Death By Curiosity...Armitage is at it again

Title: Death By Curiosity (formally Spellbound)
Author: Lisa Matthews (formally Laurie Elisabeth Ashcroft)
ASIN: B083C2HBLC
Rating: 7/10
Genre: Fiction, Crime, Murder, Mystery
Type: Kindle

"'Angie, just leave it' Hadaway told her flatly, taking a couple of steps after her as she scurried into the kitchen without waiting for either of us to say anything. 'I don't need any meat, I'm alright.'
'You are not alright,' I blurted out, staring at him incredulously. 'You're not.' I insisted when he turned and shot me a half-irritated, half-exasperated look. 'Have you seen the state of you?'
'It looks worse than it feels.'
'How can you say that if you haven't seen it...Look at it...Are you really telling us that doesn't hurt?'
His good eye slid towards me. 'Leave it. I'm fine.'
I shook my head at him in disbelief, crossing my arms at him and coming dangerously close to stamping my foot in frustration. Did he think I was blind? Did he think I hadn't seen the tiny wince he'd made when he saw the state of his face? Or did he think I was too deaf to pick p on the tiny halting note to his voice, the type that people only get when they're in a hell of a lot of pain?
Please
I've had cramps.
I've had toothache.
Sometimes I've been lucky enough to have them both together.
So, yeah.
I think I can tell when someone's in pain.
'Jesus, Hadaway. We get it, you've got big balls. Can you just take a break from the whole macho thing and admit that having your face smashed in bloody hurts?'"

The Hunger Games Mockingjay...Finally finished the series

Title: Hunger Games Mockingjay

Author: Suzanne Collins
ISBN: 978-1-407132-10-5

Rating: 6/10
Series Rating: 8/10 (first time seen on this blog)
Genre: Thriller, Young Adult, Romance, Science Fiction, Drama
Type: Paperback

“I stare down at my shoes, watching as a fine layer of ash settles on the worn leather. This is where the bed I shared with my sister, Prim, stood. Over there was the kitchen table. The bricks of the chimney, which collapsed in a charred heap, provide a point of reference for the rest of the house. How else could I orient myself in this sea of grey?”

When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit...Still fascinates me

Title: When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit
Author: Judith Kerr
ISBN:
Rating: 8/10
Genre: History, War, WWII, Autobiographical
Type: Kindle

"They spelled out the name under the photograph.
Adolf Hitler.
'He wants everybody to vote for him in the elections and then he's going to stop the Jews,' said Elsbeth. 'Do you think he's going to stop Rachel Lowenstein?'
'Nobody can stop Rachel Lowenstein,' said Anna. 'She's form captain. Perhaps he'll stop me. I'm Jewish too.'
'You're not!'
'I am! My father was talking to us about it only last week. He said we were Jews and no matter what happened my brother and I must never forget it.'
'But you don't go to a special church on Saturdays like Rachel Lowenstein.'
'That's because we're not religious. We don't go to church at all.'
'I wish my father wasn't religious,' said Elsbeth. 'We have to go every Sunday and I get cramp in my seat.' She looked at Anna curiously. 'I thought Jews were supposed to have bent noses, but your nose is quite ordinary. Has your brother got a bent nose?'
'No,' said Anna. 'The only person in our house with a bent nose is Bertha the maid, and hers only got like that because she broke it falling off a tram.'

I See You...I wonder what is next

Title: I See You
Author: Clare Mackintosh
ISBN: 978-0-7515-5412
Rating: 7/10
Genre: Thriller, Fiction, Adult, Crime
Type: Kindle

"There had been no violence, which meant the theft of Cathy's keys was a theft, not a robbery, but Kelly decided to gloss over the fact, in case the severity of the crime was directly proportionate to Tamir's level of cooperation. Besides, if Cathy was right and the offender had followed her home, and had since been using her key to gain access to her house, there was something far more serious going on. A shudder ran through Kelly at the thought of someone creeping around Cathy's house. What had he been doing? Touching her make-up? Taking her underwear? Cathy had said she thought someone had been in her house when she was at work, but what if that wasn't the only time? Kelly imagined an intruder moving quietly around Cathy's kitchen in the dead of night; creeping upstairs to stand by her bed and watch her sleep."

Gazelle in the shadows...What a fantastic book

Title: Gazelle in the Shadows
Author: Michelle Peach
ISBN: 978-0-692-11276-2
Rating: 8/10
Genre: Crime, Travel, Thriller
Type: Paperback

"Oh, I'm a student. I'm studying at Durham University. This year is the year all the students get sent to the Middle East to learn the language more fluently.'
'Are there more of you?' he smiled.
'No just me.' I giggled.
'So, you are travelling alone?' He raised his thick eyebrows."

Blood Moon...The first in the series

Title: Blood Moon Part 1
Author: S Yurvati
ISBN:
Rating: 7/10
Genre: Thriller, mystery, sex, murder, fantasy  adult
Type: Paperback

"Many hours of his day are spent working in the lower regions of this grand home built by his love for me, He seems much pleased with his progress, though he never shares what that progress is and tells me it will be a most delightful surprise set forth for my pleasure. I hear sounds of sawing and hammering and cannot imagine what he is crafting for me.

Still, it is good to see him smile and at least be pleased with his daytime endeavours.

The heat is most uncomfortable today and I asked if he would take leisure for us to stroll along the waterfront and enjoy the southerly breeze. He faltered as though I had asked him to walk through Hell's fire. Vehemently he said to never ask such a thing again, as a riverfront is not a safe place for a female of worth."

Three Years and 2018's Bucket List

Happy New Year Everyone!

How did you spend your new year? What did you decide to do? We spent the evening with family playing games, eating lots of food and laughing. However, the start of 2018 has brought some change in our house. We have both decided a number of things. We have decided that we ate far too much over Christmas and needed to be healthier in the new year, we wanted to be more active and go for long walks in our local countryside and we want to go on more city breaks this year. So in order to see what we have achieved over the year and what we could do to achieve these things, I created a bucket list for the year. 

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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."

Alluvia...what a great new author

Title: Alluvia
Author: J H Lewis
ISBN: 9781530691418
Rating: 8/10
Genre: Sci-Fi, Romance, Thriller, Adult

"I head downstairs to pour a huge glass of wine. The kitchen is dark, illuminated only when I open the fridge. I listen to the soft ticking from the huge wall clock. It's a nice house, 'for a student'. I published a few short stories, wrote for a few national magazines to fund my way through university. Again. (Technically I am a fully educated and certified journalist, twice already and I may as well make use of my knowledge!) So I bought this townhouse, guilt free. I've done my time! Brand new cute estate, yes here I am disguised within roads littered with similar houses, seemingly normal. Then it occurs to me I have always seen my 'situation' as an advantage. Even at four years old when my memories developed, the awareness of different lives started to unfold. I discovered I was different. By eleven I knew I was. Three lives. All lived simultaneously and independently...I was alone in my experience. Until now. Now there was Mark, and for the first time my lives and their unpredictability are a burden."

Seven Stories...Still my favourite place

Last Friday I used my final official day of the summer holidays to go and visit Seven Stories in Newcastle. This is somewhere I have visited on a number of occasions and absolutely love it!

Seven Stories is located in the Ouseburn Valley area Newcastle. There is a petting farm next door, a riding school over the road and a selection of independent art galleries in the surrounding area. Seven Stories is the National Centre for Children's Books in the United Kingdom. I feel very lucky to have such an amazing and inspiring place on my doorstep. A number of people had never heard of Seven Stories and didn't know what it was. It is a sanctuary of seven floors dedicated to the great and wonderful authors which have produced some spectacular work.

Finally...a new book shop has arrived!

Evening all.

I have the utmost happiness to announce that after over 10 years, Yarm, my lovely little picturesque town which I live in, has its very own bookshop! The Waterstones bookshop opened on Saturday. It is located at the North end of Yarm High Street where the HSBC bank used to be. It is lovely!

Harry Potter has come home! But where's Hagrid?

Title: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two
Author: J, K, Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne
ISBN: 978-0-7515-6535-5
Rating: 8/10
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Drama, Adventure

**WARNING - SPOILERS**

"Ginny:
              He's getting there, it just might take him a bit of time - and you a bit of time too.
      Harry smiles. She looks back at Albus. He does too.
              You know, after I'd opened the Chamber of Secrets - after Voldemort had bewitched me with that terrible diary and I'd almost destroyed everything -

Hello the summer holidays!

Hello!!

I can only apologise once again for the length of time it has taken me to post another blog. I have had so much going on! I finished work just over 2 weeks ago. What an amazing experience that was working with a group of children for 8 months and the great staff. It was a great shame to have to leave in July, but I am sure I will be in regular contact with everyone and I will see everyone soon.

Stephen King, Jill Mansell, Agatha Christie, Harper Lee and half term!

I have very nearly completed my first half term as a full time employed teacher of my very own class of delights. 25 children who I am responsible for and who I enjoy working with every day. I spent my first half term catching up on appointments and meeting up with old friends.

It was great! We talked about past memories, we went out together and created new memories and I even met up with a friend I haven't seen in nearly 2 years as he's been spending his time jet setting around the world! I also bought a range of books! Of course I did! I am still reading Spellbound by Laurie Elisabeth Ashcroft, which I am still really enjoying, but I did buy a range of new and exciting books.

Back to work tomorrow! If only I could read books as a profession

Evening all and Happy New year!!!! I thought I would place a post about what I have been up to over the Christmas break. As a number of you are aware I am a primary school teacher, so, fortunately, I have been off work since 19th December.