Book Loving Blog

 Today I wanted to review a book that my Dad and I listened to on the car journey from Staffordshire to Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire to visit Roald Dahl's former home village.  As someone who grew up reading and being read to, Roald Dahl and Spike Milligan were two people if you had asked me aged eight, who I would like to meet, I would have answered, them. I love Matilda and Charlie And The Chocolate Factory in particular. Quotes such as "all the reading she had done had given her a view of life that they had never seen" and "however small the chance might be of striking lucky, the chance was there", made me feel like Dahl's words were truly speaking to me and me alone, and that, is the brilliance of a great writer.  When I was around seven or eight I won a competition on the Roald Dahl website. I can't remember the question, though I remember the answer was "The Twits". A couple of weeks later a parcel wrapped in paper turned up in the sl...

 Hello, I hope you're well and enjoying this very lovely June.  Today I wanted to write about a book that is by far the best one I've read so far this year, and that is Lucky, by Louise Thompson.  I have known of Louise since I was about fourteen years old, when Made In Chelsea first hit our screens and I loved the drama and craziness of the reality show. I didn't know much about her life, but I had recently seen interviews where she discussed having an extremely traumatic birth, with multiple life saving operations and how this resulted in severe PTSD. My Mum was driving me to a hosptial appointment and had "Lucky" playing via audio book and I was hooked. I got home and brought the audio book straight away, finishing it in the next three days.  It is so honest, so raw, so necessary (as someone who was born at 29 weeks due to complications with my Mum's pregnancy, that meant she was high risk and stayed in the hosptial for 3 months post birth), so devastating,...

 This book had been on my 'To be read' list for quite some time before I picked up a copy. I have seen it in the 3 for 2 offer at Waterstones whilst back in Liverpool and was drawn to the title, which so alluring and beautfiul. The lively yellow lemon tart 🍋 on the cover didn't hurt either, I love covers that are different and a little arty, such as is the case with author's such as Clare Chambers.   I found this one on WOB (formally World Of Books) and knew I should pick up a copy for only a few pounds. I read it quickly and I have a few thoughts... The premise of the book is that Edi is diagnosed with terminal cancer and Ash, her best friend since childhood is living life, helping Edi and dealing with this diagnosis. Ash, whilst understanding the awfulness of the situation also understands that Edi will always be a massive part of who she is and who she will become, even if she is no longer living.  Things I liked about this book: 1) The author manages to turn one...

 Hello,  I realise I haven't written on here for almost 3 years, I have written book reviews but quickly forgot about this little blog that I created in 2021 in the spur-of-a-moment, completely dedicated to books. So I thought... I would jolly well use it. April was a month of writing, attempts at picture-books and entries into multiple different creative writing and poetry competitions, meant I didn't have the extra energy to read. This status-quo has now changed and reading is firmly back on the agenda for the time-being. This reading includes books I have read and then forgotten about and re-read. The good part of having a memory like mine - that doesn't remember intricate details about plot and storyline but remembers intrinsically if I loved a book or if it was 'okay' - is that I can re-read a book a year later and see it with fresh eyes.  I think even if you have a much better memory than me and books stay with you, re-reading is something worth while as you w...

 I have to say after seeing this book recommended in various magazines, it was initially the art work of tangerines on the cover that attracted me. When I saw this book in my little local library I couldn't believe my luck as usually I would have to order a novel in from other libraries. I snatched it up there and then and after two to three weeks of reading I have many thoughts...  The plot is at once cozy and sad. Set in 1950's suburban London it follows Jean, a 40 year old reporter for a local paper who leads a very simple life. Due to her elderly Mother not wishing to venture out of their house, it presents Jean missing social interactions with her work colleagues and corralled to a 5pm curfew in order to cook tea and help her Mother to wash her hair every day.  The monotony changes however, when a member of the public writes in as a response to a story claiming that they have had a 'virgin' birth. As Jean resolves to uncover the truth behind the statement she sees ...

I am writing this post after an unprecedented hot spell, with the sliding sash window open and cool air radiating in. I feel refreshed and finally ready to write what I think of A moveable Feast .  Having read A Farewell To Arms when I was about nineteen, I knew that I was inspired and enraptured by Hemmingway's long-sentenced street of consciousness style, consisting of very little dialogue and lots of description. The description Hemmingway uses is not translucent and unnecessary, but practical and the very basis upon which the narrative is so rich.  This wonderful novel is fictional but is based on the experiences and memories of Hemmingway in his twenties, whilst married to his first wife Hadley and living in Paris. It was a novel published in 1964 and published posthumously after Hemmingway's death three years earlier and is the culmination of his early diaries and memories he kept during this time. The book features real life people who encountered or was friends with, ...

 Whilst everyone and their dog became enchanted by the portrayal of Connell and Marianne when Normal People was realised as a TV adaptation at the start of lockdown, I remember hearing mixed reviews about the book. Some liked the medium, some just couldn't get on board with the writing style. As someone who watched the TV adaptation long before I picked up this book, I can remember wondering just how the narrative could have ever lent itself to book-form.  The story is so simple yet so brilliant and captures two teens on their journey's out of sixth-form into University and just beyond. It touches on class divide, modern love, miscommunication, lack of awareness, and how some souls seem to touch and change each other irrecoverably. This is the story of 'Normal People'. Whilst Connell is popular and well liked at school, Marianne is on the edges and guarded. Whilst Connell painstakingly cares about what other's think, Marianne doesn't see the benefits of social ...