Happy Birthday Alan Alexander Milne!

“Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin.”

Today is A. A. Milne’s birthday, he was born on this day in 1882!

Although Milne wrote and adapted plays, wrote poems and adult fiction, he is best known for creating Edward bear, otherwise known as Winnie-the-Pooh and his many friends.

I can not thank Milne enough for creating Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends, as they have been with me since I was tiny. This book is only two months younger than myself, I know this because the kind lady who gave it me wrote a wonderful little inscription inside and dated it two months after my birth.

I have early memories of my sister reading this book to me and when I was old enough I read it myself, over and over again and still read it as an adult. Then I fell in love with Eeyore and the obsession began. I’m not sure when I fell in love with Eeyore but it has been going on for a very long time. I just adore him, he is very cute and I just want to cuddle him and make everything better. I started collecting Eeyore’s from an early age and now even as an adult the collection continues. They even have their own chair in the house!

I find even as an adult I can relate to the characters in Winnie-the-Pooh. Piglet is very scared of the world and certain things and sometimes I find things scary and do not want to leave the house but, just like Piglet, I have to be brave. Eeyore is down in the dumps and sometimes just wants to be left alone, yes, I have those days as well Eeyore. Tigger is very hyper and when I have had enough sugar, I can be just the same. The list continues.

The best example I can show you today is Pooh trying to touch his toes in the morning during his exercises. Pooh and myself both have the same problem, too much honey!

This page also shows the bookmark I got at primary school and have preserved in this book ever since. I love a good bookmark! Also notice the bookmark is a dragon!

Anyway, Happy Birthday A. A. Milne and thank you for the world of Winnie-the-Pooh!

Lady Book Dragon.

New Book Rating System

Over the holidays I had a little think about my book rating system and I have decided to change it. From now on it will not be a star rating system but a dragon system. Yes, the rating will be out of dragons, 5 being the best, 1 being the worst.

One Dragon

One dragon will be given to books I have not managed to finish and really not enjoyed and would not recommend to anyone.

Two Dragons

Two dragons will go to books I have managed to finish but would definitely not want to read again and would not recommend to friends.

Three Dragons

Three dragons are for books I found enjoyable to read but not amazing and would not read again but would happily recommend to people.

Four Dragons

Four dragons are for books I really enjoyed but possibly had one or two annoying flaws or faults but would still read again.

Five Dragons

The big award! This is for the books I just could not put down, the books I adored and want to shout about from the roof tops. Mainly for the books I want to read again and again.

Lady Book Dragon

Bath

I thought I would share a few snaps of my trip to Bath. This was my third visit to Bath and will not be my last as I just adore the place. This trip I visited some of the haunts that Jane Austen would of also frequented when she lived there from 1801 to 1806. I wish I had taken more snaps but I just enjoyed taking in the history and beauty of it.

The Assembly Rooms

The Fashion Museum inside The Assembly Rooms

Georgian Dresses

The House Jane Austen Lived In!

Lady Book Dragon

2019

Happy New Year Everyone!

So I have come up with a few goals for my reading, I’m afraid I’m not a very structured reader and I always just go with what my mood chooses at the time but this year I’m going to try to do better. So here are my goals:-

I have set my Goodreads challenge to 65 only. This is mainly due to the fact I want to read some big books this year and so I do not think I will get the book numbers in.
Read more classics. I used to read a lot of classics but this past year I have neglected them somewhat and I find myself missing them. I especially want to revisit Austen as she is one of my favourites.
Try to complete the Book Bucket List poster my best friend gave me for Christmas. I’ve already read some of them so I’m hoping to tick off a few more. I’m also hoping this will make me read different books.
Finally discover a new genre to enjoy. 2017 I discovered crime fiction and loved it. 2018 I discovered climate fiction. Hopefully I discover a new love this year.

I also have a few books on pre order that I am very excited to read this year. They are the following:-

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Sutton

The Man with no Face by Peter May

The Winter of the Witch by Kathrine Arden

The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald

Romanov by Nadine Brandes.

Is anybody else looking forward to these books?

Wish me luck for my book goals.

Happy reading.

Lady Book Dragon.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope 2019 is a year full of good books for everyone.

Lady Book Dragon.

That’s a Wrap!

Well it is the last day of 2018! So what bookish things have I done in a year?

I set up this blog and have now been blogging for just over two months and I love it! I’m reading more books and blogs and discovering so many new books I would never have dreamed of reading before. Plus I’m talking about books on a daily basis, what is not to like?

I have read more books in a year than I have ever read before, 74 in total and I have enjoyed it immensely.

I have smashed my Goodreads reading challenge, my aim was only 60! Still undecided what 2019’s should be.

I have discovered some new authors I have never read before but definitely want to read more of:-

Neil Gaiman

Rosamunde Pilcher

Veronica Henry

Jeffrey Archer

Peter May

Mary Higgins Clark

My favourite books that I read in 2018:-

Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Watermelon Snow by William A Liggett

The Blackhouse by Peter May

My worst books of 2018:-

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

The Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov

Newly discovered genres:-

Climate fiction

Favourite Poem:-

The Tyger by William Blake

Favourite Quote:-

“A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.”

Italo Calvino

I believe that is a wrap.

I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year’s Eve whether it is partying, reading, sleeping or whatever you prefer.

See you in 2019.

Lady Book Dragon.

Christmas Book Related Gifts

Well it is the third day of Christmas today and my husband and myself are having a relaxing day to recover from a busy Christmas and Boxing Day. So I thought I would show my readers the bookish presents I received from family and friends.

The Penguin Classics Book was on my wish list and my wonderful husband bought it me for Christmas. I can not wait to look through all the books Penguin has published over the years and see what books I should read next.

Tequila Mockingbird is a literary themed cocktail book that I am very keen to try out.

My Best friend bought me the 100 Books Scratch off Bucket List Poster, that has quite a few books on that I have never read. I would love to get this framed once I have completed it. I think my 2019 will have some fun reading based on this list. My friend also bought me a very cute tea strainer in the shape of a book, I love tea and I love books so this combination is amazing!

My sister in laws got me the bag, reading log and Bronte book. I love keeping a book log so I am very excited to start this log in 2019.

Finally my sister got me the Gino cookbook so hopefully 2019 will be filled full of yummy food!

I hope everyone got good presents this Christmas and that you are still enjoying the festive spirit.

Happy Reading!

Lady Book Dragon.

The Nutcracker

It’s nearly Christmas!!!

Last night I finally started The Nutcracker. I must admit I usually start this a lot earlier in December but due to being ill for a week and catching up with work and Christmas decorating, my reading has fallen a big behind but I hope I will be back on track soon.

Yesterday I had a lovely day spent with my husband and parents. It began with my husband and I performing a recital for a Christmas Tree Festival at the church my husband plays organ at. Then we came home for a quick breather, I even managed to do a bit of reading. I finished one book and read another very short book. Then we picked my parents up and went to see the new Mary Poppins film, followed by dinner out. The film was fantastic and it was wonderful to spend time with my husband and parents and not be having to rush off somewhere. It was a chance to relax, smile and share a laugh.

I have two reviews waiting to be written but I promise they will be up soon. I decided to watch Father Ted last night instead of writing reviews. Apologies but it was the first ever episode and I had never seen it before.

I hope you all have a wonderful day and are all ready for Christmas.

Lady Book Dragon.

New Books!

Hello my wonderful readers.

So yesterday I made a real effort and read quite a lot of my current Christmas read but then I got distracted by teaching, Christmas lights, Costa and decorating our Christmas tree. I have almost finished Christmas at the Beach Hut though and so far I adore it. I love it so much, I bought my best friend a copy to read over the Christmas period and my mom is going to borrow mine when I am finished. I really hope the ending is good now, otherwise I will be disappointed and so will the people I have recommended it to. In hindsight I should have waited till I finished the book before I went around telling people to read it but I am so excited about it that I just could not help myself. Does anybody else get this feeling about a book?

I have finally finished my Christmas present buying and have bought quite a lot of books for people. However, I also have a confession, I also bought myself some new books. I just could not stop myself. I only bought two purely because my bank balance could not cope with anymore hits. So here are my new books:-

Fire and Blood by George R. R. Martin

Firestorm is very excited about this book as you can see in the picture below. I must admit I agree with him. I have read all of the A Song of Ice and Fire series so far and I am extremely impatient for the next book The Winds of Winter. I am also slightly annoyed with this new book Fire and Blood because I can not help but think Martin, could have spent his time finishing The Winds of Winter but I will not let that put me off from reading and hopefully enjoying Fire and Blood.

I’ll Keep you Safe by Peter May

Is the second book I bought. I read The Blackhouse by Peter May this year, it was a free book with Apple Books and I read it on my phone. It was shortly after reading a whole book on my iPhone that I decided a Kindle was probably a good idea, mainly for my poor eyes. I loved his style of writing and was instantly hooked, so when I saw this book for half price on the Waterstones I put it in my basket.

So here are my new books, all ready for me to start reading in 2019. It is certainly looking like a good year for reading.

I would love to hear what you think of my new books or even if you have any book plans for 2019.

Lady Book Dragon.

Christmas Reading continued

Greetings readers!

How is everyone’s run up to Christmas going so far?

Well I did promise that I would probably add to the Christmas reading list and I have. I have added three new books.

1. Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

This book was half price at Waterstones and as usual I could not resist.

2. Winnie the Pooh Gloom and Doom for Pessimists by A.A Milne

3. The Snowman: a new story inspired by the original tale by Raymond Briggs by Michael Morpurgo

These last two I bought today whilst out shopping in the supermarket. To be honest we went in to look at the Christmas decorations and I spotted The Snowman and picked it up. The Winnie the Pooh book was quite simply because it had Eeyore on the front and he is and will always be, my favourite Winnie the Pooh character. One day I will show you all just how many Eeyore’s I own.

Anyway that is my updated list! Please let me know your thoughts if you have read any of them.

Oh and we decorated our new Christmas tree today as well.