June Book Review

I did very well in June, my first book is actually 3 books in one!!

An omnibus edition of Judith Kerr’s internationally acclaimed trilogy, When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, The Other Way Round and A Small Person Far Away, we see the world through Anna’s eyes as she grows up – from her much loved family to Hitler’s holocaust.

Anna was a German child when she had to flee from the Nazis before the War. By the time the bombs began to fall she was a stateless adolescent in London, and after it was all over she became a happily married Englishwoman who thought she had put the past behind her.

This omnibus edition of the three volumes of Judith Kerr’s Hitler trilogy, tells her story beginning with the rise of Hitler in 1933 through to her return to Berlin years after the war.

I found the first 2 parts gripping & couldn't put them down. Such a brave family packing up their lives to move away from the horror that was going to happen to Jews in Germany. I really warmed to Anna & wondered what it would be like at that age to be moved around to different countries when you couldn't speak the language. At that age you don't understand the reasons why & no wonder she felt she had no home.

However the 3rd part was harder going, it follows Anna as an adult after the war & focuses on her mother. I must confess I didn't like her mum...... I can't put my finger on why but I felt she was a selfish, self centred person who didn't think about the impact of her actions on her children. Maybe I was missing something!

I thought this was a great book & would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading books about the holocaust.

9/10

Touching true stories from the heyday of the Butlin’s holiday camps.

‘When I got to the camp I felt as if I’d suddenly walked into Utopia – it was so colourful, so warm, so friendly. There were lights across the roads, there were banners fluttering in the breeze… There seemed to be laughter coming from every building.’

With grey post-WWII skies hanging low over Britain, factories lining the streets and smoke stacks dotting the horizon, there was one way that ordinary families could escape: the ever-cheerful holiday camps of Butlin’s.

When Billy Butlin founded his holiday camps in 1936, they were bastions of community spirit and havens of luxury. Here, for one week, wives and mothers were freed from the toil and drudgery of housework, children ran free through the grounds, fathers and husbands hung up their work clothes. Ever-helpful redcoats were on hand all hours of the day, dinner halls ready with plentiful food for old and young alike, bars stocked to quench any level of thirst, ballrooms waiting to be flooded with shiny shoes, rustling dresses and peals of laughter. And, as the sun went down on another exhausting, happy day, a chorus line was ready to sing holidaymakers back to their beds.

Rich in period detail and highly evocative, Wish You Were Here! tells the story of seven women who worked as redcoats in Butlin’s Golden Age. It’s all here: Knobbly Knees and Glamourous Grannies, the laughter and tears, hardships and heartbreaks, loves and losses of their lives in and out of the holiday camps, and above all the lifelong friendships they formed with each other and those who also worked or holidayed there.

Funny, moving and heartwarming, these are the timeless tales of a community spirit that burned brightly in a much-loved British institution.

I brought this book on Kindle for a bargain price of 99p, I love social history books & I found the cover helped!

Wouldn't we all love a Butlin's holiday in the 1950's??

It didn't disappoint! I read this within a few days & love it!

It's based around peoples memories of working in Butlin's between the 50's to the 80's. 

There are some very amusing stories plus some sad heartbreaking stories towards the end of their lives. It's lovely to hear there's a reunion group that still meet every year.

If Butlin's would like to run traditional holiday's again then count me in!!

10/10

January Book Review

It's a bit late in the month to be doing the book review but I don't seem to have enough time to get everything done!

January was good on the reading front, I managed 3 books

A heart-warming story of love and friendship in wartime from the bestselling author of Where the Heart is and London Belles.

It's September 1940 and the London Blitz has begun. For the four girls living at No. 13 Article Row, life must go on, despite the nightly bombing raids.

Underground employee, Agnes, is working round the clock to deal with the huge influx of people seeking safety in her station, while Dulcie is trying hard to make peace with her mother.

Nurse Sally returns to Liverpool and gets a shocking reminder of the past, but this is pushed from her mind when a dreadful accident occurs.

As Christmas approaches, her friend Tilly meets a handsome young American called Drew. Could he be the one to mend her broken heart?

As the bombs continue to rain down on a wintery London, the girls do their best to create some Christmas cheer – but the only present they really want is to be home for Christmas.

I started this one just after Christmas, I read A Christmas Promise by the same author & thought this was the 2nd book. Unfortunately this was the 1st so I got a bit confused with the characters!

I found it really hard going & lost interest in the beginning but managed to struggle through.

This is not a reflexion of the book, I would just recommend if you plan reading it just make sure you read this one first!!

8/10

When Imogen and Anna unexpectedly inherit their grandmother Vivien's ice cream parlour, it turns both their lives upside-down. The Brighton shop is a seafront institution, but while it's big on charm it's critically low on customers. If the sisters don't turn things around quickly, their grandmother's legacy will disappear forever.

With summer looming, Imogen and Anna devise a plan to return Vivien's to its former glory. Rather than sell up, they will train up, and make the parlour the newest destination on the South Coast foodie map.

While Imogen watches the shop, her sister flies to Italy to attend a gourmet ice cream-making course. But as she works shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the best chefs in the industry, Anna finds that romance can bloom in the most unexpected of places...

This book had been on my Amazon wish list for sometime after I read/hear about it through a follower blogger. I was lucky to find this in a bag of donations that came into the shop & after reading so many WW2 romance books I thought I needed a break.

A quick easy read that was really enjoyable……. someone said 'like a bar of good chocolate'!

The plot lines were easy to work out & I can safely say there were no shocks but I still really enjoyed it.

A great summer holiday read & the ice cream recipes will make your mouth water!

And it's cheap as chips on Amazon at the moment!

9/10

In my dreams, I was always in some vast landscape on a long, straight road. Driving. Always driving.'

Gwenda had always loved the open road, but her home town of Newcastle didn't really offer the sort of adventure she longed for. So, in 1957, with friend and fellow nurse Pat in tow, she left the dismal British winter behind, and embarked on an amazing American adventure.

After a year nursing in Cleveland, Gwenda, Pat and three new friends set off on a road trip around North America, driving in a rickety 1949 Ford. What follows is the charming true story of five remarkable young women. Over the course of eighteen months, the girls go to a 4th July rodeo, visit San Francisco and Las Vegas, learn to surf in Hawaii, spot movie stars in Hollywood and celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Wherever they go, the travelling nurses cause a sensation. This is a delightfully nostalgic memoir of friendship and the romance of the open road.

Another charity shop find. I wasn't sure about this book as I hadn't heard of it before & it certainly wasn't on my wish list but I thought I'd give it a go. Oh boy was I pleased I did…… I loved it!!

It was one of those books I didn't want to end. I would loved to have visited America in the 1950's so I really enjoyed reading all about Gwenda & her friends adventure.

10/10

And just because it's Valentines day

October Book Review

Another 3 books this month & I enjoyed each one.

Connie and Eva are best friends but their families are the worst of enemies…

During the VE Day celebrations, two women meet completely by chance. As Connie and Eva talk they discover they are from feuding families, the Maxwells and the Dixons. But when they both begin nurses’ training, they can’t deny their natural bond of friendship and become more like sisters.

Their lives intertwine as Connie starts courting Eva’s brother, Roger, a bomb disposal expert. In her heart, Connie holds a torch for local artist and freespirit Eugene, but a dark memory from her past makes her wary of trusting any man.

The two women are determined to uncover the secrets that have plagued them and kept the two families at war for so long. But can their friendship survive the shocking truth?

Another bargain Kindle book from Amazon. Set just after WW2 it brings 2 families together, a traditional love story with a very good twist!

For 99p your can't go wrong!

9/10

Getting married in the 1950s was quite a different experience to how it is today. After the independence of the wartime years, women now had to leave their jobs when they married and support their husband by creating a spotless home, delicious meals and an inviting bedroom. From ingenious cleaning tips, ration-book recipes and home decor inspiration, the homemaking methods of the 1950s give a hilarious and poignant insight into the lives of women in that decade. In A 1950s Housewife, author, wife, mother and grandmother Sheila Hardy collects heart-warming personal anecdotes from those women, many of whom are now in their eighties, who embarked on married life during this fascinating post-war period and provides a heart-warming trip down memory lane for any wife or child of the 1950s.

I'd heard mixed reviews about this book but I must confess I couldn't put it down. I found it fascinating & it made me ask my parents loads of questions plus all my older volunteers. I found it odd that a lot of things in the book were the same as when I was growing up in the 70's. the world has changed so much in the 40 years I've been alive….. you sometimes forget that! I'm looking forward to reading the next book about bringing up baby.

10/10

It is April 1939 and unaware that the German war machine is advancing towards the Channel Islands, seventeen-year-old Meg Colivet and her sister are enjoying a holiday in Oxford with their aunt. Here Meg meets charismatic German undergraduate Rayner Weiss and the couple fall passionately in love. But all too soon, Britain is at war with Germany, Guernsey has been occupied and Meg's family home requisitioned by the German army.

Meg insists on remaining with her father, determined to help save her beloved island from the ravages of war. And then she finds herself face to face with Rayner - now a German officer - once more and her life is thrown into turmoil as they risk their lives to meet in secret . As the conflict in Europe intensifies, basic provisions become scarce and soon the people Meg loves come under threat. Torn between her love for Rayner and her duty to her family and the island she grew up on, a heartbroken Meg has a terrible choice to make...

This is the 2nd Lily Baxter book I've read & I've got 1 more to go. I enjoyed it, it was a quick easy read but it didn't blow me away. Maybe a good book to read on holiday or a long journey, you don't need to concentrate that much! There was no surprises but still a nice read.

8/10

I'm in the middle of book 29 at the moment, with only a few weeks left of 2013 & can't safely say I'm not going to hit 50! I keep choosing books with over 500 pages….. must be more careful next year!

Have you read any good books? 

I'd love to hear your recommendations.

Grease....... is the word!!!

It was such along time ago but I wanted to share with you our photo's of a top night out...

Getting ready

Helen on stage for the fancy dress judging

Beauty School Dropout

Guess what we had to do???

Put a paper bag on our head....... but we all did it!!

Me & Helen

I wasn't dressed up as much as I hoped...... I worked all day, rushed to the train station, ran to the theatre, had a jacket potato which left under 10 mins to change in a very small, very busy toilet!

If it comes to a town near you do go it's so much fun!

Check out the website

Have a great weekend

February

That's February over with!!

It's starting to feel like spring isn't it?? 

February was a busy month with 2 Make, Do and Mend meetings..... Yarn bombing......Cupcake making..... Being asked to help organise the Exeter Blitz remembrance day in May (so excited!!) being hooked on Pinterest and lots, lots more!

Only 4 more days until my first break in 5 months....... I need it!!!

But first me & my lovely friend Helen are off to Torquay on Friday for 

Sing-a-long-a Grease!!!

We booked in December thinking it was a long time away..... now it's tomorrow!!!

I have my outfit all sorted, the worrying thing is..... it's all my own clothes, no need for fancy dress for me! The only thing I brought was a very cheap Pink Lady jacket & some lovely red glasses.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Bangs!

Lately I have been trying out a new hair style!

I saw this in issue 8 of Vintage Life magazine last summer. As some of you know I have very long curly hair..... I'm not brave enough to take the plunge & have it cut in a 1940/1950's style..... OH would hate it anyway!

This is easy to do & creates a great look..... I normally wear the rest of my hair in a bun & add a scarf to hide the ends.

Sorry the photo's are blurred...... I left it too late so had to take them in the dark!

It's very easy..... buy a hair bun, only £1 from Primark..... cut in half & roll. Pin the hair bun in a horse shoe shape & use a scarf to disguise it.

Make sure the edges are neat & spray with hair spray..... simples!!!

My fringe is nearly 2 foot long but I can still do this so it really can't be hard!!

Next time I do it I'll try to get a photo :) Do let me know if you give it a go.

It's Make, Do and Mend this week & we're yarn bombing!!! We're been planning it for over a year but as it's our 2nd birthday..... why does the time go?..... I wanted to let Exeter know we're still here!

Hope to be back soon unless I get a arrested with my wool & needles!!!

Great TV

I could hardly believe my luck when I heard one of my favourite books was being made into a BBC drama

It starts tonight for those of you that haven't heard...... I'm really looking forward to it!

Miranda Hart as Chummy should be excellent.

As if that wasn't enough I nearly burst with excitement when I saw the trailer for this last week

It starts next Sunday at 9pm...... it's been a long time coming as they couldn't decide on the script.

I'm excited but a little nervous....... you see I love this book, I've read it so many time over the last 16 years.... in fact more times then I care to mention! 

I know all the little details & I'm worried they will ruin it, for a start I don't think the man playing Stephen even looks like Stephen! I've heard it's going to be quite saucy but then so is the book!

Like the stage play

They have cut the 1978 section.... I think this is a shame, one of the strongest parts of the book is when Elizabeth goes to Theipval I says she didn't know about WW1. 

Neither did I...... I can't remember being taught it at school...... but it made me want to find out more & within 6 months we had visited the Mein Gate & war cemeteries.

I wait with baited breath to see if it's as good as the book....... will you be watching?

Laura Ashley Dresses

You would never have guessed a few years ago I would be doing a fashion post!!

I'm the most unfashionable person I know & just buy what I like even if it's not cool!

But I wanted to share news about a new collection of clothes we have coming in for February..... 

if you love this...

and lets face it who wouldn't.... then wait until you see the new collection.

It has a 1950's seaside theme with dresses..... like this one..... with boats on (very Cath!) & beach huts!!

I'm very lucky as I thought there would be nothing for me but since I've started the collections have been good but for 2012 it looks like they're going to get better!

I plan to try this dress on tomorrow in the hope I look stunning in it so I can get it for my uniform.

I've already tried on the culottes which looked terrible so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

If you haven't looked at LA for clothes lately take a look