#Review By Lou – This Is Your Own Time You’re Wasting By Lee Parkinson and Adam Parkinson #ThisIsYourOwnTimeYoureWasting Classroom Confessions, Calamities and Clangers @HarperCollins #LeeParkinson #AdamParkinson

This Is Your Own Time You’re Wasting
By Lee Parkinson and Adam Parkinson

One for teachers to have a chuckle over, resonate with and for parents/caregivers to find greater insight. Discover more in the blurb and review below, of a book that’s based on the Sunday Times Bestseller, that started life as a successful podcast.
Thanks to Harper Collins for the book, in-exchange of an honest review.

Blurb

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

The side-splittingly hilarious and heart-warming new book from your favourite teacher duo and hosts of Two Mr Ps in a Pod(cast)

Remember the distant days of lockdown and those futile attempts to homeschool distracted, disinterested kids?

Parents rejoiced to send them back to school, while teachers prepared to face them all again … Five. Days. A. Week! Coming out the other side of the pandemic years, podcast sensations Lee and Adam Parkinson – aka the Two Mr Ps – bring you the most hilarious, ridiculous anecdotes from inside our primary schools.

Join in on the classroom antics as they share the unexpected pitfalls of online teaching, all the reasons you need a strong stomach to take on Early Years and why not every household item makes a suitable Harry Potter wand …

Review

From teacher duo and hosts of Two Mr Ps in a Pod(cast), brings funny book: This Is Your Own Time You’re Wasting. It will resonate with most child educators and support staff. I, myself work with children of many ages and have done for many years and this is a book for both parents/caregivers and education staff to have fun over, especially staff. There are anecdotes galore, from Show and Tell and how not everything might be quite what you would expect to kids wanting to share every detail with you, including bodily functions to stories they tell to the antics they get up to. For parents/caregivers, there are certain things that will give them insights into what they may not see in the home and also a small bit about staff.

It also serves a little bit of a reminder of education in the pandemic, to a certain extent as the focus is on teachers and we know that there are many other people involved to make education work.

The style is chatty, much like a podcast is, so it makes this a book that’s easy to dip in and out of, rather perhaps, feeling the need to read it all in one go. For the type of book it is, I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing or way to read it.

#Publication Day of The Realm Of Gods By Glen Dahlgren, part of Chroniclesof Chaos #ChroniclesofChaos #TheRealmOfGods @glendahlgren @KellyALacey @lovebookstours #LBTCrew

Happy Publication Day to Glen Dahlgren on the concluding part of the award-winning Chronicles of Chaos, The Realm of Gods. Check out the eerie, atmospheric cover, the intriguing build-up in the blurb and more about the author, including a link to Glen’s blog below…

Blurb

In a realm where dreams and reality intertwine, the final battle brews.

The gods of Order have vanished. Despite priests like Dantess and Myra struggling to maintain peace, the Harbingers of Chaos fan the flames of rebellion, bringing the world to the brink of war.

Galen, drawn into the heart of the Dreaming—an ethereal realm where past, present, and future collide—confronts not only his nemesis, the cunning Carnaubas, but a horrifying truth: the exiled gods of Order still hunger for dominion.

Luckily, Galen is not alone. Eve, a young girl gifted with the uncanny ability to see the threads the connect everything, joins him on a desperate quest to find the elusive god of Chaos, their only hope for preventing Order’s return.

The Realm of Gods is more than just a story; it’s a descent into the battle between Order and Chaos, a testament to the enduring power of human connection, and a battle cry for rebellion against tyranny.

Author bio

Glen Dahlgren is the award-winning author of the acclaimed book series, the Chronicles of Chaos, dubbed “what fantasy fiction should be” by New York Times bestselling author and fantasy legend Piers Anthony.

Books in this now complete series won multiple Readers’ Favorite Gold Medals, American Fiction Awards, Independent Author Network Book of the Year awards, and the Dante Rossetti Award.

Glen has also written, designed, directed, and produced critically-acclaimed, narrative-driven computer games for the last three decades. What’s more, he had the honor of creating original fantasy and science-fiction storylines that took established, world-class literary properties into interactive experiences. He collaborated with celebrated authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (The Death Gate Cycle), Robert Jordan (The Wheel of Time – now a TV series from Amazon), Frederik Pohl (Heechee saga), Terry Brooks (Shannara), and Piers Anthony (Xanth) to bring their creations to the small screens. In addition, he crafted licensor-approved fiction for the Star Trek franchise as well as Stan Sakai’s epic graphic novel series, Usagi Yojimb

Author blog: http://www.mysterium.blog/

#Review of Vanitas and Other Tales of Art and Obession By Jake Kendall @NeemTreePress @The_WriteReads #ShortStories #Art #Vanitas #ArtObsession

Vanitas and Other Tales of Art and Obsession
By Jake Kendall

Art, it can be beautiful, provocative and for some, an obsession, this is an intriguing book, covering all of that in a series of stories. Find out in the blurb below about the book and my thoughts in my review.

Blurb

Spanning 300 years of art history and weaving art styles including Cubism, Surrealism, and the Baroque into his prose, Jake Kendall’s collection tells the stories of those with an obsession for creation – artists who sacrifice friendships, careers, romance, and even their own happiness in pursuit of a vision.

Review

Take a paint brush and create a few strokes, pick up a keyboard and type some words. Weave art and words, bound together, add in imagery and raw emotion and that’s what is brought together in Vanitas.
Art comes in many styles and has done as fashions and times change over millennia. It takes, almost a life of its own and for some artists, became an obsession. Loves lost, life or bits of it like sanity, lost. You get a feeling of how important for the pursuit of perfection, the next picture it is for the artists. It can be quite an intense read at times, which fits it all perfectly.

The characters in the book are well-drawn. There are real artists, such as Michelangelo, Monet, Van Gogh that appear in the stories. The romance, obsession and imagery seduces you to read further.

There’s the artiness of the prose, but not to be mistaken for floweriness with no substance. You learn things behind what brings the artists to a certain point in their lives. You can almost feel the artistic style of the artists as you read the prose as it imitates their time, their paintings, their brushstrokes.

This is a clever story of prose imitating artwork and what goes on inside an artistic mind.

#GiveAway of sensational book – #DeathFlight By Sarah Sultoon @SultoonSarah @OrendaBooks #GiveAway #BookGiveaway #BlogTour

Oh, you lucky readers of my blog. You have the opportunity to win a copy of
Death Flight.
1 UK Based Winner will be picked at random. Click Like, Follow My Blog.
It’s as easy as that Winner will be picked by Wednesday 28th February.

Sarah Sultoon has worked for CNN and currently works for channel 4 news.
She has tackles one of the most horrific periods of Argentinian history – Argentina’s dirty war, the ‘death flights’ and ‘The Disappeared’.
She’s been long-listed for CWA awards. Find out more about her and the book in this post.

Blurb

Argentina. 1998. Human remains are found on a beach on the outskirts of
Buenos Aires – a gruesome echo of when the tide brought home dozens of mutilated bodies thrown from planes during Argentina’s Dirty War.
Flights of death, with passengers known as The Disappeared.
International Tribune reporter Jonny Murphy is in Buenos Aires interviewing families of the missing, desperate to keep their memory
alive, when the body turns up.
His investigations with his companion, freelance photographer Paloma Glenn, have barely started when Argentina’s simmering financial crisis explodes around them.
As the fabric of society starts to disintegrate and Argentine cities burn
around them, Jonny and Paloma are suddenly thrust centre stage, fighting
to secure both their jobs and their livelihoods.
But Jonny is also fighting something else, an echo from his own past that
he’ll never shake, and as it catches up with him and Paloma, he must
make choices that will endanger everything he knows…

About the Author

Sarah Sultoon is a journalist and writer, whose work as an international news executive at CNN has taken her all over the world, from the seats of power in both Westminster and Washington to the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan. She has extensive experience in conflict zones, winning three Peabody awards for her work on the war in Syria, an Emmy for her contribution to the coverage of
Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015, and a number of Royal Television Society gongs.

When not reading or writing she can usually be found somewhere outside, either running, swimming or throwing a ball for her three children and dog … Her debut thriller The Source is currently in production with Lime Pictures, and was a Capital Crime Book Club pick and a number one bestseller on Kindle.

The Shot (2022) and Dirt (2023) followed, with multiple award longlistings, including the CWA Daggers.

Sarah currently works for Channel 4 News and lives in London.

#Review By Lou of Thirty Days In Paris By Veronica Henry @veronica_henry @orionbooks #RomanticFiction #RomFic

Thirty Days In Paris
By Veronica Henry

A lot can happen in Thirty Days in Paris. There’s a lot to capture the imagination and go on a wonderful adventure through the city of romance and culture.
What will happen when Juliet revisits this city? Travel down to the blurb and then find out in my review, what else I though of this book, thanks to Orion Books for allowing me to review.

Blurb

Because Paris is always a good idea…

Years ago, Juliet left a little piece of her heart in Paris – and now, separated from her husband and with her children flying the nest, it’s time to get it back!

So she puts on her best red lipstick, books a cosy attic apartment near Notre-Dame and takes the next train out of London.

Arriving at the Gare du Nord, the memories come flooding back: bustling street cafés, cheap wine in candlelit bars and a handsome boy with glittering eyes.

But Juliet has also been keeping a secret for over two decades – and she begins to realise it’s impossible to move forwards without first looking back.

Something tells her that the next thirty days might just change everything…

Review

30 days and life might just change, but will it be for the better or not, well, you’ll need to read this captivating book. What I will say is that a 2 decade secret adds emotion and is a really good vehicle of creating this adventure. She’s a woman after my own heart, in some ways, so I found Juliet interesting in what took her back to Paris and how she deals with her past.
I am a firm believer of, if something ends and you have memories of a particular place, it is worth re-visiting to create new memories that can then, to a certain extent, supersede those of old.

The city brings evocative scenes, adding richness and colour to the Juliet’s journey to try and re-discover her dreams and discover where she’s heading. Whilst in Paris, she rekindles old friendships and romance, once again beckons.

30 Days In Paris is a warm, engrossing book.

Buy Links
Bookshop.org Waterstones

#Review By Lou of The Teacher – A DS Cross Thriller By Tim Sullivan @TimJRSullivan @AriesFiction @HoZ_Books #TheTeacher #Thriller #CrimefictionSeries #DSGeorgeCrossSeries #Thriller

The Teacher
By Tim Sullivan

I am totally captivated by the DS Cross series and so far, each one has had great, unique characterisation, especially of the neuro-diverse detective and with captivating, strong storylines. Each book in this series can also be read as a stand-alone book. Discover the blurb and my full review below…

Blurb

He’s a victim. But is he innocent?

THE BODY
In a village in South West England, an elderly man is found dead in his home. The angle of his neck says he fell down the stairs. The stab wound on his body tells a different story.

THE EVIDENCE
In the weeks before his murder, Alistair Moreton changed. He usually kept himself to himself, but people swear there was someone in the house when they checked on him, that there was a reason he wouldn’t let them inside.

THE PUNISHMENT
Moreton made people’s lives a misery, from his neighbours to his ex-pupils. While DS George Cross’s list of suspects is long, every victim deserves justice.

But in all of Alistair’s years, there was something important he never learned:

If you go through life making enemies, don’t be surprised when they teach you a lesson.

Perfect for fans of MW Craven, Peter James and Joy Ellis, The Teacher is part of the DS George Cross thriller series, which can be read in any order.

Review

DS Cross is on the autism spectrum and the characterisation, within the writing is terrifically done, with much believability. In my paid work, I work with many autistic children and have done for many years.
In DS Cross you see it makes relationships within the workplace and working methods different from other books in this genre which adds a unique layer. The writing conveys it all very well and draws you to him. We also get insights into the team he works with and their life situations.

In a sleepy village, where everything should be perfect, with everything and everyone going about their routines, smoothly, not all is well. A body is discovered…
Alistair Moreton was a headteacher and not a well-liked one. The emotions are evocative and strong, when it comes to him.
There are plenty of motives for readers to be suspicious of.
The setting and premise makes The Teacher, even more intriguing and may have headteachers wondering if they’re well-liked or not and sitting on the edge of their seats.

Amongst the darkness of the crime, there is some great humour that lifts it all brilliantly.

This is a book and, indeed, series that I highly recommend. Personally, I am loving reading it and each book that comes out, excites me.