Zebinoco Book Reviews.

A place to share reviews for the every day reader, about the books that are hot off the press or aged and comfy and possibly some commentary about the authors I enjoy. If you love the printed word, whether in tree format or on a screen, come take a look,and settle down with tea,lots and lots of tea. There are also hinges of babble where you might just get to have a giggle about my day and see what book signing evening events I have been attending.

Saturday 26 March 2016

The Babble Hinge - 3.

I received a message via Facebook yesterday asking me to review a book and today, had it all confirmed after a couple of private messages back and forth which means, my blog is starting to take off and people are interested.Yay. I do put my reviews onto Goodreads and Amazon but this is MY platform, MY blog and I'm quite enjoying it so far.

After being blown about a windswept city, trying to keep from eating my hair and meeting a friend who incidentally would not have that problem due to him being bald (although he would say, at least my head is kept warm), we went off to a local D.I.Y store to check out all the beautiful kitchens that I can't have due to the fact that I rent my home. SIGH...... haha. I did buy a Z bed or what ever the generic name is for them these days.Just a single one, ready for when my niece comes to stay. Once home, I opened up the Z bed and popped the mattress in place and a big awake nightmare ensued of being folded up rather abruptly in the Z bed!! I had one of these as a child to sleep on regularly and yes, it folded up regularly, with me in it, half asleep much to everyone's delight and humour, but definitely not mine.I did lay on it to check it out and I was settled with the fact that they are much better made these days and fold the other way.Phew! I don't think my sister would be too impressed if I bought my niece back so bent up and resembling Flat Stanley (written by Jeff Brown). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Stanley

After deciding it was fine and thinking I really didn't need to pay for a delivery, I could have fitted this thing in my car at least five times over, I got comfy enough to finish the rest of what was, my current read From a Poison Pen by B.P. Smythe. It didn't take me long as it was so captivating. I virtually drank this book, it was such an easy read, a page turner with just the right size and style/format of text. Don't you find certain style or text format makes you turn the page quicker and read the pages faster? I do. Check out the review I wrote for this book.

I also wrote a review yesterday for The Surrogate (Brennan & Esposito #1) by Tania Carver which I also enjoyed but in a very different way.
I have another review to put together tomorrow and add to my blog too.

I just want to share how shocked and surprised I am that in less than two weeks,my blog view count at this time stands at 1160!! I am so chuffed and very happy by this. Thankyou to all that have had a little look and added to this number over the last 13 days. I hope to understand this blogging biz a bit more and make a better job of it. Be patient, I am completely self taught, trying to work it out as I'm going along. I have a couple more ideas that I will put in place soon enough. Keep coming back and I hope you keep enjoying my reviews.

Back to my next book........hmmmm.........ok, I've decided. It's going to be - The Taxidermists Daughter written by Kate Mosse and published by Orion Books.

Time to retire for a little read in bed. We will do it all again very soon.

Additional info - 29/03/16 I have renamed 'End of Day Thoughts' as I thought it a little plain and just lacked a bit of zing, besides, I am not writing something everyday.I have decided to name it THE BABBLE HINGE as I babble on and it is a hinge, connecting the pages together.Hope you like it too.

From a Poison Pen by B.P. Smythe

Read from March 20th - 26th 2016.

Published February 15th 2016 by Bloodhound Books

Format Paperback - 386 pages

Review	..........'Now lying on her back, Myra knew this wasn't the best position. She twisted herself around, swearing as she banged her head and face in the process until she was resting crouched up on her knees. From there with great effort, as the line stretched and cut deep into her wrists, Myra raised her top half; then painfully rolled head-first over the wardrobe edge and flopped onto the marble tiles' .......excerpt taken from Lovers Leap. Lovers Leap is just one of ten short stories I have had the pleasure of reading in this book by B.P.Smythe. "B.P.Smythe, really? you wrote all these? how versatile are you?" Catchy little reads of varying length. Just enough to suck you in, get you comfortable, enjoy the read and then BANG, the macabre twist hits you head on and ties it all together in a neat little bundle. The author engages the reader right from the start and doesn't let go, enticing them to read more and more of these easy read shorts. Most of these stories have dark undertones to them leading to some weird but psychologically "oh yeah" revelation moments. There is a couple of grammatical errors and the last story, We'll Meet Again, I felt was overly waffled in segments. These very small issues did not hinder the stories at all and in fact, I'd go as far as to say We'll Meet Again was one of my favourite ones. I found myself quite captivated by a lot of the characters in the book. Many showing great depth of which I found connection even in the short time they invaded my head space. The writing IS simple and comfortable which readers who want a book they can just pick up and go with will love. The stories full of intrigue and a small element of suspense in some that will appeal to a diverse type of reader who appreciates anything from murder mysteries, war stories to dark humour. I recommend this book to anyone who I have described above and anyone who likes a little of a Twilight Zone esque feel to their reads. I will certainly be looking out for more works by this author. /http://www.bloodhoundbooks.com/from-a-poison-pen/ 4 out of 5 stars given.

Review

..........'Now lying on her back, Myra knew this wasn't the best position. She twisted herself around, swearing as she banged her head and face in the process until she was resting crouched up on her knees. From there with great effort, as the line stretched and cut deep into her wrists, Myra raised her top half; then painfully rolled head-first over the wardrobe edge and flopped onto the marble tiles' .......excerpt taken from Lovers Leap.

Lovers Leap is just one of ten short stories I have had the pleasure of reading in this book by B.P.Smythe.
"B.P.Smythe, really? you wrote all these? how versatile are you?"

Catchy little reads of varying length. Just enough to suck you in, get you comfortable, enjoy the read and then BANG, the macabre twist hits you head on and ties it all together in a neat little bundle.
The author engages the reader right from the start and doesn't let go, enticing them to read more and more of these easy read shorts.

Most of these stories have dark undertones to them leading to some weird but psychologically "oh yeah" revelation moments.

There is a couple of grammatical errors and the last story, We'll Meet Again, I felt was overly waffled in segments. These very small issues did not hinder the stories at all and in fact, I'd go as far as to say We'll Meet Again was one of my favourite ones.

I found myself quite captivated by a lot of the characters in the book. Many showing great depth of which I found connection even in the short time they invaded my head space.

The writing IS simple and comfortable which readers who want a book they can just pick up and go with will love. The stories full of intrigue and a small element of suspense in some that will appeal to a diverse type of reader who appreciates anything from murder mysteries, war stories to dark humour.
I recommend this book to anyone who I have described above and anyone who likes a little of a Twilight Zone esque feel to their reads. I will certainly be looking out for more works by this author. /http://www.bloodhoundbooks.com/from-a-poison-pen/

4 out of 5 stars given.

Friday 25 March 2016

The Surrogate (Brennan & Esposito #1) by Tania Carver

Read from March 10th - 20th 2016.

Published September 17th 2009 by Little, Brown Book Group

Format Paperback - 438 pages

Review	I need to give this book 3 and a half stars, a well deserved 3 and a half it was too.I enjoyed reading it, although this is an odd thing to say bearing in mind that this book really does have a rather gory subject matter. There is a killer targeting heavily pregnant women and is intent on taking the precious cargo they are carrying by brutal force. The case falls to Detective Inspector Phil Brennan.He and his team are finding it difficult to make sense of the killings and call in Marina Esposito, a criminal profiler to help solve the case. Marina is Phil’s former lover; they met over a previous case that left Maria in a rather desperately dangerous situation, which tested their relationship to the full. Maria believes there is a woman involved in the killings, a woman desperate for a baby. Tania Carver is actually a pseudonym for a husband and wife duo Martyn and Linda Waites. This is their debut novel and what a debut it is, making quite a grand entrance. This book is truly a captivating read which I really enjoyed and found it hard to put down. An absolute page turner. The book doesn't give away too many clues throughout, keeping the reader in suspense all the way. The details aren't the most gruesome I have read, but does make for some unsettling reading and although fast paced in sections, it is equally slow going in many places too. I'd rather it were a little more consistent. I have raved about much better. This lacked a little something, even though it also hit depths others haven't (I think) dared to tread which I liked. None of the detectives made me feel any kind of connection with them. DI Phil Brennan, I felt, a little flat and not that engaging. The plot from start to finish is packed with red herrings and well placed twists and ends with a big shocker that is impossible to anticipate. If you are not squeamish, then I highly recommend. A good debut novel that has attracted a lot of attention and justly so. I will definitely read more in this collection. I have book 2, The Creeper on my shelf, ready and waiting.

Review

I need to give this book 3 and a half stars, a well deserved 3 and a half it was too.I enjoyed reading it, although this is an odd thing to say bearing in mind that this book really does have a rather gory subject matter.

There is a killer targeting heavily pregnant women and is intent on taking the precious cargo they are carrying by brutal force.
The case falls to Detective Inspector Phil Brennan.He and his team are finding it difficult to make sense of the killings and call in Marina Esposito, a criminal profiler to help solve the case. Marina is Phil’s former lover; they met over a previous case that left Maria in a rather desperately dangerous situation, which tested their relationship to the full. Maria believes there is a woman involved in the killings, a woman desperate for a baby.

Tania Carver is actually a pseudonym for a husband and wife duo Martyn and Linda Waites. This is their debut novel and what a debut it is, making quite a grand entrance.

This book is truly a captivating read which I really enjoyed and found it hard to put down. An absolute page turner. The book doesn't give away too many clues throughout, keeping the reader in suspense all the way.
The details aren't the most gruesome I have read, but does make for some unsettling reading and although fast paced in sections, it is equally slow going in many places too. I'd rather it were a little more consistent. I have raved about much better. This lacked a little something, even though it also hit depths others haven't (I think) dared to tread which I liked.
None of the detectives made me feel any kind of connection with them. DI Phil Brennan, I felt, a little flat and not that engaging.

The plot from start to finish is packed with red herrings and well placed twists and ends with a big shocker that is impossible to anticipate.

If you are not squeamish, then I highly recommend.

A good debut novel that has attracted a lot of attention and justly so. I will definitely read more in this collection. I have book 2, The Creeper on my shelf, ready and waiting.

Monday 21 March 2016

Incubus (Fairwick Chronicles #1) by Carol Goodman

Read from May 3rd - 12th 2015.

Published July 21st 2011 by Ebury Press

Format Paperback - 466 pages

Review	I came upon this book when I was looking into buying one of Deborah Harkness, All Souls Trilogy on Amazon.Up it came in the other readers enjoyed this/if you like that you will like this section.I thought, give it a go and purchased all three of the Fairwick chronicles over time.I don't do lovey dovey Mills and Boons/Twilight style teen romance books.I just don't want to read about teens or adults kissing and smooching-boring! However, I love magic, fantasy, witches, folklore and other worldly stories and this advertised just that and as with Deborah Harkness All Souls Trilogy that I was buying when I came across Carol Goodman's Incubus, I don't mind some intimacy as long as it is kept relevant and doesn't overtake the whole story.This book leant more to the urban fantasy market.The intimacy parts,integral to the plot wasn't the keystone of the whole book which infact had many key points. Carol Goodman has written under the pseudonym Juliet Dark before but writes this under her real name.I do not know what her other books under Juliet Dark are like so can only assume they must be very different to use an alternative name as some authors do when they change style.I feel Carol succeeds beautifully with this book.She creates vivid imagery throughout this story and includes lots of attention to detail which introduces you to many endearing characters and mythical creatures. I found, this book although very much an adult read, was written in a very YA style, being an easy, light read. Callie McFey (Dr),arrives at Fairwick for an interview at the local college to teach folklore. Callie is also a writer. After some thinking time she decides to take on the post at detriment to her dream of teaching in New York and making a life with her boyfriend Paul.She comes across an old Victorian house that backs onto inviting woods whilst in Fairwick. The house is for sale and is called Honeysuckle House.Callie purchases Honeysuckle House that seems to suck her into it's charms before she even seals the deal.Soon she is visited by a presence that seems to be made of shadow and moonlight. This shadow has powers, powers that do not feel healthy but she can not reject it and it feels so right.How can something so wrong feel so right. Callie soon comes to realise that there is a lot more going on in Fairwick than meets the eye. If I am to pick any negative points, it would be that some pages (very few) seemed to waffle in places it need not.I found myself scanning over these sections and maybe in one or two places, the intimacy was just too much and began to bore, to be in the book. I very much enjoyed reading this book with its gothic, myth and folklore imagery. I was very surprised that I enjoyed it so much with all the intimacy in it's pages. I am looking forward to the next story in the chronicles, that is called Water Witch. 5 out of 5 stars given to this one.

Review

I came upon this book when I was looking into buying one of Deborah Harkness, All Souls Trilogy on Amazon.Up it came in the other readers enjoyed this/if you like that you will like this section.I thought, give it a go and purchased all three of the Fairwick chronicles over time.I don't do lovey dovey Mills and Boons/Twilight style teen romance books.I just don't want to read about teens or adults kissing and smooching-boring! However, I love magic, fantasy, witches, folklore and other worldly stories and this advertised just that and as with Deborah Harkness All Souls Trilogy that I was buying when I came across Carol Goodman's Incubus, I don't mind some intimacy as long as it is kept relevant and doesn't overtake the whole story.This book leant more to the urban fantasy market.The intimacy parts,integral to the plot wasn't the keystone of the whole book which infact had many key points.

Carol Goodman has written under the pseudonym Juliet Dark before but writes this under her real name.I do not know what her other books under Juliet Dark are like so can only assume they must be very different to use an alternative name as some authors do when they change style.I feel Carol succeeds beautifully with this book.She creates vivid imagery throughout this story and includes lots of attention to detail which introduces you to many endearing characters and mythical creatures.

I found, this book although very much an adult read, was written in a very YA style, being an easy, light read.

Callie McFey (Dr),arrives at Fairwick for an interview at the local college to teach folklore. Callie is also a writer. After some thinking time she decides to take on the post at detriment to her dream of teaching in New York and making a life with her boyfriend Paul.She comes across an old Victorian house that backs onto inviting woods whilst in Fairwick. The house is for sale and is called Honeysuckle House.Callie purchases Honeysuckle House that seems to suck her into it's charms before she even seals the deal.Soon she is visited by a presence that seems to be made of shadow and moonlight. This shadow has powers, powers that do not feel healthy but she can not reject it and it feels so right.How can something so wrong feel so right.
Callie soon comes to realise that there is a lot more going on in Fairwick than meets the eye.

If I am to pick any negative points, it would be that some pages (very few) seemed to waffle in places it need not.I found myself scanning over these sections and maybe in one or two places, the intimacy was just too much and began to bore, to be in the book.

I very much enjoyed reading this book with its gothic, myth and folklore imagery. I was very surprised that I enjoyed it so much with all the intimacy in it's pages.

I am looking forward to the next story in the chronicles, that is called Water Witch.

5 out of 5 stars given to this one.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter #1)

Read from April 7th - 14th 2015.

Published September 1st 2014 by Bloomsbury Childrens

Format Paperback - 352 pages

Review	On the doorstep of Petunia and Vernon Dersley's house, a baby is waiting to be found.This baby is their nephew-Harry. He lives with his aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and his cousin Dudley for eleven of his young years.Eleven years of tolerating his unpleasant, miserable life sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs, and being excluded from any family activity and thinking his parents died in a car accident which caused his lightening shaped scar on his forehead. After being rescued by Hagrid, the grounds keeper at Hogwarts school,Harry is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,where his parent's had also spent their secondary school years.There he and his new friends find out about the evil one known to all around simply as 'You Know Who'. Hogwarts is a truly magical place. Hogwarts is a place that everybody wishes they could have gone to when they where eleven.Everyone that is anyone knows all about Harry, including the story about that interesting scar which Harry soon finds to be different to the one he has been led to believe. Hogwarts school is full of excitement,fantasy,mystery and friendship but Harry soon learns that there is also dark magic around him and enemies out to get him. This book has it all in spades including a three-headed dog, an attacking troll and a life sized, come to life chess board. Although this book is aimed at children, it really is to be enjoyed by all ages. I am totally enamoured by the first book in this series. I never read/watch anything when it is in the 'hype' and only recently watched the films in full, and in order. I am so glad I chose to read the books as well.I didn't want my imagination influenced by the films and am very glad to say, it wasn't.There is so much more to the book, much more detail that isn't in the film, and so the book was a whole new imaginative fantasy playing out in my mind. There is a huge amount of action packed into this amazing warm book. JK Rowling's writing style flows beautifully with crafty segments of humour scattered amongst it, that made me chuckle out loud.It's such an easy read and will appeal to children and grownups alike.I can't wait to rediscover the rest of this series and enter Hogwarts magical world once more. 5 out of 5 stars given.

Review

On the doorstep of Petunia and Vernon Dersley's house, a baby is waiting to be found.This baby is their nephew-Harry. He lives with his aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and his cousin Dudley for eleven of his young years.Eleven years of tolerating his unpleasant, miserable life sleeping in the cupboard under the stairs, and being excluded from any family activity and thinking his parents died in a car accident which caused his lightening shaped scar on his forehead.

After being rescued by Hagrid, the grounds keeper at Hogwarts school,Harry is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,where his parent's had also spent their secondary school years.There he and his new friends find out about the evil one known to all around simply as 'You Know Who'.
Hogwarts is a truly magical place. Hogwarts is a place that everybody wishes they could have gone to when they where eleven.Everyone that is anyone knows all about Harry, including the story about that interesting scar which Harry soon finds to be different to the one he has been led to believe. Hogwarts school is full of excitement,fantasy,mystery and friendship but Harry soon learns that there is also dark magic around him and enemies out to get him.
This book has it all in spades including a three-headed dog, an attacking troll and a life sized, come to life chess board.

Although this book is aimed at children, it really is to be enjoyed by all ages.
I am totally enamoured by the first book in this series.
I never read/watch anything when it is in the 'hype' and only recently watched the films in full, and in order. I am so glad I chose to read the books as well.I didn't want my imagination influenced by the films and am very glad to say, it wasn't.There is so much more to the book, much more detail that isn't in the film, and so the book was a whole new imaginative fantasy playing out in my mind.

There is a huge amount of action packed into this amazing warm book. JK Rowling's writing style flows beautifully with crafty segments of humour scattered amongst it, that made me chuckle out loud.It's such an easy read and will appeal to children and grownups alike.I can't wait to rediscover the rest of this series and enter Hogwarts magical world once more.

5 out of 5 stars given.

In Too Deep by Bea Davenport

Read from November 12th to 15th 2015.

Published June 1st 2013 by Legend Press

Format Paperback - 256 pages

Review	Maura is a young lady living with her husband and child in what seems to be a sleepy,flowery'Midsummer Murders' style market town living the life of a woman who is 'looked after', spending her time buying makeup, magazines and cooking dinner for the family. A newcomer,a bright, ambitious reporter arrives in town after a campaign to get more publicity for the forthcoming summer fair - Kim.Kim is a larger than life character with no morals.Probably too full on for such a small place and it's residents that do not accept outsiders readily.Maura befriends Kim and I believe,relishes the adventure and excitement Kim has to offer and attracts.The friendship is looked down upon by the rest of the townsfolk. Maura's husband takes charge of that summer's annual medieval fair. Things start to take a turn for the worst for Maura and eventually for Kim also.Not going into this for fear of spoiling. This book is told in first person and is quick to reveal vital clues's to the plot and storyline from the get go. Five years on,why has Maura changed her name and left this town? She seems to be hiding from someone or something.Maura's life is now in total contrast to what it was until she is visited by a reporter. What made him come looking for her? Lots of questions all become clear as the story unfolds. Eventually the truth comes out and reveals the towns hidden secrets from five years previous. This book was,Bea Davenport's debut adult novel.I read her This Little Piggy first and was blown away by it.Loved the smoothness and flow. However I didn't feel this so much with In Too Deep.The book jumps from when the reporter found her and the events form five years before. I have read a few books that jump between time lines but felt this one lacked the continuity and flow to carry this off and I experienced confusion every so often.This is not to say I didn't like this book and don't want you to be put off by the three stars.I liked it a lot.It just didn't blow me away like her other works.I still enjoyed Bea's style of writing and her journalist background shone through again. I wasn't expecting the hard hitting content that bounced off the pages at me later in the book and gasped as I read it.I had only read the blurb on the back page which kept this part of the book a huge secret much like Maura's story itself. Wow,it was uncomfortable and a tender subject to tackle and I think Bea wrote it extremely well.Making me feel, was evidence that the book had drawn me right into this distressing topic and had 'got me'. All the same,I did struggle to read these pages and even skim read quite a few.Up till this point, I didn't feel anything for these characters but this topic made me feel. This book is well worth a read but you need to have a strong mind about you. A good debut novel.Constant suspense throughout even though it wasn't a favourite for me personally.I will definitely read more from Bea Davenport because if This Little Piggy was even better, what will future novels be like? fabulous? 3 out of 5 stars.

Review

Maura is a young lady living with her husband and child in what seems to be a sleepy,flowery'Midsummer Murders' style market town living the life of a woman who is 'looked after', spending her time buying makeup, magazines and cooking dinner for the family.

A newcomer,a bright, ambitious reporter arrives in town after a campaign to get more publicity for the forthcoming summer fair - Kim.Kim is a larger than life character with no morals.Probably too full on for such a small place and it's residents that do not accept outsiders readily.Maura befriends Kim and I believe,relishes the adventure and excitement Kim has to offer and attracts.The friendship is looked down upon by the rest of the townsfolk.

Maura's husband takes charge of that summer's annual medieval fair. Things start to take a turn for the worst for Maura and eventually for Kim also.Not going into this for fear of spoiling.

This book is told in first person and is quick to reveal vital clues's to the plot and storyline from the get go.
Five years on,why has Maura changed her name and left this town? She seems to be hiding from someone or something.Maura's life is now in total contrast to what it was until she is visited by a reporter. What made him come looking for her?
Lots of questions all become clear as the story unfolds.
Eventually the truth comes out and reveals the towns hidden secrets from five years previous.

This book was,Bea Davenport's debut adult novel.I read her This Little Piggy first and was blown away by it.Loved the smoothness and flow.
However I didn't feel this so much with In Too Deep.The book jumps from when the reporter found her and the events form five years before. I have read a few books that jump between time lines but felt this one lacked the continuity and flow to carry this off and I experienced confusion every so often.This is not to say I didn't like this book and don't want you to be put off by the three stars.I liked it a lot.It just didn't blow me away like her other works.I still enjoyed Bea's style of writing and her journalist background shone through again.

I wasn't expecting the hard hitting content that bounced off the pages at me later in the book and gasped as I read it.I had only read the blurb on the back page which kept this part of the book a huge secret much like Maura's story itself.
Wow,it was uncomfortable and a tender subject to tackle and I think Bea wrote it extremely well.Making me feel, was evidence that the book had drawn me right into this distressing topic and had 'got me'. All the same,I did struggle to read these pages and even skim read quite a few.Up till this point, I didn't feel anything for these characters but this topic made me feel.
This book is well worth a read but you need to have a strong mind about you.
A good debut novel.Constant suspense throughout even though it wasn't a favourite for me personally.I will definitely read more from Bea Davenport because if This Little Piggy was even better, what will future novels be like? fabulous?

3 out of 5 stars.

The Bat (Harry Hole #1) by Jo Nesbø, Don Bartlett (Translator)

Read from August 6th to 18th 2015.

Published October 9th 2012 by Random House Canada

Format Paperback - 369 pages

Review	I've used the blurb already written for the book here - 'Before Harry took on the neo-Nazi gangs of Oslo, before he met Rakel, before The Snowman tried to take everything he held dear, he went to Australia. Harry Hole is sent to Sydney to investigate the murder of Inger Holter, a young Norwegian girl, who was working in a bar. Initially sidelined as an outsider, Harry becomes central to the Australian police investigation when they start to notice a number of unsolved rape and murder cases around the country. The victims were usually young blondes. Inger had a number of admirers, each with his own share of secrets, but there is no obvious suspect, and the pattern of the other crimes seems impossible to crack. Then a circus performer is brutally murdered followed by yet another young woman. Harry is in a race against time to stop highly intelligent killer, who is bent on total destruction.' What can I say, I was really looking forward to reading this book, the first Harry Hole novel but if I'm honest it was rather dull as murder/thrillers go. It was just like reading a contract or insurance papers. In places it came across a little far fetched but that is the best thing about books, they can be what ever the author wants it to be. When a Norwegian national is murdered in Australia, detective Harry Hole is sent over from Norway to assist in the investigation. Harry is a flawed detective but conscientious too. He has his personal demons to tackle whilst working this case and they do rise and bite him later in the novel. Although this is the first Harry Hole novel, it is the last one to be translated into English. The plot throughout is solid enough and easy to follow but didn't show any of that nail biting angst you expect from a murder plot. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it but I must admit I cut out chunks in the end and still kept up with it.What I did like was that the killers identity was not who I expected to be at all.That was a well hidden surprise.I did find it's language quite wooden in places.Maybe some text does not translate very well.Considering it was written in modern times, there were small moments that felt uncomfortable with the stereotypes and colloquialisms. I kept with it as I did feel I needed to turn the page and see what was coming next. I have been advised that the rest of the Harry Hole novels do get better and I do have another to read so fingers crossed it doesn't come across with The Bat's dullness. Overall, an enjoyable book with an unexpected outcome, a rushed ending and lacked spark that you expect from this genre but I would definitely try more of them. 3 out of 5 stars given.

Review

I've used the blurb already written for the book here - 'Before Harry took on the neo-Nazi gangs of Oslo, before he met Rakel, before The Snowman tried to take everything he held dear, he went to Australia. Harry Hole is sent to Sydney to investigate the murder of Inger Holter, a young Norwegian girl, who was working in a bar. Initially sidelined as an outsider, Harry becomes central to the Australian police investigation when they start to notice a number of unsolved rape and murder cases around the country. The victims were usually young blondes. Inger had a number of admirers, each with his own share of secrets, but there is no obvious suspect, and the pattern of the other crimes seems impossible to crack. Then a circus performer is brutally murdered followed by yet another young woman. Harry is in a race against time to stop highly intelligent killer, who is bent on total destruction.'

What can I say, I was really looking forward to reading this book, the first Harry Hole novel but if I'm honest it was rather dull as murder/thrillers go. It was just like reading a contract or insurance papers. In places it came across a little far fetched but that is the best thing about books, they can be what ever the author wants it to be.

When a Norwegian national is murdered in Australia, detective Harry Hole is sent over from Norway to assist in the investigation. Harry is a flawed detective but conscientious too. He has his personal demons to tackle whilst working this case and they do rise and bite him later in the novel.

Although this is the first Harry Hole novel, it is the last one to be translated into English.

The plot throughout is solid enough and easy to follow but didn't show any of that nail biting angst you expect from a murder plot. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it but I must admit I cut out chunks in the end and still kept up with it.What I did like was that the killers identity was not who I expected to be at all.That was a well hidden surprise.I did find it's language quite wooden in places.Maybe some text does not translate very well.Considering it was written in modern times, there were small moments that felt uncomfortable with the stereotypes and colloquialisms.

I kept with it as I did feel I needed to turn the page and see what was coming next.
I have been advised that the rest of the Harry Hole novels do get better and I do have another to read so fingers crossed it doesn't come across with The Bat's dullness.

Overall, an enjoyable book with an unexpected outcome, a rushed ending and lacked spark that you expect from this genre but I would definitely try more of them.

3 out of 5 stars given.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Trilogy of Four (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #1-4) by Douglas Adams

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Trilogy of Four (Hitchhiker's Guide, #1-4)

Read From September 14th - 26th 2015

Published April 1st 2010 by Pan MacMillan

Format Paperback - 768 pages

Review	Oh my, what have I just read?! Random, witty, weird.Nonsensical in places but made perfect sense at the same time. I loved this book from front cover to back. One of the most entertaining books I have read. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe has got to be my favourite of the four. What a roller coaster of a ride Arthur Dent was taken on accompanied by very unique (for want of a better word) companions, including Marvin the robot.Oh Marvin, how I loved every word, sentence and miserable moan that came out of your little metal mouth. The plot? well, I did lose that from time to time but it didn't matter, I picked it up again pretty easily. I really wonder how Douglas Adams mind ticked on a daily basis to come up with this extraordinary four parter? Did he partake in a little LSD one wonders. ;-) Shame he isn't around to write more books because I certainly for one would read them.What a weird and wonderful mind. I found myself saying "ohhhhhhh, I get it" out loud on many an occasion. This book is one of those that I will definitely read again at some point and see if I take something more or even else from it as it oozes detail and hilarity and quirkiness. I was amazed how much at the beginning of the book resounded modern day.Douglas Adams was onto something with that screen reader ;-) Funny thing about this book is how Adams incorporates so many aspects of 'truth' into this sci fi, action packed, humorous 'trilogy' of four. It deserves all five stars given and I recommend everybody to give it a try. 5 out of 5 stars given to this one and rightly so.

Review

Oh my, what have I just read?!
Random, witty, weird.Nonsensical in places but made perfect sense at the same time.
I loved this book from front cover to back. One of the most entertaining books I have read.
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe has got to be my favourite of the four. What a roller coaster of a ride Arthur Dent was taken on accompanied by very unique (for want of a better word) companions, including Marvin the robot.Oh Marvin, how I loved every word, sentence and miserable moan that came out of your little metal mouth.
The plot? well, I did lose that from time to time but it didn't matter, I picked it up again pretty easily.
I really wonder how Douglas Adams mind ticked on a daily basis to come up with this extraordinary four parter? Did he partake in a little LSD one wonders. ;-)
Shame he isn't around to write more books because I certainly for one would read them.What a weird and wonderful mind.
I found myself saying "ohhhhhhh, I get it" out loud on many an occasion.
This book is one of those that I will definitely read again at some point and see if I take something more or even else from it as it oozes detail and hilarity and quirkiness.
I was amazed how much at the beginning of the book resounded modern day.Douglas Adams was onto something with that screen reader ;-)
Funny thing about this book is how Adams incorporates so many aspects of 'truth' into this sci fi, action packed, humorous 'trilogy' of four.
It deserves all five stars given and I recommend everybody to give it a try.

5 out of 5 stars given to this one and rightly so.

Sunday 20 March 2016

The Babble Hinge - 2.

What kind of day has today been? a fair one, I think. After working a few hours overtime yesterday afternoon, today was MY day. My weekend to relax, read, play with the kitties, oh and do some housework I guess.

It started with Zebedee (the long haired one in charge) meowing at me at a ridiculous hour for a Sunday morning especially after I had had a late night. He is a cat of routine and woe betide I break that routine, no matter if it IS Sunday. He doesn't particularly care about a small element such as that and why should he, he is a cat. In his defence, he only transforms his furriness into a wailing alarm clock once I have stirred enough that it must be wake up time. It doesn't occur to him that even humans can roll over and go back to sleep too. In true human slave action, I, of course dragged myself down to the kitchen to feed him and his brother a delicious banquet of a well known tuna pouch cat food. Yum.

In between the relaxing and housework, I received a call from a colleague who wanted to deliver my birthday present (7th April, pop it in your diaries ;-D). My wonderful colleagues bought me a fabulous desk. Very excited by this and so very humbled that they would do that. Feeling somewhat spoilt. She gave me my orders that I wasn't to undo and put it together until the big day.

Housework finished, time to get comfy with my book -
The Surrogate by Tania Carver http://www.taniacarver.com/surrogate.php
I finished it! I really enjoyed it.What a brutal story.What goes through an authors mind to think of these things? I'd love to know. A review will follow in the next few days, so look out for that.

I have chosen my next read. This author B.P.Smythe found me on Twitter and asked me to review his ebook, (I don't read books on a screen). However, he didn't forget and once he had a few in print, he remembered to send me one.

Published by Bloodhound Books.
You can read about this author on their site, here -http://www.bloodhoundbooks.com/bp-smythe/ and follow him and his works here - https://twitter.com/BPSmythe

Looking forward to this read. It is a good size book. The synopsis is intriguing, that's for sure.

Saturday 19 March 2016

The Story of Jane Doe by R.A. Budden

Read from December 19th - 27th 2015

Published July 16th 2015

Format Paperback, 322 pages

Review	I really looked forward to reading this book.It looked full of promise and do you know what?-It didn't disappoint one little bit.Thinking about this review,I pondered about which genre to place it under.It slotted into a fair few.Some obvious, such as mystery, crime, thriller, fiction, definitely adult, but then showed a definite psychological side, and there was even a sneaky smattering of love but not too much to put me off. Each element was relevant and in proportion for the whole book. This book had it all.......in spades. This book however, was a little 'out there', much of it, I was saying "yeah right" or "as if" BUT, it was fine because it all blended into the story very well and was all very enjoyable regardless. It was no different to a lot of modern movies that are a bit 'out there' but we all still love to watch them.On that note, this book in my opinion could well make a good movie. I have read another book with similar subject matter and found it a hard read and too graphic. This book didn't go over the top with any of the harder subject matter. R.A Budden seemed to show a care towards her readers as well as her characters, which in turn enticed me as a reader to feel for the characters too. 'Jane Doe', appears quite naive at times throughout. I wanted to shake her and say "What! You silly woman", and much much more :-D but with the life she was living, it really wasn't a surprise. For a book to make me feel so much, I knew it had gripped me and sucked me into their lives. I struggled with the rating for this book and couldn't decide whether to give it a 4 star or a 5 star rating. After much deliberation, I have put 4 but think I am rating it a 4.5 stars in all fairness. An easy read.A definite page turner that was hard to put down, like watching a movie playing out in your head. I am looking forward to reading some more of R.A Budden's work. 4 out of 5 stars here.

Review

I really looked forward to reading this book.It looked full of promise and do you know what?-It didn't disappoint one little bit.Thinking about this review,I pondered about which genre to place it under.It slotted into a fair few.Some obvious, such as mystery, crime, thriller, fiction, definitely adult, but then showed a definite psychological side, and there was even a sneaky smattering of love but not too much to put me off. Each element was relevant and in proportion for the whole book. This book had it all.......in spades.

This book however, was a little 'out there', much of it, I was saying "yeah right" or "as if" BUT, it was fine because it all blended into the story very well and was all very enjoyable regardless. It was no different to a lot of modern movies that are a bit 'out there' but we all still love to watch them.On that note, this book in my opinion could well make a good movie.

I have read another book with similar subject matter and found it a hard read and too graphic. This book didn't go over the top with any of the harder subject matter. R.A Budden seemed to show a care towards her readers as well as her characters, which in turn enticed me as a reader to feel for the characters too.
'Jane Doe', appears quite naive at times throughout. I wanted to shake her and say "What! You silly woman", and much much more :-D but with the life she was living, it really wasn't a surprise. For a book to make me feel so much, I knew it had gripped me and sucked me into their lives.

I struggled with the rating for this book and couldn't decide whether to give it a 4 star or a 5 star rating. After much deliberation, I have put 4 but think I am rating it a 4.5 stars in all fairness.

An easy read.A definite page turner that was hard to put down, like watching a movie playing out in your head.

I am looking forward to reading some more of R.A Budden's work.

4 out of 5 stars here.

Friday 18 March 2016

The Babble Hinge - 1.

Well, here I am sat on the sofa with a tabby and white cat trying to clamber all over my chest, shoulders and face.Who knows how this post may turn out.Oh, hang on.............peace resumes.He has perched behind my head whilst slowly strangulating me with his tail around my neck.Quick, before he decides to move.

Firstly, it has been a wonderful day at work.Working with wonderful people really makes a difference. I'm proud and honoured to say that some of these people have become really lovely friends. I really don't know how they put up with my constant chatting, my fast gabble and excitable book talk but do you know what? they accept this with as much interest as they did a few hours ago, a few months ago or even a few years ago.

I have been working a while on this blog during the evening. I really haven't a clue what I am doing. I can write a review but putting together my own blog? eeeek! I'm just blagging my way through really and trying to learn as I go along. I believe I may just be making some headway now.
It was JUST going to be book reviews but I thought it was nice to put a little extra edge onto it by adding updates like this, ultimately leading back to books.Of course, it ALL leads back to books in the end, books AND cats, yes, books and cats. These two definitely think it is all about them and maybe a smidgen of books. Sharing me isn't what they signed up for.
I read every night when I go to bed, unless I am at that point when they think I'm just winking at them because I can only summon up the energy to lift one eyelid the barest, minuscule of a measure and that is used to empty the litter trays and get me safely up to the 'boudoir' at least in one whole piece.

I can, at 23:35hrs, hear the bed calling me up. I know that once there, I will pick up my book, The Surrogate by Tania Carver, who is of course Martyn Waites. I'm only about 100 pages in. Such a heavy few days at work. Still, we can't have everything, I guess.

That's me, saying goodnight. Catch you all again soon.

http://www.taniacarver.com/surrogate.php

The Girl at Midnight (The Girl at Midnight #1) by Melissa Grey

Read From November 1st - 16th 2014

Published April 28th 2015 by ATOM

Format Paperback - 361 pages

Review	Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she’s ever known. Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she’s fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it’s time to act. Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, but if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it’s how to hunt down what she wants . . . and how to take it. But some jobs aren’t as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire. I couldn't have described this book any better than the above description already written for it. I absolutely loved it.This is not to say my feelings were as strong straight from the beginning.It took about ten chapters for me to get into it and the story to get going if I'm honest but after that 'POW', amazing, kept me engrossed and the unique setting of the city and the races involved clearly in my head. Melissa Grey uses a lot of detail in this book to set the scene but the chapters are short so you do not feel overwhelmed by all that detail. This book (once past chapter ten) was quite fast paced with a collection of humorous and interesting characters. I found my feelings towards all the characters developing and getting stronger throughout. The characters are a group that you just would never put together.This made the moral of this story nice and strong that love and friendship can conquer all and change the future even in the height of war. As the book neared the end, I felt a smile each time I turned a page.This smile strengthened into the conclusion and almost bought me a happy tear. I hate to compare but if you liked Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor, you will definitely like this as they are very similar. I can not wait to read book two now.

Review

Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she’s ever known.
Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she’s fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it’s time to act.
Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, but if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it’s how to hunt down what she wants . . . and how to take it.
But some jobs aren’t as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire.

I couldn't have described this book any better than the above description already written for it.
I absolutely loved it.This is not to say my feelings were as strong straight from the beginning.It took about ten chapters for me to get into it and the story to get going if I'm honest but after that 'POW', amazing, kept me engrossed and the unique setting of the city and the races involved clearly in my head.
Melissa Grey uses a lot of detail in this book to set the scene but the chapters are short so you do not feel overwhelmed by all that detail.
This book (once past chapter ten) was quite fast paced with a collection of humorous and interesting characters.
I found my feelings towards all the characters developing and getting stronger throughout.
The characters are a group that you just would never put together.This made the moral of this story nice and strong that love and friendship can conquer all and change the future even in the height of war.
As the book neared the end, I felt a smile each time I turned a page.This smile strengthened into the conclusion and almost bought me a happy tear.
I hate to compare but if you liked Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor, you will definitely like this as they are very similar.
I can not wait to read book two now.

Monday 14 March 2016

Itch Rocks (Itch #2) by Simon Mayo

Read from October 6th - 12th 2014.

Published February 27th 2014 by Corgi Childrens

Format Paperback

Review	Itchingham Lofte is an element collector.This book by Simon Mayo follows his adventures from book one-Itch. He tries to outwit the criminal masterminds all of whom are desperately seeking the rocks made of the dangerous element 126 with help from various members of his family.Itch thought he'd safely disposed of these eight rocks forever in the first story.Since he is the only person alive who knows where the rocks are hidden, he is a wanted man by criminals and by foreign governments.Itch knows, some elements are so dangerous, they can kill. Life is starting to get back to normal for Itch after the adventures from the first book which resulted in Itch escaping the thugs from Greencorps and being exposed to radiation and having to have a bone marrow transplant.He is now back at school but with around the clock surveillance from MI5 for him and members of his family. Criminal forces are still hunting for element 126 and will stop at nothing to find out where Itch has hidden the precious radioactive rocks. These enemies are willing to kill to get their hands on these radioactive rocks. Lucy Cavendish,a girl from Itch's class had always been friendly but is now suddenly aggressive towards Itch, his cousin and sister, for reasons that stay secret throughout much of the book and slowly trickles out as the story progresses. There's a new girl in school called Mary Lee and she has arrived in town due to her father's job which involves travelling around. She is a few years older than Itch in school. Mary informs Itch HER father collects elements also which stimulates Itch's facination, but things are not as they seem.She isn't who she professes to be and Itch would be wise to keep his distance but of course this being a story, doesn't happen. Itch finds out many surprising things about family members (father) and other characters that had been kept hush hush. These rocks need to be got rid of and we follow Itch and co, inc the evil masterminds to a pulsed neutron source lab in Oxfordshire................ I found the writing in this book very good, gripping and witty. Simon Mayo, a writer, I never knew and really, he can write.This book draws the reader in from the start.I felt very sucked in reading it. I didn't read the first book but have since popped it on my to read list.I still felt that I could read Itch rocks stand alone and picked up the history and what had previously happened very easily. The main characters are plentiful and strong, smart and resourceful, even when they are up to no good.I was continuously very impressed with these extremely clever teens often outwitting the seemingly clueless MI5 officers sent to protect them. I understand this is a young adult book and these kind of stories do tend to show teens/children much smarter than the adults in the story in order to grip it's audience. What I did struggle with was the length of violence some of these adults went to against the teens/children in the story.I couldn't imagine in every day life adults would find it so easy or could be so thoughtlessly brutal to children.Kidnapping I could handle but the rest even made my eyebrows lift and I read books with gore and violence in them directed at adults.I also found the hockey match went on a bit too long with needless info that lost my interest for a while.Very different from the rest of the book. However, these are my only negatives. I enjoyed Itch Rocks. It's fun and enthralling and will appeal to mature adults (I'm 38) and young adults. It was very hard to put this book down. 4 out of 5 stars given.

Review

Itchingham Lofte is an element collector.This book by Simon Mayo follows his adventures from book one-Itch. He tries to outwit the criminal masterminds all of whom are desperately seeking the rocks made of the dangerous element 126 with help from various members of his family.Itch thought he'd safely disposed of these eight rocks forever in the first story.Since he is the only person alive who knows where the rocks are hidden, he is a wanted man by criminals and by foreign governments.Itch knows, some elements are so dangerous, they can kill.
Life is starting to get back to normal for Itch after the adventures from the first book which resulted in Itch escaping the thugs from Greencorps and being exposed to radiation and having to have a bone marrow transplant.He is now back at school but with around the clock surveillance from MI5 for him and members of his family.
Criminal forces are still hunting for element 126 and will stop at nothing to find out where Itch has hidden the precious radioactive rocks. These enemies are willing to kill to get their hands on these radioactive rocks.
Lucy Cavendish,a girl from Itch's class had always been friendly but is now suddenly aggressive towards Itch, his cousin and sister, for reasons that stay secret throughout much of the book and slowly trickles out as the story progresses.
There's a new girl in school called Mary Lee and she has arrived in town due to her father's job which involves travelling around. She is a few years older than Itch in school. Mary informs Itch HER father collects elements also which stimulates Itch's facination, but things are not as they seem.She isn't who she professes to be and Itch would be wise to keep his distance but of course this being a story, doesn't happen.
Itch finds out many surprising things about family members (father) and other characters that had been kept hush hush.
These rocks need to be got rid of and we follow Itch and co, inc the evil masterminds to a pulsed neutron source lab in Oxfordshire................

I found the writing in this book very good, gripping and witty. Simon Mayo, a writer, I never knew and really, he can write.This book draws the reader in from the start.I felt very sucked in reading it. I didn't read the first book but have since popped it on my to read list.I still felt that I could read Itch rocks stand alone and picked up the history and what had previously happened very easily. The main characters are plentiful and strong, smart and resourceful, even when they are up to no good.I was continuously very impressed with these extremely clever teens often outwitting the seemingly clueless MI5 officers sent to protect them.
I understand this is a young adult book and these kind of stories do tend to show teens/children much smarter than the adults in the story in order to grip it's audience.
What I did struggle with was the length of violence some of these adults went to against the teens/children in the story.I couldn't imagine in every day life adults would find it so easy or could be so thoughtlessly brutal to children.Kidnapping I could handle but the rest even made my eyebrows lift and I read books with gore and violence in them directed at adults.I also found the hockey match went on a bit too long with needless info that lost my interest for a while.Very different from the rest of the book. However, these are my only negatives.

I enjoyed Itch Rocks. It's fun and enthralling and will appeal to mature adults (I'm 38) and young adults.
It was very hard to put this book down.

4 out of 5 stars given.

Sunday 13 March 2016

The Night Stalker (Robert Hunter #3) by Chris Carter

Read from November 29th - December 10th 2015.

Published August 2011 by Simon & Schuster

Format Paperback - 453 pages

Review	If you love a good a good 'get in there' psychological thriller, then this is definitely the one for you.This book gives it all in spades. Why hasn't Chris Carter got more recognition for his works? These books are amazing but definitely NOT for the faint hearted. Even though the content was intense and full of non stop action, it was an easy to read book and could be read quite quickly. I loved the way each chapter ended with a little tease to make you want to turn the page straight away.It did keep me up at night, not the content as such but the lure of the short teasing chapters. It is evident throughout that Chris's career as a criminal psychologist played a huge part in this book. I did work out who 'The Night Stalker' was before detective Hunter but it was so cleverly written and full of intrigue, detail and twists that it didn't feel 'ended' just because I figured out who it was.It still had me hooked and wanting to know more and was, if I'm honest, gutted I'd finished this exciting book. This book is number 3.I will definitely be reading more and will be adding this one to my favourites. A full 5 out of 5 stars.

Review

If you love a good a good 'get in there' psychological thriller, then this is definitely the one for you.This book gives it all in spades.
Why hasn't Chris Carter got more recognition for his works? These books are amazing but definitely NOT for the faint hearted.
Even though the content was intense and full of non stop action, it was an easy to read book and could be read quite quickly.
I loved the way each chapter ended with a little tease to make you want to turn the page straight away.It did keep me up at night, not the content as such but the lure of the short teasing chapters.
It is evident throughout that Chris's career as a criminal psychologist played a huge part in this book.
I did work out who 'The Night Stalker' was before detective Hunter but it was so cleverly written and full of intrigue, detail and twists that it didn't feel 'ended' just because I figured out who it was.It still had me hooked and wanting to know more and was, if I'm honest, gutted I'd finished this exciting book.
This book is number 3.I will definitely be reading more and will be adding this one to my favourites.

A full 5 out of 5 stars.

The Soul Collectors (Darby McCormick #4) by Chris Mooney

Read from July 26th - August 4th 2015.

Published October 1st 2010 by Penguin Books

Format Paperback - 468 pages

Review	Charlie Rizzo has his family at gunpoint and when Darby arrives to defuse the scene, she finds him horrifically mutilated, with a mask of human skin sewn in place over his own face. Within minutes, a group of men disguised as SWAT officers bursts in and releases deadly Sarin gas. But where has Rizzo been held all these years?' I'm so freaked, its untrue! In all my yrs of book reading, I have never felt a book connect with me so deep that it's left me with such detailed visions and heightened emotions before. Definitely NOT for the faint hearted that's for sure. I've watched countless horrors/thrillers on t.v and rarely experience this.I know it is in the little box and the visuals are someone else's imagination.A book stirs your own and it did just that, but even just before bed, I couldn't put it down.The Soul Collectors presents as a very easy page turner with each chapter leaving me dangling on a thread willing me to turn the page wanting more. I have not read any Chris Mooney before. This being my first and looking at others reviews,I may have felt differently about this one had I read 1-3 first. I speak as I find.I loved it.It isn't a deep book and at times felt like it had been written by a high school grade in the early yrs but that didn't overwhelm the book, it was the odd page here and there.I chose to read this book due to the ease as it fitted in to my more intense study that I was completing along side.I probably enjoyed this book more than I should have. What I did find odd and frustrating was the ending.It was pretty abrupt, like Chris Mooney, didn't know what to do with it, was in a rush and cut it dead as quick as he could.It left a lot of loose ends for me and an incomplete feeling.This did not ruin the main part of the book, it just disappointed me and felt like I'd been short changed.I looked back to see if I had missed a page or two but I hadn't.There is a little waffle in places, even unrealistic at times but it also had non stop action throughout and keeping everything in proportion made this book a good quick read. A fabulous quick read that tugged at me emotions. This book is a dark thriller and quite disturbing in parts and I definitely wouldn't advise you to read it by bedside lamplight in the dead of night before sleeping. 4 out of 5 stars for this one.

Review

Charlie Rizzo has his family at gunpoint and when Darby arrives to defuse the scene, she finds him horrifically mutilated, with a mask of human skin sewn in place over his own face. Within minutes, a group of men disguised as SWAT officers bursts in and releases deadly Sarin gas. But where has Rizzo been held all these years?'

I'm so freaked, its untrue! In all my yrs of book reading, I have never felt a book connect with me so deep that it's left me with such detailed visions and heightened emotions before. Definitely NOT for the faint hearted that's for sure.
I've watched countless horrors/thrillers on t.v and rarely experience this.I know it is in the little box and the visuals are someone else's imagination.A book stirs your own and it did just that, but even just before bed, I couldn't put it down.The Soul Collectors presents as a very easy page turner with each chapter leaving me dangling on a thread willing me to turn the page wanting more.

I have not read any Chris Mooney before. This being my first and looking at others reviews,I may have felt differently about this one had I read 1-3 first.
I speak as I find.I loved it.It isn't a deep book and at times felt like it had been written by a high school grade in the early yrs but that didn't overwhelm the book, it was the odd page here and there.I chose to read this book due to the ease as it fitted in to my more intense study that I was completing along side.I probably enjoyed this book more than I should have.
What I did find odd and frustrating was the ending.It was pretty abrupt, like Chris Mooney, didn't know what to do with it, was in a rush and cut it dead as quick as he could.It left a lot of loose ends for me and an incomplete feeling.This did not ruin the main part of the book, it just disappointed me and felt like I'd been short changed.I looked back to see if I had missed a page or two but I hadn't.There is a little waffle in places, even unrealistic at times but it also had non stop action throughout and keeping everything in proportion made this book a good quick read. A fabulous quick read that tugged at me emotions.
This book is a dark thriller and quite disturbing in parts and I definitely wouldn't advise you to read it by bedside lamplight in the dead of night before sleeping.

4 out of 5 stars for this one.

Lady Firebird (The Sedumen Chronicles #2) by Orren Merton

Read from December 31st 2014 - January 8th 2015.

Published October 7th 2014 by Darkling Books

Format Paperback - 215 pages

Review	The story focusses on an 18 year old Alexandra Gold.She is half human (from her mother) and half demon (from her father) who belongs to the House of Keroz. Now, do not think of demons in this book like the vision you have of demons in your head usually, as you would have it very wrong. She can travel through portals to another universe where her father lives. Time couldn't be more different there. 2 hours on Earth equates to 2 days in the Sedu universe. Half-demon Lady Firebird of the House of Keroz has to keep up her life on Earth as a normal 18 yr old and help her father and friends stop Dirk Raum from travelling to Earth and kidnapping other young Sedu girls like herself (there seems to be a fair few) to make his army to conquer both universes. She fought and triumphed over him before when he was murdering humans whose fresh souls he fed the House of Raum. This won her the respect of some but the enmity of others. she longs to step forward as Lady Firebird, and let people know that she will protect them—but she worries that once people see her flaming hair, eyes, and long fangs, she will terrify those she wants to help. She is ready to meet the challenge; but is the world ready to meet Lady Firebird? I really took delight in reading this book.Although a set of chronicles and this one book two, I read it stand alone and was able to without feeling I was missing some vital information for the story. As the story progressed I did find it had become quite dark and remembering it is advertised as a YA plus adult read book, it did have me wondering if the topic was maybe too dark as there is reference to rape throughout most of the story. However, I was quite engrossed in this read and as I have said, enjoyed it. I did struggle to put the book down to the point of actually walking to the bathroom still reading it when I had to go. It is a great fantasy read full of strong emotion.Nice to see a strong young female lead.This seems to be getting fashionable with a lot of the latest books I have read. The book is very well written.The print is very small and tightly packed together and I questioned whether my eyes would start scanning pages and missing lines at the beginning but it didn't take anything away from the story and worked very well. This is obviously an American written book and my only quibble is that when a Sedumen girl from the UK comes into the story and goes back to London, she meets up with her mum and says "hello mom". That was clearly an oversight or not researched properly as we do not call our mother mom in the UK but again, that didn't detract from the story.I just happened to take note of it. I would definitely read it again and would recommend it to others but be aware of the dark content inside. 4 out of 5 stars given for this one.

Review

The story focusses on an 18 year old Alexandra Gold.She is half human (from her mother) and half demon (from her father) who belongs to the House of Keroz. Now, do not think of demons in this book like the vision you have of demons in your head usually, as you would have it very wrong.
She can travel through portals to another universe where her father lives. Time couldn't be more different there. 2 hours on Earth equates to 2 days in the Sedu universe.
Half-demon Lady Firebird of the House of Keroz has to keep up her life on Earth as a normal 18 yr old and help her father and friends stop Dirk Raum from travelling to Earth and kidnapping other young Sedu girls like herself (there seems to be a fair few) to make his army to conquer both universes. She fought and triumphed over him before when he was murdering humans whose fresh souls he fed the House of Raum. This won her the respect of some but the enmity of others.
she longs to step forward as Lady Firebird, and let people know that she will protect them—but she worries that once people see her flaming
hair, eyes, and long fangs, she will terrify those she wants to help.
She is ready to meet the challenge; but is the world ready to meet Lady Firebird?

I really took delight in reading this book.Although a set of chronicles and this one book two, I read it stand alone and was able to without feeling I was missing some vital information for the story.
As the story progressed I did find it had become quite dark and remembering it is advertised as a YA plus adult read book, it did have me wondering if the topic was maybe too dark as there is reference to rape throughout most of the story. However, I was quite engrossed in this read and as I have said, enjoyed it. I did struggle to put the book down to the point of actually walking to the bathroom still reading it when I had to go. It is a great fantasy read full of strong emotion.Nice to see a strong young female lead.This seems to be getting fashionable with a lot of the latest books I have read.

The book is very well written.The print is very small and tightly packed together and I questioned whether my eyes would start scanning pages and missing lines at the beginning but it didn't take anything away from the story and worked very well.
This is obviously an American written book and my only quibble is that when a Sedumen girl from the UK comes into the story and goes back to London, she meets up with her mum and says "hello mom".
That was clearly an oversight or not researched properly as we do not call our mother mom in the UK but again, that didn't detract from the story.I just happened to take note of it.

I would definitely read it again and would recommend it to others but be aware of the dark content inside.

4 out of 5 stars given for this one.

Raven Heights Manor by Sharol Louise

Read from February 4th - 14th 2015.

Published December 17th 2014 by Five Star (ME)

Format Hardcover - 244 pages

Review	What a foreboding place Raven Heights Manor is. The story is set in the late 18th century. Claire Temple is a 15 year old orphan. She comes to live with her uncle, Sir Rudyard at the manor in Cornwall, whom she has never met. Claire is lonely since her parents death nine years previous and has spent that time residing at school. She quickly becomes quite bonded with the housekeeper/Sir Rudyard's second cousin Mrs Dawson, who warns her not to walk on the cliff path, from which a girl, Zillah, recently fell to her death. The manor itself isn't very welcoming and her estranged uncle is not there to greet her as he does go abroad for a month or two at a a time. Claire eventually begins to enjoy the manor, all the rooms and the grounds. As Claire Explores the neighbourhood, she meets the brothers Roman and Vitus who are around her age, who educate her about the smugglers that hide their treasures in caves along the coast. She also befriends Alice, a young sight challenged girl who boards with Miss Bethany Coulter at her inn. Recently deceased Zillah and Alice were very close before Zillah's death. Eventually Alice confides in Claire about a note or a clue that Zillah had left behind which leads Claire to realise she will, indeed, explore the cliff path but at her peril. She soon realises that not all the people she has grown to know and like are all that they seem. Claire is extremely curious about the young woman’s unfortunate fate. She is determined to solve the string of puzzles and learn the secrets buried in Raven Heights. I really liked this book by Sharol Louise. It wasn't at all what I expected from the off. I enjoyed every characters portrayal and liked how the author has used the the whole place for the setting and takes you, the reader around each and every part. I felt like I had been sucked into the 18th century village myself. In my mind throughout the whole book, the scenery was dark, craggy, windy and forboding, just like the illustration on the front cover and I felt that darkness whilst reading it. I didn't find the story predictable at all and think it helped I hadn't read any other reviews before hand. This book is very wordy and descriptive but in an acceptable amount.I found it an easy comfy read which kept me entertained all the way through. A good clean mystery with young characters which isn't too taxing. 4 out of 5 stars given.

Review

What a foreboding place Raven Heights Manor is. The story is set in the late 18th century. Claire Temple is a 15 year old orphan. She comes to live with her uncle, Sir Rudyard at the manor in Cornwall, whom she has never met. Claire is lonely since her parents death nine years previous and has spent that time residing at school. She quickly becomes quite bonded with the housekeeper/Sir Rudyard's second cousin Mrs Dawson, who warns her not to walk on the cliff path, from which a girl, Zillah, recently fell to her death. The manor itself isn't very welcoming and her estranged uncle is not there to greet her as he does go abroad for a month or two at a a time.
Claire eventually begins to enjoy the manor, all the rooms and the grounds.
As Claire Explores the neighbourhood, she meets the brothers Roman and Vitus who are around her age, who educate her about the smugglers that hide their treasures in caves along the coast. She also befriends Alice, a young sight challenged girl who boards with Miss Bethany Coulter at her inn.
Recently deceased Zillah and Alice were very close before Zillah's death.
Eventually Alice confides in Claire about a note or a clue that Zillah had left behind which leads Claire to realise she will, indeed, explore the cliff path but at her peril. She soon realises that not all the people she has grown to know and like are all that they seem.
Claire is extremely curious about the young woman’s unfortunate fate. She is determined to solve the string of puzzles and learn the secrets buried in Raven Heights.

I really liked this book by Sharol Louise. It wasn't at all what I expected from the off. I enjoyed every characters portrayal and liked how the author has used the the whole place for the setting and takes you, the reader around each and every part. I felt like I had been sucked into the 18th century village myself. In my mind throughout the whole book, the scenery was dark, craggy, windy and forboding, just like the illustration on the front cover and I felt that darkness whilst reading it.
I didn't find the story predictable at all and think it helped I hadn't read any other reviews before hand.
This book is very wordy and descriptive but in an acceptable amount.I found it an easy comfy read which kept me entertained all the way through. A good clean mystery with young characters which isn't too taxing.

4 out of 5 stars given.

This Little Piggy by Bea Davenport

Read from January 16th - 22nd 2015.

Published April 1st 2015 by Legend Times Group

Format Paperback - 288 pages

Review	WHOA!!!!! I can say no more right now apart from, that was amazing. One of them books where you read it and then you are left just staring at the wall with your mouth open for a few minutes. A review of this book will be written this weekend....... This psychological thriller is set in 1984, at the time of the coal miners strike in Britain. This strike had a huge impact on close net communities and would take a good couple of generations to recover from. A main character that the story is centered around is Clare Jackson. Clare is a North East newspaper reporter who missed a promotion due to personal reasons which are not clear at the beginning but become apparent as time goes on and the reader connects more with Clare. This event is touched upon very lightly during the story and explains some of Clare's behaviour throughout. Whilst coming to terms with this event and losing the promotion Clare is sent on an investigation into the death of a nine month old baby boy, Jamie, on the housing estate where many of the miners resided. Whilst gathering information, she comes across a young girl called Amy, who isn't all she seems. She lives in the dilapidated flats on the estate with her mother and her dog Max but fends for herself and has a penchant of making up stories that it was difficult to know what was truth and what was fiction. Her own mother didn't believe much of what she said. Her mother lacks in parenting skills often leaving Amy alone for days so she could go off with 'boyfriends'. Clare instinctively wanted to protect and nurture Amy, despite warnings from her friends to stay away and stop her unprofessional attachment to 'a story'. But Clare was convinced that she could help Amy. Clare became a real friend to Amy, someone the little girl could trust. Clare believed she had an attachment with Amy, which meant that events started very soon to spiral out of control for everyone involved. With Clare's psychological emotional state due to her own unresolved issues influencing her actions, Clare works hard pushing herself into her work almost becoming a one man band on some kind of adrenaline rush reporting the story of the baby, while also reporting on the situation behind the picket line where miners and police were increasingly moving into a volatile situation. I don't want to say too much more for fear of spoiling the story for others and letting too much out but lets just say this story is full of twists and turns that you just don't see happening and some you do and work out for yourself. It isn't all it seems. Things are not what they seem. I really enjoyed reading this story.I wasn't too sure about it at the beginning but it was such a smooth easy read, I soon got into it and found it very difficult to put down. I even found myself smiling in places at the 1984 references that took me down memory lane. Although only 8 at the time, I remember the time and the miners strikes well and how tough it was on mining families. It was one of those books that played on my mind after I had read it. Bea Davenport who incidentally was a journalist in her own right, really reeled me in and caught my attention and imagination well as I'm sure she did for others who read this. She depicts the communities of the time very well showing the hardships of a poor community in poor housing during hard times but without the story appearing all doom and gloom. It wasn't a depressing read but the content was very raw. There wasn't much I didn't like about this book although the ending was a little cut short I felt. I loved how the ending played out but due to the intense nature of the book, I personally would have liked a slower roll out to the last sentence. I really loved this book and it has fast become one of my favourites. I will have to look into some of Bea Davenports other works as I truly like her style of writing. Very easy read even if the content wasn't. 4 out of 5 stars.

Review

WHOA!!!!!
I can say no more right now apart from, that was amazing. One of them books where you read it and then you are left just staring at the wall with your mouth open for a few minutes. A review of this book will be written this weekend.......

This psychological thriller is set in 1984, at the time of the coal miners strike in Britain. This strike had a huge impact on close net communities and would take a good couple of generations to recover from.

A main character that the story is centered around is Clare Jackson. Clare is a North East newspaper reporter who missed a promotion due to personal reasons which are not clear at the beginning but become apparent as time goes on and the reader connects more with Clare. This event is touched upon very lightly during the story and explains some of Clare's behaviour throughout. Whilst coming to terms with this event and losing the promotion Clare is sent on an investigation into the death of a nine month old baby boy, Jamie, on the housing estate where many of the miners resided.

Whilst gathering information, she comes across a young girl called Amy, who isn't all she seems. She lives in the dilapidated flats on the estate with her mother and her dog Max but fends for herself and has a penchant of making up stories that it was difficult to know what was truth and what was fiction. Her own mother didn't believe much of what she said. Her mother lacks in parenting skills often leaving Amy alone for days so she could go off with 'boyfriends'.

Clare instinctively wanted to protect and nurture Amy, despite warnings from her friends to stay away and stop her unprofessional attachment to 'a story'. But Clare was convinced that she could help Amy. Clare became a real friend to Amy, someone the little girl could trust. Clare believed she had an attachment with Amy, which meant that events started very soon to spiral out of control for everyone involved.

With Clare's psychological emotional state due to her own unresolved issues influencing her actions, Clare works hard pushing herself into her work almost becoming a one man band on some kind of adrenaline rush reporting the story of the baby, while also reporting on the situation behind the picket line where miners and police were increasingly moving into a volatile situation.

I don't want to say too much more for fear of spoiling the story for others and letting too much out but lets just say this story is full of twists and turns that you just don't see happening and some you do and work out for yourself. It isn't all it seems. Things are not what they seem.
I really enjoyed reading this story.I wasn't too sure about it at the beginning but it was such a smooth easy read, I soon got into it and found it very difficult to put down. I even found myself smiling in places at the 1984 references that took me down memory lane. Although only 8 at the time, I remember the time and the miners strikes well and how tough it was on mining families.
It was one of those books that played on my mind after I had read it.
Bea Davenport who incidentally was a journalist in her own right, really reeled me in and caught my attention and imagination well as I'm sure she did for others who read this. She depicts the communities of the time very well showing the hardships of a poor community in poor housing during hard times but without the story appearing all doom and gloom. It wasn't a depressing read but the content was very raw.
There wasn't much I didn't like about this book although the ending was a little cut short I felt. I loved how the ending played out but due to the intense nature of the book, I personally would have liked a slower roll out to the last sentence. I really loved this book and it has fast become one of my favourites. I will have to look into some of Bea Davenports other works as I truly like her style of writing. Very easy read even if the content wasn't.

4 out of 5 stars.

Burnt Paper Sky by Gilly Macmillan (What She Knew - US Title)

Read from October 7th - 17th 2015.

Published February 2015

Format Paperback - 384 pages

Review	Powerful!!! This debut novel of Gilly Macmillan is a real energetic, fast paced compelling read. What ever has happened to eight year old Benedict Finch? Ben went missing after an afternoon walk in the woods with his mother Rachel and his dog Skittle.When to allow your child to run ahead of you for the first time is an extremely hard decision to make for any parent.That Sunday in October, it was Rachel's turn to make it......... There is a fair bit of back story to Rachel and Ben's life up till this point which becomes evident throughout the story from beginning to end knitting it's way into the plot. What attracted me with this novel is the fact that it wasn't like any other 'child goes missing' book.It isn't soft,mushy and teary or showing it from Bens side.It does something very different and tells the story mainly from Rachel Jenner and DI Clemo's day by day view point.The chapters being defined by names as oppose to numbers which switch back and forth between the characters.This is something that normally confuses me in other books but Gilly Macmillan has pulled this off smoothly and kept the whole story flowing equally throughout.One characters chapter didn't over shoot the other which can be an easy thing to do when writing this way.They ran along side each other as to complement each other. I particularly enjoyed the style of this book.There were chapters put together similar to a play script format.This is evident in the chapters of sessions where DI Clemo is chatting to his counsellor.Gilly Macmillan also adds in emails and shows what can occur on social media pages during a case like this.All this variety adds to the palpable tension as the clock is ticking.Twists and multiple suspects keep you turning the pages and wanting to read more.Between some of the chapters is some facts which are clearly referenced and accompany the story nicely along the way. The ending was superb.I thought it was going to end rather abruptly and give me that lost something feeling but it didn't.It followed through and gave closure to the story.Gilly Macmillan seems to looks after her story but also her readers. You can see that a lot of research has gone into putting this book together. A fabulous, easy read thriller that I would recommend to anyone who likes this kind of story.Certainly has become one of my favourites. 5 out of 5 stars for this fabulous read.

Review

Powerful!!! This debut novel of Gilly Macmillan is a real energetic, fast paced compelling read.

What ever has happened to eight year old Benedict Finch?
Ben went missing after an afternoon walk in the woods with his mother Rachel and his dog Skittle.When to allow your child to run ahead of you for the first time is an extremely hard decision to make for any parent.That Sunday in October, it was Rachel's turn to make it.........
There is a fair bit of back story to Rachel and Ben's life up till this point which becomes evident throughout the story from beginning to end knitting it's way into the plot.

What attracted me with this novel is the fact that it wasn't like any other 'child goes missing' book.It isn't soft,mushy and teary or showing it from Bens side.It does something very different and tells the story mainly from Rachel Jenner and DI Clemo's day by day view point.The chapters being defined by names as oppose to numbers which switch back and forth between the characters.This is something that normally confuses me in other books but Gilly Macmillan has pulled this off smoothly and kept the whole story flowing equally throughout.One characters chapter didn't over shoot the other which can be an easy thing to do when writing this way.They ran along side each other as to complement each other.
I particularly enjoyed the style of this book.There were chapters put together similar to a play script format.This is evident in the chapters of sessions where DI Clemo is chatting to his counsellor.Gilly Macmillan also adds in emails and shows what can occur on social media pages during a case like this.All this variety adds to the palpable tension as the clock is ticking.Twists and multiple suspects keep you turning the pages and wanting to read more.Between some of the chapters is some facts which are clearly referenced and accompany the story nicely along the way.

The ending was superb.I thought it was going to end rather abruptly and give me that lost something feeling but it didn't.It followed through and gave closure to the story.Gilly Macmillan seems to looks after her story but also her readers.
You can see that a lot of research has gone into putting this book together.
A fabulous, easy read thriller that I would recommend to anyone who likes this kind of story.Certainly has become one of my favourites.

5 out of 5 stars for this fabulous read.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Read from November 27th - 29th 2015.

Published 2013 by Headline

Format Hardcover - 248 pages

Review	How many times can I say "I really really loved this book" in this review space? It deserves all the I LOVED ITS going. I rated it 4.5 stars and it should have got a 5 star rating.The only thing that put a halt on that for me was the ending which I just felt in the last few pages lacked the powerfulness and grip that the rest of the book gave and so I considered it let the rest down just a tiny little bit. The book is full of magic, fantasy and fun and fear mixed into one, cleverly entwining reality, dreams and nightmares into a few gripping pages.It is crammed with it.Crammed with Neil Gaiman's 'out there' imagination. I finished it very quickly as I couldn't stop smiling and turning the pages.I really don't know how I managed to go to work the next morning. I loved and connected with all the characters and really wanted to support and protect the main protagonist.Neil engages the reader so very well into the lives of each character. A beautifully written book for adults about childhood, although I believe some 'mature' minded young adults would enjoy it too. Be aware, parts of the story borders on a dark reality in a fantasy world but is so nicely done. As I was reading it, I could sense a little of Terry Pratchett and a little of Alice in Wonderland too.A much enjoyed book that I recommend to anyone that likes something a bit off the beaten track glittered with magic and fantasy. 4 out of 5 stars given.

Review

How many times can I say "I really really loved this book" in this review space?
It deserves all the I LOVED ITS going. I rated it 4.5 stars and it should have got a 5 star rating.The only thing that put a halt on that for me was the ending which I just felt in the last few pages lacked the powerfulness and grip that the rest of the book gave and so I considered it let the rest down just a tiny little bit.
The book is full of magic, fantasy and fun and fear mixed into one, cleverly entwining reality, dreams and nightmares into a few gripping pages.It is crammed with it.Crammed with Neil Gaiman's 'out there' imagination.
I finished it very quickly as I couldn't stop smiling and turning the pages.I really don't know how I managed to go to work the next morning.
I loved and connected with all the characters and really wanted to support and protect the main protagonist.Neil engages the reader so very well into the lives of each character.
A beautifully written book for adults about childhood, although I believe some 'mature' minded young adults would enjoy it too.
Be aware, parts of the story borders on a dark reality in a fantasy world but is so nicely done.
As I was reading it, I could sense a little of Terry Pratchett and a little of Alice in Wonderland too.A much enjoyed book that I recommend to anyone that likes something a bit off the beaten track glittered with magic and fantasy.

4 out of 5 stars given.

Saturday 12 March 2016

My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises by Fredrik Backman

Read from August 18th - 26th 2015.

Published June 4th 2015 by Sceptre Books

Format Hardcover - 320 pages

Review	LOVED IT, LOVED IT, LOVED IT!!! Ok, calm down. A mix of Alice in Wonderland verses Narnia,kept me engrossed throughout.Beautifully written.The beginning had me chuckling away at the relationship between Elsa who is almost nearly eight and her rather non granny eccentric like grandmother who takes Elsa into a pretend fantasy world not like any other. Elsa is a precocious child,cheeky and at times appeared a little rude but so insightful and very caring. Be aware, there is a few 'bad words' throughout which is relevant to the character it comes from and definitely an adult/young adult read. The book is more like two stories rolled into one. I struggled to see her as a seven year old to be fair but the book is remarkable and amazing and I could not put it down.I wanted more...and more.....and more. Taken from the blurb- 'Granny has been telling fairy tales for as long as Elsa can remember. In the beginning they were only to make Elsa go to sleep, and to get her to practise granny's secret language, and a little because granny is just about as nutty as a granny should be. But lately the stories have another dimension as well. Something Elsa can't quite put her finger on...' Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy. Standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa's best, and only, friend. At night Elsa runs to her grandmother's stories, to the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas. There, everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal. So when Elsa's grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has hurt, it marks the beginning of Elsa's greatest adventure. Her grandmother's letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones-but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other. My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises is told with the same comic accuracy and beating heart as Fredrik Backman's bestselling debut novel, A Man Called Ove. It is a story about life and death and one of the most important human rights: the right to be different. 5 stars given for this book.

Review

LOVED IT, LOVED IT, LOVED IT!!! Ok, calm down.
A mix of Alice in Wonderland verses Narnia,kept me engrossed throughout.Beautifully written.The beginning had me chuckling away at the relationship between Elsa who is almost nearly eight and her rather non granny eccentric like grandmother who takes Elsa into a pretend fantasy world not like any other. Elsa is a precocious child,cheeky and at times appeared a little rude but so insightful and very caring. Be aware, there is a few 'bad words' throughout which is relevant to the character it comes from and definitely an adult/young adult read.
The book is more like two stories rolled into one.

I struggled to see her as a seven year old to be fair but the book is remarkable and amazing and I could not put it down.I wanted more...and more.....and more.

Taken from the blurb- 'Granny has been telling fairy tales for as long as Elsa can remember. In the beginning they were only to make Elsa go to sleep, and to get her to practise granny's secret language, and a little because granny is just about as nutty as a granny should be. But lately the stories have another dimension as well. Something Elsa can't quite put her finger on...'

Elsa is seven years old and different. Her grandmother is seventy-seven years old and crazy. Standing-on-the-balcony-firing-paintball-guns-at-men-who-want-to-talk-about-Jesus-crazy. She is also Elsa's best, and only, friend. At night Elsa runs to her grandmother's stories, to the Land of Almost-Awake and the Kingdom of Miamas. There, everybody is different and nobody needs to be normal.

So when Elsa's grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has hurt, it marks the beginning of Elsa's greatest adventure. Her grandmother's letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones-but also to the truth about fairytales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other.

My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises is told with the same comic accuracy and beating heart as Fredrik Backman's bestselling debut novel, A Man Called Ove. It is a story about life and death and one of the most important human rights: the right to be different.

5 stars given for this book.

Order of Seven by Beth Teliho

Read from December 10th - 19th 2015.

Published April 7th 2015 by Branches & Ink Press

Format Paperback - 240 pages

Review	A win.......looks fab. I have just received my signed copy with free bookmark in the post.Wish I could attach a photo. Different is the word I'd use to describe this book.It isn't like anything I have ever read before and probably anything I have yet to read.This book got better as it went along. It wasn't a book that gave the wham bam,wow,jump at you factor but that was ok, not every book needs to be that way and sometimes it is nice to read something a little more mellow. This book gives us some interesting characters each with their own back stories full of unique gifts. I enjoyed how the relationships between the young people and their parents intertwined and the history that develops into their current lives. What I liked about this story is because it is so unique, I just never knew where it was taking me.I particularly enjoyed the fact that we, as the readers were finding out 'the story' as the characters were.Once the story really kicked in, I found it giving me a new surprise at many points throughout. If I had to pinpoint things that didn't work for me then I would say apart from their capabilities, how bland the characters appeared at the beginning.There didn't appear to be much depth behind them which made any kind of connection with these characters difficult.I got the feeling that Beth Teliho wrote it without feeling that too BUT........ I loved the book.I liked the story full of prophecies, runes, magic and 'mind games'. The story had a fair amount of intricate detail from beginning to end which filled the pages with reading pleasure. If you want to read a YA book that shows something original and new, then this is the book for you and I would encourage you to give it a go. I would like to think that Beth Teliho would carry this story on. 4 out of 5 stars given.

Review

A win.......looks fab.
I have just received my signed copy with free bookmark in the post.Wish I could attach a photo.

Different is the word I'd use to describe this book.It isn't like anything I have ever read before and probably anything I have yet to read.This book got better as it went along.
It wasn't a book that gave the wham bam,wow,jump at you factor but that was ok, not every book needs to be that way and sometimes it is nice to read something a little more mellow.
This book gives us some interesting characters each with their own back stories full of unique gifts.
I enjoyed how the relationships between the young people and their parents intertwined and the history that develops into their current lives.
What I liked about this story is because it is so unique, I just never knew where it was taking me.I particularly enjoyed the fact that we, as the readers were finding out 'the story' as the characters were.Once the story really kicked in, I found it giving me a new surprise at many points throughout.

If I had to pinpoint things that didn't work for me then I would say apart from their capabilities, how bland the characters appeared at the beginning.There didn't appear to be much depth behind them which made any kind of connection with these characters difficult.I got the feeling that Beth Teliho wrote it without feeling that too BUT........

I loved the book.I liked the story full of prophecies, runes, magic and 'mind games'. The story had a fair amount of intricate detail from beginning to end which filled the pages with reading pleasure.
If you want to read a YA book that shows something original and new, then this is the book for you and I would encourage you to give it a go.
I would like to think that Beth Teliho would carry this story on.

4 out of 5 stars given.

Zebinoco Book Reviews.

Pages

Saturday 26 March 2016

The Babble Hinge - 3.

From a Poison Pen by B.P. Smythe

Friday 25 March 2016

The Surrogate (Brennan & Esposito #1) by Tania Carver

Monday 21 March 2016

Incubus (Fairwick Chronicles #1) by Carol Goodman

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter #1)

In Too Deep by Bea Davenport

The Bat (Harry Hole #1) by Jo Nesbø, Don Bartlett (Translator)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Trilogy of Four (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy #1-4) by Douglas Adams

Sunday 20 March 2016

The Babble Hinge - 2.

What kind of day has today been? a fair one, I think. After working a few hours overtime yesterday afternoon, today was MY day. My weekend to relax, read, play with the kitties, oh and do some housework I guess.

Saturday 19 March 2016

The Story of Jane Doe by R.A. Budden

Friday 18 March 2016

The Babble Hinge - 1.

The Girl at Midnight (The Girl at Midnight #1) by Melissa Grey

Monday 14 March 2016

Itch Rocks (Itch #2) by Simon Mayo

Sunday 13 March 2016

The Night Stalker (Robert Hunter #3) by Chris Carter

The Soul Collectors (Darby McCormick #4) by Chris Mooney

Lady Firebird (The Sedumen Chronicles #2) by Orren Merton

Raven Heights Manor by Sharol Louise

This Little Piggy by Bea Davenport

Burnt Paper Sky by Gilly Macmillan (What She Knew - US Title)

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Saturday 12 March 2016

My Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologises by Fredrik Backman

Order of Seven by Beth Teliho

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