Author: Libby Price

Happy Blog-i-versary to me!

Posted on by Libby Price

It is exactly one year to the day since I posted my first ever blog post. In answer to the title of that post, the conclusion was definitely to blog!

It’s been a hectic year – I’m not really sure there’s any other kind of year in this house – and I haven’t blogged as much as I’d thought I would – but I didn’t envisage spending so much time in the company of teddy bears (but it’s not every year you help to SMASH a world record) or organising a ball (more of that to come in the coming months). I guess it highlighted to me my priorities – and blogging had to take a bit of a backseat to helping friends in difficult times.

That’s not to say I’ve been too slack with the blogging – I’ve blogged about transatlantic trips to New York, Chicago and Washington – about many, many books that I’ve read (some that I’ve been given for free for solely that purpose – result!), about my family, our days out, our days in and lots in between.

I’ve joined in linkys with Tara on The Sticky Fingers blog and Emma on Brummy Mummy of 2 – but only when I had suitable content (I can’t bear when people shoe horn irrelevant stuff into the supposed topic!) Through these linkys I’ve ‘met’ some lovely fellow bloggers – and in a ‘it’s an incredibly small world’ my sister ended up picking up teddy bears from one of them down in Hampshire for the aforementioned world record attempt. #smallworld

I even made Mumsnet Bloggers front page with my A-Z of strops from my youngest.

I was asked the other day why I blog, and what I’d change. Well, I feel like I’m mainly doing it as a record of the Price family’s life. Even in one year, it’s great to look back at what we’ve done (and read!) and have everything kept in one place to flick through. The modern day equivalent of a photo album / scrapbook I guess.

Part of me thinks if I devoted more time to it then maybe I could be making more of it – reviewing more things, running competitions, my own linky etc – but there aren’t enough hours in the day on top of family, work, home, friends – so for now I plan to pootle on as I have for the last year. We’ll save world domination for the future – you have been warned!

Thanks to everyone who has commented, ‘liked’, shared, guest written, been a star of a post (especially my long suffering family) and just stalked from afar. Lots of love to you all!!

Here’s to the next year!!

Book Review: One Summer Night at the Ritz by Jenny Oliver

Posted on by Libby Price

One Summer Night at the Ritz

“One Summer Night at the Ritz is the enchanting fourth story in Jenny Oliver’s delicious Cherry Pie Island series.
For Jane Williams, balmy August evenings are usually spent swimming in the river or lounging on her house boat on Cherry Pie Island. But, this summer, a set of tragic wartime diaries has changed all that.
Now, Jane’s heading for an appointment with Will Blackwell, one of the world’s most infamous hoteliers, in the heart of London’s West End. And, standing under the spectacular twinkling lights of The Ritz, it’s safe to say she’s feeling a tiny bit out of her depth…
But Jane’s about to discover that, sometimes, the bravest steps can lead to the most magical summer nights!”

I have just devoured the 4th in the Cherry Pie Island series in one afternoon!  I have loved the previous books in this series, and this one was no different.  It’s a stand alone book – but with clever nods to the previous books throughout – and the scenes being set for the next.

I’ve never stayed at The Ritz – although have had breakfast there – and the book really gives the feel of the old fashioned glamour of it – and describes London beautifully.  Jane is a lovely character – and you’re rooting for her throughout the book. She also makes me feel less bad about my falling apart Birkenstocks!

I enjoyed the fact the story takes you off Cherry Pie island – but brings you back to familiar ground as well.

As always, a lovely, funny, feel-good, escapist, easy read.

On a geeky, pedant level (both being my forte!) there is a grammar error in the first few paragraphs (story where it should be storey, as we’re in England not America) and about six times during the book there are typos, where an additional letter features in front of a word where it shouldn’t.  I know this doesn’t affect the story overall – but it does grate with me.

** carefully checks I haven’t written ‘effect’ or ‘great’ **

I’m slightly gutted we have to wait until October for the next instalment – although as that’s going to feature Christmas weddings, I guess it’s closer to the festive season.

Oh – and Jenny Oliver has very, very kindly donated the chance for the winning bidder at a charity auction in September that I’m helping to organise to be a named character in a future book – so who knows, one of us could be a guest at one of the weddings maybe?!?  (Obviously I will  blog about how you can bid for this once the auction site is up and running!!)

But for now – why don’t you catch up on the beginnings of the Cherry Pie series?

Book Review: A Meditation on Murder by Robert Thorogood

Posted on by Libby Price

I was offered a copy of this by Mumsnet to review – and never one to turn down the opportunity of a free book – I jumped at the chance.

A Meditation on Murder

I must confess at this point that I have never watched the BBC series ‘Death in Paradise’ – it has always struck me as something my 86 year old Nan would like – real ‘Sunday night telly’ in the style of Bergerac but on a slightly more exotic island than Jersey. (Got to love a 1980s TV reference!) However – I’ve seen enough trailers to know what the original main cast looked like – and their mugshots are also on the back of the book – so the characters were immediately pictured in my head.

Here’s what Amazon says about it (and it’s pretty much the first page of the book too).

“An original story from the creator and writer of the hit BBC One TV series, Death in Paradise, featuring on-screen favourite detective, DI Richard Poole.

Enhance your enjoyment of the series as, for the first time, Robert Thorogood brings the characters to life on the page in an all-new locked-room mystery.

Aslan Kennedy has an idyllic life: leader of a spiritual retreat for wealthy holidaymakers on one of the Caribbean’s most unspoilt islands, Saint Marie. Until he’s murdered, that is. The case seems open and shut: when Aslan was killed he was inside a locked room with only five other people, one of whom has already confessed to the murder.

Detective Inspector Richard Poole is hot, bothered, and fed up with talking to witnesses who’d rather discuss his ‘aura’ than their whereabouts at the time of the murder. But he also knows that the facts of the case don’t quite stack up. In fact, he’s convinced that the person who’s just confessed to the murder is the one person who couldn’t have done it. Determined to track down the real killer, DI Poole is soon on the trail, and no stone will be left unturned.”

You are immediately transported to a spiritual retreat in the Caribbean – having been to a similar place in St Lucia, I could really imagine being there (rather than in a slightly damp West Midlands which is where I was actually reading the book).  The author really evokes the feeling of the tropical island throughout the book.

The prologue sets the scene (and at the end of the book I had to go back and read it again to see if I’d missed any clues) but within a few pages the murder has been committed and Aslan is dead.  The story then follows the murder investigation.

DI Richard Poole (a UK police officer now based in the Caribbean) hates the sun, sand and sea and living in Saint Marie.  His people skills are rubbish – but I must admit to really liking him.  His geekiness, analytical mind and sand-phobia all making him rather similar to me………

I have to say that I did guess the means of the murder very early on – if not the definite culprit or the reasons why – and I found myself shouting at the book a bit because neither the DI or his colleagues had sussed it out.

There are loads of twists and turns, with red herrings and seemingly random bits (the removal of the lizard from Richard’s ‘house’?) – but I can see how it would make great TV. In fact it almost feels like it’s been written for the TV rather than as a book.  There are a few places where the plot to date is summarised – like it’s the start of a new episode.  One thing I did really like is that at a three or four junctures in the book, the contents of the white board in the police station are written down giving details of the victim, suspects etc – and that was great – and I guess something, as a reader, you are always doing in your head.

The conclusion of the book comes quite quickly – and all the loose ends are very cleverly wrapped up.

Overall I did enjoy the book.  It was very ‘nice’ and ‘harmless’ in the traditional style of an Agatha Christie or Murder She Wrote episode. It was well written, excellent at bringing about the character of the Caribbean and concluded well.  It made a nice change from some of the more psychological and graphic thrillers that seem to be the genre of the moment. A pleasant, easy summer read.

Now maybe I’ll lend it to my 86 year old Nan…………

Book Review: The Farm by Tom Rob Smith

Posted on by Libby Price

The Farm

“Daniel believed that his parents were enjoying a peaceful retirement on a remote farm in Sweden, the country of his mother’s birth. But with a single phone call, everything changes. Your mother…she’s not well, his father tells him. She’s been imagining things – terrible, terrible things. In fact, she has been committed to a mental hospital. Before Daniel can board a plane to Sweden, his mother calls: Everything that man has told you is a lie. I’m not mad…I need the police…Meet me at Heathrow. Presented with a horrific crime, a conspiracy that implicates his own father, Daniel must examine the evidence and decide: who is telling the truth, his mother or his father? And he has secrets of his own that for too long he has kept hidden…”

This was recommended to me on Facebook by a friend who reads – and enjoys – similar books to me, so I downloaded it without reading anything about it – or about the author. I have not read his critically acclaimed Child 44 trilogy – so was coming at it totally cold.

The book is told in places through Daniel’s eyes – and partly through his mother Tilde recounting stories, and this flows well. I was intrigued to read more and find out what happened. The writer clearly uses his own Swedish roots to set the scene very well for the sections set over there, and the various celebrations etc.

I can’t really talk much about the actual storyline without giving away what it’s about – and the conclusion – so I won’t!

There are some huge leaps of faith in parts – with characters whizzing around the Swedish countryside, and some characters are introduced without you really finding out much about them at all – Daniel’s partner and Father being two very peripheral characters that aren’t properly introduced at all and yet could have played much more significant roles.

The ending is a bit odd. One huge element of the storyline is tied up neatly – but there are still lots of lose threads in other areas – particularly with regards to Daniel and his family. I’m not sure if this has been left for a sequel – or if we are never to find out how they all move on from the repercussions of the events in the book.

Overall I enjoyed this and wanted to keep reading – but it didn’t completely knock me off my feet. I would definitely try books by this author again though.

Book Review: I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh

Posted on by Libby Price

I let you go

“A tragic accident. It all happened so quickly. She couldn’t have prevented it. Could she?

In a split second, Jenna Gray’s world descends into a nightmare. Her only hope of moving on is to walk away from everything she knows to start afresh. Desperate to escape, Jenna moves to a remote cottage on the Welsh coast, but she is haunted by her fears, her grief and her memories of a cruel November night that changed her life forever.

Slowly, Jenna begins to glimpse the potential for happiness in her future. But her past is about to catch up with her, and the consequences will be devastating . . .”

This was recommended to me by a friend (and it would seem that a mutual friend knows the author personally through her previous life in the police) but it was worthy of the recommendation on content alone. It was BRILLIANT.

It starts off with a car crash and then the aftermath of the crash.  About half way through there is an AMAZING twist – one that makes you want to go back to the beginning of the book and start again to see if you can see the clues, as I’d completely missed it on initial read.  I can’t really say any more without giving it away!

Some of the chapters are written in the first person as if Jenna is speaking – and initially these alternate with third person narrative of the police investigation.  As the book develops a third ‘voice’ is used too.  It is very clever writing and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

The descriptions throughout the book – from the tragic crash, to the Welsh coastline, are wonderfully emotive and evocative. You are rooting for Jenna throughout the book and her personal roller coaster.

I really don’t want to say too much, as you need to read it to see how it develops – but I would very highly recommend it.

This is Clare Mackintosh’s first book – and I’m very much looking forward to reading her future books.

I am silently* correcting your grammar (*not silently)

Posted on by Libby Price

I should start with informing anyone who doesn’t know me in real life, or on Facebook, that I am something of a grammar pedant. I like to make sure that the correct spellings and punctuation are used even in texts / emails / postings etc. (Obviously now people will start correcting my grammar on here – but never mind!) In fact one of my lovely friends made me this cross stitch because of my reputation:

Cross stitch

This may seem random at the moment – but all will become clear later!!

Last night the husband and I went to see the fabulous Take That at the Genting Arena at the NEC. The venue is huge – not sure on capacity – but we’re talking thousands. As we arrived we randomly bumped into one of our friends – Mandy – had a quick chat and went on our separate ways. Then, as we’re going into the stand, we see her again! Quick ‘hello’ and on our separate ways again. We go to our seats (lovely ones, front row – we’re far too old for standing now!) and then spy Mandy and her friends in the super special middle standing bit. Cue ‘Where’s Wally Mandy?’ photo:

Where's Mandy

Then – just before it started – there was much excitement near us, as a certain Mr James Corden and his Mum had arrived!  I could see Mandy and her friends trying to see who it was, and so sent her a quick text.  Obviously she also heard who it was and texted me to tell me who was just behind me.  However, as often happens at such events when the whole world is trying to send messages / upload selfies / check in on Facebook, the messages took a while to go through – so Mandy didn’t get my message until after sending hers – hence this very amusing message thread:

Texts

And just to prove it – here’s a hideous photo of me – but with James and his Mum in the background behind me!

James Corden

School Run Strop – Wicked Wednesday 24 June 2015

Posted on by Libby Price

Now my youngest is renowned for her strops (she even made the front page of Mumsnet!) – and it’s been a few weeks without one, so we had a classic today.

She refused to walk through the school grounds to get her big sister from school. A stand off ensued. OBVIOUSLY it was school sports day so there were loads of extra people, including well meaning Grandparents (not hers) asking what the matter was.

Strop 1

After 10 minutes, I had to give in and carry her. But when we got to the playground I put her down – and the strop turned into a sleep, on the concrete …….

Strop 2

This is my entry for Brummy Mummy of 2’s #wickedwednesdays

brummymummyof2