Happy New Year!!!!!!!!

Well friends ,it is the beginning of a new year. I have a smile on my face thinking of all the wonderful books that 2013 will hopefully have to offer. We may come across new writers , and characters that we will fall in love with , and story lines that we will remember for years to come. My wishes for you all is that 2013 will be a happy and healthy one , and memorable for all the right reasons.
                                                
                                                     Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goodreads 2013 Challenge

                                                    

                                                           Goodreads 2013 Challenge

This coming year will be my third year doing the Goodreads Book Challenge. For those of you not aware of Goodreads or the Challenge, Goodreads is a place on line where all the cool readers,writers hang out. On the site you can find awesome things like famous quotes,quizzes, book groups,polls, giveaways, reviews etc etc. If you enjoy books you will love this site. Each January begins a new challenge for the year. You set your own goal , might be only two books..it does not matter how little, the choice is yours. Then with each book you read you click currently reading and then when you finish it it click finished and it is added to your goal for the year. Simple!
For to check out the site yourself then follow the link below and if you decide to sign up I wish all the very best for your own challenge. There is a great sense of completion when you finish.

http://www.goodreads.com/ or if you would like to add me as a friend on there you can do so at:

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2198142-edel

100 Books in a year

Hi everyone! I am participating in the 100 Books in a year challenge that the lovely peeps over at Book Chick City are running. If you would like to join in too then follow the link below where you can see on their site all the rules for the challenge.
http://www.bookchickcity.com/2012/12/details-sign-up-bccs-100-books-in-a-year-reading-challenge-2013.html

It is sure to be a fun challenge xxx

The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley

                                                            The Haunted Bookshop

This is a lovely quirky little book with an amusing bunch of characters. If you enjoy a book about books then this is the book for you. Reading about the staff in the bookshop among the dusty shelves was wonderful . The story is sweet but has a little mystery and suspense added in too. I would recommend this to everyone! There are many great quotes in here that are worth remembering and I will def read it again. This is the follow up book to Parnassus on Wheels but it is not essential to have read that book first.

James Joyce

 

 Another gift I received for Christmas : The Works of James Joyce. This is a beautiful set of books with gold edging and are leather bound .The books are small enough to fit into a pocket. Cannot wait to read them!!

Books inside the gift box are:

Exiles
Finnegan's Wake,Vol 1 and 2 and 3
Great Collection of short stories
Ulysses Volume 1,2 and 3
Dubliners
A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man

Helene Hanff

This is the wonderful photograph that Kevin got me for Christmas I was so incredibly touched as she is my all time favourite writer. Although now deceased I still re-read all her books each year and gain something new from each of them with each new reading. If you are not familiar with her books you may have heard of the film based on her book 84 Charring Cross Road that starred Anthony Hopkins.
I recommend picking up her books. They are wonderful!

On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle Review

                                                                    On What Grounds

This is the wonderful first book in the Coffeehouse series, and what a wonderful start to a series.
Clare Cosi is the manager of the Village Blend coffee shop ,her ex mother in law owns it and now Clare lives above it. After coming across her assitant managers unconsious body at the back of the store Clare fears for the young woman's life and her own. In this book we get introduced to a wonderful collection of characters, my personal favourites are Clare and Madame(Clare's ex mother in law). This book manages to perfectly combine mystery and wonderfully discribed caffinated beverages.. The only time I stopped reading this book was to get up and make myself a coffee while reading this. It would be near impossible to read this book without a coffee to hand.  At the back of the book there is five recipes(drinks and cake) . A wonderful book that is perfect for all coffee loving mystery fans..What a way to combine the two!!!

Latest Kindle Haul

                                                               Latest Kindle Haul


Below are the purchases I got for my kindle for over the Christmas ..Check out these goodies:

                                             Book 1 in the Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery Series by Kate Kingsbury

 

Book 2 in the Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery Series by Kate Kingsbury

                                             Book 3 in the Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery Series by Kate Kingsbury

 

The entire collection of Virginia Woolf's

                                                     Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

                                               Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The Cross Kisses Back- A Morgue Mama mystery series by C.R Corwin. This series is hilarious I love Maddy!!!

Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek

What a fantastic book!!!

This was a wonderful collection of all the weird and wonderful things that were found in secondhand books. It was interesting and touching looking at all the pictures etc and imagining all those people who if they only knew where there bookmark would end up would be stunned no doubt. A lovely read esp for those of us who enjoy a pre-loved book and have often found previous owners page markers ourselves. I received this as a gift and it makes a lovely gift for those who love books as the book also mentions the books each bookmark was found in along with a picture.The book cover is beautiful as well as each page, the entire book has been made to look old . A delightful book to both read and look at. I will def be looking out for more books by this author.

The Bone Bed by Patricia Cornwell

I have just finished this and I have to say I really enjoyed it! For those of you not familiar with this author, Patricia Cornwell writes a  series about her lead character  Kay Scarpetta, Kay has many titles,Doctor, Pathologist etc etc etc, the list goes on and on.There are also other people close to Kay that you see mentioned  in almost every book such as Lucy and Marino and Benton.This is book 20 in the series and over the many years that these books have been around I have got huge amounts of enjoyment in the wonderfully gripping stories. Many a night has been spent through the years staying up  reading about serial killers and pathology,death acre's and grisly crime scenes.Patricia Cornwell does not shy away from a bloodbath or dismemberment that's for sure.You gotta admire her gumption! The grisly research/details that must go into these books would likely make a lesser mortal pale under the circumstances,but it is what makes the stories so moreish.

In this story we have a series of crimes , real head scratcher's! Kay and her buddies are on the case but they are having some doubts about people within their team...Are all of them trustworthy???? Could one of them cause great harm or have they already caused it??? There are marks on a body that even Kay is finding hard to recognise, and evil people in the world that need to be taken down.

I love the fact that every time I read one of the books in the series I learn something I never knew before, this series just does not get old!! Kay is a strong character, professionally ,and in her private life.Kay is straight laced, likes things to be done a certain way and always maintains a high standard in her work. A lot of people depend on her in her work and  and for those closest to her she gives her all. She has a tight knit community of friends and does not easily trust.She is a mother figure to her niece Lucy and her work mate Marino looks up to her. She seems at her most happiest in her kitchen cooking mouth watering dishes for those closest to her. Kay ,Lucy and Marino are my favourite characters from the very beginning and I will continue to read this series for as long as Patricia Cornwell keeps writing them. If you have not already I urge  you to read this series, I would start at the beginning although it is not essential.. You are in for a hell of a read!!

The Bookish Gifts I Received This Christmas

                                            The Bookish Gifts I Received This Christmas

 

 

                         Excellent Women, The Dud Avocado,The Diary of A Provincial Lady

Dracula,The Hound Of The Baskervilles,The Woman In White,The Picture Of Dorian Grey, Mansfield Park

 

Last but not least a look at my penguin cloth bound editions altogether.

Neom Christmas Gifts.

 

 

 

 

 

Neom Christmas Gifts I Received

 

 

 

 

Candle Gift Set

A lot of care goes into the packaging of Neom Products.

 

Sturdy packaging to protect the goodies enclosed.

 

 

 

Four beautiful scented candles that fill the room with relaxing scents.

 

The scent of Roses fills the bathroom when the bath oil and candle are used.

 

                                                     Pampering bath time goodies.

Literary Festive Tag

  
                                                             Literary Festive Tag

This Tag  originally came from Renee over at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrOD34J86yQ

This is a really fun tag!!!
Would love to read what other people's answers would be to this tag.




Questions

1=Name Five books on your Christmas Wish list?
2=A book you like to read/would like to read for the holiday season?
3=Christmas book as a child?
4=Which literary character do you think would give the best gifts?
5=If you could choose three literary characters to bestow gifts upon ,who would they be, what would you give them ,and why.
6=If you could give one character a lump of coal for being bad ,who would it be?
7=Which Scrooge like character do you think would be the biggest downer during the holiday season?
8=Invite five authors and five characters to a festive season party.
................................................................................................................................................................

My Answers

1=Holiday Buzz  by Cleo Coyle, Ash by James Herbert,Nightmare on Elm Street by Kate Collins,
2=On What Grounds by Cleo Coyle
3=Little Women
4=Scrooge-after the three ghosts paid him a visit!!
5=Mrs Weasley I would give clothes vouchers , I Mean honestly have you seen that poor woman's wardrobe!!,Jo from little women I would give a laptop and printer so much easier then scribbling away on a piece of paper and less chance of your sister burning them while in a temper, Jessica Fletcher I would give her a holiday to a completely private spa where none of her friends could disturb her
6=Voldemort
7= Any of the Goblins in Gringotts bank.
8=Dorothy Parker,Enid Blyton,JK Rowling,Sue Grafton,Patricia Cornwell.
Mrs Weasley, Professor McGonegall, Jack Torrence, Mrs Dalloway,Kinsey Milhone.

Cozy/Mystery Tag

                                                                 Cosy/Mystery Tag




Cozy/ Mystery Tag
Questions

1= What is your favourite location in a cozy/ mystery book?
2= Do you have a favourite town/city or area that you are particularly fond of books being set there as the location.
3= Do you prefer your main characters to be male or female
4= What was the most unusual way of killing off a character that you enjoyed the most?
5= Do you like to read a cosy mystery based on the time of year that you are reading it?
6= Do you have a cozy/mystery character that you are particularly fond off and why?
7=Who do you tag ?

....................................................................................................................................................................
Answers


1=My favourite is: Bookshops and trains
2=I have a joint favourite: Maine and New Orleans(could not  pick just  one)
3=Female..sorry guys
4= When there was a horrible character and they were poisoned.
5= I do, when a description of the time of year is in a book it feels more real when I am experiencing it myself.
6=I do, I really love  Natalie Barnes from the Grey Whale Inn series  by Karen McInerney.
7=I tag Sabrina and anyone else who would like to do this.

The Beauty of Murder by A K Benedict

                                                          The Beauty of Murder



**Contains Spoilers**
College lecturer Stephen Killigan comes across a body of a missing beauty queen but when he calls the cops they arrive and the body appears to have gone. That is a great beginning to a story!!!
The story is about a serial killer and those who were determined to take him down,unfortunately all the ways the police would normally capture a murderer do not apply to this particular one,this one is a real mystery.
We travel back and forth in time getting glimpses of how the murders happened and why the bodies of the victims were a lot different to what pathologists would normally expect .
There is some real gross descriptive parts about dead bodies but I loved that! It really made the story come alive!
This was a fascinating read about what if the way we think about time is not how it really is.What if it was completely different?
Reading through the night to see how the police and the main character were going to try and capture the killer kept me up all night. It was a real page turner.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Lovereading but it will be available on Feb 13 2013
There is also a free excerpt of the book over at lovereading.co.uk. Linky below!

http://www.lovereading.co.uk/book/8170/The-Beauty-of-Murder-by-A.-K.-Benedict.html

Mine To Avenge By Kerry Letheby

 

Mine To Avenge by Kerry Letheby

 

 

 

This was an awesome read!!! Never have I read a book about a vendetta that was so detailed and lasted through generations and decades of one family.
 A friendship that was once close would in one day change forever after the horrific death of the main characters sister.It was stunning reading how one mans grief ,hatred and anger devastated so many lives for such a long time,even his own family suffered !
The book is rich in detail and flicks back and forth in time from the 1940's to present day giving you insights into what was happening in each family as this feud was continuing..The work that went into this book I would imagine was extensive, but it was worth it. A masterpiece !!

http://www.amazon.com/Mine-Avenge-Kerry-Letheby/dp/0646579142/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356050940&sr=8-1&keywords=mine+to+avenge

Top Ten Cozy Book Covers Tag

                                                        Top Ten Cozy Book Covers Tag



One of my most favourite things about cozy mysteries is their covers. There is something oddly comforting in a nice cover on a cozy murder mystery book ,we know that there is going to be a murder,there may even be more then one,heck half the town could be splattered,knifed,bludgeoned ,poisoned etc but we all know that by the end the killer is going to be found and he will get his comeuppance!!! So on with the books!!.....
This coming year I am going to be paying special attention to new cozies coming out..they will get a mention and I will be reviewing them on here.

Here are a mere few of the wonderful cozy books I have come across.. Some others that I have on my kindle will be mentioned in another blog this month but for now here are the actual paperback copies I have.

 

 

 

Kate Carlisle books above. 

 Lorna Barrett above.

 

 

 

Please feel free to tag yourself in this  as I would love to see any cozy mysteries you have come across.