Sunday 31 August 2014

Staffroom tour on a Tuesday



I asked around the staffroom for recommendations- here's a quick survey of what people have read recently.

Miss Manor from Glen Innes primary recommend The Sins of the Father by Jeffrey Archer. Easy read for senior students, part of a historical series.

Roslyn Rao has recommended a book of poetry Called Letters to the Men I've Loved . The author is a very empowered woman and it empowers the reader as a woman. But at the same time you feel her emotions through her words.

Anisa Barrowclough just finished The Secret History by Donna Tart. She found it very boring to start with and nearly gave up on it but then it started to get exciting.  It's a story about a group of friends at a university in the U.S. who get tied up in a murder plot.  It's recommended for senior students.  

Russell Dunn reading about contextualised learning for students as part of a project he is working on. He's also been reading about Vygotsky's theory of zones of proximal development in relation to this.

Gerard Tindling recently read nothing and claims that reading sucks. He has, however, read 500 film essays in the last week and cried as he told me this.

Scott Mansell recently read Daniel Silva's book The Heist which is a spy thriller. Fantastic, entertaining author. He has also recently read Nicky Hager's book Dirty Politics.

Friday 29 August 2014

From my very clever reading friend Lily Emerson-

10 books that have stayed with me or made a huge impact (in no particular order):

1. THE ROBBER BRIDE, Margaret Atwood.
I love all of her books but Xenia is the ultimate example of the skin-crawling horror women can inspire in one another.
2. FRANNY AND ZOOEY, J.D. Salinger.
Polish your shoes for the fat lady, damn it.
3. I CAPTURE THE CASTLE, Dodi Smith.
Smith might have been more famous for 101 Dalmatians but this book's literary-minded romantic heroine Cassandra is so compelling.
4. WISE CHILDREN, Angela Carter.
Not everything you read inspires you to change your signature perfume.
5. MATILDA, Roald Dahl.
Smart girls of the world unite and take over.
6. THE BLUEST EYE, Toni Morrison.
My first and favourite of her novels, language you can get totally lost in. Oprah's favourite author - and mine.
7. TRACKS, Louise Erdich.
Kind of witchy and brilliant.
8. THE SUN ALSO RISES, Ernest Hemingway.
This book is a master class in creating atmosphere and characters without being verbose.
9. LOLITA, Vladimir Nabokov.
This book is a master class in the luxury of verbosity. You can always count on a murderer for fancy prose style.
10. THE BELL JAR, Sylvia Plath.
The mad girl's love song.









Tuesday 26 August 2014



What a delightful group at bookclub today! We are reading:

Ms Metcalfe- The Warrior's Apprentice
Cherub Tamasi- Rules of Attraction
Seleni Misa- The Fault in Our Stars
Rachel Kaitu'u- Seeking Crystal
Kim Darbyshire- Mortal Engines
Mele Makalio- Where She Went
Boaza Beach- Small Steps

Sunday 24 August 2014

The Art of Walking Upright Here

I've read 'The Art of Walking Upright' written by Glenn Colquhoun. I love how he uses specific vocab and language for different scenarios e.g black dark dresses describing the night sky, and seagulls crunchie voices describing the mouthpiece of the characters. In page 32, an eye catching quote caught my eye. "Not I, some child, born in a marvellous year, will learn the trick of standing upright here." This quote and  the title of this book made me wonder what 'The Art of Walking Upright' meant. In page 33 Idiscovered the answer to my question, "The art of walking upright here is the art of using both feet. One is for holding on. One is for letting go. "

Tu'i Moa

Wednesday 20 August 2014

Where we once belonged.

I've just recently read this book called Where we once belonged by Sia Figiel. It was given to me to read and when I read the first page I immediately thought this is great. The book is about  a Samoan girl Alofa who is coming of age in her small town. It talks about her family, the community and aspects of the book explored the gender politics of islander life. Towards the middle/ending I founds it a bit hard to read because the story would go on to talk about mythyical gods, for example there was a whole page about how the earth gave birth. I also found it hard to read when the author repeated one sentence multiple times and I could never quite guess why. Besides from that it was good book and it was good to read a story set in my home country. 

:]

Tuesday 19 August 2014



Today was a beautiful day in the library. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and we were reading.

Salome- Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Seleni- Hibiscus Coast by Paula Morris, Let It Snow by John Green et al, Sula by Toni Morrison
Delorne- Floors by Patrick Carman
Precious- Empress of the World by Sara Ryan
Malia- Murder on the ridge
Tu'i Moa- The Art of Walking Upright Here by Glen Colquhoun
Sosaia Fatani- The Infects


At the moment I'm reading Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, the first of the Infernal Devices series. I have been reading it for just over a week and have had my nose stuck in it the entire time, it is such a cool book! It is kind of historical; Victorian London where magic exists. I'm almost finished the book and I read it at any possible moment because it is at the climax at the moment. Like any good book, it almost make me cry when one of the characters died, and I'm so glad there are more of these books in the series. 

(:
Kim Darbyshire