Christmas Cracker Tag

I saw this tag done by Lucy on Bumbling Bibliophiles channel over on You Tube. I thought it would work equally well as a blog post and so I decided to use this to kick of my Christmas book reviews on the blog, even though I know there have already been a couple of them. So here goes, hope you enjoy!

1. Pick a book with a winters cover...

I reviewed this book back in March and even though its not a Christmasey book, it still has a lovely winters cover so this is perfect for this question. Do check out my review as the sequel for this will be out soon! 

2. Pick a book you're likely to buy as a present...

I would definitely buy people Take A Look At Me Now by Miranda Dickinson because it has now become my favourite novel of hers and one of the best books I've read all year, I can think of loads of people that would enjoy it and so this would make a lovely present! 

3. Pick a festive themed book...

I'm going to go for married by Christmas by Scarlet Bailey because this was pure Christmas joy in book form and the cover is so Christmassy! My copy is signed too, making it doubly lovely! 

4. Pick a book you can curl up with by the fireplace...

The twelve Days of Christmas by Trisha Ashley. I read this on a flight to the states for Christmas and it just made me want to be in an English country house somewhere. Surprisingly, it also made me crave soup something rotten, so if you're planning on reading this one, be warned of that! 

5. Pick a book you want to read over the festive period...

I think I'd like to read Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Laurwn Myracle. It's sitting on my shelf and over Christmas itself, I know I might not have time to sit down and get into a whole book and so short stories will suit me nicely, there's a chance I may end up reading it before this though! 

6. Pick a book that's so good it gives you chills...

This Child of Mine by Sinead Moriarty. This book was such a page turner and was one revelation after another, I was gasping and exclaiming basically the whole way through. Definitely one to make you sit up and listen! 

7. Pick a book that's going on your Christmas wish list...

Definitely Anna and the French Kiss. Everyone raves about this one and tells me ill love it, I really like the hardback edition though so it's definitely on my Christmas list! 

Ok so it's tagging time. I tag:

Debbie @ Snuggling on the Sofa

Sam @ The Book Corner

Victoria @ Victoria Loves Books

Natalie @ Flutterby Books

Kirsty @ Love of a Good Book

Review: Turning forty by Mike Gayle

How to turn forty:

1. Set yourself a personal challenge.

2. Clear wardrobe of all age-inappropriate clothing.

3. Relax.

How not to turn forty:

1. Have a complete meltdown . . .

High flier Matt Beckford's sole ambition is to turn forty with his life sorted. And with a Porsche on the drive and a job that requires him to spend more time in BA's club lounge than his own lounge, it looks like things are going in the right direction. But when Matt's wife unexpectedly calls time on their marriage, a chain of events is set in motion that very quickly sees him facing forty broke, homeless and completely alone.

But all is not lost because Matt has a plan . .

Review: I got this book on audiobook after enjoying one of Mike Gayle's previous novels on audiobook. I really liked the idea of the storyline, a guy who thinks he has every but as he approaches forty it all egging to unravel. This is a reality facing a lot of people as they reach milestone birthdays. There is high redundancy and a high rate of divorce in th country and so people find themselves starting from square one again more often than we realise. 

The book got off to a really good start, it made me laugh in several places. When Matt returns home he finds himself in his local supermarket bumping into people left right and centre, I know that every time I return home, this happens to me and so I found myself really chuckling at these parts of the book. Other parts of the storyline were much more touching and I found a different kind of emotion being evoked. Some of the scenes where he is speaking to his soon to be ex wife are particularly touching, and the reconciliation he attempts to have with his childhood girlfriend made me feel quite uncomfortable and almost sorry for him. 

The characters in this book were all easy to get along with and, although I didn't particularly like Matt, I found myself sympathising with him and wanting to succeed in his goals. His parents are absolutely hilarious and somenofthe friends he catches up with along his journey provide some hilarious moments too. All the characters were realistic and all supported the storyline in their own way. 

I found this a particularly pacey read and it didn't take me long to get into it. I really liked the ending, it was totally realistic and not the cop-out I was worried might bring the novel to a close. I didn't fall in love with the book but I found it very entertaining and am glad I got it off my wish list and onto my read list. I have a few more Mike Gayle novels sitting on my shelf and I am very much looking forward to reading them having enjoyed two of his novels in fairly close succession! 

Taking my friend to meet her first author: Lindsey Kelk!

My friends all know how much I love books & love to read. They certainly reap the benefits with book recommendations,  borrowed books & news about new novels & authors! My best friend came to visit this weekend & so I decided she could come to the Lindsey Kelk signing with me.

We got up specially early to get to bluewater before everyone else got there, did some shopping, had some lunch, did some more shopping before joining the line to meet Lindsey kelk. We were about 15th in line & so we didn't have to wait long before we were taken in.

We took our books to be signed, I had read I heart Christmas on ebook so I bought a copy specially to add to my shelf of signed Lindsey Kelk novels. My friend was very excited. Lindsey was lovely, every time I meet her she pays me a compliment and said this time shed rather come shopping with us! She was lovely enough to let us have a picture and my book will now take pride of place next to I Heart London and About A Girl on my shelf!

Mini Review: The Arcade Episode 11

It's November and the Arcade tenants have got problems. Tamara Van de Beur is getting silent calls, her son, Cartier, has women trouble and Danny Huxley's ex is proving thornier than the roses he sells in his shop. For Magnus and Faith, it looks like their romance might be over before it's really begun. But with the jangle of a shop bell, they're all about to learn what heartache really is...

Angell's Arcade's is about to enter its darkest hour. What they need is a hero...and an awful lot of luck.

Review: wow the arcade just got a bit darker! Anyone who knows me will know that I am a massive fan of this monthly serial, and when I was to.d that this months episode was the most explosive yet, I couldn't wait to find out. I had concerns, however that some terrible event might occur,and I was right. I certainly won't be giving away any spoilers, but this kind of thing should be on the television, there's so much drama this month! If this were a soap, this would be the one shown on Christmas Day. Pulling in masses of viewing figures! 

This months features just about all of the characters, so that was the first aspect I enjoyed, how these writers managed to fit in everyone into just a small number of pages I don't know. Everyone seemed to come into their own in this episode too, faith having to use her paramedic skills once again, Jason having to use his SAS training, and Cartier having to use his skills at charming people to their full advantage. Rosa pops back into this one too, it's been a whilst since we saw her and it was good to catch up with her, Danny and Rachael! Even Joan makes a special appearance in this months instalment, a rare occurrence! 

The storyline itself was like some big Hollywood blockbuster, and believe me, you were kept guessing right up until the last moment, not knowing how everything was going to be resolved. As usual, not everything is resolved and there is that infuriating 'To be continued...' At the end as there is at the end of every months episode, this months though it seemed every more taunting that usual. Needless to say, I am very excited to read next months episode, and am glad I waited until it was released until I read this one, we may finally get to find out who the father of Marilyn's baby is! 

This months episode of the arcade was a real treat, definitely not for the faint hearted, but a must for all followers of the series! I can't wait for next months. If you haven't begun to read this monthly serial, it's not too late! You can download them all now, and they're a steal for a lunchtime read. I really hope that this series continues next year, and perhaps an omnibus for Christmas is still on the cards... Please?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Things I am Thankful For

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because they are particularly fond of lists over there at The Broke and the Bookish. I'd love to share my lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

I love this, it's my chance to take part in thanksgiving and I think I'm going to purely do the things I'm thankful for as a blogger. 

1. Firstly I am thankful that I can read. I love listening to audiobooks and being read to, but the actual physical process of reading is so fulfilling. The children I teach can enjoy picture books and there are some amazing examples of these around but we teach them to read words so that they can explore new worlds and fall in love with stories in whatever format they chose! 

2. I am thankful for libraries. There has been times in my life when I haven't been in a position to buy books, there has barely been enough money to buy food and so the fact that I was able to visit my local library when I ran out of books on my shelf, I am very thankful for. I discovered some new authors that way and still borrow hardback books and audiobooks from the library now as they are generally too expensive to justify buying. 

3. I am thankful for all the lovely authors out there. Every author I have met at an event or a signing has been so lovely. They don't seem blasé about us fans and always seem to have time to chat to us, taking a genuine interest in what we have to say as readers.

4. My twitter friends. I am so thankful for all the people of twitter. They feed my love of reading, tell me about new upcoming books and share my reviews and thoughts. 

5. An extensions from number 4 I am thankful for other bloggers. They have been so lovely welcoming me into the blogging community, helping me get contacts at publishes, alerting me to events and wanting to meet up and swap books, they know who they are and I am thankful for them all! 

6. I am thankful for my friends and family who are always so understanding when I'm stuck in a good book or have a deadline for a blog post. They are supportive and let me have my reading time, and they buy me lovely books when I can't afford them. 

7. I am thankful for chick lit. I find it an amazing form of escapism and I don't know where I'd be without being able to dive into those fictional worlds when I've had a bad day or I'm stressed out! 

8. I'm thankful for my kindle, yes I know it's sad! My kindle has been amazing for getting review copies of books, downloading books quickly when I haven't been able to get out to a bookshop and being light enough that I can fit it into the big pockets of my coat and I've instantly got hundreds of books at my fingertips. 

9. Bookshops. I am thankful for Bookshops because they too form an escapism for me. They smal lovely, you can hold the books and flick through them. They alert you to new books, books you might enjoy if you liked another book and they are peaceful an quiet, a total haven. Plus you can get books from them! 

10. Finally I am thankful for the holidays (there is a book link here I promise) they mean I can have a rest from work, see my family, drink tons of gingerbread lattes and mulled wine and have time to sit down guilt-free with just the pleasure of reading and nothing else! 

What are you thankful for? Have I left anything out? Link me to your top tens or leave a comment below! 

I Met Bill Bryson

On 21st November I was lucky enough to attend the Chorleywood Bookshop's literary festival. the final event of the festival was an evening with Bill Bryson. I was very excited about this having read most of what he's written and thoroughly enjoying his latest offering, One Summer: America 1927. I found myself a route and headed in the direction of Rickmasnworth for an exciting evening with one of my favourite authors!

When we arrived there we crowds of people, he is a very popular man but we managed to snag a seat not too far from the front. Bill was introduced and came over to the microphone to address the massive crowd. Not only did he read a couple of extracts from his book, he showed us pictures and had us in absolute stitches with his jokes and anecdotes-the man knows how to work a crowd! 

There was then a question and answer sessions where he talked about his writing process and his loved of the English countryside as well as dropping hints as to what his next book might be. One of my highlights of the evening was when he told us that his favourite place to walk in the UK was the Yorkshire dales, that's it's a beautiful place and Yorkshire people are the best around (which of course I heartily agree with!) 

When speaking about his writing process,he said that for writing his own memoirs, he went back to his hometown library and looked through old newspapers and magazines, looked at the TV schedules from when he was a child, the film and music listings and that is how he remembered things from his past. He also said that a lot of time and research went into writing his latest novel, which was evident from the book itself! Finally, he said that the anecdotes and stories in his book which are funny are ever so slightly exaggerated for comic effect and that, of course, he changes all the names in his book if they are based on real people! 

One of the most exciting things was that he said, his next book will probably be a follow up to notes from a small island. He said the UK has changed so much over the past 20 years and so he feels he needs to update his notes, I am very excited about this and his complete notes is one of my favourite all time books! 

Finally he was kind enough to tackle the huge line of us waiting to have my books signed, I got my copy of his latest novel signed, and even had my picture taken with him! I very much enjoyed the evening, and feel so lucky to have met this amazing author. If you ever get chance to meet him you really should because he is so lovely and polite, and if you see him in the street, go and say hi to him, because he combined that nobody ever recognises him!  

If you want to see my review of his latest novel, just check back in the side bar. 

Review! The Golden Locket by Primula Bond

Temptation would test them…

The second novel in the Unbreakable Trilogy, The Golden Locket follows Gustav and Serena to New York.

Ensconced in their Manhattan penthouse, all seems blissfully happy for Gustav and Serena. Still in the first flush of love, they have every satisfaction they could need.

But as they enjoy their New York pleasure ground, ghosts start to emerge from Gustav’s past, and when his damaged younger brother, Pierre, comes back into his life, he brings with him a dangerous threat…

With temptation waiting at every turn, can Gustav and Serena survive all the excitement that the Big Apple holds?

The sexy sequel to Primula Bond’s Sunday Times Top 20 bestseller, The Silver Chain. 

Review: I was very much looking froward to this sequel. When i read the first book, The Silver Chain, I knew it was part of a trilogy and so when I was asked if i would like to read the second in the trilogy, i jumped on the chance. I struggled to get into this a little. It took me a while to catch up with what had gone on in the previous book-even though it was only a couple of months since i had read The Silver Chain, this is definitely a sequel where you need to have read book one in the trilogy to make sense of book two. I found the storyline a little difficult to follow throughout the book, i think maybe i should have re-read the first in the trilogy before carrying on with this second book. It was great to revisit the characters though and cousin Polly gets much more of a main role in this novel.

The setting has changed, Serena and Gustav are now in New York, they also travel to Venice for part of the novel, and Serena's antics around The Big Apple were thoroughly entertaining, it made for a great backdrop! The storyline with Serena's new photographic career is much easier to follow, the things she gets up to when she is behind her camera are wonderfully voyeuristic and sometimes decidedly debauched, but provide great reading material!

The sex scenes in this novel are just as hot as in its predecessor, if not hotter! There are some fabulous descriptions of the antics Gustav and Serena get up to. There is more emphasis on swapping partners, swinging and threesomes in this book, unlike the last, and more same gender sex. All of these scenes were really well written and got me decidedly hot under the collar. They are consistently good across the whole novel!

Overall, although i found it a little difficult to follow the storyline with Gustav and Pierre, i enjoyed the second book in this trilogy and will definitely be looking forward to the last book in the trilogy!

To get a copy of this novel, click here

To see my review of the first book in the trilogy, click here