Hello there! Can you believe we are in March now??
Have you got your drink?
If we were having chai, I’d start by sitting here, wondering. What did I do last week? I know it was busy, but I am having a serious case of brain fog… Aah, yes, I remember… I mean, how could I forget? School was JAM PACKED with so much stuff this week, including that observation I was dreading! And… it went really well! You know, it’s not that I doubt myself as a teacher, but when you are passionate about something, you always feel nerves. It’s the same with waiting to hear what readers think of my books, posts, or any content I post. Guess my calendar message helped me think positively too!
If we were having chai, I’d tell you that we had World Book Day on Thursday amidst the teacher strikes. We, as a staff, all dressed up as Where’s Wally, and we also had a workshop with children’s author and illustrator Fabi Santiago, which was fun. It was a different day, which threw the children we teach a bit, as they thrive on routine. However, it is good for them to experience different things! One of my colleagues was on a course on Friday which meant my team were juggling extra responsibility, but they are ace, so things went pretty smoothly…
If we were having chai, I’d say that I was a little excited that my book baby, Marriage Unarranged reached over 200 ratings/reviews on Amazon, too, which was a real boost, as I have been flagging, energy wise the last few weeks… but Thank you to anyone who has read and reviewed it!
If we were having chai, I’d mention that It is also sneaking into Cricket season, so that means winter indoor nets have started up again. the location is around half an hour away, and with the current economic situation, it is not wise driving back and forth, wasting fuel, so I use the time if I am taking him, to catch up on reading or writing notes for book 3! I finished reading Daisy Jones & The Six, as I really wanted to watch the Amazon Prime Series, but I hate to see things that I know are books before I have actually read it. FYI, enjoyed the book, and have started the series. Binged all three episodes available now, and can’t wait for Friday when three more will be released!
If we were having chai, I’d put it out there, that I am trying to write more. I sit at my desk, when I have the energy, but the words aren’t quite flowing, yet… still, I made a new screen background. Do you like it? #procrastinationqueen!
If we were having chai, I would give you a snippet of Sonu Singh! He’s been hiding away this weekend a bit. Actually, he really missed Lil Man, who had been away in Paris. (Eurodisney, for a business conference as a part of his A-Leve Business Studies, but he said it was BORING! I would have given my left arm to go anywhere Disney, and sat through three hours of seminars, in order to have a day in the park, but what can you do with teenage boys?) Anyway, Sonu loves sleeping with Lil Man, on his bed. They have the most precious bond. The first day he was back. Sonu gave him he silent treatment, and then he wouldn’t leave him alone after. So much so that he didn’t even come and sit with me like he usually does! But that was rectified on Sunday afternoon where he joined me as I watched Daisy Jones & The Six, giving me a cat massage before falling asleep on my lap. I do love my cat cuddles, when I get them!
This week, we have another up-and-down week at school with workshops, observations (this time, I am observing), as well as staff out and a late evening training night. Home-wise, I have Lil Princess’s parents’ evening to look forward to (I think!)
And while you’re here, did you sign up for my mailing list? I am in the middle of writing an exclusive Chickpea Curry Lit story for my subscribers, and there will be news, tips and even recipes! You know you want to join… go on! Click the pic below to sign up!
Now, I don’t know if it is a perimenopause thing or just extreme tiredness, but right now, I really cannot do everything that I want to be able to do.
I go to work, and I keep the house clean, feed my family, and ensure their well-being is as good as it can be.
I keep in touch with my parents daily and my brother a little less, but still regularly.
What I also want to do is try and exercise, daily.
And write, daily.
And read, daily.
And I want to meet up with friends and have a bit of social life.
But I am finding that I am so tired that I can very often only do a bit of exercise two or three times a week, and it’s not anything strenuous, I admit.
Writing seems to be a thing I am struggling with, because my brain is so filled with other, more pressing issues, plus I am waiting on publisher feedback, and I think it is halting my progress on the third book, in case there are any big changes they want me to make…
The thought of meeting up with loved ones for an evening is wonderful, but again, it’s the energy thing.
So I make sure that if nothing else, I read. And even my reading has slowed down. You guys know me, the fifteen books-a-month type of reader, at my best, alongside writing and everything else.
Right now it can take me 4-5 days to finish a book, but that is because I am falling asleep after a few minutes, or at the maximum, half an hour of reading. I know that still sounds fast to some, but that is not me.
Still, at least I am reading something.
At least I have hit that level of maturity where I know I cannot do everything. Each thing I want to do has its time and place, and it will happen, I am sure. Just not all at once.
(I dunno, maybe I need a change-up in my HRT dosages…)
So, Peeps, are you good at realising when you need to take your foot off the pedal a bit? 😊
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “wild animal.” Choose a wild animal (or many wild animals) and use it any way you’d like in your post. Enjoy!
This term in school, we are focusing on animals as a topic. Pets, Jungle Animals, Unusual Animals, Mythical Animals, Animal Mums and Babies, Winged Creatures.
The kids absolutely love it. Most have never been to a country where they can see these animals in the wild.
The wildest of wild animals that they see would be the foxes and squirrels in the gardens and parks.
Some may have been to a zoo, but although it is great fun for the kids, zoos aren’t my kind of place.
I hate the way these majestic creatures are in enclosures that are often too small for them, and despite attempts to recreate their natural habitat, they seem sad…
Here in Kent, we have the Aspinall Foundation, where there are two huge safari parks, Howlett’s and Port Lympne, where the animals who live there have many acres to roam. They are usually there to help them before being taken back to their unnatural habitats and reintroduced to living as true wild animals.
I’ve been to the smaller of the two a couple of times, and have seen elephants, rhinos, tigers and beautiful gorillas alongside other smaller species that may be endangered.
Though I feel honoured to have seen them up close, I still feel that sadness in them.
It’s a far cry from sitting in the car in Kenya, on the way from one town to another, driving through the Rift Valley, and seeing the herds of wildebeast and gazelle roaming free or sitting in the turrets. of the Gurduwarea Makindu, and watching a family of giraffes wandering around or staying in the Lake Baringo camp, surrounded by waters where crocodiles and hippos live. (Let me tell you, hippos are rather noisy at night!) Or visiting Lake Victoria and Lake Bogoria and marvelling at the pink shorelines, which are flocks of flamingoes in reality.
It’s been over 20 years since I was able to see these sights with my own eyes… Maybe one day I can take my own little family, and share these marvels with them, too.
A couple of ARCS on my list… When are there ever not? There are more than a few left at the end of this month. And the are ones I didn’t have at the start… STOP SAYING YES, RITU!
It’s been a busy month in my personal life, too, so I haven’t read as many as I would usually do, but I have read some good ones!
I feel that over the last 12 months or so, I have read a few books centring around the GroundhogDay phenomenon, where the MC is reliving the same day of their life over and over. Maybe Next Time is of the same ilk, but I didn’t feel like was reading the same kind of story over and over. Emma, the MC, is a busy woman. A literary agent rushed off her feet with two children at difficult times in their own lives, a sister-in-law who is struggling, so many other demands on her attention, and a wonderful husband, Dan, who she barely gets to spend time with. A little tradition of theirs is to celebrate each year they have been together with a letter to each other, highlighting the highs of the year. She forgets her letter in all the chaos of her life and experiences the day from hell, from work to her family life, and a heartbreaking end to it. Every time she wakes up for the next goodness knows how many days, weeks, or months, it is the same painful day over and over, and no matter what she does, the eventual outcome won’t change. I loved how each repeated day is separated by one of Dan’s letters over the years, so we get a real feel for who he is, as well. It lifts your soul in some ways to see how Emma goes from hating her life to embracing the chance she has to make things in her life and the lives of her loved ones better, but I warn you, the ending will make you cry! A wonderfully emotional read that I would recommend you might need a box of tissues to accompany you as you read. Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins, UK, for an ARC.
Ali Hazelwood was a TikTok, Booktok success story with her STEM-based novel, The Love Hypothesis. You see her books all over the show. I have read one of her previous, so was intrigued to read another.. There is a niche Hazelwood likes/ Strong female characters in STEM. A bit messed up, with a love interest that starts as a bit of an enemy. Well, in that respect, she did not disappoint. Elsie is a Physicist with great ideas, but she isn’t getting her foot in the door to research her ideas. She works two jobs, teaching by day and fake dating by night, to keep her head above water. An opportunity of a lifetime arises, and when she goes for it, she is faced with a two-fold nemesis. Jack Smith, the brother of one of her fake dates and also someone who singlehandedly destroyed the career of her mentor, Dr L. But, though there is negativity, there is something else. Once that part gets going, the steam factor hits another high! I read it, and enjoyed it, but it felt a little like a rehash of the previous books. Many thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Co for an ARC
Rosie and Will are two people with a fate entwined in a beautiful and tragic way. Feelings they share should be celebrated. However, the shared tragedy in their life keeps them apart. I don’t want to give much away about the reason these two find themselves unable to be together, even though everything points towards this being their fate. However, how they navigate early adulthood and those middle-aged years, connected, then not, and reconnected, shows how fate’s destination is not always by following a straight path. What a stunning read! Many thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House, for an ARC.
I’m already a firm fan of the Borrow a Bookshop series and couldn’t wait to dive into the third instalment, wanting to find out what happened next. Having said that, it is quite easy to read each book as a standalone. What happens in previous books is helpful to know but not essential. It just adds an extra layer of understanding and emotional connection to the returning characters that you meet in this book. Joy and her five-year-old daughter, Radia, are the newest borrowers for the length of this book. Joy is known as a digital nomad, travelling around the globe from contract to contract with her daughter in tow. She is tasked with helping to set up a new technical system for the bookshop, as well as new digital locks, and designing a new website for the Borrow A Bookshop in the revamp that takes place after a devastating flood in the village of Clove Lore. She’s also running away from something else, which prevents her from settling anywhere with her daughter. However, regrets are running through her mind constantly as she sees how much Radia needs stability and normality, too. The residents of this friendly town are eager to help her settle in, and slowly her wall of emotional security is broken down, with Radia helping to ensure her mother opens up more to others, And what would a romance book be without that spark of attraction? Enter Monty, one of the fishing twins, who has had to give up his passion for being on the family boat with his brother to work in the local pub as a chef, dreaming up wonderful seafood recipes while having to serve up pies and sausage and mash to the pub food expectant holiday guests. You can sense the chemistry between these two from the moment they meet, and I loved the slow-burn build-up of their connection. I also loved the little side story romance involving the local ice cream seller, who loves keeping a book on the new borrowers and taking bets on who might pair up with someone local. This time, she has her own little love story, which was just precious! A wonderful read which made me feel warm and gooey inside. Perfect for a pick-me-up, and I warn you, if you haven’t already, you’ll want to read the first two, too, to see what happened previously! Now, I wait impatiently to find out if another book in the series will be coming our way! Many thanks to NetGalley and Hera Books for an ARC.
I love Sarah Morgan’s books, and new ones come with certain expectations. Summer Wedding was no different. However, it was. I am used to diving into the new Sarah Morgan offering and being swept away by a romantic storyline. In fact, when I mentioned to a friend I was reading it, she said it would be a good lighthearted read for a couple of days before the half-term ends. But, the thing is, it wasn’t as light-hearted a read as usual. But that, by no means, is a negative thing. It felt like there was a different, more serious thread running through it. Summer Wedding is a story that explores the relationship between a mother and her two daughters. An unexpected invitation drops to Adeline and Cassie, two half-sisters, for their mother’s fourth wedding. Reactions are mixed. Adeline, as the older daughter, is more sceptical, having been burned as a child n the fallout of her romance author mother, Catherine Swift’s first divorce from her father. Cassie is much more excited, looking forward to seeing her mother settle down to live a life mirroring her hugely successful romance novels, hopefully. However, both women are in for shocks and discoveries of their own as they arrive in Corfu. The siblings have a fragile relationship, and this wedding could catalyse some huge emotions between them both. And. boy, do those reactions cause fireworks! Honestly, it felt different but just as good a read as previous books. Many thanks to NetGalley and HQ for an ARC.
Two friends who have lived through everything together (but for one, it always seems that is the case unless something better comes along) are parting. Fiona and Natalie have been best friends forever, but now, one of them is growing up, leaving the other behind, Natalie struggles with the idea of her best friend finally moving out into a place with her long-time partner but tries her hardest to accept that life changes and moves on. Fiona is excited about the next step in her life. but isn’t 100% sure of what she has done. The story revolves around the two friends navigating the time after Fiona leaves their shared flat. Things don’t go as planned, and we find one faring rather better than the other. I enjoyed reading the book but would have loved to get to know the characters a bit deeper. A quick, easy read. Many thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing, Lake Union, for an ARC.
Blog Tour post coming in March on the 24th!!
So, tell me what you have been reading, and what caught your eye from the above!
But I Smile Anyway... 
