Thursday 16 October 2014

11+ Trauma

So, here in the Kent countryside it seems we are one of the last counties to put our primary school kids through the trauma that is the 11+ exam. Izzy got her results yesterday and she didn't pass - this is despite being top of her class, going above and beyond the 'expected' targets she should be hitting at school and having a reading age of 13.5 years (she's 10). Needless to say she was gutted, but now this morning her Head Teacher has informed me she wants to appeal the decision. Arrrggghhhhh! TOO. MUCH. STRESS. It doesn't matter to me whether she goes to a grammar school or not, I know wherever she goes she will fly high, but COME ON KCC! To have my daughter tell me she doesn't know why I'm proud of her because she failed is not on. Time to abolish the 11+, and let kids find their own path without being made to feel inadequate.


She's my beautiful, talented, kind, crazy, intelligent, big-hearted baby and no exams or grammar school is ever going to change that.

Monday 6 October 2014

Created - The Destroyer

Oooh so this was next up on my TBR list:



And  I actually loved it. I was totally hooked from the first page, where we meet our hero about to be frazzled by the electric chair after being framed for a crime he didn't commit. Obviously, he doesn't get frazzled (otherwise theres no story hehe) but what follows is a fantastic roller coaster ride of a novel in which we see him become absorbed into CURE, a top secret government agency that doesn't actually exist, therefore Remo ceases to exist. The story that follows will leave you quite breathless as tons and tons of action takes place in what actually felt like quite a short novel. I loved it as much as I loved I am Pilgrim, which I really, REALLY enjoyed. I've also heard that it's going to made into a movie, directed by the guy who did Ironman, which if you think along Liam Neeson-doing-lovely-hardcore-action-things/Da Vinci Code lines, its going to be a cracker. You can find other reviews for this novel here:

Or you can just buy your own copy and get in on it all before the movie comes out HERE:

Created - The Destroyer

Tuesday 30 September 2014

Dying for Christmas!

Ooooh quick cheeky teeny tiny book review! Just finished Dying for Christmas by Tammy Cohen - blurb reads:

"I am missing. Held captive by a blue-eyed stranger. To mark the twelve days of Christmas, he gives me a gift every day, each more horrible than the last. The twelfth day is getting closer. After that, there’ll be no more Christmas cheer for me. No mince pies, no carols. No way out …

But I have a secret. No-one has guessed it. Will you?"

Ummmm, no. I never did. And I'm so glad I didn't. This was a 5 star novel - first one for me since Broadchurch - and it was BRILLIANT. I literally could not put it down, even though you know what has happened and who has done it, I gobbled it up trying to get to the reasons WHY it was all happening….and then just when you think it's all figured out, you're hit with the twist….which makes you want to gobble it all up to the end to see WHY. Again. Love it. It's out on Kindle and in paperback on 20th November and you can get it here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dying-Christmas-Tammy-Cohen-ebook/dp/B00M2P29E6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412091316&sr=8-1&keywords=dying+for+christmas

Or here:

http://www.transworldbooks.co.uk/editions/the-twelve-deaths-of-christmas/9781473509573


Thursday 25 September 2014

Crappy non-posting-ness

Uggghhh. How crappy have I been at keeping up on here??? Super crappy that's what! I thought I'd have a teeny tiny break, given how hectic stuff was at work, and Mr H not being around much but with delicious holibobs to Cyprus, then home to reams and reams of paperwork at the office, then an EMA to get in for the end of AA100 I was pretty rushed off my feet. It's taken me til now to actually catch up from my lovely jolly 2 weeks in the sun.

Did get lots of reading done in the meantime, namely The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes (beautiful, but will she ever top Me Before You?), The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness (end of the trilogy, lovely stuff but Books One and Two were better), Broadchurch - I can't remember who it's by but I didn't watch it on the telly and it was ACE - I literally could not put it down and I couldn't figure who-done-it either.

Next up on the list is Created: the Destroyer by Warren Murphy - Ive been looking forward to this one but held off on it as I am due to write a review for the blog tour and post it on 6th October. Apparently its being made into a movie, so all exciting stuff.

A105 kicks off on 4th - Voices, Texts and Material Cultures. EEEEK! I've made a start on Chapter One but got to say Anthropology and Archaeology is kinda not my bag. Roll on Level 2 and all the lovely lovely Lit that goes with it!

Friday 13 June 2014

Busy busy!

Mr H being on nights this week means lots of early nights reading and catching up on all my Netgalley approvals….but that also means working full-time right now and managing kids, ponies, dogs and chickens etc all on my own! Its been a busy and exhausting week, not helped by littlies suffering from hideous hay fever, but I've managed to get a few books in.

On the agenda this week was The Point, by G. Nykanen, which was a kind of Fargo/American Psycho mash-up, which was slow to start but ended up being quite brill. Then The Long Fall by Julia Crouch. I LOVE Julia Crouch, so was super excited to get a review copy via the publisher and Netgalley. It was brilliant, and despite being husband-less all week I sat up til ridiculous-o'clock to finish it.

All my reviews can be found on my Goodreads page: www.goodreads.com.lisahall1979 and on Amazon.

Tuesday 3 June 2014

The girl with all the gifts

Unputdownable novel of the month so far. I'm not a zombie apocalypse kind of girl so I wasn't expecting to enjoy this review copy from Netgalley and the publisher (thank you very much!), but I literally could not put it down, to the point of having to finish it last night before a girls night out! Melanie is "the girl with all the gifts" and she literally broke my heart 100 times...a lovely, sweet character, not at all what you would expect. Any mother will relate to Helen and how she feels towards Melanie and Sergeant Parks. Not just a story about zombies and the end of the world, it's the story of how people react when the world does end. Read it, even if you hate zombies.



http://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-All-Gifts-M-Carey-ebook/dp/B00B27ECPY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401819587&sr=8-1&keywords=the+girl+with+all+the+gifts



Wednesday 28 May 2014

Book Reviews

Its been a busy week….Kids are off on half term so things are pretty hectic round here. I did however, join Netgalley this week and they've sent me a bunch of books to review which is v exciting! I rely on Goodreads and Amazon reviews heavily, along with reviews from my Facebook book clubs, so I figured it was time to start reviewing stuff I've read, so I can pass on my recommendations. I've had a few Netgallery requests declined so I figure the sooner I get cracking on my reading/reviewing the better! This week I've read two great books -

Cry Baby - David Jackson

I loved this - I love a good thriller, even so more when there's a cracking twist at the end. A woman wakes, alone, disorientated and realises her baby is missing. She hears a voice through an earpiece in her ear and what follows is a cracking roller coaster of a read in which Erin does everything the disembodied voice in her ear tells her to, in order to save her baby. I'm not going to give away the twist, as that was what turned a good read, into a bloody cracking read. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more David Jackson.

We were Liars - E Lockhart

I only picked this book up as the publishers had shrouded it in secrecy - "Don't tell the ending! It's a secret!". I went into this book blind, as the publishers wanted you to and because I love a secret 'cos I'm dead nosey. It was a good story - I didn't see the twist coming (although many other reviewers on Goodreads etc said they did), but I didn't like ANY of the characters. I think maybe Lockhart had that in mind, that readers would perhaps not like her characters, but despite that it was still a good read. Read it if you love a secret, and if you think that perhaps your family isn't all that. Trust me, they could be worse.