Tag Archives: childrens books

Stacking The Shelves

Welcome to my Stacking The Shelves post, hosted by Reading Reality! As I have been on holiday the stacking of my shelves has been low, however I got accepted onto a Blog Tour for the end of September and I bought a book whilst away:

Blog Tour Book:

The Witches Of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais (click for link to Goodreads)

Book Description From Goodreads:

“A coven of modern-day witches. A magical heist-gone-wrong. A looming threat.

Five octogenarian witches gather as an angry mob threatens to demolish Moonshyne Manor. All eyes turn to the witch in charge, Queenie, who confesses they’ve fallen far behind on their mortgage payments. Still, there’s hope, since the imminent return of Ruby—one of the sisterhood who’s been gone for thirty-three years—will surely be their salvation.

But the mob is only the start of their troubles. One man is hellbent on avenging his family for the theft of a legacy he claims was rightfully his. In an act of desperation, Queenie makes a bargain with an evil far more powerful than anything they’ve ever faced. Then things take a turn for the worse when Ruby’s homecoming reveals a seemingly insurmountable obstacle instead of the solution to all their problems.

The witches are determined to save their home and themselves, but their aging powers are no match for increasingly malicious threats. Thankfully, they get a bit of help from Persephone, a feisty TikToker eager to smash the patriarchy. As the deadline to save the manor approaches, fractures among the sisterhood are revealed, and long-held secrets are exposed, culminating in a fiery confrontation with their enemies.

Funny, tender and uplifting, the novel explores the formidable power that can be discovered in aging, found family and unlikely friendships. Marais’ clever prose offers as much laughter as insight, delving deeply into feminism, identity and power dynamics while stirring up intrigue and drama through secrets, lies and sex. Heartbreaking and heart-mending, it will make you grateful for the amazing women in your life.”

I am on the Blog Tour for this book on 30 September. Keep your eyes peeled for my review on here, Amazon, Goodreads, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter!

Book I bought from a Welsh Book shop:

Just William by Richmal Crompton (click for link to Goodreads)

Book Description From Goodreads:

“In Just William the Outlaws plan a day of non-stop adventure. The only problem is that William is meant to be babysitting. But William won’t let that stop him having fun with his gang—he’ll just bring the baby along! There is only one William. This tousle-headed, snub-nosed, hearty, loveable imp of mischief has been harassing his unfortunate family and delighting his hundreds of thousands of admirers since 1922. This delightful children’s classic features original inside illustrations by Thomas Henry, and with a ribbon marker and a specially commissioned foreword by Roddy Doyle, it will bring the antics of the mischievous William Brown to a new generation of children.”

I saw this in a bookshop in Wales and thought that it was a bit of fun that I can share with my son.

What have you been stacking your shelves with this week?

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“book”, “read”, “book blog”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “what should I read next”, “children’s books”

One Word Reviews for Children’s Books I Have Read So Far This Year

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*I am currently away on holiday so I will catch up on comments on my return*

Welcome to my one word review post! This was inspired by a Top Ten Tuesday post that I took part in earlier in May. Not everyone has the time to read through a whole review, so I think that these one word reviews are an excellent way to get a book across to people in one word, so here are my one word reviews for a few of the Children’s Fiction books I have read this year:

Book Review – The Great Eggscape by Jory John

GAME

Book Review – A Binturong In My Bed by Chris Lois

EDUCATIONAL

Book Review – Monty and the Monster by Rhonda Smiley

SCIENCE

Book Review – Vlad and the Roman Triumph by Kate and Sam Cunningham

HISTORICAL

Have you read any of these books? If so what would your one word review be? If not would you read them based on these words?

“book”, “read”, “book review”, “book blog”,”recommended”, “easy read”, “don’t miss out”, “reading slump”, “what should I read next”, “what book do you recommend”, “one word review”, “children’s books”

Stacking The Shelves

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Welcome to my Stacking The Shelves post, hosted by Reading Reality!

A Library based stacking this week:

My book:

Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins (click for link to Goodreads)

Book Description From Goodreads:

“From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Upstairs comes a deliciously wicked gothic suspense, set on an isolated Pacific island with a dark history, for fans of Lucy Foley and Ruth Ware.

When Lux McAllister and her boyfriend, Nico, are hired to sail two women to a remote island in the South Pacific, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. Stuck in a dead-end job in Hawaii, and longing to travel the world after a family tragedy, Lux is eager to climb on board The Susannah and set out on an adventure. She’s also quick to bond with their passengers, college best friends Brittany and Amma. The two women say they want to travel off the beaten path. But like Lux, they may have other reasons to be seeking an escape.

Shimmering on the horizon after days at sea, Meroe Island is every bit the paradise the foursome expects, despite a mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, and even rumors of murder. But what they don’t expect is to discover another boat already anchored off Meroe’s sandy beaches. The owners of the Azure Sky, Jake and Eliza, are a true golden couple: gorgeous, laidback, and if their sleek catamaran and well-stocked bar are any indication, rich. Now a party of six, the new friends settle in to experience life on an exotic island, and the serenity of being completely off the grid. Lux hasn’t felt like she truly belonged anywhere in years, yet here on Meroe, with these fellow free spirits, she finally has a sense of peace.

But with the arrival of a skeevy stranger sailing alone in pursuit of a darker kind of good time, the balance of the group is disrupted. Soon, cracks begin to emerge: it seems that Brittany and Amma haven’t been completely honest with Lux about their pasts––and perhaps not even with each other. And though Jake and Eliza seem like the perfect pair, the rocky history of their relationship begins to resurface, and their reasons for sailing to Meroe might not be as innocent as they first appeared.

When it becomes clear that the group is even more cut off from civilization than they initially thought, it starts to feel like the island itself is closing in on them. And when one person goes missing, and another turns up dead, Lux begins to wonder if any of them are going to make it off the island alive.”

My toddler’s books:

Peppa Loves Yoga (click for link to Goodreads)

Peppa the Easter Bunny (click for link to Goodreads)

What’s The Opposite by Oliver Jeffers (click for link to Goodreads)

We do not allow our son to watch Peppa Pig and so every time he sees a Peppa Pig book in the library he has to get it!

What have you been stacking your shelves with this week?

“book”, “read”, “book blog”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “what should I read next”, “library”, “children’s books”

Random Things Blog Tour – Book Review – Meet The Grubblers by Sarah Louise

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“Closing down her iPad and falling back against the softness of her pillow, Emily felt an overwhelming sense of sadness.”

Genre: Children’s Fiction – Fantasy & Magic – Age 5 – 9 years

Number of Pages: 84 pages

Date of Publication:13 December 2021

Publisher: Silverwood Books

Rated: 4/5

My Review Summary: A lovely story without a dull moment.

📖PLOT SUMMARY📖

Meet Emily, who finds life hard when school suddenly closes and her family and friends can no longer visit.

Suddenly, Emily finds herself whisked into a magical world where she meets Lucy who is on a quest to find her missing cousin. On their quest the pair meet the crafty yet comical grubblers. How helpful will they be?

What is the strange connection between these new-found friends? Join Emily and Lucy for a time-travelling feast with lots of delicious fruit cake!

💭THOUGHTS💭

I have wanted to try and read more Children’s books so that I can provide a range of book reviews, so when this one came up I jumped at the chance. The main character had the same name as me and it was a magical/fantasy book – what more could I ask for?!

The writing was detailed and comprised of long sentences, but short chapters. I loved the descriptions of the characters and the settings. The smells, textures and temperature were all excellently described and immersed you in the story. There was a good mix of simple and complex words in the sentences to cater for the advised age group. Some of the words were quite advanced, but together with the surrounding words they wouldn’t be difficult to work out or even just to look up.

The chapters were all fairly short, as mentioned above, but gradually brought the different characters in allowing for a seamless storyline. Some of the longer chapters were split allowing for parallel storylines. The split wasn’t highlighted by any sort of illustration, but instead by the way that it was written from another character’s point of view.

There was a good pace to the story despite the long and detailed sentences. It was cleverly done in such a way that I didn’t feel bombarded with the description. It added to the story rather than distracted from it.

I did enjoy the few illustrations that were dotted around the book, they were a nice touch for the younger readers.

The characters were interesting. The main character was very much in the supporting role and was a follower rather than a leader. I thought it was an interesting technique to make the lead character not have a leading personality. It did allow for the other characters to show off their more forceful personalities and it made for an interesting story. What I also liked was the way that the Grubblers speech was written. It helped me give them a different voice and to separate them from the other characters.

Lastly the settings. I enjoyed the fact that the story had the pandemic in the background. The children reading this book will have their own experiences of the pandemic and it was nice to see it woven in to a magical story. There were hints of how the pandemic had affected the main character throughout the book so you were always grounded in that time period, plus it added an extra emotional layer to the story.

I wasn’t too sure about the time travel aspect. I didn’t really see that it added anything to the story. The only point that I could see was that it allowed for a kitchen maid to be involved in the escape of a child. For me it therefore wasn’t necessary. If the book was longer then it could have been further explored, but given the age group and the length of the story already there wasn’t really the capacity for it.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book, it was full of action and intrigue from beginning to end and would make a great addition to any child’s bookshelf.

⭐Rated 4/5⭐

📖THE AUTHOR📖

Sarah Louise has always had a talent for connecting with and inspiring children of all ages. Having worked in schools for twenty-five years, Sarah has now expanded her educational expertise into being an author. She hopes to provide exciting and page-turning stories that capture the minds of the younger generation of today.

Sarah has three adult children of her own, a beautiful granddaughter and much-loved cockapoo. She resides in the county of Wiltshire.

#bookstagram #instabook #bookphotography #igbooks #ilovereading #bookhaul #bookhoarder #bookaddiction #bookstoread #whattoread #fortheloveofbooks #bookblogging #bookpics #weekendreads #bookrecs #booknerdproblems #bookpictures #bookstagram #amreading #booksbooksbooks #instablog #booknerds #bookphotos #bibliophile #randomthingsblogtour #bookreview

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Stacking The Shelves

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Welcome to my Stacking The Shelves post, hosted by Reading Reality.

So this week has been a busy stacking the shelves week! I have I have signed up for 2 Blog Tours for June, got 2 books from the library for myself and 3 books from the library for my son:

Blog Tour Books:

War Babies by Rachel Billington

Book Description:

“A woman lies unconscious on the carpet of a smart Westminster apartment, one red high-heeled shoe has fallen off…

A younger woman lies with her eyes closed, half-hidden under a drinks cabinet…
Her fingers clutch an empty bottle…

What happens when a mother withholds her love?
When she has no love to withhold?
When she sees her three daughters as obstacles to her own formidable career?

This is the story of three sisters, Millie, Di and Cleo.

They are the war babies.
Growing up in a world still in turmoil, hungover from war, the sisters struggle to leave behind their mother and build their own lives.

Each sister is lost in her own world where extreme need leads to extreme behaviour.
Then a tragic event forces Cleo, the youngest and wildest, to become the catalyst to smash the pattern.

Who will adapt and survive in this new world?
Who will find peace?

From London to New York and to Vietnam, the focus shifts from one sister to the next, putting human nature, its flaws and its virtues, under the spotlight.

With elements of a psychological thriller, Rachel Billington observes her characters with clinical detachment, but also with wit and understanding.
Yet there is hope at the heart of this story which will leave the reader wondering long after the final twist is revealed.”

I am on the Blog Tour for this book on 8 June so keep an eye out for my review!

Do No Harm by Jack Jordan

Book Description:

“My child has been taken. And I’ve been given a choice…
Kill a patient on the operating table. Or never see my son again.

The man lies on the table in front of me.
As a surgeon, it’s my job to save him.
As a mother, I know I must kill him.
You might think that I’m a monster.
But there really is only one choice.
I must get away with murder.
Or I will never see my son again.

I’VE SAVED MANY LIVES.
WOULD YOU TRUST ME WITH YOURS?”

My Library Books:

Four Aunties and A Wedding by Jesse Sutanto (click for link to Goodreads)

Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (click for link to Goodreads)

My Son’s Library Books:

How The Camel Got His Hump by Rudyard Kipling (click for link to Goodreads)

Barkley by Rebecca Crane (click for link to Goodreads)

Dandy and Dazza by Mike Dumbleton (click for link to Goodreads)

What have you been stacking your shelves with this week?

“book”, “read”, “book blog”, “don’t miss out”, “fiction”, “entertaining”, “what should I read next”, “toddler books”, “library books”, “children’s books”, “rom com”, “midnights children”, “classic”, “four aunties and a wedding”