The Dartmoor Bookworm

So we’ve kind of had a snow day. I woke this morning to a layer of the white stuff outside and got quite excited. I do love snow. I love how magic it seems even if it is a total and utter inconvenience to us all. My youngest two are both off school with a flu type bug that has brought out our dear old friend Croup. It sounds like I have two seals in the house. My youngest is on day five of feeling pants but his voice has returned and he’s eating so he’s definitely getting better. My middle one hasn’t had it quite so bad, no sore throat just the cough and a temperature. My eldest is fine and was gutted that he had to go to school. His bus arrived on time but then took 45 minutes to go two stops. By which time he was fed up and cold. Most of the students gave up and came home. The bus company later stated on Facebook that they were sending another but by which time most of the boys were home again. So he got his day off after all. As for me well I work on the moor during the day and ther...

Next on my reading list are these few. Two from the library and one from Tesco! Reviews will follow.

You may have seen them or something similar. There are all sorts out there now from beauty products to Gin but my love is stationery (I do like the odd Gin too!). I am a member of the Bring Back Paper facebook page hosted by Jocelyn from The Reading Residence and I asked on there which were the best stationery subscription boxes out there. A few were recommended to me but the most popular one was The Sherbet Lane subscription.  I had a look at a few of those suggested including the Paper gang but decided that I would treat myself to six months subscription to The Sherbet Lane box. Immediately after I joined up, Claire who runs it added me to the facebook page and OMG! She designs all her own work and the variety of products have been amazing. Every Monday she runs a little competition for members of the facebook group as well as designing all the stationery for the boxes. You get anything from paperclips (beautiful ones not just bog standard!), pens, pencils, notebooks, m...

The Girls by Lisa Jewell is my first library book in a long time. I rejoined the library at the beginning of January as part of my New Years resolutions. I read this in three evenings. I’ve always loved Lisa Jewell books since I read her debut ‘Ralph’s Party’ back in the late 1990s. The girls is about two girls Grace and Pip and their mother Claire who have recently moved into a flat that backs on to a huge communal garden in the centre of London. They have moved there due to an episode with their schizophrenic father who had burnt their previous house down. He is now in hospital and the girls and their mum are making a fresh start. After they move in they meet the other teenagers who live around the Garden and who have grown up together going in and out of each other’s houses. In the garden is a bench in commemoration of a 15 year old girl who was killed in the garden years before. On the day of Grace’s birthday and the annual summer party, Pip find’s Grace unconscious in a...

My first book of 2019 is Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey. If any of you have read Elizabeth is Missing by the same author, you'll understand why I picked this one as my next read. If you haven't read Elizabeth is Missing I strongly recommend it. Whistle in the Dark is about a 15 year old girl ‘Lana’ who has been missing for four days but has been found and can't remember anything of the four days that she was missing. It delves into her mental health and her wishes to commit suicide in the time leading up to going missing. But also goes deeply into her relationship with her mother ‘Jen’.  I will be honest. I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did Elizabeth is Missing and I’m not entirely sure why. I did flit between my kindle and the audible version (I listened to it on the way home from work) and I think I found the woman’s voice a little irritating, especially when reading Jen’s bits and this put me off a bit and made me quite dislike Jen as a character. I think I ...

Okay so I am a few days late but I thought I'd share my new years resolutions with you.  I don't normally make resolutions, I'd never keep to them and usually don't see the point but this year I have felt differently about it. Maybe that's because this year things need to change. Hopefully they may tell you a little bit more about me too. 1. I'm going to use the library. I don't at present and it's silly really but my big bookcase has been sold and most of my books have to go. We are renovating our downstairs and we just don't have room for it any more, so instead of buying books, I'm going to visit the library. 2. I'm going to start swimming and I'm going to join the gym.  I need to lose some weight and start exercising. It'll also give me a bit of time to myself. 3. I'm going to be strict on my working hours. I am not going to work after 7pm in the office/ classroom. Being self employed is a bummer - some nights I...