May Book Reviews

So here we are matching towards the end of June & I'm only just telling you about the books I read in May!

I only managed 2 which is 2 short of my target.... never going to hit 50 at the rate

1940: The Spanish Civil War is over, and Madrid lies ruined, its people starving, while the Germans continue their relentless march through Europe. Britain now stands alone while General Franco considers whether to abandon neutrality and enter the war. Into this uncertain world comes Harry Brett: a traumatised veteran of Dunkirk turned reluctant spy for the British Secret Service. Sent to gain the confidence of old schoolfriend Sandy Forsyth, now a shady Madrid businessman, Harry finds himself involved in a dangerous game – and surrounded by memories. Meanwhile Sandy’s girlfriend, ex-Red Cross nurse Barbara Clare, is engaged on a secret mission of her own – to find her former lover Bernie Piper, a passionate Communist in the International Brigades, who vanished on the bloody battlefields of the Jarama. In a vivid and haunting depiction of wartime Spain, Winter in Madrid is an intimate and compelling tale which offers a remarkable sense of history unfolding, and the profound impact of impossible choices. ‘Sansom adroitly draws the disparate strands of his ambitious saga together. His non-pareil evocations of time and place anchor his characters with satisfying precision’ Independent

I read this on my Kindle..... for a bargain price of 20p on Amazon. I started off really well then hit a block & it was a real struggle, it took me weeks to finish it.

I did enjoy it but it didn't get me hooked, I don't know why.... the story is really good & I liked the ending so maybe it was just me!

6/10

Pretty seventeen-year-old Greta has never known a stable family life. With no father, and loathing her mother Ruby’s latest boyfriend, Greta finds life hard at home and is happiest at work with her friends at the Cadbury factory in Birmingham where she is popular with the boys. Life takes a turn for the worse when her missing vixen of a sister Marleen turns up during the freezing winter of 1962. Greta soon decides that her only way out is marriage, but all too soon she discovers that life with her old class mate Trevor is not a ticket to freedom and happiness. She finds herself on the streets, pregnant and homeless… She is taken in by her mother’s old friends, Edie and Anatoli Gruschov. In Anatoli, Greta finds the father she has never had. Kindly Edie loves to mother people and is desperately missing her son David and his family who have settled in Israel. But the love and security of this haven is soon shattered by appalling tragedy, which affects all the chocolate girls and their children and changes life forever… Continuing the saga begun in Chocolate Girls, and set in 1960s Birmingham, this is a story of families whose lives are entwined, of belonging and loss… and of a young woman’s search for transforming love.

I read Chocolate Girls back in March & really enjoyed it so I was really pleased to find the sequel at a car boot sale for 50p!

This book did not disappoint & I read it in under a week! I've never read these kind of books before but I'm really enjoying them....... light hearted & easy to read.

Maybe my taste in books is changing.

I was happily going to bed for the afternoon & reading while with the other book I would do anything but read!

Maybe I should just admit it & stick to these books in the future!

9/10

I'm now reading a book that was recommend to me..... it's been 2 weeks & I'm only 1/2 through... oh dear!

Think June's book review post will be short!

A Day At The Zoo!

ok so it was a while ago now but I'll share my photo's with you anyway.

We went to Dartmoor Zoo

It was a bit of an odd day.... we got lost on the way (shocking as my dad knows where everything is!).... when we arrived my nephew just wanted to have the picnic..... then he wanted to go home!!

So it was a very brief visit, can you believe that a 4 year old didn't want to see the lion being fed!! 

Odd child!

Meerkats!!

Everyone's favourite!

I love this bear!

The best thing about this zoo is you can get close & although it was busier than the last time I went you still had a good view.

Unlike the lion :(

Unfortunately due to the wire you don't see much but I guess they have to have it!!

Her food was hiden in a tree & in these photo's you can see her searching then jumping up to get it... look closely! 

The highlight of the day!!!

As I said last time I would really recommend this zoo if you're in the area.... just avoid the film hype!

Have you seen the film?

I haven't yet but I guess I will one day.

And last but not least

3 years ago today I lost my beautiful Zoe..... rarely a day goes by when I don't think of her & miss her.

Now if any cat would let you do cat bearding it was her!

May 2013

Don't panic....... I wasn't eaten by a tiger at the zoo!!!

I've just been really lazy & haven't got around to posting.

May was a different month for me..... no work!

Lots of making, seeing friends, birthday parties, housework, cooking, spending time with my girls & going to the zoo!

I could get used to this lady of leisure malarky!

I'm a bit behind on the posting front...... I will share my photo's of the zoo plus my normal book review for the month as soon as possible.

Enjoy the sunshine while it last!

Rain, Rain.....

go away, come again another day!

Tomorrow I need it to be sunny because.......

Momma's not taking me because she can't drive so it's daddy!!

I'm very excited!!!

So which zoo is it? Find out here 

I've been before & had a great time.

Fingers crossed for sunshine!

DIY Lightbox

About 3 months ago I spotted this on Pinterest...

Just what I need!!

You know what's it's like.... you pin it, go back, re read, wait until you remember to bring a box home from work, the box sit in the porch where you left it until finally you get around to it!!!!

The instructions are very clear & it looked so easy however in reality your knife isn't as sharp as you thought, you can't find the right tape & you have it balanced while watching Bargain Hunt!

It didn't take long to make

But has it worked?

Before

After

I think it worked a treat & it only cost me 69p for the tissue paper!

 It said to put it in as much light as possible...... well there's not much light around today!

I tried to take it in the garden but it's very flimsy & the wind is strong today..... not a good mix!!

I will be playing around in the future to see if I can make the photo's even better.

I'm working on a new brooch design for Crikey so this should be perfect for promoting them on Facebook.

If you want to give it a go click HERE

Away too long!

Well it's been over a week since I last posted. I would like to say I've been really busy but that would be a lie!

So what's new....

Busy making pin cushions 

New cherry brooches...... smaller & cheaper then my knitted ones!

Making tea cosies for orders

Trying to finish my crochet blanket I started 5 years ago!

Trying out the new 'A Beautiful Mess' app

Still not back to work, I was planning to go back today but unfortunately as it got closer to the date I became worse again. I won't go into details but the symptoms aren't pleasant.

I'm signed off until the end of the month. I really should use this time to make things for Crikey but I'm  finding it hard to get going.

This is the longest time off I can remember ever having......I started work the week after I left school &  I've never been out of work for longer then a couple of weeks.

I should be enjoying it but instead I'm feeling guilty! 

Hope to be back soon with some more interesting things!

April Book Reviews

April was a good month for reading..... I managed 3!!

Ok so I'm a long way off my target of 50 but hey ho!

Even her closest friend agreed that Shark Grayson wasn't fit to keep her baby. A heroin addict, living in a sordid London squat, she was already close to death when her American lover took charge of the situation by force, and carried off the baby Alexander to give him a loving home in the Mid-West and an affluent future. But now Alex is twenty-seven, orphaned again and afflicted by a sense of lost roots and a romantic vision of England. A business trip provides the chance to go and trace his unknown relatives. He finds friendship; encounters some startlingly predatory girls; and confronts mystery in the eccentric alternative health centre run by the austere Julia. He discovers that while some British people are very hard indeed to get along with, some turn out to be, after all, more closely akin to him than he could ever have imagined.

First up Mother Country 

A lady I work with lent me this book & I must confess I wasn't sure at the beginning. She kept saying how good it was so I felt I should stick with it & I'm glad I did.

Once over the 'hump' of the book I found I couldn't put it down & read it in under a week which is very fast for me.

It's not the sort of book I normally read & I doubt I'll read it again but I did really enjoy it. 

8/10

World War Two is finally over. Millions all over the country are starting to wonder if peacetime really is much of an improvement on the War. Food shortages, endless queues, power cuts, rationing and freezing winters make it extremely difficult to make ends meet as husbands return from battlefields to families they hardly know. Yet some East Enders are living large...in a bombed out damp and squalid Hackney slum, one family are leading a life of luxury, a loadsamoney world funded by illegal betting, where virtually everything is available, thanks to a thriving black market. The Hyams family has a retinue of unofficial servants: a chauffeur, a cleaner and an army of delivery men. They take seaside holidays in posh hotels and dine on the finest foods and delicacies money can buy...but at the core of their daily life, an ever-growing nightmare lurks, threatening to wreck their luxurious existence. In this honest and sincere memoir, Jacky Hyams revisits the 'live for today' world of her childhood, a world where money was no object, growing up in a household underpinned by betting, booze and bribes. From stories of her parents partying with the Krays in the East End of old, to the optimistic swinging sixties of London's West End, this is the intimate story of a unique childhood, set against the backdrop of squalid, post-War Hackney.

Now you all know how much I love social history books & I really enjoyed this one. A nice quick easy read.

There was nothing in here I didn't already know about the East End of London but it was still very interesting. I'm please to see there is a follow up book which takes as through the 60's.

The best bit about this book is the price.... 69p on Kindle!!!

It's a real bargain!!

8/10

Karl Engel is a rising star among Nazi guards at a concentration camp. Making a name for himself through his brutality and impassioned hatred of all things Jewish, the arrival of new prisoners forces him to begin to question everything he’s ever known. In a place known for despair, death, and hate, is it possible to find hope, life, and love? In Poland, 1943, the most profound discovery that Karl will make in The Camp—is himself.

I book this book back in February for only 75p on Kindle, I hadn't heard of the author so left it until I had nothing else to read.

It was excellent!!

So many twist that I found myself saying 'Nooooo!!!' out loud several times.

The way it was written was very clever & I would really recommend reading it if like me you enjoy books about the Holocaust. It's now gone up in price but still a bargain.

I'm so pleased to see there's part 2 & have added that to my wish list..... which I might add is growing daily!

10/10

So that's it for April. Unfortunately I'm struggling at the moment with a book I thought was really good  but with 200 pages left I'm finding it hard going. I won't give in but it's slowing me down!

I can't wait to finish it so I can buy more from my wish list!