Just thought I would mention some of the books we read last year at our book club for anyone who has just joined our group. We've read all kinds of books by lots of different authors.
The Terrible Thing that happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne
There’s nothing unusual about the Brockets. Boring, respectable and fiercely proud of it, Alistair and Eleanor Brocket turn up their noses at anyone strange or different. But from the moment Barnaby Brocket comes into the world, it’s clear he’s anything but normal. To the horror and shame of his parents, Barnaby appears to defy the laws of gravity – and floats.
Little Barnaby is a lonely child – after all, it’s hard to make friends when you’re ten feet in the air. Desperate to please his parents, he does his best to stop floating, but he just can’t do it. Then, one fateful day, Barnaby’s mother decides enough is enough. She never asked for a weird, abnormal, floating child. She’s sick and tired of the newspapers prying and the neighbours gossiping. Barnaby has to go . . .
Betrayed, frightened and alone, Barnaby floats into the path of a very special hot air balloon. And so begins a magical journey around the world; from South America to New York, Canada to Ireland, and even a trip into space, Barnaby meets a cast of truly extraordinary new friends and realises that nothing can make you happier than just being yourself
This was by far one of our most popular books and most people really enjoyed it. It's a very unusual story which captured the imaginations of our group.
The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd
When Ted and Kat watched their cousin Salim get on board the London Eye, he turned and waved before getting on. After half an hour it landed and everyone trooped off - but no Salim. Where could he have gone? How on earth could he have disappeared into thin air?
Since the police are having no luck finding him, Ted and Kat become sleuthing partners. Despite their prickly relationship, they overcome their differences to follow a trail of clues across London in a desperate bid to find their cousin. And ultimately it comes down to Ted, whose brain works in its own very unique way, to find the key to the mystery.
An adventure story with a twist, as well as chatting about the story this book sparked lots of discussion about London and the London eye itself
The History Keepers by Damien Dibben
Imagine if you lost your parents - not just in place, but in time.
Jake Djones' mum and dad have gone missing and they could be anywhere in the world - at any time in history. Because the Djones family have an astonishing secret, which for years they've managed to keep - even from each other. They belong to the HISTORY KEEPERS: a secret society which travels through the centuries to prevent evil enemies from meddling with History itself.
In the quest to find his parents, Jake is whisked from 21st Century London to 19th century France, the headquarters of the mysterious History Keepers, where he discovers the truth about his family's disappearance - and the diabolical Prince Zeldt's plan to destroy the world as we know it . . .
This book is part one of a series. Check out the official History Keepers Website for more info on the series, games reviews and news on the newest book in the series as well as some book trailers
The Sleeping Army by Francesca Simon
Freya is an ordinary girl living in modern Britain, but with a twist: people still worship the Viking gods. She's caught in her parents' divorce, and shuttling between bickering adults is no fun. One evening, stuck with her dad on his night shift at the British Museum, she is drawn to the Lewis Chessmen and Heimdall's Horn. Unable to resist, she blows the horn, waking three chess pieces from their enchantment; the slaves Roskva and Alfi, and Snot the Berserk. They are all summoned to Asgard, land of the Viking gods, and told they must go on a perilous journey to restore the gods to youth.
If Freya refuses she will be turned into an ivory chess piece but, if she accepts her destiny and fails, the same terrible fate awaits her.
Francesca Simon is best known for her books based on Horrid Henry but the sleeping army is the first book in a new series for older readers based around Norse myths and legends. Find our more about Francesca Simon and her other books on her website
Benny and Omar by Eoin Colfer
The hilarious debut novel from one of the world's favourite children's authors. Benny Shaw, a young sporting fanatic, is forced to leave his beloved Wexford, home of all his heroes, and move with his family to Tunisia! How will he survive in a place like this? Then he teams up with Omar, and a madcap friendship between the two boys leads to trouble, crazy escapades, a unique way of communicating, and heart-breaking challenges.
Eoin Colfer has recently been made Laureate na nOg and will be promoting reading and books to children for the next two years in Ireland . He is the author of really popular Artemis Fowl series and has a new series -WARP- out at the moment which I would recommend
Siobhan Parkinson
For one of our meetings we all picked a different book by Siobhan Parkinson
The moon King seemed to be the most popular choice
Ricky has withdrawn from the world into his own inner space. Placed in a foster home which is full of sunshine and goodness, he is uncertain how to become part of family life. He often retreats to his favourite hideaway, a special chair in the attic, and adopts the pose of the Moon King. From this situation relationships slowly begin to grow ... but it is not a smooth path and at times Ricky just wants to leave it all behind.
We also picked Ann Fine as an author and everyone chose a different book, she has written over 50 books for children so lots to choose from!
Poetry afternoon !
In one of my favourite book club meetings we had a poetry afternoon. Everyone picked a poem that they really like and read it out at our meeting. We had lots of poetry books from the library on hand as well and we all picked a few poems that we enjoyed and read them out to everyone
Two books with a great mix of poems in them are
Michael Rosen's A to Z the best Children's Poetry from Agard to Zephaniah
and also the Puffin book of fantastic first poems is worth a look
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