Brown Owl's Guide to Life...Not what I expected

Title: Brown Owl's Guide to Life
Author: Kate Harrison
ISBN: 978-0-7528-8097-6
Rating: 6/10
Genre: Fiction, Comedy, Women's Fiction,
Book: Paperback

"I pick the dress up. I was so small. And the dress was so horribly unflattering, the cut emphasizing my round shoulders and chubby legs. There are a few more badges sewn into the arm: a pair of scissors, for the Needlework badge...Next to the scissors is a globe, for Brownie Friendship, gained by finding a penpal called Sheree who lived in the Australian Outback...Finally, there's the embroidered treble clef. The Musician."

Coming Home...Seriously, is that it?

Title: Coming Home
Author: Patricia Scanlan
ISBN:
Rating: 6/10
Genre: Fiction, Christmas, Audiobook, Family
Book: Audiobook

I can only apologise for how long it has taken for me to write this review. I finished Coming Home on 12th Septemeber and I just have not had the time to write a successful review so I can only apologise. I have recently started a new job in a Secondary School and I am absolutely loving it! It is so different to the usual Primary School routines that I am used too that I have been so exhausted and tired when I have come home that I just chill. I am sure you can appreciate that.

Lessons from a CF Cornerman...Wow

Title: Lessons from a CF Cornerman: 38 Lessons I Learned During My Wife's Illness and Lung Transplant
Author: Raymond L. Poole
ISBN: 978-0692792100
Rating: 8/10
Genre: Health, Illness, Non-Fiction, True
Book: Kindle

"The fact that we got along so well made me worry that she was the one. Early on, I had to make the call whether or not I should go through with a relationship that if successful, could end in heartbreak too soon...If we let emotion overtake us and respond with our baser instincts, we can easily be left wrestling with guilt and regret. At the end of the day, we sit alone with our thoughts and memories. I want mine to be saturated with little victories, tons of laughs, and enough bright spots to outshine the dark."

The Woman in White...do not trust anyone!

Title: The Woman in White
Author: Wilkie Collins
ISBN: 978-0141192420
Rating: 7/10
Genre: 19th Century, Mystery, Sensation Novel
Book: Hardback, Penguin Classic Clothbound

"The instant my eyes rested on her, I was struck by the rare beauty of her form, and by the unaffected grace of her attitude. Her figure was tall, yet not too tall; comely and well-developed, yet not fat; her head set on her shoulders with an easy, pliant firmness; her waist, perfection in the eyes of a man, for it occupied its natural place, it filled out its natural circle, it was visibly and delightfully undeformed by stays. She had not heard my entrance into the room; and I allowed myself the luxury of admiring her for a few moments, before I moved one of the chairs near me, as the least embarrassing means of attracting her attention. She turned towards me immediately as she began to advance from the far end of the room, set me in a flutter of expectation to see her face clearly. She left the window - and I said to myself, The lady is young. She approached nearer - and I said to myself (with a sense of surprise which words fail me to express), The lady is ugly!"

Meltdown...How they wouldn't meltdown I do not know

Title: Meltdown
Author: Ben Elton
ISBN: 978-1-4450-0309-2
Rating: 7/10
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Humour, Politics, Recession
Book: Audiobook

This is the first Ben Elton book which I have read. I had always heard good things about his books and I have watched a number of television programmes which have come from Ben Elton, Mr Bean, Blackadder and a number of Comic Relief events. So when I saw an audiobook by Ben Elton I thought I would give it a try.

Close Your Eyes...I don't want too!!

Title: Close Your Eyes
Author: Michael Robotham
ISBN: 978-14450-53042
Rating: 8/10
Genre: Crime, Thriller, Murder
Book: Audiobook

This is the first book in the Professor Joe O'Loughlin series which I have read. I was not aware that there is a series of books and I found myself starting with number 8! Once I found this out I was unsure whether it was going to be difficult to get involved in the story. Not at all! Michael Robotham introduces each character with enough information and interest to ensure I did not feel left out and unfamiliar with the characters.

Breakfast in Bed...Really Amber? Come on!

Title: Breakfast in Bed
Author: Eleanor Moran
ISBN: 9780751545494
Rating: 6/10
Genre: Romance, Chick lit, Fiction, Comedy
Book: Audiobook

Guys I am back on the audiobook band wagon! I am so glad I have decided to come back to audiobooks to listen too. I decided to take a small break from them after I read Love Hunt by Fiona Walker (just don't), I thought I was perhaps choosing the wrong books. I now don't think I was choosing the wrong books, I just think Love Hunt wasn't very good!

I can easily say my favourite quote from this book is very near the end of the story, "Milly is a great girl you know Amber!" Oscar defended her, hurt. "I know, Oscar. She is my best friend!" I love that someone has tried to convince Amber that her best friend is a really nice person. Erm...yeah, she is my best friend! Just the justification that Oscar thinks he can even attempt to explain what type of person Milly is.

Book Exchange...Such a good experience

A friend of mine shared a post, months ago about a book exchange programme. I immediately thought what an absolutely brilliant idea. You choose your favourite book and contact the original poster, they then send you an address of a previous person and you send that book to that person, you then post the original status yourself and send your address to people, they then send you books. The more people who get in touch the more books you will receive.

Is there ever such a thing as too many books to own?

This is something which has been asked a number of times. I have seen posts all over the internet asking if there is a possibility of a person owning too many books? My honest opinion? No, there is no such a thing as too many books. How could they possibly be such a thing as too many? How are people actually able to state what counts as too many? If you live in a one room studio and you have to support your bed up by books then that is how many you can fit in your studio. If you own a 6 bedroom stately home with its own library then you're going to be able to fit in a fair few bookshelves to accommodate your collection.

Love Hunt...Erm...Too much going on

Title: Love Hunt
Author: Fiona Walker
ISBN: 9780753143872
Rating: 4/10
Genre: Romance, Comedy, Woman's Fiction, Chick Lit
Book: Audiobook

I found this audiobook really difficult to follow. I only realised once I had withdrawn it from the library that it is 20 hour and 55 minutes long. This took me nearly two months to complete in the car. Each chapter is about 40 minutes long and there are that many different characters to follow I found it really hard to follow who was who and why they were doing the things they were.

"I'd love to read but I just don't have the time!"

Really? Really? I mean come on! How can you not have time? Do you really, honestly, find yourself busy 24/7? You honestly don't have any time to yourself where you could find 10 or 20 minutes to just chill out with a book and do nothing but think about your fiction world? I mean I am a primary school teacher, if anyone can understand about the time their day job takes up it is me! I work during the day, I work from 8 till 6 quite often and come home and continue to work some nights and continue nearly all day Sunday. I still read. I read and have a blog.

Do audiobooks count as reading?

This is a question I have been asked many times. Do audiobooks count as reading? My simple answer is yes. How can they not? You spend as much time selecting and choosing an audiobook as you do a physical book.

I personally have read a small selection of audiobooks. I have always wanted to listen to them but have found that they can be extortionately expensive! No one wants to pay £15+ for a CD/MP3. So how did I overcome this? I realised my local library loans out audiobooks! What a brilliant idea! 

The Hunger Games...Left me wanting to read more

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
ISBN: 978-1-407109-08-4
Rating: 9/10
Genre: Thriller, Young Adult, Romance, Science Fiction, Drama
Book: Paperback

"...I know that Rue must have set the first campfire. We'd make sure to gather enough green wood to make the smoke noticeable. The Careers begin to arm themselves at once.
An argument breaks out. It's loud enough for me to hear that it concerns whether or not the boy from District 3 should stay or accompany them.
'He's coming. We need him in the woods, and his job's done here anyway. No one can touch these supplies.' says Cato.
'What about Lover Boy?' says the boy from District 1.
'I keep telling you, forget about him. I know where I cut him. It's a miracle he hasn't bled to death yet. At any rate, he's in no shape to raid us,' says Cato."

Gorgeous books! I need them all!

I have previously mentioned that I was fortunate enough to receive some Clothbound Penguin Classic books for Christmas. They are absolutely gorgeous! I had spoken to my boyfriend a number of times about wanting some and he knows how much of a book geek I truly am! He knows that when he decides to play Fifa 17 comes on or Battlefield 1 (so glad I bought that present) then that means a book comes out and I tune out for a while!

So I was delighted to receive these beautiful books from him!

Two full years for Three Minutes and Forty Five Seconsd...Thank you so much

On the 4th January 2015, I finally went live with Three Minutes and Forty Five Seconds. At the time I was still at University in Newcastle studying to be a primary school teacher. I found the majority of my time completing my teacher training spent locked up in my room, planning lessons, researching theories of child development and binge watching a lot on Game of Thrones, the first time round.

Crazy in Love...What an absolute idiot, Birdie

Title: Crazy in Love
Author: Chrissie Manby
ISBN: 9780340937044
Rating: 7/10
Genre: Romance, Thriller, Fiction, Woman
Book Format: Audiobook

I have really taken to listening to audiobooks in the car. I find they pass the time really well. What would normally be a boring and dull journey can now be interesting and quick. I love that I can put the CD in and just drift off into the world of a book, still concentrating on the driving of course!