"The greatest gift is a passion for reading" - Elizabeth Hardwick
Welcome to Bookworm Ink. - a website for book lovers everywhere. Pull up a chair, grab a cuppa and have a nose around.
Check out our reviews section for my views on some of the latest books out, as well as some old favourites.
Book Chat is a blog about all things bookie including publishing news and author interviews as well as some of my own views on my favourite reads and book buying.
Possibly the highlight part of the site is Christopher's Corner - a chance for my gorgeous 7 year old to give his views and review his favourite books - it's sure to be very entertaining!
Here's a selection of my latest offerings to wet your appetite!
World Book Day: Francesca Simon Live Broadcast!
Children’s author Francesca Simon will be taking part in this year’s World Book Day celebrations in a special live broadcast on Thursday 1st March. She’ll be discussing her life as a writer as well as her most famous character the gloriously awful Horrid Henry. The event is suitable for ages 5-12 (and fans of Horrid Henry of any age!).
The event will be streamed live to audiences across the UK at 11am on World Book Day (Thursday, 1st March). It will then become available to watch again for free by Thursday, 8th March. To watch, simply follow this link: http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/authors-live-with-francesca-simon.
As well as the very successful Horrid Henry series, Francesca has also written other titles such as ‘Don’t Cook Cinderella’ and ‘Helping Hercules’. A s huge Horrid Henry fans, Christopher and I were thrilled to hear Francesca Simon speak at the Hay Literature Festival a couple of years ago, she was absolutely fantastic: very funny and entertaining. We’ll definitely be tuning into this broadcast!
Children’s author Francesca Simon will be taking part in this year’s World Book Day celebrations in a special live broadcast on Thursday 1st March. She’ll be discussing her life as a writer as well as her most famous character the gloriously awful Horrid Henry. The event is suitable for ages 5-12 (and fans of Horrid Henry of any age!).
The event will be streamed live to audiences across the UK at 11am on World Book Day (Thursday, 1st March). It will then become available to watch again for free by Thursday, 8th March. To watch, simply follow this link: http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/authors-live-with-francesca-simon.
As well as the very successful Horrid Henry series, Francesca has also written other titles such as ‘Don’t Cook Cinderella’ and ‘Helping Hercules’. A s huge Horrid Henry fans, Christopher and I were thrilled to hear Francesca Simon speak at the Hay Literature Festival a couple of years ago, she was absolutely fantastic: very funny and entertaining. We’ll definitely be tuning into this broadcast!
Review: The Angel at No. 33. By Polly Williams.
‘'Am I dead? I don't feel dead...'
Sophie cannot leave the people she loves. Her husband, Ollie - a man who once watered a houseplant for a year before realising it was plastic - is lost without her. Their son Freddie is so little. And her friend Jenny? There's something she desperately needs to know before it's too late.
Some love stories never end.’
Thirty-five year old Sophie has just been run over by a bus, leaving behind distraught husband, Ollie, young son, Freddy, and best friend, Jenny. Unknown to them, Sophie’s spirit remains watching over her beloved family and friend, doing her best to help them through their grief and the problems in their lives, whilst all the time wishing she’d had the chance to divulge a very important secret of her own before she died.
I loved the descriptions of Sophie’s spirit wafting and floating on the wind and settling around those she loved; these sections were very beautifully written and provided great insight into Sophie, who might otherwise have come across as a little too perfect. The last ‘ghost chick lit’ I read was Sophie Kinsella’s ‘Twenties Girl’, and I actually think that Williams showed slightly more originality with her spirit.
Jenny was immediately likeable: I actually preferred her to Sophie in many ways, perhaps because she came across as more ‘normal’ than beautiful and always stylishly dressed Sophie (when she was alive anyway!). I enjoyed reading about her interactions with Freddy, who I thought was also very well written.
The one aspect of this novel which I really disliked was the addition of recreational drug taking, maybe I’m a bit of a prude but I really don’t think a responsible parent would allow themselves to take coke whilst they were in sole charge of their little boy.
As a mother of four young boys I had to steel myself to read this, and cry I did, a lot. However, expertly combined with the sadness of the story, was plenty of humour. Some lovely comic moments were provided by the local mums hoping to move in on Ollie by supplying him with endless dishes of lasagne and Ocado orders. Having her heroine pop it in the first few pages is definitely a brave move, and Williams handles with it well, steering clear of clichés, and producing a book which is not only very readable, but not as mawkish as you’d imagine. My favourite Polly Williams novel so far.
4 stars
P.S. Why on why is the door on the house on the front cover red when Sophie says it’s grey?!
For more reviews go to my review section.
Sophie cannot leave the people she loves. Her husband, Ollie - a man who once watered a houseplant for a year before realising it was plastic - is lost without her. Their son Freddie is so little. And her friend Jenny? There's something she desperately needs to know before it's too late.
Some love stories never end.’
Thirty-five year old Sophie has just been run over by a bus, leaving behind distraught husband, Ollie, young son, Freddy, and best friend, Jenny. Unknown to them, Sophie’s spirit remains watching over her beloved family and friend, doing her best to help them through their grief and the problems in their lives, whilst all the time wishing she’d had the chance to divulge a very important secret of her own before she died.
I loved the descriptions of Sophie’s spirit wafting and floating on the wind and settling around those she loved; these sections were very beautifully written and provided great insight into Sophie, who might otherwise have come across as a little too perfect. The last ‘ghost chick lit’ I read was Sophie Kinsella’s ‘Twenties Girl’, and I actually think that Williams showed slightly more originality with her spirit.
Jenny was immediately likeable: I actually preferred her to Sophie in many ways, perhaps because she came across as more ‘normal’ than beautiful and always stylishly dressed Sophie (when she was alive anyway!). I enjoyed reading about her interactions with Freddy, who I thought was also very well written.
The one aspect of this novel which I really disliked was the addition of recreational drug taking, maybe I’m a bit of a prude but I really don’t think a responsible parent would allow themselves to take coke whilst they were in sole charge of their little boy.
As a mother of four young boys I had to steel myself to read this, and cry I did, a lot. However, expertly combined with the sadness of the story, was plenty of humour. Some lovely comic moments were provided by the local mums hoping to move in on Ollie by supplying him with endless dishes of lasagne and Ocado orders. Having her heroine pop it in the first few pages is definitely a brave move, and Williams handles with it well, steering clear of clichés, and producing a book which is not only very readable, but not as mawkish as you’d imagine. My favourite Polly Williams novel so far.
4 stars
P.S. Why on why is the door on the house on the front cover red when Sophie says it’s grey?!
For more reviews go to my review section.
Review: Ghost Rescue and Mutterman's Zoo. By Andrew Murray.
This book is number six in the ‘Ghost Rescue’ series. The books are about a little boy called Charlie, who is the leader of a group called Ghost Rescue. The other members of the group are ghosts, most of them are all one family called the Fairfaxs. The friends rescue ghosts in trouble. This particular book is about a zoo, where there’s a horrible man who makes an evil machine that can swap souls from one body to another. At one point of the book Charlie gets put into the machine and the Fairfax ghosts have to help him get out, that was a really exciting bit!
The ‘Ghost Rescue’ illustrations are by Sarah Horne, and there are lots of funny pictures throughout the book.
I’ve been borrowing the ‘Ghost Rescue’ books from the library and I think they’re very good. I’m really enjoying reading them. I’ve got three more Ghost Rescue books to read and I can’t wait to get them! This is a really cool adventure story for girls and boys of about six years and older.
5 stars
For more of Christopher's reviews visit his page!
