Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts

Tuesday, 2 June 2015

Book Review: Dave Pelzer: A Man Named Dave

A Man Named Dave


























Author: Dave Pelzer
Title: A Man Named Dave
Genre: Biography, Child Abuse, Tragic Life Stories, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir. Health & Family and Lifestyle, Families and Parents, Social and Health Issues,

I bought this book along with a child called it and the lost boy.

To the lady, who gave her all to make me the man l am today, my lovely bride, my best friend, mrs Marsha Pelzer, you make me whole and will forever be my princess.

To my son, Stephen, I can never tell you how precious you are and how much you have changed my life for the better, everything I do, I do for you.

This book has 243 pages and 25 chapters in it.
I would tell people that you should step outside your comfort zone with books because it is good to add more authors and genres to your reading portfolio. Even if you do not read books like this.


I normally read books of this genre but l also stepped outside my comfort zone with authors and genres l am so glad l did because l have read so many great books and come across some great authors.

I highly recommend this book but l would tell people to read a child called it and the lost boy aswell so you know the full story not just half.

Synopsis: As a child, Dave Pelzer was horrifically abused by his mother, who considered him to be an 'it', not a child. But he survived and lived to tell his courageous story... Haunted by memories of his years bruised and cowering in his mother's basement, his life remained a struggle – but he was determined to make something of himself. Dave's dramatic reunion with his dying father and a shocking confrontation with his mother led to his ultimate calling: mentor to others struggling with personal hardship. From a difficult marriage to the birth of his son and an enduring friendship, Dave was finally able to break free from his past, to trust, to love and to live.


Review: I found this book really easy to get in to and harder to put down once l started reading it. I loved reading all of Dave's 3 books but I was sadden that any mother could do that to her child and she even said he had a mental illness to try get him locked up and tried to get his father to sign the papers and it was sad to read that Dave got a reunion with his father but he was on his death bed but Dave has done really well to survive and move on from the past and child abuse at the hands of the women that is suppose to love him not beat him nearly to death. Dave has one son Stephen and he was married to his son's mother sadly the marriage did not work but Dave is always there for his son. Thankfully he met a women he wanted to spend the rest of his live with and she helped him forget the past and his mother sounds like she wants to ruin his life no matter what and l do not know why she can not leave him alone to get on with his life after she nearly killed him. This book was a great read. Dave was finally forgetting the pain from his past and trying to make a life for himself, his wife and his son. Dave sounds like he is a great dad to his son. I can not put in to words how great this book is I would tell people to read it for themselves to know how great it really is and it is a must read and a must have on any bookshelf. I am so glad l read all 3 because this is a great story and l was very happy to read Dave survived the abuses and told the world about it in his books.

About The Author: An author best known for his 1995 memoir of childhood abuse, A child called it. At the age of 12, dave was removed from an abusive home and placed in a series of foster homes. In 1979, he joined the air force and later became an author of memoirs and self-improvement books. #1 New York times best seller list and #1 international best selling author recipient of the national Jefferson award in a word, Dave pelzer embodies esprit: spirit, humor & wit. As a child his resilience enabled him to overcome extreme life-threatening obstacles. As an adult, for over 25 years, Dave's inspirational work has encouraged countless organizations and millions of individuals to recommit their efforts and remain steadfast to their personal convictions. Dave has experienced a truly extraordinary life. He nearly died several times by the hands of his mentally disturbed alcoholic mother. Years later it was determined that Dave's case was identified as on of the most gruesome and extreme cases of child abuse in california's then history. Dave was determined to better himself – no matter what the odds. As a member of the armed forces, dave was hand-picked to midair refuel the highly secretive SR-71 blackbird and the F-117 steath fighter, which played a major role in operations just cause, desert shield and desert storm. While serving on active duty and maintaining a rigorous flight schedule, dave made time to give of himself. in 1990, dave was the recipient of the JC penny golden rule award, making him the california volunteer of the year.Some of Dave’s distinctive accomplishments have been recognized through a number of prestigious awards, as well as personal commendations from Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton and George W. Bush. In 1993, Dave was honored as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Americans. He joins a distinguished group including: John F. Kennedy, Anne Bancroft and Christopher Reeves. In 1994, Dave was the only American to be honored
as The Outstanding Young Person of the World! In 1996, he carried the coveted Centennial flame for the Olympic Games. Dave was paid tribute as the recipient of the 2005 National Jefferson Award. Other alumni of this award include Colin Powell, Sandra Day O’Connor and Bob Hope.Dave is the author of seven inspirational books. Dave’s latest book, Moving Forward deals with helping people take the lead in their lives. Dave’s first book, A Child Called “It”, was on the New York Times Best Sellers List for over 6 years and Dave’s books have been on the same Best Sellers List approaching 13 years combined. As an author Dave is the first to have four # 1 International Best Sellers and to have four books simultaneously on the New York Times Best Sellers List.Dave is a living testament of a self-made man, who as an optimist strongly exudes resilience, service to mankind, personal responsibility and faith in humanity. Dave’s unique and intriguing outlook on life, coupled with his “Robin Williams” like wit and sense of humor entertain and encourage all of us to truly commit to overcome any challenge, while living life to its fullest.For over two decades, Dave has dedicated his life helping others . . . to help themselves. While many make excuses and seem pessimistic, Dave carries the banner in a nation where opportunities are endless in what he calls “The Greatness of America”. And through his work, you will too.

About The Book: I really like the book cover and the colour of the cover.


Star Rating: Five Out Of Five Stars.















Monday, 1 June 2015

Book Review: Rosie McKinley: Gypsy Girl

Gypsy Girl: A life on the road. A journey to freedom.


























Author: Rosie McKinley
Title: Gypsy Girl
Genre: Parenting and Relationships, Parenting, Parenting Girls, Relationships, Love and Loss, Self-Help, Death and Loss, Grief and Bereavement,

I was given this book.

Book Dedication: For my children, Sarah-Jane, Tyrone, Finn, Grace and Hope.

This book has 288 pages and 22 chapters.

I would tell people that you should step outside your comfort zone with books because it is good to add more authors and genres to your reading portfolio. Even if you do not read books like this.

I normally read books of this genre but l also stepped outside my comfort zone with authors and genres l am so glad l did because l have read so many great books and come across some great authors.

I highly recommend this book.

Synopsis: A life lived on the road and a heart will always belong there imagine being born in to a world where communities are constantly on the move, but freedom is not a birthright. Rosie grew up travelling all over England and Ireland in her family's caravan. She had an idyllic childhood roaming fields and meadows with her younger brothers and sisters – free from trappings of modern life, but restricted by expectations of her culture. When Rosie was 14, the family's happiness was shattered when her grandfather – who was loved and respected by the whole community – was killed in a tragic accident. Suddenly everything in Rosie's life unravelled and she was forced to abandon the traditional ways of life she loved. This is her story of finding a place to belong. Rosie McKinley was born to an Irish traveller family and ran away at 17 to marry a fellow traveller. She has five children and lives in Ireland. Rosie was born on a pavement in Leeds on a drizzly  Tuesday morning in February 1970, her mother was waiting for her father to take her to the hospital. Mammy was already convinced l was going to be a lucky child. I had been born with what travellers call our lady's veil over my face. This is when the amniotic sac, or caul, covering her face like a mask. In our culture it is a sign of good luck and means that the child is destined for great things or might have psychic powers. Sailors thinks keeping a caul can stop them from drowning. Mammy and daddy were delighted their baby had been born with such a lucky talisman. Mammy gently lifted the veil off my face and kept it safe in an old shoe box in the corner of our trailer. A couple of months later when a woman on our site give birth to a terribly poorly baby, mammy gave her my veil and the lady laid it on to her child's face, apparently it saved the baby's life. Within a couple of weeks of my birth we were on the move again and we set off in our caravan to a site west of Manchester. There was never any particular reason why we moved on, it was just what we did. I was about eight months old, a chubby wee thing with tufts of coal-black hair sticking up like desert grass, when everything changed. I was just at that baby stage of sitting upright on my own for short periods before plunging forwards, headfirst in to the ground. Mammy had put me in a playpen outside the front of our caravan and I was sat there happily bashing a multi-coloured plastic telephone while she got on with cleaning up the trailer. Daddy was out working with all the other men from the site, suddenly there were all sorts of commotion around the place. Someone shouted for my mammy, Patsy is really sick. She has been hit by a bus down the road. Patsy was my mammy's younger sister. Suddenly everyone had gone, running off down the road and leaving the site empty apart from me, still in my play-pen, grinding the toy phone in to the mud. It must have been then. With no one else around to occupy it, that a rottweiler belonging to a family in another of the trailers became interested in me. There were always ragged-looking dogs skulking around our site, sniffing out food or barking at strangers. The fiercest ones were sometimes tied up to their owner's trailers with lengths of string, but most of them just roamed free, wherever they fancied. Maybe l cried out or tried to grab the dog. I really do not know as l was far too young to remember. But the story l was bought up with was that suddenly, with all the adults gone, the rottweiler leapt in to my playpen and clamped it jaws around my tiny throat. It teeth bit in to my face and neck and blood spurted all over my pink gingham babygro. The rottweiler's jaw was so strong that it could easily crushed my airway and when one of our neighbours returned to the trailers she found me barely able to breather and soaked in blood. Poor mammy was called back immediately in a state of total shock. ' my baby, my baby' she was screaming as she picked up my virtually lifeless body. Her sister was so badly broken up in the smash that she was feared dead and now here was her new baby fighting for her life too. Someone ran off to a payphone and called another ambulance and within minutes l was undergoing emergency surgery in the same hospital as auntie Patsy.

Review: I found this book really easy to get in to and hard to put down once l started reading it, l was hooked after reading the first few pages. It was sad to read that Rosie's auntie Patsy was getting rescued after being hit by a bus and Rosie was being attacked by a dog, luckily they both survived. I felt sorry to read that Rosie's mother was helping rescue her sister and she watched her sister leave in a ambulance not knowing if she was going to live then she was called back to see her baby daughter bleeding and barely breathing and then she had to watch her tiny daughter leave in a ambulance too and her tiny daughter need surgeries. Rosie got married and had five children but one she got told he would not survive but he did and she was glad and I was sad to read that Rosie's grandfather was killed after being hit by a drunk driver glad they arrested the driver at the scene but nothing would bring the beloved father, husband and grandfather back. Rosie's husband ran away leaving her to raise their five children alone which she does a great job and she is a great mother to her five children after reading this book l think gypsies are not as bad as everybody makes out, there are some good gypsies around. Rosie's husband dies. I was glad Rosie survived the dog attack and she told her story. This is a great book wish l could rate it more then five stars because it is worth it. This book is a must read and a must have on your bookshelf l am glad this book is on my bookshelf. Some bits in this book was upsetting but it kind of had a bit of happy ending l was glad to read that Rosie did not give up on her baby after she was told that the baby would not survive.

Star Rating: Five Out Of Five Stars.

About The Book: l loved the picture on this book it is very fitting for what the book is about.

I would love to read more from this author.

















Saturday, 30 May 2015

Book Review: Tania Crosse: Morwellham's child

Morwellham's Child



























Author: Tania Crosse
Title: Morwellham's Child
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Family Sagas, Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Fiction, Contemporary,


I was given this book along with the follow on the river girl.

Book Dedication: For my dearest dad, who loved ships and the sea, and for my husband, who has kept me afloat.

This book has 272 pages and 29 chapters in it.

I would tell people that you should step outside your comfort zone with books because it is good to add more authors and genres to your reading portfolio. Even if you do not read books like this.

I normally read books of this genre but l also stepped outside my comfort zone with authors and genres l am so glad l did because l have read so many great books and come across some great authors.

I highly recommend this book but l would tell people to have the follow on as well so you can carry on the story not just half of it.


Synopsis: When beautiful, free-spirited Rebecca Westbrook – daughter of Morwellham Quay's respected harbour master – meets sophisticated captain Adam Bradley, she confounds all expectations by being anything but charmed by the good looks, perfect courtesy and smoldering   sexuality that make Bradley so reminiscent of Jane Austen's Darcy. On the contrary, Rebecca is angered by Bradley's superior manner, and repulsed by his attentions. For Rebecca's heart belongs to Tom Mason, A young cooper she has known all her life. Her father insistent that the pair wait until Tom is financially secure before they court openly, but the pain of separation drives Rebecca to desperate measures, her passion overriding all sense. Then tragedy strikes and Rebecca is forced to face the terrible consequences of her actions. However, she is not alone in her distress. Morwellham Quay was once the greatest copper port in Queen Victoria's empire, but now it is inhabitants face a devastating era of change that mirrors the troubled and irrevocable coming of age Rebecca must experience. Rich in detail, and vivid in characterization, this is a first-class debut saga of drama, tragedy and an overwhelming sense of love. Rebecca loss of her one true love and she thought about ending her life to be with Tom again and there would be no pain just freedom from the grief she feels and she goes to walk off the dock but Adam Bradley stops her and takes her home and her parents tell Adam about Tom and Adam wants Rebecca to be his wife but she just wants to be with Tom and she realize she is pregnant and she takes Adam offer to go on a date with him and they get married and she does not love him but she can not have a baby without being married and then they slowly fall in love with each other but then Adam has a tragic accident on his boat which he ends up losing his arm and then his wound does not seem to be healing so his doctor asks another doctor about good things to help heal it and he gets a ointment and they also have a daughter together. Adam and Rebecca love each other so much.

Review: I found this book really easy to get in to and hard to put down once l started reading it l was hooked after reading the first page. I loved reading about Tom and Rebecca's love. I was sad to read about Tom's tragic death but I loved that Rebecca was carrying Tom's baby and l think Rebecca loved Adam from the very first day she seen him and Adam loved Rebecca and he just wanted her to tell him how she felt. I was sad to read about Adam losing a arm in a accident and that his cousin tried to kill Adam and Rebecca nearly drowned because of him but thankfully Adam saved her and they went on to have a baby together. They was much in love with each other. I was glad to hear Adam's arm was healing by the ointment. Adam is a great dad to Toby even though he is not his son but he does not treat him any different then his daughter he loves them the same. Rebecca will never forget Tom but she can love again. I was happy to read that Rebecca carried out Tom's dream to get his family a better house and get them out of the damp place where Tom died. Adam and Rebecca get to meet the person that made the ointment that healed his arm. I was sad to read that Rebecca had a miscarriage. Adam's cousin died he drowned and Adam got everything he owned because Adam was his only living family member and it took days to find his body. Adam and Rebecca can get on with their lives and not have to worry about his cousin. It was Adam's cousin that caused the accident that made him lose his arm. I am happy to be able to read the follow on to this book the river girl.

About The Author: Dartmoor historical novelist Tania Crosse was born in London but at a very young age she moved to Surrey where her love of the countryside took root. She always enjoyed reading and has composed stories ever since she could hold a pen. After studying french Literature at university, she devoted twenty years to bringing up her three children. But her passion for writing never left her, and side by side with her in-depth research on to Victorian social history, she began to pen her novels in earnest as her family grew up. When Tania discovered Morwellham Quay, the restored Victorian cooper port and now living history museum in Devon, she fell in love with this magical place and felt a spiritual compulsion to create a story that would illustrate life there in times gone by. This led to the publication of her debut novel, 'Morwellham's Child' and now Tania has thrilled her readers with over 100,000 copies sold of her first two titles alone. She is rated among the top five per cent of authors for library loans in the uk, and her books are now being published in the us and translated in to European languages. Tania is continuing to work on her series of novels illustrating the rich history of Tavistock and the surrounding area of Dartmoor from Victorian times to the 1950's. She hates being categorized as a writer of historical romance. The history comes first, she insists, and the human tales develop from her research. The characters lead harsh, demanding lives and their stories are often cruel and harrowing. ' l tell it like it was', she says. Tania has been happily married for forty years and claims she would never have achieved her success without her husband's support. They live partly in Berkshire and partly at their tiny cottage on Dartmoor where Tania retreats to write and absorbs the atmosphere of the places that inspire her.

About The Book. This book cover is really nice and the colours is not too bright or not too dull. The font is really nice not too big and not too small.

Star Rating: Five Out Of Five Stars























Book Review: Annie Murray: Water Gypsies

Water Gypsies


























Author: Annie Murray
Title: Water Gypsies
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Historical Romance, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Romance,

I was given this book along with the first book in this series the narrowboat girl.

This book has 458 pages and 50 chapters in it.

I would tell people that you should step outside your comfort zone with books because it is good to add more authors and genres to your reading portfolio. Even if you do not read books like this.

I normally read books of this genre but l also stepped outside my comfort zone with authors and genres l am so glad l did because l have read so many great books and come across some great authors.
I highly recommend this book but l would tell people to have the narrowboat girl as well so you can read the first book in the series and then this book so you know the full story not half.

Synopsis: It is 1942, after a childhood of suffering in Birmingham Maryann Bartholomew has built a life of happiness and safety with her husband Joel and their children, working the canals on his narrowboat, the Esther Jane. But the back-breaking and constant childbearing takes their toll on Maryann, and the tragic loss of her old friend Nancy, followed by a further pregnancy, leads her to commit a desperate act which nearly costs her life, the walls of her security are broken down when Joel suffers an accident and. To keep the boats working, Maryann is forced to allow Sylvia and Dot, two wartime volunteers, in to the privacy of her life. When she discovered that someone keeps calling her at Birmingham's tyseley wharf, the dark memories of her past begin to overwhelm her. For that someone, who seems to be watching her every move, is becoming more dangerous than even she could imagine. This is the seguel to the narrowboat girl. In august 1942 Maryann gives birth to twin girls by then she had two sons named Joel and Ezra and A daughter named Sally after her beloved sister and Maryann also had a son Harry who sadly passed away due to pneumonia and Maryann and Joel named their daughters Ada and Esther after Joel's mother and sister. Maryann's best friend falls in to the water when heavily pregnant and drowns and her unborn baby dies too. Maryann and Darius are very upset and Norman Griffin turns up and sets fire to the boat with Maryann, Sally, Rose and the twins Esther and Ada on and poor Maryann and Ada was burnt and a woman helped her with Ada's burn by putting flour on to dry it up.

Review: I found this book really easy to get in to and hard to put down once l started reading it. I was hooked after reading the first page. I was really happy to be reading the follow on to the narrowboat girl. I was happy to read that Maryann had got a happy life with her husband and their 5 children and I was sad to read that Maryann lost a little boy Harry that he died of pneumonia. I was sad to read that Maryann's best friend Nancy drowned like Ada Joel and Darius's sister but is was very upsetting for Maryann because Nancy was Maryann only friend. She always use to share all her feelings with her sister Sally but she took her own life because of the things Norman Griffin did to her. Maryann and Sally's mother Flo buried Sally under Griffin not Nelson which l thought was wrong after everything Norman did to them poor girls. I thought their mother only cared about herself not her four children. She wanted money not her children. I was sad to read that Nancy's unborn baby died after she fell in the water and drowned and Darius was very upset about the loss of his girlfriend and their unborn baby. I wish Nancy and Darius could have been married because they made a great couple and l was happy Maryann did not die and she lived after her boat was set on fire. I felt sorry for poor Ada and Maryann being burnt and l hope Norman goes to jail where he belong

About The Author: Annie Murray was born in 1960 in Berkshire, and studied English at oxford university. Her first job took her to Birmingham where she met her husband, John. They have four children. In 1992 she began writing her first Birmingham novel, Birmingham rose, which made the times bestseller list when it was published in 1995. She has written six subsequent novels including, most recently, the highly successful chocolate girls.

About The Book: l love this cover and this book has two different covers and l love the front.

Star Rating: Five Out Of Five Stars






Friday, 29 May 2015

Book Review: Annie Murray: The Narrowboat Girl

The Narrowboat Girl



  


























Author: Annie Murray
Title: The Narrowboat Girl
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Romance,


I was given this book.

This book has 457 pages and 48 chapters in it.

I would tell people that you should step outside your comfort zone with books because it is good to add more authors and genres to your reading portfolio. Even if you do not read books like this.

I normally read books of this genre but l also stepped outside my comfort zone with authors and genres l am so glad l did because l have read so many great books and come across some great authors.

I highly recommend this book.

Synopsis: Young Maryann nelson is devastated at the loss of her beloved father.But worse is to come when her mother Flo, sees an opportunity to better herself and her family in a marriage to the local undertaker Norman griffin. Through on the surface a caring family man, Norman is not at all what he seems. As Maryann and her sister Sally soon discovers. Unable to turn to their unsympathetic mother for support, the girls are left alone with their harrowing secret. But for Sally it is too much too bear... The chance of a new life opens up for Maryann when she befriends Joel Bartholomew. Aboard his narrowboat, the Esther Jane, she finds herself falling in love with life on the canal as she is swept away from Birmingham and all her worries. Until Joel's feelings for Maryann begin to change, awakening all the old nightmares that she thought long buried, and in panic and confusion she takes flight... Maryann     runs away and works in a house for a bit until one day she chooses to go down to the boats to see if the Esther Jane is there and she does not see Joel, his Father or Ada she seen Joel's brother Darius and she asked about his father who was also named Darius and Ada but their sister Ada had drowned four years ago and Maryann  started to cry she had to wipe tears away and she says she was a good one your sister and Darius said Joel was in hospital because he was very ill with his lungs and Maryann offered to go see Joel in hospital and seeing Joel made Maryann realize she really did love Joel and Maryann's sister Sally had took her own life after what Norman did to her and she could not take any more. Maryann burnt down Norman's business and Norman left her mother after that. Maryann's mother did not like that her daughter had to say about Norman she called Maryann a dirty liar. Maryann asked her brother Tony to found out where Norman is so she can face him and her brother finds him and he is living with another mother and her two daughters and one reminds Maryann of the way Sally looked and she confronts the woman and told her everything that he did to Maryann and Sally and the woman did not believe Maryann and her daughters said you are not going to be here to stop it.

Review: I found this book really easy to get in to and hard to put down once l started reading it and l have the follow on to this book it is called the water gypsies and l would say to have both so you can carry on the story. I really liked reading about MaryAnn and siblings being with their father and getting a kitten and how they use to go meet their father from work until he got hit by a car and sadly passed away. Their mother married Norman Griffin and l found it hard to read what he did to Sally and MaryAnn and to them other innocent girl it was horrible and it was upsetting to read that Sally and Maryann's mother did not believe them. I was sad to read that Norman waited until Flo's niece was dying to rape MaryAnn. It was sad to read that Maryann's baby cousin passed away and so did her beloved Nan and Norman killed all the animals that her Nan had by breaking their necks and he killed Maryann's precious kitten tiger that her father got her before he passed away. I was sad to read that Sally took her own life after the what Norman did to her and l was glad MaryAnn burnt his business down. I was sad that Norman moved on to another woman with her two daughters. I was sad that Joel's mother Esther had died and Ada drowned. I was glad MaryAnn was helping Margaret and Amy tell their mother who did not believe them at first and then Margaret set him on fire after he raped her in front of Amy it is a very sad book but there is some good parts. I was glad Margaret and Amy's mother believed them and Amy Made her way to Nancy's house where Maryann was staying. I can not believe Maryann's mother did not believe what he was doing to them. Maryann's mother hates MaryAnn because Norman left her because she had no daughters at home. I was happy to read that Maryann married Joel and Joel did not die. I was glad to read that Nancy got out of her abuses marriage and gets with Darius wish she could of married Darius though. She goes to live with him on a boat and l was sad to read that Joel and Darius's father had to stay on dry land with his sister because he was getting to poorly to be on the boat. Maryann had a son with Joel and names him after his father and she finds out she is pregnant again. Maryann said if the baby was a girl they would name her Sally or Ada because they had both sadly passed away. Maryann was angry that when Sally died her mother buried her as a griffin not nelson that was their father's surname. Maryann's mother sounds like she did not care about her children she only cares about the money and trying to better herself no matter the cost. Maryann's mother hates Nancy's mother.

About The Author: Annie Murray was born in 1960 in Berkshire, and studied English at oxford university. Her first job took her to Birmingham where she met her husband, John. They have four children. In 1992 she began writing her first Birmingham novel, Birmingham rose, which made the times bestseller list when it was published in 1995. She has written six subsequent novels including, most recently, the highly successful chocolate girls.

About The Book: l love this cover and this book has two different covers and l love the front.


Stars Rating: Five Out Of Five Stars.


Thursday, 28 May 2015

Book Review: Bernard Clark: A Mother Like Alex

A Mother Like Alex: One defiant woman. Nine special children.













Author: Bernard Clark
Title: A Mother Like Alex: One Defiant Woman, Nine Special Children.
Genre: true story, biography and true accounts, biography, diseases and physical ailments, physical impairments, biographies and memoirs, special needs.

I was given this book.

This book has 302 pages in it.

I would tell people that you should step outside your comfort zone with books because it is good to add more authors and genres to your reading portfolio. Even if you do not read books like this.

I normally read books of this genre but l also stepped outside my comfort zone with authors and genres l am so glad l did because l have read so many great books and come across some great authors.
I highly recommend this book.

Synopsis: They said it could not be done they had not met Alex bell. This is the story of an extraordinary mother and her unusual family – a story of courage, perseverance and above all, love. It is about a women who adopt seven children with down syndrome and becoming a foster mother to a child who has a life-limiting condition and a guardian to another child who is autistic, at 28, and unmarried, Alex battled with social services to adopt her first down syndrome, Matthew. She had succeeded in becoming one of the first single women in the UK  to adopt. But Alex did not stop there. She single-handed took on eight more children who, despite serious disabilities, are flourishing under Alex's fierce and devoted love. Like happy-go-lucky Matthew, who fulfilled his dream of working for Manchester united, and Adrian, the amazing number wiz, born as if with a calculator inside his brain, or the cute – but demanding – nine-year-old Emily, who coped with her traumatic cancer treatment by being downright bolshy and learning to be her own boss. This book is a tear-jerker and it is about a very brave children and the women who raised them and she is a single woman who loves all the children dearly.

Review: I found this book really easy to get in to and really hard to put down once l started reading it. This book was a really good read and it was heart breaking to read about nine year old Emily having cancer and alex sounds like a very special mother to nine beautiful brave children who show alex love and happiness as alex does them and alex loves all her children with all her heart. Alex showed courage and choose to raised them all on her own. It takes a special woman to do what alex does. Any child would be so proud to having alex as their mother. I really enjoyed reading this book and just goes to show that women can raise disabled children and not need a man to help her. I think alex and the children are so brave and alex is a great women, great mother. I wish l could rate this book more then five stars because it is worth a lot more and l wish there was a follow on to this book so l could see how all the children are getting on. Alex is a great women wish there was more people like alex. The world need more people like this. This book will have you hooked and leave you wanting more. I was hooked on this book after reading the first page. I would happily read this book again and again.

About The Author: Bernard Clark began his career as an investigative TV journalist, newsreader and director for the BBC. He went on to direct several acclaimed documentaries and originated 'watchdog', the BBC's long-running investigative series, as well the series 'timewatch' and 'bookmark'. He then set up Clark television. One of the first major independent production companies in the UK, producing worldwide current affairs and documentary programmes. He continues to make television series, combining this with writing. He lives in London and north Carolina.

About The Book: l love this cover it is perfectly fitting for this book and it is not too bright and not too dull. I love the font.


Star Rating: Five Out Of Five Stars.

Book Review: Jennifer Worth: Call The Midwife

Call The Midwife: A True Story Of The East End In The 1950s





Author: Jennifer Worth
Title: Call The Midwife
Genre: History, Cultural History, London, Biography, Historical, Social & Urban History, nonfiction, autobiography, memoir, biography memoir,

Where I Got This Book: I was given this book.

Book Dedication: This book is dedicated to Philip, my dear husband. The history of 'Mary' is also dedicated to the memory of father Joseph Williamson and Daphne Jones.

This book has 340 pages and 44 chapters in it.

I would tell people that you should step outside your comfort zone with books because it is good to add more authors and genres to your reading portfolio. Even if you do not read books like this,

I normally read books of this genre but l also stepped outside my comfort zone with authors and genres l am so glad l did because l have read so many great books and come across some great authors.

I highly recommend this book.

Synopsis: The brothels of cable street. The krays brothers and gang warfare, The meth drinkers in the bombsites – this was the world Jennifer worth entered when she become a midwife at the age of twenty-two. Babies were born in slum conditions often with no running water. Jennifer worth describes the romantic and beauty of the great port of London, The bug-infested tenements. The spectre of disease. The sense of community and the incredible of women who bore more then ten children. Funny, disturbing and moving. Call the midwife brings to life a world that has now changed beyond measure. Nonnatus house was situated in the heart of the London  dock-lands. The practice covered stepney, lime house, mill wall, the isle of dogs, cubit town, poplar, bow, mile end and whitechapel. The area was densely populated and most families had lived there for generations, often not moving more than a street or two away from their birthplace. Family life was lived at close quarters and children were brought up be a widely extended family of aunts, grandparents, cousins and older siblings, all living within a few houses, or at the most, streets of each other. Children would run in and out of each other's homes all the time and when l lived and worked there, l can not remember a door being locked, except at night. Children were everywhere, and the streets were their play-grounds. In the 1950's there were no cars in the back streets, because no one had a car, so it was perfectly safe to play there. There was heavy industrial traffic on the main roads, particularly those leading to and from the dorks, but the little streets were traffic-free. The bomb sites were the adventure playgrounds. They were numerous, a terrible reminder of the war and the intense bombing of the docklands only ten years before. Great chunks had been cut out the terraces, each encompassing perhaps two or three streets. The area would be roughly boarded off, partly hiding wasteland of rubble with bits of building half standing, half fallen. Perhaps notice stating danger – keep out would be nailed up somewhere, but this was like a red rag to a bull to any lively lad over the age of about six of seven, and every bomb site had a secret entries where the boarding was carefully removed, allowing a small body to squeeze through. Officially no on was allowed in, but everyone, including the police, seemed to turn a blind eye. It was undoubtedly a rough area. Knifing was common, Street fight was common and if a young girl did become pregnant the pressure on the young man to marry her was so great that few resisted.

Review: I found this book really easy to get In to and hard to put down once l started to read it. I was hooked on this book after reading the first page l can not wait to read the other books in this series. I am glad this book was made in to a TV series and I have watched the series over and over again and l could happily read this book again and again. I loved reading this book and reading about how it was in the 1950's and how the people survived in them days and who helped women bring their babies in to the world some women bore about ten or more babies because there was no birthcontrol in them days and if you aborted a baby you could end up in prison. The midwives also helped when people was injured or they had bedsores or they had preeclampsia and eclampsia and they catch it too late and the mother and baby sadly passed away and the nuns sometimes attend births and deaths to help the midwife. I am hoping they put call the midwife on at christmas again. I am glad l got all the call the midwife books l am glad l can read all the books one after another. I love reading about olden days and how things have changed over the years. I am sad that when a baby passes away they share coffins with adults who have passed away if the families can not afford a coffin of their own. It was so hard to read that mother and their children would go in to the workhouse when their husband left them or passed away and sometimes none of the children made it out alive and the workhouse inmates was buried all together in unmarked graves.


About The Author: Worth, born Jennifer lee while her parents were on holiday in clacton-on-sea, Essex, was raised in amersham, buckinghamshire. After leaving school at the age of 14, she learned shorthand and typing and became the secretary to the head of Dr Challoner's grammar school. She then trained as a nurse at the royal Berkshire hospital, reading, and moved to London to receive training to become a midwife. Lee was hired as a staff nurse at the London hospital in whitechapel in the early 1950's. With the sisters of st London college of music. Where she taught piano and singing. She obtained a fellowship in 1984. She performed as a soloist and with choirs throughout worth reflects on her later experiences caring for the terminally ill. Worth was highly critical of mike Leigh's   2004 film Vera drake, for depicting the consequences of illegal abortions unrealistically. She argued that the method shown in the movie, far from being fairly quick and painless, was in fact almost invariably fatal to the mother. Worth died on 31 may 2011, having been diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus earlier in the year. Jennifer worth is a great writer l have her other books and sadly she has passed away now which l was sad to read.

About the book: l Like that the cover is really nice and not too bright and l love the font.

Star Rating: 5 Out Of 5 Stars

I wish l could rate this book more than five stars because it is worth more then the five stars l rated it.