Ok, so I've tried to come up with a list of favourite books I've read over the past year and I just can't narrow it down without feeling guilty about the authors and the books that I'm leaving out, so this year I just want to say a HUGE thank-you to the authors of the 127 books I've read in the last 12 months. The work you do is amazing and it's an absolute pleasure to read the finished products you pour your blood, sweat and tears into. We most definitely live in a golden age of children's literature which makes it a joy to recommend books in school. Please keep doing what you're all doing!
Personal highlight of the year:
My top highlight has to be being given my own display stand in the basement at Waterstones Newcastle! It's genuinely a privilege to have been given this opportunity and I love making the choices every month. I still get a thrill every time I walk down the stairs and see it, and a little bit of me (actually, a big bit of me!) is utterly thrilled when a child from school comes in to tell me they've been to see it, they like the books I've recommended or they've bought a book from the display. I feel so honoured to be in a position where I can share my love of reading with so many children, and the joy of witnessing children loving a book, discovering they love reading and coming back to me to continue to get recommendations once they've left school will never grow old for me - in fact, I'd go so far as to say it's one of the best parts of my job!
Author Highlights of the year.
There are so many here!
O and I attending the launch of Dan Smith's latest novel, She Wolf at Seven Stories.
Attending the NEBA in May and seeing O being awarded a prize for his blog on all 6 books on the short-list (does this make our blog an award winning blog now?!)
Meeting Anna James last week in Waterstones and chatting books.
Author visits in school. In the past 12 months, I've had the pleasure of welcoming 5 wonderful authors into school (Michelle Harrison, Chris Callaghan, Vashti Hardy, Sophie Anderson, Maz Evans), all of whom have enthralled, inspired and encouraged a love of reading in the children. I just wish I could bottle the buzz you all create! (I'm very excited that Ross Welford and Dan Smith are visiting next term!).
I cannot recommend author visits in school highly enough.
Looking Forward:
This blog will be 2 years old in February and is evolving as O gets older and his reading tastes change. He stills enjoys MG fiction but is venturing into YA as well. He's discovered a love of Shakespeare and Agatha Christie and, this Christmas, is devouring every cricketing biography and book he can get his hands on! I think we can look forward to some different books entering the blog in the next 12 months (O is promising a cricketing book blog amongst other things!) and I'm looking forward to seeing where we go.
There are already many, many books I'm looking forward to reading in the coming year which will feature on the blog, in my classroom and on the display in Waterstones and I'm looking forward to opening each and every one!
Happy New Year to you all!
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