What Rachael Reads

Happy 1st December! The festive season is already well and truly underway at our house. Tree and lights are up, advent calendars are opened, and the naughty little elf has already made its appearance! I'm usually one to stick to tradition and start decorating around 12 days before the big event, but (and as I've heard so many say already) it's 2020! Why not? I think we all need a little Christmas joy right now. As you may know, I've been rereading the David Raker series by the incredible Tim Weaver. I'm currently up to book number 4: Never Coming Back. As always, I am thoroughly enjoying it and can't wait to get to the remaining 6 books in the series. I'm hoping to squeeze all of them in before the Christmas madness really gets going! I have a few others on my 'TBR' pile that I'm really looking forward to reading, so let's hope I stay organised and on track to get around to them before 2020 is out! What are you reading? Share with us in the ...

I can't believe it's been over two years since my last post. I feel like I'm sitting at a Confessional right now! Lol. Do people even say "lol" on blogs now? Who knows? Anyway, what a crazy two years it has been. Life has taken some pretty unexpected turns since my last post, and some pretty unexpected turns for most of the developed world in 2020 with the arrival of COVID-19. Yes, I said the c-word. Let's face it, it's pretty inevitable right now that any form of life update or even regular conversation will include at least one reference to coronavirus. April 2018 was the last time I posted. I left you on the cusp of a new business venture, which, although short-lived, I very much enjoyed. I had endured a health scare at the beginning of that year and had begun to make some changes to my lifestyle, mainly diet-related, and had already started to lose some of the weight that I had gained over the previous 18 months or so. Thankfully this weight loss and l...

Happy World Book Day fellow book lovers! This is one of my favourite days of the year. We have a beautiful sunny day here in South Wales for a change and it was wonderful taking my children to school this morning and seeing the different costumes in all shapes, sizes and colours! My favourite from 2016 had to be our Deputy Headteacher who transformed into Miss Trunchbull and looked amazing! Matilda was one of my all-time favourite Roald Dahl books. My eldest two have gone to Hogwarts; Hermione and Quidditch Harry strolled in this morning alongside Gangsta Granny, Where's Wally, Merida from Brave and, of course, no book day would be complete without a Gruffalo or two! Harry and Hermione My youngest refused to dress up, but was more than happy to take The Gingerbread Man along to nursery and proudly proclaim it as her favourite! I am spending World Book Day with tea and the fantastic Elizabeth Haynes and her fourth novel Under A Silent Moon. Elizabeth has recently become ...

Whilst browsing online book stores yesterday I came across a book called Speed Reading; How to increase your reading speed and comprehension by Bryan Botwin. I like to think of myself as a relatively fast and competent reader, but thought I would read it anyway. Any of us bookworms will admit that being able to read faster can only be a good thing as it enables us to read more and more books in less time. Speed Reading: How To Increase Your Reading Speed And Comprehension by Bryan Botwin My rating: 3 of 5 stars A few helpful tips to increase your reading speed. Short and sweet. View all my reviews I have encountered the notion of speed reading before and vaguely remember doing an online test to discover my reading speed. Taking an online test is recommended by the author to establish your current speed and to be able to monitor any progress made in future. I took this speed reading test today and I was genuinely shocked by my results. The site says that the average speed...

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan My rating: 5 of 5 stars What can I say about this book, other than beautiful? It just confirmed everything I love about literature. The author really drew me in and allowed me to be a part of the story. I read it as if it were my own adventure, and what an adventure it was! Heart-warming and awe-inspiring, I want to read it all over again. View all my reviews

So, my first read of 2017 was Christobel Kent's The Loving Husband. This book had been recommended to me by a friend and had been on my to-read list for quite a while. A Sunday Times Bestseller and popular among various book clubs and social media, I finally decided to read it. Blurb (courtesy of Amazon): Fran Hall and her husband Nathan have moved with their two children to a farmhouse on the edge of the Fens - a chance to get away from London and have a fresh start. But when Fran wakes one night to find Nathan gone, she makes a devastating discovery. As questions about her husband and her relationships start to mount, Fran's life begins to spiral out of control. What is she hiding from the police about her marriage, and does she really know the man she shared her bed with? I am a huge fan of this 'domestic thriller' genre and with blockbusters such as The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl making such a huge impact over the last 12 months or so, it seems I ...

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, bu...