Monthly Archives: October 2014

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell, reviewed by RubySlippers

bone-clocksI love David Mitchell’s books because they never do quite what you expect them to do. The Bone Clocks feels as though it is set in our world, but it keeps you off-balance all the time, teetering on the brink of toppling into something quite other.

There are six chapters, each covering a decade, each told in a distinctive voice, starting with Holly Sykes running away from home as a fifteen-year-old in 1984. Subsequent chapters are narrated by other people, but they all connect with Holly Sykes in some way, and her story threads through all the other stories, until we come full circle into an apocalyptic future where Holly is central.

This is a fantastical intricate jewel of a book which I could read again tomorrow.

 

 

Book of the Week – A Drowned Maiden’s Hair, by Laura Amy Schlitz

drowned maiden's hairIn honour of Hallowe’en, this week’s Book of the Week is a Victorian Gothic Melodrama featuring a feisty orphan, Maud, unexpectedly adopted by three sisters into a seedy world of spiritualists and seances and extortion. Maud is desperate to be loved and to belong, so she does everything Miss Hyacinth asks her to, even when her conscience tells her it is wrong.

The blurb says:

On the morning of the best day of her life, Maud Flynn was locked in the outhouse singing “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”.

Plain, clever, impertinent Maud cannot believe her luck when she is plucked from her dreary existence at the Barbary Asylum for Female Orphans and adopted by the wealthy Hawthorne sisters. But life with her new guardians turns out to be quite different from anything Maud could have imagined…

The Library Team’s recommended reads for Hallowe’en…

The October week holiday is an ideal time to do some extra reading, and there are some great scary books out there! We would like to recommend our favourite frighteners to read in preparation for Hallowe’en.

Lockwood & CoZom-B

say her name

untitled

enemy

 

 

 

 

  • Lockwood & Co. – The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud because spectral disturbance could absolutely be a real thing, and they have rapiers! We have the second in the Lockwood & Co series, The Whispering Skull, in the library as well. Click here to find out more about both books.
  • Zom-B and the rest of the series by Darren Shan because they scoop out peoples’ brains… Find out more here.
  • Say Her Name by James Dawson because you will never, ever want to look in a mirror again! Click here to visit James Dawson’s site and find out about his other books.
  • Raised by Wolves, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes because of the sheer gruesomeness of the werewolf killings. Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ site is here.
  • The Enemy series by Charlie Higson because of how realistic a threat the zombie apocalypse is (everyone should be scared of the zombie apocalypse). The official site (here) has some amazing videos – some of them might almost be documentaries….

These are our favourite five scary books – why not tell us yours?

 

The Wolves In the Walls by Neil Gaiman, reviewed by AD

WolvesinthewallsI recommend you read ‘The Wolves in the Walls’ because it is a fun and interesting novel, especially as the family have strange and unusual hobbies. My favourite part was when Lucy went back into the house at night and the wolves were inside impersonating them.

It was a great read.

(I love The Wolves in the Walls because of the amazing artwork by Dave McKean – Mrs V.)

Billionaire Boy by David Walliams, reviewed by JS

billionaireboy‘Billionaire Boy’ is a hilarious novel, with the odd spark of romance. I really loved how Walliams gave the character a snobby attitude at the start of the novel, which then eroded to warm heartedness. My favourite part was when everyone who used ‘Bumfresh’ gained a marvellous medical affliction – their rear ends turned purple – and a chart was made to measure how purple their rear ends were.

Hilarious!

Buzz Off Cancer

clicsargentOn Friday the 17th of October, Buzz Off Cancer will be held in the hall at 10:45 during periods three and four. The event will include music and lights while 5 pupils/teachers at a time; as there are lots, will be shaved of their hair or in girls cases ponytails will be removed . 5 hairdressers from West Lothian Collage have given up their time to attend and cut/shave the heads. Already a girl has raised £50.

The event has been organised by Mr Payne and the S6 charity community, the money raised will go to CLICSargent and Sick Kids. Teachers and pupils have signed up and will be taking part over 30 pupils have already signed up and more every day, teachers include Mr Weston, Mr Payne, Mr Morris, Mr Dieke, Mr Vennall and Mr Hughs.

Raffle tickets will be on sale until the day before the event (Thursday 16th October) tickets are £1 each.

To donate money to a charity here are the numbers to text : CLICSargent = BZZZ98 £2 to 70070

Sick Kids = BZZZ99 £2 to 70070

Or donate through the Just Giving page  http://www.justgiving.com/WCHSBuzzoffcancer

Book of the Week – Clariel by Garth Nix

ClarielThis week’s Book of the Week is the long-awaited Clariel, set six hundred years before Sabriel. If you love fantasy, then Garth Nix’s series are the books for you: complicated, twisty, dark and clever, they will draw you into the world of the Old Kingdom.

The blurb says:

The beautiful royal city of Belisaere is the jewel in the crown of the Old Kingdom. Its citizens are wealthy, refined and noble. They are also dangerous, cruel and riddled with corruption…

Sixteen-year-old Clariel is not adjusting well to city life. She yearns to be roaming free in the forest, not continually making mistakes in this new city filled with courtiers, false flattery, secrets and endless rules of propriety.

Then Clariel’s destiny takes an unexpected turn. A dangerous Free Magic creature is stalking Belisaere. Is it coincidence that the creature has arrived at the same time as her family? Or is this a warning that the ancient rules binding Abhorsen, King and Clayr are crumbling? Clariel aches to escape this dangerous, cloistered world, and the burden of responsibility that comes with it – but when your path calls, can you disobey?

We have Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen in the library too – as well as many of Garth Nix’s other books. The Old Kingdom books are currently displayed on the main Library Desk, and the rest are in the junior fiction section of the library.

More Than This by Patrick Ness, reviewed by LV

morethanthisIt has been a while since I have found a book that I didn’t just simply love because the story was good, but also because I truly understood what the author was trying to say. More Than This by Patrick Ness was one of the first books to hit me like this in such a long time. I adored every page of it. The story begins, and I mean the three pages of a four-hundred and seventy eight page novel, with the main character drowning. Then, he wakes up again, no-where near the place where he died. He finds himself in a very familiar, yet different world, a world that he fully recognizes but can’t quite bring himself to call ‘home’. He is seemingly alone on the planet; unable to tell where he is, assuming that it is some sort of self-created Hell.

It’s hard to talk about the book more than that without spoiling it. What I can say is that it tackles a very interesting subject in Philosophy with, I would argue, more success than a great number of Philosophers. There is a problem with the nature of existence, in that we can’t truly be sure that anything is actually real. How do we tell for certain that the world that we live in is even there? We can’t be sure of anything; we don’t know if we are actually sitting at a table reading a book, or if a machine is just tricking me into thinking that we are. For centuries, people have been struggling with this idea; it can be pretty daunting to think about. This book makes you think without making you work for it.

The book itself is a joy to read. The story is amazing, full of twists and utterly jaw dropping moments. I’ve never been a fan of Ness’ writing style before, I tried to read The Knife of Never Letting Go and found it a little… Meh, to be honest. But More Than This is something special. There isn’t a wasted word throughout the book; each little letter printed on the page makes your skin tingle or the hairs on your arms stand to attention. I don’t know if I could find a fault in it if I tried. I bought this book because it had a review by John Green on the cover, and I am so glad I did. I have a newfound respect for Ness.

More Than This blew my mind more than I thought a book could. I think my heart stopped at least twice while reading. I’ve read it a few times now, and each time it impresses me more and more. I feel like everyone should try to read this (but it might be the Philosophy nerd inside me speaking) as it’s a simply enjoyably exciting read which makes you truly think about what we have in life without you realizing quite how hard you’re thinking about it.

Ness is a damn genius.