It's Monday. What Are You Reading?

Cold and snowy here in Scotland this morning.

Perfect day for curling up in the warm with a good book.

But I have to go to work.

Boo.

Today I am reading Spectacles by Sue Perkins. The cover grabbed me first of all - so eye catching.

When I began writing this book, I went home to see if my mum had kept some of my stuff. What I found was that she hadn't kept some of it. She had kept all of it - every bus ticket, postcard, school report - from the moment I was born to the moment I finally had the confidence to turn round and say 'Why is our house full of this shit?'

Sadly, a recycling 'incident' destroyed the bulk of this archive. This has meant two things: firstly, Dear Reader, you will never get to see countless drawings of wizards, read a poem about corn on the cob, or marvel at the kilos of brown flowers I so lovingly pressed as a child. Secondly, it's left me with no choice but to actually write this thing myself.

This, my first ever book, will answer questions such as 'Is Mary Berry real?', 'Is it true you wear a surgical truss?' and 'Is a non-spherically symmetric gravitational pull from outside the observable universe responsible for some of the observed motion of large objects such as galactic clusters in the universe?'

Most of this book is true. I have, of course, amplified my more positive characteristics in an effort to make you like me.

Thank you for reading.

I am only a few chapters in but enjoying it so far. Sue writes like she speaks - funny, clever and amusing. I love Mel and Sue in The Great British Bake Off so it will be good to find out more about her.

Please pop over to the Book Date to see what everyone else is reading today.

It's Monday. What Are You Reading?

2 quite different books for me this week.

I love Nick Frost as an actor (probably most well known as Simon Peggs sidekick in many films) - my favourite   film of his though is Cuban Fury.

Truths, Half truths and Little White Lies is his memoir and after seeing him on a couple of chat shows recently his life sounded quite interesting.

Can a pet really change your life?

Alfie is homeless, abandoned after his elderly owner passes away. But when he stumbles on to Edgar Road, Alfie knows he’s found his new home.

However, the street’s residents don’t agree – the last thing they need is another stray cat, and he is shooed away from many doorsteps.

But as life throws its worst at the residents of Edgar Road, they soon realise how much they all need Alfie – a cat who brings hope to the darkest times, and who will always be a friend to those in need

As a cat lover (and a volunteer with the local branch of the Cats Protection League) Alfie, The Doorstep Cat - by Rachel Wells was a bit of a no brainer ;)

Can a pet really change your life?

Alfie is homeless, abandoned after his elderly owner passes away. But when he stumbles on to Edgar Road, Alfie knows he’s found his new home.

However, the street’s residents don’t agree – the last thing they need is another stray cat, and he is shooed away from many doorsteps.

But as life throws its worst at the residents of Edgar Road, they soon realise how much they all need Alfie – a cat who brings hope to the darkest times, and who will always be a friend to those in need

Please pop over to The Book Date to see what everyone else is reading today.

Running Streak

I have signed up for my first Half Marathon.

I have roped in a friend.

I seriously need to up my fitness.

And to this end I have signed up for a couple of challenges this month.

I work for my local council and I am on its Healthy Working Lives group which is where we encourage all employees to look after themselves better - be it diet, exercise, counselling. I have been involved in the Cycle2work scheme in the Summer  and running the Route 66 walking challenge. Each participant has been given a pedometer and each team of 4 tries to walk as many steps a day as they can in order to move along Route 66 on the map.

I am walking to work on the days I don't need the car and aiming to walk a mile every lunchtime - come rain or shine and I am averaging 15000 to 20000 steps a day. I have done a fair few laps of my local park.

I am also a member of the Run Mummy Run page over on Facebook and lots of members have signed up for a running streak during the month of November. This means running every day! So far I have run on 20 days - and on the one day I didn't run I managed 40 minutes on the crosstrainer.

Today I incorporated some trail running into my 5 mile run - with a light dusting of snow.

Skywatch Friday

Lossiemouth Lighthouse.

Please pop over to the Skywatch blog for more skies from around the world.

It's Monday. What Are You Reading?

I am still reading The Year of Taking Chances by Lucy Diamond and enjoying it - lots of characters to get and know.

Lots of new books on my kindle including The Heart of Winter by Emma Hannnigan - I was lucky to get a copy of this book from Netgalley. Emma is a new author to me and I can see that she has written quite a few other books too - something to look forward to.

With the promise of December in the air and the hedgerows laced with frost, Huntersbrook House has never looked more beautiful.

Once the Craig family's beloved home, the house has been transformed into a magnificent countryside venue. And its first booking couldn't be more perfect - the Christmas wedding of a well-known film actress.

Yet, behind the scenes, the Craig children are feeling the chill. Pippa is skating on thin ice with her reckless personal life; Joey, preoccupied with the business, is blind to his fiancé's struggles. And Lainey's future is dealt a cruel blow.

As the wedding approaches, everyone hopes the house will weave its magic. But can the Craigs put their differences aside and pull together as a family once more?

I don't often have 3 books on the go - but the next one is due back at the library really soon - Songs of Love and War is the new book by Santa Montiefiore. My friend introduced me to this author and I have to say her stories soon pull you in and are usually set in some wonderful  locations.

Their lives were mapped out ahead of them. But love and war will change everything… 

West Cork, Ireland, 1900. The year marks the start of a new century, and the birth of three very different women: Kitty Deverill, the flame-haired Anglo-Irish daughter of the castle, Bridie Doyle, the daughter of the Irish cook and Celia Deverill, Kitty's flamboyant English cousin. 

Together they grow up in the dreamy grounds of the family's grand estate, Castle Deverill. Yet their peaceful way of life is threatened when Ireland's struggle for independence reaches their isolated part of the country. 

A bastion of British supremacy, the castle itself is in danger of destruction as the war closes in around it, and Kitty, in love with the rebel Jack O'Leary and enflamed by her own sense of patriotism, is torn between loyalty to her Anglo-Irish family and her deep love of Ireland and Jack. 

Wrenched apart by betrayal, their world turned to ash, the girls' friendship seems all but lost as they are swept to different parts of the globe. Yet, they have one thing in common: a fierce and unwavering longing for Castle Deverill and all the memories contained within it.

Please pop over to The Book Date to see what everyone else is reading today.

Christmas at Lilac Cottage by Holly Martin

This is the first book by Holly Martin I have read - although I do appear to have several on my Kindle waiting for me.

Last year I don't think I read any Christmas themed books at all and by the time I thought about it the festive season was over. So this year I thought I would start earlier so Christmas at Lilac Cottage is my first one.

Welcome to the charming seaside town of White Cliff Bay, where Christmas is magical and love is in the air…

Penny Meadows loves her home – a cosy cottage decorated with pretty twinkling fairy lights and stunning views over the town of White Cliff Bay. She also loves her job as an ice-carver, creating breathtaking sculptures. Yet her personal life seems frozen. 

When Henry and daughter Daisy arrive at the cottage to rent the annex, Penny is determined to make them feel welcome. But while Daisy is friendly, Henry seems guarded. 

As Penny gets to know Henry, she realises there is more to him than meets the eye. And the connection between them is too strong to ignore… 

While the spirit of the season sprinkles its magic over the seaside town and preparations for the ice sculpting competition and Christmas eve ball are in full swing, can Penny melt the ice and allow love in her heart? And will this finally be the perfect Christmas she’s been dreaming of? 

I did read a description of this book liking it to a mug of creamy hot chocolate with marshmallows that you will not want to put down - and it is right.

I loved this book right from the beginning - Holly has written some lovely characters in Penny, Henry and Daisy - you are just willing the relationship to get going. Add in an off beat job for Penny as an ice sculptor, a Cornish village and snow and you have a warm and fuzzy feeling feel good story.

I am so glad I have the second book in the White Cliff Bay series  called Snowflakes on Silver Cove to read really soon.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

Skywatch Friday

On Sunday 1st November I took part in the inaugural Brodie 10k road race.

I was only notified I had a place late on the Thursday night.

But the day dawned bright and sunny.

A beautiful location for a run.

Bit gutted I didn't manage a PB and finish in under an hour - but 1 hour 41 seconds isn't to be sniffed at for only my second 10k.

Please pop over to the Skywatch blog for more skies from around the world.

It's Monday. What Are You Reading?

A new week and new books.

I picked up a title from my local library by Anna Jacobs but after reading the blurb I discovered it was the second in a series. So back to the library I went for the first one. I do like a historical family saga every now and then for a change:

1945 - the war in Europe is over. Most women can't wait for their men to return, but in the small town of Rivenshaw in Lancashire, Judith Crossley fears having her husband back in the house. He'd grown into a bully and a drunkard, and on the occasions he'd come home from leave, he'd hit her.

He wasn't a good father either - when their eldest daughter Kitty won a prestigious scholarship to the private girls' grammar school, Doug had tried to stop her going, saying it would turn her into a snob. Luckily Judith had help from an unlikely ally - Maynard Esher, from an old aristocratic family on the other side of town - but Judith knows that when her husband returns, she'll be blamed for letting Kitty take up her school place. She decides that for the children's sake, she must leave her husband. But with the house rented in his name, and other accommodation scarce, where on earth can they go?

Helen Bretherton is returning from being a Land Girl in Wiltshire. Her great-aunt has left her a house bordering the park in Rivenshaw, but it was partly bombed and is in a poor condition. Still, she decides to camp out in it, if it's at all habitable, because she has nowhere else to go. However, when she arrives, she finds a displaced Polish man is already living there . .

After thoroughly enjoying Sweet Temptations by Lucy Diamond last week I have started another of her books last night - The Year of Taking Chances. I have high expectations of this one so hope I am not disappointed.

It's New Year's Eve, and Gemma and Spencer Bailey are throwing a house party. There's music, dancing, champagne and all their best friends under one roof. It's going to be a night to remember.

Also at the party is Caitlin, who has returned to the village to pack up her much-missed mum's house and to figure out what to do with her life; and Saffron, a PR executive who's keeping a secret which no amount of spin can change. The three women bond over Gemma's dodgy cocktails and fortune cookies, and vow to make this year their best one yet.

But as the following months unfold, Gemma, Saffron and Caitlin find themselves tested to their limits by shocking new developments. Family, love, work, home - all the things they've taken for granted - are thrown into disarray. Under pressure, they are each forced to rethink their lives and start over. But dare they take a chance on something new?

Please pop over to The Book Date to see what everyone else is reading today.

Skywatch Friday

This week saw the start of the Route 66 walking challenge at work. The aim is to walk as many steps as we can to work our way across a map of the world in 4 weeks. We are in teams of 4 and we have 2 teams competing from our office along - nothing like a bit of friendly rivalry!

2 of us are runners - which helps. But it also means getting out of the office at a lunchtime and walking around the local park which is handily only a stones throw from the office.

And an added bonus - when not taking photos - is that I have found I can read my kindle whilst walking. Nothing like a spot of multi tasking although I do realise it might all end in disaster.

Loving the autumn colours in the park:

Please pop over to the Skywatch  blog for more skies from around the world.

It's Monday. What Are You Reading?

My pile of books to be read is getting out of control. On my bookshelves. From the library. And on my Kindle!!

Today I am reading 2 cracking books.

Sweet Sensation by Lucy Diamond. She is one of my favourite authors and this one is about friends, love, losing weight - and cake! As someone who has recently lost 4 stone I can relate to so much of the storyline.

Maddie’s getting it from all sides. Her bitchy new boss at the radio station humiliates her live on air about her figure, her glamour-puss mum keeps dropping not-so-subtle hints that Maddie should lose weight and her kids are embarrassed to be seen with her after the disastrous Mums’ race at their school sports day. Something’s got to change…

Maddie joins the local weight-watching group expecting more humiliation but instead finds two unlikely allies – bitter divorcee Lauren who, despite running a dating agency, has signed off romance for ever and shy Jess, the beautician, who’s desperate to fit into a size 10 wedding dress for her Big Day.

On my kindle I am reading my first book by Holly Martin called Christmas as Lilac Cottage. I know it is a bit early to be reading Christmas stories but last year I read none as I left it too late - but not this year!!

Welcome to the charming seaside town of White Cliff Bay, where Christmas is magical and love is in the air…

Penny Meadows loves her home – a cosy cottage decorated with pretty twinkling fairy lights and stunning views over the town of White Cliff Bay. She also loves her job as an ice-carver, creating breathtaking sculptures. Yet her personal life seems frozen.

When Henry and daughter Daisy arrive at the cottage to rent the annex, Penny is determined to make them feel welcome. But while Daisy is friendly, Henry seems guarded.

As Penny gets to know Henry, she realises there is more to him than meets the eye. And the connection between them is too strong to ignore…

While the spirit of the season sprinkles its magic over the seaside town and preparations for the ice sculpting competition and Christmas eve ball are in full swing, can Penny melt the ice and allow love in her heart? And will this finally be the perfect Christmas she’s been dreaming of?

Please pop over to The Book Date to see what everyone else is reading today.