Book Review – Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult

Oh my god, I have finally finished this book! I am so sad that I have had so much trouble reading this book as Jodi Picoult is one of my favourite authors and it really pains me to say that I really did not enjoy this book as much as I felt I should. For me, the description of places and things were too much and the story just dragged with nothing that would suck me into the story to keep on reading. 


I am afraid that this book really was not for me but don't let that put you guys off giving it a go if it is one that interests you. As I think I have mentioned before, I am not one for too much description in a book. If there is too much description I can lose my interest very quickly and I think this is what happened with me and this book... 


A very sad - 4 out of 10


Best wishes

New Design Layout

Hey guys!   I hope you don't mind but I was having a spring clean of my blog and thought it would be a good idea to change the layout to something a bit more funky.  I hope you like it!  I promise I won't be changing it again for a while!

Best wishes

Book Review - Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

Aria, Emily, Spencer, Hanna and Alison have been best friends since the third grade. They go everywhere together, thinking no-one can come between them. If anyone is the ringleader of the group it is Alison, and the other girls cannot help but confide all their secrets to her. One night, during a sleepover, Alison goes missing. Her body is never found. The girls mourn her death but move apart after time, assuming their secrets have disappeared with Alison too. Three years later and Aria is having an affair with her teacher; Emily is questioning her sexuality; Hanna is a thief; and Spencer is flirting with her sister's fiance. They all think their secrets are safe, until they starting receiving messages from the mysterious A - who knows exactly what they are all up to, and is threatening to spill the beans ...

Wow and wow!  Now I can see what all the buzz was all about.  This book was amazing.  It was so light and easy to read and the characters were to well written.......  I loved the fact that we are kept guessing as to who the mysterious A is..  I also lived how all the characters intertwined with each other and how they dealt with their friendship after Alison went missing and throughout the book...  I just could not put this book down!

Brilliant!  I am so glad I have already bought the others in the series!

10 out of 10

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Book Haul – Charity Shop

Hi guys! Well as you will now see from my previous blog relating to the very lucky W H smiths shop, I did in fact come home with more books than that. Before going to W H Smiths there is a charity shop that I love to go on as they have a good turnaround of second hand books. The charity is called The British Heart Foundation. You can pick up fairly new books for a third of the price! So, this is what I got:


Falling for you by Jill Mansell

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

8 Sandpipers Way by Debbie Macomber

The Divide by Nicholas Evans

Things my girlfriend and I have argued about by Mil Millington

I hope you enjoyed this blog!


Best wishes

Book Haul – W H Smiths The Second Time Around

As promised, here is the stash that I got from my second trip around W H Smiths. I had to limit myself which was very hard but for £5 off, I wasn't going to hang about!! So, here is what I got:


Summer Pleasure by Nora Roberts

204 Rosewood Lane by Debbie Macomber

311 Pelican Court by Debbie Macomber

He's Just not that into you by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo


Also, when I was wandering around the magazine section, I saw one of my magaizines had come around and to my absolute delight it had a free book, which is one that has been on my 'to be bought' list for ages!! I think today must be my lucky today!


How exciting! I hope you guys are well and having a great day.


Best wishes

Book Haul – W H Smiths

Hey guys!  Well, I went into town and guess what I bought..... yep, you've guessed it... more books!!! I couldn't resist. For those who are not aware of the shop, W H Smiths is a shop which sells newspapers, books, stationery, DVDs and stuff like that. At the moment they are doing a great offer where you buy one book and get the second half price... So, this is what I bought:


The Reef by Nora Roberts

Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Black Hills by Nora Roberts.


These look like cracking books. I know that with Hush Hush I have seen so many videos on YouTube that have given great reviews so I thought I would give it a go!


The added bonus with buying these books is that when I went to the counter and paid I got a voucher which enabled me to have £5 off when I spent more than £15 on books! So, what did I do. I paid for my books and then went straight back into the shop and bought some more that I have been deliberating about!!! I shall do a second post with what I bought!


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Book haul – Amazon, The Final Package (at last!)

Hey guys! Just thought I would drop in a little blog to say that I have finally got all of order through from Amazon (the order that I had put through before I moved house about a couple of weeks ago!). I was so excited to receive this package as it had one book that I am dying to read and have, in fact, started to read now.... So, this is what I got:


Breaking the Silence by Diane Chamberlain

The Babysitters Club, Babysitters European Vacation by Ann M Martin

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard. ** The one I was dying to read as I have all the other books ready!!!

I hope you enjoyed this blog and are having a great weekend


Best wishes

My To be Read Bookcase

Hey guys! Having finally been able to sort out my books I thought I would let you guys into see where I keep my to be read books 

I am getting a camera soon guys so hopefully I will have a bash at doing a video or two....  

I hope you are having a great weekend and for all those who are in England, a great Bank Holiday weekend1

Best wishes



 

 

Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer

Hey guys!  Sorry it has been a while since my last book review but this book completely got the better of me.  I have to say that this is the longest book I have ever read and although it was an exciting challenge, it did put me off reading it a bit.

Once I had eventually got stuck down to reading it, I was completely sucked into the story (parden the pun lol!) and although I thought some parts were very long winded I loved how the characters dealt with the different obstacles they came across.

The only thing that I was not so keen on and thought was a bit unrealistic was the child and its name...  What a silly name!

All in all, a very good book but a bit long winded!  I think this book would work better for me if it was split into two like the movie will be...  Feeling really sad now that I have come to the end of reading the Twilight series....

8 out of 10

Best wishes

This is where I work on my blog and other things....

Hey guys.... Just a short post today as I had a very busy day at work and now I am ready to jump into bed with a good book and fall asleep! I thought it would be fun to show you where I work on my blog, surf the net etc.... So, here it is. This is in the corner of my bedroom and is the most comfortable and private place in the whole house..... I have always has a computer that has a mirror behind it. I can fill up hours with being on the Internet and making funny faces at myself in the mirror! L

I hope you enjoyed this post


Best Wishes

Book Giveaway - Update

Hey guys!  Just to let you know, the book I offered as a giveaway a little while ago (Second Chances by Jane Green) has found a new home and will be winging its way over to Cass at Words on Paper, which is a fantastic blog guys. 

Best wishes

This is where I read....

Hey guys! Some of you may know that I moved house a week ago. When I say move house, I mean move from a top floor flat in the centre of town to a two bedroom house about 15 minute walk from town. It is absolute heaven... Where we used to live, we were right next to a pub and our living room window overlooked the pub garden where a lot of drunken people congregated and made lots of funny noises all times of the evening. In our new home, it is so quiet it has taken some adjusting!


I thought it would be fun to show a picture of where I read. This is part of my living room and is where I mainly do my reading apart from when it is nearly bedtime where I read in bed before I am nearly falling asleep! The picture on the wall is of various landmarks in Liverpool which is where my partner, Geoffrey, lived before we met. The sofas we have only just got and absolutely love them because they are sooooooooo comfortable! Please ignore the piles of DVDs to the right of the sofa! We have just piled them up there until we pick up a larger bookcase to put them in...


The other side of the living room is a bit of a mess at the mo as we are holding our old sofa and bits for family who are hopefully moving soon. Once the sofa has been taken away there is a fantastic 'nook' under the stairs which we are planning to be a book nook/computer area.... Not sure when we are going to sort that out but will definitely post a picture when we get that done!



I hope you enjoyed this blog.


Best Wishes.

Book Haul – Freebie from Magazine!

So, I went to get my monthly stash of girlie magazines to keep me in touch with the real world and I was so happy when I picked up my Cosmopolitan magazine to find that there is a free book in it! I love it when magazines give free stuff away, especially when the free item is a book! I have popped a picture below and it looks so interesting. I don't know about you guys but don't you ever wonder what goes into bloke's heads sometimes!? Sometimes they can be normal but sometimes its like they are from another planet! I am hoping this book is going to give some answers lol!!!


Best wishes

Book Haull - The Remainder of the Amazon Order!

Hey guys!  Some of you may know that I moved house a week ago and just before I moved I placed a massive Amazon order.  I have been desperately waiting the last batch.  As I ordered them from the market place they have been coming through in bits and pieces so I thought it would be better to wait and and do one Haul post.

So, here we go.  First off, I bought the three books written by Stig Larsson.  The first called The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the second called The Girl who Played with Fire and the last one is called The Girl who Kicked the Hornets' Nest.  I am so looking forward to reading these as I have heard a lot of buzz about them.  I have resisted watching the movie because I would really prefer to read the book first...  I did not realise until I received them how long the books are....

Ok, on the left hand side are as follows -
Tribute by Nora Roberts.
Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier
101 Things You Did Not Know About Titanic
The Man Who Cried by Sally Potter
Blockade Billy by Stephen King
Conspiracies and Cover-Ups by David Alexander
The Whaleboat House by Mark Mills
Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts

And I got a couple of books written by Nora Robert's alter ego - JD Robb but I don't have the books in front of me at the mo and can't quite read the picture lol!

Next I got:
Hex Hall (Book 1) by Rachel Hawkins
Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern
Asking for Trouble: A Novel by Elizabeth Young
Running In Heels: A Novel by Anna Maxted
Fen by Freya North
The Nanny by Melissa Nathan
I LOVE CAPRI by Belinda Jones.

I was so pleased because the last five books (the bottom five in the picture to the right hand side) I got for £1!!!.

Next there is:
What I Saw And How I Lied by Judy Blundell
The Other Woman by Jane Green
Mr. Maybe: A Novel by Jane Green
Babyville: A Novel by Jane Green

Sorry for the darkness in this picture!  I have read so many reviews and watched so many reviews on YouTube about the Pretty Little Liars Series so I thought I would go ahead and get them.  I have I think one more to get and I have the full set.  I don't know if any of you guys do this but when there is a series of books and I think I will like them, I have to buy the full set before I start reading them...  Don't know why, maybe because I don't want any waiting time going from one book to the other......

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my haul.  I am still wading through reading Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, which I am about halfway through.  I have to say that I have never read a book this big before and it is challenging!

Best wishes