I might not have been blogging because .......

I've been doing a lot of reading!

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Here is a quick summary starting from the top:

The Women - set during the Vietnam War and after, it follows 3 nurses who were in Vietnam.  Filled in a lot of blanks in my knowledge but felt it focussed on 1 character too much. 

Mad Honey - Jodi Picoult tackling another tricky subject - no spoilers but it's co-written with Jennifer Finney Boylan - if you don't know who she is look her up and it will give you an idea what the book will cover.  It's well done and as usual looks at things from different points of view.

The Storyteller - another Picoult, this one is about the Holocaust.  Again it takes different POVs .

All Good People Here - a police procedural switching between a recent crime and one in the past.  I liked it but, be warned, it has a very abrupt ending.

The Paris Secret - an ok book about a secret apartment discovered in Paris.  The romantic part didn't quite work for me.

Atlas - The Story of Pa Salt - the final instalment of Lucinda Riley's Seven Sisters series.  Great book but a bit predictable.  Unfortunately written by her son following Lucinda's death from cancer.

The Only Suspect - A good crime thriller with a great twist but one of the characters was very annoying!

One Day with You - only took me a day to read this.  Loved it.

Sleep - well I must have been asleep when I read it the first time as I didn't realise until I went to log it on Goodreads that this was a re-read for me.

Bleeding Heart Yard - the next in a series I've been reading - cosy crime thriller but entertaining.

Twice Shy - this one grew on me.  Nice feel good book but the time line was a bit unconvincing.

The Serial Killer's Daughter - Not a bad thriller but felt rushed in places.

Die Trying - it's a Jack Reacher book - what more do I need to say?

For more details, full reviews etc check out my Goodreads page here.

Friday's Fave Five - 29/3/24

And just like that 3 weeks have gone by.  How?

Thanks to Susanne for reminding us every week to take a look back on the week and find the good things to be thankful for.  Find out more here.

Lots for me to look back on!

1)  A lovely Mother's Day spent with 4 of the grandkids and their parents at a nearby Italian restaurant that are really good with the youngsters.

Not a fan of them using screens too much but when the kids finish eating before you've hardly started and dessert is a while away at least it kept them entertained.

Unfortunately Ella wasn't feeling too well (turned out she had an ear infection which needed antibiotics) and she put herself to sleep.

2)  A meal out with Hubby's siblings - his sister-in-law turned 60 this month so we'd arranged a get together to give her the presents from us all.  We only celebrate the big birthdays now and put together so that we can get nice presents for the birthday boy or girl.

3)  Two Knit and Natter sessions which are always fun.

4)  Time with my younger son and his family last Saturday - grandsons Rory and Vinny.  We'd babysat them the week before and Vinny was very disappointed that we did it at their house as he wanted to go to Nanny's house so we had them here for the afternoon and dinner.

5)  Helping out at the Foodbank makes me very aware of how fortunate we are to have enough money for food, bills, etc and many extras.  Sometimes it's good to just think of the basic things that we sometimes take for granted.

And now it's Easter - we have my elder son and his family here from today for a week as the grandsons are on school holidays now - another thing to be grateful for.

Happy Easter to all those who celebrate it and hope everyone has a good weekend.

Friday's Fave Five - 8/3/24

Well it's been 2 weeks since I've been here so I should have lots to be grateful for.  Susanne is the host for this weekly link up - you can find her here.

1.  Getting back into the swing of things after the bout of Covid - I've been doing more walking and I've done 3 more sessions of the Couch to Fitness programme.

2.  A brief visit with Hubby's sister and her husband who live in France.  They were over last week and came to us on Friday afternoon.  They'd spent their week trying to catch up with all the siblings here, no mean feat.

3.  Wellies!  We have had so much rain lately that the paths around the lake and the nearby golf course are like quagmires in places.  Hubby and I managed a walk one afternoon when it wasn't raining but we absolutely needed our wellies.

4.  A hubby that cooks.  Something I often mention but it does make my life so much easier.  (Although I do usually have to remind him to decide what to cook especially if it means getting something out of the freezer to defrost! lol)

5.  A few dryer days!  We've even had decent spells of sunshine this week but it's been quite chilly.  I did a walk ending up at the shops today to pick up a few bits and wished I'd worn a hat!

Well nothing startling there - I did also have a Knit and Natter session last week and my regular sessions at the Foodbank.  We also babysat Nathan and Ella last Saturday.  We'll be seeing them on Sunday along with Rory and Vinny as we're all going out for a meal as it's Mother's Day here in the UK.  It probably won't be very relaxing but I do love seeing them and they enjoy seeing each other too.

Have a good weekend all.