Puffin and Waterstones Launch Puffin Festival of Big Dreams
The Puffin Festival of Big Dreams begins today. It’s a wonderful chance for your children to get creative.
The children’s publisher, Puffin is celebrating its 80th birthday this year and today, along with Waterstones, they launch their online book festival, the Puffin Festival of Big Dreams.
It will be running for seven days (between 8th -14th June) and it will include exclusive activities for families and children.
The sessions will be at 10.30am and 3.30pm on weekdays and will run from 11am on the weekend. It will be streamed on both Puffin’s You Tube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/puffinbooks1 and Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/PuffinBooks/
The festival will be hosted by Blue Peter presenter, Radzi Chinyanganya and he will be joined by guests including Jacqueline Wilson, Jeff Kinney and Carrie Hope Fletcher. There will also be a chance to see the Coquet Island Puffins with the RSPB.
Puffin are also launching an accompanying activity kit which will include word searches, colouring sheets, an inspiration page, a reading list and a ‘draw your dream’ page. This can be downloaded here.
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Book Review: Growing Up For Beginners by Claire Calman
It’s not easy being a grown-up, but at 47, Eleanor hoped she’d be better at it by now…
When Eleanor waves her daughter off for a gap-year trip, she finds herself stuck as a satellite wife, spinning in faithful orbit around her domineering husband, with only her clever but judgmental father Conrad for comfort.
Andrew isn’t mastering the art of growing up either. But when he finds his belongings dumped in bin bags on the drive, even he can see that his girlfriend is hinting he should move out. With no other options, he moves back in with his parents.
Backing onto their garden lives artist Cecilia, living in chaotic clutter and dreaming of her ex-lovers, still acting like a stroppy teenager at the age of 66.
Four lives are drawn together by long-buried secrets of the past, and it is time for them all to grow up… before it’s too late.
The premise for this novel intrigued me so I was excited to be a part of the blog tour.
Eleanor has just seen her daughter off for her gap year trip and more than ever, things seem to revolve around her husband, Roger. He cares little for her opinions.
Andrew is not fairing much better. He has found himself back at his parents house after splitting with his girlfriend. When he meets Olivia, he likes her but it isn’t long before he gets in his own way.
Cecelia has two grown up daughters but refuses to see herself as old.
Conrad has many regrets in life, the biggest one is letting the love of his life go.
This book for me was very much about the characters. All of them are at various stages of their lives, trying to figure out who they are and what they want. All of them have internal struggles and regrets which I think many readers can find relatable. All were very well thought out and developed. I couldn’t predict where it was going to go.
I really couldn’t like Roger. He was so infuriating and unfortunately felt realistic. As for what he does with Eleanor’s books, I know where I’d be sticking those torn out pages. I wanted to give Eleanor a shake and Andrew a hug.
by Novel Kicks Book Club: The Ballard of Songbird and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
Scholastic, 19th May 2020.
Hello June. Anyone else pleased to see the back of May?
I have been looking forward to picking The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins for our book club ever since I heard that there was going to be a new Hunger Games novel.
The fact that it was going to be told from Snow’s point of view intrigued me further. I can’t wait to start reading this one and I hope you join me.
Anyone can join the discussion below at any point in the month and, as usual, I have posted a question to get things going. See you there.
About The Ballard of Songbird and Snakes:
Ambition will fuel him. Competition will drive him. But power has its price.
It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games.
The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.
The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favour or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death.
Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute… and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.
by NK Chats To… Murray Bailey
Hello Murray, thank you so much for joining me today. What was the inspiration for Singapore Killer?
The whole series was inspired by my father who was a military policeman in Singapore during the 1950s.
What prompted you to start writing the Singapore Series?
I read a Lee Child novel and thought: I can do that. I have a character and an exotic setting – plus the seeds for a plot. However I subsequently found it harder than I expected.
How much research did you do before starting?
I took my dad to Singapore for his 75th birthday. He thought it was a holiday but I never stopped asking questions. I’ve been again since. I’ve and also been to Kuala Lumpur and Penang, both of which feature in the series.
So no further research as you work?
Lots of research! I have a number of good reference books for the period including a fabulous one full of photographs. Of course I use the internet, but I also have a few readers who can also be called upon to help.
Singapore Killer is book 5. Can it be read as a stand-alone?
I hope so. It’ll help to read them in order, but it really shouldn’t matter.
Will there be a sixth book?
Yes, it’s called Singapore Fire, and it will be the last of the series. However Ash Carter may well appear in Hong Kong if he does resurface.
Map of the Dead which had flashbacks to ancient Egypt, was an Amazon best seller. Your dad didn’t inspire that one?
by Book Review: The Plus One Pact by Portia MacIntosh
What if your plus one could be the one…?
Cara has officially run out of men. Her most recent dates have gone from bad to worse, and when her dating app informs her there is no one left in her area to choose from, she is at a dead end.
But with a summer of events ahead of her, she needs to find a solution, fast; someone to keep her company at the never-ending weddings, family gatherings and gender reveal parties that she can’t face going to alone.
So when she meets handsome, confident, Millsy on a night out she may be in luck. They could not be more different in personality, but he too has a summer of events ahead and is desperate to get his family off his back about finding a ‘nice girl’. What if they made a pact to help each other out and be a plus one for the summer? Just as friends of course…?
Cara has officially run out of men. Having rejected every man on her dating app, she’s unsure what her next move should be.
Not to mention that her ex boyfriend has been invited to her cousin’s wedding and she has no-one to go with.
Then she meets Joe. Millsy to his friends. He also has a wedding to attend and just like that, they make the plus one pact. What could go wrong?
I was pleased to be included in the blog tour for The Plus One Pact. I am a fan of Portia’s books and was looking forward to reading this. It did not disappoint.
Cara for me was instantly likeable and she felt realistic. She’s strong, independent and fights for what she believes in, even if it means her cousin has more incentive to hate her.
I wasn’t so sure about Millsy to begin with. He seemed a little shallow but as the book progressed, you get to know more about him and first impressions are not always correct. Or are they?
by Book Club
