Book 95: The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo

It is Gwyn's birthday. His grandmother arrives, and gives him a mysterious selection of gifts and strange words about his being a magician. His father refuses to mark his birthday, demanding that Gwyn complete his work on the farm as usual. And when his mother makes a lovely birthday tea for Gwyn and his friend Alun, with cake and festive food at a beautifully decorated table, Gwyn's father is furious. How could they be celebrating? How could they, after what happened to Bethan?

And what, indeed, did happen to the mysterious Bethan? What does Gwyn's grandmother mean when she tells him to give his gifts to the wind? Will Alun stand by Gwyn when strange things start happening all around him? And will Gwyn and his unforgiving father ever be reconciled?

I enjoyed the characters and the plot of this story, and particularly the references to the Mabinogion. However it seemed to be told in a very hasty sort of way, skimming over all kinds of detail and making for quite a short book. The mythological references were not as well thought out as, for example, those in Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising sequence. Perhaps this is a children's book genuinely written for children; I enjoyed it but felt it could have been much deeper. The book does have a very satisfying ending.

Book 94: The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier

At Trinity it’s all about school spirit. Each year the boys volunteer to sell a certain number of boxes of chocolate to raise funds. But when new arrival Jerry declines to sell the chocolates, the school is shaken. Archie, Obie, Carter and clandestine organisation The Vigils may be behind his refusal - but how will they react when their orders change and Jerry still refuses?

I did not greatly enjoy this account of adolescent evil. Cormier’s tendency to use a bizarre range of sometimes clashing metaphors put me off, as did the underlying message of the tale: that people, basically, are horrible. Like Lord of the Flies or I’m the King of the Castle, the author’s point seemed to be that teenage boys are really, really horrible and end up wanting to kill each other. Perhaps it’s true… perhaps some people really like that sort of book… but I don’t get it!

Book 93: Black Narcissus, by Rumer Godden

So I finished reading this one back before the wedding, when I was ill. It was during Lent and, as Noah had given up watching TV, I agreed to stop reading challenge books after finishing this one, which I had borrowed from the library.

I did rather enjoy it - though I am surprised that it was added to a list aimed at children. A curious tale of nuns taking over an old mansion, formerly used by a rich general as a home for his women folk and somehow ill-suited to any other occupation. Ayah, the one-time servant of the princess who lived there, sees no reason to welcome the nuns; the villagers do not understand them; the situation is unaccommodating and Sister Clodagh, head of the new nunnery, is obliged to rely on the help and advice of Mr Dean, the only European in the area and a man she dislikes, disapproves of - and finds extremely intriguing. “I’ll give you until the rains,” he says. But will the sisters last that long?

In brief glimses Sister Clodagh’s own history is revealed. It was this, interspersed with the conversation between Mr Dean and the nuns that I enjoyed. The way that the nuns love Mopu, despite its unsuitability as a location for their convent; the unexpectedness of the nuns’ and the locals’ reactions to each other; and the subtle change in Sister Clodagh’s character make this a book I would recommend.

Book 59j: Bagthorpes Battered, by Helen Cresswell

The final book in the Bagthorpe Saga! It's taken a long time to get to the end (the first, Ordinary Jack, was among the earliest of my challenge books; I remember reading it on the train back to Scarborough in July). This volume begins with things as chaotic as they were at the close of the previous volume (i.e. quite chaotic). Rather than neatly drawing the threads of this series together, Cresswell opts to introduce yet more unlikely elements in the form of new pets for Daisy - not, as she had hoped, a giraffe, but a rather moth-eaten and decidedly foul-mouthed parrot, and a garden snake in a cardboard box. Mrs Fosdyke's misadventures in the clutches of journalist Patsy Page are indeed rounded off, but at the close of the volume it seems that life in the Bagthorpe family will, alas, continue much as usual.

Book 59i: The Bagthorpe Triangle, by Helen Cresswell

Another tale of the Bagthorpes! This one was very difficult to acquire - I had to get Ed to borrow it from Bristol library for me. I started it during the wedding-dress-hunt-week that was half term, and finished it yesterday just before Youth Alpha. This one I read out of order because it was hard to find, so it effectively filled in the gaps between my last two Bagthorpe books. It was in keeping with the rest of the series: one feels sympathy with Jack and his mother, and sometimes with Uncle Parker; the other characters leave much to be desired in terms of pleasantness. On the whole I rather enjoyed it as a little light reading in between the stresses of wedding planning and being a Reception teacher.

Oh yeah, you want an actual synopsis... Mr Bagthorpe, having sucked a sock up with the hoover, departs into town with said hoover in the boot of his car, ostensibly to get it fixed but in reality to have scampi and chips at the local pub. Meanwhile his wife, finally overcome by the stresses and strains of living in her less-than-sympathetic family, utters an astonishing scream and shortly afterwards disappears. Nobody, apart from Jack, seems remotely concerned for her welfare. There is, however, a concerted search on for the also disappeared tramp, Mr O'Toole, whom Aunt Celia believes to be a guru of great spiritual importance to the life of her unborn twins, and whom Mrs Fosdyke believes to be an eccentric millionaire in disguise. The widespread rumours of a murderer on the loose, coupled with the unexpected (and untidy) reappearance of a member of Mrs Fosdyke's own family, lead to a series of events extreme even by the exacting standards of the Bagthorpe family.

Book 92: Hoping It Might Be So, by Kit Wright

OK, I've made a mistake in the numbering somewhere... I listed the Herriot as Book 92, but I've definitely got 8 more books to read after this one. So we'll have two 92s. Wonder where I went wrong.

Anyway, the book. Strange to say, I hated it. Didn't enjoy it at all. Yes, Kit Wright's poetry is brilliant. His sense of rhythm, rhyme and phrasing is almost impeccable. But his chosen subjects and the attitudes he expresses are sarcastic, rude or plain depressing. I remember greatly enjoying Cat Among the Pigeons (his book of verse for children) when I was younger, but this volume was quite a disappointment. In fact I'm surprised it came up on this list of books for children to read - some of the content was quite shocking. Cat Among the Pigeons would have been a much better choice!

Film 75: "Empire of the Sun"

Synoapsis: "Empire of the Sun"

A very young Christian Bale plays Jamie is spoiled. He's also living in a wealthy British imperialist sort of community of Shanghai in WWII China, just as the unofficial war between China and Japan rages on. His parents are reluctant to move back to Britain, even though most of the residents have been evacuating the country for weeks. With tensions between the nations mounting, Jamie's dad moves the family to a hotel in Shanghai for a while, just as Japan attacks the city.

In a mad panic of British citizens and Chinese peasants alike, Jamie becomes separated from his family and forced to live on the streets of the war torn city. The film follows his journey from scraping the bottom of tins in his empty mansion under Japanese occupation to street life in Shanghai to removal to an internment camp, where his story is far from over.

The best bit:

There's so much to this film that it's difficult to pick one moment as the most significant or defining moment for Jamie because it's a slow progression for him from spoiled childhood to becoming a human being with real character. I'll have to settle with a moment that Jamie was particularly proud of- when he crossed the perimeter fence to catch a pheasant for a big American thanksgiving.

Marks out of 10:

Visually, this was not quite stunning but still captivating. It's an amazing story turned into a heart-breaking yet wonderful film. It shows fantastic character development all around and speaks to the audience about the nature of war in terms of how one chooses a side. I'd recommend it. 9.5