Some Strange and Interesting Bookish Questions
If you could have only half of a book, would you prefer the first half or the second one?
My daughter Imogen and I discuss this question after I tell her a friend gave me too much money for a copy of one of my Angels novels: “She gave me enough money to buy three and a half books.”
Imogen and I imagine putting three books into a pile and adding half a book. Which half would my friend want: the first or second half?
“I’d definitely want the second half of the book,” says Imogen. “I hate not knowing how stories end.”
I nod. “There’s always clues about how the story began in the second half. And if not, we can use our imaginations and still arrive at the halfway point in the story.”
What about you? Would you ask for the first half or the second?
I love chatting about writing and books with my daughter and pondering strange questions.
We have discussed a few more book questions:
Can writing essays about the classics spoil the enjoyment? Are essays really necessary?
Every time we walk past the cinema, on our way to our favourite cafe, we glance at the posters advertising the movies that are currently screening. And I always say, “We haven’t been to the cinema for a long time. The last movie I saw was Emma.” Some time in February 2020, while big sisters Imogen, Charlotte and Sophie were at work, Gemma-Rose and I headed into town to see Emma. We sat side by side, munching popcorn, and delighting in the story. We laughed! We enjoyed ourselves so much that we decided to see the movie again with the
How does an unschooled author promote and sell her books?
Chatting with My Unschooled Author Daughter
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Should we let other people’s opinions affect the books we let our kids read?
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Do our bookshelves reveal things about ourselves? Are there times when we'd rather no one knows what we read to avoid possible criticism? Do we use books to project a particular image? Maybe our book collections sometimes deceive? Are some books better than others? Or can we learn something from everything we read? Could sharing the books we're reading lead to some fascinating unschooling conversations?
Is it wrong to seek entertainment in crime and murder stories?
Crime Novels and Priestly Detective Rules
While browsing the books in the library, looking for a new author to read, a man thrust a novel towards me, saying, “You should try Baldacci. I love his books!” A few weeks later, our libraries closed, declared unsafe spaces by those who thought they knew best. We were isolated from our source of unread books. Fortunately, Big W was declared an essential shop and remained open, so I started browsing the book section of that department store, coming home with novels for me and my husband Andy to read during our extended covid lockdowns. In Andy’s pile were crime
In case you’re wondering
I’d never slice a book in half and give someone only part of the story. I would have given my friend four copies of my book if I hadn’t returned 5/7ths of her money. (That’s a bit of unschool maths!)
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Another strange question: what if you opened your fridge and discovered nothing but books?