Paul Gallico wrote two of my favourite books EVER, and one of them is The Man Who was Magic. You’ve probably heard of Paul Gallico, even if you think you haven’t. If you frequent secondhand book stores (and you probably do, if you’re here), you’ll have seen some of his work. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a secondhand…
For the last few years now, I have been feeling increasingly bah, humbug about Christmas. It just seems to get earlier and pushier every year, which frankly always makes me want to dig my heels and fold my arms. I’m usually busy pretending it isn’t happening until at least the first week in December, at which point I start to…
“As in life, so in a game of hazard, skill will make something of the worst of throws.” Treasure Island. Heard of it? Of course you have. Read it? Quite possibly. But have you read Moonfleet? Possibly not. And that’s a damn shame. The gist The story revolves around John Trenchard, an orphan living in the village of Moonfleet on the…
Sadly, I did not read the 1970s children’s book No Flying in the House when I was six. If I had read it when I was six, I would have loved it. Why? Because what what six year old girl doesn’t want a three inch talking dog who can perform 367 tricks? And what six year old girl does not…
I was given Joan Aiken’s The Last Slice of Rainbow when I was probably around eight. I loved it before I even read it. Something about the title, the pictures, the names of the stories – they’re all the exact formula to appeal to an eight year old booklover. I remember almost not wanting to read it, for fear that…