Navel Gazing by Anne H Putnam.

As I have been getting into reading lately in a big way, when I was offered the opportunity to review a book* I thought "brilliant". I had another book to finish first, but once that was completed I got started on Navel Gazing straight away. 

The subject matter really intrigued me, being about weight loss, gastric band surgery and one woman's perspective on size, shape, finding confidence and dealing with body changes. I have never been obese but I was once slightly overweight (in BMI standards anyway) so I expected the book to be something I would enjoy reading and find interesting and maybe useful too.

I knew it would be a different kind of book to the usual "chick lit" I tend to favour, with it being fact as opposed to fiction, but I didn't really prepare myself for disliking parts of the book and struggling to finish it.

What did I like about the book?

I liked the honest and open account of gastric band surgery, why Anne opted to have the surgery at 17 years old and the process she had to go through. I learnt a lot about why someone would choose to go down that route and what is involved with the surgery as well as the aftercare which affects what you eat and the way you eat for the rest of your life.

I enjoyed the beginning of the book when Anne describes growing up and her relationship with food i.e. having a healthy, dieting mother which meant sneaking treats as opposed to being able to enjoy them openly.

What did I dislike about the book?

The book was repetitive, often describing the same experiences over and over again without going into much detail.

The writer was so full of self loathing for her body that it became really frustrating as a reader. It was relentlessness and repetitive throughout the book so it was difficult to connect with the author.

I felt like there was something missing from the book. I wanted to know more about certain times of Anne's life and, as mentioned above, some areas were repeated which meant the book didn't flow.

I thought the book would be more of a "journey" ending with less self hatred and a bit more positivity.

Would I recommend this book?

If you want to know about gastric band surgery or you're interested in the surgery yourself then there are sections of the book which would be useful to you. If you're looking for an inspirational read then I'd leave this one on the shelf.

* this book was sent to me, for free, to review. As you can see my reviews are always 100% honest!

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Kindle Fire HD (& a LOT of book reviews).

I was always very "anti-Kindle", thinking they were the beginning of the end for reading and proper books. Then I went on a relaxing/sunbathing holiday for a week only taking hand luggage and two books which I got through in a couple of days.

Being the kind of person who can't sit still for very long I headed to the supermarket to scope out new books and bought a nice thick one (Maeve Binchy's Tara Road = loved it!) and a good old Danielle Steel book called The House on Hope Street which was a good yarn.

I got home and promptly stuck a Kindle at the top of my Christmas list (even though it was September) thinking how handy one would be for holidays and long journeys. If I'd had a Kindle on holiday I could have ditched one of the books I took that I didn't enjoy and picked from a whole host of others.

Being the lucky swine I am my parents surprised me by getting me a Kindle Fire HD! I'm not one for technology and gadgets and I didn't even realise it was a super duper model until my sister told me, but then I got it charging and instantly loved it.

Not only can I hop on to wifi and check my blog comments, Twitter, Facebook, browse the web and use apps such as Rightmove (daily obsession) I can also watch movies, download books, borrow books from the Kindle lending library and shop online. Brilliant!

Now it has to be said that I do go through phases of being obsessed with reading and then it wears off slightly, but since Boxing Day I have read 8 books and am onto my 9th (although a couple of the books were fairly short). Not all of them were on the Kindle, but my new gadget has definitely given me a new love of reading.

Things I like about it for reading:
- I can easily check reviews for the books before paying for them
- I am offered suggestions of books I may like and have found some future reads this way
- it's super light which means no arm ache when reading in bed (something I find with actual books)
- Jonathan can turn off the light and sleep while I read into the early hours
- I have access to the Kindle lending library which has a wide range of books available to borrow
- if I lose track of who a character is there's a way to find out who's who
- and finally, if I don't know what a word means I can press it to get a dictionary definition. I swear I'm smarter already! ;)

* I know I could refer to a dictionary or check reviews online, etc, but it's the ease of use and handiness of these features which I like!

That being said I will still pick up books from my local charity shops and I've got a stack of books that I borrowed from my friend a few months ago that I'm still ploughing through. But for night time reading and saving arm ache I'm definitely a huge Kindle fan now.

Here are the books I've read over the past few weeks. Let me know if you have read any of them!


The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared - This was the first book I downloaded onto my Kindle. It was 20p (bargain!) and had rave reviews so I was really looking forward to reading it. There were two themes running through the book; the modern day story and the history of the old man's life from when he was younger to present day. I loved the present day storyline. It was funny and random and I couldn't wait to read on. But I found some of the history bits a tad heavy going and struggled to keep going about 50% of the way through.

In A New York Minute - A super short story! I downloaded this as it was free and had a pretty cover, then read it in about 2 seconds. It was an easy to read feel-good Christmas story so if you like that sort of thing you'll like this.

You Had Me At Hello - LOVED it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes the "chick lit" genre without the mushiness or sappy characters. It's the only book that has made me laugh out loud over and over again. I'm really looking forward to Mhairi McFarlane's future books and hope they're as funny and well written as this one.

One Perfect Summer - I love Paige Toon books and I have almost made my way through all of her offerings (just one book to go!) I really enjoyed this book, reading it over a short period of time, although the ending left me wanting more and wondering what happened next...

One Perfect Christmas - enter One Perfect Christmas which is a short story follow up to One Perfect Summer. It was very satisfying to read more about the characters in the first book but at £1.99 to download this I felt that as this book was so short it would have been better to include it at the end of the original book. Or make this one into a full length book. Anyway, I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Johnny Be Good - This is another Paige Toon book (I told you I like her books!) I started it last year but couldn't get into it so I put it down and picked up something else, but gave it another go recently. Although I wasn't too keen on the main character I was gripped by the story and found the whole plot really interesting to read. Hearing about what a rock star gets up to makes for an interesting plot! However, I was fuming about the ending. I felt like there was no point to the rest of the book and hoped there was a follow up...

Baby Be Mine - enter Baby Be Mine. I was so happy when I realised that Baby Me Mine was a sequel to Johnny Be Good. As mentioned above, I found the main character a little cold and unlikeable at times but I enjoyed the book, liked the other characters and am glad to have some closure!

The Pollyanna Plan - Talli Roland is an author I hadn't heard of before I spotted some of her books in the Kindle lending library. I downloaded this one for free after checking out the positive reviews for it. The characters (especially the main male character) were really likeable, the story moved at a nice quick pace and the message within the story was a really positive and thought provoking one. I'm going to check out Talli's other books and I hope they're as good as this one!

Phew, this turned out to be a bit of a long blog post. If you made it this far give yourself a pat on the back and leave a comment to let me know what you're reading at the moment!

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Meet Me At The Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan.

It's not very often that I read a book and make the end pages last as long as possible to avoid the story being over, but that's just what happened with Meet Me At The Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan. I patiently waited until I had the house to myself, a Yankee Candle burning away, cup of tea in hand, PJs on, and I finished the book genuinely sad that it's not real.

Maybe I need to get out more, or perhaps it's just a very well written book with all the makings of a winner - a loveable main character, baking (complete with recipes throughout), romance and plenty of ups and downs to keep you gripped.

I really wanted this book to be brilliant, purely because the cover is so damn pretty and with the promise of cupcakes in a "chick lit" style book I was instantly drawn in. Initially I was surprised at the thickness of the book and wondered how the story could possibly be so long, but I could have happily read on and on and on..!

Issy Randall can bake. No, more than that – Issy can create stunning, mouth-wateringly divine cakes. After a childhood spent in her beloved Grampa Joe’s bakery she has undoubtedly inherited his talent. So when she’s made redundant from her safe but dull City job, Issy decides to seize the moment and open up her own café. It should be a piece of cake, right?

Wrong. As her friends point out, she has trouble remembering where she left her house keys, let alone trying to run her own business. But Issy is determined. Armed with recipes posted to her from Grampa, and with her local bank manager fighting her corner, Issy attempts to prove everyone wrong. Following your dreams is never easy and this is no exception. Can Issy do it?

I have read a fair few "chick lit" books in my time and often the characters can be hard to relate to, sometimes downright unlikeable. Issy was caring and warm, and it was easy to like her character and will her to do well.

This is the second Jenny Colgan book I've read, having not enjoyed the first one all that much. I'm glad I didn't give up and I gave Jenny's books another go. Next on my list is Welcome To Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop Of Dreams which I'm hoping will be a fab read. A book about sweets? Yes please!

Have you read Meet Me At The Cupcake Cafe? What did you think?

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Becoming a book worm (again).

Sometimes I can be a little bit 'all or nothing' and this is definitely the case when it comes to reading. Until a few weeks ago it had been ages since I'd picked up a book in contrast to my younger days when I collected them and would spend a large chunk of my wages on new purchases from Amazon and Ebay. I had shelves full of books and I was very proud of my collection.

Then slowly time got more precious and I rarely had time to read a magazine, let alone a whole book (although saying that, it is quite difficult to read a magazine with Lily and Lola around. They like to clamber over me if I sit still for more than a few seconds).

A few weeks ago somebody lent me the Chris Evans autobiography which I had been wanting to read for a while. Jonathan and I listen to him on Radio 2 every morning on the way to work and I knew his book would be a good, juicy read if past tabloids were anything to go by. Well, I was hooked and finished it within just a few days. After hearing his side of the story I was dying to hear what Billie Piper had to say so I bought her book and literally couldn't put it down.

Now I know the above aren't the most intellectual reads but they were just the ticket to ease me back into reading and I would definitely recommend both of them.

I have bought quite a few books, old and new, recently. I got a couple of new ones from WH Smith as I've been intrigued by When God Was A Rabbit for a while having seen the cover, and fellow bloggers reading it, numerous times. As I could get something else half price I saw the word chocolate and a girly cover and I was all set.

I visited a couple of local charity shops last week and I was like a kid in a sweet shop when I saw the boxes of books outside. There are obviously some chick lit fans in our area, and I perused their cast offs. I love Chris (Chrissie) Manby books so I was pleased to spot one of hers in the mixture and a couple of the other authors are familiar to me already.

Since I dabbled in the world of Chris and Billie I've read 3 more books and I'm officially a book worm again. Only problem now is I may have to buy another bookshelf....

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Book review: The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic

As mentioned in my post about books (here) I started reading this book recently and a couple of days later I have finished it. I have seen the movie so I knew the general idea of the books but I know how popular the book series is and I fancied working my way through them all.

I used to be exactly like Rebecca Bloomwood; I would buy everything I wanted even if I didn't need it. A lunch time shopping trip would involve going to Harvey Nichols and picking something new; a handbag, a scarf, sunglasses.. but then things got out of control and I learnt the hard way that the best way to be is to live within your means. If you can't afford something then you can't have it, simple! :) Because of this, about half way through the book I have to admit I got a little tired of Becky's constant, never ending spending and I found her character quite annoying.

That aside I enjoyed the book on the whole; it was easy to read and very funny. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series now that I'm not so annoyed by the main character :)

I was really happy with the ending of the book and the final letter from Derek Smeath really made me chuckle.

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