Fairytale Nerd

Beadyjans favourite books 2018 My top 10 We're all doing it - frantically compiling lists of our favourite reads in 2018.  I don't know why we readers feel compelled to make lists of everything but its a common trait, and we love reading other peoples lists too. So while I should really be making a shopping list, a packing list for my festive break etc, here's a list of my very favourite reads over the past 12 months. UPDATE: - Already I'm fretting that I missed a few books I adored and then I've just finished reading yet another which really blew me away. Do not view this as a definitive list!! 2018 has been a year of change for me, we bought a little holiday home in the sun which has proven to be rather a mixed blessing and I finally escaped the job I loathed and have landed firmly on my feet working for the most amazing and lovely small family business, who have all but adopted me, not just employed me. I only wish I'd started working for them donkeys year...

Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield Today sees me taking part in the blog tour for a new book that I predict is going to be HUGE. It is the long-awaited new title from Diane Setterfield, noted author of the bestseller The Thirteenth Tale. My thoughts: Already being hailed as a masterpiece of storytelling Once upon a River is an otherworldly tale of myth and legend woven around the winding river Thames in times gone by. It's a book-lovers book based on traditional storytelling, with a touch of magic, a hint of the supernatural and a lot of twisting and turning. As the river meanders so does the tale. Although its a relaxing piece of escapism, don't get too comfortable, this is a book with depth and needs a good level of concentration to follow it, constructed as it is from lots of separate stories which weave together to become a book. This clever and mysterious book is set in various hostelries and Inns along the river in an indistinct past era, where storytellers gather and...

And now for something completely different .... Today I am reviewing a recipe book and bringing news of a #giveaway of this book It's called Rustic Recipes - the Woodburner Cookbook by Jennifer Lunenborg My Review: The author has drawn on her own experience of cooking without power to create this collection of recipes which, in addition to being cooked by the more usual oven methods, have been tried and tested for cooking on your woodburner stove. This would have been SO handy the Christmas we had a power cut in a holiday cottage with only a logburner to keep us warm, we could have cooked on it, but I didn't even try. So, whether you're coping with a sudden power-cut, or are a complete eco-warrior living off-grid in a Yurt, you too can produce tasty hearty meals from your woodburner stove. The first recipes are all for hearty soups perfect to come home to after a day outdoors, from hearty minestrone to delicious pumpkin soup and there's even a recipe for stinging nett...

The Taking of Annie Thorne - by C.J. Tudor. My thoughts: Here's one SCARY tale for you, horror at its creepy shivery best. Wow, this is a fabulous, scary, menacing story, that had me gripped all the way through. It's every bit as good as C J Tudor's wonderful previous book the Chalk man and similar in style and type of setting, though both are very different, stand-alone novels. This is a superb horror story well worthy of comparisons to Stephen King. Our protagonist is Joe Thorne, he's a teacher who returns to his childhood hometown, an old pit village called Arnhill, near Nottingham, to take up a position teaching at the local school he was once a pupil at. Joe is quite a complex character, though one I really liked. He obviously has a bit of a past, both back when he was a boy and in the intervening 25 years since he left school as he seems to know a few really dodgy characters and it isn't long until he starts bumping into folk from his childhood, this is a smal...

I am welcoming Micheal Bagley to Beadyjans Book Blog to celebrate the launch of his new book, A Good Death. Here Michael reveals the main characteristics of his lead protagonist: Five characteristics of my main protagonist. Although one person begins as an antagonist, readers may think he becomes a protagonist later.  The main protagonist: • He’s 26, middle class, with a ‘good’ job and he drives a new Audi Quattro. Outwardly, then, he’s in the prime of life. • But inwardly he’s stalled, frustrated with life and his job holds no satisfaction for him. The future seems boringly predictable. Like many people, he’s looking for a outlet and a new challenge. • His relationships with the opposite sex remain largely sexual. Meaningful relationships are what he reads in novels. • He does have two close friends, who he sees every Friday night and within this semi-drunken culture he finds solace. • He’s also very intelligent. As his father tells him, “You have an IQ of 144. You should be ...

Welcome to the Blog Tour for yet another fascinating historical fiction book The Blue by Nancy Bilyeau. My thoughts on this book with its beautiful blue and white cover. It was the cover which drew me in, as its so pretty and reminds me somewhat of another book I recently read and enjoyed – Midnight Blue by Simone Van Der Vlugt which is also historical fiction focussing on the life of a woman involved in decorating porcelain and pottery. The heroine of Nancy Bilyeau's new book, The Blue is Genevieve Planche – of Huguenot descent, a young woman who desperately wants her ambition to be a famous painter to be taken seriously but in 18th century Spitalfields this is an almost impossible goal. Parallels here, too as I also recently read BlackBerry and Wild Rose by Sonia Velton , set in spitalfields amidst the Huguenot silk weavers. If you like this type of book here are 3 great reads to spend your Christmas book tokens on! Back to The Blue .... Trying to emulate her hero the renowned...