Category Archives: Book reviews

The Diary of the Naughtiest Girl

Posted on July 2, 2022 by Fiona

I celebrated a little presumptuously a few months ago when I finished the Naughtiest Girl continuations by Anne Digby. I then remembered I also had The Diary of the Naughtiest Girl. By remembered I mean found the book behind the sofa. I borrowed … Continue reading →

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If you like Blyton: The Secret of Haven Point by Lisette Auton

Posted on May 21, 2022 by Fiona

I first heard of this book when the cover artist (Gillian Gamble) posted about it on Facebook. I saw the lighthouse and was immediately interested, as somehow, despite only featuring prominently in one book that I can think of, I … Continue reading →

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The Naughtiest Girl continued: The Naughtiest Girl Wants to Win

Posted on April 30, 2022 by Fiona

I am finally subjecting myself to the penultimate Naughtiest Girl continuation book. I know it will be bad but the question is, how bad? The blurb I’m already rolling my eyes just reading the blurb. Elizabeth is furious when a … Continue reading →

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Bizzy and the Bedtime Bear

Posted on April 13, 2022 by Fiona

I borrowed this book from the library some time before the pandemic started, and it has been sitting behind the sofa in a pile of my ‘to reads’, along with some other Blyton continuation books I borrowed around the same … Continue reading →

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If you like Blyton: Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

Posted on April 8, 2022 by Fiona

The character of Mary Poppins is no stranger to me, but I admit that I am primarily familiar with the film version, as played by the wonderful Julie Andrews. I have also seen the Emily Blunt version, but only once. … Continue reading →

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If you like Blyton: A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Posted on March 24, 2022 by Fiona

I was convinced that I had read this as a child, and in fact I did have a copy of the book – one of those Parragon Children’s Classics with no illustrations. However I was certain I’d read it at … Continue reading →

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If you like Blyton: Shirley Hughes

Posted on March 18, 2022 by Fiona

Usually the title of my if you like Blyton posts contain either a book title or a series by an author, but seeing as I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Shirley Hughes I’m just going to recommend her entire output. … Continue reading →

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New Class at Malory Towers: The Secret Princess by Narinder Dhami

Posted on March 5, 2022 by Fiona

I have reviewed the first two stories – A Bob and a Weave and Bookworms, and now for story three. I have been told that this is the best story in terms of characterisation, so I am wondering if I … Continue reading →

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How ‘Jennings’ compares with Blyton’s stories by Chris

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Fiona

I’m sure I’m not the only person who grew up with Anthony Buckeridge’s Jennings stories as well as Enid Blyton’s stories and still loves and re-reads them both. Yet both Jennings and Buckeridge are much less well-known than Blyton and … Continue reading →

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New Class at Malory Towers: A Bob and a Weave by Patrice Lawrence

Posted on February 11, 2022 by Fiona

Published in 2019 New Class at Malory Towers is a compendium of four new short stories set at Malory Towers. They are set during Darrell’s time there but each features a new girl joining the school. The stories are: A … Continue reading →

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Five Get Into a Fix part 3

Posted on January 29, 2022 by Fiona

Having used up an entire post just to talk about Aily, here are my thoughts about the solution to the mystery, my various other comments and of course the nitpicks. The solving of the mystery I was actually mildly disappointed … Continue reading →

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Five Get Into a Fix part 2: All about Aily

Posted on January 21, 2022 by Fiona

Last week I finally posted the first part of my review, having been intending to do so for over a month. But we all know that time goes funny over the Christmas period and barely seems to count, so really, … Continue reading →

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Five Get Into a Fix

Posted on January 14, 2022 by Fiona

I have been meaning to read and review this for a while, and having finally got around to it in the first week of January I realise that I am actually reading it at the time of year it is … Continue reading →

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If you like Blyton: The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Fiona

I have been meaning to try this series for quite a while. I’m sure I’ve ‘bought’ at least one of the books when it was free on Kindle, but I can’t seem to find it now. Anyway, turns out my … Continue reading →

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Five Go to Billycock Hill part 3

Posted on November 3, 2021 by Fiona

For a book I don’t rate that highly I’ve managed to write quite a lot already. At least 1,000 in part one, and another 1,000 in part two of my review. George as a boy I think another reason this … Continue reading →

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Five Go to Billycock Hill part 2

Posted on October 27, 2021 by Fiona

Last week I started my review of Billycock Hill, only six months after the previous book in the series. So as to not lose momentum, here’s part two. Not the Five’s finest hours Having refreshed my memory by reading the … Continue reading →

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Five Go to Billycock Hill

Posted on October 20, 2021 by Fiona

It was April when I did my last Famous Five review. The delay has mostly been due to the fact that Five Go to Billycock Hill is one of my least favourite Famous Five books. Only Five Have a Mystery … Continue reading →

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The Bom Annual

Posted on October 13, 2021 by Fiona

As I mentioned before, when on holiday I bought a copy of the Bom Annual for the princely sum of £1. This is my very first Bom book of any kind – and so I know almost nothing about him. … Continue reading →

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Chimney Corner Stories part 2

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Fiona

After discovering my Dean edition of Chimney Corner Stories didn’t contain the same stories found in the first edition I wrote quite a bit about that, so here is a review of the remaining stories. Toy stories The three toy … Continue reading →

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The Island of Adventure – TV tie in novel

Posted on August 18, 2021 by Fiona

A long time ago, before the word lockdown had entered our everyday vocabulary, I borrowed two books from the library. They were The Island of Adventure and The Sea of Adventure, both being novels based on the Cloud 9 TV … Continue reading →

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