The Dartmoor Bookworm

I love Lucy Diamond books. They are usually easy readers, books I can read in a day or two. This one took a little longer. It’s about a house in Brighton, where 3 individuals end up living and who are all there for different reasons. Rosa has experienced a break up and has made a fresh start at Dukes House. Charlotte has experienced the death of her daughter and subsequent relationship break down and has come to Dukes House for a new start and Georgie has come to Brighton with her boyfriend Simon who has a new job down in Brighton. She has no job and knows no one so Dukes House becomes her new beginning too. The story follows these three individuals and the friendship they form through living in the same building. I loved the character of Margot, an elderly French lady living in the top floor flat who helps Charlotte find love in Brighton.  Other people l iving in the house are also brought into the story, for example, Bea who is thrown into Rosa’s care when her mum, Jo is take...

I Wonder... How many of you have read the book or seen the film? The reviews I have to admit are good and it's a book that I've wanted to read but haven't got around to getting it, until now. During the day I work at a small SEND school, teaching one to one to pupils with varying special educational needs. We have recently taken on a year 9 girl and I thought we might look at Wonder together as part of her English curriculum. She's not a reader (her words) but she likes being read to and will happily sit and listen. So I purchased the book, my only problem now is do I read it with her and wait or do I read the whole story over the weekend. Then I can let myself watch the film. Which do you prefer the film or book? Should I wait?

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 ...