Sunday Salon: books and covers

My daughter Jenny started a book this morning and had finished it by teatime.

It is a novel of the French Revolution:

"The Lacemaker and the Princess" by Kimberley Brubaker Bradley, about a girl who befriends Marie Antoinette. Although this seems to be a new book, it seems from Amazon as if the author has been writing children's books for many years.

Jenny also read a whole book yesterday (Saturday). It arrived from Amazon on Friday so she received it when she came home from school.

I bought it for her because she had just finished "Wendy" by Karen Wallace, and despite having about 200 books in her room and a further 200 in her elder sister's room to explore, she claimed she hadn't got anything to read. So I ordered her one by the same author -- this one called "The Unrivalled Spangles", about a circus troupe in the nineteenth century (Victorian times). It went down a treat.

One thing that is very important to even the most avid young reader is the cover of a book. If the cover doesn't appeal, forget it -- the contents won't be read. I bore this in mind, as well as the probable content, on Saturday afternoon when in Waterstone's, buying the Lacemaker/Princess and three or four other titles for her.

Comments

[Ann Darnton]

Please tell your daughter I really sympathise. If my TBR pile were to topple over onto me I would be killed in the landslide but I am still to be found in the local library at least twice a week bemoaning the fact that I have nothing to read. I think this is the true reader's chronic condition.

[Maxine]

Yes, I quite agree! My TBR pile is twice as big as the girls' piles put together-- of course, I am to blame for most of the compontents on all three piles. I am truly a bookaholic. Amazon does not help as you can buy books 24/7.

[Hsien Lei]

I'm similarly affected by book covers and usually like the UK versions better! Ahhh, please don't tell me I've gone all Anglophile. ;)

[Debra Hamel]

That Spangles cover would definitely grab my attention.

I'm really impressed by Jenny's reading.

[Euro Crime (Karen M)]

I read Karen Wallace's The Secret of the Crocodiles a while back as it seemed like an Elizabeth Peters Egyptian mystery for the younger generation. I quite enjoyed it!

[Clare D]

Yes, Jenny's reading is truly impressive - and I agree about those covers - very enticing, especially the top one.

And yes, you can never have enough books. Not everyone agrees with this sentiment in this household, but it is true nevertheless...

[Ann Darnton]

It struck me after I commented yesterday, I should have asked if Jenny has read 'The Historical House' series published by Usborne? There are six novels now, two each by Adele Geras, Ann Turnbull and Linda Newbery and they are all set in the same house in Chelsea Walk but in different time periods. If she likes historical fiction these may be for her, although I'm not sure how the covers will stand up!

[Maxine]

Thanks, Ann-- No, I don't think she has read this series. We are fans of Adele Geras here, and my other daughter read Linda Newbery's recent book (the one that won the Costa prize) but opined that Jenny (12) is too young to read it yet!! Both girls have enjoyed Ann Turnball's two "puritan" novels.
So I'll look out for the Historical House-- sounds up Jenny's street.
Karen -- I am told by Amazon that "Crocodiles" is on the way, so glad to read it is good.
Thanks for all the comments, everyone.