Friday, 31 July 2020

Around The Blogs With Chuckles


We all enjoy snooping and lurking on other people's blogs right? Why not share those entertaining things you found with other readers and bloggers too! Welcome to Around the Blogs with Chuckles, where I take time out to show you some of my favourite blog posts from the previous seven days and link you up so you can check them out. 

It is vital that we all stick together online at this time. Do what you can to show some love to other blogs, to books and authors and let us all know that you are staying safe and well. Hearing from our friends will make it easier to deal with whatever is coming in the next few months. Stay safe everyone.

This week...

1) Book Review-Blitzed: Drugs In Nazi Germany by Norman Ohler
Steph's review.

2) July Book Haul
AJ shares a few books with us.

3) Book Review-Alpha Omega by Nicholas Browning
Heather's review.

4) DNF & Y

5) Book Review-To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

6) Book Review-Love, As Always, Mum by Mae West
Memoirs by the daughter of serial killers and abusers Fred and Rose West.

7) Best Books Read In 2020 
AJ shares her list.
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Chuckles Friday Reading Roundup


Welcome to my Friday Reading Roundup! This feature will show exactly what I've been reading and DNFing through the last week. 

A slow reading week. I got these two done at the start of the week and nothing after that!

4 stars, 3 stars.


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Chuckles Weekend Roundup


Welcome to my feature Chuckles Weekend Roundup where I will be looking at what books I've received, anything interesting I've done or bought or watched and other random stuff. I'll be taking a look back at what happened in my blogging world too, sort of like The Sunday Post that some of you do! 

Please note that I'll be visiting your STS/SP as normal, but I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave comments, and I won't allow DISQUS to follow new people, update my profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I am the only one who does that on my social media! I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account. Sometimes, I have problems leaving messages on blogs hosted by Wordpress-they try to block me because I deleted my account with them but I will persevere as it only happens the odd time!
****************
Urgh what a week. My old friend Insomnia has been stalking both my dad and I so we've had to try and keep busy each day to compensate for feeling knackered! My dad put together my kitchen trolley which is great and I filled that up yesterday. It certainly helps get my kitchen a bit more fit for purpose so I'm pleased. I only have a few small things to move and the kitchen is done for now. I've been busy on the computer going through files on disk drives and deleting the unwanted stuff and setting up a new way to file everything I'm keeping. That has kept me pretty busy all week but it was stuff I'd been putting off for years so I'm glad to be putting a dent in it at last. After I post this, I have more of that to do. Who knew I had so many YouTube videos waiting for my attention and tons of ebooks! 
 
Reading was pretty non existant this week but I got two read last weekend and the count stayed the same rather than go up. I'm ok with that as I got a ton of stuff done on and offline. As long as my days are productive in some manner, I'm pretty happy! My dad has a couple more small units to build so that should be entertaining too! We've been staying away from the TV this week and I've only had a quick online browse at the headlines. It has been good for our mental health and I've enjoyed the quiet time to be honest. I have bought a couple of books in series I'm following so I do need to get some reading done to offset these buys!

PAPERBACKS
 
 
 Chuckles Blogging World 
I've been keeping up quite well this week under my new system and getting plenty stuff done away from the blog. I hope to get plenty done this weekend to get my posts ready for next week again so I can stay ahead!
 
Book Reviews
 
Michael Bond-More About Paddington (Paddington Bear #2)
 
Michael Bond-Paddington Helps Out (Paddington Bear #3)

Regular Posts
 
Chuckles Friday Reading Roundup
 
Around The Blogs With Chuckles
 
Top Ten Tuesday
 
Discussion Posts
 
The Chuckles Big Birthday Post
 
Prepping With Chuckles
 
Dog Days Of Summer #9
 
Reading Challenges 
 
Tackling The TBR
 
Films & TV & Music 
The TV has been off all week so nothing at all to report!
 
Book Tags/Blog Awards
none this week
 
The Week Ahead
I'm halfway through Jenny Lawson's first book so I hope to finish it this week. I have a couple of Paddington adventures to read and I really want to tackle a pile of short stories to offset a few book purchases!
 
 
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Tackling The TBR



In December 2018 I launched Tackling The TBR, a challenge to reduce the ever extending TBR pile and 2019 was pretty successful in that regard. In 2020 I intended to make a big effort to reduce my TBR by buying less, getting stuff read and getting rid of the things that I just don't want to read from my bookshelves and my ereaders Maurice and Myrnin! However the darn Coronavirus Pandemic has put the skids under all my plans and I had to suspend the challenge. I've now decided to bring it back in a bid to kickstart my TBR reduction as nothing else has been working.
 
The TBR total shown is the total number of books I own but have not read yet-wishlist books are NOT in my TBR! Sometimes there will be a difference between the books read and new total-sometimes I read a book not on the TBR so it counts for books read for the week but

BOOKS IN
-Books in refers to bought, downloaded or gifted books being added to the TBR list. 

BOOKS OUT
-Books read refers to books read that were ON the TBR and DNFed is obvious. 
-Deleted from the TBR are books I lost interest in reading, or sequels to DNFed books I no longer want to read and have been removed without starting to read them. These three categories added together are my books 'out'.

I'm posting my progress on the 7th, 14th, 21st and final day of the month as before, even if there is no progress to report and anyone else is welcome to join in. No rules, set up your posts how you want and when you want, just reduce the pile! And each week I'll add my new week to the end of the post so I can track how the whole month went.

June 26th-July 7th   
TBR Start Total: 1518

BOOKS IN:

New Books In: 5

BOOKS OUT:
Books Read: 11
Books DNF: 0
Others Deleted From TBR: 0

Target Total: 1500

New Total: 1512
********************
July 8th-July 14th
TBR Start Total: 1512

BOOKS IN:
New Books In: 3

BOOKS OUT:
Books Read: 6
Books DNF: 0
Others Deleted From TBR:1

Target Total: 1500

New Total: 1508

A bit of a mixed week really but heh, reduction of four y'know? I'll take it considering the health issues this week! I feel much better now and I'm ready to go for the coming week!
********************
July 15th-July 21st
TBR Start Total: 1508

BOOKS IN:
New Books In: 2

BOOKS OUT:
Books Read: 6
Books DNF: 2
Others Deleted From TBR: 8

Target Total: 1500-done!

New Total: 1493

OK I've reached the small first total and got down below the 1500 books. My next target is to get down to 1450. Small goals at a time to keep things moving.
******************** 
July 22nd-July 31st
TBR Start Total: 1493

BOOKS IN:
New Books In: 3

BOOKS OUT:
Books Read: 2
Books DNF: 1
Others Deleted From TBR:

Target Total: 1450

New Total: 1493 

This week was a complete bust for reading. I was too tired to concentrate so busied myself around the house and tidying up and deleting files on the computer instead. Oh well, maybe next week!
********************
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Wednesday, 29 July 2020

Dog Days Of Summer #9


SATURDAY
So much for my new blogging system! I felt like crap through lack of sleep and have slothed around doing hardly anything! Ugh, not a great start!

SUNDAY
With a week to go until the new football season starts, things are a bit of a shambles here. The positive Covid 19 tests at my football club turned out to be inaccurate-one positive test and six false positives. Seriously, if we can't rely on the accuracy of the tests from these private companies, how do we ever get things running??? What if the tests had produced false negatives and those people ended up out spreading the virus? Someone seriously needs to get a grip of things. 

I got a couple of Paddington reviews done, along with most of a prepper post so I suppose that's ok. I'd already done my TTT post for the coming week so I'm back on schedule more or less.

MONDAY
Amazon delivered another desktop shelf unit, this time for my dad. I was able to watch with amusement as he shouted and swore at the thing! It did look like hard work getting the screws into holes that looked too small but he is happy with the overall result. I spent today with Harry Potter films on in the background so I could stay away from the news. My dad and I spent too much time yelling at the TV over the weekend so it was decided that there was going to be less watching of news from now on. We'll either watch films and favourite series or just keep the TV switched off. 

 I was working on some stuff on the computer today, looking through tons of old files to see what I could delete to get some space back. Tasks like this are mind numbingly boring and time consuming but sadly they need to be done! I also watched the darts final from last night and it was a bit of a damp squib but the overall competition was fun. It seems like ages away for the next darts on TV!

 TUESDAY
Today I was hard at work on sorting out clutter in my computer files. I went through the file of books I have stored on the computer and sorted them into genres. That took the entire day and there were books in that pile that aren't on my TBR and I don't even recognise some of them! I'll need to try and sort through the chaff I no longer want to read using Goodreads and Amazon reviews for reference but that is another all day job that I don't have the brain energy for at the moment!

 My dad and I have had the TV completely off all day today so we can have a bit of peace and not get our blood pressure up listening to the news. It was actually really great! I was on the computer all day while my dad was sorting through his CDs and deciding what to pile up for the charity shop. After we had dinner, he continued with that task while I sat and spent a few hours doing prize puzzles for one of my magazines. I enjoyed that quiet time!

 I did notice that the leader of the Scottish Parliament is trying to tell Scots not to go on foreign holidays, including the rest of our UK. She insists we should all stay and holiday in Scotland to boost the economy that she has been dragging her heels to open. At the moment I am really embarrassed to be Scottish with her in charge. First she accuses the English of stealing PPE (which turned out to be untrue), she threatened to close the Scottish border to stop English tourists coming in, she slags off everything the UK government proposes then adopts their strategy days later, her SNP cronies are at the border with signs telling English visitors to fuck off home and I'm sick of her refusal to except that Scotland voted to stay in the UK in 2014!

If I win the lottery, my dad and I are moving to England away from that anti-English crap.

WEDNESDAY
Amazon has just delivered my new kitchen storage trolley and it feels a lot more solid than I expected, which is good! My dad is now being tasked to put it together for me while I get on with a bit of newspaper cutting for my scrapbook! I do expect more bad language! 
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Tuesday, 28 July 2020

Prepping With Chuckles-Are You Ready For Winter?


As you all know, I've been a big believer in being ready for challenging situations. I'm not talking about nuclear warfare as frankly, if you don't have an underground bunker, you're pretty much screwed. I'm talking about being ready for six months of unexpected unemployment, being ready for pandemics and winter flu, being ready for prolonged storm damage and power cuts. 

In the UK we are carefully trying to open up shops and businesses while maintaining social distancing and using masks so a second wave is our big worry right now. I'm looking at what we can do NOW to get through the coming months of Covid 19. 

 In my last post (which you can find here) https://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2020/07/prepping-with-chuckles-pandemic-planner.html I was looking at what I was doing NOW to get ready for winter or a second wave of Covid 19. This is a follow up post of what I've been doing since then. 

It might seem strange to be planning for winter but when the pandemic started, no amount of reassurance from the government stopped the panic buying from beginning. If a second wave hits or a bad flu comes in the winter, the panic buying could begin again so I urge you all to be ready for that. If you live in the UK a no deal brexit is probably coming into force at the end of December which again could spark a silly wave of panic buying. I suggest getting caught up with the essentials well before you need them.

FOOD/DRINK 
1) I mentioned that I was getting Asda food deliveries to the house. It's become easier to get slots online as queues ease at the supermarket. I'm moving to one big shop per month to restock and replace only what I use and a smaller shop halfway through each month just for the perishable essentials we run out of in between. I hope to set this up as recurring deliveries so I don't need to keep selecting the next date of delivery. 

2) Bread powder and bakery products were next on my list so I can get a bit of practice in now. Then I'll get a bigger supply of things like the bread powder (maybe more than one variety), flour, sugar, icing, marzipan, icing sugar and so on. I'll be using all my kitchen gadgets to make treats through the winter as we won't be venturing out.  

3) SimplyCook send me a box every month to make the base flavour of four meals (you add the fresh veg and meat yourself). I've very much enjoyed the ones I've made so far and I'll be getting them once a month right through winter to add to my freezer and cupboard stock. I can also pause the deliveries, and options are there for extra boxes and more frequent deliveries. It does the hard work for you by making the spice mixes, base flavours and curry pastes for you which means each meal is about 20 minutes to cook and so simple even I can do it. 

4) I'm now re-stocking my packet cup-a-soups so we have a nice winter supply, an extra jar or two of hot chocolate, replacing a few tins we used recently. Anything you use on a regular basis with good use by dates, from soup to dried pasta, it's a good idea to get a few extra in for winter just in case restrictions or outbreaks cause panic buying as winter gets nearer. 

MEDICINE
1) Cough sweets can often be overlooked in the rush to get cough bottles. My dad and I like Halls Soothers with the liquid centres so I've bought boxes of them online to store away in old chocolate boxes so we have them for now and for the winter.

2) Don't forget boxes of paper hankies if you use them! I got four boxes in last week to replace what I used over the summer with the hayfever! We do also has a couple of sets of actual fabric hankies too which go in the wash after use!

OTHER
1) Batteries & Bulbs. I use three different varieties-AA, AAA and D so I always have extra of these. It's a good idea to get things like watch batteries as you don't want to have to hike out in the cold winter just for a relacement! Think about what you need for clocks, alarm clocks, maybe a spare for a mobile phone, camera etc and get a few in now. Over the last few weeks I've also got in bulbs. I have LED spares for my lamps, the big energy saving ones for overhead lights, and a weird one for the light and fan in the bathroom.

 2) I have three humidifiers in my bedroom as it always heats up in warm weather so I've made sure to stock up on a full shelf of the refills so I'm not caught short in winter, and the gel room fresheners I use throughout the house. I stocked them up over the summer and will restock one more time before the autumn kicks in!

 3) Puzzle books. I've grabbed a few puzzle books with each Asda delivery. I like wordsearches, crosswords, those arrow-word things. My dad likes those suduko things. I'm getting a few extra in just for another option for winter entertainment and another potential lockdown. I'm also grabbing the odd magazine on different subjects that interest me so I can have a small supply there when I feel like reading them.

4) My gel and ballpoint pens arrived over the weekend, my correction fluid and craft glue are due this week, along with a few extra scrapbooks so I don't run out. This lets me do my scrapbooks and maybe start doing a bit more with my colouring books this winter!
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Top Ten Tuesday-Authors I Need To Catch Up With

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.  http://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/top-ten-tuesday/

NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account. 

This week is a freebie so I'm looking at authors I've tried and liked who I need to catch up with. TBR refers to ones I've bought but not read yet. There may be others I haven't bought yet.

1) Jon Athan (read-4 TBR-30)
He writes brilliant novella horror like Cannibal Creek, The Abuse of Ashley Collins, Butcher Road and Camp Blaze. His books have gore, suspense, torture, murder, perfect for a horror fan! I have another big pile of novellas and short books to go through and I can't wait! 

2) Darrell Maloney (read-4 TBR-70)
I've read the first books in his Final Dawn and Alone series and loved them, and the first two in his Countdown to Armageddon series. I have these three series to catch up with plus his Red, Yellowstone and Ranger series. He's also started Pandemic and Nowhere series.

3) Philippa Gregory (read-10 TBR-7 & two audio)
I was enjoying her Tudor and Plantagenet series but didn't read them all so I have a few to catch up with. I'll also be doing better reviews of the books I have read when I do a full series read/re-read of the books in historical order!

4) Robert Boren (read-13 TBR-35)
I loved his entire Bug Out series and there are three spin off series to catch up with which I'm really looking forward to.  

5) Jennifer Estep (read-1 TBR-23)
I read and enjoyed Spider's Bite and have the rest of the series to try. I'm also interested in the Shard and Black Blade series. *sighs*

6) Hunter Shea (read-14 TBR-6)
I've enjoyed all but a few of his books but will always give his new books a go. I have six to catch up with plus any upcoming new releases to look forward to.

7) Dirk Patton (read-1 TBR-19)
I loved the first book in this action packed zombie series but haven't read on with it yet so I have 18 books to complete the series plus a prequel to read, which could take a while!

8) Michael Stephen Fuchs (read-13 TBR-5)
I have to finish the Arisen series but part of me can't bear the thought of it! I have three of the main series to read and a couple of companion stories and I'm aware of at least two more to come, which is exciting.

9) Nicholas Sansbury Smith (read-8 TBR-16)
I read the original Extinction Cycle series and the first Orbs book. Now I need to read the new Extinction series, Trackers, Hell Divers, the Extinction prequel, and also the spin offs and short stories by other authors based on this world which I haven't included in the count. 

10) Sonya Bateman (read-5 TBR-11)
I've read the first two Gavyn Donatti books and the first Deathspeaker Codex book plus two short stories. I've a bit of catching up to do on the Codex and I haven't started the Avalon Rising series yet. There are two other series I might also investigate.
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Sunday, 26 July 2020

Book Review: Paddington Helps Out by Michael Bond (Paddington Bear #3)


That bear is back again, and in this new edition of Paddington Helps Out, his attraction for near disaster is as magnetic as ever. Who but Paddington would set out to cook dumplings only to find himself chased from the kitchen by something so nasty only his resourceful friend Mr. Gruber can rescue him? And who else could get away with sawing his neighbor’s kitchen table in two or flooding the launderette? These and other riotous adventures all find their way into Paddington’s scrapbook and make for another delightful book starring this beloved bear from Darkest Peru.

My Review:
Paddington is somewhat excited by the idea of his first riverside picnic and boat ride but Mr Brown causes trouble by having Paddington as his assistant and shouting maritime instructions at the very confused bear, leading to disasters involving bears and old hats. Mr Gruber decides to take Paddington on a trip to an auction house, knowing how keen his friend is in experiencing new adventures and going on outings. But if you are going to take a bear to a sale like that, is is a good idea to explain to him how easy it is to bid without meaning to! The bear in question though is determined to make full use of the items that he ends up buying which as always will be bad news for mean Mr Curry!

 My Curry takes advantage of Paddington's good nature and wants a magazine rack made with Paddington's new tools. Having Paddington in your house for any reason is bad news but especially when he is armed to the teeth with a tool kit! Mistakes can happen to anyone but Paddington has a habit of trying to sort things and making it worse-which of course is what happens here. For the Browns, having their bear create chaos in Mr Curry's house is one thing but when it occurs in your home it is something quite different. With the children back at school and Mrs Bird away, it is up to Paddington to look after Mr and Mrs Brown when they are sick in their bed. Digging out recipies to try on the sick causes something quite scary to happen in the kitchen and an SOS to Mr Gruber is required!

Paddington decides on a visit to the laundrette to keep up with the laundry but without really knowing how to operate the machine, that was always going to begin another episode of water based fun. Again the cartoons for the story are very funny! Mr Brown makes another terrible decision to have a posh anniversary dinner in celebration of Paddington's first year with the family. Paddington is busy wondering whether they have marmalade sandwiches and the waiting staff are unsure how to deal with an awkward bear customer at such a posh dinery! It was amusing to watch the crisis developing! 

I love how polite Paddington is with everyone, always raising his hat in respect to people wherever he goes which of course causes all kinds of trouble at the auction. If only people in our countries had the same manners as bears from Darkest Peru then things would improve! Nobody can doubt that he is a kind and thoughtful bear but he really needs to ask for help instead of blundering about! And WHY does anyone do anything for that miserly Mr Curry! Stop him from taking advantage of poor Paddington! I have no sympathy each time that bear destroys a bit of Mr Curry's home and garden! Give him your stare Paddington!

Another entertaining few stories about Paddington and his friends. 

Read July 2020 
4 stars. 
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Saturday, 25 July 2020

Book Review: More About Paddington by Michael Bond (Paddington Bear #2)


Paddington Bear becomes a celebrity when he takes portraits of the Brown family with a very old camera. Thanks to the unique results, a local shop puts the photos on display. And that's just the first adventure this extraordinary bear finds himself in. From wallpapering to mystery-solving, Paddington does it all with the sense of wonder and playful charm that readers have come to love.

 First published in 1959, More about Paddington is the second novel by Michael Bond chronicling the adventures of this classic character. Paddington has warmed the hearts of generations of readers with his earnest good intentions and humorous misadventures. This brand-new paper-over-board edition of the classic novel contains the original text by Michael Bond and illustrations by Peggy Fortnum.

My Review:
Paddington Brown, the bear from Darkest Peru has settled into life in London. He writes his adventures into his scrapbook each day and sends frequent postcards to Aunt Lucy back in Peru so that she knows he is doing fine. The highlights of his day include shopping for the family on Portobello Road where he has an eye for a bargain in the stalls followed by sharing morning buns with his friend Mr Gruber who sells antiques. Naturally, having paws instead of hands makes even simple tasks much more complicated for a bear and mayhem usually follows where Paddington goes.

Paddington has developed an interest in photography and decides that his first priority is to use his old camera to take a photo of the Brown family in the garden. Chaos is assured when Paddington struggles with his paws to get it set up and of course with a curtain attached to this antique device, matters go from bad to worse. Being near Paddington when he gets one of his bright ideas is bad, but risking going out for the day and leaving him unattended is even worse. With Mr Brown dragging his feet over decorating Paddington's room, the bear sees an opportunity to help out by doing the task himself. How difficult can it be to do a bit of wallpaper and some painting and whitewashing? A lot harder than he thinks! Personally I blame Mr Brown for the following disaster for being so lazy!

When Mr Brown's prize marrow goes missing, Paddington decides to use his detective skills to find the culprit, causing chaos for the police investigation. He becomes interested in the idea of Bonfire Night and the burning of the guy after collecting pennies for it and then gets his first look at winter snow, which gives the reader a few worrying moments as poor Paddington is in real trouble. His first attempt at Christmas shopping causes havoc for a busy department store but everyone is determined that the beloved bear should have a great first Christmas-and he does!

Paddington is endearing and funny, with an innocent desire to help other people and be useful. My favourite chapter was his attempt at decorating which had me laughing out loud and the story is made even better by the wonderful illustrations. I love his friendship with Mr Gruber, and the telling of his adventures over shared morning buns. I like the way that Mr Gruber calls him Mr Brown and has real respect for his furry friend. I think he feels sympathy for Paddington as they are both immigrants to the country and both had to find their own path in life in a new environment. The snow adventure was really the one unsettling moment in the book for me with that poor bear's health at risk.

Overall, another fun adventure to enjoy. These books are keeping me entertained and giving me some well needed laughs.

Read July 2020
4 stars.
Posted by at 4 comments:

Around The Blogs With Chuckles


We all enjoy snooping and lurking on other people's blogs right? Why not share those entertaining things you found with other readers and bloggers too! Welcome to Around the Blogs with Chuckles, where I take time out to show you some of my favourite blog posts from the previous seven days and link you up so you can check them out. 

It is vital that we all stick together online at this time. Do what you can to show some love to other blogs, to books and authors and let us all know that you are staying safe and well. Hearing from our friends will make it easier to deal with whatever is coming in the next few months. Stay safe everyone.

This week...

1) Book Review-Pirates Of Venus by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Greg's review.

2) Book Review-I'm Thinking About Ending Things by Iain Reid
Barb's review.

3) Book Review-Malorie by Josh Malerman
Heather's review.

4) Book Reviews by Nicci
Feast your eyes on a bit of urban fantasy.

5) Book Review-The Journals Of Octavia Hollows by Stacey Rourke
Nicci's review.
https://www.sunnybuzzybooks.co.uk/2020/07/audio-review-journals-of-octavia.html 

6) Booksnake v Antlers
Barb ponders the use of both on covers.
http://bookertsfarm.blogspot.com/2020/07/book-discussion-ill-take-antlers-for-win.html 

7) Book Review-SuperGhost by Scott Cole
Bark's review.
http://barksbooknonsense.blogspot.com/2020/07/review-superghost-by-scott-cole.html 



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The Chuckles Big Birthday Post!


I'm not really that bothered about celebrating my birthday but my Dad insists on buying stuff each year for me. He rarely buys me books and always tries to get me something a bit different or he pays for something I really want to get. This year he went with a Paddington theme and as the stuff arrived three weeks early, I'll just post it now!

Paddington set of three thimbles. So cute!
 Paddington stickers to put on the side of my bookcase!


Paddington coin set


Paddington themed London Bus!


Paddington sequin crafts!

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Friday, 24 July 2020

Chuckles Friday Reading Roundup


Welcome to my Friday Reading Roundup! This feature will show exactly what I've been reading and DNFing through the last week. 

 Another good week, continuing with Enid Blyton and Paddington, both of which I'm really enjoying, and some horror!

4 stars, 3 stars 
DNF

 2 stars

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Chuckles Weekend Roundup


Welcome to my feature Chuckles Weekend Roundup where I will be looking at what books I've received, anything interesting I've done or bought or watched and other random stuff. I'll be taking a look back at what happened in my blogging world too, sort of like The Sunday Post that some of you do! 

Please note that I'll be visiting your STS/SP as normal, but I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave comments, and I won't allow DISQUS to follow new people, update my profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I am the only one who does that on my social media! I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account. Sometimes, I have problems leaving messages on blogs hosted by Wordpress-they try to block me because I deleted my account with them but I will persevere as it only happens the odd time!
****************
Another week goes by and it's nearly August. It's been a weird year and not one to look back on fondly but I hope that the rest of the year turns out better all round. News came in today of a bit of an outbreak in our town connected to my beloved football club so that is worrying. It seems to be connected to the outbreak at the track and trace place in Motherwell. I wonder if these seven cases will cause our Holyrood leader to freak out and lockdown Paisley. My dad and I are staying in anyway except the odd trip to the shops or my uncle's so it won't affect us overall if it happens. The shops locally are now enforcing a no mask no entry policy too.

On the reading side of things it has been a quieter week. I still have a full week until my next TBR post so plenty time to fit in another pile of books! I'll be reading more Paddington tonight and hopefully another horror novella, details at the end of this post. Birthday presents coming early which was nice and my dad got me a pile of puzzle books which I've just started getting into again. I should be able to build up a nice supply of them for winter! I did download a couple of books this week...well, with those covers I just HAD to!

DOWNLOADS     


Chuckles Blogging World
This weekend I start my new blogging system. All posts for the week ahead have to be written over this weekend. Then I'll be doing a 30 minute catchup each weekday to just keep up to date with blog visits and comments. That should free up more time for doing other stuff off the blog that I never seem to have time for-crafts, puzzles, scrapbooks, films, reading and so on.

Book Reviews

Michael Bond-A Bear Called Paddington
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2020/07/book-review-bear-called-paddington-by.html 

Enid Blyton-The Secret Island
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2020/07/book-review-secret-island-by-enid-blyton.html 

Regular Posts 

Chuckles Friday Reading Roundup
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2020/07/chuckles-friday-reading-roundup_17.html 

Around The Blogs With Chuckles
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2020/07/around-blogs-with-chuckles_19.html 

Top Ten Tuesday
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2020/07/top-ten-tuesday-book-events.html 

Discussion Posts 

Chuckles Ponders Time
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2020/07/chuckles-ponders-time.html 

Dog Days Of Summer #8
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2020/07/dog-days-of-summer-8.html 

Reading Challenges 

Tackling The TBR
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2020/07/tackling-tbr_21.html 

Films & TV & Music 
Not much to report really. I rewatched season five of Pimp My Ride but I'm getting annoyed with the amount of sexual comments being thrown around constantly. Just revamp the cars FFS and forget about the dumb comments!

Book Tags/Blog Awards

The Television Tag
http://chucklesbookcave.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-television-tag.html 

The Week Ahead
I have seven days before my next Tackling The TBR update so I want to have a really good reading week! I want to read at least two more Paddington, another Enid Blyton and some more short horror novellas. I'm also starting a non fiction book.


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