From Fig and Thistle: June 2nd marks the centenary of Barbara Pym’s birth. Barbara Pym was a British novelist who wrote with the wit of Jane Austen and the shrewdness of Muriel Spark. Join me here at Fig and Thistle and Thomas at My Porch to celebrate Barbara Pym from June 1st – 8th. We’ll be blogging about our first experience with Pym, Pym’s life, her novels and other writings, and there will be PRIZES and GIVEAWAYS. We’ll also be doing regular roundups of Pym related posts on our blogs. ANYONE CAN PARTICIPATE!

To learn more about Tweet-ups and official hashtags and other cool stuff, read Amanda’s complete post.

Many of you are probably also familiar with the yearly Armchair BEA event, hosted in conjunction with Book Expo America. To learn more about the event, sign up, and get a preview of the week’s events, visit HERE.

If the Beats are your bag, join Adam at Roof Beam Reader for The Beats of Summer Reading Event!

“I will post throughout the event to  discuss different subjects related to The Beat Generation, its writers, and its influences on later movements in literature, film, and music, as well as my own reviews of the Beat Generation books that I finish.  I will also be offering giveaways, and I am hopeful that some participants will be interested in writing guest posts or hosting giveaways of their own, to make this more interactive!”

In the mood for some Stephen King this summer? Under the Dome, a read-a-long, begins May 25th. Read more HERE.

• Timeline: May 25 through July 27

• How many posts? Who cares! It’s informal. However, if you want a little structure, you can do a kick-off post now, then a middle-of-the-road post (halfway through the book) on June 24 (to celebrate the mini-series premiere even though we all probably won’t watch it until we’re done reading), and then a final sayonara post on July 27. Sound good?

• Twitter-chat? Use the hashtag #domealong

• Mini-series Twitter chat? After the readalong as we watch our DVR’d recordings of the show? Maybe?

• And do anything you want in-between! Throw a “Stephen King, you are freakishly awesome” party, or do a screamfest movie marathon, or write a gushing post on the fall release of Dr. Sleep, the sequel to The Shining. Or, you can just post your glee on the fact that you’ve been a horrible blogger and reader in 2013 and this readalong is going to bring. you. back. Back, baby! Oh, maybe that’s just me…

Watch for the next #Estellagram schedule to post here in the next day or two. We are ready to rock and roll again in June! It’s not too late to post some photos for May. *wink wink*

The best thing about the 100 Best Chapter Books list is that I’m discovering completely new-to-me books like Ellen Raskin’s The Westing Game (1978). It was all the way up at number 9 on the list but I had never heard of it, even with a movie made from the story (The Westing Game a.k.a. Get a Clue). It’s a bit dated, especially in the sorts of race/sex issues it addresses, but I thought it was a strong representative of a different time. Raskin has a very strong writing voice. You can tell she was a real spitfire. And the story was fun and definitely worth picking up.

 What it’s about: Sixteen mostly unrelated heirs are brought together in an apartment building to solve clues and fight for a piece of the Westing fortune. (comedy, mystery)

 Age level: Middle grade

 Best character: Turtle Wexler, the youngest heir (13) but not the weakest. She loves kicking people in the shins when they pull her long braid. She also loves playing the stock market.

 Worst character: Sydelle Pulaski, a single, middle aged secretary, who wants nothing more than attention and will go to all sorts of ridiculous lengths to get it.

 Quotes:

“The sun sets in the west (just about everyone knows that), but Sunset Towers faced east. Strange!”

“‘Oh, it’s you.’ Mrs. Wexler always seemed surprised to see her other daughter, so unlike golden-haired, angel-faced Angela.”

“The poor are crazy, the rich just eccentric.”

 Verdict: Buy/Borrow

Have you read The Westing Game? I’ve put the film (Get a Clue - 1997) on my Netflix instant queue so hopefully I’ll get to see it soon. It has a few less characters and I’m assuming the dialogue and race issues were updated after twenty years. It’s also a Hallmark Channel film so it’s probably a bit cheesy but hopefully the fun of the story is still there.

(Let me know what you think of my new format. I’m hoping it’s a bit more eye-catching. I know we all have very full RSS readers!)

*****

Schedule – May through September

note: dates are not necessarily set in stone – posts may go up a day or two before or after

May 31 - #17 Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (1964)

June 15 - #38 Frindle by Andrew Clements (1996)

June 30 - #58 Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (1930) — 1st in a series

July 15 - #100 Love that Dog by Sharon Creech (2001)

July 31 - #42 Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright (1957)

August 15 - #19 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932)

August 30 - #18 The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (1964)

September 15 - #29 The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (2005)

Well, hello there! How are you? Me? Fine! Very busy indeed.

Heather and I have been at work behind the scenes coming up with some new projects and activities for this-here Estella Society, and the one we’re most excited about this very moment is The Estella Project. You might remember that awhile back, we asked our readers to submit the title of one NOT TO BE MISSED book.

tell us The Book. THE BOOK you would (if you could) put into the hands of every reader, every non-reader, every man, woman, and child on this planet, in this universe, to read.

You guys were a little shy. Performance anxiety??? But we still came up with a pool of 10 books on which to base our little experiment.

Bestest of the Bestest According to Estella Readers:

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
• Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini
• The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
• Wicked by Gregory Maguire
• A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
• Kindred by Octavia Butler
• The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
• Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
• A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Now, the challenge, should you choose to accept it….

Read any three of the books from the list between May 6th and September 1st. That’s four full months.  

Yeah, that’s it. We want you to tell us about them, of course! As you finish, link up below so we can enjoy your reviews. For those who manage to finish three books by September 1st, there’s a $20 Amazon gift card in it for you. Woot!

Help us usher in warm spring nights with the May edition of #Estellagram! Don’t forget to tag on Twitter, Instagram, or your social network of choice!

Challenge:

Post a self-portrait on Twitter, Instagram, or your blog. Be sure to tag #readathon and #hour5! You can also link to your post below.

We are not judging your hair style or the size of your coffee cup, so we’ll pick the winner of this one randomly.

The prize is a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card.

Thanks for your participation! This challenge will run until the end of Hour 8!

Love,

Andi and Heather

Link to your self-portraits here!

Thanks so much for playing, everyone! POGUE is our random winner for this challenge!

I’ve now read both of the Oz books that appear on the 100 Best Chapter Books list. Ozma of Oz is the third Oz tale and it’s one of the two books that was borrowed from to make the 1985 film Return to Oz with Fairuza Balk. (The other was The Marvelous Land of Oz, book two of the series.)

The full title of this book, at least on the title page of my old Reilly & Lee Co. version, is Ozma of Oz: A Record of Her Adventures with Dorothy Gale of Kansas, the Yellow Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Tiktok, the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger; Besides Other Good People too Numerous to Mention Faithfully Recorded Herein. This is the first time that I’ve ever thought that Catherynne M. Valente’s titles are reasonable lengths. And it’s interesting that it assigns Ozma the leading role in the story when it’s actually Dorothy’s tale for the most part — but Ozma is a queen so I assume that’s why she gets top billing!

There’s a lot to like in this book. There are a few new characters to enjoy, like Billina the hen (actually Bill but Dorothy didn’t approve of that), but none so wonderful as Tiktok the Mechanical Man. I first read these books when I was very young and I thought he was the most fantastic thing ever. He was the first “robot” in literature but I didn’t know that, of course. He was just a kind but slightly helpless fellow who was loyal and brave and at the mercy of a little girl who needed to remember to wind him up regularly. And this time, as I read this book with Z, he felt exactly the same way about Tiktok. In fact, this book was a wonderful one to read together. I seem to have a very good chicken voice in my repertoire. Z was creeped out by Princess Languidere, she of the interchangeable heads (and personalities), and furious with the Nome King and brokenhearted at the apparent loss of the Tin Woodman. He actually clapped with joy when the Woodman was found again. It’s amazing for a book that is 105 years old to still get this kind of reaction from a young reader. I couldn’t be happier at how well this story has held up over the years.

Verdict: Buy

I’m definitely going to keep reading the Oz series in order now that I’ve started, at least through the books that I own. If you’re looking to start the series and would like a version of The Wizard of Oz with a completely different look, check out the newly released version from Harper Design with art by Michael Sieben. It’s colorful and has fun fonts and lots of smiles.

The next chapter book is one I’m really, really looking forward to — Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. I might have only read it once or twice as a kid but I watched the movie dozens of times and loved it so I’m going to pair this read with a watch. (The film is streaming on Netflix right now and I’m even willing to do a TweetChat viewing if there’s interest.)

*****

Schedule – April through July

note: dates are not necessarily set in stone – posts may go up a day or two before or after

• April 15 – #33 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien (1971)
• April 30 – #9 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (1978)
• May 15 – #17 Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (1964)
• May 31 – #38 Frindle by Andrew Clements (1996)
• June 15 – #58 Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (1930) — 1st in a series
• June 30 – #100 Love that Dog by Sharon Creech (2001)
• July 15 – #42 Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright (1957)
• July 31 – #19 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1932)

The March challenge has produced over 1,300 #Estellagram Instagram posts! That’s not even counting Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. We are totally taken aback by the participation and we thank you ALL! You’re rock stars. 

Follow us at EstellaSociety or @EstellaSociety

Here are a few questions to help get your juices flowing, if you need the help:

Outlander Discussion Questions for first half of book

1.   Okay, firstly, I desperately want to know. How are you liking the book?

2.   In the beginning of the book Claire sees a man below her window during a raging storm. Frank also sees him. Who do you think this man is?

3.   Do you find Gabaldon’s method of time-travel believable?

4.   Knowing that Black Jack Randal is Frank distant relative, does this change your opinion of Frank? How? Do you think Jack’s cruelty is in Frank’s ‘blood’? Does their genealogy play a role in their characters?

5.   How did you feel about Jamie beating Claire? Was it a fitting punishment, given the circumstance and the time period?

6.   What is your favorite part of the book so far?

7.   How do you feel about all the…well…sex?

8.  Discuss anything else you want to discuss. I’m all…um…eyes.

Link up here if you post on your blog, or answer in the comments!

Three of the Harry Potter books made it onto the 100 Best Chapter Books list. The first book is number 3 on the list, and this one, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, was number 12. (Goblet of Fire was number 98.)

I guess it’s obvious from the title of this book which plot this has — it’s the one with Sirius Black escaping from Azkaban and, presumably, heading to Hogwarts. This happened to be where Z and I were with this series so we read it together at bedtime over the past few weeks. The first thing I noticed about this book was that this is where they start getting longer. There were times when the story could have been a bit tighter, as evidenced by the loss of Z’s attention. But it was also the first story where Z wanted to look ahead to learn things that he couldn’t wait to find out. It was important for him to find out what the white orb meant to Lupin and what was going to happen to Buckbeak and how Hermione was going to all of those classes and what animal James Potter was as an animagus.

I have a hard time comparing books within this series. I know a lot of readers have their favorite but I really can’t separate them like that. It’s interesting that only three of the books made this list. Is this the second best in the series? Some think it’s the best. Reading it aloud, I know that there were some small problems with the writing but the adventure was irresistible. I think that kids are going to love these books for generations to come.

I got the chance to talk to Kazu Kibuishi, the illustrator of the new covers that Scholastic is releasing, last week and hear a presentation he gave at Z’s school and he was really awesome. He hopes his new covers will bring more young readers to the books, books that he loved reading too. I’m sure they will if they’re all as gorgeous as this first one!

Verdict: Buy (the box set)

I loved this experience and I’m so excited about the next book in my project, Ozma of Oz. It’s been a favorite since I was a very little kid. I read The Marvelous Land of Oz, second in the Oz series, a couple of weeks ago in preparation and I’m ready to stay in Oz a while longer.

*****

Schedule – March through July

note: dates are not necessarily set in stone – posts may go up a day or two before or after

March 31 – #83 Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum (1907) — 3rd in a series
April 15 – #33 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien (1971)
April 30 – #9 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (1978)
May 15 – #17 Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh (1964)
May 31 – #38 Frindle by Andrew Clements (1996)
June 15 – #58 Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome (1930) — 1st in a series
June 30 – #100 Love that Dog by Sharon Creech (2001)
July 15 – #42 Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright (1957)