Day: Dec 22, 2018

Posted in Adult Fiction, Seasonal

Festive Reads Day 22 – The Christmas Lights by Karen Swan

Posted on by LovetheSmellofaBook

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The Christmas Lights is the story of Bo and Zac, they are living the dream life touring around the world creating an endless portfolio of instagram pictures for their followers. It isn’t until they reach the snowy fjords of Norway in the middle of nowhere does Bo begin to question how happy she really is.

This is a lovely story focused around the lovely Bo staying in the remote and basic farm and also crosses back to the 1930’s when Signy spent her first summer on the very same farm.

As the story unfolds Bo starts a new journey of self discovery and starts to reflect on what she really wants from life, whilst Signy is revisiting her memories from all those years ago and starts to relay snapshots to Bo.

I really enjoyed this idyllic location and loved the descriptions and research that had gone into creating the perfect remote location in the Norwegian mountains.

Book Blurb

Indulge in the perfect winter’s day treat and escape to the snow-fringed fjords of Norway with The Christmas Lights, a delicious tale full of drama and mystery, heartache and hope by Sunday Times bestseller Karen Swan.

December 2018, and free-spirited influencers Bo Loxley and her partner Zac are living a life of wanderlust, travelling the globe and sharing their adventures with their millions of fans. Booked to spend Christmas in the Norwegian fjords, they set up home in a remote farm owned by enigmatic mountain guide Anders and his fierce grandmother Signy. Surrounded by snowy peaks and frozen falls, everything should be perfect. But the camera can lie and with every new post, the ‘perfect’ life Zac and Bo are portraying is diverging from the truth. Something Bo can’t explain is wrong at the very heart of their lives and Anders is the only person who’ll listen.

June 1936, and fourteen-year old Signy is sent with her sister and village friends to the summer pastures to work as milkmaids, protecting the herd that will sustain the farm through the long, winter months. But miles from home and away from the safety of their families, threat begins to lurk in friendly faces . . .

The mountains keep secrets – Signy knows this better than anyone – and as Bo’s life begins to spiral she is forced, like the old woman before her, to question who is friend and who is foe.

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Available to purchase on Amazon

 

About the Author

Karen Swan was previously a fashion editor and lives in East Sussex with her husband and three children.

Visit Karen’s website at http://www.karenswan.com, or you can find her author page on Facebook, follow her on Twitter @KarenSwan1 and Instagram @swannywrites.

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Posted in 5*, Seasonal, Younger Readers Age 9-12

Children’s Festive Read – The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher

Posted on by LovetheSmellofaBook

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The review for Christmasaurus is bought to you today by Daisy, she read this book last year and loved it so much she has gifted this festive book to her cousins for Christmas this year.

I loved this book it was really fun to read but sad in places about a lonely dinosaur and a lonely disabled boy who met on Christmas eve. I didn’t like the bully Brenda in this story and she made me sad for William as she was so mean and I hate bullies.

I found this book magical and memorable it was a fun adventure with lots of silliness and fun words that made me feel really Christmassy.

I was lucky enough to have the musical edition and love the soundtrack that goes with the book, it is a book that will cheer you up as it is full of fun and music and Christmas with brilliant illustrations of William and the dinosaur that I loved. My friend is reading the book at the moment and she loves the illustrations and we have been talking about it at school.

I am really excited to hear that Tom Fletcher is writing another book and I will definitely read it next year when it comes out.

Book Blurb

The Christmasaurus is a story about a boy named William Trundle, and a dinosaur, the Christmasaurus. It’s about how they meet one Christmas Eve and have a magical adventure. It’s about friendship and families, sleigh bells and Santa, singing elves and flying reindeer, music and magic. It’s about discovering your heart’s true desire, and learning that the impossible might just be possible . . .

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Available to purchase from Amazon

 

About the Author

Tom Fletcher is one of the UK’s bestselling authors for children. He is the creator of The Christmasaurus, which was the biggest debut middle-grade novel of 2016, as well as being one half of the duo behind the Dinosaur That Pooped picture book series, which has sold over a million copies. Tom is also a musician, Guinness World Record holder and vlogger. His YouTube channel has had almost 100 million video views and 630 thousand subscribers. Tom’s books have been translated into thirty-one languages and his most recent is called There’s A Dragon in Your Book.