Well, it's been 2 months and only now am I getting my reads done. To be completely honest I've not been reading many books that are appropriate for children, even teens. A little Stephen King here, Ray Bradbury there...nice light reading shall we call it. In fact, for children's books, calling this month Brian's Listens is more appropriate.
You ask why? Well, I started with the Lemony Snicket audio books - the first 5 in the series to be more exact.
Firstly, we have The Bad Beginning. This is where the Baudelaire children lose their parents and are sent to Count Olaf's house to live. Read by Tim Curry, this sets the scene for the other books in the series and Curry does a fantastic job at reading it. The subtle voices are done in a similar manner to that of Stephen Fry reading the Harry Potter Series. (don't get me started on the Jim Dale/American reading - awful is too gentle a word) Definitely worth a listen.
Next we have The Reptile Room, again read by Tim Curry. After a narrow escape from Count Olaf, the incompetent Mr Poe takes the Baudelaires to Uncle Monty's house to stay. He treats them wonderfully with good food, trips to the cinemas and fun work they enjoy doing. Then his new assistant, Stephano arrives. Of course you all know who he really is...and things start to go horribly wrong. A great continuation of the story and again excellently read.
And then it goes downhill....
Don't ask me why but the publishers must have thought it'd be fun to get Lemony Snicket himself to read the next three titles. While the stories are still good the reading is a little [ weak | wet | annoying ] (tick as applicable).
So, we have The Wide Window, in which Aunt Josephine who is scared of everything (probably even her own shadow) is made responsible for the children and insists of serving cold soup all the time.
Then we have The Miserable Mill where the children are made to debark trees, saw logs and other things that children just should not be doing.
And finally The Austere Academy where the Baudelaires finally make some friends even though they are made to live in a shed full of crabs.
All of these books are thoroughly enjoyable. It's just so unfortunate that the voice reading them is so annoying and dire. I am glad to say that books 6-9 are all ready by Tim Curry - I've yet to listen to them.
Next, we have the Harry Potter books. I've listened to these several times before but the books are so good and every time I listen to them, or read them for that matter, I discover something new and realise how much has been sacrificed in the making of the movies.
This month I've listened to the The Philosopher's Stone and The Chamber of Secrets, both written by J. K. Rowling and read by Stephen Fry. The voices are not overly acted but vary enough to be able to tell the difference between the characters. (Mind you, Ginny Weasley, Mrs Weasley and Hermione all sound alike)
Always a big thumbs up from me.
Also, I listened to the Folk of the Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. I've never read the book but this seems like a lot of fun. Moonface, the Saucepan Man and Dame Washalot are all very funny characters. Of course, throw in a non-believer and you have a magical fairy adventure. Unfortunately this was an abridged version but it was good none the less.
Now the books. I had a quick read of Goliath and Wee Davie. This piece of Scottish literature is very amusing - a Glaswegian take of David and Goliath. Davie's family move to a town that is being terrorised by Goliath. They hold a town meeting to see what they can do to stop Goliath and Davie offers to help. Even if you're Scottish, you'll have a hard time following the language unless you're from Glasgow. Don't give up though. It's well worth reading and is very funny.
The next is The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. Another picture book but this is beautifully illustrated. The story is told in the form of a poem. A small mouse wanders through the forest and other creatures in the forest threaten to eat him. However, he tells them about the Gruffalo and scares them off. Of course, the mouse believes the Gruffalo isn't real...but he is... This is a really fun book. I would recommend it to parents as a bedtime story for children.
For books more appropriate to teens, try Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. This book is a classic sci-fi tale of a society that has outlawed books. The firemen no longer put out fires - they start them. They hunt down people with books and burn the books. Guy Montag, one such fireman, begins to realise that there's a problem with society and steals some books that were to be burned. It's been a long time since I've read a book so quickly. It's not a long book at around 160 pages but it's not exactly what you would call light reading. I read this over 2 days finding myself unable to put it down. The main character is so detailed and involved that I found myself not noticing the other characters. Looking back at this now, I think that was the whole point. Highly recommended.
And a little less intense yet still Science Fiction is Star Trek Enterprise: Broken Bow by Diane Carey. This is the novelisation of the pilot episode of Star Trek Enterprise. The story starts out with a Klingon fleeing an unseen assailant but ends up getting shot by a farmer in future earth (around 2150 if I remember correctly) The Enterprise and her Captain, Jonathon Archer, are set the task of returning the Klingon to their home world, Qonos. Of course, this is not going to be as simple as it sounds. The Klingon is kidnapped, the Captain is injured....quite a drama for the first book. This is quite fun to read and is well written. If you watch the TV series then you'll know exactly what is coming and when but what is surprising, at least I find, is that it is far more exciting on paper than on the screen. I suppose that's why I enjoy the books so much. Highly recommended.
Recommended this month has to be The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson for younger audiences and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury for the older readers. For audio books, It has to be the Harry Potter audio books. I can't name one specifically as I've not covered my favourite one here but the two I listened to this month are both very good.
That's all for this read.
Brian