Author: Emily Rodda
ISBN: 987-1/-76106-975-8
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Author: Emily Rodda
ISBN: 987-1/-76106-975-8
Author: Emily Rodda
ISBN: 0978-1-76106-975-8
Author: R F Kuang
ISBN: 978 0008501839
Hi Everyone,
I have two minds about this book.
On one hand, I enjoyed the themes, especially that of the power of language, both written and spoken. Of course I would, seeing as I read and write for both teaching and enjoyment. The avenues that the theme of language traversed kept me interested and turning the pages. It is the same theme that has dominated much of history for centuries. It was interesting to read a novel that went into depth, in a fantasy world, with linkages to this world still hidden in the pages.
Where the enjoyment of this novel tripped me up, was the timeline. This book could have been cut down by a third and still remained a page turner - in truth, for me, it would have left more of a lasting impression. I find this in quite a few books. A novel does not need to have multitudes of fuller-pages to give the book length or substance. I would find it by far more enjoyable to grasp the storyline and run with it.
Overall, this was a good novel with underlying themes that could become questions for essays. It would be easy to research, expand, and write on these themes. Yet I would have liked 'depth of storyline' rather than 'length of book'. Maybe I just expected more due to the reviews and the time in which I had this sitting in my TBR pile.
Read it and let me know what you think.
Description:
The city of dreaming spires. It is the centre of all knowledge and progress in the world. And at its centre is Babel, the Royal Institute of Translation. The tower from which all the power of the empire flows.
Orphaned in Canton and brought to England by a mysterious guardian, Babel seemed like paradise to Robin Swift. Until it became a prison...
But can a student stand against an empire?
Available from: Amazon.com
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Author: Gabrielle Yetter
ISBN: 9798270822491
Hi Everyone
What a treat to receive a fine work of poetry! When Gabrielle Yetter reached out offering me a copy of her poetry "Dancing with the Moon', I was unable to say no because we all know that poetry is one of my favourite genre's.
I was not disappointed by any piece of poetry in this book. Her work is pure written art! Every poem offered my insight into a world/life other than my own. They all left me thinking in some small way, both logically and metaphorically. What more can we ask of poetry? The answer to that lies in how deeply you want to dive into Gabrielle Yetter's words.
I can highly recommend that you get yourself a copy of this once you find it. I have done a little research and found it is available through Amazon. It is well worth the value.
Here is a sample of one of her poems, so that I can leave you with a taste of her work.
Hope
They call it madness
To point out slivers of sunlight
And comment that the day will be filled
with brightness
As the storm rages on,
They call it Naivete
To turn the page on the news of the day
Read movie reviews and sports results
Then search for a seven-letter clue to the
crossword.
They call it obliviousness
To dismiss potholes in the road
Brush aside the dust on the cracked table
And cover it with a satin cloth.
They call it ignorance
To switch the channel from war and famine,
To tender sounds of
Brahms and Rachmaninoff.
The call it madness
Oblivion
Ignorance
They may say I'm out of touch
Deluded
Unaware.
I call it hope.
Gabrielle Yetter
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Author: Steven Bartlett
ISBN:9781529146516
Author: Jessica Townsend
ISBN: 9780734418227
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Author: Evie Woods
Hi Everyone
This is one to add to your list!
I thought, 'I should read more rather than scrolling my phone, watching Youtube, or Netflix and see if I could sleep a little better at night'. Well, how wrong was I?!?
The Lost Bookshop was my choice of reading material. All it did was made me sit up until all hours of the morning reading. Seriously? This isn't how it is meant to work. Getting off the blue light of our phones is intended to help sleep..... wrong.
Reading this novel, you spend one chapter in the past (historical figure), then one in the present. Often these kinds of novels annoy me. I constantly consider reading every second chapter, then returning to read the other time zone. I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. I was quite content to travel both story lines, parallel to each other. It was extremely well-connected. I got hooked on both situations as a whole.
But it was the last quarter that had me up reading until 1am. Yes, that is correct, 1am in the morning, when my end goal was to go to sleep earlier. Really, this book is well worth picking up. So much so that I have purchased 'The Story Collector" by Evie Woods. If this next book is as good, then I will be adding Evie Woods to my must-read authors' list.
Description
On A quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found...
For too long, Opaline, Martha, and Henry have been the side characters in their own lives.
But when a vanishing bookshop casts it spell, these three unsuspecting strangers will discover that their own stories are every bit as extraordinary as the ones found in the pages of their beloved books. And by unlocking he secrets of the shelves, they find themselves transported to a world of wonder... where nothing is as it seems.
Happy reading
Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Author: Steven Pressfield
Hi Everyone
Some would categorise this book as a self-help book. Others will categorise it as an inspiration.
I call it a book full of quotes.
I highlighted numerous pages in this small book. I will use them to look back over for inspiration and encouragement. There will be times that I will look at them and get a kick back in the right direction.
There is one simple thing that I will do with this book, and that is to open it again from time to time. I am certain that I will continue to find new gems within the pages as I re-read during different stages of my life.
Description:
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Author: James Russell
ISBN: 9781991166807
Hi Everyone
Upon visiting Central Otago in New Zealand, you will discover a wealth of gold mining history that remains intact. There are old stone houses (many partly collapsed); hills that during winter get covered in snow; and towns like Clyde that maintain a historical street frontage. If you wish to travel to Gabriel's Valley, you will also find that much of the gold mining history is still able to be seen.
Gabriel's Valley is where this story is based. I have been to both Dunedin and Gabriel's Valley, so reading this, I was able to envision the townships and the children. It was quite an adventure reading through these pages.
As for the story itself, I enjoyed how the author has interwoven both the history and the depth of hardship that adults and families endured during this time in history, along with a story of friendship and loyalty. The story is rich with history, yet still has an element of imagination (or maybe truth).
It was refreshing to read a historical children's novel. I would like to see many more like this written. Living books. Ones that we can read time and again, while still finding new snippets of information to ignite our wonder of the history that has been left for our children to discover.
Description:
It's 1861, and gold fever is sweeping New Zealand.
Otherwise sensible adults have gone mad and will do anything to get their hands on the precious metal But two children have been caught up in the rush. Michael and Atarangi couldn't be more different, but they share one thing: each has a remarkable and magical talent.
Circumstances conspire to bring the children together in remote and inhospitable goldfields, and they're thrust into a world where lawlessness, greed, and cruelty reign.
When the children find out that a cut-throat gang stalks the goldfields, preying upon the innocent, they have a choice to make: turn a blind eye, or fight back?
Happy reading
For private tutoring in Math and Literacy
Author: Jessica Townsend
ISBN: 978-0-7344-1807-4
Author: Ellen Feldman
Read by Rosanna Pilcher
ISBN: 9781038628336
Author: Khaled Hosseini
ISBN: 9780747593775
Hi Everyone
There is so much going on in our world today. We hear snippets of news from sources of media that tell us points of view applicable to our countries. We often see only the point of view that we choose to observe. It isn't always being ignorant of what is happening - sometimes we just don't know.
I know that this book is about two women who come together through marriage to Rasheed. But this book, somehow, took me beyond the story and into a world quite different from my own. Most of my life I have been watching the dynamics between Afghanistan and America. It is not very often that we are taken into the world of the women living through it all. So many times I had to put the book down, as I grieved for the characters who quickly became women living resilient lives beyond what I see in the media.
There are so many things that this book left me thinking. I can't put it all into words here. I can only recommend that you pick this book up and see what you take from reading the lives of these women, living in a totally different continent from mine, and maybe yours. I have since been told to read the other books by this author, which are apparently just as good. I will be doing so in the future because these kinds of books are what one would call "living books".
Description:
Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. When the Taliban take over, life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism.
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Author: Jeff Kinney
ISN: 9780143778479
Hi Everyone
Who can resist a new edition of Diary of a Wimpy Kid being added to their collection every year?
I have been buying a new one of these books every year for my son, for as long as I can remember. This year, I didn't give him one, so my daughter went and purchased one for him. It has become quite a tradition.
Now, I also have my students picking them up from their school library to read. This past Christmas, the edition was - 'Hot Mess'. It still has the best illustrations, fun characters, twists and turns, and pure joy sprinkled through every page. A few of my students have read this one here during their sessions, and this is what a couple thought of it:
“I thought the book was good. There were funny parts about the grandma’s meatballs and the vacation holiday on Ruttyneck Island.”
"I liked the part when grandma lied to the family about her secret recipe. I like the drama and the pictures in the book, and when Greg freaked out when he was sitting down with the easter bunny."
So, no matter what age you are, young or old, there is some pleasure to be had from reading these books.
Description:
The pressure is building for Greg Heffley, who discovers that when you mix heaps of family, a tiny beach house, and sweltering heat, it is a recipe for disaster. Speaking of recipes, the secret ingredients behind Gramma's famous meatballs have been closely guarded for years. Can Greg unpack all his family's mysteries before their vacation is over? Or will he just stir the pot?
Author: Roderick Beaton
ISBN: 978-0-571-35357-6
Author: Meredith Jaffe
Read by: Simone Gescheit
ISBN: 9781867535430
Author: Sarah Penner
ISBN: 978-1-78955-8-975
Description:
Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary's fate is jeopardized when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking a string of consequences that echo through the centuries.
Meanwhile in present-day London, aspiring historian Caroline Parcewell spends her tenth wedding anniversary alone, running from her own demons. When she stumbles upon a clue to the unsolved apothecary murders that haunted London two hundred years ago, her life collides with the apothecary's in a stunning twist of fate-and not everyone will survive.
Available from: https://www.amazon.com
Happy reading