New Books: 30/07/2019

Hello!

Today I have had in influx of books! That in my opinion is a glorious day. One book that I have had preordered for a very long time and the rest from NetGalley. I just need more time to read them all.

Here are the books:-

NetGalley Books

The King’s Evil by Andrew Taylor

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A royal scandal that could change the face of England forever…

London 1667. In the Court of Charles II, it’s a dangerous time to be alive – a wrong move may lead to disgrace, exile or death. The discovery of a body at Clarendon House, the palatial home of one of the highest courtiers in the land, could therefore have catastrophic consequences.

James Marwood, a traitor’s son, is ordered to cover up the murder. But the dead man is Edward Alderley, the cousin of one of Marwood’s acquaintances. Cat Lovett had every reason to want her cousin dead. Since his murder, she has vanished, and all the evidence points to her as the killer.

Marwood is determined to clear Cat’s name and discover who really killed Alderley. But time is running out for everyone. If he makes a mistake, it could threaten not only the government but the King himself…

 

Under Pressure: Living Life and Avoiding Death on A Nuclear Submarine by Richard Humphreys

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A candid, visceral, and incredibly entertaining account of what it’s like to live in one of the most extreme man-made environments in the world.

Imagine a world without natural light, where you can barely stand up straight for fear of knocking your head, where you have no idea of where in the world you are or what time of day it is, where you sleep in a coffin-sized bunk and sometimes eat a full roast for breakfast.

Now imagine sharing that world with 140 other sweaty bodies, crammed into a 430ft x 33ft steel tube, 300ft underwater, for up to 90 days at a time, with no possibility of escape. And to top it off, a sizeable chunk of your living space is taken up by the most formidably destructive nuclear weapons history has ever known. This is the world of the submariner. This is life under pressure.

As a restless and adventurous 18-year-old, Richard Humphreys joined the submarine service in 1985 and went on to serve aboard the nuclear deterrent for five years at the end of the Cold War. Nothing could have prepared him for life beneath the waves. Aside from the claustrophobia and disorientation, there were the prolonged periods of boredom, the constant dread of discovery by the Soviets, and the smorgasbord of rank odours that only a group of poorly-washed and flatulent submariners can unleash.

But even in this most pressurised of environments, the consolations were unique: where else could you sit peacefully for hours listening to whale song, or…

Based on first-hand experience, Under Pressure is the candid, visceral and incredibly entertaining account of what it’s like to live, work, sleep, eat – and stay sane – in one of the most extreme man-made environments on the planet.

 

A Gift in December by Jenny Gladwell

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Love can grow anywhere in this cosy, romantic tale inspired by London’s most famous Christmas tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout

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Olive struggles to understand not only herself and her own life but the lives of those around her in the town of Crosby, Maine. Whether with a teenager coming to terms with the loss of her father, a young woman about to give birth during a hilariously inopportune moment, a nurse who confesses a secret high school crush, or a lawyer who struggles with an inheritance she does not want to accept, the unforgettable Olive will continue to startle us, to move us, and to inspire moments of transcendent grace.

 

 

 

 

 

Book that arrived today

The Enterprise War by John Jackson Miller

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A shattered ship, a divided crew—trapped in the infernal nightmare of conflict!

Hearing of the outbreak of hostilities between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire, Captain Christopher Pike attempts to bring the U.S.S. Enterprise home to join in the fight. But in the hellish nebula known as the Pergamum, the stalwart commander instead finds an epic battle of his own, pitting ancient enemies against one another—with not just the Enterprise, but her crew as the spoils of war.

Lost and out of contact with Earth for an entire year, Pike and his trusted first officer, Number One, struggle to find and reunite the ship’s crew—all while Science Officer Spock confronts a mystery that puts even his exceptional skills to the test…with more than their own survival possibly riding on the outcome….

 

That’s my list of new books. I’m very excited to get reading them. If anybody has any opinions on the books or authors please drop me a comment.

Happy Reading.

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A New Book Store

Hello my fellow book dragons!

Today was my day off and I needed to go to Bewdley to run a few errands so I used this as an excuse to visit Bewdley’s new book store Wyre Forest Books.

I have many happy memories as a child visiting Bewdley with my big sister and going to the book store Bewdley Books. Sadly this book store closed quite a few years ago and so we haven’t had an independent book store anywhere local for quite a long time.

Wyre Forest Books was a lovely store, it was spacious and well laid out and the man who was running it was helpful and very friendly. The best part was the children’s section, this was beautifully laid out and there was a palace for the children to sit in and read.

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I loved this store and will be a regular shopper there. I start a new job in September which is in Bewdley so I think that will be an excellent excuse to make little trips to the book store.

I did buy some books and a bookmark, one book I bought for my husband and one I bought for my dad but the other two and the bookmark I bought for myself.

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The two books I bought were:-

The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal

The Familiars by Stacey Halls

Very excited to read these once my summer reads are finished.

Anyway, if you live near Bewdley check out Wyre Forest Books it is brilliant.

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New Books: 13/07/2019

Happy Saturday everyone!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far. I must confess I have not done any reading since coming back from holiday, as I just keep falling asleep all the time. Jet Lag is taking its toll. This has also affected my book reviewing.

However, I have bought two new books!

The first book I have bought is because I watched the film adaptation on the plane and cried my eyes out. I loved the story so much I hope the book will be as good if not better.

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott with Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis

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Stella Grant likes to be in control—even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions.

The only thing Will Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He couldn’t care less about his treatments, or a fancy new clinical drug trial. Soon, he’ll turn eighteen and then he’ll be able to unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its hospitals.

Will’s exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If he so much as breathes on Stella she could lose her spot on the transplant list. Either one of them could die. The only way to stay alive is to stay apart. But suddenly six feet doesn’t feel like safety. It feels like punishment.

What if they could steal back just a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them? Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts from breaking too?

 

The second book I have bought is by a fellow blogger, Fractured Faith Blog who has just had his first book published. I read this blog everyday and I am very excited to read and review the book. 

The Kirkwood’s Scott Chronicles: Skelly’s Square by Stephen Black

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They want him to save the world. But, first, he must save himself.

Kirkwood Scott is having a bad day. Languishing in a dead end job and recently dumped by his girlfriend he struggles with a crippling form of OCD which manifests itself in the form of Colonel Augustus Skelly, a phantom voice from Kirkwood’s childhood who controls his every waking moment via a series of tortuous routines, ‘The 49’.

Kirkwood has little to look forward to, bar a weekend of drunken oblivion in Belfast with his equally deadbeat friends. All that changes when he meets Meredith Starc, a young homeless woman struggling to survive on the streets and come to terms with her own troubled past. Kirkwood realises Meredith may hold the answer to him finally being free of his mental demons.

But what if Skelly is more than just a voice? Kirkwood and Meredith join forces to unearth a supernatural battle raging on the city’s back streets between ancient forces of good or evil, the outcome of which will decide the fate of the planet. Between them, they hold the key to saving mankind from a new Dark Age but can they survive long enough to do so as Skelly unleashes a legion of vicious ghost soldiers upon the unsuspecting city?

‘The Kirkwood Scott Chronicles: Skelly’s Square’ is a fast paced and darkly humorous supernatural fantasy guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

 

Very excited to read both these books.

If you have read any of these books I would love to hear your opinions, drop me a comment.

Happy reading.

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New Books 4/06/2019

Happy Tuesday!

I have recently bought a load of books to help me complete my Level 3 Diploma in Diet and Nutrition. So far I have really been enjoying dipping into the books and finding out more facts.

The books are:-

Nutrition for Dummies by Carol Ann Rinzler

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The Optimum Nutrition Bible by Patrick Holford

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Your Body’s Many Cries for Water by F. Batmanghelidj, M.D.

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You Are What You Eat by Dr Gillian McKeith

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The Digestive System by Margaret E. Smith and Dion G. Morton

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Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A. Balch

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So these are the books for my course, I do not think I will read them cover to cover but I will definitely be using them a lot. The Water book I have started reading from the beginning and so far can not put it down.

Happy reading.

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New Books 9/05/2019

Super excited about my new books as they are to do with my upcoming honeymoon. Yes the husband and myself have finally saved enough for our dream honeymoon and we are going to Hawaii! As you can see in the photo Pan our cat is really not bothered by my new books.

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This meant that we had to get some holiday guide books and so I immediately bought two with the best reviews. One for Hawaii in general and one for Maui where we are staying. I hope they will be good. I have had a flick through and already found a list of activities I would like to do, not entirely sure my husband agrees with some of the choices, but we will see.

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This is the first Eyewitness Travel guide I have had but it had excellent reviews on Amazon so I hope it proves useful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I think this should prove to be good as I know a few fellow book dragons who love the Lonely Planet guides. Don’t think I will be surfing like the person on the front cover though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here are my new books that I will be reading and planning with soon.

I will also be looking for books to read when I am on the plane for many, many hours so any recommendations would be gratefully received. Also if you have been to Hawaii or live in Hawaii please feel free to recommend places to visit. Would love to hear other people’s opinions on places. Thanks.

Lady Book Dragon.

New Books (25/04/2019)

Yesterday on our way back from Wells we visited the National Trust property Tyntesfield, which was stunning, possibly one of the best National Trust properties I have visited so far.

A brief history before we get to the books. Tyntesfield was purchased in 1844 by the merchant William Gibbs as a country retreat for his family. The Gibbs family made their fotunes from Guano, or dried bird poo, which the Victorians used as fertiliser. The house was in the family for three generations and each generation made their mark on the house by expanding it and adding extras. Richard Gibbs was the last Gibb in residence and sadly passed away in 2001, the National Trust then bought the house in 2002.

Whilst we were there we checked out the second hand book shop and the main National Trust shop and I managed to buy quite a few books. In my defense some are very small books.

New Books

In the second hand book shop I started off inside and to be honest I was not that impressed. However as I went outside my husband spotted a complete set of Penguin 60’s. These little books were published in 1995 for Penguin’s 60th Anniversary. After some research I discovered this set with the orange spines are based on 20th century writting and that the black set which I am now hunting down is based on classic writing. The whole set cost me £25, well my husband £15 and myself £10, I only had change and I didn’t think at the time the lady taking the money would be impressed with £25 in change of varying sizes.

The set is gorgeous and in rather good condition. I certainly can not wait to start reading them.

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The next two books I bought were in the main shop.

I bought:-

A Poem for Every Day of the Year Edited by Allie Esiri

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I’ve seen this book a few times and after having a little look through I thought I would buy it and read a poem a day. Still trying to further my knowledge and understanding of poetry.

Tyntesfield 

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This is the guidebook done by the National Trust. When I visit new places I always like to get the guidebook and read it when I get home. It helps me absorb more about the visit and helps me remember for the future.

 

So here is my book haul, I hope you like it.

Happy Reading

Lady Book Dragon.

New Book 28/03/2019

Yesterday we went for a little wonder around Much Wenlock. We had a nice lunch, a browse through the antique store and of course we ended up in the book shop.

I love the second-hand book shop in Much Wenlock, because not only do they have amazing books, they also have two cats and a beautiful collie dog you can cuddle. Sadly, yesterday the cats were out, presumably enjoying the sunshine but the collie dog was in so I had some woof woof cuddle’s.

I only bought one book, I was restrained. I’m not sure how long my restraint will hold out at this rate as I have a huge list of books I want to get. So here is the book:-

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories by Tim Burton. 

Teddy thought he would help model the new book.

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To be honest I never knew Tim Burton had written any books so this was an exciting find. I can not wait to read it.

I leave you with a lovely picture I took yesterday of the cherry blossom.

Lady Book Dragon.

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New Books 21/03/2019

This post is a little late but the busy week has taken its toll on blogging sadly.

On Thursday we had to go and do some errands and somehow ended up in Waterstones! No idea how that happened. Anyway my hubby and myself came away with just two books, we or rather I was restrained.

There were two books I was actually after and sadly I never managed to get either. The Stranger Diaries by Elly Griffiths was one of them and the other was Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey. I am currently watching The Expanse on Prime and would love to read the books.

I am not ordering books at the moment because I just keep buying so I am only buying books from the shops, one day off from work a week will slow down my book buying hopefully.

Anyway here are the two books we bought:-

Humble Pi by Matt Parker

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I must admit this was my husband’s choice and I’m not entirely sure I will read it. He started reading it as soon as we got home and so far he loves it.

 

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot

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This was my choice and I am so happy I got it! I will be posting more on this book soon.

I would love to hear people’s thoughts on these books. Please feel free to comment.

 

Lady Book Dragon.

On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts by Thomas De Quincey (Review)

On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts by Thomas De Quincey

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About the author

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Thomas De Quincey was born on the 15th August 1785 and died on the 8th December 1859. He was an English essayist best known for Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.

Blurb

The provocative early-nineteenth-century essayist casts a blackly comic eye over the aesthetics of murder through the ages.

Review

So on to the fourth Penguin Little Black Classics book and this one really took me out of my comfort zone. I picked this book up thinking normally I would never dream of reading a book about murder being a fine art and to be honest after this I do not think I will read another book about murder being an art form.

I did struggle a great deal with this book and I really did not see the comic side in it that is mentioned in the blurb. I found it very hard to get into and very disturbing that people seem to enjoy studying murder. I also did not like the fact that murder was referred to as an art form. However it wasn’t all bad, I did find certain little stories inside it interesting, for instance the story about Descartes was very interesting.

I think it was a disturbing essay and it made me wonder what type of mind Quincey has to come up with this essay. However the essay was an eye opener about things that were happening in that point of history. However I didn’t really enjoy the book and wouldn’t read it again. This is why sadly I have only given the book 1 Dragon out of 5.

To purchase this book from Waterstones please click here.

Lady Book Dragon.

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New Book: 4/03/2019

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I do enjoy a good short story and have been reading the free Jeffrey Archer short stories on Kindle. Well after a bit of research I discovered they are all in a book and so I bought the book. As much as I love my Kindle, I only really use it when out and about, otherwise I much prefer a real life book.

New book is:-

The New Collected Short Stories by Jeffrey Archer

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I will continue to review the individual short stories but I now will be reading them on both formats, I’ve also noticed there are short stories in the book that are not on the Kindle, which makes me very happy.

Happy reading everyone.

To purchase this book from Waterstones Click here.

Lady Book Dragon