Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Tuesday

Looking for Books to Read - Stuck at Home & Need Help!


Are you stuck in the house?

If you are confined to home

             or self-isolating

                          or off work because the kids are ill

    or perhaps the weather is just too cold or stormy to get out

 then you probably want some books to read and hopefully not have to pay too much for them!



If So  

THEN 

This is the place to find all my posts on books I have bought or read or reviewed.



Just click on the pics or the Titles to find out more.



There are many Book Reviews on the blog by several authors and of different genres but a significant group of murder mysteries by Agatha Christie.








For a few other Reviews and posts on books see below:



TRAVEL

5 Travel Books about Northern Ireland




KIDS - 













If you are interested in finding out about some of my favourite authors have a look below:

Davis Bunn








There are also several short DEVOTIONALS based on

 Psalms, 

 God's Love,  

 Worship 

 Sunday Scripture

 Songs









Thursday

5 Travel Books about Northern Ireland - Need Help?


People are always telling me they Want to visit Northern Ireland.

People are always telling me they are partly Irish but have never been to see Northern Ireland or Ireland.

People used to walk up to me when we lived in America and say "I just love your accent - say something"





People are always telling me they love Ireland but unfortunately most of the time they think Belfast and Dublin are in the same country and only an hour apart.


Well for anyone who wants to visit

 Northern Ireland

 here are

 5 travel books

 which might be helpful.



PLUS make sure to read on to get the EXTRA TIP at the end.





Round the Hidden Coast of Northern Ireland from A to Z





We have a great coastline and plenty of it.

Rocky crags,  tucked away bays,  spectacular peninsulas and luscious golden sandy beaches.

Then of course we must not forget the ruins, churches and castles etc.




A Walking guide for Northern Ireland






We may not have the sunny weather of Florida and Spain but we still have great places to discover by walking.

Our mountains are not just talked about worldwide, they are even sung about.

Then of course we must not forget the Dams and reservoirs which are great attractions.




Rick Steves Snapshot of Northern Ireland






Rick Steves is famous for these snapshot travel books so probably a good one for short glimpses of many places.





Belfast Travel Guide 2020







This is a very up-to-date guide to Belfast.

You will need to think about where to stay, where to eat, and what other entertainment is on offer and especially where to get a coffee or a wee cup of tea.






Lonely Planet Pocket Belfast & The Causeway Coast






This one may be handy one to get instead of buying the two above for Belfast and the Coastal areas as it is a pocket edition.

Also it is in kindle if you don't want the pocket paperback version.



Don't forget your extra tip below






EXTRA  TIP


Most of us like to take lots and lots of pictures when we travel but don't remember to take enough notes so that we remember later just where that amazing picture or the strange picture was taken.
Especially if you are like me and you get your days and your meals and your places all mixed up when there are so many in that fantastic trip we took the previous year.

I that sound a bit like you then this extra book might be something to consider buying or if you are "crafty" maybe you could take their idea and make one from a notebook.  Mind you I think a lot of notebooks are so expensive these days that this turns out to be very reasonable in price.



I Don't Need Therapy I Just Need to go to Northern Ireland








Whatever you decide I do think you really need to come to

 Northern Ireland

 and

 see our beautiful

 WEE Country.






Disclaimer:
I do not benefit from any purchases of these books.











Tuesday

SSHH Don't Wake The Baby! - Christmas Children's Book Review


Disclaimer:
I have NOT been offered a free product to write this blog post nor any other compensation.  
The views expressed here are completely my own.

It's Christmas time again and it's Christmas Book Review time.

Today it is a book for young children about the real focus of Christmas.








We have always felt that books are very special to our family and share a love of reading but now that Fred and I have got to the "grandparent stage" we are once again looking at, buying and reading books that are suitable for the "0 - 5 years" age group.


So when I heard about this title and the fact that these books can be got cheaply - more about that later I - and knew the people who were recommending them were reliable (very important!) I was quick to tell my friend at church and if you read on you will find out what that resulted in.






Well back to testing out the book.

If a book is meant for that young age group then it should be tested with children of that age.

We have 3 grandchildren Matthew just turned 4 at the start of last month, Ruby 2 yrs 5 months and Sarah 10 weeks old, all of whom fall in this age group.

Unfortunately Sarah was fast asleep when we arrived back with Matthew to his mum and dad from having a sleepover at our house so we did not lift her out of the cot to disturb her but it will not be long before she is on Nanny or Granddad's knee as we read other stories to them all.


(I forgot to get a picture of Sarah in her cot asleep but here is one from a few days previously when she was asleep in my arms.)





So you can see this book was very apt for Matthew and Ruby because of baby Sarah and Yes even though we were reading the book together and mum & dad were chatting & laughing in the kitchen we didn't wake Baby Sarah.



We had cuddled into the big corner of our son & daughter-in-law's sofa in their living room where we always go in their house to read our storybooks together.



Ruby gets very serious when she is looking at a new book and always seems like she is trying to take in everything on the pages.






At first I think Matthew thought maybe this book was better suited to Ruby's age than to his but it wasn't too long until he was sitting forward to see the great illustrations.






At one stage you have to turn the book round in a circle to read the spiral writing and this really got Matthew's attention






 plus he then decided that he needed to check something from the previous pages before he would let me continue reading.







The book goes back and forth between referring to a baby in the family and the baby Jesus and this did not confuse either Matthew or Ruby at all.






We have a saying in our family - one which was started by our children when they were young
"No Hugging, No Kissing!" they would shout when Fred and I would get too close to each other - and it is still chanted all these years later.

So we laughed when we got to this page






The book was just a nice length for Ruby who was very attentive the whole way through.







Matthew however was a bit sad that it wasn't longer and didn't want me to close it after I read the final words.






The book is a lovely size (6ins x 6ins)  for slipping into a handbag or for little hands like Ruby's to hold.


There is also a hardback version of the book which is approximately 9ins by 9ins but I have not seen this in person.  It would be an ideal size and a sturdier type book for using to read to a group of children.


Here you can see the back cover of the book






So back to the point where I had told my friend in church about this book BEFORE I even had a copy. 

In fact the copy I had for this review was given to me by her because once she had looked it up on the website she just felt it was the right book to get for our church to give to all the children who come to our "Sonshine Club" each Tuesday (our Mums & Tots group).

She ordered 60 books to have today for our Christmas Party and because this book focuses in on Jesus as a baby and the special reason for this baby it is an ideal gift for the children to learn about Jesus, the true reason of Christmas and also for the mums and dads and grannies and granddads who sit cuddled up with the little ones they love and read of the love of God at Christmas.







Now what would be the point in me telling you about this beautiful book which would make an ideal gift for any young child if I did not tell you where to get it.

This book is written by Helen Buckley and illustrated by Jenny Brake and can be ordered from  10 of Those  a company which sell many of their books at great discounts in fact if you order now there is something like 40% off the retail price.

This company also sell some books in large quantities and when these were bought for our church event we got them for only £1 each.


So Deciding thought on this book?

Yes it's a big Tick from me and Fred and the grandkids.






Please note the book is not available through Amazon.co.UK or  .Com however you can find other books by the same author on Amazon HERE






Disclaimer:
I have NOT been offered a free product to write this blog post nor any other compensation.  
The views expressed here are completely my own.









Monday

What's on our Bookshelves? - Coffee & Conversation.

Do you enjoy reading?

        Do you have a lot of books?








I have 5 bookcases in my study:

  • 1 completely full of Christian novels; 
  • another has Christian novels, devotionals and Bible Study books;
  • the third has bibles, commentaries, biographies and my Agatha Christie collection (Heron Books); 
  • the fourth has language books, photo albums, map books and my hoard of books to use for the Sunday School Curriculum for Church;
  • the last one has the rest of my non-Christian novels by various authors but quite a few of Nelson DeMille, Jeffrey Archer, John Grisham, Brad Melizer, Linwood Barclay & Lee Child.






We have lived in 8 different houses since we got married and each time we move we have all these books to pack up and then find the right places in the next home for the bookshelves.  

We keep saying that one day we should be thinking of downsizing so where will we put the books then?  

If they were all available as ebooks would we throw them out and buy them as ebooks? 

I know I would be tempted to keep my nice matching Agatha Christie novels at least as I really am enjoying sitting in the sun room with my hardback copies of these as I read through them all in Chronological Order and then review them here on the blog.

My husband and I read a lot of the same books, just as we watch a lot of the same TV series and this was always very handy when it came to travelling as we took the books we both wanted to read and shared them instead of each packing our own.  

Now of course it is so much handier to just carry our iPads and Kindles and we don't have to spend time beforehand deciding on the joint book list.








The only problem now is that not all the Christian novels we would like to collect are in ebook form.

We also find that those which are available as ebooks are very expensive compared to other novels.

However I do like to keep an eye out through Twitter and Facebook for any indication of free offers on ebooks or reduced prices and swiftly go on Amazon to snap them up.
One way is to try HERE

The great thing about ebooks (apart from the fact that they are easy to carry around in the kindle or iPad) is the fact that you don't need extra bookshelves to store them in, well not real ones anyway.


"Is a book in your hand better than an ebook?"


My oldest son says a book in your hand is so much better than an ebook.
He is worse than us as he has a full wall of his apartment lined with books from floor to ceiling, plus another bookshelf on the wall beside this, then some boxes of books under his bed and of course we must not forget the several boxes of books he still has in our house under the snooker table.









This is like the Daddy.......Chips? question I mentioned in a previous post.

Books........Ebooks?     Which is it to be?




If you are interested in some recommendations for your book shelves - here are some of my favourites:

The Blue Bottle Club by Penelope Stokes

The Presence by Davis Bunn

The Panther by Nelson DeMille

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie









Tuesday

Misery Loves Company - Book Review

I was privileged to get an ebook reader copy of this book from the publishers and read it during the past week.




Synopsis:


        Don’t tell me it’s terrifying. Terrify me.

Filled with grief, Jules Belleno rarely leaves the house since her husband’s death while on duty as a police officer. Other than the reviews Jules writes on her blog, she has little contact with the outside world.

But one day when she ventures out to the local grocery store, Jules bumps into a fellow customer . . . and recognizes him as her favorite author, Patrick Reagan. Jules gushes and thoroughly embarrasses herself before Regan graciously talks with her.

And that’s the last thing she remembers—until she wakes up in a strange room with a splitting headache. She’s been kidnapped. And what she discovers will change everything she believed about her husband’s death . . . her career . . . and her faith. 





While I was reading this book I thought I couldn't relate the title of the book to the story I was reading but as at other times I know that I may have to wait until I finish the book and then I get it!

       And yes I got it!

Not having read anything by this author before, I knew I would not be expecting a certain type of writing style or plot formula and it was nice to just read and enjoy the story as it developed in the way the author had intended it to and not the way I would be expecting.

Some of the characters were a little typical but not one-dimensional and the development of the storyline in the two separate ways within the story worked quite well.

Twice I thought I knew what was going to happen and I was wrong so definitely not a predictable storyline.  I enjoyed the book as a relaxing read but also in parts of it I found I was drawn in to consider how I would react if I had to face some of the issues presented.

Taking into consideration the fact that this was written by a woman and the main character is a woman I needed to decide if this was going to be a book that would only be categorised as a women's book.  It is not action packed but action and suspense are there and the fact that the rest of the main characters are male I have to say that I would not categorize it as such.

Within the storyline the subject of happy endings or real life, possibly unhappy endings came up but I will not give spoil it by telling you what type of ending this resulted in, just read it and see for yourself.






Misery Loves Company  by  Rene Gutteridge  www.renegutteridge.com 

Published by Tyndale  www.tyndale.com 

Released in August 2013