My Lockdown Books: Five
I read the Katy books by Susan Coolidge when I was a child. I have a vague idea that I also saw a BBC adaptation…
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My Lockdown Books: Four
As a teenager I collected Bodley Head career novels. I had loads; they were easy to find. And then, in one of our moves, I…
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
If you were looking for a novel that captures the popular essence of Edinburgh in the 1930s, there's a fair chance you would light upon…
Continue reading → The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
The Things That Will Not Stand by Michael Gerard Bauer
Last month Michael Gerard Bauer won the Prime Minister's Literary Award for his young adult novel, The Things That Will Not Stand. I should clarify…
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Kate Greenaway Medal
Alongside the Carnegie Medal sits its sister prize the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal. The nominations list for it has also been published today. The nominating…
Carnegie Medal
The nominations for the CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals were published today. As a former judge, I'm always excited, interested and sometimes disappointed. Like…
Adding to my Collection
Whilst I'm always on the lookout for books to add to my collection, there are times when I'm much more pro-active about it. The last…
Christmas Day
DE Stevenson was a best-selling author of her day, the mid-twentieth century. She wrote romances and family stories often with a bit of an edge.…
Christmas Eve
If you’ve been reading this blog of mine for any length of time you’ll be familiar with my panegyrics on LM Montgomery. I make no…
23rd December
My friends Anna and Suzanne, who lived across the road from me growing up, owned a copy of Elizabeth of the Garret Theatre and kindly…
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