A book from my childhood

The second book in my 2017 reading list is one from my childhood, and one that I think a lot of you will be familiar with.



Enid Blyton books were a huge part of my childhood, and I would spend many hours poring over the short stories, Faraway Tree series and The Famous Five. Since I wasn't an active kid due to health problems, these books were my chance to take part in something magical, and I especially loved Joe, Beth and Fanny in the Faraway Tree books.

The one thing I will say straight away is that I am disappointed in the censorship of the new Enid Blyton publications. Fanny has been changed to Frannie, their cousin Dick is now Rick, and even Dame Slap was changed to Dame Snap, who snaps at the children instead of hitting them. One paragraph I found particularly humorous was this one- check out the warnings for waving the hot kettle around!



Other than the changes due to the PC brigade, I still absolutely love this story and my boys have been enjoying reading a few chapters each day during the school holidays.

Do you have a favourite Enid Blyton book? I would love suggestions on which ones to read to my boys next!

26 Books in 2017

As a total bookworm, I read at least two books a week and find it the best way to relax at the end of the day. Even as a child I always had my nose in a book, and I am glad that I have passed on my love of reading to my children,

When I saw the Goodwill Librarian reading challenge, I was very eager to get on board as I have gotten to the stage where my bookshelf has been read over and over.

The library is a five minute walk to my house but I am usually there for the boys' books choices, so I have decided to visit the library by myself every fortnight. 

I am going to do this list in order, and so would love any suggestions you may have for upcoming books!

The first book I am going to focus on is a book I read in school- I loved English class in high school and remember reading ahead as I couldn't wait to finish most of the stories. I also did English Literature classes at university, where I fell in love with the Maus Books by Art Spiegelman. 

I studied the first book in one of my English Literature classes, and I had to know what happened so I brought the second book too. These books tell the story of the Holocaust through the eyes of the author's father who was an Auschwitz survivor.

You may think this is a pretty heavy reading- but the story is made even more interesting by the fact that this is a graphic novel style book. It portrays the Jews as mice, the Germans as cats and the Americans as dogs, with other nationalities represented by different animals throughout the book also. 

I am going to read both Book 1 and 2 in the next fortnight as I go through a lot more than 26 books a year, but these ones are going to bring back fond memories of my time at university! 

Each fortnight I will share the book I have chosen, as well as my thoughts on the previous week's book. I hope you will come back and check in on my reading journey this year!