Hi guys 👋🏻
Let’s take a look at this months books.
Month Four – let’s go!
Total reads this month:
5
Favourite book this month:
The Woman on the Ledge by Ruth Mancini
Until Next Time,
Roseanne 🙂
April reads 📚
Category: books
March Reads 📚
Hi guys 👋🏻
We have just finished the third month of the year, and we are on a book count of 15.
Let’s take a look at this months books.
Month Three – let’s go!
Total reads this month:
4.5
Favourite book this month:
‘The Wake – Up Call’ by Beth O’Leary
Until Next Time,
Roseanne 🙂
2025 Memories 3/12
Hi guys 👋🏻
So, I had an idea to document some more memories on my blog. I used to do a lot more of these sort of posts before I started posting more book/reading content, and when I had more time haha, life seems to be busy these days!
So I thought as we are a quarter of the way through the year, I could do a quarterly memories update to capture 2025.
This is part one, the first three months of the twelve of 2025!
Let’s take a look.
January
I’m not always a fan of January. It always seems such a miserable month after the festivities if Christmas, but this one wasn’t too bad! Me & my husband went to London together for the day, we saw ‘Harry Potter and The Cursed Child’ (again) and had a delicious dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant.
There was more footie with my nephew and lots of reading this month!! I love making my new reading lists and new book purchases for the new year. I also had two baby showers to celebrate, which was lovely! Not a bad start to the year, really!
February
In February, we had some fun sleepovers with my Nephew’s and Niece, me and my twin sister played the OG ‘The Sims’ game on its re release anniversary special, so amazing nostalgia there! I went to London to meet up with my Uni friend Kirsty and we watched ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ Musical… we also had dinner with another friend afterwards which was a great catch up (The show was really good).
Me and my Twin sister also saw a show, but in Norwich, we watched Giovanna Fletcher in ‘The Girl on the Train’. It was so cool to see Gi in a show and it was done really well on stage (I love the book!!) Speaking of books, Me and some friends from work started up a reading library in our staff room which has been going well and is nicely stocked now.
This month I also added some colourful accessories to our bathroom to finish it off, (we had it redone at the end of last year), and I have been meaning to add some colourful for a while! And we, of course, enjoyed a lovely Valentines evening together at our favourite Turkish restaurant.
In the February Half Term me and my husband went away for a long weekend. We stayed in Norfolk at a lovely inn and enjoyed a chilled weekend! The pub was lovely and cosy, the food was brilliant (breakfast included, always a winner with us!) And we had a little trip to Banham zoo, which I haven’t been to in years. We even had a Meerkat experience whilst we were there as they were only £15 each, bargain. It was a lovely relaxing weekend, much needed.
March
We had lots of fun in March, including the football and limited edition Ed Sheeran stickers!! My besties little boy had his first birthday party (under the sea themed), and our new sofas finally arrived!!
There was lots of yummy food, including a work meal at Prezzo, Wagas with my sister and our friend Dan, as well as our traditional Mothers Day homemade Afternoon Tea with my sisters and a Mothers Day lunch with Mum. I’ve also been ill a lot this month with coughs and colds, which is not ideal, so here’s to a healthier April.
What have been your highlights this year so far?
Until Next Time,
Roseanne 🙂
February Reads 📚
Hi guys 👋🏻
We are into the second month of the year, and we are on a book count of 10 (.5 halfway as halfway through one 🤣)
Let’s take a look at this months books.
Month Two – let’s go!
50% read so far – Book Club Pick
Total reads this month:
5.5
Favourite book this month:
Bridget Jones Diary by Helen Fielding
Until Next Time,
Roseanne 🙂
25 books in 2025 📚
Hi guys 👋🏻
25 books in 25… a new challenge…
This is bit of a different take on this challenge by @katie_ellison (instagram) whose lovely template I have used.
I have chosen 25 books from my tbr shelf that I am finally going to read in 2025!
My double stacked shelves were getting a little out of hand, so what better way to clear them a bit than to actually read some of the books I’ve bought!!
I tried to go for a mixture of genres, there is still a lot of thrillers in there because it’s me so that’s what I buy 🤣 but I do also have some fantasy books, romance, a sci fi, some historical fiction and some crime in there. It’s not a bad mixture.
Here’s my selection…
- A Court of Thorn and Roses
- That Night
- How to Kill Your Family
- The Suspect
- The Castaway
- The Air Raid Book Club
- The Lies You Told
- The Woman On The Ledge
- The Teashop Gurls At War
- A Slow Burning Fire
- An Unwanted Guest
- Hold back The Stars
- The Paris Apartment
- How To Stop Time
- The Wake Up Call
- The Split
- Tomorrow and Tomorrow
- Traitors Gate
- The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
- The Boyfriend
- Come Back For Me
- With This Kiss
- Love Untold
- The Night She Disappeared
- I Died On A Tuesday
Have you read any of these?
Wish me luck with my challenge ✌🏼📚 I will try and remember to do a little update halfway through the year.
What’s on your tbr list for 2025?
Until Next Time,
Roseanne 🙂
My January reads 📚
Hi guys 👋🏻
Here are my reads for January… a good start to 2025.
I will try and remember to do one of these each month.
I will rate each one out of five and I will choose a favourite for each month.
Month one – let’s go!
It’s a Wonderful Life: Illustrated Edition
This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens
I Died On A Tuesday By Jane Corry
The Teacher by Freida Mcfadden
Sleep by C L Taylor
Total reads this month… 5
My favourite Book of the month was…
‘I Died On A Tuesday’ by Jane Corry
Until Next Time,
Roseanne 🙂
My Bookish Haul: Christmas present edition 📚
Hi guys 👋🏻
I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, New years, and are surviving through the longest month of the year! Gotta love January.
I got some lovely books and bookish presents for Christmas, so I thought I would do a little haul post for you.
Let’s take a look!
Both of these thrillers were chosen for me by my twin sister. I love it when people choose books for me! (Although I have been told that it is harder to do these days due to the amount I’ve read 🤣)
I have read ‘I died on a Tuesday’ and really enjoyed it.
My Mum picked up these two ‘Stranger Things’ novels for me for Christmas.
My mother in law bought me this very cute little book that is perfect for any of you book lovers out there! It’s full of cute little illustrations, bookish quotes, and comics.
I also got a few book themed presents.
I also got a few National Book token vouchers, a Waterstones voucher, and a voucher for my favourite independent book shop! So, all in all, I am sorted for my book purchasing for a little while.
I am very lucky ✨️
I have bought a couple of books so far with my vouchers…
From Waterstones…
That’s all for now, folks!
I hope you got some lovely books this year 📚 I can’t wait to get stuck in.
Until Next Time,
Roseanne 🙂
My 2024 Book List 🎉📚
Hi guys 👋🏻
HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2025 IS HERE!
I have been keeping this little book list all year and thought I would share it with you now that it is complete!
I have included my favourite books of the year, as well as some more indepth info on my reading for 2024.
Let’s take a look!
(Pink books are Book Club Books)
Novels
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
The Colour Purple by Alice Walker
The Land of Stories: Worlds Collide by Chris Colfer
The Sisters by Claire Douglas
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russel
Hopeless by Colleen Hoover
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
Noone saw a thing by Andrea Mara
November 9 by Colleen Hoover
None of this is true by Lisa Jewell
The Traitors by C.A. Lynch
The IT girl by Ruth Ware
A Song of Me & You by Mike Gayle
All the Lonely People by Mike Gayle
The Trap by of Catherine Ryan Howard
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
The Holiday Escape by Heidi Swain
The Inmate by Freida McFadden
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
The Guest by Lorraine Mace
The Housemaids secret by Freida McFadden
The Housemaid is watching by Freida McFadden
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The Little Venice Bookshop by Rebecca Raisin
The Twins of Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
Haven’t They Grown by Sophie Hannah
Taking at night by Claire Daverley
The Dream Home by T M Logan
The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
The Wilds by Sarah Pearse
Twin Truths by Jaqueline Sutherland
The Perfect Son by Frieda McFadden
Just Another Missing Person by Gillian McAllister
One by One by Frieda McFadden
Behind Closed Doors by B A Paris
The Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood
The Teacher by Tim Sullivan
The Coworker by Freida Mcfadden
The Locked Door by Freida McFadden
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
The Christmas Cottage by Sarah Morgan
Happy Bloody Christmas by Jo Middleton
The Christmas Sisters by Sarah Morgan
Home for Christmas by Heidi Swain
I wish it could be Christmas every day by Milly Johnson
Novellas
A Highland Christmas by M.C Beaton
Maybe Not by Colleen Hoover
Audiobooks
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J K Rowling
Glutton: The Multi-Course life of a very greedy boy by Ed Gamble
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
1984 by George Orwell
The Dead Zone by Stephen King
Other
The Land of Stories: The ultimate book hugger’s guide by Chris Colfer
Dino Dad by Andy Day
Let’s take a closer look at this year’s reads…
What has been your favourite book of 2024??? 📚
What’s the best book you’ve been recommended??
Until Next Time,
Roseanne 🙂
Blogmas 2024: Day 21 Our final Book Club meeting of the year 📚🎅🏻
Hi guys 👋🏻
On Thursday, we had our final Book Club meeting of the year!We all met up at a local restaurant, which is the new location for our Book Club.
We all dressed up in festive attire, and the tablescape looked great and very Christmassy.
As is tradition, I made everyone a little handmade gift. For the last two years, I’ve made Christmas tree decs with the books we read that year in/on them. I thought it would be nice to do something different this year after two years of baubles, so I went for Bookmarks.
Simple, effective, and super handy for book lovers like us.
Our final book was…
‘Happy Bloody Christmas’ by Jo Middleton
I gave this book 🌟🌟.5 stars out of 5.
My take on the book?
‘Festive, funny, farfetched.’
I was an easy read! Perfect for the hectic Christmas period for a bit of light relief and a laugh.
Because we were at the restaurant we all went for the 3 course festive menu, which was yummy!
All in all, it was a fun evening! Lots of good discussion, festive cheer, and good food.
Here’s to another year of reading 📚
Are you part of a Book Club? What’s the best book you’ve read this year?
4 days until Christmas!
Until Next Time,
Roseanne 🙂
Blogmas 2024: Day 19 My Christmas Reads so far…
Hi guys 👋🏻
I thought I would give you a little update on the Christmas books that I have read so far, during this festive period! I started reading them in November in order to get through more than I usually do. I have a lot on my shelf and I really wanted to get through more of them this year than I have in the past few years. I will also include which book I am gong to be reading next.
Lets take a look!
The first Christmas book that I read was ‘The Christmas Cottage’ by Sarah Morgan. This is her latest Christmas book and as I really enjoyed hers last year I went for this first. They are a little longer than some of my others too, so starting this one in November seemed the better option.
I would give this book 🌟⭐️🌟 stars out of five.
Things I liked about this book were:
- Likeable characters
- Cute romance
- A lovely dog
- A twist I didn’t see coming
For our December Book Club book we like to go for a Christmas story. This year we went for ‘Happy Bloody Christmas’ by Jo Middleton.
I would give this book 🌟⭐️🌟stars out of five.
Things I liked about this book were:
- Funny
- Easy reader
- Different to my usual Christmas books
- Relatable/realistic characters
A Sarah Morgan Christmas book that I have had on my shelf for at least 4 years is ‘The Christmas Sisters’/ I started this book (albeit the first 48 pages anyway haha) 3 years ago and for some reason I never got around to finishing it. I have been determined the last few years to read it and finish it but haven’t succeeded… until this year! I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am really glad I finally found out what happened to the sisters!!
I would give this book 🌟⭐️🌟stars out of five.
Things I liked about this book were:
- It felt very festive
- Interesting and different take on a family
- Interesting characters
- Relatable in terms of how different sisters can be!
Currently I am reading ‘I wish it could be Christmas everyday’; by Milly Johnson. This is another book that I started one year and ran out of time (I’m not a ‘can read festive books all year round’ kinda gal) so it was abandoned. Again, I have been meaning to pick it up again and finish it as I remember really enjoying the characters and being intrigued by the story. I was a bit further along in this book, at least 150 pages but I decided to start again as I knew you were introduced to quite a few characters at the beginning and you learn a lot about them, all stuff I definitely wouldn’t have remembered so the refresh was needed to fully appreciate and enjoy the story.
Things I like about this book…. (So far)
- Very intriguing story
- Interesting and endearing characters
- Well developed characters
- Easy reader
So, What is going to be my next read???
Well I have been saving the best until last!! The latest Heidi Swain Christmas book ‘Home for Christmas’
Heidi is one of my all time favourite authors, I have read everything she has written so far and ALWAYS pre order her books (so I have waited very patiently to read this)
I’ve saved it until the end because I want to be able to read it during the Christmas break (from work) in order to fully enjoy the reading experienced. I want to be able to fully immerse myself in her wonderfully festive world of Wynbridge and Wynthorpe Hall. I CAN’T WAIT!! Its like being reacquainted with old friends.
Plus, her books are SUPER festive so they are ideal for reading right before Christmas to add to the festive feels.
I’m also listening to a little Christmas audiobook too. ‘The Christmas Book Hunt’ by Jenny Colgan. I am enjoying this so far, and it’s only a short one of about 3 hrs, so that’s good.
What festive books are you reading?
6 days until Christmas!! 🎄
Until Next Time,
Roseanne 🙂
Roseanne Byford 