First Lines Friday

Hello, hello my lovelies,

I hope you are all well.

Today is Friday - in fact it's Good Friday so happy Easter to you.

First lines Friday is run by Wandering Words

What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?  If you want to make your own post, feel free to use or edit the banner above, and follow the rules below:

• Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
• Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
• Finally… reveal the book!

So, here we go:

Like a man-made magic wish, the aeroplane began to rise.

The boy sitting in the cock pit gripped his seat and held his breath as the plane climbed into the arms of the sky. Fred's jaw was set with concentration, and his fingers twitched, following the movements of the pilot beside him: joystick, throttle.

Any ideas?

This is The Explorer by Katherine Rundell

Did you get it right?

If you haven't read this yet, I hope this has inspired you to.

Happy reading

Allison xx

First Lines Friday

Hello, hello my lovelies,

It's Friday so it must be time for First Lines Friday.

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?  If you want to make your own post, feel free to use or edit the banner above, and follow the rules below:

• Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
• Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
• Finally… reveal the book!

So here is today's snippet ...

I read the sign again, glowing in front of me:

Type of organism: human female

Origin: Earth

 Age: about twelve years

This brand new exhibit will be introduced to the wider Earth Zone exhibition when emotional stability has been achieved.

There you go! Any ideas?

Today's opening is from The Kid Who Came From Space by Ross Welford.

I hope this has inspired you to go and read the book.

Happy reading

Allison xx

Top Five Tuesday

Hello, hello my lovelies,

How are you all?

Today I am taking part in Top Five Tuesday which is run by Shanah over at Bionic Book Worm.

This is what you have to do:

How you make your lists is completely up to you. Want to do authors first names? Go ahead! Want to do last names? Have at it! Want to do a mix of both? It’s your post and I’m not the Top 5 police who will send you to bookish jail or anything….. wait….. bookish jail? That sounds like fun…. can that be a thing? Point is, attack the alphabet as you please. I think I’ll be doing last names for these but I haven’t decided yet.

If you’re lucky enough to have your shelves organized in alphabetical order, then this will be easy! Me – I organize by genre so……. not so easy! I can’t wait for the chance to highlight a few authors I don’t talk about all that often!

Today we are finishing off authors with the letters U, V, W, X, Y, Z.

This is going to be soooo tricky!

U is for Alison Uttely who wrote The Little Grey Rabbit series.

V  has to be for Jules Verne

W is for E B White

X, Y and Z I couldn't do 😒

Have you got any suggestions?

Happy reading,

Allison xx

A book for each letter in my name

Hello, hello my lovelies,

How are you all doing stuck at home?

Just a fun post for you today. These are book titles for each letter of my first name.

As usual. I have posted links to Waterstones, however please also don't forget your local independent bookshops at this difficult time.


A is for A Pocketful of Stars by Aisha Bushby





L is for Letters from the Lighthouse by Emma Carroll




L is for The Land of Roar by Jenny McLachlan




I is for The Iron Man by Ted Hughes



S is for Starfell Willow Moss and the Lost Day by Dominique Valente







O is for Orphans of the Tide by Struan Murray



N is for Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend




What books would you choose?


Keep safe.

Happy reading,

Allison xx

Six For Sunday

Hello, hello my lovelies,

I hope you are feeling safe and well.

Today I am taking part in #sixforsunday, run by Steph over at alittlebutalot.

Here's what to do:

If you’re a blogger, you will find the prompts for January to March in this blog post and you can post a blog post with your six choices for that week’s prompt. If you’re not a blogger but want to join in anyway:

• post a tweet with your choices
• a picture on instagram showing us your choices
• reply to my post with your choices

So on with this week's theme which is ...

6 characters I'd like to be like

Oh my this is tricky.

1. Atticus Finch

He seems to come up in a lot of my posts but hey, I want to be like him!

2. Tilly Pages

Who wouldn't want to have the ability to wander into your favourite books?

3. Milou from The Unadoptables

I know she is an orphan and struggles not knowing who her family are, but I love the strength of her character and her drive to find answers.

4. Zinnie from The House of Hidden Wonders

A little bit of a theme here but again, another orphan with a real strength of character.

5. Mary Poppins



I mean I could fly to where I want to, keep everything and more in my bag, talk to the birds, jump into art and dance with cartoon penguins. Who wouldn't?


6. Heidi



Just for where she lives and what she gets to live with and do.

So there you have it. My six for Sunday. What did you choose? I'd love to know.

Happy reading,

Allison xx

BOOT: The Rusty Rescue review

Hello, hello my lovelies,

I hope you are all staying safe and well.

Today I am reviewing Boot: The Rusty Rescue by Shane Hegarty



Synopsis:

Toy robot Boot has come a long way since it woke up in a scrapyard with only two and a half glitchy memories. It has a home with its robot pals in an abandoned amusement arcade, and has discovered what true happiness is - although it's still not sure why humans are so leaky and weird ... But when Boot and the gang stumble upon Rusty, an old, broken robot, forgotten in the back of a testing lab, it's time to spring into action. Boot knows there's something special about Rusty - but can they free the old robot and help it find its purpose?

Review:

Can you have a bit scary and a bit funny in the same book? Well in this book you certainly can! 

For those of you of a certain age, do you remember a cartoon called Raggy Dolls? Rusty and friends are just like them. Misfits. Broken. Parts missing. All those robots that are unwanted and unfit for being children's toys are sent to a lab to be used for testing. They are not tested on but are doing the actual testing. Mindbogglingly boring testing. Second after second. Minute after minute. Hour and hour. Day after day. The same action over and over and over again until something breaks; at which point they are then sent to 'robot heaven.'

I love the antics of Rusty and his robot friends and the chaos they cause. Children will enjoy visualising the scenes and laugh along. 

The tension created in robot heaven was fantastic. I really felt the anxiety as they moved from one part of the conveyor belt to the next; hoping to goodness they would all be ok. I loved the concept of the escape plan. It all seemed very James Bond-esque!

But deep in the heart of this is a story about friendship. It doesn't matter what you look like, what size you are, if you are different to others; you are liked by someone. And then that someone does something nice for you. It doesn't have to be a massive thing, but something that is just for you. You, the robot that has never had anything nice done for them ever before. 

A lovely book with themes that capture the imagination and make you think. This will also be a lovely read aloud book and would cover some PSHE topics on friendship beautifully.


I rate this lovely book ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy reading,

Allison

First Lines Friday

Hello, hello my lovelies,

How are you all doing? How is working at home going?

Today I'm taking part in First Lines Friday. I love this one as you find lots of interesting first lines that make you want to read the book!This is run by Becky over at Becky's Book Blog.All you have to do is:

• Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page

• Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first

• Finally… reveal the book!

So, here we go.

Harrison Beck pulled a biro from the pocket of his yellow anorak, deftly turning it over his index finger so it was point down, and doodled in the central margin of the newspaper spread across the table.


Any ideas?

It's The Highland Falcon Thief by M G Leonard and Sam Sedgman

Synopsis:

Adventures on Trains is a major mystery series from the prize-winning M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman. First stop, The Highland Falcon Thief, a breathless train journey full of deceptions, puzzles and clues to solve.

Harrison Beck is reluctantly joining his travel-writer Uncle Nat for the last journey of the royal train, The Highland Falcon. But as the train makes its way to Scotland, a priceless brooch goes missing, and things are suddenly a lot more interesting. As suspicions and accusations run high among the passengers, Harrison begins to investigate and uncovers a few surprises along the way. Can he solve the mystery of the jewel thief and catch the culprit before they reach the end of the line?

Hear whispers in the dining car, find notes in the library, and unknown passengers among the luggage as you help Harrison to solve the mystery aboard one of the world's grandest trains. Fast-paced and packed with illustrations and clues, Adventures on Trains is a stop you won't want to miss!

Did you guess it? I am reading this at the moment and loving it!

Catch you again soon,

Happy reading,

Allison xx

What's on my TBR

Hello, hello my lovelies,

I sincerely hope you are all keeping safe and well. Massive thanks go out to all key workers out there.

Today I am sharing what is on my TBR. The trouble is it is ever growing - do you have this problem? It seems that for every book I read, another 6 or so go on the list!

I'm not going to put pictures or anything but just write you a list. To keep the list small, I'm just going to tell you what I have on my kindle rather than my physical shelves.

Here we go!

1. The Missing and the Dead by Stuart Macbride
2. The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
3. The Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo
4. The Mystery of Smugglers Cove by Paul Moxham
5. The Creakers by Tom Fletcher
6. The Great Brain Robbery by P.G. Bell
7. The Golden Acorn by Catherine Cooper
8. Bedtime Stories for Kids by Uncle Amon
9. Witch School by Katrina Kahler
10. Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend
11. Cogheart by Peter Bunzl
12. A Study in Scarlet by Sherlock Holmes
13. An Elf's Equations by Dianna Sanchez
14. Geraldine and the Most Spectacular Science Project by Sol Rewan
15. The Girl Who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson
16. Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valour by Ally Carter
17. The Thief Knot by Kate Millard
18. The Forgotten Palace by Luke Aylan
19. Emily Winsna and the Tides of Time by Liz Kessler
20. Women Win the Vote by Nancy Kennedy
21. Tiger Heart by Penny Chrimes
22. The Spectrum Girls Survival Guide by Sienna Castellon
23. Monstrous Devices by Damian Love
24. Unexpected Super Spy by Zanib Mian
24. Scribble Witch Notes in Class by Inky Willis
24. Where the World Turns Wild by Nicola Penfold
25. A Sprinkle of Sorcery by Michelle Harrison
26. The Ninjabread Man by Stewart Ross
27. Viper's Daughter by Michelle Paver
28. Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
29. Brightstorm by Vashti Hardy
30. The Highland Falcon Thief by M G Leonard
31. The Wild Way Home by Sophie Kirtley
32. Callum McBride by Mike Riding
33. The Smallest Man by Frances Quinn
34. Duncan Versus the Googleys by Kate Milner
35. Fire Boy by J M Joseph
36. Britfield and the Lost Crown Book 1 by C R Stewart
37. Attack of the Heebie Jeebies Dream Team 1 by Tom Percival
38. Orphans of the Tide by Struan Murray
39. Jungledrop by Abi Elphinstone
40. The Slug Queen Chronicles Season One by S.G. Thomas
41. Fig Swims the World by Lou Abercrombie
42. The Animalas of Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey
43. Thw Witches of Willow Cove byJosh Roberts
44. BOOT The Rusty Rescue by Shane Hegarty
45. The Vanishing Trick by Jenni Spangler

So just the 45 then 😃😃😃

Any on there you've read? Any take your fancy? Any surprises? Drop me a line. I'd love to know.

What's on your TBR?

Happy reading,

Allison xx

Top 5 Tuesday

Hello, hello my lovelies,

I hope you are all well and staying healthy.

Today I'm joining in with Top 5 Tuesday; however, I've joined in half way through this theme. I should be doing favourite authors with the letters P, Q, R, S and T but to catch up, I'm going to do A to T (not really a top 5 at all!).

This is run by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm so a big thank you and do pop along if you would like to join in as well.

I'm going to mix up and probably have first and surnames as the letter - just to help myself out a little but I am going to try to stick to middle grade authors.

Here we go!

A - Abi Elphinstone 
B -  Peter Bunzl 
C - Emma Carroll
D - Catherine Doyle
E - Eloise Williams
F - Fleur Hitchcock
G - Sharon Gosling
H - Konnie Huq
I - Eva Ibbotson
J - Jessica Townsend 
K - Katherine Rundell
L - M G Leonard 
M - Maz Evans 
N - James Nicol
O - Onjali Rauf
P - Phillip Pullman 
Q
R - J K Rowling
S - Sophie Anderson 
T - Lisa Thompson

Unfortunately, Q stumped me. Any suggestions?

I hope you enjoyed this.

Happy reading,

Allison xx