Gosh, is it October already?

Hi, everyone, and an especially big 'hello' to all the Year 3s - I'm looking forward to meeting you when I next visit.

Anyway, sorry about the silence over September. I've been wanting to make you a video, but time keeps running away with me. So instead, here's a blogpost about:

What I Read On My Holidays

All of you - except the Year 3s - will hopefully remember the little film I made for you about the Summer Reading Challenge, in which I set myself the target of reading at least 6 books over the summer. So... did I manage it? Here's a photo of all the books I read between the end of term in July and the beginning of September when my children went back to school:

Yep - definitely more than 6 there! Well done, me. So - would you like to know what they were? Of course you would. In no particular order:

A story with no name. My friend Merry let me look at her work-in progress, and very good it is too. I put it on my Kindle rather than read it on my computer.

Someone on this very blog suggested I read a HERO.COM or VILLAIN.NET book, and something by Darren Shan. So I did. Suggestions always welcome!

By one of my current favourite authors for grown-ups, this is the story of a school reunion that goes horribly wrong.

I ran out of books when I was away on holiday. My son had just finished the first Young Samurai book, and recommended it. So I read it. And then I read the second. And then I read the third. And then I read some other books. And then, at the end of the summer, I read the fourth. And then I read the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, but by that time the holidays were over so I haven't shown them here.

The story of an English boy who's shipwrecked on the shores of 17th century Japan and rescued by a samurai warrior, these are great. If you haven't come across them before now, give them a go. I'd particularly recommend them to anyone who enjoyed Harry Potter - they're quite different, but have just enough in common.



Not all in one go, but I read a lot of graphic novels this summer. Lots of fun.

 

Along with Young Samurai, A Face Like Glass was my find of the summer. Big thanks to Mr Biddle for recommending it to me. I loved every sentence. A fantastically well-written book with great characters and a truly original plot.

Another one for grown-ups, this controversial book - by award-winning children's author Philip Pullman - imagines that Jesus had a twin brother.

Neil Gaiman is another of my very favourite authors. He writes books for adults & for children - his The Graveyard Book is just brilliant. He also writes comic books, graphic novels and screenplays; he wrote the best graphic novel ever, in my opinion, as well as one of my absolute favourite Doctor Who episodes of all time (The Doctor's Wife, if you're a fan). This is a collection of short stories for grown-ups, and it didn't disappoint.





I'll be in touch again soon. In the meantime, let me know how you did in the Reading Challenge, and what your favourite books of the summer were!

John