Princess of Egypt - Vince Cross

It's 1490 BC and Asha, daughter of King Thutmose, lives a carefree life at the royal court in Thebes. But when a prophecy foretells that 'a young woman will prove to be the best man in the Two Kingdoms', she's caught up in a world of plots and danger....


This is a children's fiction book from the "My Story" range by Vince Cross.... but with this theme I just couldn't resist getting it when I spotted it on the shelf in the Hospice Bookshop. The children's fiction range of books has definitely improved since my childhood (Janet and John were a boring pair! LOL). Asha is Hatshepsut, so the story is based on actual historical characters.... but with a couple of liberties taken.

Quite an interesting way of presenting a little history to children without them realising they are actually learning. ;0) Whilst there isn't enough "meat on the bones" in the story to satisfy adults (not a complaint: it did give me a couple of evenings of light, enjoyable reading) it is written in a style that most kids could relate to and enjoy.

I'll be offering this to my friend Alex for her schools' library. :0)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. By Mark Haddon

Christopher is 15 and lives in Swindon with his father. He has Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism. He is obsessed with maths, science and Sherlock Holmes but finds it hard to understand other people. When he discovers a dead dog on a neighbour's lawn he decides to solve the mystery and write a detective thriller about it. As in all good detective stories, however, the more he unearths, the deeper the mystery gets - for both Christopher and the rest of his family.

From the Back Cover
Fifteen-year-old Christopher has a photographic memory. He understands maths. He understands science. What he can't understand are other human beings. When he finds his neighbour's dog lying dead on the lawn, he decides to track down the killer and write a murder mystery about it. But what other mysteries will he end up uncovering?

Well this one I read after my son Reece, got it out of the school library. It was recommended because of the main character having Aspergers Syndrome, and it certainly helped me understand a little better what my son goes through, even though his Aspergers is not the same. But I think it is a book that everyone should read, then maybe they wouldn't be so critical of parents and their children who have a form of autism.
This book made me cry, laugh and well, nod my head in understanding. My son liked this book because of the mystery! lol

The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett

Miss Perspicacia Tick, a witch of some renown, is worried about a ripple in the walls of the universe--probably another world making contact. Which is not good. This errant activity is centred on some chalk country--where traditionally good witches simply do not grow well. Fortunately, Miss Tiffany Aching of Home Farm on The Chalk, nine years old, misunderstood and yearning for excitement, wants to be a witch and has just proved herself to be of great potential by whacking a big Green Monster from the river with a huge frying pan while using her annoying younger brother as bait. Miss Tick is impressed. So, after travelling to the chalky downs at once and dispensing some stop gap advice to Tiffany about holding the fort until she gets back with more help, Miss Tick is off.
Any hesitation Tiffany may have had about the seriousness of the situation expires when the Queen of the fairies kidnaps her younger brother. With the help of a talking frog, loaned by Miss Tick, and an army of thieving, warmongering, nippy, boozy wee free men called the Nac Mac Feegle (who used to work for the Queen but rebelled), Tiffany sets off rescue her kin.
There's humour at every turn, and the situations that follow are both wonderfully dramatic and preposterously unreal. Pratchett really is the master of his genre and it's difficult to imagine a more entertaining read.

I loved this one, (I got my son to borrow it from the school library)

I don't think there is a Pratchett book I did't enjoy, maybe that is the child in me! LOL

The Nac mac Feegle are just a superb group of Pictsies!!

If you fancy some light fun reading then this is for you!

Ingo - Helen Dunmore

Everything is wet and shining with mist. The rocks hidden, the sea hidden. Everything slippery and dangerous... the sea pulling me like a magnet.

Swimming, surfing, exploring - Sapphire and her brother Conor enjoy life by the sea in Cornwall. But why does Conor start disappearing for hours on end? And who is the mysterious girl talking to him on the rocks?

Journey to the River Sea - Eva Ibbotson

Synopsis: The girls in Maia's class told her what to expect when she reached the Brazilian jungle. "There are huge mosquitoes which bite you. You turn as yellow as a lemon and then you die."

But Maia, an orphan, can't wait to start the long sea voyage. She is to begin a new life with relatives she has never met, a thousand miles up the Amazon river. And Maia's classmates could never, even in their wildest dreams, imagine the adventures that await her on the shores of the River Sea.

You can also read more here.

This is another Children's Fiction book, this time a winner of the Smarties Book Prize Gold Award, and the writer, Eva Ibbotson, is a prolific children's book author. Aimed at and about children it is, nonetheless, another interesting read that shouldn't be discounted by adults. There's a good storyline and, even though you can guess at the way some of it will develop, there's still enough in there to keep you interested to the end.

It was also heartening to read a story that had a vein of sharing, caring, giving, co-operation and other good values running through it without it being overly cloying....... or resorting to ramming them home with a mallet.

All in all, an positive and enjoyable read with a satisfying ending.

I have registered this book with Book Crossing and it has now been wild released via the local Hospice Book Shop. :0)

Mark Haddon Book

Bit of a long title for a small paperback book but this is my latest finish:

A murder mystery with a twist as the detective and narrator in this instance is Christopher Boone, a 15 year old with Asperger's Syndrome. He's a maths whizz but knows very little about human beings. He hates the colours yellow and brown and being touched. He's never gone further than the end of the road on his own but after finding a neighbours' murdered dog he sets off on a terrifying journey which will turn his whole world upside down. More info here.

An award winning book (deservedly so, IMHO), it was written and is classed as Children's Fiction but there's a lot to interest adults too, though be warned: it's not always a happy read. It does, however, grab you from the first page and also makes you think about your own, and others, attitudes towards those in our society who are "different". So, if you ever wondered what Asperger's was, how it affects those who have it, and those around them, then this is a must read - it gives an amazing insight into those aspects and especially in to the Asperger's mindset.

I started reading it late Saturday night and finished it late Sunday night, picking it up in every spare moment possible and hardly got any stitching done because of it. Not many books make me do that! :0)