The Book Family Rogerson Round-Up: November 2018

 

From now on I thought it would be fun to post a family round-up of our reads, movies and days out. This post will be a little disjointed as I’ve not been keeping a proper tally – I’m hoping that December’s will be more detailed.

November was busy for us because both Little M and myself celebrated our birthdays and I started a new homeworking contract that required a steep learning curve. We still enjoyed our fair share of entertainment though.  Here’s the low-down for each of us:

Mel

Books Read

• The Assassin’s Blade – Sarah J. Maas  4/5
• Throne of Glass – Sarah J. Mass 3.5/5
• Crown of Midnight – Sarah J. Mass 4.25/5
• Heir of Fire – Sarah J. Mass (partial read)

As you can tell, my reading month has been dominated by the Throne of Glass series!  I received most of the set from Bloomsbury as part of an Instagram promotion and have been absolutely hooked on the books.  I used to read YA a lot, mainly because I love fantasy and YA authors have a real knack for this genre, but this year I’ve been more immersed in adult fiction.

So it’s been great to get back into epic scenarios. Sarah J. Maas has a real talent for storytelling so I totally understand the hype. Her pacing is incredible and although some of the tropes are predictable, she really knows how to craft a story.  The quality dipped slightly in Throne of Glass but the rest have been much better than I anticipated. The only reason I haven’t finished Heir of Fire is down to lack of reading time. However I’m aiming to finish this next week as my 81-year-old mother-in-law is desperate to read the series!

Movies and TV

• Ready Player One 3.5/5

I haven’t watched much this month as I’ve been more interested in messing around on the internet.  The premise of Ready Player One was excellent although the plot had shaky moments. I’m not sure if I want to read the book or not – let me know if you enjoyed it!

Al

Books Read

• The Children’s Home – Charles Lambert 4/5
• The Diary of a Bookseller – Shaun Bythell 4.5/5
• Safe – Chris Ryan 4/5
• How to Change the World by John-Paul Flintoff 4/5

Al’s reading list was a lot more eclectic than mine.  Still in horror mode, he finished the Lambert at the beginning of the month then moved onto non-fiction.  There was a fairly significant amount of laughing out loud at the Bythell.  He said that this book has put him off running a bookshop, but it was his favourite this month. The other two reflect Al’s views on the world outlook right now. We’re all feeling the need to make positive change here.

Movies and TV

• Ready Player One 4/5
• Deadpool 2 4.5/5
• The Missouri Breaks 4/5
• The Walking Dead Season 9 4/5

I actually think he’s watched a lot more than this.  Al is much more of a film & TV enthusiast than me – mainly because he doesn’t get sidetracked by social media.  He almost stopped watching The Walking Dead last season, but the last few episodes stirred his interest again so he’s going to keep on subscribing. Deadpool 2 received his highest score for the clever dialogue and characterisation.

Little M

Books Read

• Hilda and the Troll – Luke Pearson
• Kung Fu Panda: Ready, Set, Po!
• The Selkie Child – Gill Howell and Sophie Keen
• Winnie and Wilbur: The Flying Carpet – Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul
• Father Christmas – Raymond Briggs
• Martha in the Middle – Jan Fearnley

This is a fraction of the books that Little M got through this month (the rest we’ve returned to the library).  She can decipher parts of the books listed but we tend to read them to her – either at bedtime or sometimes before tea.  At school, she’s working her way through the Oxford Reading Tree so reads 2-3 books on average per week. Despite being keen readers ourselves, we’re not putting pressure on her. We’d rather she went at her own pace and enjoyed the stories.

Movies and TV

• The Book of Life
• Duck Duck Goose
• Attack of the Clones
• CBeebies Presents: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Again, only the tip of the iceberg because I haven’t made a note of them.  Little M is mad about films and will watch movies over and over again.  The Book of Life is one of her all-time favourites so this appears regularly.  As for the Shakespeare, we had no influence there.  She found it herself on CBeebies and has seen it several times. In fact she enjoys all their Shakespeare adaptations which just shows how successful they are!

Family Days Out

A series of birthday parties meant that we couldn’t go out and about every week, but we had a couple of adventures:

A Visit to Grimm & Co * A Magical Shop

This was our second visit to this amazing enchanted shop/children’s writing charity in Rotherdam.  If you’re based around the Sheffield area then definitely go and have a look.  It’s incredibly well designed.

Getting Lost in Scarthin Books

Bookshopping at Scarthin Books is always a treat.  We have to keep these old school booksellers alive!

So that’s our family round-up. December is already jam-packed for us, but we hope that we’ll be able to fit in a good amount of bookish stuff.  In the meantime we’ll be making our way through the ever-growing TBR pile!

Wishing you a very merry Christmas

Mel, Al & Little M

xxx