WWW Wednesday: 6th November 2019

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and a share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you will read next?

What I am currently reading:-

The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths

As some of you may know I do love books by Elly Griffiths and this is no exception, I am racing through this book.

Venus and Adonis by William Shakespeare

I’ve set myself the challenge to read more Shakespeare, as I have only read his work that I had to at school, so far this is proving to be an interesting if slightly long winded read.

Books I have recently finished:-

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

Really enjoyed this and could not put it down. Fantastic read.

The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs

Another great read, that I polished off in a few hours.

What I think I will read next:-

This is always a tricky question for me as I generally always change my mind, so apologies if I don’t stick with my first choices.

Miss Marley by Vanessa Lafaye

A Literary Christmas.

That is another WWW Wednesday complete. Please drop me a link to your WWW Wednesday and please feel free to comment about any of the books listed.

Happy reading.

Mid Week Quote: Dana

Hello everyone!

Well this week I am back to teaching and half term already seems like it was ages ago. Due to this I have gone for an education quote for this week’s quote. This quote I completely agree with and try to always be improving my own skills and learning new things.

“Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.”

John Cotton Dana (1912)

Happy reading

Book Haul 4/11/19

Guess what?

I’ve been buying books again!

Only four books I promise.

Two of the books I got because I found them interesting and linked to my Masters and the other two are pretty and Christmas books so I just had to get them.

Here they are:-

Miss Marley by Vanessa Lafaye

A Literary Christmas: An Anthology

Ancient Rome by Virginia Campbell

Ancient Greece by David Michael Smith

I cannot wait to start reading them!

Happy Reading!

Christmas Reading List

Hello everyone!

I have started to think of my Christmas reading list. I usually begin my Christmas reading on the 1st December but this year I am very tempted to begin earlier because usually I am so busy during the month of December. Also I just want to get into the Christmas spirit!

The first on the list is a book recommended to me by my best friend, who sent me a very excited text yesterday telling me I just had to read it.

The Night I Met Father Christmas by Ben Miller

The second book will be a new copy of The Nutcracker which as you know I read every year and every year I get a new edition, the prettier the better.

So let the planning and Christmas book buying commence. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

Happy reading.

October Wrap Up

Well looking back on October I can say it was thankfully a better month than September.

Books read

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

3/5 Dragons

324 pages

Classics: A Very Short Introduction by Mary Beard and John Henderson

4/5 Dragons

145 Pages

Girl in Trouble by Stacy Claflin

3/5 Dragons

317 pages

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

5/5 Dragons

422 pages

(If you click the image it will take you to the review)

Total pages this month: 1208

Total pages this year: 12897

Here’s to another good month of reading.

Friday Poetry: Coleridge

Happy November!

This poem is from The Devil’s Thoughts by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

The Devil’s Thoughts

From his brimstone bed at break of day

A walking the Devil is gone,

To visit his little snug farm the earth,

And see how his stock goes on.

Over the hill and over the dale,

And he went over the plain,

And backward and forward he switched his long tail

As a gentleman switches his cane.

And how then was the Devil drest?

Oh! he was in his Sunday’s best:

His jacket was red and his breeches were blue,

And there was a hole where the tail came through.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Happy reading.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

I hope you all have a nice spooky book to read and celebrate halloween with.

I have chosen a little poem to celebrate.

In the Dark, Dark Wood

In a dark, dark wood there was a dark, dark house,

and in that dark, dark house there was a dark, dark room,

and in that dark, dark room there was a dark, dark cupboard,

and in that dark, dark cupboard there was a dark, dark shelf,

and on that dark, dark shelf there was a dark, dark box,

and in that dark, dark box there was a … GHOST!

Anon

Happy spooky reading!

Mid Week Quote: Thomas Edison

Hello my fellow readers!

I am very excited because tonight I am off to the theatre for a lovely meal, some cocktails and of course a play. The play is called Pride and Prejudice (Sort of). Apparently it is from the point of view of the servants, which should be interesting.

Anyway, here is my chosen quote for the week. This weeks quote is by Thomas Edison who was an American inventor who in his lifetime invented over 1000 devices.

“I haven’t failed, I’ve found ten thousand ways that don’t work.”

Thomas Edison (Pre-1910)

Happy reading

The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs (Review)

The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs

About the author

John Belliars (1938-1991) was an award-winning American author of many gothic mystery novels for children and young adults.

Blurb

When orphaned Lewis Barnavelt comes to live with his Uncle Jonathan, he is amazed to find out there is a wizard in his family.

Lewis experiments with Uncle Jonathan’s spells and uncovers the mystery behind the ticking that he can hear throughout the house, sometimes loud, sometimes quiet, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. It’s an evil clock and it could destroy humankind.

It is up to the Barnavelt’s to find where the clock is hidden in the walls – and stop it.

Review

I bought this book ages ago and it has just been sat in a pile gathering dust but I spotted it the other day and thought that looks like a fun quick read and thankfully I was correct. As I have mentioned previously I do enjoy reading children’s books and especially enjoy reading them when I’m very busy or stressed. I can truthfully say I loved this book and could not put it down.

The three main characters Lewis, Uncle Jonathan and Mrs Zimmermann were fantastic. I especially loved the character of Mrs Zimmermann who isn’t afraid of anything and speaks her mind and has an unhealthy obsession with the colour purple. She just seems to be the ultimate cool aunt figure.

Uncle Jonathan is the ultimate cool uncle, teaching Lewis to play poker and letting him stay up late and basically doing what he likes within reason. Lewis is the typical child who doesn’t quite fit in at school but has found his happy place living with his Uncle because as the story develops you can see that Uncle and nephew are rather alike.

Overall I loved the storyline and it kept me hooked from the start, the idea of magic being in a house and its walls was fantastic and in places it was rather spooky although that part was rather rushed through but that was probably because it is a children’s book. The only issue I had with the story was the lack of story about the actual clock, considering the book is about the clock in the walls it hardly features and it just feels like a very rushed ending.

I give this book 4 out of 5 dragons because of the lack of clock in the story. I highly recommend it to children and adults alike. A really good read that keeps you hooked from beginning to end.

Purchase links

Waterstones

Book Depository

Book Haul 28/10/2019

Hello everyone!

Well today is my first day of half term and I celebrated by having a lie in and a leisurely day. I had to run into our nearest town to run some errands and my husband suggested visiting Waterstones for a browse. Well a browse is something that never happens with me, it always ends in buying books. I was just going to buy Now You See Them by Elly Griffiths but my husband said that Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver looked good so I ended up buying another book because it was on buy one get one half price.

Not too much damage with just three books bought.

Now You See Them by Elly Griffiths