What are YOU reading? #211

What are you reading on Monday? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where you post books completed last week and plans for upcoming books. Jump over to her blog and see who else is participating.

Read 

Take Me Home by Daniela Sacerdoti

Fiction

9/10E

(A touching emotional read set in Scotland...)

The Delicious Chocolate Sticker Book

Children's, Activity book

10E/10E

(Almost as good as the real thing!)

Do Dare Duck by Joyce Dunbar and Jane Massey

Children's, Picture book

10/10E

(What does the duck dare to do?)

Tigers and Spies by Kes Gray and Nick Sharratt

Children's, 5 years +

10E/10E

(Best Daisy adventure ever!)

Burn Out by Robert Swindells

Young Adult, Dyslexia friendly

9/10E

(Truly amazing read!)

Peas In A Pod by Adele Geras and Peter Bailey

Children's, 5 years +

10E/10E

(A delightful tale about a expectations on a wedding day...)

City Farm: Laura and Silky by Jessie Williams

Children's, 9 years +

10E/10E

(Laura copes better with her new blindness with a cute cat by her side...)

City Farm: Katie and the Ducklings by Jessie Williams

Children's, 9 years +

10E/10E

(Animals can truly help us heal - Katie gained help with her depressive mother and changed her life around when she spoke duck to unhatched ducklings...)

Watched 

Pretty Rhythm Dear My Future

REWATCH! - Anime, Japanese version

10E/10E

(Back in the realm of episodes without subs, but I don't care as I love it! Finally got to the point where Aira is under the Symphony spell, performing Que Sera Sera with Mion & Rhythm who know she is acting odd but go along with her anyway.)

Waterloo Road

REWATCH! - Drama, English version

9/10E

(Started rewatching the second series, only vaguely remembering the school drama...) 

Aikatsu

REWATCH! - Anime, Japanese version

10E/10E

(*fangirl squeal* Ichigo is nearly at the point where she performs with Mizuki!) 

Crafts and other things 

No sewing this week originally, but in the end, I just couldn't help myself.  

As for my blanket, it's getting a bit bigger!

For the first time in months I baked! Found a really easy microwave fudge recipe which I can do which doesn't wipe me out after as the usual stove-top method does. This weekend I'm making more plain fudge, and fudge with cookie crumbled in it. It's delicious, sets really fast and is enjoyed by family, friends & colleagues. 

Mummy's Little Sunflowers by Angela McAllister and Alison Edgson (Children's, Picture book, 10E/10E)

February 2014, Little Tiger Press, 32 pages, Hardback, Review copy

Themes: younger siblings spoiling plans,going on an adventure, making new friends, being creative

 

Content: an insane amount of cuteness

Summary from Little Tiger Press

Scurry loves sunflowers. He’s got one special seed that he’s going to grow just for his mummy. But his little brother, Scamp, loves sunflowers seeds, and when he eats his brother’s special seed, he’s in real trouble. Two small mice. One sunflower seed. And a very big adventure.

Nayuleska's thoughts

This book is awesome! It's so cute I cried at the end because what Scurry and Scamp do is touching. Scurry clearly loves Scamp even if he did ruin Scurry's first attempt at growing a sunflower. Scamp's mispronunciation of 'funflower' kept me giggling through the story which is funny.

The best part for me are the illustrations. They are adorable! I love the inside cover pages which have vibrant yellow petals scattered on them (I love the colour yellow). It's cute how on the title page Scurry and Scamp are marking their height on a wall using a picture of a sunflower. The nameless little girl mouse at the nursery in the pink dress and blue jacket is mega sweet! Scurry's disappointment when he finds his seed gone with a trail of crumbs is plain to see, and I loved the red striped mouse toy. Scamp looks extremely repentant, I wanted to give him a huge hug. Scamp's look of bewilderment as he lands in a puddle was funny, and the part where Scurry helps pat down Scamp was a positive show of brotherly love, w

More cute moments included when the brothers found a sunflower and sat on it eating seed, and when they said goodbye to their new friend I cried because it was supremely cute, just like when they had mud all over themselves after planting some sunflower seeds, which had a sign saying 'for Mummy'. It was hard seeing Scamp so upset when he got impatient about the sunflowers growing because he is so forlorn (and cute). Fortunately he gets a huge hug from their mother, so I didn't worry tooo much about him. 

For more cute pictures check out Alison's website.

Suggested read

For another book full of awww moments from Alison check out I Want My Mummy by Tracey Corderoy (& Alison) (Children's, Picture book, 10E/10E)

Win all of Wanita May's books! International competition

You read it correctly. This competition is to win ALL of Wanita's books! This mega generous offer stemmed from her request for me to review her latest book, Radium Halos. 

It sounds too dark for me, so I declined, but asked if I could hold a competition so all of you could hear about it and one get your hands on it. That's when Wanita came up with her mega awesome offer! I ADORE Wanita's books, yes I'm a fangirl of this Young Adult author. Click on the links for each book to see my review of it. On to the all important details!

NOTE: Due to the bizarreness of Rafflecoptor it starts about 11pm GMT Sunday 30th March...I'm not a premium subscriber so I can't change the time! I usually schedule competitions in advance so I haven't had an issue before now...sorry! Please check back when it's open. 

Rules: One entry per person. No matter where you live in the world you can enter! 

Prizes: 1 ebook copy of the newest release, Radium Halos (link takes you to it's spot on Wanita's website)

1 ebook copy of Rae of Hope (review link)

1 ebook copy of Dark Nebula (somehow I never reviewed this which is very odd - the link takes you to it's spot on Wanita's website)

1 ebook copy of Seventh Mark  (review link)

There could well be one or two extra books, as Wanita mentioned a 4 book anthology which includes some of the books I've already mentiond but that will be the surprise part of the prizes, since I forgot to confirm the books before setting this competition up....

Rules: One entry per person. Please make sure you read through my protection policy. 

To enter: Just fill in the form below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winner of Eleanor Hawken Competition Announcement!

 This is an extremely belated competition winner announcement, as I managed to muck up my first time of using Rafflecopter....

However, I am pleased to announce we have a winner of these two scary books! It is....

Majima! 

Many congratulations, you have an email from me to sort out the finer details of receiving the prize. 

Now, I have plenty more competitions to come this year on NRC! Current competitions include winning a copy of this book!

And another is starting later on today. It's all go here!

Nayu's News #116 Farewell, dear friends

This weekend I'm saying farewell to two friemds who've made me smile over the past 2 years. They always look cute, always wear purple, and always follow me around the house, stayung on the floor while I put my feet up on the sofa, then welcoming my toasty warm feet. Farewell, dear friendly Eskimos/Inuits! You are my favourite slippers in my entire life and that isn't being melodramatic. My finger made the hole bigger. I only hope I can get a similar type from one of my fave stores, M&S, in a pattern I like. Willl show you my new companions in a week or so!

Nayu's News #115 Scented Tea Light Treats

Referring to the both the reason for no reviews until the weekend and sumptuous scents in yesterday's post of lily blossom, cherry blossom & baked cookies, here's a picture of the Gorjuss branded tin I keep them in - pretty! Cherry blossom is burning away now ^o^ 

If you use candles, I'd love to hear what scents you adore!

Nayu's News #114 Winx Bloomix, blossoms, and cookies!

Today, well before I was due to schedule blog posts until the weekend I started feeling peaky. To save energy I decided to just put up a cute pic for the daily posts. This one is of Stella and Musa from the anime Winx in their season 6 Bloomix transformation. Stella is one of my favourite characters, and I adore Musa's Bloomix outfit for being purple and cute. Hope you like them too - it's a fab fairy show!

Blossom and cookies featured in my day in the form of scented tea lights. I have lilac blossom, cherry blossom, and baked cookies! They all smell awesome, and are nice and subtle when burning, perfect as my family are not so keen on strong scents like my preferred brand Yankee Candle. Since I live in their house I need to find scents they will put up with, and these scents tick all the boxes!

Great fan art of Stella, eft, and Musa 

Nayu's News #113 Pretty Rhythm Anime Mania!

Reina, Ayami and Jae Eun who are in the Prism Star Trio called Sprouts

It's been a little bit of time since I watched Pretty Rhythm Dear My Future. Okay, over the last few days I've read more than watched anime. I wanted to resolve that as watching lots of anime helps me keep a positive outlook on life, which with me making a not so clever decision in following a news article about a Malaysian plane which went missing, hasn't been as strong as I'd like.

I want to share with you how happy the Pretty Rhythm series (all 3 of them) make me feel. All the songs are catchy, with fun, fantasy like dance routines. Some have positive messages about aiming for the future, and being yourself. I apply these ones to my dreams of one day having people review my own books which I'm working really hard on. Progress is slow because my health is so up and down, which can be frustrating as I know what I want to do. However, Spring and Summer are on the way, which my body tends to respond well to because it has to work harder in the cold. I must point out my body hates being below 10'C, 15'C is ok, 20'C is much better, and yes I love 30'C when we get that high here in England.

*ahem* Back to anime...Other songs are about romance which isn't my thing. Regardless of the lyrics, I love all the girls because they work hard as a team to overcome their fears. Often one will think they are suffering alone, but through the colourful, cheery prism dances, prism jumps (which can include actual jumps and are spectacular show stoppers), and prism acts (in Prety Rhythm Dear My Future) their friends show them how wrong they are.

At the moment I'm watching one series after the other, so it will be a while until I get to Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live, which is quite different with a brand new cast. Aikatsu is keeping me happy too, but I'm finding watching a variety of anime is the way to go! I adore Pretty Rhythm Aurora Dream because it focuses on Aira, Rhythm, and Mion as their friendships and talents grow. They overcome great adversity, have fun, make others happy, all things you and I do/hope to do in our lives. They feature prominantly in Pretty Rhythm Dear My Future, along with lots of other wonderful new Prism Stars. I'm not going to go so long between watching this show - tonight I've watched 2 episodes in a row! I did read inbetween, and I'm returning to the book now before an episode of Aikatsu and some writing before bed.

I hadn't meant this post to be slightly serious!! I'd like you all to think of something which raises your spirits high and make you feel like you can do anything. Got something in mind? Yay! Now go do it and let it boost you up in this crazy thing called life!

Emma and the Princess by Peter Steinberg (Children's, Picture book, 10E/10E)

January 2014, 18 pages, ebook, Review copy

Themes: playtime, imagination, helping princesses, being a knight, evil creature, stolen treasure, dreams

   

Summary from Amazon (I don't gain anything by mentioning them) 

Emma wants to be a knight more than anything else. The kind who spends his [Nayu: or her!] time rescuing princesses and fighting monsters. One night Emma sets out on a journey hoping that she might find a real princess who needs her help. 

Nayuleska's thoughts

*grins* There's a golden pretzel for Emma to rescue!! There are other treasures stolen from the princess, but I adore pretzels of the non-golden, edible variety so this part of the story made me squeeee! I loved how seamlessly Emma went from being awake in her room to heading out on her adventure-I had no idea it was a dream. I love Emma's courage to keep going even when things got a bit scary, her bravery is as great as her problem solving capabilities.

Alongside the story are the beautiful colour illustrations. They made me go aw a lot with the cuteness of Emma, the expressions of all those she meets, and the strong positive vibe that radiates from the pages. I wanted to be Emma, especially with her red cape, but I'm not as brave as she is in the dark! The source of the eyes in the castle was a shock, one that made me giggle too. I hope there will be more adventures for Emma!

 

Suggested read

For more night time adventures check out Goodnight Princess by Michelle Robinson and Nick East (Children's, Picture book, 10E/10E) 

What are YOU reading? #210

What are you reading on Monday? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey where you post books completed last week and plans for upcoming books. Jump over to her blog and see who else is participating.



Read

Spellbound Winter 2012 Issue: Rings and Other Magic Things

Magazine, Fantasy

9/10E

(My first time of reading a fantasy magazine!)

Top Trumps: Baby Animals

Children's, Non-fiction

10/10E

(Crammed full of interesting facts & animal cards!)

Irish Cream Dreams by Graylin Rane

Paranormal Romance

5/10E

(Not as squeesome as book 1, but still looking forward to book 3. The cover isn't here because it's a bit too risquee for NRC...)

Delphie and the Magic Ballet Shoes by Darcy Bussell

Audiobook, Children's, 7 years +

9/10E

(A fun start to a charming ballet series by a retired English ballerina...)

Tiny Acts of Love by Lucy Lawrie

Fiction

9/10E

(A heart warming read about the hopes and oh so many fears of entering motherhood...)

Snow Dog by Malorie Blackman and Sami Sweeten

Children's, 5 years +

10E/10E

(A magical tale filled with fun!) 

Reread

Drina Dances In Madeira by Jean Estoril

Children's, 9 years +

10E/10E

(Drina experiences some joy in travelling with her grandparents alongside a lot of heartache. This installment really struck a chord with me.)

Blucy by Julia Dweck and Erika Lebarre

Children's, Picture book

10E/10E

(Fun reread of a cat with attitude.)

Watched

Aikatsu

REWATCH! - Anime, Japanese version

10E/10E

(Ignoring the subs has me more absorbed by the story, even if I don't understand all of what's being said at least I know the background story!)

Casualty

Drama, English version

4/10E

(I was barely paying attention during this ep as I wasn't interested by most of the story. It really is hit or miss these days as to whether I like this show...)

Waterloo Road

REWATCH! - Drama, English version

8/10E

(Rather gripping if a bit gritty watch...)

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Season 3

Anime, English version

10E/10E

(It's here! I actually liked the double episode at the start!)

Holby City

Drama, English version

9/10E

(Still in the lead for enjoyment to its parent show Casualty...)

Craft, games and other things
Started a blanket for myself, pretty and simple in orange.

Nearly on a bright colour thread for my current sewing project!

Chocolate competition winner announcement!

Yay! It's exciting to give books away as prizes, and it's even more exciting (by a very narrow margin) to give away chocolate! My first chocolate competition of the year has ended. There weren't quite enough entries, so it just means the two winners get a little extra in their package (above pic shows the minimum they'll get) 

The winners of the mostly Cadbury's chocolate stash are.....

Mary Preston! 

& 

Catherine! 

Many congratulations to you both, you'll receive emails regarding sending on the prizes to you. Fear not, there's still one live competition to win an ebook (only for those not living in the UK). 

 There be a mega giveaway (as in more than 1 book as the prize) from a generous author this week, hopefully launching on Wednesday, as well as more books to win from my bookshelf. 2014 is full of winners!

Princess Ponies #7: A Special Surprise by Chloe Ryder (Children's, 7 years +, 10E/10E)

13th March 2014, Bloomsbury, 128 pages, Paperback, Review copy

Themes: seeing old friends again,  being pony mad, adventure, horrible discoveries, flying, helpful seahorses, old enemy,

 

Content: lots of imagination, major peril,

Summary from Bloomsbury

Pippa’s best friend, the Princess Pony, Stardust, has come all the way from the enchanted island of Chevalia to visit, and just in time for tomorrow’s gymkhana at the riding school. Pippa has been waiting all through the summer holiday for the gymkhana, and it would be her dream come true if she won a rosette on her favourite pony, Snowdrop. But when Pippa arrives at the stables the next morning, Snowdrop and her riding school pony friends are nowhere to be found! Princess Stardust has an idea who is responsible. For the show to go on, Pippa and Stardust must return to Chevalia – and quickly . . .

Nayuleska's thoughts

I've been super excited to learn what Pippa's next adventure with her princess ponies would be, and I'm the opposite of disappointed. The plot twist exceeded my expectation and I'm fearful for what will happen as Pippa's 2nd adventure evolves. There was great joy in seeing familiar faces and clothes again, in Pippa being back in a place where time in the human world stops.

 I loved the differences between the Earth ponies and the princess ponies in how each pony should live, I squeed heaps over the fun illustrations especially for Pippa's magical tiara, which like the princess ponies' tiaras sparkled away on the page, and the tasty looking giant cake. It might be hard to believe but Divine is more demented than ever, and her evil plans have certainly not been curtailed yet. Only time and the next books will tell how she wrecks both Earth and Chevalia.

Find out more on the dedicated website.

Suggested read

See where Pippa's first adventure ends in Princess Ponies #6: Best Friends Forever (Children's, 7 years +, 10/10E)