Tag Thursday – The Christmas Cracker Tag

Present Sarah is currently very pleased with past Sarah’s organisation as this time last year I bookmarked several Christmasy tags that I’m now able to dust off and spend December sharing with you all! Today’s tag has been stolen from the lovely Steph at A Little But A Lot you can see her answers here

The Christmas Cracker Tag

Pick A Book With A Wintery Cover

Shadows of Winterspell
Amy Wilson

Stella has been living behind the magic of the forest for most of her life. Lonely, she enrolls at the local school, and as she begins to make friends, she discovers that she is even more different than she thought. But as autumn turns to magical winter, Stella realizes that uncovering her own family secret is the only way to release the forest from the grip of a dark and old magic. 

Amy’s covers are always stunning and this year’s entry is no different. A lone deer standing in the midst of a snow covered forest and the snow continues to fall, this is ticking all the winter boxes for me, plus the colours are gorgeous! I’m looking forward to reading this one!

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Pick A Book You’re Likely To Buy As A Present

Nice Work For The Cat And The King
Nick Sharratt

When the coins in the Royal Money Box start running low, the king has to get a job. But what kind of job would be fit for a king? Butcher? Baker? Candlestick Maker? It takes many comical disasters, and a surprisingly helpful visit from a dragon, before both cat and king find their perfect jobs.

This wonderfully funny follow-up to Nick Sharratt’s acclaimed debut but novel, The Cat and the King, is a feast of fun and glorious illustration.

My friend’s little boy has just turned five and this year he’s begun to have the patience for a longer chapter book across his bedtimes. He still loves his picture books but earlier this year when I took him to Waterstones he picked up the Cat and the King. He enjoyed it so I think I’ll pick up the follow up for his Christmas.

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Pick A Festive Themed Book

The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch
Tom Fletcher

The eagerly-anticipated sequel to Tom Fletcher’s bestselling magical adventure, The Christmasaurus.

‘She is the best-kept Christmas secret of all,’ whispered Santa Claus. ‘Which is surprising, because she is so powerful that Christmas itself would not exist without her. She is older than time itself, yet still as young as tomorrow. She is known only as the Winter Witch.’

A year has passed since a boy named William Trundle had an incredible adventure with the most extraordinary dinosaur: the Christmasaurus. Now, William is about to be swept back to the North Pole, and meet the icy, mysterious and magical Winter Witch, whose power to control time allows Santa to travel all around the world on Christmas Eve. And when William learns that the fate of Christmas hangs in the balance, he and the Christmasaurus must risk everything to save it . . .

Full of magic, music, and a friendship like no other, The Christmasaurus and the Winter Witch is the most enchanting Christmas read for the whole family.

This book arrived on my doorstep just yesterday. I had to buy it after reading Tom’s first novel on Sunday. I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into this one, and finding out more about the best-kept Christmas secret of all!

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Pick A Book You Can Curl Up With By The Fireplace

The Flatshare
Beth O’Leary

Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met…

Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.

But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…

I don’t have a fireplace in the flat so instead I’ll be curling up on the sofa, with a blanket, a hot water bottle and some hot chocolate. As much as I love crime fiction for me this screams rom-com, and so I’ve gone contemporary and picked The Flatshare which sounds like a fun read!

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Pick A Book You Want To Read Over The Festive Period

Broken Ground
Val McDermid

Alice Somerville’s inheritance lies six feet under in a Highland peat bog – a pair of valuable vintage motorbikes buried by her grandfather at the end of World War II. But when Alice finally organises their recovery, she finds an unwelcome surprise -a body with a pair of bullet holes . . . and Nike trainers. DCI Karen Pirie of Police Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit is called in to unravel a case where nothing is quite as it seems.

Meanwhile an overheard conversation in a cafe draws Karen to the heart of a murder she thought she’d already prevented.

As Karen gets closer to the several truths, it becomes clear that not everyone shares her desire for justice. Or even the idea of what justice is.

I picked 11 for Top Ten Tuesday this week! If I had to pick an additional one I think I’d go with this one by Val McDermid. I actually prefer her Karen Pirie books to the Wire In The Blood series and it’s been sitting on my shelves for too long. One to try and clear before the end of the decade!

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Pick A Book So Good It Gives You Chills

The Birthday
Carol Wyer

One hot summer’s afternoon, five-year-old Ava Sawyer went to a party. She never came home …

When five-year-old Ava Sawyer goes missing from a birthday party at a local garden centre, the police are bewildered by the lack of leads. That is until two years later, when Ava’s body is found and another little girl, Audrey Briggs, goes missing. Audrey also attended that party …

Leading the investigation is Detective Natalie Ward. A mother of two teenagers, this case chills her to the bone, and is a disturbing reminder of the last job she worked on. One that ended very badly.

Natalie soon discovers that Ava’s mother has some worrying gaps in her alibi and as she digs deeper, she’s sure Ava’s father is not telling the full story. And what did the owner of the garden centre Elsa see that day? Something that she’s not telling Natalie …

Just as Natalie is facing up to the grim possibility that Ava and Audrey were killed by someone close to home, another little girl from the party doesn’t come home from her ballet lesson. Can Natalie find a way to stop this killer before more innocent lives are taken? 

During 2019 I’ve read all four of the currently published books in the Detective Natalie Ward series by Carol Wyer, and have the fifth lined up to read this month. I absolutely adore these books, and I could have picked any of the four (or all of them) for this spot. Carol creates great mysteries and has a wonderful group of central characters I have become very invested in!

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Pick A Book Going On Your Christmas Wish List

The Penguin Clothbound Classics
Various Authors

Penguin’s beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectable editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design.

I’m very fortunate that I’m in a position where throughout the year I can buy most of the books I really want. I try and avoid setting myself reading goals, I have in the past and they just don’t work for me, I get behind and then I feel despondent and send myself into a little bit of a slump. The one thing I have said I want to do though is to read one classic novel a month during 2020, this beautiful collection of Penguin Clothbound Classics (there are 30 in total) would certainly help get me on my way!

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s tag, if you decide take take on the Christmas Cracker Tag please leave me a link in the comments and I’ll be sure to check out your answers!