Read of the Month - December

I hope every one had a great Christmas and got everything that they wanted. I was lucky enough to get a Kindle, so I've been happily buying and downloading lots of new books. I've no idea when I'm going to get round to reading them, though!

It's been a busy month for me. Aside from Christmas there's been lots of family birthdays and partys, while I also decided it was a good idea to decorate a couple of weeks before Christmas - it wasn't as I ended up with presents in boxes I couldn't get to, and a missing strawberry hair masque that still hasn't surfaced. Despite all this I managed to read seven books this month, which isn't bad considering. So, my read of the month for December is:

The Time of my Life by Cecelia Ahern

Earlier this year Cecelia Ahern released a short story collection book called Girl in the Mirror which I was really disappointed with, so I was somewhat dubvious about how I would find The Time of my Life. I needn't have worried though as it was great. 

The book tells the story of Lucy who gets an invitation to a meeting with her life. She then finds herself facing up to all sorts of things she has buried and tried to hide as her life fights with her to confront it all. Yes, the premise of this story sounds slightly odd, but it works. Cecelia Ahern has such a great imagination and uses it to come up with a creative and innovative story in the form of The Time of my Life, and I can safely say that I have never come across a story like this before.

The characters are interesting and flawed, and that's what made this book for me. I particularly liked the character of Lucy's life as he really jumped off the page and stood out for me. While Lucy was a character who I thought was easy to relate to and who I really rooted for.

I'm not reading anything at the moment, but in January I want to read One Minute to Midnight by Amy Silver, Home for Christmas by Cally Taylor (Yes, I'm still on the Christmas books!) and Ella Kingsley's Confessions of a Karaoke Queen.

Other books I have read this month which are worth checking out are:

• Working it Out by Nicola May
• It Started with a Kiss by Miranda Dickinson

100 Birdies for ME

Those of you that follow me on Twitter may have noticed that I have mentioned fellow tweeter Diana Hamilton who tweets as @100Birdies4ME . Diana is raising money for ME sufferers by hand-making and selling beautiful birdies, perfect for hanging on your Christmas tree.

I have a close family member who suffers from ME, so I can appreciate the effort and time Diana has taken to make the birdies, and having purchased one ourselves, I can honestly say that they are lovely items, which have been beautifully made, while they also add a nice touch to our Christmas tree.

To visit Diana's shop to find out more about the birdies, please visit her Folksy shop here

Read(s) of the Month - November

It doesn't feel like it's been that long since I last done this, but nevertheless the time has come once again to coose my read of the month. However, I've found it impossible to choose just the one as I've read some great books this month, so I've chosen two instead. And they are:

Miracle on Regent Street by Ali Harris

                                                               and

The Night Before Christmas by Scarlett Bailey

I've chosen Ali Harris' debut novel Miracle on Regent Street because I loved how Christmassy the story was right from the very first page and because it put me in a festive mood. I loved the main character Evie and thought that she was a very relatable character which many people would be able to empathise with and feel some connection to. I thought the story was great too and the setting - a suffering London department store - was a really good one as it enabled Christmas sparkle to be dotted throughout the days that made up the chapters in the book.

I've also selected Scarlett Bailey's first book The Night Before Christmas because it gripped me from the very first page. I thought it was a lovely Wintery read and ideal for curling up with on a cold afternoon. I loved how the outcome wasn't predictable - I couldn't work out which of the three men that entered main characters Lydia's life she was going to end up, which I thought was really good, as I was guessing the entire time I was turning the pages. The setting was lovely and I thought it was nice to have a group of friends all together in one place at Christmas all at a completely different time in their lives.

I've got lots of books that I want to read before Christmas. I'm currently reading The Secret of Happy Ever After by Lucy Dillon, and I'm hoping to read It Started with a Kiss by Miranda Dickinson, Christmas at Tiffany's by Karen Swan, The Jewels of Manhatten by Carmen Reid and Georgie Carter's The Perfect Christmas all within the next few weeks. I better get reading if I'm going to get though all of that lot!