Notebooks for Books

So during the week I came across a concept that I quite like.

So what this lady does is whenever she reads a book and there is a quote that she comes across, or a scene that she quite likes, she writes it out in a notebook, what book it is and what page it was on.

Isn’t that an amazing idea?

I have to admit I quite like the idea. And the best part is that you can set up any which way you want.

I may start doing that. I mean it would be nice to keep track of what I like and maybe when I liked it so I can see what I liked about a book at a certain stage in my life.

Either way, I kinda like the idea. Does this appeal to anyone else? Or do you have something like this already (if you do please share in the comments)?

Re Reads

So lately, I’ve doing a lot of reading.

It’s been kind of nice to look over some old books.

I’m in the middle of rereading 2 series, Sweep by Cate Tieran and Harry Potter. Sweep I haven’t really read in about 10 years. And Harry Potter, I haven’t read it in a few years so it will nice to go over it.

It is interesting to read books I haven’t read in a while. It is both a tad comforting and interesting to see if it holds up to what I remember it being.

Anyway, I just to check in. What have you been reading? And do the books that you read as a child hold up?

Let me know in the comments.

General Recommendations: the third and final one

So this will be the 3rd and final general recommendation thingie (sorry I don’t know what to call this 😂)

This week will be children and Young Adult.

Children:

1. Harry Potter
2. Percy Jackson
3. Artemis Fowl
4. The Keys to the Kingdom
5. Horrid Henry
6. Rainbow Magic
7. Judy Moody
8. Captain Underpants
9. Anything by David Williams
10. Anything by Enid Blyton
11. Anything by Roald Dahl

(I know it’s 11 but the last two are definite classics and need to be on everyone’s list)

Young Adult:

1. Anything by Sarah Dessen
2. Anything by John Green
3. Wing Jones by Katherine Webber
4. Shadowhunters by Cassandra Clare
5. Anything by Marie Lu
6. Anything by Rainbow Rowell
7. Anything by Sarah J. Maas
8. Anything by Philip Pullman
9. Anything by Patrick Ness
10. Anything by Maggie Steifvater

If there any I’m missing, please feel free to add them in the comments.

General Fiction: Part 2

So as a continuation from last week, this week I will be doing a fiction and classics recommendations. I hope you like them and feel free to add more in the comment section.

Fiction:

1. Anything by Marina Reilly
2. Anything by Lucinda Reilly
3. Anything by Sophie Kinsella
4. Anything by Jill Mansell
5. Anything by Katie Fforde

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Anything by Jojo Moyes

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

A Man Called Ove by Fredik Backman

The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne

Classics:

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
3. The Old Man and the Sea by Earnest Hemingway
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. The Odyssey by Homer
8. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
9. The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde
10. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

When Passion Rules by Johanna Lindsey

Forced to flee Napoleon’s rampaging army on the continent, orphaned Alana Farmer and her eccentric guardian make a new home for themselves in London. There, Alana enjoys every privilege a daughter of the nobility could hope for, plus an education fit for a queen. Now, on the eve of her debut into London Society, she learns the shocking secret of her birthright. Can it be true? Is she really the lost princess of the European kingdom of Lubinia? Persuaded by her guardian to return or her homeland to quell a bloody revolt, Alana finds herself in an isolated, mountainous country whose customs strike her as medieval! With controversy and intrigue brewing around the beautiful newcomer, Christoph Becker, the captain of the palace guards, arrests Alana in suspicion that she is either a wily imposter or a seductive spy working for the shadowy figures determined to depose the king. No stranger himself to seduction, Christoph uses every means at his disposal to draw the truth from his alluring prisoner, even if he must lay his own life on the line to protect her from harm. Now, as a fiery passion flares between Alana and the man who has wrongly imprisoned her, the fate of a nation rests in their hands and their hearts.

I so enjoyed this book. Johanna Lindsey is an amazing writer and I loved reading anything by her. She is an absolute guilty pleasure. This is an interesting book. Christoph and Alana are great characters, although I did think Christoph was a bit of a dick at times. It is such an easy read. I loved every second of it. I would definitely recommend it and I hope you enjoy it.

Links to book:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=when+passion+rules+johanna+lindsey&crid=2K04LC2GJJGDJ&sprefix=when+pass&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_9

https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=when%20passion%20rules%20johanna%20lindsey&search=Find+book

https://www.waterstones.com/book/when-passion-rules/johanna-lindsey/9780552165761

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

It starts almost by accident: the women who buy their knitting needles and wool from Georgia’s store linger for advice, for a coffee, for a chat and before they know it, every Friday night is knitting night. And as the needles clack, and the garments grow, the conversation moves on from patterns and yarn to life, love and everything. These women are of different ages, from different backgrounds and facing different problems, but they are drawn together by threads of affection that prove as durable as the sweaters they knit.

For the record, I do not Kate Jacobs. She creates an amazing character and then she does something so horrendous I’m a little scarred from it. I won’t say what it is, coz spoilers and all that. BUT HOW DARE YOU? It is an excellent book that I just really enjoyed. I did think some of the characters were a bit forced, like they were a bit too .. right for the moment. For example, Georgia’s grandmother. She was great, but a very typical wise woman. A bit too perfect for the time in the novel. Having said that, it was well written and I enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend it and I hope you enjoy it.

Links to book:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=the+friday+night+knitting+club&crid=13YM7XCESR7Z3&sprefix=the+friday&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_10

https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=the%20friday%20night%20knitting%20club%20kate%20jacobs&search=Find+book

https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/the+friday+night+knitting+club

The Light Behind the Window by Lucinda Riley

The present .. Emile de la Martinieres has always fought against her aristocratic background, but after the death of her glamorous, distant mother, she finds herself alone in the world and sole inheritor of her grand childhood home in the south of France. An old notebook of poems leads her in search of the mysterious and beautiful Sophia, whose tragic love affair changed the course of her family history. As Emilie unravels the story, she too embarks on her own journey of discovery, realizing that the chateau may provide clues to her own difficult past and finally unlock the future. The past .. London 1943. A young office clerk, Constance Carruthers, is drafted into the SOE, arriving in occupied Paris during the climax of the conflict. Separated from her contact in her very first hours in France, she stumbles into the heart of a wealthy family who are caught up in a deadly game of secrets and lies. Forced to surrender her identity and all ties to her homeland and her beloved husband, Constance finds herself drawn into a complex web of deception, the repercussions of which will affect generations to come.

I will be honest. When I first started this book, I really wasn’t sure about it. But the more I got into it, the more I enjoyed it. It is a really good book. Lucinda Riley is such a great writer. She really makes you want to know what happens next. In the start, I did think Emile was very naive. But the more I read, the more she got a little more substance. I loved everything about this book. I would definitely recommend it and I hope you enjoy it.

General Recommendations Part 1

Lately, general book recommendations have kinda been on my mind.

To be fair, I don’t think I’ve given a general book recommendation in a while. And I thought it would be nice to be able to do it.

So I will do them in genre, I hope these help. This week I will do crime and fantasy. Next week I will do fiction and classics.

Crime:

1. Anything by Agatha Christie
2. Anything by Martina Cole
3. Anything by James Patterson
4. A Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith
5. Anything by Jo Nesbo
6. Anything by John Grisham
7. Anything by Tana French
8. Anything by Gillian Flynn
9. The Millennium Trilogy by Steig Larson

1. Anything by Paula Hawkin

Fantasy:

1. Anything by David Eddings
2. Anything by Raymond E. Feist
3. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
4. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
5. Anything by Trudi Canavan
6. The Greatcoats by Sebastian deCasteill
7. Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
8. The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
9. Anything by J. R. R. Tolkien
10. Disc world by Terry Prachett

If there are any you feel I am missing, please let me know.

The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Set in the Gulf Stream off the coast of Havana, this is the story of an old man, a young boy and a giant fish. This tells of the timeless beauty and grief of man’s challenge to the elements to which he lives.

So this is my first Hemingway book and I’ve really enjoyed it. It is a really well written book and I can totally see why this won an award. It’s strange though coz there are no chapters in this book. But it is short, so it’s ok. Just bear in mind, it can come across as being a little boring as it is about fishing and at parts you do think just take the damn fish. Having said that, it is interesting to note the difference between an experienced fisherman and some of the newer fisherman and the technology they are using. Either way, it is worth reading. I would definitely recommend it and I hope you enjoy it.

Links to book:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=the+old+man+and+the+sea&crid=13I4QWXP4KSJB&sprefix=the+old+&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_8

https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=the%20old%20man%20and%20the%20sea%20ernest%20hemingway&search=Find+book

https://www.easons.com/Search?q=The%20old%20man%20and%20the%20sea

https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/the+old+man+and+the+sea

The House Across the Street by Lesley Pearse

23 year old Katy Speed is fascinated by the house across the street. The woman who lives there, Gloria, is the neighbor on the avenue, owning a fashionable dress shop in Brexhill-on-Sea. But who is the arrives in the black car most Saturdays while Gloria work? Sometimes she brings women to the house, other times they have children.Hilda, Katy’s mother, disapproves of Gloria.She wonders if these mysterious visitors have just been prison.IsGloria secretly bringing criminals, or worse, into the heat of the community? Then one night, the house burns down.the wreckage, the bodies of Gloria and her daughter are found. Katy is sure the unexplained visitors must be responsible until her father is arrested and charged with murder. Have the police arrested the correct person? Are the streets safe? Can Katy find the truth before it’s too late?

So this is my first Lesley Pearce book and I have I say I really enjoyed it. It is so well written. I love how she is so well versed in the language of the time (it’s set in the early 60s) and yet somehow make it seem like a modern day book. Katy is a teensy bit reckless and yet she is very relatable. I so enjoyed the mystery of the book. I do have to admit that there were parts of the book that I thought that some of the characters were a bit too goody two shoes, but I do think it’s worth reading. I would definitely recommend it and I hope you enjoy it.

Links to book:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=the+house+across+the+street+lesley+pearse&crid=OZ4I132S12F4&sprefix=the+house+acr&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_13

https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=Lesley%20Pearse%20The%20House%20Across%20the%20Street&search=Find+book

https://www.easons.com/Search?q=The%20house%20across%20the%20street%20

https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/the+house+across+the+street