Sam's Fireside - Cosy Book Reviews & Recommendations

“There is magic in the ordinary, magic that has the power to change the world.” ✨💫 Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune was our April pick for #thatbonkersbookclub Sequel Shelf, 📚💥 following The House in the Cerulean Sea, which we read at the beginning of the year. This sequel focuses on Arthur’s story and why he returned to Marsyas as an adult. 🏝️🧭 The book is full of magic, wonder, and love, 💙🌈 and picks up where the previous story left off, with the possibility of a new child joining the family. 👀✨ If he does, the question becomes whether he will fit in—and how that journey unfolds. 🧩💛 My heart was completely wrapped up in the idea of a family that can be so full of happiness despite the discrimination, difficulties, and disorder faced by those who are different, 😤💔 all while simply wanting what everyone deserves: love and safety. 🏡💞 Arthur and Linus are funny, 😂💀 the kids are downright hilarious, 🤣🔥 and I found myself giggling constantly while reading. There are...

"Let's go hang out with the hippies and their wine and weed." 🍷🌿. The thing with T. J. Klune’s books is that, no matter what, they make me laugh. I always struggle to narrow it down to just one quote to include in a review. 😅 We Burned So Bright was no different. Don and Rodney are so funny—even as they’re facing the end of the world, their little quips bring light to the inevitable and often leave a smile on other people’s faces. 😊 I loved the sense of community that builds along their journey to complete a task they promised themselves they’d finish before everything goes dark. 🌍✨ So many of the people they meet are just embracing those last days and weeks without a care. No need to pay for gas—who cares? Take my truck, I’m not going to need it! 🚗💨 This book is a little dark—what with the world ending and everything—but it’s also a lovely read, full of fun moments, with memories woven throughout. 🖤 I really enjoyed it. I don’t pick up short stories all that oft...

“I swear this airline reminds me of The Flintstones. I'm surprised the floor doesn't open up and we land the plane using our feet.” 😂✈️ Told over the space of twenty-four hours, There’s Always Next Year was a fun listen, alternating between Dominique and his cousin Andy, who, although from the same small town in Indiana, have been living very different lives for the past two years. The story was engaging, with multiple plot threads culminating in a finale in the town square on New Year’s Day, when everything comes together. 🎆 I enjoyed the focus on the attempted redevelopment of the town, alongside Dominique and Andy’s relationship mishaps, as they navigated a chaotic New Year’s Day with some wonderfully crazy characters thrown into the mix. 🤪🏙️ Eric Lockley and Khaya Fraites, as Dominique and Andy respectively, were excellent narrators, drawing me into the manic, rushing-around-town madness that provides the backdrop for most of the story. 🎧✨ Although a Young Adult novel...

“Who needs friends when you’ve got books, fabulous felt-tips and a cool notepad, right? Much safer this way. Books over besties. Pens over pals.” 📚✏️🖍️ OMG, I loved this book! 😍 There were so many moments when I actually spat out my tea 😂☕ My 11-year-old granddaughter is going to love it! William is neurodivergent — his brain is wired differently from everyone else’s 🧠✨ — and he knows that. He’s learning how to manage it, although he does like his routines… and woe betide anyone who tries to mess with those! 😅⏰ He’s a bit like me, if I’m honest. 🙋‍♀️ William and Florence are hilarious 🤣 as they come up with idea after idea to split their dads up! 💡💥 William doesn’t want to share his dad with anyone else, and Florence is convinced that her mum and dad will get back together. 💔➡️❤️ Buy this for your son or daughter (but read it yourself too! 😉) and watch their faces as they read — I bet you anything they won’t be able to stop smiling. 😁📖 Thank you to Scholastic UK for the ...

'We're all sprinkled with crazy. Some of us are just better at hiding it.' You know those books that stay with you for a long time after you've read it? Well, I think this is going to be one of those. The Drowners was incredible, from start to finish. I never know what to expect from a new author, and I often open that first page with a certain amount of trepidation. I needn't have worried about this one though, I was hooked.  Set in the early 1990s, Aaron is just beginning to understand his sexuality, and it's difficult, the stigma, the apprehension and the judgment of being queer in 1990s Ireland. Aaron is funny, so funny, and when he and Robbie get together the puns are never-ending. I highlighted just a couple of the lines, which had me spitting my coffee out! 'All those years without draining your nuts is enough to send you loopy.' 'That miserable old bollix isn't knocking on Heaven's door, he's booting it off its hinges.' It was...

Role Playing is a lovely read that pulled me in right from the beginning. I’m sure that I could be Maggie without the gaming, and Bogwitch is such a great online name. Who wouldn’t want to get to know her? I spent some of the beginning of the book, wondering whether I should actually give gaming a go. Then when I realised that yes, the majority of players probably are teenage lads, then I decided it maybe wasn’t the best idea! I loved that both Maggie and Aiden (Otter) escaped the real world by running into a fantasy one. If they found themselves getting angry or annoyed with those around them, they’d disappear to fight the online baddies! Aiden’s Mum is a narrow-minded bigot, and she didn’t deserve the help he was giving her, never mind that his life was on hold because he was trying to be such a kind and caring son. Still, she got her comeuppance and, to be honest, I wanted to just slap her across the face many times!  Cathy Yardley raised some good issues surrounding sex and se...

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I think I’d have liked to work in Bletchley Park and be part of the code-breaking team, which helped so much during the Second World War. When I read a book like this, the horrors of war and the actualities of what people suffered disappear into the background, as I become so immersed in the importance of what these amazing men and women did. Once again, Anna Stuart has written an amazing story of perhaps some of the unsung heroes of World War II. We learn that everyone working within Bletchley Park had to sign The Official Secrets Act, and they weren’t even allowed to talk to each other about what they were working on, let alone their family and friends. I’ve seen a couple of movies about the work of the code breakers during the war, but this book takes in so much more detail than a movie ever could.  Based on true events and inspired by her visit to Bletchley Park, Anna’s account of The Bletchley Girls - Stefania, Ailsa and Fran - will have you curled up in your chair with ...