Tuesday, March 20, 2018

Savage Island by Bryony Pearce. Review



When the opportunity arises for a group of friends to take part in an “Iron Teen “ , competition they take it , they all have their own reasons for entering the competition and with the amount of prize money on offer there is a good few teens entering . If they win they each get 1 million pounds .
The story takes place on a private island in the Outer Hebrides far away from all help , with Millionaire Marcus Gold as the brains and wallet behind this competition. 
What starts as a fun game , a bit like geocaching mixed with a milder version of the hunger games soon amps up and becomes more like the movie saw with less charming people . This was a pure adrenaline ride of a story , the teams were interesting and you just don’t know who to trust making this a seriously fun read . This is not for very young readers . Great plot ! 

I received this book for review thanks to the lovely people over at lovereading4kids.co.uk
This book is being published April 2018 and will be available from lovereading4kids and all other good bookstores then. Below please find a link to this book on the lovereading4kids website :

Sunday, March 18, 2018

I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Foreman . Review




This was a beautiful story about three lost souls who one day accidentally collide into each other’s lives . Freya , Harun and Nathaniel are each going through hardships in their lives and this story takes place over one day , the day they all meet each other . I truly loved these three characters , my heart went out to each of them , each struggling and searching for something  , seemingly in-vain  , and finding just what they needed in each other , a friend and hope . I loved this ! I recommend this for everyone to read .


I received this book for review from the lovely people over at lovereading4kids. This book is being published April 2018 and will be available from lovereading4kids and all other good bookstores then. Below please find a link to this book on the website:

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/9781471173721/isbn/noredirect


Saturday, March 10, 2018

Miss Buncle’s Book by DE Stevenson. Review



If you have never read Miss Buncle’s Book you are doing yourself an injustice! 
This book combines a lot of things I am fond of in stories  ; writers , publishing , small village life , nosy neighbours , amusing characters that you take a genuine interest in , and lastly... love .
The story is about a woman called Barbara Buncle who lives in a little village in England , she decides to write a book about all she sees around her while adding her own little touches to each neighbours story and just about every neighbour gets a mention . 
I loved every page of this .... from Miss Buncle’s gumption to her sense of mischief , it is a fun filled read .
 I also loved how the book effected all the villagers in different ways and it was so enjoyable seeing the fallout :0)
The characters were very interesting but I especially loved Miss Buncle’s friend Sarah ( the doctors wife) and Mr Abbott ( Miss Buncle’s Publisher) . 
All in all a terrific book that should not be missed ! 
I loved every page .

Persephone Book Collection

My very first introduction to Persephone books was completely accidental .... accidental yet fabulous . It was Mariana by Monica Dickens ( Charles Dickens great grand child ) . If I am honest I only picked it up because the cover was beautiful and it caught my interest . So anyway , I took it home , put it on the shelf then carried on about my day . Months later while doing the obligatory dusting of the bookshelves ( the one bookish chore that is rather tedious) and this gorgeous book peaked my interest yet again , so I gave in and went on to read it that night . Friends ... I was in love . 
This gentle story with no huge bouts of excitement was dreamy and delicious,  and while perched up in bed with a hot drink and this book I really could not have been any happier . This is why I love these books . 
For the most part the stories are sweet and gentle and completely relaxing to read which is what I want from books most of the time.  I do love Stephen King but no offense to Stephen ,  his stories do not make for carefree dreams if you read them before sleep ... Cujo and IT have spent far too many nights chasing me in dreams ;0) 
So , Mariana started a love affair with Persephone books . I then learned all  I could  about how the shop came about , who they were publishing and why . A beautiful shop in Bloomsbury , 59 Lamb’s Conduit Street and inside a beautiful selection of dove grey covered books ( primarily) with those gorgeous colorful end papers Persephone lovers adore talking about .... and rightly so . 
These books ooze quality , from their pretty color dust jackets , their sturdy inner covers , pretty endpapers , creamy soft pages , matching bookmarks ..... honestly , what’s not to love !
I don’t have a huge collection of these books , my dream of course is at some point to collect them all  but for now let me show you these beauties that I do have . 

Cheerful Weather For The Wedding by Julia Strachey

Miss Buncle’s Book by DE Stevenson

Kitchen Essays by Agnes Jekyll

Good Evening Mrs Craven : The Wartime Stories Of Mollie Panter -Downes

The Home Maker by Dorothy Canfield Fisher 

Miss Pettigrew Lived For A Day by Winifred Watson 

Mariana by Monica Dickens 

I Stop Somewhere by T.E Carter. Review



This was a very emotional read about a trusting girl called Ellie and her boyfriend Caleb who both live in a small town  . Caleb comes from a well respected family and is good looking so he is very popular with the ladies , on the outside he is perfect .
My heart truly went out to Ellie’s character , she did not have huge amounts of self confidence to begin with  , but when she was with Caleb she felt wanted / important because this boy liked her . What I liked about the story is when we mostly think of true evil , the kind you are warned about when you are kids you would not automatically think of it being in someone  in your own age group as a teen . Self confidence, relationships , abuse , and friendship are some of the topics covered in the book , it is a real rollercoaster of emotions and left me thinking of this plot long after I finished it . Great read for anyone ,  but especially for girls . 

I received this book for review from the lovely people over at lovereading4kids. 
This book is being published April2018 and will be available from lovereading4kids and all other good bookstores then .
Below please find a link to this book on their website :