THE NEVER-ENDING BOOK STORY

Yes, I'm afraid so. Christmas is upon us. I really love Christmas. It is, of course, the most wonderful time of the year!  But I realise that not everyone feels the same as me. And finding good gifts can be stressful. With a 6-year-old in the house, I am always on the search for books to inspire and encourage a love books in my son. I thought it would be a nice idea to share some wonderful books - both fiction and factual - that would make excellent gifts for the little one in your life this festive season... The Land of Roar by Jenny Mclachlan I've recently finished reading this with my son and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. Arthur and his sister, Rose, are staying with their Grandad and, while helping with a clear out, they remember a game they used to play where they climbed through the fold up sofa bed in the attic and ended up in the imaginary land of Roar. But when Grandad vanishes, they discover that maybe Roar wasn't just in their imaginations. They

I love it when this happens. This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for about 3 years. It's never seemed the right time to read it or I've never felt much like starting it. There's always been other books I've moved to the top of my 'To Be Read' pile ahead of it for one reason or another. The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver has suffered a similar fate but for an even longer period of time. I'll get to it eventually! Perhaps I should give it a chance now because it turns out I absolutely adored Arcadia and I wish, now, that I had read it straight away. It is only because of this blog that I have selected it. It was in serious danger of being purged in a charity shop clear out. What a crying shame that would have been. Here's what the 'blurb' says (which is quite helpful since this is quite a complex tale): April, 1960: In the cellar of a professor's house in Oxford, fifteen-year-old Rosie goes in search of a missing cat -- and inste

The clocks have gone back and the nights are drawing in. As darkness descends, an eerie fog seeps through the moonlit streets and a dank chill sets in... It's All Hallow's Eve and if you're anything like me you'll be desperate to settle down with a spooky novel to lose yourself in.  As part of their Hallowe'en Takeover, I've been reading The Lost Ones by Anita Frank for HQ Stories . What better day to publish a tale of a house haunted by its past than Hallowe'en itself?! This book is out TODAY! The story is set towards the end of WW1. Our protagonist, Stella, is struggling to come to terms with the sudden loss of her fiance on the battlefield in France. Stella receives a visit from her brother-in-law, Hector, who tells he he is concerned about Stella's sister Madeleine. She is staying with Hector's mother at the family home - an imposing and somewhat ostentatious mansion called Greyswick. Hector is worried about Madeleine becoming incre

This time I've been reading 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari.  I wanted to read something that gave some background and meaning (not to mention some positivity) about some of the major problems facing society today. When I switch on the news or listen to the radio and it all seems very bleak out there. Climate change, Brexit, rising knife crime rates in the UK, endless gun crime in the US, Trump. The list goes on. In my previous post, I wrote about The Last by Hanna Jameson (check it out below if you've not already done so!) which is set in the immediate aftermath of a nuclear war which decimates most of human civilisation. It sometimes feels like we are edging closer to this becoming a reality - almost by accident in some ways. We've become too complacent about the issues that affect us all and we're on a pathway to self-destruction because too many people don't believe it could ever happen. So, is there anything we can do to stop ourselv

It's very much 'back to normal' for this post after all the excitement the arrival of Margaret Atwood's The Testaments brought! The idea of this blog is that each book inspires and kind of leads the way, or in some way directs me, to what I read next. I'm not just reading one random book after the next. This is a journey, of sorts. The last chapter of the Never-ending Book Story focused on The Handmaid's Tale. The world of Gilead which it describes is, in many ways, very insular. Very inward looking. Although the novel and its new sequel seem to be frighteningly describing a world that seems increasingly more possible, it's still - thankfully - a fairly alien world. We know from the historical notes included at the conclusion of each book that, ultimately, Gilead fails. From what we read it seems that the world is on a downward spiral until events start to turn in another direction. I thought for my next step I wanted to read something where the worst ha

Goodness! What a week or two it has been in the world of books. After a very long wait, it's finally here. The Testaments . At long last The Handmaid's Tale has a sequel. And so, to commemorate this momentous...erm...moment, I'm sidestepping away from the only-just-begun never-ending book story for this post because I simply couldn't wait to read this! I tried watching the live midnight launch in London on Instagram but I gave up pretty quickly. There was far too much screaming going on. Screaming? At a book launch ? I ask you! Well, I suppose fans can be forgiven. It's not every day this kind of thing happens. Even London's Southbank was lit up green to mark the occasion. And the view from the critics is pretty much saying it is really well worth the fuss. It was longlisted - and then shortlisted - for the Booker before publication. The Guardian say that to read it is "to feel the world turning". The Telegraph said "it races along like a

Wow! You came back! Thanks so much. Have any of you treated yourself to a copy of How To Be Invisible after my last post? I really do hope so!  You'll no doubt remember that the next step on my adventure was to re-visit The Handmaids Tale. I've been reading the glorious Folio Society edition . I'm very, very slowly (they are not cheap!!) building up a nice collection of Folio editions and they are a real pleasure to read. The paper feels so luxurious. And the illustrations are always interesting and add another layer to the reading experience. If you've never had a Folio Society book before, I urge you to treat yourself. They really are gorgeous books. Here, for your viewing pleasure, are some images of The Handmaids Tale: From the off I should say that this blog is likely to feature spoilers. I'm also assuming you don't need to be given a summary of the plot. I think that's fair given it was published 30-odd years ago!  I first read T

How To Be Invisible Hello there! Thank you for stumbling across my blog. An even bigger thank you if you are here on purpose. I hope you’ll continue the never-ending book story with me, regardless of how you found my blog. This is the very first post. So, here goes nothing... What’s the big idea, then? A good question. What is the never-ending book story when it’s at home? I'm not 100% sure and I guess things will develop and evolve as I go along. But what I do know is that I wanted to start a blog about books and reading - one of my biggest passions in life. I didn’t want to just simply pick up a book, read it, review it and then move on to the next book on my pile. I wanted to do something that would be a bit more interesting and would also challenge me to take my reading in new and exciting directions. And encourage you to do the same. I'm always keen to try new genres, styles and themes. I thought that it would be a good idea to try and let the books themselves