Written by Nikki-ann on Friday, 22 April , 2011 at 7:11 pm
Church Stretton Car Park Ticket Machine (Operated by Shropshire Council)
Up to 1 hour – £0.50
Up to 2 hours – £1.10
Up to 4 hours – £2.40
Up to 10 hours – £3.60
If you pay for up to 4 hours in one go it would cost you 40 pence more than it would if you paid for those 4 hours separately! So it works out cheaper to pay for a new parking ticket every hour than it does to pay for more than 1 hour in one go.
How does that make sense?!
I don’t live in Shropshire myself, but I’ll be heading back over the border tomorrow and will see if another car park also has odd parking charges.
Comments welcome (especially from Shropshire Council!)
Category: Life,Out & About,Photography
Written by Nikki-ann on Tuesday, 19 April , 2011 at 9:15 am
Publisher: Parragon
ISBN: 978-1-4075-7513-1
My little niece loves anything to do with Winnie the Pooh and so when I saw ‘Let’s Go Outside’ in Tesco for £2 I just had to get it for her.
‘Let’s Go Outside’ is a musical board book based on the excitable character of Tigger. Tigger gets up to all kinds of mischief while playing with his friends Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet and Roo in the Hundred-Acre Wood. He splashes in water, makes mud, flies a kite, sits around a campfire telling stories, making a sticky mess with his marshmallows and at the end of the day needs a good scrub in the tub!
Each double page has a vibrant illustration on the left-hand page and the words on the right-hand page, along with a little bee buzzing about the pages inviting you to sing along with Tigger. This is where the magic of the book is… In the bottom right-hand corner is a red button and you’re invited to push the button and sing along with Tigger. Pushing the button launches into Tigger’s song… “The wonderful thing about Tiggers, Is Tiggers are wonderful things…”. It’s only a short song, but it’s one of those songs that has a tendency to stick in your head and you’ll notice that as soon as the song has finished your little one will press the button again… and again and again!
My niece just loves this book. She has sat on my knee or her granddad’s knee countless times to have it read to her and, of course, has pressed the button many, many times. She loves to follow the bee on each page too, as well as look at the colourful illustrations.
‘Let’s Go Outside’ was well worth the £2 I paid for it and I wouldn’t have minded paying the full price of £4.99 for it either. The book has already been read countless times and I’m sure it’ll be read many more times in the future too.
Buy Let’s Go Outside! from the Book Depository.
Category: Books,Childrens,Reviews
Written by Nikki-ann on Monday, 18 April , 2011 at 8:04 pm
… and I’m currently reading 13 rue Thérèse by Elena Mauli Shapiro. It’s quite different from the books I’ve been reading lately and before you ask, it isn’t in French, it’s in English! I’m about a quarter of the way through the book and I’m loving it so far. It isn’t a long book, so look out for a review later in the week.
American professor & translator Trevor Stratton has just moved into his office at a Paris university and there he discovers a box filled with letters, photographs and personal objects. Who do these belong to? Whose life is this? The box and its contents tell the story of Louise Brunet, who lived through both world wars. Trevor finds himself captivated by the story and his imagination fills in the missing parts.
The UK and US covers for the book are very similar, but do you prefer one over the other?
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UK cover
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US cover
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I think I prefer the UK cover. My copy doesn’t actually have either of those covers. I’ve got a proof copy from Amazon Vine for review – Its cover is white with an image of the top of the box and the words “This is the lid on the box: Would you like to open it?”. My answer would be yes! I love family history and would love sorting through a box like that.
So what will I read after 13 rue Thérèse? I’m not sure. I was going to read a crime fiction book, but I might see what’s on my Kindle waiting to be read.
Actually, Amazon UK
are having a Kindle Spring Spectacular Sale, so I’ve already downloaded a few ebooks including City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (£1.09 – Bargain!), Shadow by Karin Alvtegen (£1.04) and The Hanging Shed by Gordon Ferris (£1.00). I’ve also pre-ordered Deceived by the Others by Jess Haines for just £3.39. You may call me crazy because I already have an advanced readers copy of DBTO, but as Jess has been kind enough to send me ARC’s of two of her books I support her by also buying a copy of the book (look out for a review of the Deceived by the Others in the coming weeks!).
You know what? I bought my Kindle in the hope that it would curb the amount of hardback and paperback books I’m accumulating, but it hasn’t. If anything, I’m buying just as many books now, but I’m also buying ebooks too! Has anyone else found that?
If you are interested in children’s books and/or are a fan of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, then don’t forget to drop by tomorrow to read my review of Winnie the Pooh: Let’s Go Outside!
Posted for It’s Monday! Whare Are You Reading? Why not join in?!
Category: Books,E-books,It's Monday,Memes
Written by Nikki-ann on Sunday, 17 April , 2011 at 11:45 am
Author: Denise Mina
Publisher: Orion Books
ISBN: 978-1-4091-0095-9
From the back of the book:
“When notorious millionaire banker Lars Anderson hangs himself from the old oak tree in front of his Kent mansion his death attracts no sympathy. One less shark is little loss to a world nursing a financial hangover. But the legacy of a life time of self-serving is widespread, the carnage most acute among those he ought to be protecting: his family. He leaves behind two deeply damaged children and a broken wife.
Meanwhile, in a wealthy suburb of Glasgow, a young woman is found savagely murdered in her home. The genteel community is stunned by what appears a vicious, random attack. When DS Alex Morrow, heavily pregnant with twins, is called in to investigate, she soon discovers that behind the murder lurks a tangled web of lies. A web that will spiral through the local community, through Scotland and ultimately right back to a swinging rope hundreds of miles away.”
With great quotes on the cover from Ian Rankin and The Guardian promising an exciting read, I was looking forward to reading The End of the Wasp Season. However, I came away disappointed.
The book starts off with the thrill of moments leading up to the kill. The first chapter is tense and gripping, but I thought the story lost it’s grip from there. I couldn’t make up my mind… There were times when I thought the story was going slow and I didn’t find it engaging, but then at other times I found myself enjoying it.
This isn’t your conventional crime story, you know “whodunit” from the start and I found it lacking in twists & turns and cliffhangers. Maybe this is why I didn’t find it so exciting.
With an exception of DS Morrow and possibly Kay, I didn’t really warm to any of the characters either (although with this type of book I don’t think you’re supposed to). You don’t normally get a detective who’s pregnant with twins being the investigator in a brutal murder in crime thrillers. Morrow isn’t soft though, she doesn’t take any bull, though she does have her moments. All of the main characters are created well, you feel like you know them even if you’d prefer not to in some instances.
There are many story strands in this book which weave themselves together, but I was disappointed with the end of the book. It didn’t feel like the story was wrapped up to me. DS Morrow has featured previously in a Denise Mina book and I’m sure there’s more to come too. I’m slightly curious to read more about the DS Morrow character, but I might need some convincing to pick up another book. So, please let me know if you’ve read any of Denise Mina’s other books and what you thought of them.
Sadly, The End of the Wasp Season wasn’t one for me. Have you read it? If so, what did you think?
The End of the Wasp Season is out on 12th May 2011, published by Orion Books.
Denise Mina is a British author, born in Glasgow.
This is the 12th book I’ve read for the British Books Challenge 2011.
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Please note: I received this book free from Waterstones for review purposes. However, this has in no way influenced my opinion of the book.
Category: Books,Crime,Reviews
