It Isn't Just Me Then....

Simon;

Today was the first of our Kid's Reading Groups this morning. The format is the same as the adult reading group (a book is chosen, people read the book, people meet and discuss book, people leave), and the book chosen was 'The Riddle of the Poisoned Monk' by Sarah Matthias. The meeting would be at 11am on a Sunday, so the kids could have an hour before the shop opened all to themselves to talk about the book
It was a nerve wracking ordeal, for many reasons. We'd had a lot of interest in the reading group but the thoughts running through my mind as I walked to the shop this morning were

• will anyone turn up
• will anyone talk
• will anyone like the book
• do I remember all the important bits in the book
• have we got any orange juice
• i'd better avoid that dog poo

Poo safely avoided, I arrived at the shop and I really shouldn't have worried about a thing. We had a great group of eight very eager, intelligent and friendly kids who were more than happy to talk about the book. The parents/guardians disappeared as soon as it started, and Katie (7 months pregnant and very healthy and well, thanks for asking) and I pretty much just had to sit back for most of the hour and listen, as the kids happily gave their verdict.

And the verdict was that the book was fantastic. Not one of the group(aged between 9 and 12) didn't enjoy it, and they dissected it and praised the ways that Sarah had kept the story exciting and also that they learnt stuff about life in the Medieval times. When I said that the way it ended suggested that there'd be a sequal, I was encouraged to find out if it was true, so i'll be contacting Ms Matthias to find out! In time honoured tradition we marked it out of 10 and the scores were all between 8 and 10.

I'm very pleased they enjoyed it, as I really rated it when I first got hold of it. So now you know... an ideal book for any boy or girl aged between 9 and 12 who likes reading. Here's the book, so you can look out for it in all good Independent Bookshops.

The kids then had a look around the shop to each pick a nomination for next months book. They took turns to read out the blurb on the back cover, and then they voted for their choice (they couldn't vote for their own book). The winner, and next months choice is Imperial Spy by Mark Robson .

I'm still smiling about how well it all went.

The other thing that's making me smile at the moment is the rebirth of this advert

I don't know why it makes me smile, but it does.

Tom Hodgkinson's coming to the shop on Wednesday. It's very exciting.