Your experience with this diverse author

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From the author's website, we know that Alan Bradley was born in Toronto and grew up in Cobourg. He spent a long career in television broadcasting, and began writing full-time in his early retirement. He has published many children’s stories as well as lifestyle and arts columns in Canadian newspapers. His adult stories have been broadcast on CBC radio and published in various literary journals. He has also written several screenplays and taught university-level courses in screenwriting. He even came to Oakville last year for an author night.

Please share with us your experiences with this author and his work, and particularly with this series (i.e., have you read any of the 8 titles in the series, and if so how many?).

[Paula]

I first discovered Alan Bradley about three years ago when my daughter, a voracious reader with an interest in science, was eleven. I thought she might like a story about a precocious eleven year old chemist. I read the book first, to make sure it was not inappropriate.

Of course, I fell in love with Flavia and her world. She is a very likable character and the time period is one that appeals to me. Being the youngest of four girls, I enjoyed reading of the interactions between Flavia and her sisters and could relate to some of them.

I have introduced this series to two of my sisters and take full credit for their love of these books. I have read six so far, and have the seventh on my nightstand.

I did attend the author night in January 2015, and was most impressed with Mr. Bradley, his discussion and his reading. While I have not read any of his other works, I will certainly seek them out once I have finished this series.

A great series - highly recommended!

[Shirley]

I have completed reading all 8 of the Flavia books in this series. I listened to them on tape in my car. I love hearing the accent and also enjoy the interaction between the 3 sisters. My mom grew up in England with 2 sisters and it reminds me of the stories she used to tell me about her younger years.

Flavia is so delightful, mischievous and smart beyond her years. She makes me chuckle at her curiosity with dead bodies and poisons. The mysteries are always well thought out puzzles.

I also listened to Alan Bradley when he was at the Oakville Library and was fascinated how he told us that he gets up in the middle of the night to be awake while Flavia is awake in England on her time schedule. He said she talks to him and helps him tell her story. Her faithful sidekick, Gladys, which is really a bicycle almost seems like a person.

This reminds me of the book "What Milo Saw" where the young protagonist is a boy with vision impairment and his sidekick is Hamlet a pet pig. Both Flavia and Milo are wise beyond their years and see things that adults refuse to see.

One of my favourite series ever!!!!

[Allison]

Paula wrote: "I first discovered Alan Bradley about three years ago when my daughter, a voracious reader with an interest in science, was eleven. I thought she might like a story about a precocious eleven year o..."

Paula, I am hoping to hook my 16 year old daughter on this book, because she really likes chemistry and I think she would be fascinated by the whole subject of poisons. I have only just started the series, but I did see Alan Bradley at the OPL event also and was so struck by how articulate he was. He answered every question with an elaborate story and consequently I found him absolutely enthralling to listen to. What a wonderful storyteller! And funny!

[Paula]

Allison, I hope you can convince your daughter to give the series a try! My daughter was young when I tried to entice her to this book. I think the time period was hard for her to relate to, as was the more formal way it was written (both qualities I love about the book!). I also tried to get her to read some of my old favorites from childhood - C.S Lewis, E. Nesbit and Edward Eager - but she felt the same way about them as she did about this wonderful book. Kids!

[Allison]

Paula wrote: "Allison, I hope you can convince your daughter to give the series a try! My daughter was young when I tried to entice her to this book. I think the time period was hard for her to relate to, as was..."

I hope I can convince her, too! I wish I had brought her to the Alan Bradley event last year, because I'm sure she would have enjoyed his explanations for things.

However, I have heard that the audiobook version of Sweetness is excellent (in fact, I believe it won an audio award). Sometimes, a superb audio is the best and quickest way to grab the attention of a young person. Last year, my daughter was struggling her way through the densely-written and wordy text of To kill a mockingbird, so I brought home the audio. She finished the book, no problem, and got a lot out of it to boot -- all for her English class.

Hey, I think Sweetness... would make a wonderful pick for a mother/daughter bookclub!

[Ashley]

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie was my first encounter with Alan Bradley, and so far I have read the first three in the series. I had heard my colleagues talk about the book, and actually how wonderful the narrator of the audiobooks was, and that's how I've been reading them. I absolutely loved the first novel, and the audiobook is excellent! I'm taking a break at the moment, but I love the series.

I didn't realize that Bradley was such a prolific writer. I'll have to go back and take a peak!

[Kate]

I actually picked up the first three books for my grandmother sometime after the third one had just come out. She liked them and got me to read them too and I loved them! She lost interest eventually but I'm still reading them!

[Allison]

Kate wrote: "I actually picked up the first three books for my grandmother sometime after the third one had just come out. She liked them and got me to read them too and I loved them! She lost interest eventual..."

Kate, I love this "grandmother" story of yours! :)

[Susan]

Sweetness is my first experience reading Alan Bradley. I saw him at the OPL event and was totally charmed by him. I had meant to read him over the past several years but having a signed copy put him at the top of my to-read pile! I loved that he said Flavia talks to him in his head, and that perhaps we might want call to call a psychiatrist for him! Flavia is such a delight. I hope we can discuss her humour later this month.

[Shirley]

One of the reasons that the audio books for this series are so popular is the award winning narrator, Jayne Entwistle. I feel like she truly is the voice of Flavia deLuce. For some interesting information on Jayne - http://www.booksontape.com/meet-jayne...

[Maureen]

I've only read two of the series and really enjoyed Sweetness. The second one, As Chimney Sweeps Come to Dust, not so much as it seemed to lack focus and the poor corpse was pretty much ignored after it fell out of the fireplace.

At first meeting, I found Flavia to be a rather wonderful, though hard-hearted, gifted young woman and, though I was concerned about her determination to poison her sister, it was tempered by memories of my beloved sib and our ongoing clothing wars.