The Year In Books March 2015

Well here we are again at the end of yet another month of glorious reading. By the time I did my post The Year in Books -  Spring Collection  on the 11th March I had already read my way through  Precious Thing & A Mother's Story from my book shelf  and The Legacy of a Cornish Spring and We Bought a Zoo from my kindle and was partway through Rosemary Penfold's A Field Full of Butterflies.

I have to say that the second half of the month continued at the same pace as the first starting with  Diane Chamberlain's  The Midwife's Confession the story begins with the death of Noelle. When her two closest friends Tara and Emerson start to sort through Noelle's things they discover a letter containing a secret about there friend. The letter reveals a secret that challenges everything they thought they knew about her.  Noelle had been a Midwife for many years, she was the women her two friends trusted the most to deliver their babies. Her suicide has shocked them both but what  they are about to uncover will shock them the most and sets them on a journey that could change their lives forever.  

I had never read a Diane Chamberlain novel before, this one was given to me as a Christmas gift. When I first read the back cover I wasn't quite sure whether this was going to be my kind of read but I couldn't have been more wrong and I really enjoyed every page and found I just could not put it down.  I have since purchased another novel by the same author to join the many others that are in residence on the bookshelf.

The Chronicles of Narnia - The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe -  is the second of the stories written by  CS Lewis  and was my March return to my childhood read.  I have at some stage read all the Chronicles of Narnia books but this one has always been my absolute favourite and it is most likely the reason for my love of myth and magic. 

PUSH by Sapphire is the story of Clarice Precious Jones a 16 year old girl who has never been outside of Harlem.  She has become pregnant for the second time by her father and has been kicked out of school. She is placed in a teaching programme where she will learn to read and write. Sapphires novel went on to be made into a film called Precious. I have never seen the film but the book certainly is very emotive and at times hard to follow as it has been written in the language used by the kids slang.  It is very graphic in places around the abuse that Precious endures and I'm not sure that it would be everyone's kind of read.   I had purchased The Kid by Sapphire sometime ago only to discover that this was the sequel to PUSH . I therefore decided I would have purchase and read PUSH first.  The Kid is on my list of Spring reads but I'm not sure that I am ready to tackle another emotive novel such as this just yet as I am sure it will be just as explicit in it's content as PUSH. 

The Oyster Catcher - Jo Thomas is set within the Oyster farming community of Galway in a little place called Dooleybridge.  Fiona Clutterbuck finds herself stranded in this little community. when her husband has barely let the ink dry on the Marriage Certificate he announces that he cannot live a lie and runs off with the best man. The only thing Fiona is left with is her sequinned shoes and a crashed campervan.   When the opportunity arises of a job working for Sean Thornton local Oyster Farmer she jumps at the chance hoping this will give her the spring board to a new life and a chance to forget her extremely short lived marriage.   I found this a light relief after PUSH it was a little slow in places but overall it was a good read and would may be have suited someone of lesser years than myself. But would still recommend it especially as a holiday read you could definitely pick up where you had left off with this one. 

Goodbye Dearest Holly - Kevin Wells. I feel sure that everyone within the UK and possibly even beyond will remember the horrific murder of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells. These two ten year old girls left Holly's home on the 4th August 2002 never to return alive.  This is Kevin Wells account of what happened in the days following the girls disappearance, the discovery of their bodies and the fight to get justice for the girls making sure that Ian Huntley received the sentence he deserved. 

As always I like to pick a book of the month and this month I have to say I have struggled to make that decision as I have read so many good books this month. 

I still think the one that stands out for me this month is

                                                   

                                                A Mother's Story by Amanda Prowse. 

Don't forget, if haven't done so already,  you can still take part in Laura's Year in Books Project by clicking the link below

The Year in Books Project 2015

That's it for now and I look forward to seeing what everyone is reading in April. 

Happy Easter one & all.

Mx

The Year in Books Spring Collection

Last weekend was spent Spring cleaning as we are now in the month of March and Spring is all but here.  With the change in season comes my new collection of books to read through over the coming months of Spring.

I had started reading Precious Thing by Colette Mcbeth in the last week of February but I didn't finish it until the 1st March so I am including it in my March reads (just).  Did you have a very best friend in school. Rachel and Clara met when Rachel moved to the area and was the newbie in the class.  They immediately hit it off and became firm friends throughout their lives, or so it seemed.  When Clara was about to turn 18 something happened that would change all that, but still Rachel stood by her friend.  Now in their late 20's they arrange to meet only Clara doesn't turn up she has disappeared and it is feared something has happened to her. Rachel is beside herself with worry after the police contact her wondering what could possibly have happened to her friend.  Appeals are made and an appearance on Crime Watch by the local detective. One name keeps coming up as a possible suspect, what Rachel hadn't bargained for was that it would be her name and that  it would be she they suspected of harming Clara.  This turned out to be a very good read.  I'm not normally one for Psychological thriller type books but there were so many twists and turns in this one that I ended up not being able to put it down. 

As well as all the books you see in the photograph there are quite a few on my kindle waiting their turn for reading.   I had for sometime had a book on there called The Legacy of a Cornish Spring by Chris Wetherell. As we are more or less into Spring mode now I thought it was high time I read this one.  It is based around a small Cornish village where everyone has lived there forever.  Incomer's the Pascoes move into a little cottage which they are going to renovate.  When they start tackling the garden they find an old satchel containing a broken doll and a little broach. They make it their mission to find out who the little broach belonged to with the hopes they could return it to it's rightful owner.  I can't say this one was a page turner but it helped filled the time when sat on a train.

When we returned from our trip in London there on the dining table was my latest acquisition A Mother's Story by Amanda Prowse.  I am a big fan of Amanda Prowse novels since her very first Poppy Day and I can't praise her books enough.  They are always about very real subjects that some of us have dealt with in our lives.  In this her latest novel Amanda tackles the subject of Postnatal Depression, something I have had the misfortune to have experienced first hand with two of my own children.   Her description of how her character Jess feels like she has a black cloak over her is something I can definitely relate to and the more I read the more I could resonate with the story. Fortunately for me my experience of the illness was not as extreme of that of the character within her book but as with most of these types of illnesses I was only a few steps away from being that person. Like any mental health related issues PND  still feels like is a very taboo subject.  I can remember being told by my then  MIL that I just needed to buck up and get on with things. If only it had been that simple.  At the time I felt totally alone and inadequate and a complete failure as a mum and I certainly wasn't going to broadcast the fact.  I'm hoping in writing this story that Amanda will help people to recognise the symptoms within themselves and others and get the help they need.  It is definitely one I would recommend for reading but warn you that a large supply of tissues may be needed. 

Having felt like I had been put through the mangle I decided my next read should be something a little lighter. I picked Benjamin Mee's We Bought a Zoo.  I had seen the film starring Matt Damon based on Ben Mee's book but I wanted to know the real story behind Dartmoor Zoo. In the film version Ben's wife Catherine has already died and he is left to raise his two children alone, (as they do in Hollywood). In reality Catherine, although diagnosed with a brain tumour had at that time undergone treatment and was very much a part of the decision to buy the zoo along with other members of his family, including his elderly mother. The book describes the up hill struggle they went through to turn a run down zoo in Dartmoor into a thriving tourist attraction.  Unfortunately Catherine did relapse and her disease progressed and she lost her battle against her illness within months of the zoo opening.  I have never visited Dartmoor zoo but it definitely left me with a sense that if I should get down that way again that I would definitely have to visit the zoo and see all the families hard work for real.  

I am now reading my way through Rosemary Penfold's A Field Full of Butterflies. I was originally drawn by the title alone but I am enjoying her memoirs of the Romany culture and growing up within a Romany family. 

So here we are almost half way through March already and although the mornings are still a little chilly with the occasional frost at least the mornings are now light and I am beginning to feel less like Mrs Mole.

Happy Mother's Day to all those who will be celebrating this Sunday.

Mx

Year in Books February roundup

There really is nothing better than a Sunday morning with a cup of tea in your favourite cup and a good book. This Sunday was no exception.  It's been a cold windy time across the Fens with occasional cloud bursts. There have been times when I have wondered if my little cottage will still be in the Fens when I awake with the howling gales we've had of late. 

This month has been another busy month of reading. I was given Kate Mosse's The Mistletoe Bride and other Haunting Tales as a gift for Christmas.  I had previously read her novel Winter Ghosts both books were very good, but this one was very easy reading as it was an collection of short stories and usually meant I could read a story a day. I would go on and read more of her writing in the future. Lulu Taylor's  The Winter Folly had been sitting patiently on my Kindle for a while.  I really enjoyed this book immensely. It was quite an emotive book in places. I liked the fact it covered two time periods covering the 60's and 70's and present day. The story is written around the Stirling family and the tragedy that surrounding the family. When Delilah marries John Stirling she decides she needs to find out what exactly did happen to his mother that would haunt him into his adult life. I would definitely recommend this one as a good read.  Sarah Butler's Ten Things I've Learnt About Love is her debut novel.  The story is centered around two main characters Daniel a homeless man and Alice who has returned home from her travels when she learns her father is gravely ill.  These two characters have one common link Alice's mother and through Ms Butler's writing you follow each of their journeys discovering just what it is that connects the two. Marjorie Celona's Y is set in Canada telling the story of a young girl who was left on the steps of the YMCA when hours old.  This is her journey to find the truth about her parents and why she was abandoned. A little predictable in places but overall a good read.   This year I challenged myself to re visit some of my favourite books from my childhood.  Anne of Greengables from The Complete Collection by Lucy Maud Montgomery, was one of my all time favourites. I downloaded the complete collection for just 99p on my kindle and as it contains all 10 books I thought this was an absolute bargain.  For now I have read the first of the books which is entitled Anne of Greengables and tells you Anne's story from 11 - 16 years. The remaining 9 books take you on Anne's journey through life up to the age of 53.  For those of you that don't know the story of Anne Shirley, she is a young orphan girl with the biggest imagination possible who is adopted by  a brother and sister Marilla and Mathew Cuthbert. I still think all little girls should read the Anne Shirley stories in their childhood.  I will certainly go on to read the remaining books at some time in the future. 

As for War Horse I've read this over a couple of days. It is my daughter's 21st this coming week and we are off to London next weekend for a mum and daughter weekend. Whilst there we are going to two shows Mamma Mia (daughter's choice) and War Horse (both our choice).  I had seen appearances of the puppets (I always have to remind myself they are puppets as they are so life like) on many occasions since it first went on the stage but had never had the opportunity to see it that is until now.  I have purposely avoided seeing the film and waited until now to read the book so that I knew the whole story before we go that way I can immerse myself in the stage show.  As you can imagine we are very excited. I don't see my daughter often as she is at Uni so this will be an especially exciting weekend for the both of us giving us the chance to spend some quality time together.

I think I have saved the best of my February reads until last.  The Supremes at Earls All You Can Eat is the début novel by Edward Kelsey Moore and my book of the month. If you liked The Help you will definitely love this one.  It tells the story of three middle aged women who have been friends since high school. They were nicknamed The Supremes as teenagers by Big Earl when they frequented his diner all those years ago. They have been through everything together, love and loss good times and bad.  Seeing each other through some of the toughest times in their lives.  It's just as it says on the cover of the book The secret to life is friendship and their friendship has survived some 40 years.  I loved the way in which Edward Kelsey Moore was so 'in tune' with these three women and their character, so much so that they could be real, it will make you laugh and it will make you cry but it is definitely a must read in my book. The only downside is with this being Edward Kelsey Moore's début novel there aren't any others to seek out. YET  I just hope it won't be too long before he releases a further novel.

What have your favourite reads been this month?

Now it's decision time. Time to make my selection of books for my Spring reads.. I know Spring doesn't officially start until the end of March but here at The Willows  it's going to start next week, especially as the first of my Daffodil's has opened.

Decisions, decisions so many great reads do I have enough years left to read them all. 

Happy reading one & all. 

Mx

Year in Books February half way mark

Not the best of photographs but early morning is not the best time to take photo's in my little cottage.

On the table today are the two books I have just completed Sarah Butler's Ten Things Learnt About Love & Marjorie Celona's Y.  Both of these had been residing on my bookshelf for some time. Ten Things Learnt About Love tells the story of Alice and Daniel.  Alice has returned home from travels abroad when she learns that her father is gravely ill. Her mother died when she was just four years old leaving her father to raise her and her two older sisters.  Daniel is a homeless man whose one wish would be to find his daughter he has never met. You soon realise that these two have one common link. It was a great book as a debut novel but at times did seem to loose it's way a little but I'm sure Ms Butler will go onto produce more great works in the future.   Y is set in Canada and tells the story of Shannon a young girl who was abandoned by her mother outside the YMCA when she was just hours old.  Shannon is put into foster care but is eventually adopted by Amanda a single mother of a little girl just a little older than herself.  Her one wish as she gets older is to find out her true identity.  Quite an emotive book in places as you follow her journey in finding the truth.  

On my kindle I have now downloaded my return to my childhood read The Anne of Greengables Collection by Lucy Maud Montgomery.  These were some of my favourite books as a child  and I am looking forward to visiting these again.  In fact I am up to chapter three already.

Also on the table is my little note book, I do have a little obsession for note books to add to the collection of all my other obsessions.  In here I write down all the books I either buy or download to try and stop duplication, but I also like to keep a record of how many I buy across the year.  I also make a note of the books I read each month in order to not miss out any on my blog.  Since starting my blog I have purchased some 160+ books and have read around 120 and there is still plenty of space in my little book which means I can carry on buying more.....

It is number two son's birthday next week so yet another card has been purchased and posted.  We have a lot of birthdays at the beginning of year in our household. I suspect my son would like to think I have enough savings to buy him a lovely car like this but I'm afraid he is out of luck unless he would like one from matchbox cars...  My Hyacinths are coming into bloom and the smell is already just glorious.  Last year they seemed to have grown rather tall & gangly  which meant they had problems staying upright if anyone knows why this might be please leave me a comment in order that I don't make the same mistake again .  And to finish off is my little blue cup and saucer.  I am usually a cup of tea in a mug kind of girl but there are times when only a cup and saucer will do.  I blame Kate over at Just Pootling who did a lovely anniversary giveaway last year which I was very fortunate to win and in so doing introduced me to the merits of a cup & saucer and Tea Pigs the every day brew is very nice but I am now rather hooked on the Lemon & Ginger flavor and there are still so many for me to try. 

So here we are approaching the half way mark of February and already I have read my way through four books with the fifth underway.

For some of you it will be the half term holidays and for others that will be next week but whatever you are doing during the holidays I hope you still find a little me time to indulge in a little reading.

Mx

Year in Books February

As you can see my little Rufus has been doing some very serious snow watching over the weekend. The four paws don't really know what to make of it, but Rufus decided the best place was the window sill under which is a radiator to keep a little boy warm. 

With snow falling from the sky what else is a girl to do but have an extra hour in bed with a cup of tea and a biscuit and obviously the latest read. 

I started both Kate Mosse's The Mistletoe Bride & other Haunting Tales and Lulu Taylor's Winter Folly

last week.  As a rule I don't have more than one book on the go at a time as I confuse the characters, unless one is fiction and one is non-fiction when I can compartmentalize each one. I did however make an exception with these two because Mistletoe Bride was a book of short stories that I could  read over a  matter of days completing the last one yesterday. I read Winter Ghost last month which was my first reading of Kate Mosse.  I always like ghost stories as a child which usually meant scaring myself witless in the process.  I enjoyed Mistletoe Bride and the other short stories. Some were better than others but on the whole it was a good read. 

I am now continuing with Winter Folly which crosses between present day and the past starting in 1965 when Alexandra Crewe's father forces her into a loveless marriage which she eventually runs away from after just 5 months and into the arms of her childhood friend Nicky Stirling air apparent to Lord Northmoor and the ancestral home of Fort Stirling. 

In the present day John Stirling brings his young bride back to Fort Stirling where he struggles with demons of his past. His young wife Deliah is worried that such demons will destroy their marriage. She embarks on a journey to get to the truth about John's mother  who John believes has died when he was a small boy.

This is my first Lulu Taylor read and so far I am enjoying this novel very much.  I like books that take you back to the past in order to understand the present I am now 70% through and can't wait to get to the final twist. 

Back in December I picked my selection of Winter Reads. There have been one or two queue jumpers of books given to me for Christmas which I have read over the past month. 

From the original picks there are  now four remaining which I am hoping to read at least two during February.  

The Kindle purchases have continued to grow and one or two may be in line for reading this month, and I have of course  yet to select my return to my childhood read which may be from my Kindle or a visit to my local Waterstones. 

I can find it difficult to decide upon which books I will read next, it can depend on what sort of book I have just finished or even the mood I find myself in as to what will take my fancy next. 

How do you pick a book to read?

 I think it is a case of watch this space. 

Happy reading one & all

Mx

The Year in Books - January

Well it's been somewhat of a kindlefest here this month, with 6 out of the 9 books read have been on my Kindle or the iPad using the kindle app.

Just before Christmas I started Broken Angels by Graham Masterson only to realise within the first few pages that this was book two of four.  So I stopped and immediately downloaded White Bones. Come Christmas morning I then discovered I had been given a further eight books one of which was The Great Christmas Knit Off. Well with it being Christmas I felt this one needed to be read immediately so ended up with two books on the go at the same time.  Now normally I don't do that as I would normally confuse the stories and in turn would confuse myself (which doesn't always take a lot let me tell you).  But as they were so completely polls a part I didn't think I would get the two story lines mixed up.

The Great Christmas Knit Off.was a great little read very much a chick flick sorted of book and a little a long the lines of Bridgett Jone's diary.  If it were ever to be made into a film and I had to pick the actress to play Sybil I think it would have to be Joanna Page (of Gavin & Stacey fame).

Then it was back to the Graham Masterson Katie Maguire series of books in earnest.  I was totally immersed in White Bones & Broken Angels they were brilliant reads and the twists in the stories were fantastic.  I was definitely left needing to know more about Katie Maguire and what was going to happen in her life next.  The third in the series Red Light was good but not as good as the first two. Lastly I read Taken for Dead which in my humble opinion let the series down and was certainly less believable and more predictable in places.  There is a fifth book due out in Autumn of this year but until I see the synopsis I'm not sure that it will be a must have download.

This year I set myself challenges, as I do every year, I can't do resolutions as I know inside of three weeks I will have given up where as challenges seem to work for me.  This years book challenge is to re read some of those books I enjoyed reading in my child hood and that of my children.  January kicked off with The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett. This was always one of my favourites every since I was at primary school and my then teacher Mrs Rose read it to us. From then I was hooked and when my daughter came along many years later it was one of the books we shared whilst she was growing up.  In fact since telling her about my challenge and which book I had picked as my January read she has now unearthed her own copy and is re-reading it again.  Who knows one day she may a daughter of her own to share it with.

The Winter Ghost - Kate Mosse was another dowload to my Kindle, I have always liked ghost stories and was looking forward to reading this one.  I was not to be disappointed. I was what I would call an easy read in as much as I could pick it up at varying times and not loose the thread of the story. I had sort of guessed the twist in the story but you were left not knowing for sure until the end which is just how I like my ghost stories to be.  I was given Misteltoe Bride for Christmas which is now in the queue for reading.

As I have already said,  and probably posted, I was given eight books this Christmas and I'm now going to tell you about another two. I think most of us thought it very sad when Lynda Bellingham lost her fight against cancer towards the end of last year. In her book  There's Something I've Been Dying to Tell You she talks openly about her diagnosis and the impact it had on her and her family but in her usual light hearted manor without a bleak moment with in it and I'm sure it was her humor that got her through to the end.  The book stops at the point she makes her decision to stop any further treatment.

Now as you know from the selection of books that I read each month I like to pick a book of the month and my book for January 2015 is Kristin Hannah's Winter Garden. It tells the story of two sisters and their elderly parents. One sister was a stay local to mum and dad, married mum of two daughters and works in the family orchard business, the other is a high flying photojournalist, who travels all over the world.  Their mother has never really shown them love and affection and now as adults they struggle to show her any love and affection  back.  Throughout their childhood their mother used to tell them a fairy-tale of the  Black Knight, the Prince and the Peasant girl. The girls loved this story so much that they decide one Christmas to do the story as a pantomime. Their mother becomes very distressed and never repeats the story, what the girls hadn't realised was that the fairy-tale was actually the story of their mother before she had married their father.  When their elderly father becomes ill he tells his wife now is the time that she must finish telling their girls the story.  This takes the three women on a journey of discovery and for their mother to finally discover the truth.

This was a truly un-put-downable book and wherever I was you would find the book in my hand.

And there we are fast approaching the end of the first month of 2015, I wonder what other great reads we will discover this year.

Don't forget if you haven't already had a chance to check out Laura's Circle of Pine Trees Blog where she is hosting The Year in Books Project 2015. It's not too late to join in the fun of sharing your the books you read and you may find some great recommendations there too. 

Mx

A good start to 2015/ The Year in Books January reads

Having returned to work on Monday after the Christmas holidays I have spent the last two days in bed poorly. 

As there isn't much you can do in between sleeps I thought I would do my first post of the year and have a look back over 2014.

During 2014 I read some 70 books (much to the amazement of my son who tells me he read 4).

I read many fantastic books but I always like to pick one per month that has stood out more than the others

and these are the books that I picked over the last twelve months.

At the end of the year I like to pick a book from these tweleve for my book of the year.

My book of the year for 2014 is

For anyone who has read books by Amanda Prowse before will know, she writes about everyday circumstances that can affect us all.  All her books of the No Greater Love series are some how linked to one another.  In Will You Remember Me Amanda brings back Poppy Day, the young hairdresser married to her childhood sweetheart Martyn Crickett. Here we find Poppy fighting the biggest battle of her life when she discovers a lump in her breast.  I'm sure there will be those of you out in blogland who will have experienced this yourself or know of some one who has.  In my case  a close friend has been going through treatment herself in 2014 and we are all hoping that she will beat her disease. 

In 2014 I also challenged myself to re-read some of those books we were made to read whilst at school,

The twelve books I re-read were

1. To Kill A Mockingbird

2. The Waterbabies

3. Lord of the Flies

4. Of Mice & Men

5. Animal Farm

6. Cider with Rosie

7. The Color Purple

8. To Sir With Love

9.Educating Rita

10. Carries War

11. The Diary of Anne Frank

12. Uncle Tom's Cabin

There were those that I loved, those I hadn't really changed my opinion of in 35+ years and those I loathed.

I have to say that my favourite is still 

To Kill A Mockingbird

Did you have a favourite school read?

So to 2015 

I received a further eight books as Christmas gifts which put together with those still on my bookshelf 

and those residing on my kindle means I probably have enough books to see me through 2015 without buying anymore.  Of course we know that won't happen don't we.  As much as I try not to buy anymore books I know there will be those that find there way into the shopping basket or downloaded to my kindle so I will jut have to read quicker won't I.

So to my January reads.

Alexandra Browns The Great Christmas Knit Off was a gift from my books swap buddy Lou. She said she didn't know whether I was going to like it but the fact it included knitting she thought I may.  

I started it just after Christmas and continued to read it through to the beginning of January and therefore I have included in my January reads list.  

It is a lovely light hearted book about a young lady who isn't having the best of times and decides to visit her close friend who runs a country pub.  What Sybil didn't know when she arrived is that her life was about to change forever.

Definitely a romcom type book and reminded me a little of Bridget Jone's diary in it's composition. 

Sometime ago I downloaded Graham Masterson's Broken Angels only to realise that it is part of a series of books all of which are written about his main character Katie Maguire who is the Chief Superintendent of the Cork Garda..  For sometime I had lost my interest in Crime Thrillers but this series of books seems to have reignited my interest. I have now completed the first in the series White Bones. The books are written in such away that you get to know not only about the crime committed but about the life of Katie Maguire outside of her work. So far Broken Angels is continuing to be just as well written.  

The third and fourth in the series Red Light and Taken for Dead are patiently waiting to be read on my Kindle.

Following on from last years challenge of revisiting some of the books I read at school, this year I have set myself the challenge of re-reading some of my favourite books from childhood and those that I enjoyed reading with my own children. For January I have picked The Secret Garden this was not only one of my favourites from my childhood but also that of my daughters and maybe one day she too will have a daughter of her own to share this lovely book with.

I am delighted to say that Laura from Circle of Pine Trees is continuing with her Year in books project in 2015. I joined her project back in October and I am so glad I did. Not only have I been able to share the books that I have read but also found lots of great recommendations of books to read.

It's quite simple to take part and if you click here you will find out more.

Meanwhile I'm off to take some more meds and possibly even another little dose before teatime.

Happy reading one & all

Mx