Blog Tour for Beware of Falling Coconuts by Gillian McNeill

 

Beware of Falling Coconuts by Gillian McNeil 

 

What Did I Think:

Not sure quite where to start. 

This is such an emotional account of the authors harrowing experiences whilst undergoing treatment for breast cancer. But saying that as emotional as it was there was plenty of humour throughout.

I am lucky that I have no experience of breast cancer within my immediate circle of friends but I can see how this book would be helpful to share the experiences. It was very readable and not full of medical speak.

This book will stay with me for sometime and really brings to the fore that who you have in your life is so important.

And it also made me realise that at the age of 53 I still have not been for breast screening. I missed out just as I turned 50 and I am thinking it is now overdue but with Covid I can well imagine the service is delayed. Maybe then another health crisis waiting to raise its ugly head with all these missed routing appointments??  

 

Author Bio

 

 

Gillian was born and brought up in Monifieth. After graduating from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Gillian worked as an actress in theatre, radio and television. She is probably best known for playing the character of Lynne McNeil, in the long running soap opera Take the High Road, for Scottish Television.

 

After living in London, and then Australia for several years, she returned to Glasgow where she currently lives with her husband Alan, daughter Molly and Toy Poodle Maggie.

 

Gillian began writing and performing shows for children when Molly started school. These proved to be very popular amongst the early years audiences and gave her a taste for writing and creating her own work.

 

BEWARE OF FALLING COCONUTS is her first book.

 

After being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, and successfully treated, she wanted to do something to help others. Having previously lost her own mother, mother in law, auntie and friend to the disease, she understood only too well, the fear receiving a cancer diagnosis brought. 

 

“I didn't want Molly growing up scared. I wanted to give her a positive message. If I could laugh it allowed her and others to laugh with me. After all I had the easy job, I just had to take the drugs and stay positive, it was far tougher for Alan and Molly. When I started writing Beware of Falling Coconuts, I was terrified. I didn't want to revisit that place in my head. I was scared to go back….I wasn't sure if it was a play, a book, or just a lot of nonsense. I wanted to do this not just for Molly, but for all the brave women and men who hadn't been as lucky as me.”

 

Gillian was inspired by the courage of people she met, who showed her that there was humour to be found even in the most bizarre situations. From losing her hair to losing her memory, there was one clear message: 

 

“I lost my boob not my sense of humour.”

 

Buy Link 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1691620386/?ref=exp_kellysloveofbooks_dp_vv_d

The Boy Between Blog Tour.

  

I was delighted to be asked to take part in this blog tour. I love Amanda's book but I will admit to having not read them all - yet. I am slowly making my way through them - but not too fast as I don't want to run out.

Book Description: 

Bestselling novelist Amanda Prowse knew how to resolve a fictional family crisis. But then her son came to her with a real one…

Josiah was nineteen with the world at his feet when things changed. Without warning, the new university student’s mental health deteriorated to the point that he planned his own death. His mother, bestselling author Amanda Prowse, found herself grappling for ways to help him, with no clear sense of where that could be found. This is the book they wish had been there for them during those dark times.

Josiah’s situation is not unusual: the statistics on student mental health are terrifying. And he was not the only one suffering; his family was also hijacked by his illness, watching him struggle and fearing the day he might succeed in taking his life.

In this book, Josiah and Amanda hope to give a voice to those who suffer, and to show them that help can be found. It is Josiah’s raw, at times bleak, sometimes humorous, but always honest account of what it is like to live with depression. It is Amanda’s heart-rending account of her pain at watching him suffer, speaking from the heart about a mother’s love for her child.

For anyone with depression and anyone who loves someone with depression, Amanda and Josiah have a clear message—you are not alone, and there is hope.

What Did I Think:

I knew this wouldn't be an easy read but I wasn't expecting to be so movedand affected by it. It might have been that I am Mum to 2 boys aged 23 and 20 - so similar in age to Josh in this book. Like Amanda said she thought she knew her son inside out - I think the same about my boys. But how well do I actually know them?

Another reason this affected me is that someone I know (not well but we were in the same running club for a while) took his own life earlier in the year. I am sure Covid played a part in his actions and looking back at his social media posts you could maybe see something wasn't quite right.

This is such an emotional read. So very personal So moving. I will be recommending this book to lots of people who I now will enjoy and maybe benefit from reading it. I will admit to not knowing much about mental illness as it isn't something that has affected either myself or my family.   But it has opened my eyes.

Since I have read this book I have been telling everyone about it and recommending it all over the place.

 About the authors 

Amanda Prowse is an International Bestselling author whose twenty five novels and seven novellas have been published in dozens of languages around the world. Published by Lake Union, Amanda is the most prolific writer of bestselling contemporary fiction in the UK today; her titles also consistently score the highest online review approval ratings across several genres.  Her books, including the chart topping No.1 titles 'What Have I Done?', 'Perfect Daughter', 'My Husband's Wife', 'The Girl in the Corner' and ‘The Things I Know’ have sold millions of copies across the globe.

 

A popular TV and radio personality, Amanda is a regular panellist on Channel 5's 'The Jeremy Vine Show' and numerous daytime ITV programmes. She also makes countless guest appearances on BBC national independent Radio stations including LBC and Talk FM, where she is well known for her insightful observations and her infectious humour. Described by the Daily Mail as ‘The queen of family drama’ Amanda’s novel, 'A Mother's Story' won the coveted Sainsbury's eBook of the year Award while 'Perfect Daughter' was selected as a World Book Night title in 2016.

 

Amanda's ambition is to create stories that keep people from turning the bedside lamp off at night, great characters that ensure you take every step with them and tales that fill your head so you can't possibly read another book until the memory fades... 

Josh: 

A keen environmentalist and animal lover, Josiah (Josh) Hartley lives in a remote farmhouse in the West Country with his two idle and arrogant French Bulldogs, Dottie and Beau. Happiest following the music scene in Bristol, at a festival or watching rugby with his mates, Josh enjoys the outdoor life and often heads to the sea to surf and sit on the beach watching the sun go down.

After a stint at the University of Southampton, another at the University of Bristol and one planned suicide, Josh decided to write about his descent into mental illness and the depression that held him in its grip for the past few years. The Boy Between carries the overriding message that things can and often do get better. It is a book of reflection, raw, honest and full of hope - the proof being that Josh is still here and excited about what comes next. He’s ready to catch any opportunity that life throws his way; quite a thing for someone who only a few years ago was living in a world gone grey, ready to disappear from the face of the earth…

Blog Tour for A Village Vacancy by Julie Houston

 Apologies that this is a couple of days late. We are renovating the bungalow we have just moved into and during some work there was an accident and the phone line was lost. Hence no internet.

About the book

 

From the bestselling author of A Village Affair comes a laugh out loud new Westenbury tale...

 

As the Yorkshire village of Westenbury mourns the loss of one of their own, the women can't help but contemplate who will fill the vacancy in one handsome widower's life...

Grace Stevens has decided it's time to move on without her husband. He's off gallivanting around Devon in search of a new life, and good riddance. It's time to go back to teaching, so Grace returns to Little Acorns and takes on an unruly class of pre-teens.

As she deals with disasters in – and out of – the classroom including an accidental dalliance with her most troublesome pupil's dad, helping track down a drug ring and keeping up with her closest girlfriends, Grace begins to wonder more and more about the sparkle in David's eyes and the sparking chemistry between them.

Could Grace be the one to fill this village vacancy?

What Did I Think:

I love Julies books. Returning to Westenbury feels like returning home to friends. She writes such warm and funny stories that you just want to curl up with. 

I have read her 2 previous titles Sing Me A Secret and A Village Affair and enjoyed them both - and her new title didn't disappoint either.

This book can be read as a standalone title but I do think it helps if you have read her earlier books only in so much as you will be familiar with the main characters.

I don't want to give the plot away but this is a laugh out loud book with great characters - and as I said earlier some of whom feel like old friends.

 

About the author

 

Julie Houston is the author of THE ONE SAVING GRACE, GOODNESS, GRACE AND ME and LOOKING FOR LUCY, a Kindle top 100 general bestseller and a Kindle #1 bestseller. She is married, with two teenage children and a mad cockerpoo and, like her heroine, lives in a West Yorkshire village. She is also a teacher and a magistrate.

 

Follow Julie:

 

Website: www.juliehouston.co.uk

Twitter: @juliehouston2

Facebook: @JulieHoustonauthor

Buy links:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3cDsBGh

Kobo: https://bit.ly/35CCznO

Google Play: https://bit.ly/343FZ2x

iBooks: https://apple.co/3432fK8

 

 

 

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