Book-Mad-Mum

Wilde Like Me by Louise Pentland My rating: 2 of 5 stars I listened to this recently on holiday via Audible, and although it was a light and fluffy listen as I was sitting around the pool, I honestly don't know if I would have preserved had it been in the written form. The story is based around Robin Wilde who is a single mum bringing up her daughter. I just feel at the moment, that the book market is saturated with single parents and I got bored by this story as it didn't bring anything new to the market and certainly didn't have any plot twists or wow moments. If I'm honest, I knew nothing about the author ahead of listening to it, but I've since googled her, and she's a massive blogger, so I think perhaps the book deal is based on her blogging success and not for her literary ability. (Sorry if that seems harsh!) View all my reviews

This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay My rating: 4 of 5 stars In 2004 Adam Kay became a junior doctor and this book is a diary he kept during his training and placement years. In some parts this book is laugh out loud funny, and you'll hold your tummy with laughter, and then suddenly boom! You're faced with heartbreak from both the doctor AND the patients point of view. It was lovely to hear that doctors get upset when there is no "happy ever after" and although they put on a brave face on their emotions, privately they get upset by events...they're not robots afterall. I listened to this book on Audible with Adam reading it, and he takes you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, although I personally thought he sounded like Will from The Inbetweeners, but it was a really lovely listen. View all my reviews

One Thousand Stars and You by Isabelle Broom My rating: 5 of 5 stars Alice and her girlfriends are fast approaching thirty – with a steady (boring) History teacher boyfriend Richard, and an over-protective mother it seems that Alice’s life is all mapped out. Until one of her best friends Maureen suggests that the friends go on holiday to Sri Lanka for one last hurrah! On arrival, the girls chance upon two other travellers Max and Jamal and soon they all buddy up and travel together. After a catastrophic, life changing injury, Max is determined that life should carry on as normal. Forming a friendship with Alice, she then starts to view life through different eyes, and realises that she doesn’t have to accept what life has thrown at her. This is the first Isabelle Broom book I’ve read, and it certainly won’t be the last. She made the colours, sights and sounds of Sri Lanka lift off the page. I quickly found myself absolutely absorbed in the story, and

This Could Change Everything by Jill Mansell My rating: 5 of 5 stars On a girls night in and as a joke Essie writes an honest, open round robin, which is never meant to see the light of day, but when her brother returns from the pub with a friend and sees it sitting on the laptop it gets sent to everyone in Essie's contacts. When the email goes viral, Essie loses her boyfriend, her home and her job, but when she encounters Zillah life changes in many different ways. I love Jill Mansell's books, and she has been a favourite author of mine for a number of years and she never fails to disappoint with any of her novels. The characters are truly believable, and I quickly found myself absorbed in their lives, and I wanted to buy a house in the square so that Zillah would be one of my neighbours! If I'm honest the only problem that I had with this book is that it had to end! View all my reviews

It Started With A Tweet by Anna Bell My rating: 4 of 5 stars Daisy works in Marketing, and leads a high pressured, fast paced lifestyle, her face constantly starring at her phone screen, her life completely controlled by social media. After accidently sending a personal explicit tweet from her work account, which then starts trending for all the wrong reasons, Daisy is fired from her job. With no employment prospects, no home of her own and no boyfriend, her sister Rosie suggests they both go to Cumbria for a Digital Detox, however, not everything is as it seems, but can Daisy survive a week with no Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat? I loved this book, and could really identify with the characters. I read it whilst on holiday in Cyprus where the internet signal was patchy to say the least, and where the most reliable signal seemed to be in the restaurant, but only if the wind was in the right direction, and you stood facing north east on one l