This is part of the weekly meme over at the Caffeinated Book Reviewer, where book bloggers can share the books and blogs they have written.
The grandchildren have now gone home and I’m very glad I’m currently crazy busy so I can ignore the fact the house is a lot quieter and emptier… Last Sunday we travelled to my parents’ house for a family gathering in Ringwood. It was a shock just how much warmer it was away from the coast and the constant cool wind as we relaxed in the garden, catching up with other family members as the children cycled and ran around the garden. On Tuesday my sister-in-law and niece came down for the day and I got to see the pics my niece took during her month-long pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, during which she and a friend walked over 800 km – an amazing achievement. It seems only yesterday when she used to come and stay with us as a five-year-old. On Wednesday morning Himself and I took Oscar to play crazy golf down at the beach – the weather was just right, sunny without being too hot and we all enjoyed ourselves and declared it a draw, though I think we all did very well – no one lost a ball. In the evening, our writing group was held here as I had Oscar still staying and it was lovely 
to catch up with everyone during this holiday period and hear how everyone is getting on with their various projects.
On Thursday, we dropped the children back in Brighton to stay with their other grandparents and in the evening, my daughter and I met up in Brighton after she finished work, had a lovely meal, then attended a question and answer session with Scroobius Pip at Waterstones to celebrate the launch of his book Distraction Pieces as she is a fan of his podcast. It was an interesting evening – he is an excellent speaker, irreverent and funny with some sharp things to say about modern life.
As you can see, I’ve had a very social week – which has impacted a bit on my blogging and reading…
This week I’ve managed to read:
Telepath – Book 1 of Hive Mind series by Janet Edwards
Amber is one of over a million eighteen-year-olds in one of the great hive cities of twenty-sixth century Earth. She’s about to enter the Lottery of 2532, which will assess her abilities and decide her hive level, her profession, her whole future life. Amber’s dream is to be level 10 or above, her nightmare is to be a level 99 Sewage Technician. When Lottery discovers Amber is a rare and precious telepath, she must adapt to a new life protecting the people of the crowded hive city. Her job is hunting down criminals before they commit their crimes, but she doesn’t know she’s being hunted herself.
I really enjoyed this latest book from Edwards and have reviewed it this week.
Fluff the Magic Rabbit by Roger Shadbolt
Roger is one of my students and he’s been working on this children’s book for a couple of years. Now he has it in book form, complete with some beautiful illustrations, he presented me with a copy so I could roadtest on Oscar. He thoroughly enjoyed it – it is far sharper and funnier than the title may suggest, so I will be reporting Oscar’s observations back in due course, along with a couple of tweaks I noticed while reading it to him.
Across the Universe – Book 1 of Across the Universe series by Beth Revis
Seventeen-year-old Amy joins her parents as frozen cargo aboard the vast spaceship Godspeed and 
expects to awaken on a new planet, three hundred years in the future. Never could she have known that her frozen slumber would come to an end fifty years too soon and that she would be thrust into the brave new world of a spaceship that lives by its own rules. Amy quickly realizes that her awakening was no mere computer malfunction. Someone—one of the few thousand inhabitants of the spaceship —tried to kill her. And if Amy doesn’t do something soon, her parents will be next.
This was recommended during a chat about generational ship books – though I cannot recall who suggested it. If it was you – thank you! This is a really enjoyable book, full of tension as Amy grapples to cope with a dystopian nightmare that is now established on Godspeed. I’ll be reviewing it in due course.
My posts last week:
Sunday Post – 7th August
*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky
*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of Nevernight – Book 1 of The Nevernight Chronicle by Jay Kristoff
*NEW RELEASE SPECIAL* Review of Telepath – Book 1 of the Hive Mind series by Janet Edwards
Other interesting/outstanding blogs and articles that have caught my attention during the last week, in no particular order:
A Pirate’s Life for Me-ish https://mylittlebookblog.com/2016/08/12/a-pirates-life-for-me-ish/
It’s lovely to have Lizzy Baldwin back and blogging – and this amusing, yet thought provoking article reminds me all over again why I’m a frequent visitor to her site…
Interview with a Holocaust Survivor https://historywithatwist.wordpress.com/2016/07/26/interview-with-a-holocaust-survivor/
This amazing interview by Frank Grunwald is riveting – he is such an exceptional individual and so brave to share his experiences.
Six Word Stories: Polluted https://richardankers.com/2016/08/12/six-word-stories-polluted/
Sometimes it doesn’t take long to make your point – as long as your word choice is absolutely spot on…
Photolicioux – Sueño No. 1: Artículos eléctricos para el hogar https://photolicioux.wordpress.com/2016/08/09/sueno-no-1-articulos-electricos-para-el-hogar/
There is something about this particular image I found very disturbing – I even dreamt about it…
Guest Post – The Moon Village and the Space Economy http://earthianhivemind.net/2016/08/12/guest-post-moon-village-space-economy/
Steph featured this fascinating article about a future settlement on the Moon – one envisaged by scientists rather than writers…
Many thanks for visiting and taking the time and trouble to comment – and may you have a wonderful reading and blogging week.
Brainfluff 
I know what you mean about that sense of emptiness and quiet that settles in after company leaves. I am glad you are keeping busy enough you don’t notice it much. Hopefully though you aren’t so busy you aren’t able to take a moment or two to breathe. It sounds like you’ve been having a wonderful time–and great weather to boot!
I am sorry I haven’t commented on your posts this week, although I have been reading them! I am glad you enjoyed Nevernight and especially Spiderlight. Both are books that I hope to read someday.
I hope you have a wonderful week, Sarah!
Thank you for taking the time to read the reviews – I’m delighted if you find them useful or enjoyable. Commenting is an optional extra:)). And I hope you, too, have a great week.
Sounds like you had a nice week with some family visits and nice weather. I really enjoyed your review of Hive Mind! I’ve heard good things about Across the Universe, but haven’t read it myself. I hope you’ll have a great week!
Thank you Lola:). It was a really enjoyable week and very sociable – glad you enjoyed the review of Janet Edwards’ book, she’s a great writer. I hope your week is a good one, too!
Your week sounds fabulous. I cherish time with family above all else. And as we get older, we seem to draw even closer. Have a lovely week:)
Laura’s Sunday Post
I agree – I certainly value my time with them more and more as I get older:). Thank you – it was a great week – I hope yours is a good one, too.
Hi Sarah! Socializing with the kids and grand-kids are always good. But you’ve still managed to read quite a bit. Love the idea of the student that gave you a book. And such a sweet title! Fluff the magic rabbit! My week was hectic and yesterday was a disaster. You can read all about it at: http://marelithalkink.blogspot.co.za/2016/08/the-sunday-post-you-have-no-idea.html hope you will have a great week!
So sorry to hear of your technical woes, but I would recommend WordPress, just for the ease of commenting and their very effective method of blocking spam.
This is the first time visiting your blog. Very nice. Love the butterfly picture. I love butterflies.
Thank you, Jessica:). I took that pic at some local gardens as I, too, love butterflies. Have a great week and many thanks for taking the time to visit.
Wow, it sounds like you had a really busy, fun, family-filled week, and with good weather to boot! I’m glad it was such a good week for you, sometimes it’s good to take a break from all the blogging anyway 🙂 And it seems you at least enjoyed the books you did get to read.
Have a great week!
Thank you, Kristen – yes it was a great week. And I really enjoyed the books I’d read – I hope you, too, have a good week!
It sounds like you’ve had a busy but fulfilling week! I hope this new one is nice as well. Telepath sounds fantastic, I like the concept of telepaths in the far future and may add that one to my TBR! And Across the Universe is one I’ve wondered about, as I like generation ship stories and never seem to find enough that I like. I know the last one in that series concerns them reaching the planet and so I’m curious to see how that goes.
Revis manages to capture the sense of claustrophobia very effectively in this one. And Telepath is a superb read:).
You are going to be lost without the grandkids now. 🙂 Some interesting books there too! Hope you have a great week.
I certainly would be lost without them – but for the fact that I’m SLAMMED workwise. So I don’t really have the time to think about it too much. Thankfully:). I hope you, too, have a great week, Melissa.
I read Across the Universe when it first came out and then forgot about it and never finished the series. I hope you like the next book.
Stormi
Looks like you’ve had a very busy week! And you’ve still managed to read three books – I’m impressed!
I bet it’s exciting to see your students complete their own books. 🙂
I know the feeling about not being able to keep up with blogs because of being busy. I let it slip while I was at Writer’s Digest Conference… But you know, that’s life sometimes. And that’s OK. You had a good / fun kind of busy this past week, too, so that’s allowed. 😉
That’s so neat that you “beta-tested” one of your students’ children’s books on your grandson! What kinds of things did he pick up on?
He wasn’t so keen on the ending – he wanted Fluff to stay being magical, which was really handy because it led to a gentle discussion about why she died, etc. and how it was better she was now at peace. But the point he made that I will be passing on, is that he wanted to know how the dragon got on once it went to live with the King and the Beautiful Princess – which was definitely a plot hole that needs filling! Other than that, he loved the humour and the adventure.