My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises by Fredrik Backman . Review.

From the opening chapter I loved the grandmother in this book, you instantly warm to her total disregard for social etiquette . I love her fresh approach to life and how it should be lived, adding fun and adventures whenever or wherever possible each day no matter what. Elsa is a seven year old girl and her granny thinks every child deserves a superhero to get them through life ... Elsa's grandmother has pretty much taken it upon herself to be just that.... She is awesome, but eccentric , much to the disappointment of her own daughter. Elsa's grandmother has seen many things throughout her life and all this played a part in making her the woman she is now. When tragedy occurs it leads Elsa on an adventure that she has to go on by herself leading her to all manner of weird and wonderful places. Every little bit of advice and  different way of seeing people and situations that her grandmother taught her will come in very handy and then Elsa's small world becomes infinitely better.

I recommend this to everyone who wants a feel good read . Read with tissues! 

I received this book for review from the lovely folks over at Lovereading.co.uk

This book is being published June 2015 and will be available to buy on Lovereading.co.uk and all other good bookstores then. 

Below please find a link to this book on Lovereading.co.uk.

http://www.lovereading.co.uk/book/14218/My-Grandmother-Sends-Her-Regards-and-Apologises-by-Fredrik-Backman.html

New Notebooks

New notebooks are a little like when you get a new diary at the start of each year, a fresh start.. Who knows what good things you are going to find to write down in them. These are almost to pretty to use but they will get used , they are the perfect size for a handbag and so cute!!!!!! 

I like to try and find an inspirational quote for the beginning, the first page ... To try and start as you mean to go on . 

The Girl You left Behind by Jojo Moyes . Review

I had previously read one other book by this author and then somehow I forgot how good she was until I finished the first chapter of this book then the awesomeness that is Jojo Moyes came back to me like a slap.

You know when you read something that is so good that you don't know where to begin when someone asks what was it about????  ...... Your mind is still with the characters and the plot and the ending....... Oh my , the ending....... 

This is me now.... Minutes after finishing it , and at a loss for words .. 

Let's start with a war, a painting , and the characters.

The war begins and a small French town is invaded by Germans and one particular woman's husband is sent to war, her name is Sophie and her husband is an artist called Edouard Lefevre .Sophie is the main character in the book that tells the story in the  past. In the future the story is mainly told though the eyes of a different woman called Liv . These two women , one living in war time where her life is in constant threat and the other in modern day England grieving the loss of her beloved husband are linked by a painting that means an awful lot to both of them at the time they had it , and the story tells us of the risks each took because of it. Although the story is about war, the painting , loss and hardship , at the centre of it all is love. I loved every minute I listened to this book and the narrator was beautifully spoken, giving emotion to each characters situation so much so that I forgot that it was a woman speaking as a man at times. I urge everyone to read this book. By the time I finished it I had goosebumps. 

Left Of The Bang by Claire Lowdon. Review

The story is based around a woman called Tamsin, a failed concert pianist who is very unsatisfied with her life esp her relationship with her boyfriend Callum , when a blast from the past comes back into her life and shakes it all up again she is not sure anymore who or what she wants in her life. Each of the characters are all going through their own personal troubles and there was quite a few surprises I did not see coming. Relationship ups and downs , friendships and secrets all make this a great story that is impossible to put down.

I received this book for review from the lovely people over at Lovereading.co.uk. 

This book is being published in June 2015 and will be available on Lovereading.co.uk to buy as well as all other good booksellers. 

Below please find a link to this book on Lovereading.co.uk

http://www.lovereading.co.uk/book/9780008102173/isbn/Left-of-the-Bang-by-Claire-Lowdon.html

In My Mailbox

Well if that cover does not get your attention on a bookshelf nothing will ! 

Solitude Creek by Jeffrey Deaver is sure to be a terrifically terrifying read. 

Sunday Evening

As you probably know by now at weekends I like to get out walking outside and clear my head. Forests and the sea are my favourites , I think it is the way they smell. They are restful places and the colours are calming , birds singing.... You get the picture ;0)

Spring really felt like it could not make up it's mind if it was coming or going today, beautiful colours everywhere but hailstones in between the sunny parts of the day.

I was hoping I was not going to get drenched when I saw this large cloud coming at me... It was beautiful to look at though....

The sea was rough but the wind was refreshing .

There is something slightly odd about my love of old steps , gnarly looking, grass growing through them.... Perhaps it is the possibilities of where they might lead too.

Reading right now....

The Spider In The Corner Of The Room by Nikki Owen . Review

This is a story about a highly inteligent female doctor called Maria Martinez who is charged with the murder of a priest . Maria has no memory of this event but she has severe doubts about how credible her own memory is as she has lost chunks of time in her memory and has hazy memories of other events that she knows nothing about. In prison now , her Asperger's symtoms are heightened making her imprisionment and awareness of what's going on even worse. It's difficult to know who to trust when you have no idea what is real and who is telling you the truth . If you love conspiracy theories then you will really enjoy this first book in this trilogy. 

I received this book for review from the lovely people over at Lovereading.co.uk. This book is going to be published June 2015 and will be available to buy on Lovereading.co.uk and all other good bookstores then. 

Below please find a link to this book on the Lovereading.co.uk website.

http://www.lovereading.co.uk/book/14189/The-Spider-in-the-Corner-of-the-Room-by-Nikki-Owen.html

My Secret Rockstar Boyfriend by Eleanor Wood . Review

This is the story about an eighteen year old girl called Tuesday or Chew as all her friends call her. She lives with her divorced mum and is currently preparing for exams and writing a blog when the story begins . When she gets a comment on her blog one day from someone who she really admires and fancies it all seems to be too good to be true!  

This was a fun story about what can happen when dreams really come true , and friendship and family that is the basis of it all.

I recommend this for all YA readers who often daydream about meeting their idols. 

I received this book for review from the lovely guys at Lovereading4kids.co.uk.

This book is due to be published in June 2015 and will be available from Lovereading and all other good bookstores then.

Below please find a link to this book on the Lovereading4kids website .

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/9781447277873/isbn/My-Secret-Rockstar-Boyfriend-by-Eleanor-Wood.html

In My Mailbox

This is a YA book about a girl blogger with a bit of love , music and awesomeness thrown in too . I am reading and loving right now !

The Detective's Secret by Lesley Thomson . Review

This is book three in this series featuring Stella Darnell and Jack Harmon. Stella has a knack for solving crimes when she is not running a cleaning service and it's not long before her help is needed in solving a crime that has strong links to the past , buried secrets and terrible mind games. The story flits between the 1980's and 2013 , in the past we see the story from a child's perspective and it present say through our main characters who have links to that past.

There was a deep sense of how harm done in youth to young people can carry though to adulthood and can either make or break who they are going to end up being. 

A strong emotional ride of a book that will stay with you long after you have finished it. I recommend this to any mystery lover. 

I relieved this book for review from the lovely folks over at Lovereading.co.uk

This book is due to be released in April 2015 and will be available on Lovereading.co.uk and all other good bookstores then. 

Below please find a link to this book on the lovereading.co.uk website. 

http://www.lovereading.co.uk/book/14066/The-Detective-s-Secret-by-Lesley-Thomson.html

Self Comforting / Good Head Space

I thought I would come on here to chat to you about what's been going on with me. There will be my usual book posts after I post this , but I just want wanted to bring you up to date about me and some head space I have been needing to take every week lately. Today has been a bad day, it has been a collection of all the things that have happened this year , baby loss, illness , anxiety and high stress levels along with worries about personal problems ,  tests to be done , and those I have yet to do ,and what the results may be. Today all that felt like it built up to a tough level so I needed to chat about them, I made some calls , spoke to some good people , and I am trying to just take care of myself right now until this passes. As they say,  even the bad times can't stay bad forever. As someone who has had bad depression on and off I know what I am talking about.. Depression will not tell you when it is going to arrive or leave so you just have to ride out the storm and keep good people around you, genuine ones , even if it means cutting people out of your life, the ones that could make the situation worse, it will become apparent very quickly who they will be ...

At times in life when you are struggling it's the time to call in the big guns ...any friends that you can trust , if you have family members that you can count on ring them , but there will be those who don't have friends to confide in or maybe don't have family ,so in that case finding that someone to talk to needs even more effort. This may be happening at a time when putting any effort into anything feels just about impossible but I promise a little effort now will make a big difference when you are having a really down day. 

Depending on where you live there will be different places you can contact , Samaritans , your local hospital, doctor , nurse..all these people are happy to help in anyway they can and it's their job to listen and if you can find some one of them you trust then that's half the battle. 

If your down days or stress days are less about depression and more about just the odd day of feeling down then exercise and meditation and doing fun things and maybe meeting friends can be beneficial as well as talking about how you feel, but if those days seem to be lasting a little longer then you think they should maybe talk to someone, your doctor or nurse can talk confidentially to you and maybe set your mind at ease .

If you are feeling anything like what I am feeling right now please know you are now alone ...

If you can't take it one day at a time then aim for an hour at a time ...baby steps folks... 

Until next time enjoy every bit of laughter and fun life throws at you , smile often and be kind to others..you just have no idea what other smiling faces might be going through and you could be their reason to smile today just by being kind. 

I may do a blog post on the things that help me when things are tough.. Let me know in the comments if that is something you would be interested in reading about.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sick as a small hospital

Hi guys. I was in hospital again last night . It might take me a day or two to get back to you with some more reviews but I will hopefully have plenty to chat about then. Xxxxxxxx

Bad Bones by Graham Marks . Review.

This is the story about a young guy called Gabe, Gabe is smart but he makes all the wrong choices while trying to help is struggling family out of hard times. I really felt sorry for him as he loves his family and it hurts him seeing them going through tough times but he looks for answers in all the wrong places. There is bad guy Benny who wants to help Gabe but at a high price that could be never ending , and then he comes across something too good to be true when out on his bike one day , but this could prove more dangerous then taking on mad, bad guy Benny as things begin to get very scary in Gabes life and the long buried past is back to avenge what is theirs. This book is part of the Red Eye series for YA , if you like a creepy book , this is just the book for you!

I received this book for review from the lovely people over at Lovereaing4kids.co.uk.

This book is due to be published in May 2015 and will be available from Lovereading4kids and all other good book stores then.

Below please find a link to this book on the Lovereading4kids website. 

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/9781847154545/isbn/Bad-Bones-by-Graham-Marks.html

Bed Time Reading

Can't wait to find out how this series ends! Hope to have trilogy finished in the next few days! 

Night night  x x x

Happy Mail Part 3

Thank you Duffy!!!!! ((( huge hugs coming your way )))) 

Happy Mail Part 2 #journal#planner

Thank you so much!!!!

KarolinasKrafts on Etsy! 

Happy Mail ( part 1) #journal#planner

I so needed some happy mail today !!!! 

Dashboards and Washi Tape and I was an extremely happy girl !!!!! 

Kate you are awesome! 

In My Mailbox

There was a huge amount of books that arrived today . Insert smiley happy face here: 

Left of the Bang by Claire Lowdon

The a Silent Hours by Cesca Major

My Grandmothet sends her regards and apologises by Fredrik Backman

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Mindwalker by A. J . Steiger . This is book 1 in the Mindwalker series

Conversion by Katherine Howe

The Thirty List by Eva Woods . Review

Never has divorce been so funny and spot on , and I know I have been there! 

Meet Rachel, thirty something , newly divorced , homeless , trying to find her way in life with the support of her friends ,sad music and tea and biscuits...realising she never really knew her husband at all!

It's not long before the housing situation is sorted , Insert another person going through a divorce , a dog , a kid , and you have yourselves a really fun ,anything can happen read!

Rachel and her friends are witty and little rays of sunshine ,reading about their scenes together is often hilarious as they often open their mouth without editing it first...insert plenty of comic banter here....

Rachel may think that divorce is the worst thing that could possibly happen to her but little does she know it could be leading her on all the right paths in life but not without a few large hurdles first.

If you have ever lost your way, been through a divorce/ breakup , needed a hand in life ,then this is the book for you! This will lift your spirits and help you regain your faith in humanity . 

I received this book for review from the lovely people over at Lovereading.co.uk

This book is being published June 2015 and will be available on the Lovereading website and all other good bookstores then

Below please find a link to this book on Lovereading.co.uk

http://www.lovereading.co.uk/book/9780263915334/isbn/The-Thirty-List-by-Eva-Maria-Woods.html

#journal#planner

Does this post really need some words .... I think the pictures are pretty enough to speak for themselves !!! Let's hear it for the #plannerladiesworldwide !!!!!

Some people are really mean ..... Avoid Them !!!! Wise words!!!!

Don't forget ladies!!!!

Ahoy There!!!!

It actually feels like Spring today , and I do in fact feel like I have one in my step too. It was off to a small fishing area on the west coast of Ireland I went , in recent years it has been expanding and has extended quite a bit since my last visit. The sun was shining and the smell of the fish and the sea reached me before I saw it. It is a fishing town , the majority of business here is directly related to what is coming in on the boats although in summer time luxury cruise liners make there way here to come ashore and visit the beautiful area that is Donegal bringing business and life to this area that is mostly rural . Unlike some jobs , fishing does not have the same nine to five Monday to Friday routine and today it was as busy  as any other day of the week , men in their oil skins and life preservers coming ashore to offload what ever fish, lobster( cages) that they got and to prepare the nets for the next trip out. The noise of the engines , the banter of the fishermen and the smell of the fish and sea completely takes over your senses and looking closely at parts of the larger trawlers you have to think how brave these guys and girls are going out there in case they get stuck out there in the Atlantic  in rough weather with families back at home praying for their safe return.  Some of the boats are huge , these photos do not do justice to how impressive they are , I can't imagine what it must be like to be on board some of these in rough weather. Being thrown about on a boat  in rough seas is no ones idea of a fun day,  but it's in some of these guys blood ........ generation and generation of family's were used to this trade as their livelihood and in some tragic circumstances often a few men from a family did not make it back to shore. Today was a happy one with the sun shining and the gulls screeching overhead hoping a fish would get slung their way...

Look at the dinky one!!!!!

Above , one boat helping another move in to the side with their rope.

Nets....

Just in....

Getting ready to move out again.. The engine was roaring..

That water looked awfully deep... You definetly need your sea legs even this close to the edge.

Impressive!!!

Later that evening .........

Tim Hortons coffee and donut... Well you don't need to talk me into that.... Let me just take that off your hands ...... Yummy!

The mini Daffodils in the garden are thriving .

Reading.........The Thirty List by Eva Woods

Evening reading ..........