Whilst we were away DH did get some customer visits in (!) one of which was to Edinburgh!  Normally I will just tag along and sit outside the customers in the truck and read, however I discovered that whilst the Edinburgh Festival is in full swing there is also the Edinburgh International Book Festival!  Well I just had to go!

I got there for when it opened but there was already a queue (we love to queue in Britain!!!) However it was still quite empty so I managed to get a look round the large bookshop and get some books.  Then I got a drink and sat down to read!!!

The centre of the Book Festival in George Street.

The Book Shop and lots of tables to sit at and read.

All set for a few hours of reading, yeah!!!!

I didn’t just read and buy books I did attend two talks, one business based (so I was really doing some work!!!!) which was very interesting about the current business  climate.  The second talk was about the sun and how much good it actually does us.  The speaker had done studies on those countries that don’t get a lot of sun and the effect on people’s health. 

All along the road were these HUGE books where you could sit for a while and at night they lit up!

I also got lunch and read some more!!!!!  Then it wasn’t long before DH was due back to collect me.  The great thing was that the Festival was open until 11.00pm so I didn’t have to leave until DH got there.

The other Bookshop on the road which was all Scottish Authors.

Edinburgh Castle from George Street in the evening.

It was a great day and I have bought some more books to stock up for winter when it is dark and raining outside!!!!  I actually got through three books whilst I was away and have now started a new one, which will appear in my Monthly Friday Book Club and also on my Books I Have Read this year!

It is a long weekend for us here in the UK this weekend, DH and I have a few jobs to get done and the weather, at the moment, is due to be sunny and warm!!!  So the garden beckons and a few jobs at home.  Oh and an eye test for both of us!!!!!!!

Whatever you are up to this weekend I hope you have a lovely time. 

Hugs, Susie xx

August 9th National Book Lovers Day!

It is fortuitous that my Monthly Friday Book Club (the second Friday of every month) actually falls on National Book Lovers Day today!  However we are away on vacation and I am busy reading!  So this left me with a dilemma; do I do a book review and then schedule the post for today or leave it as it is a great day for reading, so grab a book and have a few hours off!

You know me though, I love to talk, read and collect books, so I did a review, but of a different kind and decided to list my ten most favourite books, which I have read several times and will still read.  They are not in any particular order so here they are :

Agatha Christie – one of my Parents’ favourite Authors so I started to read her books when I was eight.  A very traditional sort of writing but still with those twists and turns which make the stories very subtle but engaging.

You knew I had to include one of Mr Martin’s books and I do think the first in the Game of Thrones series is the best and draws you in and makes you want to read the rest, as fast as possible.  I think I devoured, all of these within a few months (I was a bit late to the party so he had written quite a few by then!).

This set is from when I was a little girl and I just loved them.  They are by Enid Blyton who wrote lots of children’s books and they are still popular today, although our Government tried to ban them from school reading lists as they are not “politically correct”!!!!!  They are about Darrell Rivers going to Boarding School in England and her adventures going through the school years.  Think Harry Potter without the magic!!!  All my friends were reading the books too and we ALL wanted to go to Boarding School!  I think the reality would not have lived up to the books!!!

I own all of Stephen Kings novels and it is very hard to choose a favourite, there are several, but I think this one is just a little bit ahead of all the others.  He is the master of the weird but great books in which to disappear into.

David Baldacci is a great author and all his books are different but engrossing.  I love this book as it is about Christmas and a journey across America for Tom Langdon, Journalist.  For him it is a journey of discovery and reconnecting with himself and people close to him all before Christmas.

Clive Cussler!  This was the first book I read of his, bought from a charity Book Sale in 1993!  Again I was a little late to the party but it was great to read all the books he had written up to date then! 

I have all of Wilbur Smith’s books several of which are a series about certain families.  However I chose this one as it was completely different to the others he had written and was set in ancient Egypt.  I have always been very much into Egyptian history so this story ticked all the boxes.  He also went on to write other books in this series.

No need to really introduce you to this book as most people know the gist of the story, even if you have never read the book.  I think it is Jane Austen’s best book, I have read all her others, but this is by far my favourite and I can read it again and again.  Who doesn’t love the way Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett interact.  I actually read this book for my English Literature Exam and my sixteen year old self just loved the romatic story and we all wanted to be Elizabeth Bennett and meet our very own Mr Darcy!!  Six years later I did when I met DH!

I first read The Hobbit when I was eleven and loved the journey of reading the book and the journey that Bilbo Baggins took.  I have since read it again and still enjoyed it.  I have also read Lord of the Rings but liked The Hobbit better!  This book is what started me down the fantasy book road and am forever grateful for it, as it opens up a whole new world, compared to normal fiction.

Finally The Redemption of Althalus!  Another fantasy book, another “brick” sized book but it completely seizes you from the first chapter until the final one.  It has a rogue, Althalus, a Goddess Dweia and a talking cat and begins with Althalus trying to steal a magical book from a House at the end of the World!  This was the first book of Eddings that I read and then I got to go back and read all of his others!!!

I hope you have enjoyed this little trip through my ten favourite books.  However because of all the books we have I could have several of these favourite ten!!!!!

I hope you have a lovely Summer and have some time to spend reading.

Hugs, Bookworm Susie!!!! xx

Happy Summer Reading Everyone!