Vicky

Last time I saw Michael Brandon was in the TV series Dinotopia so it was a lovely surprise to hear how gravelly his voice was for his rendition of The Lincoln Lawyer. Infact it was brilliant - I was immediately drawn into the story and how was our hero Mickey Haller going to survive his latest case.

There are many books out there on Self Compassion, but none I truly as indepth as Dr Kristin Neff's is. I wondered how hard could it be, to be compassionate to ourselves - it actually turns out to be quite hard indeed. We actually love to beat ourselves up at the first available opportunity, and that's because we are so competitive in this day and age, and with the extra adage of trying to be over and above perfect, no wonder we have difficulty here!

What can I say about a book that is more than superlative! Necklace of the Gods is an extraordinary book that weaves dragons and a mythological story around a very young woman, and sets it in the Chinese culture of many centuries ago. Brilliant! But Alison Goodman made us wait 3 years for this most thrilling and dramatic book - for us to find out what happened to all the people from The Two Pearls of Wisdom .

I think it's fair to say that Luke Gamble is a modern day James Herriot with stories a plenty from both here in the U.K. and abroad. He writes with an ease of style that makes his book warm, friendly, fun and informative.

There are the very funny anecdotes such as being bitten by a squirrel - it really is very funny and the heart rending chapter dealing with Foot and Mouth. Luke was one of the very first vets involved with the culling. But here Luke also shows the emotional and physical devastation the farmers go through.

Scrivener's Moon is a book that once you've read it you want to go back to the beginning to read it all over again because it is so good.

Fever Crumb grows emotionally as she begins to discover who she really is and what her powers are. But not only that we see who she is attracted to physically and emotionally.

We see London going up onto caterpillar tracts and begin to move away from London and the decisions as to who goes onboard and who is left behind.

I very much enjoyed reading this book and listening and joining in with the Tabby McTat song on the companion cd. I actually found myself singing the very catchy chorus - great fun for kids.

Imelda Staunton reads Julia Donaldson's story brilliantly and along with Axel Scheffler's illustrations it makes for a very vibrant experience for children and parents. I highly recommend it.

Anna Currey has beautifully illustrated this book by Gillian shields - it is a warm book with rhyming couplets that tells of the joy of welcoming a baby into the world and of its potential. A lovely book for the very young - of gentle adventure and love. I recommend it.

Life by Keith Richards is one of the most fascinating audio books I have ever listened to, not just because it is an autobiography but because it is read by 3 people - Johnny Depp, Joe Hurley and Keith Richard himself. It creates quite a different atmosphere which I feel makes listening more exciting. Johnny Depp through his acting is able to sound a much more low key Keith Richard, whereas Joe Hurley has the depth of voice that takes us to the East end and into Essex, but add Keith Richard's Voice and somehow the 3 meld together to make a whole.

I read Viola's story on my Kindle whilst waiting in an outpatient clinic. I think I must have whacked through this whole story in 20 minutes because next I knew I was being called to go and see my consultant!

It is how she and her parents came to be travelling to The New World. I found it utterly absorbing and couldn't wait to start reading The Knife of Never Letting Go of which this is a prequel.

I highly recommend it as it gives a good background on who Viola is and what makes her the kind of companion that Todd  would eventually fall in love with. Brilliant.