In My Mailbox 14

It was quite a quiet week for books this week. I only got one which I mooched from bookmooch.com.

 I have read this before when I was 16, but I fancied reading it again.

Also I got my course books for my next course which is starting in October. Please excuse the terrible photo, the camera batteries were about to die so I was hurrying!

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren.

A Wartime Poetry Journal by Effie M. Roberts

Effie M. Roberts wrote her journal of poetry in World War 2. Times were very bleak but she rarely lost her sense of humour, or her courage.

My thoughts: This is a really lovely book. It has been edited and published by the author's granddaughter, and this means she has been able to give a really good introduction to the book telling the reader about the background of her grandmother's life. I found this really helpful beacuse it gives you a context for the poems.

The poems themselves are really lovely. Effie wrote them as her journal during the war years, so they are quite personal. She writes about everything from waiting in a queue, to finding out that her husband was killed. The poems made me feel a range of emotions; some made me smile, others had me nearly crying.

My favourite poem in the book was this one:

After so many months of war,
And the ruins around, we see,
We think - must everything be lost?
And what will the end ever be?

War has left thousands homeless,
And robbed us of many a thing;
Though havoc is left near and far,
It can't take away everything.

We must have the cheerless black-out,
We must have the great guns booming,
But the birds still carol gaily,
And the flowers still keep on blooming.

We still have the leafy woodland,
There is joy in the sunlit hill,
In the breezes, softly sighing,
And the river that's never still.

There is joy in the starlit sky,
And the health-giving sun's warm ray,
We find, when we just think awhile,
There's lots the war can't take away.

Moonshine by Christina Jones

Cleo Moon is starting life over again after a divorce. She lands a job as PA to Lady of the Manor - Mimi - having settled herself in a caravan in the sleepy little village of Lovers' Knot. But the trouble starts when the most beautiful boy in the world - Dylan - turns up on her doorstep drunk one night.

My thoughts: When Cleo finds some old recipes for homemade wine, her and Dylan have a go at making the wine, planning to serve it at the Harvest Home festival. Cleo obviously fancies Dylan, and even though he's a bit of a player, I found myself really wanting her to end up with him.
In a side story Cleo's teenaged friend Elvi is falling in love with Zeb, a rich kid who she knows her father will hate.

The Harvest Home festival is what the whole book leads up to, and it doesn't disappoint. When the wine is served for the first time it turns out to have magical effects on anyone who drinks it. This made for some really funny scenes, but it also revealed the secrets of some of the characters, which brought everything together nicely.

I really loved this book. I felt really involved with the characters and I enjoyed reading about the developing romances. I thought the story was a really original idea and I will definitely be seeking out more books by Christina Jones.

Monthly Round-Up - August 2010

Hope you've all had a great month. August has been a busy month for me, there was a bunch of family birthdays, my mum came to visit for a weekend, work was crazy, and there's been some big arguments too. All of that has slightly taken me away from blogging, but I am still here! So here's a round-up of reading in August.

Books read in August:
1. My Secret Admirer by Carol Ellis
2. Tall, Dark and Filthy Rich by Jill Monroe
3. The Smoking Gun by Malcolm Rose
4. I Heart New York by Lindsey Kelk
5. The Player by Rhonda Nelson
6. The Hitchhiker by R.L. Stine
7. Milly Molly Mandy Stories by Joyce Lankester Brisley
8. A Wartime Poetry Journal by Effie M. Roberts
9. Moonshine by Christina Jones
10. The Ruby In The Smoke by Philip Pullman
11. Ratcatcher by James McGee
12. How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
13. Skinny B, Skaz and Me by John Singleton
14. Johnny Be Good by Paige Toon
15. Danger In The Shadows by Dee Henderson

Total read: 15
My favourite book this month was Moonshine by Christina Jones. It's a really fun and cute story with a touch of magic. I'll be posting my full review of it tomorrow.

Books reviewed in August:
1. Touching The Sky by Susan Madison
2. Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
3. My Soviet Kitchen by Amy Spurling

Total reviewed: 3

Books received in August: 20
Books added to wishlist: 17

What's coming in September?
My birthday giveaway is ongoing until September 30th, make sure you enter for your chance to win one of three books. Apart from that, you can look forward to more reviews and maybe a few book-related posts.