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    Animal Sounds.!

    Animal Sounds.!

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    Teach your children about animal sounds! Animal Sounds is an educational game which help kids to...

    Therapy by Anne-Marie

    Therapy by Anne-Marie

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    Album

    Anne-Marie’s second studio album, ‘Therapy’, is the official follow-up to her multi-platinum...

McElligot’s Pool
McElligot’s Pool
Dr. Seuss | 1947 | Children, Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
You Never Know What You’ll Find in McElligot’s Pool
The book opens with Marco, the protagonist from To Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, fishing in a pond on the McElligot’s farm. He’s warned that there’s nothing in the pond but junk that people have thrown away. Marco, however, takes a more fanciful outlook on the pool. After all, maybe it’s connected to the sea but a tunnel no one knows about. And, if that’s the case, you never know exactly what you could catch.

This early book from Dr. Seuss is imagination on display. The heart of the book is Marco’s fish stories, which go from the plausible to the outlandish and back again. It’s fun. The rhymes could be a bit better, and the book does feel a bit repetitive, but I remember enjoying this one as a kid, and it still has charm rereading it as an adult. This is early Dr. Seuss, so the illustrations are very detailed pen and ink, some in color and some not. Yes, this is one of the recently banned books. It is banned takes to one page that features Marco’s imaginative take on Eskimo fish. Yes, the drawings on that page are caricatures, but the entire book is filled with caricatures. They fit right in. While this isn’t one of Dr. Seuss’s best books, it is a shame that it won’t be around to spark the imagination of future generations.
  
The Killer in the Snow (DI James Walker #2)
The Killer in the Snow (DI James Walker #2)
Alex Pine | 2021 | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Although the second in the series, you don't have to have read the first to enjoy this - I haven't and although some back-story has been missed, I didn't think it detracted from the overall story at all.

A triple murder has occurred in an isolated farm on the outskirts of the fictional village of Kirkby Abbey in Cumbria. Initially, it looks like a clear case of murder-suicide however, on further inspection, things just don't add up. In addition, there are similarities to a murder-suicide at the same house some 20 years earlier.

Are the two connected?

This is a well written murder mystery with a great plot and excellent characters. Alex Pine really captures the location and puts you in the heart of the Cumbrian countryside - I should know, it's in my neck of the woods! I love reading books that are set in and around my home/work area; it really adds a sense of realism and authenticity as I can actually vividly put myself in the scenery, on the roads and in the houses.

The pace is steady and whilst I anticipated the twist, it didn't take away from the journey to get there.

Once again, another series to look out for in the future and thank you must go to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.
  
The House of Ashes
The House of Ashes
Stuart Neville | 2022 | Crime, Thriller
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I am ashamed to say that I haven't read anything by Stuart Neville for years ... I have no excuse other than I must have had my head stuck in the sand or developed short-term amnesia because I forgot how much I enjoyed reading his words.

This is a sad and tragic story told from the perspective of two women, Sara and Mary, and from two timelines, the present and sixty years ago, with all 'action' taking place on an isolated farm in Northern Ireland.

This is not a story full of joy or happiness but rather there is an overwhelming sense of darkness and sadness with a foreboding undertone from start to finish that is intense and certainly keeps you on edge. Having said that, it is also a story of strength, survival and hope amidst a backdrop of abuse, control and gaslighting.

I admit this isn't a story for everyone and I can't say I enjoyed it given the nature of its content, however, it was an excellent read that had me hooked and took me through so many emotions that many books don't do nowadays that I can only recommend it to others who enjoy dark, psychological thrillers with a little of the supernatural thrown in to enhance the overall feel of the book.

Thank you to Bonnier Books UK and NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest, unbiased and unedited review.