Meeting of 20 September 2014

On a wet Saturday morning, we met together at the flagship library of the Auckland City Council - the Central Auckland Library.  It was a surprise to see how much had changed, and we were sure that the number of books especially in the children and teenage section had struck.  Nonetheless, we found a space to sit, and talk through the books we had read in the past 3 weeks.  They were

The wee free men by Terry Pratchett
When Tiffany Aching sets out to become a witch, she faces ominous foes and gains unexpected allies. As she confronts the Queen of Fairies and battles an ancient, bodiless evil, she is aided (and most ably abetted) by the six-inch-high, fightin', stealin', drinkin' Wee Free Men! Laugh-out-loud humour and breathtaking action combine in the books that launched the unforgettable adventures of a determined young witch and her tiny but fierce blue friends.

Not a popular choice as only 1 person had read it.

The witch in the Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
A young woman brought up in Barbados comes to live with her uncle in Connecticut, and finds their Puritan way of life difficult after her unconventional upbringing. In 1687 Kit Tyler, feeling out of place in the Puritan household of her aunt, befriends an old woman considered a witch by the community and suddenly finds herself standing trial for witchcraft.

A definite favourite, as was the other book we had read by this author (The Bronze Arrow).

Joey Pigza swallowed the key by Jack Gantos
To the constant disappointment of his mother and his teachers, Joey has trouble paying attention or controlling his mood swings when his prescription medications wear off and he starts getting worked up and acting wired.

There was a mixed reaction to this.  Some liked the funny side of it all.  It is interesting from an adult point-of-view to understand how the world may seem from the view of an ADHD boy.

Meeting of 30 August 2014

It has been 4 weeks since the last meeting, so there was a lot of catching up to do, with Kat, Kath, Bronwyn, Barbara, Ben and Yvonne.  The Roskill Coffee Project provided a great location, with good coffee to boot.  Here is what we discussed...

Fathers Arcane Daughter by E.L. Konigsburg

Winston Carmichael has it all: a big house, servants, vacations in Palm Beach, and a fancy private school. But with overprotective parents and a sense of responsibility for his younger sister, Heidi, Winston sometimes feels more as if he's living in a prison than a dream.

Then one day a woman appears at the front door claiming to be Caroline -- Winston's half sister, who was kidnapped and presumed dead long before he and Heidi were born. Is she really Caroline? Is she an imposter? Or is she something far more complicated than either? And does she hold the key that could unlock the door to Winston's prison?

Sounder by William H. Armstrong

Set in the Deep South, this Newbery Medal-winning novel tells the story of the great coon dog, Sounder, and the poor sharecroppers who own him.

During the difficult years of the nineteenth century South, an African-American boy and his poor family rarely have enough to eat. Each night, the boy's father takes their dog, Sounder, out to look for food and the man grows more desperate by the day.

When food suddenly appears on the table one morning, it seems like a blessing. But the sheriff and his deputies are not far behind. The ever-loyal Sounder remains determined to help the family he loves as hard times bear down on them.

The graveyard book by Neil Gaiman

When a baby escapes a murderer intent on killing the entire family, who would have thought it would find safety and security in the local graveyard? Brought up by the resident ghosts, ghouls and spectres, Bod has an eccentric childhood learning about life from the dead. But for Bod there is also the danger of the murderer still looking for him - after all, he is the last remaining member of the family. A stunningly original novel deftly constructed over eight chapters, featuring every second year of Bod's life, from babyhood to adolescence. Will Bod survive to be a man.

Meeting of 2 August 2014

This morning we checked out Barbara's regular Saturday morning cafe on Ponsonby Road.  It has a   lovely homely atmosphere with one table definitely making a lot of the noise.  That will be the lively discussion.

And what we discussed was...

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

He's a boy called Jew. Gypsy. Stop thief. Runt. Happy. Fast. Filthy son of Abraham. He's a boy who lives in the streets of Warsaw. He's a boy who steals food for himself and the other orphans. He's a boy who believes in bread, and mothers, and angels. He's a boy who wants to be a Nazi some day, with tall shiny jackboots and a gleaming Eagle hat of his own. Until the day that suddenly makes him change his mind. And when the trains come to empty the Jews from the ghetto of the damned, he's a boy who realizes it's safest of all to be nobody. Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli takes us to one of the most devastating settings imaginable -- Nazi-occupied Warsaw of World War II -- and tells a tale of heartbreak, hope, and survival through the bright eyes of a young orphan.

A Nancy Drew mystery by Carolyn Keene  such as The secret of Red Gate Farm

Solving crime never takes a vacation! While off on a summer visit to Red Gate Farm, Nancy becomes suspicious of a secret society gathering near the ranch. Her curiosity gets the best of her and she is drawn to investigate. Despite the risks to her own safety, the pretty titian-haired detective remains undaunted in her determination to solve the mystery.

Bone. Vol. 1, Out from Boneville [graphic novel] by Jeff Smith with color by Steve Hamaker.

After being run out of Boneville, the three Bone cousins - Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone, are separated and lost in a vast uncharted desert. One by one, they find their way into a deep forested valley filled with wonderful and terrifying creatures.

Meeting of 12 July 2014

This was a meeting where we welcomed back two of our travellers - Barbara and Ben.  Unfortunately, the winter weather laid Kath low, and Bronwyn was still coughing from her illness.  Yet, we had a lovely lunch together, hosted by Bronwyn, and had a chance to have a great catch up in-between discussing books.

The titles we covered were

Moonfleet   by John Meade Falkner
When fifteen-year-old orphan John Trenchard is banished by his Aunt Jane, he goes to live at the local inn with the mysterious Elzevir Block, whose son has been killed by Customs Officers. Unofficially adopted by Block, John comes to learn the reasons for the noises in the graveyard at night, of 'Blackbeard' Mohune's lost treasure and Elzevir Block's secret.
This dashing tale of eighteenth-century Dorset smugglers will be enjoyed by all who love stories of daring written in the tradition of Treasure Island.

Roll of thunder, hear my cry by Mildred D. Taylor

The Mississippi of the 1930s was a hard place for a black child to grow up in, but still Cassie didn't understand why farming his own land meant so much to her father. During that year, though, when the night riders were carrying hatred and destruction among her people, she learned about the great differences that divided them, and when it was worth fighting for a principle even if it brought terrible hardships.

An Asterix book by Goscinny and Uderzo

There were varied opinions about this - some laughed out loud at the humour, others didn't like the sexism.  The character names were a description in themselves. The drawings were not a clear (and clever?) as the TinTin books.  Yet it is great to have actually read one for ourselves.

Meeting of 21 June 2014

The meeting may have been a little slow starting due to people arriving later than planned - unexpected circumstances!

The Corner Cafe on Pt Chev Rd, with Kath joining us for the first time, was a great little spot for a really fun and noisy meeting.

And what we discussed was

Walk two moons by Sharon Creech

Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins. What is the meaning of this strange message left on the doorstep? Only Sal knows, and on a roadtrip with her grandparents she tells the bizarre tale of Phoebe Winterbottom, Phoebe's disappearing mother and the lunatic. But who can help Sal make sense of the mystery that surrounds her own story . . . and her own missing mother?

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

The first time Melanie Ross meets April Hall, she's not sure they have anything in common. But she soon discovers that they both love anything to do with ancient Egypt. When they stumble upon a deserted storage yard, Melanie and April decide it's the perfect spot for the Egypt Game. Before long there are six Egyptians, and they all meet to wear costumes, hold ceremonies, and work on their secret code. Everyone thinks it's just a game until strange things start happening. Has the Egypt Game gone too far?

Any Tin-Tin book by Herge

The series is set during a largely realistic 20th century. Its hero is Tintin, a young Belgian reporter. He is aided by his faithful fox terrier dog Snowy. Later, popular additions to the cast included the brash and cynical Captain Haddock, the highly intelligent but hearing-impaired Professor Calculus, and other supporting characters such as the incompetent detectives Thomson and Thompson  and the opera diva Bianca Castafiore

Meeting of 31 May 2014

This was a very small meeting of two.  The venue was The Block in Blockhouse Bay, on Market Day.  Once we had parking sorted beside the public library it was broche and croissant with a hot drink to get the discussion flowing.

So what did we discuss...

Trash by Andy Mulligan

Raphael is a dumpsite boy. He spends his days wading through mountains of steaming trash, sifting it, sorting it, breathing it, sleeping next to it. Then one unlucky-lucky day, Raphael's world turns upside down. A small leather bag falls into his hands. It's a bag of clues. It's a bag of hope. It's a bag that will change everything.

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

kira-kira (kee' ra kee' ra): glittering; shining Glittering . That's how Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people's eyes. When Katie and her family move from a Japanese community in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia, it's Lynn who explains to her why people stop them on the street to stare. And it's Lynn who, with her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow. But when Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering -- kira-kira -- in the future. Luminous in its persistence of love and hope, Kira-Kira is Cynthia Kadohata's stunning debut in middle-grade fiction.

The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K Le Guin

Ged was the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, but once he was called Sparrowhawk, a reckless youth, hungry for power and knowledge, who tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance.

Meeting of 3 May 2014

Last weekend of the holidays - so first of all we had to talk about all the adventures we had been having since the last time we met.  Over breakfast at  Olaf's in Mt Eden Bronwyn, Kat and Yvonne went on to discuss the following books.

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - actually we didn't discuss this too much as two of the three there had not finished reading it!

Beloved for more than a century, Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and continues the adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, and Jim as they travel the Mississippi river valley. Criticized for its colloquial language and use of racial stereotypes and slurs, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn exposes and challenges racist attitudes in the Southern United States at the close of the 19th century.

One Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes

Eleanor Estes’s The Hundred Dresses won a Newbery Honor in 1945 and has never been out of print since. At the heart of the story is Wanda Petronski, a Polish girl in a Connecticut school who is ridiculed by her classmates for wearing the same faded blue dress every day. Wanda claims she has one hundred dresses at home, but everyone knows she doesn’t and bullies her mercilessly. The class feels terrible when Wanda is pulled out of the school, but by that time it’s too late for apologies. Maddie, one of Wanda’s classmates, ultimately decides that she is "never going to stand by and say nothing again."

Go Saddle the Sea by Joan Aiken (Um, two people hadn't read this!)

Despised by his Spanish relatives and ignored by his distant grandfather, twelve-year-old orphan Felix Brooke is lonely and unhappy. So when he's given a parcel with a blood-stained letter from his dead father, it inspires him to track down his long-lost English family. Felix packs his bag, jumps on his trusty mule and heads for the coast and a new life. But his journey across the mountains and over the sea does not prove to be plain sailing - as Felix soon discovers . . .


Something tells me that we were all too busy holidaying to read.  Maybe next meeting will see more books finished.

Meeting of 29 March 2014

Phew! The meeting actually happened, with a lot of to-ing and fro-ing.  Early(!) on Saturday morning, three of us met at the Roskill Coffee Project to sample the wares (yummy-plus), enjoy great service and to discuss books.

Roskill Coffee Project - we will be back.

And what did we discuss...

A Meg title by Holly Beth Walker - one of the 6 Meg titles written, chosen at random from Kat's childhood collection.  Published in the late 1970s these wholesome American books were a great read, exciting in the same terms as the Enid Blyton Famous Five.

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo (winner of 2014 Newbery Medal) 

Rescuing a squirrel after an accident involving a vacuum cleaner, comic-reading cynic Flora Belle Buckman is astonished when the squirrel, Ulysses, demonstrates astonishing powers of strength and flight after being revived.

Stand Tall by Joan Bauer  

Tree, a six-foot-three-inch twelve-year-old, copes with his parents' recent divorce and his failure as an athlete by helping his grandfather, a Vietnam vet and recent amputee, and Sophie, a new girl at school. (A very popular choice!)

Meeting of 1 March 2014

The meeting point - Bread and Butter at Ponsonby Central - was a revelation to some of us.  With the fresh food market and all the eateries, it is definitely a place to go back too.

So what did we discuss...

Enid Blyton's Famous Five 

 We were all encouraged to read any one of the Famous Five - and an enjoyable read it was.  Some of the story and langauage may have been a little old fashioned, but the excitememnt of the adventure was very catchy.  We were impressed.

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
The 2012 Newbery winner - it is surprising that it is available for a few dollars!  Some of the story is very fun, the obituaries are really cleverly written, and town history faccinating.  There were some distirbing parts such as the parents each trying to dominate the son.  A good read overall.

Meeting of 8 February 2013

There is a change of format this year, and the Saturday morning meeting was a refreshing change.

At the Auckland Public Library we went along to

 

followed by coffee at the Art Gallery.

Here we discussed the following books.

The 13 clocks by James Thurber

James Thurber's sublimely revamped fairy tale, in which a wicked Duke who imagines he has killed time, and the Duke's beautiful niece, for whom time seems to have run out, both meet their match, courtesy of an enterprising and very handsome prince in disguise.








The Wonderful O by James Thurber 
Confusion reigns on the island of Ooroo when the letter O is banished.










The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay
The adventures of those splendid fellows Bunyip Bluegum, Bill Barnacle and Sam Sawnoff, the penguin bold, and of course their amazing, everlasting and very cantankerous Puddin'. 

Meeting of 22 January 2014

Summer reading....  The task for the summer was to read Alice in Wonderland.  And to discuss this, we met at Kat (and Digby's) home.  Many edition of the book, with lots of various comments about different characters and the plot.

Meeting of 5 December 2013

Barbara hosted the meeting this evening.  The books we discussed were

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Some Pig. Humble. Radiant. These are the words in Charlotte's Web, high up in Zuckerman's barn. Charlotte's spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig named Wilbur, who simply wants a friend. They also express the love of a girl named Fern, who saved Wilbur's life when he was born the runt of his litter.

Flowers for Algenon by Daniel Keyes

the beloved, classic story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In poignant diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance--until Algernon begins his sudden, unexpected deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie?



Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

The much-loved tale of how Danny and his father outwitted the mean Mr Victor Hazell. Danny thinks his dad is the most marvellous and exciting father a boy could wish for. Life is happy and peaceful in their gipsy caravan, until one day Danny discovers his dad has been breaking the law. What's more, soon Danny has to join his father as they attempt to pull off a daring and devilish plot against horrible, red-faced Mr Victor Hazell...