Mums Books

03/11/2023

China - what a fascinating country, what a long history, and what a great introductory book to it! It’s definitely just a starting point, but well written, succinct, informative enough for a first venture into this topic. Recommend! 👍🇨🇳

05/04/2023

The library has become my new best friend since I’ve been unwell - the pick of this bunch being Lionel Shriver’s really rather astonishing book about obesity and relationships mainly - ‘Big Brother’. Well worth looking out for 👍

04/01/2023

First read of 2023 and it was bliss - I have no idea why I’ve never read this classic literary gem before!
If you liked ‘Middlemarch’ you’ll love it, I promise. And… Happy New Year! 💕

22/11/2022

A beautiful baby boy, my second grandchild, joined the family on Sunday 💕 What an absolute blessing grandchildren are! 🙏 Many congratulations to Mum, .garcia and my Eldest Son, I cannot wait to meet this little angel 😇

07/07/2022

Goodness me. Rare indeed are books that you read cover to cover with interruptions only when absolutely necessary for fresh tea, snacks, and dashes to the loo.
This is one of them, as was 'The Time Travellers Wife'.
What an author! Have you read her?

https://mumsbooks.com/2022/07/07/114-her-fearful-symmetry-by-audrey-niffenegger/

30/06/2022

‘Atonement’ - the act of making amends for a wrong or injury. And by jingo, what a horrendous injury the over active imagination of 13 year old Briony has caused her older sister Cecilia and her lover Robbie. My second time reading this exquisite novel, one I cannot recommend highly enough. Mum had read this copy twice as well and I’m afraid it’s a Keeper, can’t possibly give it away as I hope to enjoy it again in the future! It’s a love story, a tragedy of errors, a glimpse into war, an ‘act of atonement’. Very clever, beautifully crafted, this is a very good author at the absolute top of his game. Full review on the blog, and I repeat, a massive recommendation from Mum and I 💕📚👍

29/06/2022

A Buddhist quote that gets sent with many Lotus Buddha book mark thongs from because it’s one I truly ‘get’. When I was living in India I realised the truth in this more than ever before. It’s truly humbling to go from being overwhelmed by your own personal problems to realising how insignificant they are compared to the daily issues mostly of simply feeding their family that are faced by the people you’re working with. Doing something nice for someone doesn’t need to cost a penny - it could be simply a smile at a stranger. And you’ll feel better for it too. Trust me. 🙏

24/06/2022

Oooh...disappointing. And I was really looking forward to it - I remember reading and enjoying a trilogy by this author some years ago.
Since writing the review however I have wondered whether it's because since reading that trilogy I have discovered Japanese fiction written by Japanese authors and translated into English, and loved pretty much all of them, that this book felt so pedantic and took me so long to read. One I could put down.
But, I don't dismiss her as an author, I do remember The Nightingale Floor with pleasure.
Full review on the blog - and I hope you are all shipshape, my friends!

https://mumsbooks.com/2022/06/24/112-blossoms-and-shadows-by-lian-hearn/

16/06/2022

Two books, one author. Different genres, locations and time frames, but both bloody good reads - I shall be looking for more of Owen Sheers! For a debut novel, ‘Resistance’ was superb. Big recommend - full review and some additional rambling can be found on the blog 👍👍👍👍👍

12/06/2022

Well. Lord of The Rings second, and a well deserved first place to 'Star Wars' on the ABC Classic Top 100 (see post below)

After which the Vince Doglet and I went for a brisk walk and came home for a warming glass of red - and I finally finished a blog post, two books by one excellent author who I now discover is also a poet.

Owen Sheers.I'll be keeping a beady eye out for more of his work!

Goodness me. I wasn’t expecting much when I picked up ‘Resistance’ for 50p in a charity shop in Kidderminster to read during my two week quarantine at Howard Springs in March 2021…

12/06/2022

I’ve spent the weekend glued to the top 100 film/tv/game scores on radio, and this at number three would have delighted Mum 💕 She was a massive fan of Ennio Morricone. It’s been a great and very musical weekend! Well done the Australian ABC 👍 the burning issue …no sign of Lord of the Rings, and only two spots left! 😅🎵

09/06/2022

Not your standard but my ‘To Be Reviewed’ pile! 😂 I’ve been very happily caring for my ten month old granddaughter quite a bit recently whilst Mummy and Daddy work on their new home, and honestly, had forgotten how exhausting a crawler is! 😂 Happy to curl up and read once she’s gone home but far too brain dead to write about it! Several excellent books here, a couple of enjoyable but fairly mediocre, one I could NOT get into at all, and one I’d call an absolute dud. I wonder who can guess the Dud? 🤔📚