Death in Spigg's Wood by Linda Gruchy

Death in Spigg's Wood is a rollercoaster of a police procedural. 

It is the story of  Meg who finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time.  She was a kickboxing champion who comes across a man being beaten up in the woods and when the attackers turn on her, she beats them up and shoots one of them before being arrested at the scene.

What follows is Meg trying to prove her innocence.  That she acted in self defence and it wasn't "excessive force".  You really feel for her as the police don't believe her.

Apart from the first few pages where the author seems to be trying too hard and uses uneccessary flowery words and phrases, this is just a fantastic read.  I was totally gripped as the chapters flowed.

This is quite a chunk of a book, over 6k locations (perhaps 400-odd pages) and was a thrilling read from start to finish.   You really feel for Megan and really hope you'd never get into a situation like that.  It certainly makes you think.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006ITYN6O/

That Bear Ate My Pants! Adventures of a Real Idiot Abroad by Tony James Slater

I have never been so disappointed to finish a book.  I just wanted the stories to go on and on and on and on, but unfortunately Tony's trip had to end and so did the book.

First off, I will comment on his bad spelling of buses and metres.  But only because there's quite a few of them in the first few chapters and it did make me think that the quality might be as bad all the way through, but it isn't.  Once he gets off the bus and has travelled however many metres to his home away from home, it's all good.  In fact it's better than good.  Tony is a fantastic storyteller with some fantastic stories to tell.  Hopefully these typos will be fixed soon and you won't notice any. [Edited to say the typos have been corrected, so if you have an old version, request an updated one from Amazon]

I kind of wished the book had photos.  The chapter where he meets the kinkajou and also the three- toed sloth really needed pictures, although I could well image them (once I'd looked up what a kinkajou was).

The book is set up in short chapters.  That made it easy for picking up when you have a few minutes.  But it made it hard to put down as you want to read "just one more chapter", "ok, just one more".

I know it's only February, but this is the best book so far this year and if I'd read it in December it would have been the best book in 2011.  If you picked it up as a freebie, jump it to the top of your TBR list.  It's worth it.

www.amazon.co.uk/Pants-Adventures-Idiot-Abroad-ebook/dp/B0057P6FNO/

Footprints by Rosen Trevithick

I started reading this by mistake.  I'd picked up a short story chicklit from Rosen and meant to have a quick read.  Instead I was drawn into Jenna's life as she knew it and as she found out all the twists and turns that she was discovering.

This was a good read.  Most of the time I found Jenna very naive even though she's a 17 year old.  Sometimes I found the writing a bit young, but it's written from Jenna's "mouth" so it would be.

I will certainly read more of Rosen Trevithick

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004A14UTC

Tollesbury Time Forever by Stuart Ayris

Tollesbury Time Forever by Stuart Ayris has to be the most hyped book on the kuforum for a long while.  It snuck in on the back of a freebie someone picked up and the word spread.  It got nominated for the bookclub choice for February and won by the biggest score ever (so far).

At the time of writing this, it has 37 five stars, 3 four stars and just one three star.  Impressive indeed.  One of the most popular quotes there seems to be "beautifully written".

So after waiting until this month to read it and it taking me a week to get through (due to partys lol), did it live up to the hype?

I think that answer is a big YES.  There'll be another 5* on Amazon shortly.

It certainly lives up to the "beautifully written" claims.  The language Stuart writes in is flowing and descriptive and quite lovely to read.  Without going into detail, the book is kind of in 3 parts which have a different feel to each of them.  There's a few areas of poetry and rhyme and I don't do poetry, so skipped past those bits.  It didn't put me off them though.

I don't often read in work at lunchtime, but I did today as I was getting towards the end.  I wish I hadn't as I had to shuffle off, pretending I had a cold.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006TJDJKE

Hearts and Arrows by KUF Authors

I have just finished reading this and am wondering which story was my favourite and it's hard to pick one. They are all different, yet good in their own way.

I have read novels by four of these authors and have rated them all at least 4 stars.

The other authors are on my radar even more now.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00764VOT4/