Happy Sunday!

Sunday mornings are my favourite time of the week, especially during late Autumn when it's all dressing gowns and fluffy socks! In fact, I have cosied up that much the last week or so that I forgot to blog. Oops!

I have read a fair few books in that period. All of which I have enjoyed immensely and will include a short review and links below. 

It seems my 'to be read' pile (TBR for short) is getting longer by the day! I have discovered a fair few new authors in 2016 including Alex Lake and K.L. Slater and I cannot wait to read their next installments!

Speaking of K.L. Slater, I read the brilliant Safe With Me last week. A gripping psychological thriller.

Thirteen years ago someone did something very bad to Anna. Now it’s her turn to get even …

Anna lives a solitary existence, taking solace in order and routine. Her only friend is the lonely old lady next door. She doesn’t like to let people to get too close – she knows how much damage they can do.

Then one ordinary day Anna witnesses a devastating road accident and recognises the driver as Carla, the woman who ruined her life all those years ago. Now it’s Anna’s chance to set things straight but her revenge needs to be executed carefully …

First she needs to get to know Liam, the man injured in the accident. She needs to follow the police investigation. She needs to watch Carla from the shadows…

But as Anna’s obsession with Carla escalates, her own secrets start to unravel. Is Carla really dangerous or does Anna need to worry about someone far closer to home?

I devoured this in one day and sort of worked out what was happening before it happened, but don't let this dissuade you from reading it; I seem to have that uncanny ability sometimes and often think that I should be writing, not reading! But I digress, this was a brilliant thriller and the Kindle edition is currently only 99p on Amazon!

Next on my list was Claire Seeber's The Stepmother. Another great psychological thriller with plenty of twists. An enthralling read and perfect for those who like books such as Behind Closed Doors (which I highly recommend if you haven't read it!) and Between Me and You (also another fantastic plot twister!).

The perfect wife. A fairytale family. Don’t believe your eyes…

Jeanie and Matthew are a happily married couple who both have teenage children from previous relationships.

No one said it would be easy to raise a blended family under one roof but Jeanie and Matthew are strong. They will make it work.

And whilst Jeanie’s step-daughter Scarlett rejects her, Jeanie will just have to try harder to win her over.

But Jeanie has a past. A terrible secret she thought she’d buried a long time ago. And now, it’s coming to the surface, threatening to destroy her new marriage.

Someone is playing a terrifying game on Jeanie and she must put a stop to it once and for all. After all, a fairytale needs a happy ending…doesn’t it?

I have read a further 5 books this week (yes 5!) including the amazing My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout. I devoured it in a matter of hours and savoured every turn of the page! It's not often I read physical books anymore, so when I do I can't get enough of the smell!



Next up was The Child's Secret by Amanda Brooke. This was the first I had read from this author and I thoroughly enjoyed it. An eight-year-old girl goes missing which, as a parent myself, makes the novel seem that much more fast-paced, perhaps knowing what is at stake if they fail to find her. Great storyline.



Following this was one of the classics. I decided to Google what were the top selling books of all time. I recognised many and had read a few, but there were others that I did not recognise and others that I suddenly had an urge to read. Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird was one and I decided to dive right in. I found it a little slow to start, set in 1930s southern America it was far from the modern British thrillers I have indulged in lately. I persevered and I am extremely glad that I did. A bittersweet coming-of-age tale that made me truly appreciate how different today's society is. Rape and racism rife throughout, as well as class differences show a stark contrast to modern life. It is one that I would recommend to anyone, and will be passing on to my children to help them understand that no matter what your background, we are all human beings. I was pleased to learn that the book is widely used in schools throughout America, a humble tale for young minds to absorb before heading out into the big wide world as adults.



Finally, over the last two days I have read two offerings from another new author, Alex Lake. First up was After Anna, another British psychological thriller centred around the disappearance of a five year old girl. Even though I (again) guessed what the outcome would be, it did not spoil my enjoyment of reading it. In fact, I enjoyed it so much I immediately dived in to Lake's next offering, Killing Kate. Very similar structure, which I enjoyed as it felt familiar and felt like I really knew the author and the style. Another gripping storyline with plenty of twists and turns. Highly recommend Alex Lake and looking forward to the next novel.



So a busy two weeks, but thoroughly enjoyed every one of them. Now to decide what to read next...

Book book or e-book?

The universe seems to be pretty undecided on this one! It's a debate that has raged on since the first e-readers were made available in the early 2000's and especially since the launch of Amazon's first Kindle, released in 2007.

I grew up surrounded by books. My whole family are readers and when I was younger I couldn't wait for my next trip with my Mum to Waterstones to spend my pocket money on the next Goosebumps book! Even now, as an adult, there is a certain aura when you walk into a book shop. A sense of adventure and wonderment and, of course, the smell! For me nothing beats the smell of a new (or old) book.

I will readily admit that I miss that smell, and the trips into the City to browse and choose my next adventure. Of course, the convenience of just clicking a button to add to your collection and having it delivered instantly is brilliant, but it's just not the same.

I have owned various tablets over the past few years and occasionally used them for reading but I finally dove in to the world of e-readers in 2014 when I was bought the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite for my birthday. I loved it instantly and rarely put it down! It travels everywhere with me and contains around 300 books at the moment which, in physical terms, would fill my car boot and leave very little room for us!

I'm also quite spontaneous when it comes to what I read, so it's great to be chatting with a friend and be able to download the book they have recommended almost immediately. Also great if you suddenly decide you want to read Moby Dick during your extended stay in hospital and don't have to wait for someone to buy it for you! The ability to see which book comes next in a series is a great tool, as is being able to look up words with just a tap on the screen.

This debate will probably never be settled. E-books have been leading the sales over the last few years but it emerged recently that physical books are making a comeback and for the first time in four years sales grew in 2015. It has also been reported that the number of independent small book shops has risen, which is fantastic news!

Whatever platform you prefer, the story remains the same. I am an e-reader convert for the reasons shared by most; portability and convenience. I am truly a woman of the 21st century and embrace all things speedy like Netflix, Uber and Amazon Prime. It doesn't stop me dreaming of one day living in a Castle with a library of physical books to rival that of Beauty and the Beast!

I'm still alive!

Wow, can't believe how long it has been since my last post! What a year it has been too. 2015 finished amazingly as always with a beautiful family Christmas and New Year. 2016 has been incredibly bittersweet so far with some amazing things and some not so good. My lovely Dad was diagnosed with bowel cancer, but thankfully he made a full recovery quite swiftly. I don't know what I would do without him.

The little ones are not so little anymore. The smallest started nursery and we had a visit to the 'big school' for the eldest. Cannot believe this time next year she will be in Year 7! We had a new addition to the family of the canine variety. A beautiful Cavalier King Charles Spaniel called Cooper! He keeps me busy and we are enjoying going out for walks and snuggling up on the sofa together.

I have had a difficult year personally, and was recently diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. It's a daily struggle with the energy required to raise 3 children and keep house, but I am so blessed to be able to do it and not worry about an employer. I have also really began to understand myself a lot better this year including doing lots of research on the Myers-Briggs Personality Types. I'm the rarest type which, coupled with the Fibromyalgia, means I can be pretty difficult to live with! I have a super supportive partner and I couldn't ask for more.

I have also read some incredible books this last year, some of which I will be posting reviews on. I set a huge goal of 100 books to read in 2016, which I think may have been a little overzealous considering I struggle to keep my eyes open now past 9pm!

I am hoping to start to blog very regularly, and widen the topics to include more about Fibromyalgia and the day to day life of a Fibro Mum.

Rachael x

The Husband's Secret

I would like to say that I am disappointed with this offering from Liane Moriarty, but I can't. Towards the end of the book I felt let down, wanting more from the story, feeling that it should be... better somehow. Big Little Lies was explosive with plenty of twists and turns and I had, maybe wrongly, expected the same here. It was predictable and I guessed what was about to happen for almost the entire story. Until the epilogue.

The epilogue was a game changer and a welcome surprise. It changed the story entirely and made the book worthy of the brilliant reviews I had read beforehand. It cemented Liane Moriarty as one of my new favourite authors despite only having read two of her books so far. I find her style very easy to read and I am looking forward to reading the rest of her collection.

This afternoon I start What Alice Forgot and I have already loaded the rest of Moriarty's collection onto my Kindle.

Until next time!

Rachael x

Goodreads Review

My recent obsession: Goodreads

Earlier this year I discovered something called Goodreads and I have recently started to use it A LOT so I thought I would dedicate a blog post to it, so that I could give it a full review and the credit it deserves.

For those of you who don't know what it is, it is basically THE social media site for books and book lovers. According to their own 'About Us' page it is the "largest site for readers and book recommendations in the World" with over 40 million members and more than 1 billion books. From 2013 on it became a part of the Amazon family and has since gone from strength to strength. It is a great place to connect with like-minded readers all over the world, to discover what's 'hot' right now, to find your next read and much more.

Whenever I purchase a book online, which is usually through Amazon anyway because I have a Kindle, I like to browse through some reviews and maybe look at it's star rating. This just gives me reassurance that I should enjoy it and that it would be worth the price. Goodreads is a step up from that. It gives me access not only to reviews but to groups and like-minded people who I can engage with to talk about a potential read or a previously read book. You feel like you are part of the largest book club in the world whilst still retaining a sense of small town community spirit. There are literally thousands of groups to join so you are almost guaranteed to find something to your taste.

The social media integration is more than adequate. It is very simple to link your Facebook and Twitter accounts, plus invite contacts from your email address book and with just a few clicks in the settings you can automatically share your books and your current reading status with your friends and followers. Some users in the US and Canada I believe also have the rather useful functionality of linking Goodreads to their Kindle which makes the integration between the two even more seamless. No more manually adding books to your library or manually updating your reading progress on the website or app, it is automatic. My only gripe here is that, to date, this function is currently unavailable in Europe which is disappointing, although the Goodreads team have tweeted me to reassure me that it is a work in progress. As you can see to the right of this post there are also various widgets available to share on your own websites including the one that I am currently working very hard on, the 2015 Reading Challenge!

There are plenty of activities to partake in on the site itself including quizzes, polls and group discussions. Of course there is the ability to rate and review books and recommendations for you based on your current 'bookshelves' which are created by you and categorised into shelves such as 'read', 'to-read' and 'currently reading'.

For the organisers like myself who like to keep things in order, Goodreads is a must for your virtual library sorting needs. I have come across various helpful articles online such as this one which helps you to keep your Goodreads super organised.

If you are a book lover, just head over to the link above and create your account. It's completely free to use and a great tool to have at your disposal. Obviously since this is 2015 you can also download the free Goodreads app from iTunes or GooglePlay although in my opinion the apps are fairly limited in their functionality and the full desktop site is the better choice for now.

Don't forget to add me as a friend! You can find my link under the 'Follow Me' heading at the top right of this page.

Enjoy!

Rachael x

Big Little Lies

Well, it's been a crazy few days since my last post. It's the Summer Holidays here in the UK and so my three little darlings are at home taking up what precious little time I have for blogging and other such activities! Although we have had heaps of fun so far in between the outbreaks of rain! (Another perk of living in Wales!)

Today I finished Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. I loved it! To begin with I was a little apprehensive about my choice as it is not the usual genre that I enjoy reading. I am very much a True Crime / Thriller girl at heart. I chose this particular book because I am currently participating in a Reading Challenge that I stumbled across on Goodreads. The challenge is comprised of 52 books, one per week, with a different topic for each book. This week's topic was a book with antonyms in the title and Big Little Liars was one of the more popular choices with the other challengers in the group. 

The first few chapters were a little slow, introducing the characters and setting the scene, but it was sufficiently interesting to keep me reading and I am so glad I did. After those initial doubts I could barely put it down. It is very well written and has a format that I have not encountered before. There is a sort of dialogue / narrative running alongside throughout the whole story which at first was a little off-putting and distracting but it grew on me as the book progressed. Once the purpose of it was clear it suddenly occurred to me how brilliant it was.

The rest of the story did not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed drawing on the similarities between my own life as a school run Mum and those of the characters in the book. At times it almost felt that I was reading about our own group of friends and it definitely raised a laugh or two, (and some heartaches). I had read some reviews before starting it and a few mentioned about it being the funniest book they had ever read about the subject of domestic violence. My initial thoughts were 'how could a book about domestic violence possibly be funny?' but it just works. Most of the main characters have a great depth to them and by the end, as is true for all great books, you feel that you really know them inside out.

I admit that it seems like a strange mix of genres to include elements of comedy, mystery, romance, parenting and violence in one book but I think that's what makes it seem all the more like real life. As a parent especially, many of the above are experienced on a daily basis without the need for a novel! 

I absolutely recommend Big Little Lies and I am looking forward to reading more from Liane Moriarty. In fact I have already started The Husband's Secret for this week's book. The theme this week is to read a book from a place you have always wanted to visit. It is set in Australia and I am definitely planning to visit there before I'm much older!

Until next time!

Rachael x