I’ve used WordPress for many years now, but find myself feeling that as it becomes more advanced, it’s becoming too big for what I want it for. There are so many plugins. Everything is so bloated. And I don’t want all that, but I do need certain elements. Over the years, I’ve mentioned Tiddlywiki multiple times. I have several wikis that I use for my writing. Some hold writing resources and tips, more are used for individual book and/or series research and I even have one dedicated to publishing. Then there’s the more personal wikis – gaming, genealogy, and a (sort of) diary. Since I’ve starte ..read more

Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy My rating: 4 of 5 stars The blurb: In Mountfern, life meanders as slowly as the river running through it. But when Patrick O’Neill arrives from the States with grand plans to turn the ruins of Fernscourt into Ireland’s finest hotel, ripples begin to appear on the surface calm of this backwater. My review: I’ve never managed to finish a Maeve Binchy book as I find her writing tedious. It’s a shame, because I believe I would enjoy the stories if they were written in a … well, faster writing style. As I often enjoy the audio version of a book I find difficult to ..read more

My apologies. I have started and restated this website over and over again, these past few days. Some plugins no longer work, so I need to find a replacement or rethink how I want to proceed. For instance, due to my internet provider not updating the php used on this website, I keep seeing a message “This plugin does not work with your version of PHP.” Annoying, and, yes, I will contact the provider. I want simple, but secure, so please bare with me while I work my way through all the pages to fix issues and find new, and hopefully better, plugins to use. I am yet to settle on how I will offer ..read more

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner My rating: 5 of 5 stars The blurb: The Boxcar Children tells the story of four orphaned children, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny. They create a home for themselves in an abandoned boxcar in the forest. My review: This book was written in 1924, and I read the original text. The book was written by a school teacher, so she was around children a fair bit so must have had a good understanding of how they behaved. The thing to remember when reading the story is that it was written almost 100 years ago, so the reader should expect some odd descripti ..read more

I read this book at the beginning of the year. I attempting to catch up with my reviews, as I’ve fallen too far behind. The Ancient Wish by S.A. Beattie My rating: 4 of 5 stars The blurb: ??? ???? ????. ??? ??????? ????. ??? ?????? ?? ??? ????. Being sixteen is hard enough, but now Maxena Saltash’s best friend has a new boyfriend, is bullying the shy girl at school, and thinks Max’s choice of career is as lowly as the rocks she wants to study. Grateful to be away camping with her family, Max follows a strange creature deep into a cave system. But when she emerges, everything is different. Fri ..read more

Sha’Kert: End of Night by Ishmael A. Soledad My rating: 4 of 5 stars The blurb: No blurb found My review: It’s strange how things work out. A couple of months ago, I made a comment to my husband regarding wanting to read a book about the Amish people/culture, and the very next day I received a review request offering a book with an Amish theme. Of course, I had to say yes please to the offer. Sha’Kert: End of Night drew me in and kept my interest from the very beginning. What made it more rivetting was the science fiction theme weaved in with the Amish theme. It was well done and felt natural ..read more

The Woman in the Green Dress by Tea Cooper My rating: 4 of 5 stars The blurb: 1853 Mogo Creek, NSW Della Atterton, bereft at the loss of her parents, is holed up in the place she loves best: the beautiful Hawkesbury in New South Wales. Happiest following the trade her father taught her, taxidermy, Della has no wish to return to Sydney. But the unexpected arrival of Captain Stefan von Richter on a quest to retrieve what could be Australia’s first opal, precipitates Della’s return to Sydney and her Curio Shop of Wonders, where she discovers her enigmatic aunt, Cordelia, is selling more than cur ..read more

I read, or listened, to both of these books in March 2021. My rating: 5 of 5 stars Twice Magic by Cressida Cowell The blurb: This was once the story of a young boy Wizard and a young girl Warrior who had been taught since birth to hate each other like poison. But now, the boy Wizard and girl Warrior have been brought together in the Badwoods and they have witnessed the shocking consequences of the Stone That Takes Away Magic. They will need to cast aside their differences once more–for an Evil Spell has broken free. It’s up to Xar and Wish to find the ingredients. But it means entering danger ..read more

Sorry, I have enough books in the queue to keep me busy for the next five or six months, so I have had to close the doors for the time being before it gets too overwhelming. If your book has been accepted, or if you have received an email saying I will accept a copy of your book, then your book is included in my current queue and I look forward to reading and reviewing your work soon. I will reopen the review doors when I catch up with what I have ..read more

A mini fantasy collection Journey to Freedom – free download for 5 days only. A mini fantasy collection consisting of four short stories with common themes of oppression and struggle. The main characters crave freedom, but can they find what they are looking for? This is an exclusive offer to the readers of my blog only. I’m offering you an Easter present, being any ebook format of “Journey to Freedom” for free. The offer expires on 6 April 2021, so download your copy now. Available as an epub, mobi or PDF. Use the coupon code Easter at the checkout ..read more