Word Exchange by Alena Graedon

Blurb: A literary adventure for booklovers, a dystopian thriller about the digital age and a love story set in a world threatened by the disappearance of language.
PRINT IS DEAD

LONG LIVE PRINT

Imagine a world in which books, libraries and newspapers are things of the past. A world in which we spend our time glued to handheld devices called Memes that not only keep us in constant communication but have become so intuitive as to hail taxis before we leave our offices and even create and sell language in a digital marketplace called the Word Exchange.

Anana Johnson works with her father, Doug, at the North American Dictionary of the English Language, and they're hard at work on the final edition that will ever be printed. Then one evening, Doug disappears and Anana discovers a single written clue: ALICE. It's a code word Doug devised to signal if he ever fell into harm's way.

Joined by Bart, her bookish colleague, Anana's search for Doug will take her into dark basement incinerator rooms, underground passages, secret meetings, and ultimately to the hallowed halls of the Oxford English Dictionary - the spiritual home of the written word.

My rating: 3 1/2 stars

review	Having just finished my literature degree, I couldn't wait to get into this book. I wasn't disappointed, the I totally see the point of where the idea of the book originated and can identify with many ways that technology is beginning to rule peoples lives. I enjoyed this book very much.    Read 28th may - 14th June

Children of War by Martin Walker

Really enjoyed this book. I won this book through first-reads and although it was a bit out of my normal reading zone (I am consciously pushing to expand). The characters captivated me and the storyline kept my attention throughout, plus being a bit of a foodie too, I loved the descriptions and recipes for the food.

Well done Mr. Walker I may have to find others in your series :).

Read 1st June - 4th July

4 stars

Smilers Fair by Rebecca Levine

I won book through good reads first reads and I am very glad I did.

This was an easy and enjoyable book to read. The many characters and storylines felt awkward at first but in soon got to know where each story as leading. I can't wait till the rest of these books come out so I can find out what happens to Krish, Dao Hyo, Jinn and Eric.

I see this book as 'like' Game of Thrones only much more mild.

A very enjoyable 5 stars.

War Girls

 A great little YA book written to mark the centenary since WW1. These short stories written by prestigious writers depict an image of what World War One might have been like for young women of the time.

My favourite of the nine was Storm in a Teashop by Mary Hopper, a story of a young waitress whom does her bit for the country in a unique way. 

I gave enjoyed this book very much and I will defiantly be sharing this book with my children.
I won this book through goodreads first-reads.

 Read 7th July

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Not the highest qualitity of literature but a blooming great story.

Read this to my severely dyslexic 12 year old son and we both loved it. We were both totally encapsulated by Tris and her story of finding where she fits in the world. Characterisation and plot pace were great and kept my son enthralled throughout as as he puts it 'there were no boring bits or unnessiary stuff' that you get in so many other books.

5 star rating and can't wait to read book 2 & 3 of the trilogy.

Witch Hunt - Syd Moore

When I found out this book was based in Essex and all about Witches I had to read it and I'm glad I did. I found it to contain a great combination of fact and fiction. Well paced, full of Essex imagery like seeing foggy kent from leigh, being able to view the estuary from behind Chalkwell Station etc. And I'm now wanting to visit Colchester castle as I haven't been in years. I liked Sadie but I did suspect some of the outcomes from quiet early in the story.  All in all an easy enjoyable read. 4 stars.

Inferno - Dan Brown

Typical Dan Brown book. Robert Langdon is on a mission, meets a pretty young lady to help him, his on the run and the world / group / person needs saving.

Fast paced, likeable and detestable characters, packed full of Art fact, with a good twist of what if and a balancing mix of fiction. I liked this book and give it 4 stars.

Horse Dreams - Depesche

5 star review - fantastic colouring book

My daughter purchased this book out of her own money as is such a huge horse fan. I was sceptical at first as it it expensive for a colouring book, but now I've seen her pictures I'm amazed.

There are various pictures in the book that have multiple copies and you get two colour examples of each followed by about 10 blank colouring pages of the same horse. The idea is that the draw design and colour the horse in different styles and decorate them in different ways, and although the outline pictures all start the same the kids designs - if they are all like my daughters become so diverse and different they barely resemble the original line drawing.

Wreck this journal - Keri Smith

4 star review -great for what it is

I purchased this book for a dyslexic kid having a great deal of problems with school and reading. This book is fab for him to let out all the frustration he feels with other books and it can be taken out on this one without getting into any trouble. He has greatly enjoyed throwing it out of a window, stamping on it, covering pages in mud, ripping other pages out etc.

A great way of taking out his frustrations, instead of keeping it all shut in. When this one is finished I will look for others in the series to get him.

After the Silence - Inspector Rykel book 1

By Jake Woodhouse

4 star review - Definatly worth a read

This is the first European crime book that I have read and I very much enjoyed it. The whole book is set over a five day period and is mostly narrated by the investigators of the murders of, initially, two victims. The plot centralises on Inspector Jaap Rykel, who has more than a personal interest in the murders - he has the duty to find out who is is responsible for the heinous crimes that the investigation uncovers.

Although it took me a while it get into, I think this was only because of the foreign names and places, this book was well paced and enjoyable.

Delia's Frugal Food

I've enjoyed reading through this cook book to get Delia's take on frugal eating as well and it being a re-print from 1976. (I also managed a frugal purchase of the book ad it cost me just £1 in a local Havens charity shop).

Most of the recipies are common sense recipies rather that frugal in the sense that I've become accustomed, the extravagance seems to have been cut but some of the basic ingredience used are far from frugal - i.e. Beef, tuna and the tonnes of creme that is used throughout the book. 

Although some of the recipies are cheap to make and sound fantastic soup au chou - bacon and cabbage soup - although old fashioned would go down fantastic in our house, as would deviled drumsticks and kidney stroganoff. I am Aldo desperate to try the sugarless orange and sultana cake although I would omit the egg as I feel it would be to rich with all that condenced milk.

This book is relevant to today's frugal eating chefs but I feel it needs many more vegetarian recipies as meat costs a lot of money. 

So a three star review for this interesting but not that frugal recipie book.

Toffee crisp cereal review

Told the kids we were going to test the toffe crisp cereal this morning so the were quite impatient for me to get up and sort it out. The do usually do their own but I wanted to weigh out a portion to review the suggested portions. 

 Well, the smell was fantastic, it looked appealing and the texture was very crunchy. They didn't taste as sweet as was expected, but the carb content tells me otherwise. I like the fact that although it's chocolate the kids are getting about a third of the recomended levels of vitamins and minerals. 

These little crispies didn't soak up the milk which in my sons eyes was great but in my daughters eyes it was pointless having milk if the didn't soak it up so she would prefer them dry. Husband commented that they would make a nice snack in place of popcorn or crisps - which would work out lower in fat I assume. So having them in small serving size bags would be great. 

I think that they would be great on yougart and it would make it a little more filling - although I ate two and 1/2 hours ago and am still not even peckish. 

Overall we all like them differently I like the idea of them as a crispy yougart topping, my daughter and husband as a dry snack and my eldest son as a topping on wheat cereal. 

I offer 4 stars but whether  we decide to purchase in the future will be dependant on price. 

*this item was tested free of charge through bzz agent.co.uk*

Viakal limescale remover

My first review for supersavvyme.co.uk.

I have decided that I really like reviewing products so I have joint a few more sites that allows me to do this for free.  At the moment I am testing Viakal limescale remover.

Initially I had to apply to be part of the trial, and I was really happy when I got picked because live in a hard water area and have problem limescale in my bathroom - mainly in the toilet and the taps.

I was posted: 

• 2x Viakal Original 500ml spray
• An instruction guide 

And to pass on

• 10x money off coupons (50p off)
• 8x hardness water test strips
• And some product research sheets

Busy with uni work I sat on the pack for a few days before I decided to give it a go, but when I did wow!  My taps are shiny... My toilet no so yet but the stains are tough so I'm attacking it every morning (2 days so far and the limescale is starting to shift)

My sink taps before and after:

My bath taps before and after

Two days later they are still shining despite the kids baths, now to get some grout cleaner and put some new mastic around the edges. 

Funny I didn't realise just how gross they were before the product test. 

I won't give a star review until I get results / or not from the limescale at the back of the loo ( but don't worry I won't subject anyone to photos of my toilet :))

The Troll Trap by Rosen Trevithick

I was really pleased to win this book from a goodreads first reads draw to give myself the opportunity to review a book with one of my children.

I decided to read it to my ten year old boy over a few evenings while he was playing minecraft and it went down a treat. The book is set at a great pace, jumping into action and maintaining it throughout, the characters were likable and the story had a few laugh out loud moments. The only think we weren't that keen on was some of the names of the minor characters - which is such a small thing.

All in all an entertaining story with a happy ending.
Me and my boy rate this book as 4 stars out of 5 and shall defiantly recommend to others.

The Poets' Wives

The stories of three poets wives supporting their husbands through mental illness, imprisonment, exhale and adultery.

Full of pain, love and loyalty.

Story 1 - my favourite of the three - was beautiful and breathtaking. I literally held my breath during parts of my reading. The love present between this husband and wife is enviable. The writing beautiful.

Story 2 - A tad more sporadic with jumbled dates but beautifully written nether the less. A story of love and loyalty against all odds.

Story 3 - much more modern than the other two stories, yet another story of loyalty and love only this time seeming one sided.


I very much enjoyed this book and read it much slower than I normally would so that I would not miss anything. 4 1/2 star rating.  I read this book for free by winning a goodreads firstreads prize draw.

Fragile Boundaries by Johnny Leavesley

This is a three star review

Really unsure what to think about this book.
It was slow to get into and I skim read much of the middle but the ending although slightly obvious was good. I liked the comparisons between the two cultures but didn't like the way this connected to the ending.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to read this book through goodreads first-reads.

Love, Lies and Lemon Pies by Katy Cannon

This is a five star review *****

Brilliant, really impressed with this YA book a very easy enjoyable read.

The topics (bake offs, hoarding, teenager issues with school and parents) are very current, the characters are likeable, it is realistic and very well written and I love the recipes. 

I won this book through goodreads Firstreads.

The Execution of Noa P. Singleton: A Novel by Elizabeth L. Silver

Read from March 06 to 07, 2014

This is a 3 1/2 star review. I was so exited that I won this book on first reads as the story line has so much promise. I really wanted this to be a fantastic book but it only lived up my standard of good. I think one of the story's main flaws wash feat that I found all of the characters unlikeable and I found myself unbothered by the outcome, just a bit curios how the story might pan out.  The story started well but then moved into a lot of boring detail, for example I didn't find it necessary to be given the details of the jury to me it added nothing to the story, and to be honest I skim read a lot of the unnecessary detail. I rather enjoyed the last third of the book that was a lot more fast paced and revealing. All in all this was a good story that maybe I have judged to harshly, I just like a storyline with character I can care about whether good, bad or ugly.

*I received this book free of charge through Goodreads Firstreads*

Ruby Zelf

My daughters limited edition Ruby Zelf, has arrived.

I can't believe it was free when they are selling for so much online.   I can't wait to see her play with it although my husband is going to keep the packaging and limited edition certificate for her.

Lego.com delivery under review

I have used lego.com previously for pick a brick lego and the more rare items such as the Delorian from Back to the future and never had any issues.  So with daughters birthday coming up I decided to use them again and I must say that I am even more impressed.

Being a lego VIP (I think this is because I am a recurring customer) I had accrued £5 worth of credit which is used as part payment.  I managed to order a small Lego friends set (the series 4 penguin set) that I can not find in any local shops, two medium sets at £10 each.  They threw in a freebie from the new Lego Disney Princess range (worth £2.99), delivery was £3.95.  So with my voucher I paid a total of £21.92 including delivery for sets that should have cost nearly £26 by themselves.

This was Monday afternoon, I received my receipt for payment this morning and expected a few days for delivery but yodel brought me my parcel this morning.
I am very happy (my daughter will be too) with my order and the quick turnaround.  Well done Lego.   

Tesco Finest* Gigli pasta

Tesco finest* Gigli pasta tested free of charge as part of the Tesco Orchard community.

03 March 2014

I set off to my local tesco with the plan to buy the Finest* Lunghi pasta but the had ran out off stock I was a tad disappointed as this looked the most 'fun' but after a quick browse through the strange shapes I decided to go for the Gigli instead (love the name by the way). 

 I cooked the pasta according to instructions and served with a light mushroom sauce for my two youngest and my hot spicy arribbiata for my eldest, my husband and myself. All but one plate was cleared - my daughter who likes her pasta al dente didn't like the softness of this pasta. But for everyone else it was a huge hit. 

 The trumpet type shape trapped chunky parts of the sauce and Parmesan where as the smooth of the sauce clung nicely to the outside. 

 My boys commented that the pasta had a mildly sweet flavour but that could have been due to me under salting the water. Sorry boys. 

 All in all it was an enjoyable meal. My only quarm about buying it again is the price, £2.40 for what would normally cost me a lot less (I'm not apposed to buying from the value range) does leave me to question the affordability of a item for everyday meals. I would probably only buy again on a bogof or other special offer, then I might stock up.

 Saying that I purchased a bag of Finest* Conchiglion at the same time as the Gigli, so I will see how that goes first.

A Girl Called Jack

A Girl Called Jack: 100 Delicious Budget Recipes by Jack Monroe

Read on March 01, 2014.   Five Star Review

As a follower of Jack Monroe's blog I was really exited to hear last year that she had a lucky break and won a book deal.

For those of you new to her story Jack was living on a budget of less than £10 per week to feed her and her small boy. She was so poor that the radiators were turned off at the mains and she took light bulbs out of certain rooms so that she wasn't tempted to waste electricity. Jack blogged all of this Along with the recipes that she was inventing to live on.

This book contains many of those recipes along with lots of new ones. I myself have already cooked some; bean goulash, falafels and vegetable curry to name a few. All have been delicious and all have fitted my own strict food budget.

I would recommend this book to those on a strict budget, students and ordinary home cooks alike and I defiantly be teaching my boys a few of Jack's staple recipes before they leave home.

Rare Ruby Zelf

I'm really exited for my daughter she loves Zelfs and is really exited that a new series has just come out.  Looking online she choose some of the ones she wanted (at £5.99 and £9.99) and she is set on owning the limited edition Ruby one.

Thing how on earth I could get one, baring in mind they are selling for a fortune on online auctions but browsing online I came across this:

http://www.ukmums.tv/uploads/ckfinder/userfiles/files/Final%20Redemption%20Form_edited-1.jpg

With her birthday coming up and the new series just out it was easy to spend the £30 and send off the receipts. 

Whoop whoop she should soon be the owner of a limited edition Zelf, I can't wait till it comes through the post I just have to resist giving it to her early.  She will be so happy and what's better it cost me just the price of a stamp.

Superdry on Ebay

My boy (12) has wanted a Superdry jacket for ages but I have been reluctant to pay their prices - no matter how nice the products are.  In September I brought him a bag, which is still in really good condition despite him using it everyday to carry his medical supplies so far has been worth the £35 I payed for it.

So back to the coat... I found out that Superdry has an Ebay outlet a while back and have been peaking on and off for the last few weeks to see if the item he wants so come up for sale.  It did and I managed to get it with a big % off rrp, paying £29.99 (with free delivery) instead of the £69.99 they wanted in store.

It arrived yesterday and it is perfect.  It's an over they head style jacket but it's thick and comfy and although my boy is usually in extra small men, it fits well with plenty of growing space.

Happy mum and happy boy.

Just a note...

Just a note to clarify what I mean in star ratings.  (This may not be what everyone feels and I shall try to keep it real to other sites ratings too)

*  1 star - not at all for me, returned to store, thrown away or left unread.  Disappointing!
** 2 star - it was alright but I wouldn't buy / read / make again. Acceptable. Okay I suppose!
*** 3 star - it was good, nice.  I'm happy with that but might not recommend.
**** 4 star - loved it.  Is there a sequel.  I enjoyed that!  Would recommend!
***** 5 star - WOW, perfect, exceptional. I Want more. Outstanding! Shout about it from the rooftops!

Viper Wine By Hermione Eyre

Read from February 20 to 24, 2014

Although reading a historic novel may not be my first choice in genre I was pleasantly surprised with VIPER WINE.

Based on the real life characters of Kenelm Digby - explorer, philosopher and courtier - and his beloved beauty of a wife Venitia Stanley in the early 17th century, Eyre has written a novel based upon Beauty, Vanity, Addiction and Time Travel!

A fascinating historical novel interjected with modern reference and characters. A great read.

I score this book 4* out of 5.

I won this Free Uncorrected Proof copy of VIPER WINE by Hermione Eyre through a Goodreads, first-read giveaway.

Tesco Finest* Potatoes Review

Having been asked to Test these potatoes as part of the Orchard at Tesco community.  I was sent through a voucher so I could try it for less than normal price and given some vouchers to share with my friends and family.

finest* Blue Belle and finest* Elfe on test

08 February 2014 

Went shopping with my little girl (age 6) to get these potatoes and ended up buying two bags one because of the purple 'kisses' that patterned them and the other because 'the elves must eat them if they have that name'. Lol! (I love the minds of children)

Firstly I made oven roasted jackets with two Elfe and two Blue Belle's. Hardly any butter was needed on either and my daughter describes hers as strong, buttery and soft. They were both very nice although the Belle took longer to roast that the Elfe although they were all the same size. 

Day two I dished up chilli and garlic sautéed Belle potatoes, that were delicious and complimented the gammon and veg brilliantly - even my two almost teenage boys that can be really fussy with potatoes wolfed down the lot. 

 With the rest of the Belles I have made a shepherds pie for dinner tonight, they boiled quickly and mashed lovely and with just a tiny salt and butter tasted devine - I can't wait for dinner tonight. That leave us with two Elfe potatoes, oh the possibilities....  Will defiantly be buying again.

Yummy scrummy finest* Elfe roasts

11 February 2014

My sister only has a tiny local Tesco so I brought two packs from my store and took them to her house to accompany our Sunday roast. The dinner was amazing, the potatoes were so nice, they parboiled quickly and roasted perfectly. Crunchy on the outside whilst soft and flavoursome on the inside. And what made it even better was that they were on special offer for only 99p per pack and with the vouchers we had enough to feed 10 people for the bargain price of 98p. 

 Well done Tesco!