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...