Magic Uncorked by Annabel Chase

Kindle Unlimited Audiobook Paperback
⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

If you've read any of my other recent book reviews from the last few years, you'll already know how I always start all of my book reviews: by saying that each book I read and review starts off with the full membership of 5 stars and I'm always hopeful that they will all still be firmly in place by the time I close the back cover.  You'll also know that I'm not shy about removing stars if I deem it necessary, but I always give my reason(s) within the review - they don't just disappear.

I loved the description of this book and I'm really hoping it'll give me a warm, fuzzy hug as I devour each page, so let's get going shall we?

Just finished the first chapter and really enjoyed it... could this be a 5 star book in the making already??

Oh dear.  A well-known video website has just been mentioned, so in fairness to other books that I've read and reviewed, the first star is unfortunately starting to wobble slightly.

And now there's a famous alcohol mentioned too, so one more mention of a Trademarked or even copyrighted item and the first star plops off unfortunately.

The end of chapter 2 came out of nowhere!  No spoilers, but is this maybe the kinda time to reach for the tissues already??

I was wrong, I'm sorry, the four female main characters has turned the potential for tears into respectful humour.  There have been mentions of the same trademarked items, but the star is already wobbly because of them, so it's not coming off for the repeated use.

At page 69, the first star is coming off for the use of a trademarked shopping channel on the television, so this is now, unfortunately, a 4 star book.

I'm up to chapter 9 on page 100 and the last chapter was a great one!  I'm not so sure that illegal drugs (at least they're illegal in the UK, I haven't got the faint foggiest clue about the rest of the world) should be included and the author has used some stereotypical language about what she *thinks* witches are like, rather than doing some basic research into real witches and Wiccans, but I guess the author is using the childhood image of a witch rather than a realistic Wiccan.

Chapter 12 is up next and this is a truly great book - the author is really in their stride now and I'm loving every word!

What a way to finish the book... I've barely looked away from the pages since lunchtime and my belly and throat are wondering what's going on lol  It's just about readable in one day... as long as you do pretty much nothing else lol

The Intercessors by D. L. Norris

Kindle Hardback Paperback

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

Each book that I read and review starts off with the full 5 stars and I'm forever hopeful that they will all still be firmly routed in place by the time I close the back cover.

Going by the cover alone, it looks like this book is gonna be a pretty spiritual book maybe?  The description got me hooked and I hope it's a positive book to read!

Let's get going shall we?

It's been a bit of a slow start, but maybe that's intentional?  Maybe the author doesn't want the reader to rush through without thinking about every word that they read?  It's been a really good read so far and I'm really enjoying it... have I already, potentially, got a 5 star book on my hands??

I'm 13% of the way through and have yet to find a single negative thing to say, which is always a relief!

Up to 33% now and I'm still loving every word!  I've just finished reading the chapter at 34% and I have to admit that I'm feeling a touch emotional that things worked out so well for them but it also made me wish that I could have been offered that same lifeline or even just recognition while my late husband was alive!

At 51% I'm stopping for lunch... this book, IMNSHO is worth every penny!

Back now and I'm glad I waited until after lunch to read the next chapter 'cos I'm in floods of tears now!

Oh dear.  The author has used the name of a famous criminal and I'm not sure if that's legal or not, but it can't be safe, surely??

What a great end to a terrific book!  Just the right mix of heartbreak and positivity.  The last chapter was perfect to end the book on too.

Definitely worthy of the full 5 stars.

Like A Brother by Nathanael Lessore

Kindle     Audiobook     Paperback

⭐ out of 5

It's been a while since I read and reviewed my last children's book but this first paragraph will still be the same as the last one, which says that each book I read and review starts off with the full 5 stars and I'm always hopeful that they will all still be stuck firmly in place by the time I close the back cover.  The most common reason for an otherwise 5 star book becoming a 4 star book is through the use of copyrighted and/or trademarked brands potentially without permission.  There has been one book so far that has had the star rapidly replaced thanks to a magic little sentence right at the back saying that the author had gained permission to use the brand name - it's only happened once so far in the hundreds of books that I've read and reviewed so far, but I'm always hopeful that it'll happen again and I'd love to read that magic little sentence again.

I was pre-approved by the publisher to read and review an ARC of this book a month before it was published.

Let's get going with the reading and reviewing shall we?

The buying information says that this book is for "11 years and up" and is 336 pages long which is too long for a middle-grade book unless it's a sci-fi or fantasy book, so the first star is already wobbly before I've even opened the book.  It also says that it's a "teen comedy" but 11 year olds aren't teenagers and I already don't know if this is a middle-grade or teen book!

I'm at the end of the second chapter and there have already been a couple of word choices that an 11 year old wouldn't understand and a mis-placed capitalisation that should have been picked up waaaay before the publisher put it into pre-publication circulation so the first star is already coming off at the end of the first page.

And now, on page 3, we've got two English football teams named, so the second star is already coming off... will I make it to the end of the first chapter without removing the third star??

I think the author is as confused about the ages of his characters as I am because they've just become teenagers, but the author hasn't said how long ago that was... was it this year?  Last year?  Longer than that?  According to my Kindle, I'm 2% of the way through the book and the utter confusion is making me take the third star off... there's 98% to go and only one star left before it officially becomes a DNF for me.

Less than a paragraph later and the author has used two celebrity names/brands which I can't see them giving permission for, so at only 2% and less than a chapter I'm removing the final star and declaring it another DNF unfortunately.

One & Only by Maurene Goo

 Kindle    Audiobook     Hardcover     Paperback

⭐ out of 5

Each book I've read in the last few years I've always started the review off in the same way:  each book I read and review starts off with the full heart of 5 stars and I'm forever hopeful that they will all still be firmly in place by the time I finish the book.  I'm not shy about removing stars if I feel it necessary though, but I always give my reasons within the review - stars don't just vanish.

The author is American, so I'll try and remember not to comment on the missing u's and reading dollars instead of pounds... I just hope she hasn't used any American brands that I've never heard of and any she *has* used are with permission!

It's one of my longer books at just over 300 pages, so I hope the author has written it so that I don't forget what I've already read when I stop for meals and to go to bed etc, 'cos I'm guessing it'll be a 2-day book maybe?

The first star is coming off already and I haven't even read the first word of the book yet!  On my Kindle, the cover of the book is in quarters over the first four pages and there's no way for me to skip past it.  The first page of the story is just as bad because it's got the letter D on the first two lines under the number 11 then the first word is missing it's first letter.  Unless it rapidly improves it'll be a DNF before I even get to the second chapter!!

The second sentence on the first page, the word "lilac" has been repeated after the full stop without a space.  The font is emboldened throughout the first page too, so that's the second star coming off and I'm already getting a headache after reading 2 sentences!!

Oh dear, I'm on the third page and the author has used an American brand that I've heard of, so the next star is wobbly already.  I wanna give this book and author a fair chance though, so unless it's repeated several times, the star is clinging on by its fingernails right now.

And now a fashion designer that I've heard of (and I've heard of barely any fashion designers, so that's saying something!)... I'm giving the author one more chance before the star comes off.

And there it goes after the use of a name of a multi-national, probabbly world-widely famous spreadsheet programme.  I've given the author and book 3 chances which I think is very fair of me, but there have been 3 star losses within the first chapter, so there's only one left to go before it becomes another DNF unfortunately.

Oh boy.  There are all kinds of mistakes, especially the bold font throughout and the extra letters and repeated words fairly frequently.  It could just be my Kindle (although other books are fine on it) but my eyes are aching and getting strained which my optician has recently said to avoid, so the final star is coming off and it's another DNF before the end of the first chapter and at only 2% of the book unfortunately.

Amazon Echo Dot 5th Generation User Guide by Shawn Blaine

Kindle Unlimited     Paperback     Hardback

⭐⭐ out of 5

I've got a new Echo Dot 5th generation and only know how to do 3 things on it (play music, tell a joke and set a reminder) so I was hoping that this book would give me more things to say to my new Alexa so that I could use it for more things.

I've just read the book and it hasn't told me anything I haven't already done and certainly no more things to say to her.  It's also assuming that you have the Alexa with the screen instead of the one that I've got that hasn't got the screen at all.

It's a good book to read if you haven't already set up your Alexa, but if, like me, you have and you were just looking for other things you could get her to do, then it really isn't worth the money IMNSHO

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Kindle     Audiobook     Hardback     Paperback

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

Each book I read and review starts off with the full 5 stars and I'm always hopeful that they will all still be stuck firmly in place by the time I close the back cover.  I'm not shy about removing stars but I always give my reasons for doing so within the review.

I've never read a classic book in my life but this was recommended by a friend and I've got a few more classics to try reading as well, but this is my first ever classic so I'll go into it with an open mind and try and remember that it was written a looong time ago.

Let's get going with the reading and reviewing shall we?

Well, I've read 6 pages so far and I'm starting to see how much books have changed over the decades.  Most of the paragraphs are way longer than they are now, but maybe that was the thing to do at the time this book was written?

I'm enjoying this book more than I thought I would, but the extra-long chapters and the rare speech is a bit off-putting.  I'm up to chapter 7 so far.

Up to chapter 9 now and it's time for a warming drink methinks.  There's a bit more speech now, but still barely any compared to today's books.

Up to Part Two now and I'm gonna stop for a breather after reading pretty much constantly all morning.  It's a good book, but some of the language that's used is horrific!  I guess it must have been common in the time that it was written though so the star is safe, but only because it's a classic instead of modern.

I've just finished reading my first ever classic book and while I didn't like some of the language, it was a different era back when it was written and published.  I doubt I'll read it again, but I'm glad I've got my first one under my belt now.

Before the Leaves Fall by Clare O'Dea

Kindle     Paperback

⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 5

If you've read any of my other more recent book reviews, you'll already have seen that I start the first paragraph of in the same way, by saying that every book I read and review, starts off with the full support of 5 stars and I'm always hopeful that they will all still be firmly in place by the time I close the back cover.  You'll also know that I'm not shy about removing stars and that trademark and copyright are the usual reason for removing a star from an otherwise 5 star book.  I've rapidly replaced a star twice when there's been a magic little sentence either right at the start or right at the end of the book and I'm more than happy to do it again if that sentence is there.

Let's get going with the reading and reviewing, shall we?

It's a relatively short book at only 169 pages and it sounds like it could be a bit of a sad book too, but I'm hoping it'll give me an insight into what people are going through when they make the choice to have an assisted death.

The first chapter has introduced me to Ruedi and I'm already enjoying it after only one chapter... one question though, do they use francs in Switzerland instead of Euros?  I though it was only the French who used francs before the Euro was introduced!

I'm up to chapter 3 at page 16 and I'm really enjoying it so far.  It'll break my heart before the end though, 'cos I'm already starting to feel heartbroken for some of the characters!

Time for lunch before I start sobbing my heart out uncontrollably now I think.

Back now and I'm intending to read one more chapter before I stop for my physio then I'll spend the rest of the afternoon reading until I head to bed.

Up to chapter 4 and the next chapters seem to sound like an emotional rollercoaster, so I'm gonna stop there and let my lunch go down a bit before I start sobbing.  This is a truly incredible book so far and I've only read 19 pages!

I'm starting to get to know two of the characters through chapter 4 but I'm gonna stop commenting on every chapter otherwise this book will never get read and this review will never end!  Only the bigger points I want to make starting from now.

Up to chapter 21 now and the huge paragraphs of italics is very hard to read and kinda takes some of the pleasure out of what I'm trying to read... still five stars, but only just now.

There have been potential brand name mentions that I'm not sure of, so that and the blocks of italics mean that the first star is heart-breakingly coming off at chapter 21.

Just finished reading and I'm in floods of tears, but it was a perfect ending to a pretty-much perfect book.  One of those "shoulda been 5 stars" books again.