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| Chalet school collection! |
Bev sent me this book as she had a duplicate of it! I have discovered the Chalet school books late in life and I really wish I had read them when I was young as they seemed to have many in my childhood library but I never gave them ago. The stories tell of life at the Chalet school, originally in the Tyrol in Austria but due to WW2, it moves location. In this story, Plas Howell in Wales, is the home of the Chalet school during the war. A set of three siblings who lived on Eriskay in the Scottish Highlands find themselves at the Chalet school after the death of their parents. Apparently, Eriskay is being used for important war work so they have been forced to leave. They are quite hot-tempered and fall out quite quickly with one difficult pupil who bears a grudge. But the consequences of this grudge might be far-reaching as the twins alone hold the Charter of Eriskay which shows secret entrances to the great house on the island! I find the war Chalet school books to be the most exciting ones!
23. Hour of the bees - Lindsay Eagar
I bought this from Cogito books in Hexham in January. It is one of those books that are breathtakingly beautiful and heart-rending. I read a review of it by Bev at Confuzzledom (I think!) and had to grab it when I saw it. It tells of a teenager , Carol(ina), who is grumpy to be going to spend her Summer at her Grandfather's ranch in the desert. The Grandfather has dementia and is being moved to a residential care home after the summer. It is a long time since she has seen him as he and her Father fell out many years ago. She has to share a room with her incredibly spoilt and mean Stepsister. Carol is very cautious about her prickly Grandfather at first, but through his magical stories of the bees and why there is no water in the valley, what is beautiful about this book is the tentative relationship that develops between her Grandfather and her. There is a story within a story, told by the Grandfather and that is what adds to the real magic of this story- is the story true? Could it possibly be true or is it just a story? This is a story, like Tom's Midnight Garden, that I would recommend to ANYONE!
24. The library paradox- Catherine Shaw
A classic Whodunnit. I found this in Poundland and realised I had read a previous book about the detective in this one, a lady called Vanessa Weatherburn. The premise of this book is that a university professor is found dead in his library but it seems impossible for anyone to have killed him. Our detective is hired to avoid too much scandal being attached to the University and she must find out who killed him. I like the fact the heroine feels very much at sea and like she doesn't really know what she's doing in this mystery- it seems realistic. The book touched very interestingly on antisemitism and Jewish Orthodoxy which I found really fascinating. I guessed who had 'dun' it and why fairly swiftly and CBC was amused to hear me rant at the book telling them to realise who it was! A really interesting read.
25. Regeneration - Pat Barker.
I bought the Pat Barker trilogy a year ago and I finally decided to read it! Dr William Rivers is a psychiatrist in WW1 in a hospital dealing with shell-shocked soldiers. Some of his patients include war poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owens and a mute man called Billy Prior. Rivers gets to know his patients and is supposed to be preparing them to go back to France but he starts to doubt whether he is doing the right thing sending them back. I found William Rivers (who is a true historical character- this account is a fictional account of his work) a really interesting, gentle character, who I really did feel that we didn't learn much about. He's at the centre of the book, yet we only learn about his patients. I enjoyed hearing about Siegfried Sassoon and his protest against the war. Billy Prior is a fictional character but he was written very well- he is very difficult and unlikeable and a bit of an enigma also. I was intrigued to read the next 2 books in the trilogy although I didn't feel loads happened in this book.
26. The eye in the door - Pat Barker
This is the Second book in the WW1 Regeneration trilogy. I confess to not liking this book very much. Billy Prior is the main character in this story and he is now working for the Intelligence Office in London but he seems to be pulled in many directions, seemingly at the whims of anyone who wants him and it is hard to know where his loyalties lie. He is now engaged to Sarah, a young lady he met in the first story, but it seems his morals are rather loose. His childhood and matters that have made him the way he are come to the fore in this book. I found the description incredibly crude in this story and rather wanted to stop reading in disgust at times but I persevered with it. I found myself still disliking Billy Prior with some sense of feeling sorry with him. Again, some interesting insights into life during WW1 for soldiers and protesters.
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27. Mrs McNab's Fantastical Hat- Jane Miller and Nadia Alzapiedi
This wonderful rhyming picture book was a birthday present from my Mum to me. It was written and illustrated by two of the instrumental teachers at the music school which was such an important part of my life for 10 years of my life. I knew they were writing and publishing it but I had forgotten about it. Mum got it signed for me.
She thought it most appropriate as I am of course, an avid hat wearer.
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| Here are some of the beautiful illustrations from the book! |
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The penultimate book in the Little House on the Prairie series. In this book, Laura is starting to grow up and is working hard to achieve her teaching certificate so to allow her blind sister Mary to continue her studies. However, her old enemy Nellie Olesen from Plum Creek has moved to the area and seems to be doing much to scupper Laura's attempts to work hard and be good so as to achieve her aim. Almanzo Wilder, a man several years older than her is starting to take an interest in her- taking her out in his sleigh, much to the chagrin of her 'enemy' . In this book, I find myself liking Laura very much for her dedication but also for her failure to be 'perfect' which wouldn't be realistic. I find it bizarre that someone could be a teacher who has only just left school or in this case, still be at school so I struggled with that idea but the description, whilst rather overly sentimental and idealistic, was still engaging and compelling.
29. These happy golden years- Laura Ingalls Wilder
The final installment in the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Laura is at last going to be a teacher! She
has gained her 3rd grade teaching certificate but has to leave her home town De Smit and travel to a far off village. She finds it rather hard and wishes to come home but knows she must remain! She encounters hostility through the wife of the man whose house she has a room in, which was an unexpected part of this book for me. I often think of books like this having men who rule the roost and a meek woman obeying him, but in this case, apparently not! Laura's friendship with Almanzo Wilder continues through his kindness in coming to fetch her home in his sleigh. I find his dedication to Laura, despite her lack of encouragement of him rather intriguing, that he did so much for her- perhaps he knew she was the one? I was rather sad to finish this series and I think I felt more sad that we would hear no more about Laura's wonderful Pa. If I were her, I would never have married and stayed with my family forever!
Have you read any of these books? Have I convinced you to try any?
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