Apologies from me

Sorry for the radio silence, delays in responses and you will have noticed (if you come here often) we haven't posted a review which isn't us. I am sick :/ but I usually have reviews prepped and ready to go. I thought I just had a chest infection and a bit run down as everything is so busy just now. Dudes, you know I never do anything by halves.

Still spiking temps but yesterday was the highest however we managed to get the docs and now have meds so hopefully with some rest (we slept less than 10 hours broke sleep since Sunday) and you know we can cope with most stuff but fling in lack of sleep :/

Luna has been adorable and my shadow, I am "sleeping" downstairs to try and save o/h getting sick. He has been awesome going to docs, pharmacy, shops for supplies.

Guys he even made homemade soup for me, potatoes, garlic and leek, when your throat is molten lava and even swallowing is agony, soup is just the bestest.

Apologies for not having sent out parcels that are awaited, we had everything planned for Monday but struck really unwell Sunday night. I think o/h may be enjoying the silence lol.

I think my biggest complaint, excluding brain fog, rigours, constant lurgyness, throat/ears feeling like a hot poker has been placed in them - for me is normally when you are unwell you still have the joy of books. You can read/escape into a book and take your mind off it. I think I have read about 50 pages total since Sunday, concentration is just terrible. A few folk had asked about the book (as you know I normally read a book within a day or can be 4-6 hours if I love it) - it is absolutely a me issue not the book. We LOVE Tilly and Poe and our current read is "The Mercy Chair" by M W Craven, short chapters which we love and is great when your brain is a bit mush but with everything - I am just feeling so ugh, struggling to concentrate. The book is fab (so far) so no the book is grand.

We have had a fair amount of post coming in too and behind on posts/unboxing,, I have put a wee post on today Insta and our TT to at least let the small businesses know they have arrived safely. Once we are feeling a bit more human and have our voice back we will catch up properly. Any outstanding prizes/parcels will be posted out once we are back fighting fit but just wanted to apologise/update, we are just toast and not the good kind.

We also got a new booklight for review, green, cute - I had it out briefly last night, we like it. To be fair I don't think we have met one yet we didn't like but these wee small light (in weight/size) ones. We will give it a proper checkout/review when we feel more human but it was out last night. Hope everyone is well and this finds you better than it leaves us.

Meet Miss Luna

2 weeks ago tomorrow this little fluff ball came into our lives, this piccy was taken an hour ago.




We had been to the Cats Protection for the first time that day and I was devastated. Just brought it home that Princess Trixie was never coming home and some of the stories and wee cats, it is just so so sad.

We had just arrived in Stirling when I got a message from a girl whose purse I had found and reunited her with, 5 years ago, had sent me a message on FB she had added me on there back when I reunited her purse. On the Tuesday she had uploaded a piccy asking what we thought she should call her new wee kitten, I opted for Luna (black and white, wee half moon) as did a few others, so Luna it was. Anyway long story short she was highly allergic and knew we had lost Trixie so sent a wee message in the hope we may be able to rehome wee paws. I couldn't believe it, so immediately after the show we drove to her home and brought home this wee ray of light.




She has settled right in, rules the roost, has the Mr wrapped around her wee paws (not that he would ever admit it). We have never had a kitten, Trixie was our first cat and she was 8 when we got her so this is a whole new ballgame for us.




She has no fear, no awareness of danger and can fit into the tiniest of spaces so we are on high alert all the time and she can't be left alone unsupervised but she is the cutest wee riot. My newest blogging assistant is super cute but needs a lot of training and constantly reminded we do not eat or bite books!




She is a fab wee snuggle buddy (when she is exhausted out by playing!).




We are so happy and blessed to be able to give a home to this wee love and once she is bigger (she is only 8 weeks old just now) we will see about adopting a sibling for her. Tomorrow is her first visit to the vet. So just thought I would introduce you to Miss Luna Paws incase you don't follow the other blog accounts and hadn't seen her yet.

Lara The Runaway Cat by Dion Leonard

Lara The Runaway Cat: One Cat’s Journey to Discover Home Is Where the Heart Is by Dion Leonard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 288

Publisher - HarperElement

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Lara the Runaway Cat tells the story of Gobi, the loveable pup who followed Dion Leonard across a gruelling 155-mile trek across the Gobi Desert, and her mischievous cat sister, Lara, who runs away from her family, seeking a courageous adventure and different life.


Lara doesn’t realise how good she has it in her home in Edinburgh with her owners, Dion and Lucja, and of course her sister, Gobi. If she’s being honest, she’s jealous of Gobi’s fame and the international attention she has received ever since Dion found her. Okay, Gobi may have survived an ultra-marathon across the Gobi Desert, but it’s not as if Lara doesn’t earn her fresh prawns! She dreams about the day when she can go outdoors and see the world, discover new friends and be free to make her own name.


But Lara’s wishful thinking gets the better of her as she takes a leap into the unknown and is forced to decide between her loyalties to her family and need to experience an adventure to rival Gobi’s. Join Lara in her eventful travels from Edinburgh to France, Beijing to Australia, where she is faced with challenges that will change her life forever.


Following on from the astounding real-life story of Dion Leonard, this fictionalised tale is a must-read for animal lovers everywhere.


My Review

Gobi is the famous dog who has her whole book and came home to Lara's family, Lara is a cat by the way and not happy. All she hears is Gobi's adventures, her family goes off touring and travelling well now it is Lara's turn.

Told from Lara's perspective and voice with the odd chapter by Gobi we get an insight into the life of a cat with a famous dog sibling. She decides she is going for her own adventure and takes the reader with her.

Doing good deeds, helping others along the way, learning to be self sufficient instead of the pampered puss she has always been we follow her journey and adventures. We see a huge change in Lara and the insight into what we want isn't always what we really want but we don't always realise until we find our own path. Yes it is a story told by a cat but a lot of the lessons/relationships and love within the pages are applicable to humans, 3.5/5 for me this time. I haven't read Gobi's story but after the references in this book I think I may check it out. If you like stories told by and from animal points of view you will enjoy this.

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Our road trip

So if you follow on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram you will know we took miss paws on her first ever road trip and ticked a few things off her bucket list. Trixie is seventeen, has a lot of health problems and we had to come home on an emergency flight in March as we thought we were going to loose her as she took unwell. I tell you, the trip up north, the country air fair agreed with her. She was up on counters (I haven't seen her do that in years!), actually sprinted three times in one morning and played chasing a light reflection.





She gets really car sick, she was only sick once on the way up and not at all on the drive home. I think the travel cage really seems to help. Look at her wee harness!








I took a fair few books, mostly hardback and my kindle and now catching up with the reviews and prepping blog tours I have agreed to before focusing on work stuff. My foot is getting better and whilst going through intense physio hoping to get back to work soon!





Because I now have the boot off and focusing on the exercises we managed to go a decent walk whilst we were up there. An abandoned building is normally all shut off. This time they have opened a wee path you can walk in to go in so I was delighted to get a wee nosey through it. No miss paws this time and we got caught in the rain but it was so worth it, I love abandoned buildings and whilst we couldn't go inside properly and I certainly couldn't climb anyway I was delighted to get so close.


The sky pictures, if you follow my instagram you will know how much I love them, managed to get a fair few snaps.











We always go up to the tourist shops at John O'Groats and I buy a bookmark, sweets or a book. I saw this and couldn't resist. I used to collect coins as a kid, now it is books/bookmarks and look, a wee wren (I think) on the farthing so I HAD to buy it.





Miss paws is exhausted but I think she had a great trip, I certainly needed a few days away, just some down time, recharge and it is lovely seeing family. I think we will keep up trying to get kitty to see a bit more of the outdoors (she is an indoor cat) as she coped so well out and about. Climbing furniture like a kitten, on the beach and up on her first wall looking like a boss!





So, that has been our adventures, 370 piccys by the way just from the phone - she is the most photographed kitty in the world. Happy 1st of August, I am looking forward to the new shark movie Meg (may even get a chance to re read the book before we see it), it is my birthday this month, I am looking forward to seeing some of my fav humans. Being stuck indoors so much and seeing so little people has been horrific for a gab a minute social butterfly like me. So I am just going to draw the winner for July's comp and I will get August's giveaway prepped and ready to go. Have an amazing August you guys, a fresh new month.

The Pharaoh's Cat by Maria Luisa Lang

The Pharaoh's Cat by Maria Luisa Lang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 182

Publisher - Self published

Blurb from Goodreads

The Pharaoh’s Cat, a tragicomic fantasy narrated in the present tense by the cat himself, tells of a free-spirited, wise-cracking stray in ancient Egypt who suddenly acquires human powers and immediately captivates the young Pharaoh, making him laugh for the first time since his parents’ death.

The cat becomes the Pharaoh’s constant companion and, at the royal palace and on a tour of Egypt, participates in the festivities, developing an insatiable appetite for good food, wine, and gossip. Gradually, he renews the Pharaoh’s ability to enjoy life and inspires him to become a stronger leader. The bond of selfless love they share will change Egypt’s destiny.

The cat has a good friend in the High Priest of the god Amun-Ra and seeks his help in solving the mystery of his human powers and the supernatural manifestations that plague him. He has a mortal enemy in the Vizier—the second most powerful man in Egypt--who hates him for his close relationship with the Pharaoh. The Vizier’s persecution of the cat ultimately results in his fleeing with the High Priest to present-day New York City, where they find an ally in an Egyptologist’s daughter.



My Review

A wee stray cat in Egypt suddenly finds himself able to talk and stand upright, saved from a horrible fate by the Pharaoh whilst making an enemy. Wrappa-Hamen (the cat) is the protagonist, whilst meeting the Pharaoh changes his life he in turn enriches the Pharaoh's waking him from his grief and embracing life and his role. The Vizier, the second most powerful man next to the Pharaoh is not pleased with Wrappa-Hamen's influence and his arrival kick starts a deadly change of events.

I have had this on my review tbr for a long time, I wish I had read it sooner, the cat would steal the show even if he wasn't the main character. He is sassy, funny, witty and brings joy and chaos to the realm stirring everything up. The Vizier is not a nice man, he had the Pharaoh where he wanted him, almost like a puppet, with the arrival of Wrappa-Hamen everything changes and the Pharaoh comes into his own. The book is about actions, choices, consequences and lives lessons without being done in a preachy manner. There is also a lot about Egyptian history, I have always been interested in it but never really gotten around to reading much, I did find myself putting the book down to google some things & will read further hopefully soon.

A heart warming story that covers a lot of ground, snippets of history, magic, relationships, lies, love, friendship, persecution and even some time travel. This book won't be loved by all however I thought it was really well done. A sweet tale with some moral lessons and the kitty is a cheeky wee thing with some flare, I found myself laughing at some of his quips! 4/5 for me this time, there is another book with this character that I will bump up my list, not too sure how it will go with how well rounded this one was was but I look forward to reading it. Thanks so much to the author for bringing this to my attention it is a wee gem of a book particularly if you like cats and something a bit different.

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Wee catch up

February hasn't been the most active with posts on here as you may have noticed if you are a regular visitor to the blog, I also have only read 5 books this month which, for me, isn't a lot considering I had some time off. Well there has been lots going on and most recently has been with Princess Trixie (the adorable kitty that features on here).





We took her in for her check up, she is 16 has stage 3 kidney failure and every day we get is one more than we expected but she had been grand. It wasn't great news, her health had deteriorated, her weight dropped 7%, her eyesight was going, arthritis is getting worse and starting in her front legs. We left and it was pretty emotional however she got some strong painkillers which seen her rally the last time & they took some bloods.





We got a phone call from the vet on Saturday to say all bloods were much better than expected, we were going out to celebrate a friends big birthday so it turned into a double celebration. And what better way to celebrate than with my fav drink and a wee goblet with a super cool nerdy bottle opener.





One night after her painkillers and we had a very playful kitty, if you follow us on Instagram (Always_reading) you can see a wee video of her!





So now that we have our blog mascot fighting fit for another day, I am considering trying a new feature as I don't know about you but I LOVE seeing peoples furbabies and books so watching this space. Now I can concentrate on reading I can get stuck into the ever growing TBR list and I have some time off coming up which is just as well with all the incoming reviews.





Today will be catching up on my reviews, I have already posted my thoughts on Rattle, the new debut by Fiona Cummins and hoping to get another few up and finish my current read. I wanted something a bit different and it has been a while since I added to my zombie reads so today is Underground from the ZomB series by Darren Shan.

World Book Night 2014

Well the time is almost here, it is after midnight so technically it is World Book Night, 2014!

I have been a giver for three years in a row. It is such a worthwhile thing to do, I give out at hospital, in the town center (which has been met with sweetness, distrust or just avoidance), I met a giver last year too, I was delighted.

This year I am giving out Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin. I read this book years ago and went on to buy the others in the series, it has been a good few years and don't remember much about it but I did enjoy it and as a very stressful end of term is coming up I will reacquaint soon!

A 3000 word report is due on Thursday and a big exam so tomorrow is a busy busy day. I will of course be taking time out to give out my fabulous World Book Night Books and I will share any stories.

Here was Trixie "my wee helper" giving her usual lot of helpfulness, she is pretty cute though eh? She spent almost an hour in that box!

I will also be listed one or two copies of this book as a giveaway, I will see how good I get on tomorrow so watch this space. For any other givers, I hope you have a great day and lots of stories to share.