Casa Clara

I have just finished this lovely book by Kate McCabe. It tells the story of Emma Frazer who has always lived in the shadow of her beautiful and successful older sister. When she reaches a bit of a crisis point in her life she decides to flee to southern spain where she begins working in the beautiful Casa Clara Hotel.
I enjoyed this book so much that I went to Easons today and bought 'The Beach Bar' also by Kate McCabe. Casa Clara really seems like an idyllic place. This book made me want to pack my bags, hop on the plane and spend a few weeks in the spanish sunshine (in a beautiful hotel like Casa Clara of course!)

Girl in a Spin

I mentioned The Disengagement Ring by Clodagh Murphy on this blog last year. I did not do a full review but I was delighted when Clodagh herself left a little comment after my post to thank me for mentioning the book. You can find the post here.

Anyway I have just finished her latest book 'Girl in a Spin' and I have to say I enjoyed it just as much as the previous one. I found it quite addictive and finished it in just over a week. The central character is Jenny, a Dublin girl who moves to London and ends up dating the leader of one of Britains main political parties (The Moderate Party). Jenny is not your typical 'party wife' as she comes from a very different world than your average moderate party member. On the surface she is beautiful, quirky and bubbly but underneath she is quite a complicated character. Although I felt some aspects of the novel were a little unrealistic I found Jenny to be a very interesting character and the book was never boring. I truly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a bit of escapism.

The Happiness Project

On a recent trip to New York I bought the Happiness Project by Gretchin Ruben. I really enjoyed the book and also love the blog & the podcasts. I found the book really inspiring and I will hopefully be taking some small steps to try to improve my overall happiness. Watch this space.

100 Years of China Teacups

I really love china teacups and my favourites are probably Royal Doulton. At the moment they have special sets to comemerate 100 Years of Royal Albert Dinnerware. Each piece in the collection is decorated using a pattern and design representing some of the most iconic styles and colors of each decade.

This lovely boxed-set of Teacups and Saucers features some of the most notable Royal Albert patterns from 1900 to 1940.

The second set features patterns from 1950 to 1990.

These truly are beautiful collections. It is really hard to pick a favourite.

Room

I absoutley adored this book by Emma Donoghue and I must admit I have been feeling a litle sad since I finished it last week. I really miss little Jack. I do not want to say too much about it as I do not want to give away the story. All I will say is please read it if you have not done so already. The world really will look a little different afterwords.