.  And I always find it fascinating to actually read song lyrics to see what they really say.

Our new poll asks what you think about reading poetry, so vote and let us know what you think.

Until next time

Suzanne