Readathon - Smuggler Ben and Cliff Castle

[Rob Houghton]

This is going to be a problem, as I'm sure everyone has their own favourite!

Out of that list, Holiday House would be one of my favourite books, then Smuggler Ben, followed by Shadow the Sheepdog...

But on the other hand I have a nice 'new' dust-jacket 1st edition of House at the Corner and I haven't read that one for some years...!

The Treasure Hunters is also a good one!

I also enjoy The Children of Kidillin...and Secret of Cliff Castle - though maybe these are a bit too short to go into in any detail...?

[Moonraker]

Not forgetting Hollow Tree House!

[Daisy]

I'm happy with any of the above.

[Courtenay]

I'd be happy with The Treasure Hunters, partly because it was my and my sister's favourite when we were little and partly because it's one of the few of the proposed books I actually have on hand!

I'd also love to do The Boy Next Door, which I think one or two others have suggested. But I really don't mind — it's up to the majority decision.

[Anita Bensoussane]

We've had a Readathon on The Boy Next Door before. If people want to do it again that's fine, but I might not take part because I'd probably have difficulty finding anything new to say.

Well, we've had a lot of titles suggested so I'm wondering how we can decide. What if we each name no more than three titles that we'd most like to discuss? People could name fewer than three if they like, e.g. if they've got a strong preference for House-at-the-Corner (or whatever) and don't want to dilute their vote by including other choices. If one title comes up more than the others, we can go with that. If there's a tie, maybe Pete would be willing to put the tied titles in a hat and draw one out?

If we choose to do things that way, perhaps we could all name our preferred titles within the next 24 hours?

Mine would be:

Smuggler Ben
Holiday House
Shadow the Sheepdog

If anyone has a better plan, please feel free to say so!

[Julie2owlsdene]

I'd vote for Smuggler Ben, if I had to choose between the tree books Anita has just listed on the post above.

[Anita Bensoussane]

You don't need to limit yourself to those three, Julie. You can name any titles (up to three) that you'd like to discuss.

[pete9012S]

I think Anita's shortlist of three is a very good one.
I would be happy to read any of those three.

Perhaps we should pick the book most people who would like to take part have actually got in their collection?

[Daisy]

I'm happy with any of those three. I think it would be interesting to read Smuggler Ben as that was one which was first published under the name Mary Pollock. I remember reading at least two of those Mary Pollock books before we knew she was Enid Blyton.

[Julie2owlsdene]

I think if you give more than three for an option, we could be discussing what we read until Christmas!

Anita's 3 option narrows it down better.

[Nicko]

I would say The Treasure Hunters because it is a book that both myself and Courtenay have available to us (and I presume plenty of other people have it too).

Smuggler Ben would be the best of the rest.

[Courtenay]

I would love to read Smuggler Ben if only I had it — it sounds quite exciting even from the title!

If we decide on it, how long will we have before the readathon begins so that those who don't have a copy can see if they can get hold of one...?

[snugglepot]

I have "Smuggler Ben", which is good.
I have never read "The Treasure Hunters" but I would love to if I could get a copy. Might check on Kindle.

[Julie2owlsdene]

There's one on Ebay, Courtenay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ENID-BLYTONS- ... Sw44BYOZi9" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have a copy of this book as well as Suggler Ben being a single edition.

[Anita Bensoussane]

...how long will we have before the readathon begins so that those who don't have a copy can see if they can get hold of one...?

After deciding on a title, we usually wait a couple of weeks to begin the Readathon.