So this week we are having our last Book Club meeting before Christmas and the New Year, and I saw a really cute idea online that I thought was perfect to make everyone.
They are book baubles!
So I bought some clear baubles on Amazon, I then set about printing, cutting (lots of cutting) and laminating the tiny pictures of all of the books that we have read at Book Club this year.
I did them double sided so that they looked good inside the bauble from all angles. This did take a little while but I made them in an evening so it isn’t as time consuming as it looks.
These would make a great present for a book lover friend. If you know what they have read this year or maybe just make one with their favourite books in.
They are relatively easy and super effective.
I finished them off by writing ‘2022’ in a silver pen and adding a red ribbon to hang them up.
I know not everyone has a laminater but they looked really effective this way and I was really pleased with the finish.
I can’t wait to pop mine on my tree – what a great year for book club books it has been.
As a self confessed book lover I thought I would share my Christmas tbr (to be read) list…. I thought it might offer a little inspiration if you are looking for something good to read this festive season.
Let’s have a look…
(Synopsis are from Amazon)
‘Carmen has always worked in her local department store. So, when the gorgeous old building closes its doors for good, she is more than a little lost.
When her sister, Sofia, mentions an opportunity in Edinburgh – a cute little bookshop, the spare room in her house – Carmen is reluctant, she was never very good at accepting help. But, short on options, she soon finds herself pulling into the snowy city just a month before Christmas.
What Sofia didn’t say is that the shop is on its last legs and that if Carmen can’t help turn things around before Christmas, the owner will be forced to sell. Privately, Sofia is sure it will take more than a miracle to save the store, but maybe this Christmas, Carmen might surprise them all… ‘
‘She’s snowed in with the family. The only problem? They’re not her family.
A family gathering This Christmas the Miller siblings have one goal – to avoid their family’s well-meaning questions. Ross, Alice and Clemmie have secrets that they don’t intend to share, and they are relying on each other to deflect attention.
An uninvited guest Lucy Clarke is facing a Christmas alone, and the prospect of losing her job – unless she can win a major piece of business from Ross Miller. She’ll deliver her proposal to his family home in the Scottish Highlands and then leave. After all, she wouldn’t want to intrude on the Miller’s perfect family Christmas.
A Christmas to remember When Lucy appears on the Miller’s snow-covered doorstep, she is mistaken for Ross’s girlfriend. But by the time the confusion is cleared up, a storm has hit and Lucy is stuck. As everyone settles in for a snowed-in Christmas, tensions bubble to the surface and suddenly Lucy finds herself facing a big family fallout with a family that isn’t hers… ‘
‘Elderly widow Sabine knows this will be her last Christmas in her beloved home, Mitras Castle. Determined to make it just like the ones she remembers from her childhood, she employs Dido Jones of Heavenly Houseparties to help with the big day.
Dido is enchanted by the castle as soon as she steps through the imposing front door. And as Christmas day approaches, her feeling of connection to the old house runs deeper than she first thought.
But when the snow begins to fall and Sabine’s family arrive at the house – including Dido’s teenage crush Xan – tensions rise around the castle’s future and long-buried mysteries begin to unravel…
As past secrets come to light, can this still be a magical Christmas to remember?’
‘Maggie hasn’t told this story in years. More than two decades ago, she fell in love. She was sixteen and far from home, waiting to give her baby up for adoption. Bryce showed Maggie how to take photographs and he didn’t judge her for the way her belly swelled under her jumper. They had the perfect first kiss. Theirs was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of love.
Now, as Maggie sits by the Christmas tree in her gallery telling her story, surrounded by the photographs that made her famous – the photographs Bryce never saw – her new gallery assistant asks her a question. If she had one wish, what would she wish for this Christmas?
Maggie always thought she knew the answer to that question. But before she can say ‘I’d go back to that winter with Bryce’, she stops herself. It is all she has ever wanted but suddenly here, on this dark night under the twinkling stars, there is something else she wants. She wants to find her baby.’
‘It was supposed to be Christy Sullivan’s perfect Christmas escape – a dream trip to Lapland with her family and best friend, Alix. But facing a make-or-break marriage crisis, Christy desperately needs time alone with her husband, Seb. Her solution? Alix, along with Seb’s oldest friend, Zac, can take Christy’s daughter on the planned Lapland trip, and they will all reunite there for Christmas Day. After all, what are friends for?
There’s nothing Alix won’t do for Christy, but Christy’s plan to save Christmas is testing their friendship. Especially as Alix and Zac have a difficult history of their own.
As long-held secrets unravel, and unexpected romance shines under the Northern Lights, can Christy and Alix find the courage to fight for the relationships they really want? And could this Christmas escape save the precious gift of each other’s friendship? ‘
‘The first fall of snow can be fatal… A year has passed since DI James Walker cracked his biggest case yet, and he’s hoping for peace and quiet this festive season.
But across the fells, a local farmer returns home on Christmas Eve to find footsteps in the fresh snow that lead down to his unused basement – and no footsteps leading away. Days later, his body is found, alongside those of his wife and daughter.
Without a neighbour for miles, there are no witnesses and little evidence. And the crime scene has strange echoes of another terrible murder committed at the farmhouse, twenty years earlier…
James knows that to catch this killer, he needs to solve a case that has long since gone cold…’
‘When Paige turns up unannounced at Wynthorpe Hall, she discovers the place she knew when she was growing up has changed beyond all recognition. She’s only planning to stay for a short time, but is quickly pulled into local life.
One night while driving home after delivering library books and shopping to residents she stumbles across an isolated cottage and meets Albert, its elderly and rather grumpy owner. She quickly realises there’s more to Albert than meets the eye and the same can be said for the other man she can’t seem to help running into, handsome but brooding Brodie.
All three of them have a secret and a desire to hide away from the world, but with Christmas on the horizon, is that really the best way to celebrate the season?’
Here is another book review from my monthly Book Club meeting.
I haven’t done one of these in a while as our meetings have been a bit different. Our July meeting was a trip to see ‘Where the crawdads sing’ as the book had been read at Book Club previously, and I have read it and loved it.
August/some of September was devoted to out next read, the one I will be talking about – ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest’.
We decided to go for a classic for August as we all expressed a wish to read more of them! So someone chose One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest.
If you have ever read it (or indeed any classics tbf) they are a bit harder to get into so we gave ourselves longer to read it, seeing us through August and most of September, meeting last week.
So, let’s get into it!
One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest
SYNOPSIS
‘In order to escape the prison labour, McMurphy, a Prisoner, fakes insanity and is shifted to the special ward for the mentally unstable. In this ward he must rise up against a cruel nurse, Ratched.’
THEMES
•Stigma and Mental Health
•Power
•Masculinity/Feminity
•Human Dignity
PROS
It’s a classic and it is always nice to add a few of them to your repertoire.
I really enjoyed the characters and found them to be very interesting, likable, endearing and charismatic – for me, they are one of the best bits of the book.
I also really like how thought provoking it is, in its themes and the way it conveys them through plot devices, imagery and the characters themselves.
CONS
It’s quite a slow burner, a slightly arduous start to the story and a story where ultimately not alot happens (considering the book is over 300 pages.)
It is also written in a very confusing way, sort of disjointed with A LOT of dialogue.
Also, the font is tiny. You feel as if you have read alot but haven’t got very far at all.
I also much prefer a book when there are short, clearly defined chapters – this one didn’t which was a shame!
Rating out of 5:
☆☆☆☆☆ (2.5)
Would you recommend it?
Y / N
Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? 💭
We are halfway through 2022 (HOW!?!) So I thought I would do a halfway round up of what I have read so far…
So far…
Harry Potter and the Philosphers Stone: Minalima Illustratred edition
I know what you’ve done by Dorothy Koomson
Cometh the Hour by Jeffrey Archer
22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
Her majesty the Queen investigates… The Windsor Knot by SJ Bennett
Trust me by T M Logan
The Sanitorium by Sarah Pearse
The Land of Stories: An Authors Odyssey by Chris Colfer
The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
Love, Locked down by Beth Reckles
Nalas World by Dean Nicholson
This was a man by Jeffrey Archer
Midnight is a lonely place by Barbra Erskine
Walking on Sunshine by Giovanna Fletcher
Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
The Summer Fair By Heidi Swain
The Baby is not mine by Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Donor by Clare Mackintosh
1. My Favourite book so far: ‘Wrong Place, Wrong Time’
This is an absolutely fantastic book. It had me at the synopsis – never have I sent a synopsis to so many people because it sounds SO good. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I didn’t want to put it down. The characters and their relationships were lovely and it was a great reading experience.
2. The most gripping so far: ‘Wrong Place, Wrong Tim’ & ‘The Hunting Party’
These were both brilliant books for making you say ‘Just one more page’. There was lots of drama, lots going on and lots to keep enticing you to the end.
3. My Least Favourite so far: I know what You’ve done.
Simply because I didnt find it as gripping as Dorothy’s other books and I found the characters less likeable. It did have a good few twists though.
4. Easiest to read: ‘Love Locked Down‘
It was weird reading a book about the madness that was the beginning of the pandemic but it was quite cool reading about something that you’ve actually been through in a relatively light hearted way. I liked the variety of characters.
5. One I would recommend: ‘Wrong Place, Wrong Time.’
The time loop and just the sheer depth of the plot ans suspense made it a fantastic reading experience. I really enjoyed her writing style.
So something pretty awesome happened this month and if you are a bookworm like me you’ll definitely appreciate how cool this is!!!
On a book club page on Facebook I read this Synopsis…
‘It’s every parent’s nightmare. Your happy, funny, innocent son commits a terrible crime: murdering a complete stranger. You don’t know who. You don’t know why. You only know your teenage boy is in custody and his future lost. That night you fall asleep in despair. Until you wake . .. . . and it is yesterday. Every morning you wake up a day earlier, another day before the murder. Another chance to stop it. Somewhere in the past lie the answers, and you don’t have a choice but to find them . . !’
This book is called ‘Wrong Place, Wrong Time.’ By Gillian McAllister.
Never have I read a synopsis and thought OMG I NEED TO READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW – it intrigued me so much!! I also immediately sent this synopsis to so many people because I knew they would think the same!!
I put this book forward as a suggestion at Book club last month… everyone went for it and I subsequently tweeted about it being our chosen book on my Twitter page for this blog… and then this happened…
😱😱😱
I never thought the author herself would tweet me asking to join our meeting. I was shocked!!
After lots of sorting out (and stressing out behind closed doors by me 🤦🏼♀️🙃) it all went off really well.
Gillian was lovely to chat to and was really eager to answer our questions and listen to our thoughts on her book.
It was interesting listening to everyones views and perspectives on the book, with her added into the mix. It was also great to get some background information on how she came about her ideas and the thinking behind certain areas of the plot, the chatacters etc.
It just added a different dimension to our usual meetings and it was fascinating to get a real authors perspective on something you’ve just read (and thoroughly enjoyed!) As well as the writing process as a whole.
I’m so glad I was able to organise it successfully and that everyone really enjoyed themselves.
I already know that I will be scouring my local library for some more of her books asap.
The power of Books, Blogs and Twitter 📚🌟
Have you read the book? Or any of her other ones?? What did you think??
It was our 31st Birthday earlier this month and I thought I would share with you some of the cool Harry Potter bits that I got given.
Let’s go!
Some of these recipes look super cool – I do love baking so fingers crossed I can do them justice. They will be fun to try nether the less.
These two items were on my list, from my husband. The Triwizard tournment top is really cool and understated and I love that you can choose your Hogwarts house (Gryffindor ofc) and get your name on the back.
The fourth HP film is one of my faves too.
I also loved this little Niffler badge, its so pretty and cool! Plus, Nifflers are adorable.
Have you seen the new Fantastic Beasts film?? It’s great!!
I also got this cool illustrated copy of the book ‘The Tales of Beedle the Bard’. I love these illustrated versions, they are such a cool item to add to my collection.
The illustrations are beautiful and I find them way more interesting to read than the originals now 😂
And finally, I got a really cool Hogwarts house towel. This is ideal for when I go swimming at my local pool.
Fun Fact: My Hogwarts House on Pottermore, last time I did the quiz, was Ravenclaw.
A group of old Oxford friends celebrates their annual reunion at a lodge in the remote Scottish Highlands. With an impending blizzard on the way, the nostalgia ends abruptly when one of them is murdered.
THEMES
•Friendship •Jealousy •Betrayal
PROS
•Short Chapters, my favourite kind • Very gripping, interesting Chapters •You learnt lots of new information about the characters here and there which added to the twists and turns of the book – and there were a few!!
CONS
•There are a lot of different characters that make up the friendhship group, in this story. It got a little confusing at the start remembering who was married to who, who was bestfriends with who, how did they meet etc. I made lots of notes on the back page of the book.
Elin, A British Police Officer, taking a break from work, visits Le Sommet hotel in the Swiss Alps – the hotel was previously a Sanitorium.
Soon into her visit we learn of family trauma, fractured relationships – and then people start to go missing… people are being picked off, but who is the culprit??
So, I’ve always wanted to be part of a Book club and this week that dream came true.
A lovely local cafe near me runs a book club and I found out about it after having a chat with the cafe owner. I was so excited when she mentioned that they run one as its a lovely little cafe and easy for me to get to. My twin sister joined with me.
It was SO awesome!! I can’t wait for the next meeting and to start our new book.
I’ve decided that since we will discuss these books in more detail, these will be the books that I do a little review of. This means I have one a month to write about/recommend (hopefully) to you guys.
So, here is the first book that I read for the book club… February 2022!
22 Britannia Road By Amanda Hodgkinson
SYNOPSIS
This book follows the story of Janusz, Silvana and their son Aurek from Poland. The story goes back and forth from the past, when they first met, when war broke out, and during the war, as well as the present when they are trying to rebuild their lives after the war. We find out how it has affected them, their relationship, and their relationship as a family, as well as the secrets that they have carried along the way.
THEMES
•Family •Survival •Love •War
PROS
•Easy to read •Interesting insight into the impact of war on the women and children. •Mixture of past & present.
CONS
•Quite sad in parts •Geography of Ipswich wasn’t spot on
Would you recommend it?
Y/N 👍🏻
Especially to anyone who lives in the local area of Ipswich.
Roseanne Byford 