Yippee! New Book Arrivals!

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to recommend any books, just sharing our latest book shaped smiles 😊

Hi Honeys
How are you today?  I did laundry with my assistant, our furbaby Jade and planned a yummy dinner for tonight (baked potato with tuna and red onions in mayonaise as a side... yumm!)

A wee exhausted me got home from work late Saturday night to find a large box on the coffee table. Immediate smiles honeys, the books I'd ordered had arrived! Yaaay!

Saturday's shift at work (and the night before too) had been so exhausting, great shifts actually with more than my fair share of smiles, but exhausting none the less, so to find a large box of books waiting for me at home was wonderful!

Let's have a look at what was inside shall we?

Star Wars: Art Therapy Colouring Book 

Do you remember I mentioned recently that I'd discovered the joys of colouring?

Colouring is something we all did as children but it's now being enjoyed by many adults as a way to relax. In fact colouring is growing rapidly in popularity as a method of bringing mindfulness into our daily lives.  

Mindfulness, or the act of being aware or present "in the moment" can be achieved by focusing the mind and can be a rewarding way to deal with stress or anxiety or just a great way to unwind after a busy day.

I adore colouring honeys, there really is something about the act of concentrating your attention on the lines and shapes on a page, seeing the colours you add all combining to transform those lines into something beautiful, that can relax the shoulders and help me still the mind chatter of things to do and things to remember.

There are now so, so many dedicated colouring books available covering so many areas of interest but I was still surprised, and pleased, to see this Star Wars themed colouring book on my favourite online book store...

It's Star Wars 😍  For so many reasons I saw this and hit "add to basket" 😊  First being of course that I do enjoy the calmness I feel when colouring. Secondly, being a sci fi & fantasy fan, well... it's Star Wars 😊

I spent a very happy day last Thursday on our sofa hugging our furbaby Jade watching the original Star Wars trilogy.  It was after all May 4th a day recognized the world over as International Star Wars Day.... may the fourth (force) be with you... get it 😃

Well, anyway, tortured puns aside, I was trying to rest in order to build up a reserve of energy to sustain me through my impending two days of long busy shifts at work and what better way to do that than to watch one of my favourite movie trilogies while hugging our furbaby 😊

Jade and I watched A New Hope followed by The Empire Strikes back and Hubby arrived home from work in time to watch Return of the Jedi with us while we all had dinner 😃

On to the book then...

Published by Egmont, it's beautifully presented with a heavy, glossy feel cover and has "over 100 images to inspire creativity and relaxation."

Another of those reasons why this title went straight into my basket was the product description of the book on the site. It describes the images in this colouring book as a meeting of characters from the Star Wars universe and art noveau style.  Who could resist that? Not me 😊

The colouring pages themselves are beyond beautiful, as you can see from the above image, and are just a joy! I'm so pleased I bought this and I know I'll spend many happy, relaxing hours with this lovely book.  The fact it was in the Spring sale was a bonus.  You can find it here honeys.

Britain's Toy Car Wars

 
This is such a fun book 😊

Those of us, how can I put this, of a certain age 😊 will remember the names Dinky, Corgi and Matchbox from our childhood.  Indeed many of us will have grown up owning items made by these companies.

I ordered this book for Hubby,  he has a collection of die cast vintage cars and buses, and because I thought it might make him smile and it did 😊  As I said honeys this book is literally a stroll through our childhoods.

The 126 very glossy pages are chock full of information, full colour reproductions of vintage advertisements and of course photos of the toys themselves.  I really enjoyed flipping through this lovely book and caught myself smiling at the image of a Corgi Batmobile car I remember well from my own childhood and, of course, the Dinky Eagle ship from the Gerry Anderson series Space 1999.

For anyone interested in the history of British toys, or in British social history, this would be an interesting read, this copy will no doubt join Hubby's other reference books.

Portrait Of An Era: An Illustrated History Of Britain 1900-1945

Firstly, this is the most sumptuous, gorgeous book. Stunning and delightfully presented.  One glance at the beautiful photograph on the front cover showing Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (then Princess Elizabeth) with her father King George VI in his study at Windsor Castle in April 1942 lets you know what to expect from this fabulous book.

Secondly it is huge!  I really hadn't expected that when I ordered it.  Hubby commented about it's size when he saw it, I said "well, it is a coffee table book" and he replied that if he added legs to it, it could be used as a coffee table! Errr OK then 😊

Published by Reader's Digest, it is a treasure for anyone even remotely interested in the history of Britain and covers the first half of the twentieth century in its 560 large pages.  Significant events covered include (but are not certainly limited to):

• The death of Queen Victoria in January of 1901 and how the country mourned. 
• The 1908 Olympics in London.
• The horrors of both world wars. 
• The general strike in 1926 and the great depression that followed the Wall Street Crash.
• The abdication of Edward VIII which lead to his brother, King George VI taking over the throne and then to his daughter, Princess Elizabeth, becoming Queen Elizabeth II, our present monarch.
• The Labour Party's general election victory in 1945 and the beginnings of the welfare state.

The book doesn't just cover famous politicians, leaders and those who influenced events though, it also shows ordinary men and women who lived through those times, what their lives were like and how they lived, worked and what they did for entertainment.      

The first five decades of the 1900s in Britain, with it's people and events are beautifully illustrated using photographs taken from the Getty Archive.  I adore this book honeys.  I do need a table in front of me to balance it on to read it because it is a heavy, heavy book but I do love it.  It is a treat for the eyes and such a joy for anyone interested in British social history.

This book was also in the Spring sale and I do feel quite guilty to have paid so little for such a gorgeous book but I'm so happy we can add it to our little library.    

How To Be A Victorian

It must surely be a sign of a very good book when you immediately start reading it as soon as it comes out of the box just because... well I couldn't not! 

I'd seen this book in passing while browsing online a few times and had thought "I must get a copy of this" but hadn't gotten around to ordering it.

The author, Ruth Goodman, in 15 chapters takes us through a day in the life of a Victorian.  From getting up in the morning, how they washed, dressed, groomed, ate, worked and lived.

History has a habit of viewing the times through the lives of the rich and powerful, through Kings & Queens, Lords & Ladies.  I've always thought it far more interesting to learn how ordinary people lived.

Back cover of book

This is absolutely the kind of book I adore reading so I had already decided to add it to my basket when I noticed it but I was encouraged by the endorsement on the front cover from Dr Ian Mortimer, author of one of my favourite social history books "The Time Traveller's Guide To Medieval England."

I've sang the praises of Dr Mortimer's book more than a few times on this blog most recently a few months ago, during Blogtember in September of last year.  

I've read (and re-read) it so many times and I would absolutely recommend it.   

From what I've read so far (I'm around half way through) of Ruth Goodman's book I'm loving it and I'm so glad I bought it. You can find details of "How To Be A Victorian" here.  

So, that's our latest book smiles honeys 😊  Do you adore books as much as I do? What are you reading now? Would you recommend any books? 

I hope you're having a fabulous start to the week dear ones and that you're seeing this glorious sunshine we're being blessed with.  Till next time, smile lots and hug even more, huggles always xx