The Enid Blyton Society

Yes,how about a nice juicy Spring Readathon.

I will read absolutely anything the majority fancy reading and discussing.

Perhaps at this stage you may just want to throw some suggestions in the pot to give everybody a chance to make a suggestion/get hold of a copy of the book eventually chosen.

I don't mind if it's something really eclectic or even mainstream,but please no Bruno Blytons if that's ok!

I'd be interested in a Readathon. I wouldn't take part if it was on The Mystery That Never Was because I'm writing a Journal article on that, but I'd be up for just about anything else.

Some suggestions:

A Find-Outers book (I think we've already had Readathons on Burnt Cottage, Spiteful Letters, Hidden House, Strange Bundle and Banshee Towers).

Holiday House

But I don't really mind what we do!

Yes I'm game. Don't mind what book.

Yes, I'm game ... any book really.

I don't mind which book either. And will join in if I can.

I will throw one suggestion into the ring for consideration,Shadow The Sheepdog.1942.

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/book ... +Sheep-Dog" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For two reasons.Firstly I haven't read it since it was read to me in junior school by our teacher.Secondly,our forum has a tremendous amount of animal and dog lovers.
All editions of this book seem to contain the original G.W. Backhouse illustrations too.

(We may of course have already covered this book in a previous readathon?)

But,as the others have said I don't really mind what we eventually decide on.

I don't mind if everyone wants to read that book. I reviewed it years ago, and not read it since.

I'll go along with the flow as it were.

pete9012S wrote:

All editions of this book seem to contain the original G.W. Backhouse illustrations too.

Only the reprints, Pete, the original book was illustrated by Lucy Gee.

I have both versions of Shadow the Sheep dog - with Backhouse illustrations, and the Lucy Gee version.

I have to say - I love Holiday House...

I think one-off books - like Shadow the Sheepdog or Holiday house are good suggestions, as they stand alone and you don't have to take other books in the series into account.

Any of the Mary Pollock books are good to read - but all are maybe a bit short!

Have we done 'The Boy Next Door'? Probably...? Or The Treasure Hunters....

Or House At The Corner...

I don't mind any. I may not indulge in the actual readathon, as I generally read a book over several weeks...but I will probably offer some thoughts as you go along if that's okay!

Thanks for that clarification Tony.The Lucy Gee illustrations are lovely - and there are lots of them!

Here's a link to a Shadow The Sheepdog short story which gives a flavour of the character:

Shadow The Sheepdog - Adventure in the Woods

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... f=4&t=7558" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As I mention if you click the link above.I'm not sure if this short story is separate from the book?


Rob: Good suggestions.I will read anything.

I would be very happy to participate in a readathon, but I am also very limited in what books that I have available to me. I have lots of Mystery, Secret, Secret Seven, Adventure, Barney books etc. and also:

The Treasure Hunters
Smuggler Ben
The Adventurous Four
The Adventurous Four Again
The Children of Willow Farm
Six Cousins at Mistletoe Farm
Six Cousins Again
The Enchanted Wood
The Adventure of the Secret Necklace
Mischief at St Rollo's
The Boy who Wanted a Dog

Obviously I wouldn't expect people to decide on a book solely based on my situation, so if none of those are possible then I completely understand.

Id love to do an Autumn readathon.
(Thought I'd remind people that there are members on the other side of the world, ha ha)

I do not have a copy of Shadow the Sheepdog. I read it at school but have never seen a copy to buy.

I would be happy to read anything the majority like from Nicko's selection.
I can read Shadow myself anytime.

I hope that my post didn't kill the idea of a readathon.

If it were possible to find a book that everybody would be interested in, that would be great.

What's the best way to narrow things down, do you think?

Like Rob, I find the idea of doing a one-off book appealing. If we put the suggested one-off books into a list (missing out The Boy Next Door because we've had a Readathon on that before) we've got:

Holiday House
Shadow the Sheepdog
House-at-the-Corner
The Treasure Hunters
Smuggler Ben
Mischief at St. Rollo's
The Adventure of the Secret Necklace
The Boy Who Wanted a Dog

Any of those would suit me, though I'm not as keen on The Adventure of the Secret Necklace and The Boy Who Wanted a Dog as I am on the others. They're less meaty and wouldn't give us as much to get our teeth into.

What do others think?