Category: books

Blogmas 2024: Day 4 Christmas Book Recommendations

Hi guys 👋🏻

It’s Blogmas Day Four and it had to be all about books!!

What better way to start the festive month than with a brilliantly festive read to get you in the mood.

Here are a few Christmas book recommendations for you to read during this festive period 🎄📚

I had to start off with these books… no festive period is complete without a Heidi Swain Christmas book. Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without it now.

This year’s newest book is…

‘Home for Christmas’

But every one of her festive reads is worth diving into!

‘Mince Pies and Mistletoe at the Christmas Market’

‘Mince Pies and Mistletoe at the Christmas Market’ was the first ever Heidi Swain book that I read, and let’s just say I was hooked and have never looked back.

‘Snowflakes and Cinnamon Swirls at the Winter Wonderland’
‘Sleigh Rides and Silver Bells at the Christmas Fair’
‘The Christmas Wish List’
‘That Festive Feeling’
‘The Winter Garden’
‘Underneath the Christmas Tree’

They are feel good, festive, and full of friends that you’ll miss when you are finished.

Another great Christmas author is Sarah Morgan!

Her latest novel is…

‘The Christmas Cottage’

Her other novels include…

‘The Christmas Book Club’

I read ‘The Christmas Book Club’ last year and loved it.

‘The Christmas Sisters’
‘Snowed in For Christmas’
‘The Christmas Escape’

Some other Christmas reads that I would recommend are:

  • ‘Happy Bloody Christmas’ by Jo Middleton
  • ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens
  • ‘An Unfortunate Christmas Murder’ by Hannah Hendy
  • ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ by Milly Johnson
  • ‘The Merry Christmas Project’ by Cathy Bramley
  • ‘Baby it’s Cold Outside’ by Emily Bell
  • ‘Finding Love At The Christmas Market’ by Jo Thomas.

Hopefully, there are enough suggestions there to keep you going throughout December and through to New years!

21 days until Christmas

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Halloween fun! 👻🦇

Hi guys 👋🏻

I love Halloween! So I thought I would share with any of my fellow Halloween fans out there, what I’ve been up to this spooky season!

Let’s take a look…

Decorating!
Pumpkin picking!
Halloween nails!
Pumpkin carving!
Halloween film night!
Spooky reads 📚

What have you been up to this Spooky Season?

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Favourite book of the month, 2024 edition

Hi guys 👋🏻

How is it already October!!!

Spooky season is upon us 🎃

I thought I would share my favourite book from each month so far this year. There have been so many good ones. And who knows, you might even find some inspiration in my list!

Here goes…

January

Title: The Land of Stories: Worlds Collide

Author: Chris Colfer

Genre: Fantasy (Children’s)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

February

Title: Remarkably Bright Creatures

Author: Shelby Van Pelt

Genre: Mystery

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

March

Title: Noone Saw A Thing

Author: Andrea Mara

Genre: Thriller

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

April

Title: Glutton

Author: Ed Gamble

Genre: Memoir

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

May

Title: Tattooist of Auschwitz

Author: Heather Morris

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

&

Title: The Inmate

Author: Freida McFadden

Genre: Thriller

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

June

Title: The Housemaid Series1.

1. The Housemaid

2. The Housemaid’s secret

3. The Housemaid is watching

Author: Freida McFadden

Genre: Thriller

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

July

Title: The Dead Zone

Author: Stephen King

Genre: Science Fiction Thriller

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

&

Title: The Twins of Auschwitz

Author: Eva Mozes Kor

Genre: Historical, Autobiographical

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

August

Title: The Wilds

Author: Sarah Pearse

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

&

Title: The Perfect Son

Author: Freida McFadden

Genre: Thriller

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

September

Title: Behind Closed Doorz

Author: B A Paris

Genre: Thriller

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

What’s been the best book that you’ve read so far this year?

All recommendations welcome!

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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July Highlights ✨️

Hi guys 👋🏻

Here are my July Highlights…

Lots of fun cinema trips! A Quiet Place Day One was a highlight for sure!

We celebrated my husbands 33rd birthday!

We had some birthday treats including listening to Rome Historian Mary Beard and A trip to the theatre to watch ‘Come from away’ both of which were brilliant.

We celebrated my nieces 7th birthday! 🎈🎀💜

Lots of book buying this month, which is also a highlight. My reading in general has also been great, and I managed to read 7 again this month!! (I’m sure that won’t last into the busy last part of the year 🤣)

Fun with my favourite two 😍

And a bit of pre season watching ✌🏼🚜

Roll on the Summer Hols ☀️

How was your July?

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Book Recommendations 📚

Hi guys 👋🏻

Can you believe that we are actually halfway through the year!!?! Madness.

So far this year I have read ..

I’m hoping to get to 52 by the end of the year 🤞🏻

I thought I would chuck a few recommendations out there based on what I’ve read so far.

These are some of the books I have read, and I’ll give them a little rating out of 5 for you.

‘The Housemaid’ by Freida McFadden

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

‘The Housemaids Secret’ by Freida McFadden

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

‘The Housemaid is Watching’ by Freida McFadden

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

‘No One Saw a Thing’ by Andrea Mara

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

‘The Holiday Escape’ by Heidi Swain

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ by Heather Morris

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘The Inmate’ by Freida McFadden

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

‘The Trap’ by Catherine Ryan Howard

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

‘November 9th’ by Colleen Hoover

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

‘None of this is true’by Lisa Jewell
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’by Shelby Van Pelt

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

Have you read any of these?

If you do, let me know! & any recommendations always welcome.

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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June Highlights ✨️

Hi guys 👋🏻

Here are my June highlights…

Me, my twin sister and her family, my husband, and a couple of our friends went to the Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour in Watford. This place is BRILLIANT, a must for any Harry Potter fans, I love visiting there. They had the ‘Return to Azkaban’ event on celebrating 20 years of the 3rd film – it was an awesome day out, and great to see some new parts of the tour.
We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on the 11th of June. Tim bought me some beautiful flowers, and we went out for a lovely meal at one of our favourite Italian restaurants.
To celebrate our 8th Wedding Anniversary me and my husband spent a touristy day out together in London. We started off the day at the Tower of London, we then had a boat rode on the Thames, followed by  the London Eye, sightseeing, and a comedy show in the evening. It was a brilliant and super fun day out.
For Fathers Day, we went to Felixstowe for a day in the sunshine.
We had a nice walk along the prom and a go on the ferris wheel with Dad.
We enjoyed dinner at ours, a nice sunset walk and games with my mother in law.
We celebrated my Dad’s 70th birthday with a family meal, with the cake I made for dessert… followed by a day on the Mid Norfolk railway 🛤

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Birthday Book Haul 📚

Hi guys 👋🏻

I recently celebrated my 33rd birthday! 😱 Time flies aye.

In this blog post, I thought I would show you which books I was very kindly given. I didn’t ask for any of these, and I love seeing which ones people pick out for me.

There’s a nice mixture of genres here and I can’t wait to get stuck into them.

Is there a better present than a book someone has chosen for you because they think you’ll like it!!

Let’s take a look…

‘There are three rules Brooke Sullivan must follow as a new nurse practitioner at a men’s maximum-security prison:
1) Treat all prisoners with respect.
2) Never reveal any personal information.
3) Never EVER become too friendly with the inmates. But none of the staff at the prison knows Brooke has already broken the rules. Nobody knows about her intimate connection to Shane Nelson, one of the penitentiary’s most notorious and dangerous inmates. And they certainly don’t know that Shane was Brooke’s high school sweetheart–the star quarterback who is now spending the rest of his life in prison for a series of grisly murders. Or that Brooke’s testimony was what put him there. But Shane knows. And he will never forget.’
‘Lexie Dunbar is a book lover. And her favourite place in the world is her local bookstore, Book Ends. So when she hears that it’s going to be sold, Lexie decides she needs to do something to help.
Lexie’s plan to save the ailing shop is fully underway until gorgeous-but-grouchy artist Tobias Black arrives on the scene determined to turn the bookstore into an art gallery. Lexie is horrified, the last thing the quaint town of Bracken Way needs is a pretentious artist, even if he does seem to charm everyone but her.
Tensions continue to rise until Tobias discovers a shocking secret that shows they might have more in common than they realise. As sparks fly, can Lexie and Tobias work together, or will opposing ideas get in the way of them finding their very own happy ever after…’
‘Lynda Blackthorn is still reeling from the tragic car crash that killed her family more than a year ago. Throwing herself into her volunteer charity work, she is trying to piece her life back together.
When she’s asked to be the face of the charity’s annual fundraiser, an appeal for volunteers on the local news brings old friend Sarah to her door – and the events of fourteen years ago crashing down around her.
As the two women reconnect, Lynda invites Sarah to stay in her guest bedroom. But soon strange things start happening and Lynda learns it might have been better to keep the door to the past firmly closed . . .’
‘It is 1942 and, with the country still at war, the girls who work for Joe Lyons are praying for their loved ones to return home safely.
Happily married Rose is busy with staffing problems at the teashop, many women having taken on war work. Rose dreams of her husband’s return while trying to keep everyone happy.
Lily has her own worries when the father of her daughter appears back in her life – with no explanation. Katie longs for a family of her own, just as a handsome airman arrives on the scene.
At Sea View Guest House, Flora – wary of a relationship and marriage – is fearful of letting her feelings for John Bentley develop further. Especially as she has her guests to be mindful of . . .
Anya is torn, having given birth to a beautiful baby boy who is the spitting image of his father, who has been taken as a prisoner of war. Presented with a chance to save him, Anya confides in her friends, leaving her son in their care. With the uncertainty of the future, can the Teashop girls overcome their personal battles?’

I was also very lucky to get some other ‘bookish’ birthday gifts in the form of some book vouchers! (YAY! New books) as well as this lovely book themed throw from my mother in law (already tucked up safely in my reading corner) and this cute personalised tote bag from my friend at work (perfect for fitting in lots of books during my next shopping spree!!)

An excellent haul, I’m very lucky.

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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May Highlights ✨️

Hi guys 👋🏻

Here are my May highlights…

Promotion to the Premier League…

An absolutely unbelievable weekend, one we’ll never forget.

I can’t wait for the football season to start up again!

Our Birthday!

We had a fun birthday weekend celebrating together. We grabbed lunch and spent the day hanging out together on Saturday. Delicious picky bits at Revs in the sunshine, mini golf, cocktails, and the cinema.

On our birthday, on the Sunday we had a delicious brunch together, exchanged our presents, spent time with family and had a birthday meal with cake to round off the weekend.

Oh… and we may have got a matching tattoo on our birthday as well 👀

(See the blog post below for the inspiration)

Promotion in pictures 💙🤍⚽️

Celebrating special birthdays with friends.

We enjoyed a bottomless brunch in the sunshine 🌞 followed by some fun and games at a local bar, including interactive darts & karaoke.

A lovely family holiday to Norfolk.

We stayed in a lovely air bnb cottage in Norfolk. We went along with my mother in law, brother in law, my husbands Auntie, Cousin, and Grandad. We had a lovely time chilling out, cooking together, exploring nearby towns and Norwich City, walks  (weather permitting), and we even hired a boat, which was a highlight!

& I saw some bats, which was epic.

Going to see Take That live!

I will always love seeing Take That live! No one does it better. I can’t believe that this was the 7th time I’ve seen them love!!

Another fun month! And we are almost halfway through the year!!! Madness.

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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A fun, bookish haul 📚

Hi guys 👋🏻

I thought I would share some cool little bookish things that I recently bought.

They are just some fun, useful little bits that are perfect if you are a bookworm like me!

Let’s take a look!

A cute ‘Welcome to the library’ sign to go by the reading corner.
A reading light that sits across the page of your book.
Fun little reading lists to keep a track of the books you’ve read and your rating for each one.
A coin that says ‘One more chapter’ on one side and ‘Go to bed’ on the otherside. I’m pretty sure it’s weightless to the ‘One more chapter side’ 🤣
Some cute little book inspired stickers.

These were bought on both Amazon & Temu.

Later bookworms ✌🏼📚

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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My recent book purchases 📚

Hi guys 👋🏻

If like me, you can’t walk past a bookshop (or supermarket) without buying new books, or if you need some inspiration for what to read next, then this post is for you!

Here are some of the books that I’ve bought recently, from a variety of places!

Let’s take a look!

✨️

Title: ‘No one saw a thing’

Author: Andrea Mars

Genre: Crime Thriller

Why I chose it: I love thrillers and the blurb sounded very intriguing.

Title: ‘None of this is true’

Author: Lisa Jewell

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Why I chose it: I am a big fan of Lisa Jewells thrillers!!

Title: ‘The Sisters’

Author: Claire Douglas

Genre: Thriller

Why I chose it: I live a thriller, and it mentioned twins (which I am), so my interest was piqued.

Title: Tale of Magic series

Author: Chris Colfer

Genre: Fantasy

Why I chose it: Chris Colfer writes truly magical fiction. His previous series,’The Land Of Stories’ was fantastic, so I had to get this one too.

Title: ‘The Wake Up Call’

Author: Beth O’Leary

Genre: Romance/Rom Com Fiction

Why I chose it: I am a fan of her other books and have read them all, plus they are very easy to read.

Title: ‘The Air Raid Book Club’

Author: Annie Lyons

Genre: Historical fiction

Why I chose it: Because it had ‘Book Club’ in the title and the blurb gave me ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’ vibes.

Do these appeal to you?

Have you read any of these?

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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