Looking Back at Some Holiday Reads

It’s back to school this week and we are reminiscing on the holiday season and all the good reads. We believe that every good Christmas stocking or holiday treat should have had at least one book in it or a reasonably priced tablet to connect to the local digital library. With the holiday season coming to an end we thought we’d give you some ideas of what to read next. We asked around the house to see who’s reading what…

I’ll go first!  I’m reading Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.  It was recommended to me by several people a while ago, and so I approached it cautiously – often cult books are a bit disappointing – but not this, and I’m enjoying it so much I don’t want it to end.  Every woman, feminist, cook, dog- lover, chemist, rower, and just everyone really, will love this book. Before this I read The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak. The book is set in Cyprus and is partly narrated by the fig tree which is original and magical. The book deals with the war that occurred there in the 1970’s, the subsequent uprooting and re-settling of the characters in England and the digging up and proper burying of people killed in the war.

Two other family members are coincidentally both reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail HoneymanSo far they both seem to be enjoying it, but then they haven’t finished it yet…  One of the girls just finished Verity by Colleen Hoover – and she’s been pestering me to read it because she really enjoyed it and couldn’t put it down.  Another’s been working her way through The 5am Club by Robin Sharma and has become a complete disciple.

Other books on the go are Bruce Whitfield’s book, The Upside of Down,  John Le Carre’s The Tailor of Panama, and another is reading The Communist Manifesto (with some good pictures to make it interesting).

We hope you’ve all had a good start to the year and have some good reads to recommend (pop them in the comments… sharing is caring)!

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

Travelling in the time of COVID: Our picks for December’s reading list

School holidays usually make us think about travel and adventure, but as we reach the end of this COVID year , the only sort of travel and adventure most of us will experience is to be found in books. And the great thing about the Book Village Digital library is that it never closes.

We have chosen 10 books from our library that will take you, wherever you are, to worlds of adventure, mystery and survival.

1. Jock of the Bushveld

A classic South African adventure, travel story of the smallest, bravest and best pup of the litter is Jock of the Bushveld (based on the film and written by Lesley Beake).  Set in the 1870’s when hopeful gold diggers are streaming into South Africa and opportunities, dangers and crooks lie around every corner.

2. Magic Tree House Collection

Readers from ages 6-10 can adventure through history with Jack and Annie with the help of spellbinding books and a tree house filled with mysterious powers.

3. Dogtective William Series

Children will love reading the thrilling adventures of 12 year old  South African, Adrian and his four-legged detective hero, rescue dog William, described as a cross between Hercule Poirot and Paddington Bear.  Read their adventures as they investigate rhino poaching in the Bushveld, diamond theft in Namibia and the theft of a celebrity pet in New York.

 4. Mission Survival Series by Bear Grylls.

Meet Beck Granger, fearless traveller and youngest survival expert, and follow his explosive adventures. From the Colombian jungle to the frozen wilderness  of Alaska to the Sahara desert, Beck Granger has the skills to make it out alive.

5. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

Audiobook

The heroine in this breathtaking tale of murder and mutiny on the high seas is 13 year old Charlotte Doyle who finds herself the lone passenger on the long voyage from England to Rhode Island in 1832.  

6. Wild Robot Series

Audiobook

What happens when technology and nature collide? When robot Roz opens her eyes for the first time, she discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island.  Can she survive in the wilderness?

7. I Will Always Write Back

Audiobook

The compelling, true story of the correspondence between a Zimbabwean boy and an all-American girl that started as a class assignment and developed into a friendship that changed both their lives.

8. Alone on a Wide Wide Sea by Michael Morpurgo

Audiobook

“I was there on the quayside to see Allie take her out for the first time, saw her dancing through the waves, and I knew I’d never built a finer boat.”

Inspired by the history of English orphans transported to Australia after World War 2, it is an adventurous, life affirming novel in two parts.

9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid

This is easily the most popular series in the library.

 Join Greg and his family on their surprise road trip in The Long Haul, or in The Getaway, when the family go on a tropical holiday, where everything that can go wrong does. 

10. The Adventures of Tin Tin 

Whilst we don’t have Tintin in our library yet, we just couldn’t leave him out.  Tintin is surely the most intrepid travelling book character of all time. Tintin and Snowy visited dozens of countries, real and fictional, in all five continents and even went into space during their 23 adventures. 

Photo by PerfPhoto by Perfecto Capucine on Unsplash

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