A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L'Engle

Madeleine L'Engle's A WRINKLE IN TIME sparked a mind-bending, universe-hopping conversation this month that spanned from Shakespeare to Pluto, tesseracts to sweetshops, and got us talking about time travel and whether in the future we might be able to live on Mars (if, say, we found a way to put a bubble round the planet and built a huge long tube to pipe oxygen there so we could breathe. But there was a worry that we might run out of metal back here on earth ...)
It's soon to be a Disney film from the director of Frozen, apparently - which is interesting because the jury was out in the bookgroup about whether it would make a good movie. Time will tell!
9 out of 10 read it all the way through, 6 out of 10 smiley faces.

"It came to me as an interesting content" - Nathan

"It wasn't my favourite" - Victor

"My favourite part was when Meg almost got killed by the black thing" - Gareth

"My favourite part was when Meg was with Aunt Beast" - Ray

"I thought the book was good because it was very much fantasy and it was exciting and you don't know what happens until you read it" - Charlie

September 2014: THE LETTER FOR THE KING

We were on a quest this month, guided by a bestselling Dutch classic that has only now been translated and published in English.

Not all of us made it to deliver the letter and be knighted - this was a book that really divided the group into those who loved it and read it at a pace - Victor couldn't wait to find out what the letter said - and some who found it too slow-moving. And then there were those who forgot to take their book on holiday with them!

It didn't stop us having interesting chats about whether we would have answered the call for help. Lois wasn't so sure - if the knock was someone selling something, she'd politely shut the door and go back to her night-long vigil, thank you very much . . .

And we decided on the virtues we would look for if we, the Knights of the Precise Geometric Shape Table, were to appoint a new member to our Table (we couldn't agree if it was a square, a rectangle, or two rectangles put together. The only thing we were sure of was that it wasn't round . . .) We designed them as shields.

and these were the Virtues:
Chivalrous
Kind
Generous
Honest
Courageous
Honest

And Aoeife's acrostic poem:
Kind
Nice
Interesting
Gracious
Helpful
Trustworthy

Lovely! A noble start to a new Book Club year.

July 2014: FAKE MUSTACHE by Tom Angleberger

For our last meeting of the year, we wanted a funny read, and Tom Angleberger didn't disappoint. We had a party to celebrate the end of a brilliant year of reading, an excellent opportunity to wear some fake mustaches of our own . . .

 and of course to draw some to our own design, complete with reviews . . .

‘It’s about a boy trying to stop a boy becoming president. I enjoyed it because it was about mustaches!’

‘It’s about a fake mustache and an evil mastermind. It was fun’

‘It was fun. I’d recommend it to a friend if they like looney stuff!’

‘I enjoyed it because it was funny’

We were even able to send video reviews to our author, and had some great messages from him via Twitter.

And it was a brilliant end to the week - and to our year - to get this message from Abrams & Chronicle, Tom's publisher:

 We swapped books to read over the summer - looking forward to what everyone thought, and to seeing you in September to talk about A LETTER FOR THE KING.

June 2014: CHARMED LIFE by Diana Wynne Jones

Before Harry Potter, there was Charmed Life. Some loved this, some didn't manage to finish and found it a little dated and slow. I still stand by it as a wonderful classic and one of my childhood favourites!

Scarlett:

‘I loved it’

Victor:

‘I enjoyed it. Because I just liked it. It’s about magic, wizardry etc. I would recommend it to a friend’

Rachel:

‘I enjoyed it because it was exciting’

Theo:

‘I liked it because of the ending’

Dylan:

‘A witch called Gwendolen is adopted by Chrestomanci and tries to annoy him. Then she goes to a different dimension. I enjoyed it because it’s about magic’

April 2014: MOMO by Michael Ende

A magical book about storytelling and the importance of taking time to do the fun and little things in life. Some struggled to get through - it maybe doesn't have the narrative drive of more contemporary fiction. Some of us were lucky enough to see the mesmerising theatre production  by Filament at Greenwich Theatre.

‘It’s about a girl called Momo and there are also men in grey and they steal time and Momo tries to get time back. I enjoyed it because it’s different from all the other books I’ve read’

‘It’s about a little girl who lives in a ruined amphitheatre and is really good at listening. I sort of enjoyed it but I had to read it really slowly.’

‘I enjoyed it because it was mysterious’

If I had hour lilies that gave me extra time to use however I liked, I would . . .

Go on the biggest water slide there is

Invite all the friends you know and play xbox for as long as you can

Do something different every day

Go to Paris with my two best friends and go shopping and stay in a Chateau with an indoor Jacuzzi and an outdoor pool

Find a neverending path and see where it leads

Ride through the Sahara desert, climb Everest, then go to Australia with my best friend and go swimming in a Jacuzzi

Work hard but don’t forget to play

Go to the Amazon with all of my friends and see all of the animals and hire a care to drive around

Go to Egypt and see all the pyramids and try to find more mummies

Go to Africa and stay in a tree with a giraffe and lions down below and an eternity pool

March 2014: CLOUD BUSTING by Malorie Blackman

It's a novel in verse, but don't let that put you off: short and very readable, with great discussion topics it's about being different, being brave, and being a true friend.

‘I enjoyed it. It told you about how things can easily change. I would recommend this book to a friend if they like short books. And they like poetry’

‘It was about a boy who was a bully and he wrote a poem about a boy he bullied. I enjoyed it because it was written in the way of a poem. It was very good’

‘I enjoyed it because I like that it’s made up of poems’

‘I enjoyed it because it was funny’

'It had a good meaning. I’d recommend it to a friend, because it helps friendship’

‘I enjoyed it because it is very dramatic. It was about a kid called Sam who was forced to play with Davey. Davey has a very good imagination.’

‘I liked it because of the drama’

 We wrote a poem together, one line each, inspired by reading Cloud Busting. Here it is:

50 per cent of life is all right

30 per cent is rubbish

Twenty percent is really great

Isn't life ...

An ice cream with a cherry on top

A cake with a scoop of ice cream

A big tub of Ben and Jerry's with big chocolate chunks

A rubber band ready to be

Pulled back and flung

A bar of chocolate covered in fudge

A never ending dream

Fast paced just like Paris

Life has nothing to do with spinach

Life is like junk food

Like kids resting under the sky cloud busting

I don't know what life is

A bread stick

Whizzing down the hillside feet off pedals

Climbing to the tallest branch of your favourite tree

and looking down at the tiny world below

A jigsaw ready to be solved

A button ready to be sewn

A mystery wherever you go

A goal ready to be scored

A water park with all the scariest rides

A fish ready to be caught

A baby in a silk dress

February 2014: THE TERRIBLE THING THAT HAPPENED TO BARNABY BROCKET