Until I read Finding the Rainbow, I had never given much thought at all to the difficulties of early miscarriages. Whether it is because I'm a man and just didn't get it, I'd always sort of thought that it was just a bit of bad luck - I mean there wasn't a whole lot there at five or six weeks anyway. Of course I could understand a potential parent's loss of a child in later pregnancy, or even a stillborn, but early pregnancy loss just didn't seem to be such a big thing. 

Finding the Rainbow and Rachel McGrath have changed all that. Her story is a harrowing tale of; sadness and loss; of anger and pain; and yet what shines through more than anything is the wonderful hope and acceptance that she and her husband have. To have suffered the ups and downs of so many raised expectations only to have them cruelly dashed against the rocks has no doubt shaped much of her views on life now. I found myself constantly admiring the way in which these two people have handled the cruel twists of fate that life has handed them. 

The book itself is beautifully written and Rachel McGrath draws you into her own private, personal world and gives you the understanding of how this all really felt to her. It didn't take long for me to full realise that what I thought of as a little blob inside her uterus, was in fact so much more. It was the dreams and aspirations of two people who desperately want to have a child and for whatever reason were unable to progress the pregnancies past the five or six week period. The reader feels the pain and anguish of the author and yet, there is a positivity and a sense of hope from this book. 

I thoroughly enjoyed Finding the Rainbow and give it the full five stars that it rightfully deserves. I would recommend it to anyone, not just parents or prospective parents. It is one of those books that leaves you feeling better than when you started reading it. 

Well done to Rachel McGrath - an excellent piece of work. 

You can purchase Finding the Rainbow at Amazon; here: http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Rainbow-Rachel-McGrath-ebook/dp/B00XABVRY4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1437886108&sr=1-1&keywords=Finding+the+Rainbow  

There are some books whose sole purpose it seems is just to make us feel good - to warm us with the milk of human kindness. Angel of the Willows is just one of those such books. It wraps you in a warm, comfortable environment and rewards you with a mellow, sweet, story that leaves you with a real set of the "warm fuzzies", by the time you have finished it. 

Don't think that Angel of the Willows is all sweetness and light though, it confronts and deals with a whole series of common, and some not so common, everyday issues that many of us struggle with on a regular basis. What Angela Gascoigne has skillfully done though is meld those problems into a lovely, warm story that just makes you go "Ahhh" on numerous occasions.

Her writing style is very different from many other authors I have come across, and yet it is one I found easy and comfortable to read. I particularly liked her "asides to camera", where she would impart a little wisdom of what the character was thinking, directly to the reader (almost like an actor speaking directly to the viewer, away from the story). I found that very endearing and sweet. 

The basic premise of Angel of the Willows is not one that is terribly uncommon. A young woman, who dies early in a tragic set of circumstance is given a chance to return to earth and set things right again. We follow Ruby as she sets about to cure the woes of a group of just normal, everyday people living in a middle-class subdivision known as The Willows. Her time to prove herself is limited though and that becomes an important part of the story-line.

The humour in the book in very understated and very British, but also very funny. I just adored it and I would regularly find myself chuckling away at some of the comments uttered by the residents of The Willows. 

Angel of the Willows is one of those books that once started is hard to leave alone. I would find myself regularly flicking back onto it when I should be doing other things and that, to me, is the sign of an excellent story. Similarly, reading the last chapter I felt a sorrow that I was parting from these characters that I had grown to love, for the last time. If a book does that to you, it has reached the spot it was supposed to reach. 

It deserves the five stars I've given it and it deserves to be read, and read widely. We all need this sort of sweet, gentle story from time to time to keep us feeling that there is some sense in the crazy things that seem to happen all around us. 

Thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who enjoys warm, uplifting story lines with good, strong characters and a touch of sly humour thrown in for good measure. Well done Angela Gascoigne, I look forward to reading more of your work in the future.     

I certainly struggled to get into this book at the beginning, but the perseverance was well worth it in the end. It is a "classic", and rightly so. 

Before reading The Quiet American, I knew quite a lot about Vietnam, from around the late sixties onward, however the early days of the Indo-China war with the French were a mystery. Graham Greene's book has given me a peek into the life of the Vietnamese in the early 50's and the conflicting ideologies of the Westerners who were there to help or to hinder the French in their desire to hold onto the colony. 

The love story between Phuong and Fowler was played out against a background of a country fighting desperately to rid itself of the colonial masters, with the west equally desperate not to surrender it to communism. 

Greene raises some valid issues about the rights of one ideology to impose their beliefs, by force if necessary, on another culture. Ultimately I found it a very satisfying read and one that has forced me to think and to ask questions - always the sign of a good novel. A "classic" for a reason.

A Quiet American well earns a solid four stars from me.

If you wanted to read The Quiet American, you can pick it up from Amazon here: 
http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-American-Penguin-Classics-Deluxe/dp/0143039024/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1437209257&sr=1-1&keywords=A+Quiet+American

I have just finished reading When Angels Fly by S Stevens and A Raymond. 

I can honestly say that no book that I have read in recent times has had the emotional impact on me that this book has had. I rode right alongside this mother from the first diagnosis of her child's illness, right through to the conclusion. 

Even before her child's illness, I had to keep asking myself; are there really parents out there who treat their children as horrifically as this woman's mother and her family had treated her? 

She went from an abused child, to a loveless marriage filled with physical, mental and sexual abuse, to losing her first child to a stillborn birth and then finally reaping the rewards with two beautiful young boys. Life was finally looking up for her, before little Eli was struck down with cancer. 

We follow his journey, step by step as the young mother attempts to keep her sanity. split her time between one child in hospital and one 250 miles away. You can really feel her anguish and pain in every page. All the while, the very people who should have been helping to ease her burden; her mother, her siblings and her soon to be ex-husband were so busy plotting and planning on how they could benefit from this turn of events, she was left to struggle along with support only from some special friends.

This book is a harrowing read, make no mistake, but it is also incredibly rewarding. To anyone who has ever complained about how hard their life is - I say; read "When Angels Fly". To anyone who has ever said their life sucked - I say; read "When Angels Fly". When you have seen the courage, the fortitude and the immense challenges that this woman and her beautiful son faced you can't help but be uplifted and reminded just how much we all have to be grateful for.

It would be trite to criticize editorial issues in a book that reveals our indomitable human spirit in such a powerful and uplifting way. The book is in a large part a daily journal of Eli's time in hospital and as such became at times repetitive, but I totally understand the need she felt to document every day - every day with her son was so very precious. The writing style was at times slightly hard to read, but nothing can take away from the powerful impact it had on me as a reader. I was truly moved by and genuinely felt everything this poor woman had to endure...mostly alone. Any other book that had these editorial issues would have only garnered four stars from me, but there's no way I could not give this five stars.

The memories of Sarah, Noah and Eli will live in my memory well after I've consigned this book to the "read" shelf. I feel privileged to have shared Sarah's harrowing journey. 

When Angels Fly does exactly what it sets out to do I believe - it reminds us that "There but for the grace of God, go I!"

I recommend this book to all....it will make you cry, but it will also uplift you. Well done.

You can pick up When Angels Fly at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/When-Angels-Fly-S-Stevens-ebook/dp/B00X7T1Q0Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1436496469&sr=1-1&keywords=When+Angels+Fly