Rosie Recommends – Spring Reading

Here are a selection of my Rosie Recommends books for some Spring reading.

 Ever feel like you aren’t getting everything you want out of life? A man on a bus smiles or a stranger exudes happiness and you wonder, why isn’t that me? A child runs giggling across your path and reminds you what pure joy looks like, causing you to stop and ask… where is your joy? Ever sit in your office or home and feel life is passing you by, or that there is more out there, but you just can’t reach it? Saving Our Pennys, by Roy Dimond and Jeff Leitch tell the story of a teacher, who facing a crisis, searches for answers to some of life’s most difficult questions. Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

 Derek travels from child to confused adult, from reporter for the local paper to any job available, doing everything he thinks he should, but doing it his way. Pursuing life and employment leads Derek to fling himself into the sort of sticky situations he won’t want to have to explain to his friends or his family. With determination, gritting his teeth, doing everything for the best, how could anything go wrong? Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

 An international sensation, this hilarious, feel-good novel is narrated by an oddly charming and socially challenged genetics professor on an unusual quest: to find out if he is capable of true love. Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

 1885. Anne Stanbury – Committed to a lunatic asylum, having been deemed insane and therefore unfit to stand trial for the crime of which she is indicted. But is all as it seems? A chilling mystery fast becoming one of this years MUST READS. Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

When the Bishop insists that Martin Winchester take a sabbatical from his parish to restore his depleted energy and regain his spiritual focus, his wife Hannah is left on her own for the first time in years. Her new found freedom gives her an opportunity to reflect on her life. Retreating into the newly-renovated vicarage garden in the Cotswold’s village of Burford, Hannah not only wants to escape the demands of her role as the vicar’s wife, but to reinvent herself.  A heart-warming English Village tale.Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

 

Toad thought it’d be easy to steal from Mr. Edward P. Owl. Unfortunately for Toad, he isn’t the best of thieves. Caught in the act, he’s in more trouble than ever before. Now to save his hide, Toad must track down five rare potion ingredients for Mr. Owl. Or else. A delightful YA book easily readable for adults too. Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

I was immediately drawn to this book by it’s title. After checking out the book description, it still appealed to me. The idea of a Hitman getting stranded in Iceland, a land that has no army, no guns and a homicide rate of 1 maybe 2 a year struck me as very funny. Our Hitman goes by many names and occupations during the tale, I won’t spoil it for the reader by revealing these. Iceland a land of fresh bleak beauty, freezing temperatures, days of light or dark and very few people. Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Let me know if you go ahead and read any of these, and tell me what you thought of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Deeds Week January 26th – February 1st

Welcome to my weekly roundup of my year long challenge to do one Good deed a day for a year. This challenge began back in April 2013 and is still going strong. My inspiration came from reading “A Year of Doing Good” by Judith O’Reilly. Here is what I’ve been up to this week.

January 26th – A Good Deed completed and a Good Deed received all in one today. I was invited to write a post for a new feature on Words Unlimited called High Five, where guests talk about their top 5 in any subject. I’ve just sent off a draft all about books I’ve recently read, and of course they get a mention here on the blog. Good Deeds all around.

January 27th – My morning helping out at school today, Good Deed ticked off.

January 28th – Whilst at work this morning a friendly young man came in to the office. He represented an animal feed merchant. He explained he’d been to agricultural college, graduated,this was his first job and he was driving around his patch looking for new business. I gave him the contact details of the relevant farm partners rather that brushing him off because he was one of the lucky ones and had a job, so I wanted to give him a chance.

January 29th – Met a friend for coffee and treated us both. Stopped off at the charity shops on the way home and bought some books.

January 30th – Here in the UK some supermarkets use a system for the trolleys (carts) where you need a £1 coin or similar sized token to release the trolley for use. As I was returning my trolley to the trolley bay I was able to help an elderly gentlemen release his £1 coin which was stuck in the lock, a quick tweak and the coin was released.

Good Deeds received had an amazing write up from John Howell on his blog as a thank you for hosting his new book promotion “My GLR“. Here is a link to his post http://wp.me/p2Qoij-11p

January 31st – The February Issue of Fleet Life is online today with my page of book reviews. This months books and authors are; “The Omega Paradox” by Richard Kellier, “Nine Lives” by Terry Tyler, “The Hitman’s Guide to Housecleaning” by Hallgrimur Helgason, “The New Granny’s Survival Guide” by Gransnet and “Twelve Days” by Jade Reyner. Go to www.fleetlife.org.uk, click on the online directory and find my reviews on page 26.

February 1st – I can’t believe it’s February already. I have 14 confirmed letters booked in my A to Z Challenge and 2 more that may get booked by the end of the weekend. Many of the harder letters are left to fill. If you know someone who may have a book I could use please get them to contact me. Today I’ve accepted 3 more books to read and review. I shall start on them once I’ve finished my little self indulgent re-read of Twilight.

Today I met up with a lady that I last saw 6 months ago. At that time she had just had a grand-daughter born, who was very ill in hospital undergoing major surgery after just a few days of being born. I didn’t know if the baby had survived, and it was a difficult question to ask, but I’m glad I did. The baby survived.

Bless you all.

February Issue of Fleet LIfe – Rosie’s Good Reads

The February edition of Fleet Life is now available and this month you can find my reviews on page 26. My paper edition hasn’t arrived yet, so here is a shot from the online version. Go to www.fleetlife.org.uk, then click on the online directory and click to page 26 where you can read the magazine in a larger format.

Featured books for February are below with links to my review posts from the blog where you will find further links for purchasing options;

Nine Lives by Terry Tyler http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-3cC

The Omega Paradox by Richard Kellier http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-33l

The Hitman’s Guide to House Cleaning by Hallgrimur Helgason http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-4l4

The New Granny’s Survival Guide by Gransnet http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-4lP

Twelve Days by Jade Reyner http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-4m9

The Hitman’s Guide to Housecleaning by Hallgrimur Helgason

The Hitman’s Guide to Housecleaning by Hallgrímur Helgason

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was immediately drawn to this book by it’s title. After checking out the book description, it still appealed to me. The idea of a Hitman getting stranded in Iceland, a land that has no army, no guns and a homicide rate of 1 maybe 2 a year struck me as very funny. Our Hitman goes by many names and occupations during the tale, I won’t spoil it for the reader by revealing these except my favourite, Toxic. Iceland a land of fresh bleak beauty, freezing temperatures, days of light or dark and very few people. With plenty of time to reflect his past and change his future the tale lives up to its name. Housecleaning takes place in unusual ways with the help of a mix of characters. I enjoyed the complicated Icelandic language which added humour to the piece, and I was in fits of laughter at the serious nature the whole country took when it came to watching The Eurovision Song Contest live on TV. The past finally catches up with the Hitman in several ways, and we are left guessing, will he settle down and call this land of ice home? Or will he ever make it back to his true home? It does contain strong language and adult content.
Find your copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads