My Thoughts: A Kestrel for a Knave - Barry Hines

I've been reading this book with my Year 10 pupils as part of their exam preparation. I had never read the book, having only seen the film I managed to pick it as their essential read for a two year course! I really enjoyed it and thought it created a fantastic state of place so thought I'd review it on here in case anyone is interested. It also fits in with the Novella Challenge perfectly.

The novel is set in Nothern England in the 1960s. Set in a small working class town dominated by the coal mines, boys grow up pretty secure in the knowledge that they are heading for a working life spent in the mines just like their fathers and their fathers before that.

Billy, the novels main charcter is determined not to end up working in the mines. His life pretty much sucks! He lives in a single parent family (when those things were rare!), with a mother and brother too interested in drinking and gambling to pay attention to matters such as ensuring their is enough food in the cupboard, or that Billy is at home staying out of trouble. School isn't any better, the boy is bullied by both teachers and pupils, the classes just fill his day untill he is able to leave school and go start working life.

Billy's only escape from this is through training a kestrel, its the one thing in life that he is good at, the one thing he enjoys.

The descriptions in this novel create vivid pictures in your head of the various areas of Billy's life, from the cold bedroom, the council estate to the countryside surrounding the town.

Booking Through Thursday: Books vs Movies

Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?

For me what I want from both books and films relies completely on my mood at that time. Sometimes I'm looking for something quick, easy and grabbing - A Jodie Picoult novel or a cheesy or comedy film. Other times I want things which will make me think - like a book about another country or religion, or a film depicting a life very different from the one I lead. With books I'm often looking for stunning language and depictions of scenes and characters, I also enjoy this in film it isn't what draws me to a film.

I would say that with films I'm more likely to accept cheese, romance and comedy because films are quick and instantaneous, I don't mind spending a few hours on something like this. As reading takes longer I tend tend to see these lighter things as something that I use to read alongside some big and/or serious book, or as a break between serious books.

Another Challenge! Book Awards 2

3M is hosting this again, I signed up last year then had loads of problems getting internet access in my new place so I'm going to try again this time. The aim is to read 10 award winners over 10 months, the books must come from at least 5 different awards. This will run from August 1 2008 till June 1 2009.


I'm just coming up with a list of possibilites at the moment:
1. The Gathering by Anne Enright - Booker (2007)
2. The Sea by John Banville - Booker (2005)
3. The Famished Road by Ben Okri - Booker (1991)
4. Wild Swans - Chang - British Book Award (1994)
5. Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy - Commonwealth Writers' Prize (1994)
6. Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang -Commonwealth Writers' Prize (2001)
7. Richard Flanagan, Gould's Book of Fish - Commonwealth Writers' Prize (2002)
8. Andrea Levy, Small Island -Commonwealth Writers' Prize (2005) Costa (2004)
9. Charles Frazier Cold Mountain - National Book Award (1997)
10. Gilead - Marilynne Robinson - Pulitzer (2005)

Alternatives/Extras
1. Fugitive Pieces - Michaels - Orange (1997)
2. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami - World Fantasy Award (2006)
3. Alice Munro — Runaway -Giller Prize (2004)
4.Mal Peet, Tamar -Carnegie 2005
5. Mary Norton, The Borrowers - Carnegie 1952
6. Spell of Winter - Dunmore -Orange 1996
7. The Complete Maus, Art Spiegelman - Pulitzer
8. Sunshine, Robin McKinley (Mythopoeic)
9. The Fair Folk, Marvin Kaye, World Fantasy
10. The Hours, Cunningham

My Thoughts: The Shadow of the North - Phillp Pullman

This is the second in a triology about a young woman, called Sally Lockheart, living in Victorian London. I read the first book a few months ago and really enjoyed it so I snapped up the chance to read the next one.

In this book Sally, a financial consultant discovers some dodgy dealings with an investment a client of her has made, she sets out on a voyage of discovery alongside her friends Fred and Jim, private investigators. Embezellment, fraud, photography, contacting the dead and bigamy fill the pages.

The story sounds very YA but actually has a fairly adult side to it as well. Its also well worth the read for the descriptions of Victorian London, the characters and the intricate plots that Pullman manages to create yet again.

If you have read this book feel free to comment or leave a link to your own review.

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The Sunday Salon: Other things just get in the way...

I'm going through a particually bad reading spell at the moment not managing to read anywhere near as much as usual because my life keeps getting in the way! This week it was exam marking week, 200 10 page booklets -I'm nearly finished but it has eaten up so much of my free time. I planned on finishing 3 books this week and moveing onto a fourth. I managed to finish two: The Echo Maker and Persian Brides, and I have about 40 pages left of The Shadow in the North.

Next week doesn't look like I'm going to get much reading done either as I'm out 3 evenings in a row and I still have 50 creative writing exams to mark.... only a week left at school and its the holidays so I'll have to catch up then.

This week I'm attempting:
Charlotte Simmons -Woolfe
A Walk in the Woods - Bryson

The Classics Challenge: Pre-Challenge Fun

Trish has posted these questions for us to answer before the challenge starts:

1. My favorite classic is Jane Eyre, no matter how many times I read it I am still gripped, I still get angry at Rochester and then weep at the end!

2. The classic I had the toughest time finishing is Nicholas Nickleby, having seen the film - which is very good- I expected the book to be the same but much of the story had been left out of the film (definately a good thing). A real shame as I usually enjoy Dickens.

3. I would recommend Tess of the d'Urbervilles to someone who doesn't read a lot of classics or who doesn't generally like classics because its gripping from the first page, and Tess is a character who you can really come to feel passionate about, the book makes you experience a whole range of emotions and has a great storyline.

4. To me, a classic book is a book that has managed to live way past its age and still carry a message or still is relevant to modern lives. They should take you to another world without making it hard work or making you feel out of place.

5. The type of relationship I have with classics is poor. In terms of my lack of reading of them since I finished my degree. There are many on my virtual tbr pile that I just keep putting aside, I'm hoping this challeng will prompt me towards them in real life, in particular Jude the Obscure, Bleak House (and I might attempt War and Peace but I'm not promising anything!).

My Thoughts: Persian Brides - Dorit Rabinyan

This novel explores the lives of two Jewish girls, one aged 11 the other 14. One girl is desperate to marry, she waits constantly for puberty to start so she can start married life, at the age of 11 she is taunted by the other members of the village for her skinny body and child status. The second girl is heavily pregnant, spending each day waiting for her philandering husband to return.

This novel is praised for its language and descriptions, the reviews say that the descriptions bring the village and characters to life but I didn't feel that they did. I'm not saying that I regret reading the book, I don't, but I wouldn't say that I was gripped or pulled into the story. I was interested in all the Iranian rituals and the beliefs surrounding marriage and puberty, and the idea of children so young being so desperate and ready to marry. It was a good look at a different culture.

If you have read this book feel free to comment or leave a link to your own review.