reading by the fireplace

I picked this up as a light read to read through on a train journey. I completed half of it on the way there and the other half on the way back. I'm not a huge fan of Mrs Brown at all but my Nana enjoys it, so I'm often sat watching it with her. It's written exactly as Mrs Brown would say, some of it does make you giggle and others just cringe. It's typically irish and just out there. It's very enjoyable and I'm sure even if you're not a fan of the show, you'll probably find something you'll enjoy in this. Not a bad book! :)

Loved Loved Loved this book. It's just amazing. The story tells of Beth and Lincoln. Who work in the same building yet don't really know each other. Or do they? Lincoln is in charge of reading all emails flagged as inappropriate and Beth, well her emails end up in the folder often. Through reading email exchanges between friends Beth and Jennifer, Lincoln slowly falls in love with Beth. But he's never met her. Beth, see's a cute guy at work and without realising falls for him too, but she's no idea who he is exactly. This book is just great, Beth is a funny, charming, happy character who is just so quirky. She' prety much tells it like it is and the banter between herself and Jennifer makes you smile. Lincoln is the sweet guy, the one who is harmless and the one all mums want us girls to bring home. Lincoln is prety much you're average geek, he still lives at home with his mum, goes to dungeon and dragons nights with his friends and keeps himself to himself. The story makes you feel so much. Lincoln at first, annoyed me because I thought he was just odd and slightly creepy. But as you read through its just perfect. Creepyness can lead to happiness if you have a girl who doesn't find it all completely odd. Rainbow's books are great, they're easy to read and she's so quirky that you'll see so much of her personality shine through, either via the characters or just situations they're in. You'll fall in love with this book so much.

It's pretty rare for me to buy a book and read it in the same month its brought. But I wanted to read Landline straight away as I'm off to meet to lovely Rainbow Rowell at the end of the month, her last date in the UK. So i wanted to ensure i read this in order to know all i can. Landline is not YA, it's an adult book, so very different to Eleanor & Park and the amazing Fangirl. This is the first none YA book I've read of Rainbows (I'm reading Attachments next!). So I wasn't really sure what to expect. The plot about a magical phone is pretty out there. Georgie loves her job, she makes people laugh along side her sidekick Seth. They've finally gotten the chance to do their own show, but it's come at the worse possible time. Christmas. Or Christmas with the family in Omaha to be presist. Neal is Georgies husband and decides rather than to let his mother down, takes their two daughters to Omaha for christmas and leave Georgie to do her show. Seems pretty straightforward. I'm really not sure how i feel about this book. I'm really torn betwen three/four stars. It's good, there are some great characters in here, Heather who is Georgies sister and Seth. They are wrote great. The phone, is Georgies old phone from when she was a teenager, and after her family believe Neal has left her, she's pretty much gone back to her childhood home. After constant tries of calling Neal on her mobile, to which he never answers or his mother/her daughters do, she calls from this phone which magically gets throuh to him. Except its not him, not recent him, its Neal from fifteen years ago. What would you do if you were given the chance to almost re-write everything. Would you change it or would you just leave it be? It's tough and Georgie plays along as best she can, until she realises there could be a possibility her children are written out of this. So she fights, trying to bring everything that seperates them, back, to the surface. This book, goes through the emotions of guilt, how one of them achives their dream whilst the other has no idea what his is. Love and family are big too. I did enjoy how Rainbow captured the years, how it switched from now and then. I did enjoy seeing how Heather & Georgie grew together. Although the story is about Neal & Georgie and Georgies fight for them to stay together, because basically Neal doesn't really do much. He just seems so miserable and at times, I kept wondering why Georgie faught it so much. But she really did love him. The ending is your 'perfect' type. It's pretty much what any person who wanted to be with their loved ones would do. A little bit like, Home Alone 2 or Sleepless in Seattle. That type of ending. But I can't say I really saw a future for these two. It is an enjoyable read and will leave you with enough to think about, as i'm sure anyone could view parts of their lives through this story. I'll probably have to re-read this later to make up my mind.

I was given this book for my birthday, last year. I just never got around to reading it as whenever i started i got distracted. However i picked it up and i loved it. This is the second instalment of the actually series, although i've not read the first at all. Although it's important, it can be read alone as the first chapter or so, it gives you an insight as to what happened previously and how the characters came together. Admitidly i did find the start a little slow to take off and was wondering exactly what was going on. Then the characters, Scarlett and Oscar upped and went to New York, it all just took off from there. New York was where the booked picked up pace and got throughly enjoyable. Scarlett is the main character in this book and Oscar is her very over the top friend. Both wonderfully written. Although everything seems to happen to them or least Scarlett whilst she is in New York. Seriously the girl is only there for a few days and meets TV crews and an amazing actor, Bradley Cooper. Who perhaps was written a little out of character in this book, but great nontheless. Scarlett is just adorable and well she's probably the sweetest person ever, although ditzy at times, her heart is in the right place. She only wants to do good for everyone. There were some characters in the book i was annoyed with, at first, Sean being the main one. He was Scarletts other half and a right pain in the backside when he just suddenly appeared becuase of an annoying ex. But he redeemed himself towards the end. Everything about this book makes you smile, even the none stop crazy movie references, although when I went to NYC i did pretty much the same, although to a lesser extent. The ending, perfect. Like really. This is the second book i've read this year that has just the most romantic ending ever. And I think the other was also set in New York. What is it about that city? Anyways just read it. It's great, theres mischeif, mayhem and a really great reunion towards the end. Which makes you question who you was routing for in the book.

I won this book along with two others over on twitter. Orion Books were giving away some if you could guess which team would win in a particular match, this one was Ghana vs USA. I guess USA would win and volia i won three books, one with stories in each country and this one about the world cup. If i'm honest, I hate football, I can't stand it. Seriously they are overpaid and such wimps. However I do love the world cup. It's something to be very patriotic about and I always watch the matches. I'm also a big geek for facts. I love facts. I love anything that allows me to show off about some things. This book is easy to read. Its bright, colorful and full of pictures. It tells you from when the first world cup was played to who's won it the most times (Brazil), the fouls, and how many goals some games had. It's wonderful, at the back it tells you which country hosted the game and who won and which stadium it was at. England have sadly only ever won once but that can't be surprising. It seems those countries that host it, tend to go further in the game. Perhaps it's the fact you have the support right there. Too bad though that womens football doesn't get as reconised as the mens. But a great book.

A stalker who won't stop at anything, even twenty five years won't make him back down. Really wasn't expecting to like this one. I'm not sure why. But once again I loved book seven in the Rizzoli and Isles series. I can't get enough of this pairing. A mummy uncovered, alot of press and hopes to work out how old this appears. When a bullet is found. A life is suddenly thrown into the spotlight and everything gets crazy from there. Typical Tess. A book that is tottally unputdownable, where it leaves you guessing right through to the very end. And throw in a couple of dead bodies, a few guns and you have a great read. There is obviously the back story of the two main characters going through the book but I think with this series you can read them all alone. You dont' need to read them in order (I've certainly not) and they will still make sense. I enjoy the crime parts, the murders, the mystery. I like all that. it's nice the characters have a background but i prefer all the other bits. The characters were so well written, it left you wondering what was going to happen next. There were so many possibilities so many characters who could be behind whats happening, that when your told whom it is, it makes you wonder how you missed it. But thats good. i don't like obvious stories. I've gotta get me the other R&I books to add!

Won in a goodreads give-away ages ago. I just kinda forgot to read it and hardbacks are sometimes so heavy! Anyways the debut novel from Karen Perry, who actually isn't real. This is two authors, Paul Perry and Karen Gillece from Dublin. The book made me curious which was why i entered the comp. And reading it, I felt slightly disapointed at first. It seemed to drag on like nothing was happening. The basis of this story is that a couple living in Morocco at the time an earthquake hits. Unfortunately their boy, Dillion is in the house of which crumbles to nothing. With no body found, its presumed he is dead. Moving back to Ireland, the couple, manage to in their own ways move on. The story picks up then on five years later. Thats not to say they've forgotten their little boy, its impossible to do so. But they've coped in their own ways. Probably not the best ways either. Then just a chance sighting and Harry is thrown off course and back into believing Dillion is alive. But impossible, and in Ireland. It's a story with lots of twists in, lies are told, which slowly unravel. There were bits i wanted to just scream at the characters for, like who would really stay with someone, and trust them ever again, after they're caught giving a barely three year old, sleeping pills because they want a quiet night? I've not got kids, but i'd never think of doing that. Ever. T Like i said, its slow to start off with, but once you're past the first 100 or so pages, it picks up and really draws you in. I wasn't expecting the ending at all. I love books that aren't predictable in their endings. Not sure why this was released else where as the 'Innocent Sleep'. But worth picking up.

The final book, I own that is to do with the Harry Potter Series. Written for Children in Need, this gives us an insight to the wizzarding game of Quidditch. How it has changed through the years, the various ways different countries played it and how the balls, got to be what is used today. It's interesting but I did stray a little. I liked the facts the way the game changed, but then there was so much about the different teams that I got kinda bored after a while. It's a good book, a nice little collection to add. But you need to really love the game of Quidditch to really appreicate it.

A book that J.K. Rowling wrote in aid of Children In Need. A great additon to the Harry Potter world. This is for anyone wishing to add to their collection, with a great imagination. Its full of fantasy creatures and information on how dangerous they are to muggles. Its quite fun and how J.K Rowling came up with half the names for these creatures is beyond me. There some of the obvious ones in there, such as Pixies, Unicorns and those that are found in the Harry Potter books, plus many many more. I think its wonderful how much an author loves a series so much that there can be books released that provide a little more insight to this amazing wizarding world. One for the collection!

Awkward. Teenagers. Love. Weirdness. Cute. This had the whole lot. And a creepy guy who, seriously, should have been done away with. Yack! The second book I've read by the wonderful Rainbow. It's certainly aimed at teenagers, or those who want to remember being in love, and being a teenager in love. Written very much in the third person, although headed by who was saying what. It was a really easy read. I felt the embarressment for Eleanor, I just wished everyone would just leave her be, but the people who we thought were the bad ones, amazingly wernt in the end. Not entirely anyways.I wanted Eleanor to believe in herself, she wanted to stand out which at times when you are a teenager is probably the last thing you want to do, if you're not ready to face what comes of it. Park, was geeky, adorable and slightly confusing. He liked Eleanor but didn't like what others thought of him liking her. Until it got to the point where he didn't care and then he really liked her. I loved his mum though, Mindy was great. I want a mum like her. The ending, wow. What a twist. I'm not sure if it was me, or maybe there were some clear indications throughout the story pointing to this, but I really didn't see it coming. And the final page, yay! Being a teenager is hard enough, without love and a complicated family to boot. Eleanor is wonderfully written and Rainbow captures the whole teenage culter, awkwardness and longing perfectly.

A collection of five small magical tales, with probably the most notable from the Harry Potter series 'The Tale of the Three Brothers' included. I enjoyed all stories equally, including the small footnotes. There was a sort section after each story from Dumbledore, who tries to explain his view on the tales and any additional information that seems relevant. A lovely collection that I'm sure every fan of Harry Potter will add to their books.

A beautiful tale of love that knows no boundaries. I honestly didn't think i'd enjoy this book, but it was really captivating. The story centres on two characters who fall in love but are from opposite walks of life, one a Japanese who's parents are insisting marry within their culter and another who is american. They fall in love and run away to get married, however war then breaks out. Pearl Harbour to be exact. Americans vs Japanese. It shows just how much love can really overcome and how being loyal to the country you were born in doesn't make you any less true to your culture. I enjoyed everything about this book, the battle to survive, to be with the ones you love. To show you loyalty when all others think you're mad. The characters were written amazingly. I loved Lane and Maddie. TJ was just brillant and i was so gutted towards the end. It seemed like everything would finally solve itself. A must read.

A great debut by Luca Veste. I seen a lot about this book on my twitter timeline and was curious. I like crime books, so figured i'd give it a go. It's good. Really good. There's a lot of psychology in it, it's dark in some places and you're constantly left thinking who is it behind it all. DI David Murphy is called upon to investigate the murder of a girl, he figures it's going to be an easy shut case, with the boyfriend being the cause. Throw in a couple of more bodies, some crazy note-leaving psyco and he realises this is more than a simple murder, its a serial killer, targeting Liverpool and more presistly the university. Why and who is doing them? There are so many moments in this book, i thought I had figured out who had done it, then, they get killed and I was like, oh, well that wasn't right. Finally when you do figure it out, it's like what... and then another twist is added and it's just mad. Like crazily so. I loved the notes, i'm big on mystery, so trying to understand the references to unethnical practises, done in the past, was quiet intriguing. Give this book a go, i'm certain you won't be disapointed.

I loved this book so much. It's really easy to read. The cover reminds me so much of the friends sceen where Phoebe says that Ross & Rachel are lobsters. Just my take on it. Anyways, this book is funny. Don Tillman has aspergers although he doesn't realise it, his life is ruled by timely schedules, nothing done out of sync, its what he knows and it's how he gets by. However deciding one day he wanted a partner or wife, he decides to embark upon 'the wife project' compilying a questionaire to give out to females to see their suitablity in a relationship with him. Throw in a girl, Rosie, who through a little bit of confusion turns Don's life and he's routine upside down. This book has everything in it, embarressing moments, just odd sayings and lots of humor. I couldnt' put it down and read it in two days. I found i could relate to so much in this book, that it scared me. Just the way that Don felt in situations, not through any fault of his own. A truely captivating story that you will not want to put down.

i really enjoyed this story, it took me a while to get into but it was good. I've had this on my shelf for over a year, I just kept putting off starting it and reading something else. Then recently I read, that all books by non-british authors were being taken out of the english lit GCSE's exams (taken at 15/16) and was so annoyed, this booking being one that will not be read any longer by british children in school. So because I could, i read it and i'm glad i did. There is so much you can take away from this book, so many lessons it teaches you. It makes me thankful i'm growing up in times that being different isn't bad. I loved the characters, little scout was just adorable, her quirky i don't care attitude made me enjoy this so much more. The tales of Boo Radley, they got me thinking it was him who commited the crime, and not someone else. The secrecy around him and everything constantly had you wondering why he was hiding. Yet, towards the end, you reaise he didn't. Children have such wonderful imaginations, they can make the innocent seem so guilty. This book has everything from sadness, happiness, the tough times of racism and those fighing for justice. I recommend this to everyone.

This book was just amazing. I loved bits of it and didn't like others, but obviously enjoyed it so much it was worth four stars. This book is totally for anyone who doesn't feel like they fit in with the real world, where they like to escape reality by reading or writing fanfiction. I love fanfiction. I'm such a huge fan of it, i'm a total geek. I love how we get the chances to expand a character into other worlds, or situations that isn't covered by the main book/show. However back to this book: Rainbow captured everything brilliantly. I loved Cath, i could totally relate to her social awkwardness and her worrysome nature. I understood her need to step back from situations even if she wanted to be part of it but just not knowing how to be. Whilst her twin sister Wren, was the total oposite and when venturing off to college wanted nothing to do with the virtual world and at times her sister. I think my favourite character though was Levi, who wouldn't love him? He was written perfectly, a hidden geek with a lot of patience. I loved his relaxed approach to everything and his happy nature. Even Regan whom Cath shared a room with and was Levi's ex was just great with her witty lines and blatent honesty. My only critisim with this book, was the hidden fanfiction story. It was pretty pointless and most readers will instantly reconise it as a take on 'Harry Potter'. Having just completed that series, I disliked it appearing in here under the heading of Simon Snow. No No No. But if you ignore that, it's a pretty good book.