Half the year down...

Wow, I can't believe it's July already and I imagine I'm not the only one who is wondering where the first half of the year went! To everyone in the US and Canada, enjoy your holiday weekend, must be a good way to mark what to me always feels like the start of the summer. This month is shaping up to be a busy one for me, lots of trips away planned and I can't wait.

This past week on the blog I reviewed:

Fezariu's Epiphany by David M. Brown

Clutter-free Home Living: The How-to Guide by Eugenia Orr and

Cold Hillside by Martin Cooper

A bit of a mix, but that's reflective of my tastes!

Earlier today I took the monkey to the library for Stories and Songs, she loved it and I came away with a couple of books - The Accidental Father by Greg Williams, which is apparently in the Nick Hornby and Tony Parsons vein, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich which I've been meaning to read for years. I love supporting our local library, I'd hate for there not to be one when little 'un gets bigger, and I need to keep up with the Borrowed Book Challenge I signed up for over at Book'd Out.

I've finally had reason to put Amazon's customer services to the test. I've heard glowing reports about how great they are, so when the elasticated strap on my kindle cover came unstuck at one end (despite hubby telling me to just use an elastic band instead) I pinged them an email. It was pretty late so I was impressed to log on this morning to a reply saying usually they'd have already sent a replacement, but as the black cover was out of stock they were asking me to order a new one in another colour or order and wait for the black one, and they will refund the money in full. Result! I didn't tell my husband when he bought me the cover as a present that I really wanted the steel blue one, not the black, so I'm now getting a new cover and the one I was really after!

And finally before I move onto the Blog Hop and Follow Friday, author Sarah Yoffa has started a Friday feature on her blog, Freebie Fridays. She is providing a list of a select few free e-books for your delectation. They are available from Smashwords and some are free for one day only. Take a look at this week's list right here. 

Courtesy of Jennifer at crazy-for-books the question for the hop is:

“What keeps you reading beyond the first few pages of a book, and what makes you want to stop reading a book and put it back on the shelf?“

It's very rare I don't finish a book, so it doesn't take a lot to keep me reading beyond the first few pages. For me to put it down it would have to either be a case of mistaken identity, picking up a genre I don't normally touch, or absolutely full of spelling and grammar errors.

And over at parajunkee.com the question is:

ACK! Your favorite book/movie character (example Hermione Granger played by the Emma chick) just walked into the room! Who is it and what would be your first reaction? You get extra points if you include visual stimulation.

Oh, I'm rubbish at these fave character questions. If it was a character who has appeared in a film, like one of the HP gang I would probably be stood trying to look cool and trying to think of an original opening line to engage them in conversation. I'm not the type to get starstruck, but I'd hate to walk up and ask the same question or say the same thing they've heard a million times.

If you're read this essay thanks for persevering and thanks for stopping on by. As I'm edging ever closer to 200 followers look out for an announcement on a giveaway to celebrate! Have a great weekend all. x TC