May 2018

In 1999, the Association of American Publishers declared that May would be designated the Get Caught Reading Month in celebration of books that we love to lose ourselves in and their authors.  It really should be EVERY month of the year, but we’ll take that as our mission for the next 31 days if we have to!

My daughter started off her month of May as a participant from her school in the Battle of the Books competition in Hong Kong (affectionately known as BoB).  Their team fought valiantly, but didn’t manage to advance past the semi-finals. Even though disappointed, Anna was quick to point out that she and I had read almost all of the 20 books on the primary book list (18 to be precise) and that at least, her school hadn’t been last in the competition that day.  Not infrequently, I long to have even a smidgen of her optimism.

Some of the books we have read together are reviewed on this site, so do check out Pax, a heart-breaking story of separation and reconciliation and The War That Saved My Life, a gritty tale of a clubfooted girl’s resilience in dealing with adversity and parental neglect.  I’ll be posting a few more reviews from the BoB book list in the next few weeks, so do drop by and visit again!

May the force of reading be with you!
Maureen, Anna & Ben

 

Getting lost in comics at Bleak House Books an independent bookstore in San Po Kong, Hong Kong