Category: books

Blogmas 2023 Day Seven: My Christmas Reads 📚🎄

Hi guys 👋🏻

It’s time to do one of my favourite blog posts, all about books! Specifically my Christmas books for this festive period.

I have picked out five books that I am hoping to read over Christmas and the new year!

Let’s take a look…

‘That Festive Feeling’ By Heidi Swain

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I look forward to every Christmas and a big part of that is the traditional Heidi Swain Christmas novel that she releases every October/November time.

Her Christmas books are my favourite.

❄️

‘Holly has the place to herself this Christmas. House sitting for friends who live on Nightingale Square. Newly single and unsure about next steps for her career, she plans to hunker down and make some life decisions.’

‘The Adventure of the Christmas pudding’ by Agatha Christie

🎅🏻

This is our Christmas Book Club Book Pick. We wanted something a bit different, a well known, classic author but with a Christmas theme. Agatha Christie is, of course, a classic author, and I’ve never read one of her books, so it will be good to do so.

🎅🏻

‘An English country house at Christmas time, with its cracking log fires and fine food, may seem an incongruous setting for a crime- but a sinister note left in his pillow warns Hercule Poirot to be on his guard.’

‘The Christmas Sisters’ by Sarah Morgan

🎄

Sarah Morgan is another author whose books I enjoy and she always releases a new Christmas book around this time of year.

I have been meaning to read this one for a few years but due to having a lot of Christmas books I haven’t got round to it yet.

‘All that Suzanne McBride wants for Christmas is her three daughters happy and at home. But when sisters Posy, Hannah and Beth feturn to their family home in the Scottish Highlands, Old tensions and buried secrets start bubbling to the surface.‘

🎄

‘One perfect Christmas and other stories’ by Paige Toon

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I have a couple of these books where it is made up of lots of short stories, with a Christmas theme.

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These books are also great if you don’t have much time over the festive period, each little story isn’t loads of pages so it’s great for a quick festive hit.

‘The Christmas Book Club’ by Sarah Morgan

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This is Sarah Morgans latest Christmas book and it sounds like my idea of heaven with the Book Club theme.

This sounds great and super cosy.

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‘A long lasting friendship. Every year, Erica, Claudia, and Anna reunite for their book club holiday. They’re bonded by years of friendship and a deep love of books, but there is still so much they keep from each other.’

⛄️

What’s on your 2023 reading list for the festive period?

Any Christmas book recommendations welcome!

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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My Summer Reading Challenge 📚

Hi guys 👋🏼

Happy Summer Holiday’s. This year’s is very much needed.

Now, every year, I volunteer for the Library’s ‘Summer Reading Challenge’ for Children. I volunteer for a day at my local library, and I love it.

I love seeing the children come in and excitedly tell me all about the book that has captured their imagination that week, what happened, what they liked about it, their favourite part. Fostering, encouraging, and indulging a love of reading in children is just magical.

This year is my 11th year volunteering (10th if you don’t count Covid 2020 as the challenge was only online) so I thought that I would set myself a little reading challenge too.

The premise of the Summer Reading Challenge is to complete six books over the Six Week holiday. Over the last few months, I have definitely picked up my reading speed, so I thought, why not choose six books of my own to try and read over the six weeks.

It’s a little daunting, but I thought it would be a good challenge and a bit of fun too. I do get to do some reading in-between people at the library and obviously I have a bit more free time as it’s the school holidays.

So, Here are my Summer Reading Challenge Picks:

  • Fairy Tales by Stephen King
  • Confess by Colleen Hoover
  • The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
  • The Summer Job by Lizzy Dent
  • The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell
  • + one other tbc

I tried to go for a variety of books – obviously, a couple had to be my Book Club books, as this still takes place during the summer hols, which made choosing a lot easier. I still have one spot left that I am planning on being another Book Club book, depending on when our next meeting falls (I do have a backup if not)

Here goes! Wish me luck.

What’s on your reading list this Summer?

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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Birthday Book Haul 📚

Hi guys 👋🏼

So it was recently my birthday, and I got quite an awesome haul of books – the perfect present I’d say.

I thought I would share the books that I received with you.

Let’s take a look!

The Summer Job by Lizzy Dent

‘Birdy Finch just got her dream job. The trouble is, it’s not hers… It was a simple accident. Well, maybe a tiny fib. Ok, maybe an all-out, blatant, mayhem causing lie. Because the life Birdy has just claimed as hers actually belongs to her bestfriend, Heather. Obviously she’ll tell Heather (eventually). And the first guy she’s properly liked in for ever (probably). Absolutely nobody will know – just till she sorts herself out… So can Birdy carry off a Summer at a luxury Scottish hotel pretending to be a world-class wine expert? And can she find the courage to fall in love, even if it means telling the truth?’
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney

‘Daisy Darker is arriving at her grandmother’s house for her eighteenth birthday. It is Halloween, and Seaglass – the crumbling Cornish house perched upon its own tiny private island – is at one with the granite rocks it sits on. The Darker family haven’t all been in the same place for over a decade, and when the tide comes in they’ll be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours. When the tide goes back out, nothing will ever be the same again, because one of them is a killer…’
Never Never by Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher

‘Charlie Wynood and Silas Nash have been best friends since they could walk. They’ve been in love since the age of fourteen. But as of this morning… they are complete strangers. Their first kiss, their first fight, the moment they fell in love… every memory has vanished. Now Charlie and Silas must work together to uncover the truth about what happened to them and why. But the more they learn about the couple they used to be… the more they question why they were ever together to begin with.’
The Humans by Matt Haig

‘There’s no place like home, or is there? After an ‘incident’ one wet Friday night where he is found walking naked through the streets of Cambridge, Professor Andrew Martin is not feeling quite himself. Good sickens him. Clothes confound him. Even his loving wife and teenage son are repulsive to him. He feels lost amongst an alien species and hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton, and he’s a dog.’
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

‘Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average women. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out there is no such thing. But its the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute take a very unscientific view of equality. Forced to resign, she reluctantly signs on as the host of a cooking show, Supper at Six. But her revolutionary approach to cooking, fuelled by scientific and rational commentary, grabs the attention of a nation. And soon a legion of overlooked housewives find themselves daring to change the status quo. One molecule at a time.’
Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

‘Everybody knows Daisy Jones and the Six. Their sound defined an era. Their albums were on every turntable. They sold out arenas from coast to coast. Then, on 12 July 1979, Daisy Jones walked barefoot on to the stage at the Whitby. And it all came crashing down. Everyone was there. Everyone remembers it differently. Nobody knew why they split. Until now…’
Breathless by Amy McCulloch

‘Journalist Cecily Wong is offered the chance of a lifetime: to join an elite team on one of the world’s tallest mountains. But from the start things start to fall apart. An unexplained their. A horrible accident. A terrifying note: there’s a murderer on the mountain. Six strangers set our. How many return?’
With this kiss by Carrie Hope Fletcher

‘From the outside, Lorelai is an ordinary young women with a normal life. She loves reading, she works at the local cinema and she adores living with her bestfriend. But she carries a painful burden; whenever she kisses someone on the lips, she sees how they are going to die. Lorelai bas never known if she’s seeing what was always meant to be, or if it’s her kiss that decides their destiny. And so, she hasn’t kissed anyone since she was eighteen. They she meets Grayson. Sweet, clever, funny Grayson. And for the first time in years, she yearns for a man’s kiss. But she can’t… can she? And if she does, should she try to intervene and change way she sees?’
The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh

‘On New Year’s Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests. He’s celebrating the success of his lakeside holiday homes, and has generously inviting the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbours. By midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake. On New Year’s Day, DC Ffian Morgan has a village full of suspects. She grew up in the tiny community, so the murder suspects are her neighbours, friends and family- and Ffion has her own secrets to protect. With a lie uncovered at every turn, soon the question isn’t who wanted Rhys dead… but who finally killed him.’
The Family Remains by Lisa Jewell

‘Early morning: On the foreshore of the River Thames, a bag of bones is discovered. Human bones. DI Samuel Owusu quickly sends the bag for forensic examination. The bones are those of a young women, killed by a blow to the head many years ago. Also inside the bag is a trail of clues which lead DI Owusu to a mansion in Chelsea where, thirty years previously, three people lay dead, while a baby upstairs waited for someone to pick her up.’
The Dinner Lady Detectives by Hannah Hendry

‘Margery and Clementine work on the front line serving meals to the students at Summerview Secondary School. They are enjoying a peaceful middle-age together in the idyllic town of Dewstow, but their calm life is shattered when their kitchen manager is found dead. The police are adamant that it’s an open-and-shut case of accidental death. However, Margaret and Clementine are convinced there’s something far more nefarious going on. As they investigate and inch closer to the truth, someone will stop at nothing to keep the pair quiet. Will the perpetrator get their just-desserts before their time runs out?’
Harry Potter Character Compendium
The Hobbit & the Lord of the Rings Trilogy Box Set

I am currently reading.. ‘Never Never by Colleen Hoover & Tarryn Fisher

Have you read any of these books?

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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A Book Review: The Curfew 📚

Hi guys 👋🏼

So, last months Book Club book was ‘The Curfew’ by T M Logan.


I am already a big fan of T M Logan’s books, and this was my recommendation to the club this month.

This books genre is thriller.

The Curfew by T M Logan

Here is a brief overview of the plot:

‘The Curfew:
Andy and Laura are good parents. They tell their son Connor that he can go out with friends to celebrate completing his exams, but he must be home by midnight.

The Lie:
When Connor misses his curfew, it sets off a series of events that will change the lives of five families forever.

The Truth?
Because five teenagers went into the woods that night, but only four came out. And telling the truth might mean losing everything..8.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO? ‘

Some opinions on the book:

  • This book was a really interesting thriller, it definitely kept you guessing.
  • It is interestingly written from the perspective of the Dad which is a bit different, I enjoyed that.
  • There is a really good twist at the start that I enjoyed, although I have to say there aren’t as many as there usually are in his books.
  • There are some interesting characters, I especially liked the little sister Harriet.
  • I think the ending of this book lets it down a little, it’s a little unrealistic.

Out of 5 stars I would give this book ☆☆.5


I enjoyed this book but I would recommend some of his other books ie: ‘The Holiday’ and ‘The Catch’ above this one.

Have you read this book?
What did you think?

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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A Book Review: It ends with us 📚

Hi guys 👋🏼

So, last months Book Club book was ‘It ends with us’ by Colleen Hoover.

Now I know she is a bit of a marmite author and to be honest I was dubious when it was chosen as our latest book club book, however I was pleasantly suprised.

I had seen this particular book all over TikTok but I had resisted reading it, I’m glad I did.

This books genre is a romance.

It ends with us by Colleen Hoover.

Here is a brief overview of the plot:

‘Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town where she grew up—she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. And when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life seems too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily. And the way he looks in scrubs certainly doesn’t hurt. Lily can’t get him out of her head. But Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing. Even as Lily finds herself becoming the exception to his “no dating” rule, she can’t help but wonder what made him that way in the first place.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan—her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.’

Some opinions on the book:

  • Such an easy read!! I couldn’t stop once I started and was so invested in where it was going.
  • I instantly wanted to read the sequel to see how the story ended.
  • Surprising turn of events in the story, that I didn’t see coming.
  • There were some sweet characters. I also really liked the unusual names.
  • Short chapters!!
  • It addresses and gives voice to important issues.
  • Some of the relationships, the friendships particularly were born very unrealisitisly quickly and were a bit obviously plot driven in some ways.
  • I’m sure an independent business isn’t as easy to set up and make a success as it is suggested in this book.

Out of 5 stars I would give this book ☆☆☆☆

I really enjoyed this story, I couldn’t put it down and it reinvigorated my reading mojo! I’ve read so many books since I finished it which is awesome as I had been in a bit of a slump.

Have you read this book?
What did you think?

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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6 Thrillers I would recommend… 📚

Hi guys 👋🏼

It’s been a little while since I’ve done a book recommendations post so I thought I would do one for you this weekend.

I chose the Thriller genre because 1, its one of my favourite genres to read (for many reasons) but 2, because it is a saturated genre and sometimes overwhelming… so take a look at a few that I have read and would thoroughly recommend, you know to make it easier for you!

These are all books that I have read (of course!) and that I would 100% recommend to people if they asked me.

These are some of the best books I have read and give you that perfect mixture of being gripped and gasping in shock!

Enjoy!

Wrong place, Wrong time by Gillian McCallister

‘It’s late. You’re waiting up for your son.

Then you spot him: he’s with someone. And – you can’t believe what you see – your funny, happy teenage boy stabs this stranger.

You don’t know who. You don’t know why. You only know your son is charged with murder. His future is lost.

That night you fall asleep in despair. But when you wake . . . it is yesterday. The day before the murder.

Somewhere in the past lie the answers – a reason for this crime.

And your only chance to stop it . . .‘

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

‘Alicia Berenson lived a seemingly perfect life until one day six years ago.

When she shot her husband in the head five times.

Since then she hasn’t spoken a single word.

It’s time to find out why.‘

The Girls Who Disappeared by Clare Douglas

‘THREE GIRLS MISSING

Twenty years ago, Olivia Rutherfood crashed her car while driving home with three friends.
When she regained consciousness, she was alone – her friends had vanished.

THEY WERE NEVER SEEN AGAIN

Now, journalist Jenna Halliday visits the town where it happened, determined to unlock the girls’ disappearance.

But Olivia won’t speak. And as Jenna probes further, the locals grow frightened . . .

How many secrets can one small town hide?‘

The Invisable Girl by Lisa Jewell

‘YOU DON’T SEE HER. BUT SHE SEES YOU.

MIDNIGHT. In the bad part of town, where cats prowl and foxes shriek, a girl is watching…

When Saffyre Maddox was ten, something terrible happened, and she’s carried the pain of it ever since. The man who she thought was going to heal her didn’t, and now she hides and watches him, learning his secrets, invisible in the shadows.

Owen Pick is invisible too. He’s never had a girlfriend; he’s never even had a friend.

Nobody sees him. Nobody cares.

But when Saffyre goes missing from opposite his house on Valentine’s Day, suddenly the whole world is looking at Owen.

Accusing him. Holding him responsible for Saffyre’s disappearance…‘

The Holiday by T M Logan

‘Four women who have been best friends for as long as they can remember – Kate, Rowan, Jennifer and Izzy – making the most of a luxurious villa in the south of France. But Kate has a secret: her husband is having an affair.‘

The Perfect Lie By Jo Spain

‘He jumped to his death in front of witnesses. Now his wife is charged with murder.

Five years ago, Erin Kennedy moved to New York following a family tragedy. She now lives happily with her detective husband in the scenic seaside town of Newport, Long Island. When Erin answers the door to Danny’s police colleagues one morning, it’s the start of an ordinary day. But behind her, Danny walks to the window of their fourth-floor apartment and jumps to his death.

Eighteen months later, Erin is in court, charged with her husband’s murder. Over that year and a half, Erin has learned things about Danny she could never have imagined. She thought he was perfect. She thought their life was perfect.

But it was all built on the perfect lie.‘

Have you read any of these? Have you got any good Thriller recommendations?

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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World Book Day 2023 📚

Hi guys! 👋🏼

Today is World Book Day. I mean everyday is Book Day for me haha.

As I work in a Primary School Setting I do love this Day simply for sharing stories and excitement around books.

Plus, it’s good fun to make a costume and dress up. My favourite part is reading to the children throughout the day though.

What could you do this World Book Day?

Get crafty and make a bookmark for you and or the kids.

Just enjoy a bit of quiet reading time with a new book or a favourite of yours…

Read to the kids! This is my favourite part of world book day at work ❤️📚

Try something new? A new type of book, a new genre. I have recently been enjoying the Heartstopper Graphic Novels which is not a book format that I usually read.

Read your favourite book ♡

Unfortunately I won’t have time today but, going to a local bookshop and treating yourself to a new book would also be an awesome way to spend it too. Especially if the kids have their book token too!

This year I have reused my Stick Man costume as I put alot of effort into making this last year so I thought I would get one more year out of it!

Whatever you do, I hope you have been able to enjoy a book and share that joy with somebody…theres nothing better ♡

What did you do for World Book Day?

What costume did you wear?

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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A book review: The Christmas Murder Game 📚

Hi guys 👋🏼

So, we have had book club meeting number one of 2023.

(A little later than planned as the madness of Christmas/January meant we all, for the most part needed more time to finish up)

This book was chosen as our December/January read – hence the Christmas theme. Although this was far from my usual cheery, festive fiction jaunt.

The Christmas Murder Game is by Alexandra Benedict.

Here is a brief overview of the plot:


Twelve clues.
Twelve keys.
Twelve days of Christmas.
But who will survive until Twelfth Night?

Lily Armitage never intended to return to Endgame House – the grand family home where her mother died twenty-one Christmases ago. Until she receives a letter from her aunt, asking her to return to take part in an annual tradition: the Christmas Game. The challenge? Solve twelve clues, to find twelve keys. The prize? The deeds to the manor house.

Some opinions on the book:

  • A different, interesting twist to a Christmas book.
  • Easy to read.
  • An interesting plot which made for a really good story.
  • Short chapters.
  • Something different to what I have read before.
  • It would make a really good film.
  • Some points are a little unbelievable.
  • The bonus riddles are so hard to find!!

Out of 5 stats I would give this a ☆☆1/2.

Simply, for a Thriller it wasn’t that thrilling. It was an easy read for sure and it was a good story… we were all in agreement that actually it would make a really good film, but I wasn’t personally gripped by it even though it is very easy to read.

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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My Top 5 reads of 2022! 📚

Hi guys! 👋🏼

I thought I would share with you some of my favourite books of 2022. I have read these over the course of last year! These have all been brilliant.

1. Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister

2. The Girls Who Disappeared by Claire Douglas

3. The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

4. A Christmas Celebration by Heidi Swain

5. The Therapist by B.A Paris

Domestic Fiction and Thrillers are probably my top two favourite genres of books.

Have you read any of these?

Which books have been your favourite of 2022?

Until Next Time,

Roseanne 🙂

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