Blog Tour: A Book Review of Missing by Ruby Speechley
Today I am taking part in the blog tour for Missing by Ruby Speechley. It was just released on September 27th and I am sharing my review today! I think this would be a fear of most parents!
Book Description:
Single mum Ellie is shown a missing person post on Facebook. It’s of her three-year-old son, Tyler…
But he’s right there, holding her hand.
Surely this is some kind of prank – she knows her friend Louise can go too far with her jokes sometimes. And Ellie is used to the other mums gossiping at the school gates…
But now the other parents are questioning whether Tyler is really her child.
Ellie does everything she can to prove the post is fake, but the longer it goes on she knows it is malicious. Who would do this to her? And why?
It could be her ex, Darren, but deep down she knows it must be linked to what happened all those years ago – the night she’s been doing her best to forget…
All she knows is that she has to keep her son safe – no matter what.
Missing
Author: Ruby Speechley
Published: September 27, 2023
299 pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: September 6-13, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Jessica’s Review:
Whoa!!! I’m not a parent, but the book description had me wanting to read this book! And it is a roller coaster of a ride along with the Energizer Bunny: It just keeps going and going! I had no idea how this was going to end! The chapters were shorter which made this one a quick read that I enjoyed and did not want to put down! I didn’t know who to trust or believe.
Missing shows the danger of the internet and social media: How just a few clicks can change a life. And how much we all seemingly believe what we see on there. People’s lives can change for better or even much worse because of Facebook!
Admittedly Ellie did annoy me at first: Just go to the police! I mean there isn’t much that could be done but at least you have a record of what is going on. She did grow on me after a little time.
Ellie is on her own with her three-year-old son Tyler. Ellie’s ex denies that Tyler is his when she insists she was faithful to him. But also during their time together she drank a lot and there was one night were she blacked out. And she has nightmares of a clown.
So yes, if you have a fear of clowns, you might not want to read this one. The clowns were a bit creepy!
The big twist didn’t totally work for me with the villain and everything that happened. But otherwise I did really enjoy this novel! Missing was the first for me by Speechley and I do plan to look into what else she has written!
Order Your Copy here.
About the Author:
Ruby Speechley is a bestselling psychological thriller writer, whose titles include Someone Else’s Baby. Previously published by Hera, she has been a journalist and worked in PR and lives in Cheshire.
Contact Ruby:
Newsletter Sign Up
X (Twitter) @rubyspeechley
Instagram @rubyjtspeechley
Facebook
Book Birthday Blitz: A Review of Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks by Sally Fetouh
Today I am taking part in the Book Birthday Blitz for Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks by Sally Fetouh and illustrated by Alexis Schnitger. This children’s picture book was released last year and I am sharing my review. Happy First Book Birthday!
Author Sally Fetouh was inspired to write this touching story by her own daughter who has Down syndrome, feeling it was important for her and other children like her to be able to see themselves in literature. Two years ago, after reading a different story about a girl with Down syndrome to her daughter’s preschool class, Sally says, “The children were so engaged in the story and asked questions. They were very accepting and loving of their friend—my daughter. I left with a heart overflowing with emotion and that inspired me to write my story.”
Book Description:
When young Jana receives heaps of beautiful socks from her parents after learning how to put on socks all by herself, she can’t wait to show her friends at school. They are always kind and patient with Jana when they play together. Jana decides to share a pair of her new socks with each and every friend. This calls for a school sock parade! All of the children had so much fun showing off their colourful socks together that they gave a very special and huge gift for their kind and generous friend, Jana, a box of more socks!
There is cheerful text and whimsical illustrations that bring alive this heart-warming story of kindness and inclusion featuring a character with Down Syndrome.
Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks
Author: Sally Fetouh
Illustrator: Alexis Schnitger
Published: May 21, 2022
40 Pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Date Read: May 18, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Jessica’s Review:
Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks is a colorful picture book aimed at children ages 4 and up and focuses on friendship, kindness, and inclusion! Jana has Down Syndrome and she was able to get her socks on herself! Her parents celebrate this accomplishment and Jana takes socks to all the kids at school. This is a simple yet fun book with the illustrations that enhance the story 1000%! The illustrations are watercolor like for me and could tell the story themselves!
We have lots of inclusion and diversity in the pictures presented. The story along with the pictures really show how that even though we are all different in our own way, but that’s ok! The world would be very boring if we were all the same!
This short children’s book can also teach: The focus in the story is socks and how they are all different. Socks reference the extra chromosome that people with Down Syndrome have. Did you know that Chromosomes look like socks? There is also a hashtag: #lotsofsocks which has a campaign: Lots of Socks.
We need more books like this that both children and adults can enjoy and learn something from!
Purchase Links:
Through the author here.
Amazon US
Amazon UK
About the Author:
Writing is very much a part of who author Sally Fetouh is as a human being. As a child, writing was a way for her to express herself and all of the stories and ideas she had in her head. Now, as an adult, she has been inspired to write a beautiful story of kindness and friendship, Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks, a heart-warming picture book loosely based on her daughter who has Down syndrome.
It was important to Sally that her daughter and other children like her were able to see themselves represented in literature. The idea came to Sally when she visited her daughter’s preschool to read a story about a girl with Down syndrome. The loving, accepting, and inquisitive responses from her daughter’s classmates inspired her to write a story reflecting these caring friendships.
Sally believes a great book is one that has impactful characters and a story that provides a new experience or perspective to the reader that stays with them long after the book is closed. She hopes that her young readers with disabilities or those who are different in some way will be able to relate to the main character and see a little bit of themselves, while also aiming for other readers to gain insight into the world of Down syndrome and the importance and impact of kindness and friendship.
When she isn’t writing thought-provoking children’s books, Sally works as a lawyer and a photographer. She enjoys being in nature, hiking, and horse riding. She lives with her family in Sydney, Australia. Jana’s Brightly Coloured Socks is her debut picture book.
Contact Sally:
Instagram @sallyfetouh
Goodreads
WOW Blog Tour: Houdini’s Fabulous Magic by Walter B Gibson and Morris N Young
Today I am helping end the WOW! Women on Writing Blog Tour for Houdini’s Fabulous Magic! I will be sharing my review and will be doing a giveaway of an e-book copy! This one was re-released this past January.
Book Description:
Incredible escapes, fantastic sleight-of-hand-Houdini’s most challenging performances are dramatically portrayed in Houdini’s Fabulous Magic. Walter Gibson, co-author, was in close touch with Harry Houdini for a number of years before his death and worked with the master magician in preparing material for the book. It is with the aid of Houdini’s own scrapbooks and notes that this book was written.
The spectacular highlights of Houdini’s career are described-and explained-here. Included are the famous escapes: escapes from a padlocked milk can filled with water; from locked jail cells; from a water-filled Chinese torture cell while suspended upside down; from packing cases weighted under water. Again, in this book, Houdini walks through a brick wall, vanishes a 10,000-pound elephant and is buried alive. Once more, Houdini and his wife Bessie mysteriously exchange places in a locked trunk-in three seconds!
And Houdini the man is not ignored. His impact on the world in the early years of the twentieth century was enormous. He was a public hero who, in his own way, helped sweep out the cobwebs of nineteenth-century thinking. While doing so, he distinguished himself as a patriot, writer, collector of magic, aviator, movie idol, philanthropist, and crusader against fraudulent spiritualistic practices.
This is a technical manual for magicians, complete with illustrations and diagrams, but it is also an astute analysis of the best of Houdini’s magic and a readable biography of a man who turned himself into a legend. It is a book for would-be conjurers, for professional necromancers, for those curious about the methods and means of one of the most enchanting men of the previous century.
Purchase a copy of Houdini’s Fabulous Magic on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Bookshop.org. You can also add this to your GoodReads reading list. **Don’t forget my giveaway!**
Houdini’s Fabulous Magic
Authors:
Walter B. Gibson
Morris N. Young
Originally Published: October 1, 1976
Re-published: January 17, 2023
249 Pages
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: March 12-14, 2023
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
THIS is the book to read if you are a fan of magic or Harry Houdini! It is a re-release of a much older version of the book. We have chapters and each are dedicated to one particular trick. We learn just how Houdini performed each trick in detail and it was never simple! There are drawings, photos and images that enhance each chapter. There is also a chapter that tells us about Houdini’s life.
At times it could be a bit dry, but it was still intriguing to learn things! Some of the chapters are his box escapes, the mailbag escape, the straitjacket escape, and of course the one everyone knows and also what the cover of the book showcases: the water torture cell.
This is a book you could inhale quickly or just take your time learning with each chapter, depending on your interest in each trick that Houdini performed. I have a kindle paperwhite, so I feel I missed out with the pictures and illustrations. If you think you may want to read this book, buy a physical copy!
Many thanks to Wow! Women on Writing for letting me end the blog tour and share my review!
About the Authors:
Walter B. Gibson (1897-1985)
Walter, a graduate of Colgate University, was a prolific writer including The Shadow novels under his pen name Maxwell Grant. For a time he was Houdini’s personal secretary. Following Houdini’s death, the attorney for the estate permitted Walter to examine many of Houdini’s private scrapbooks and notes from which Gibson wrote Houdini’s Magic and Houdini’s Escapes. Houdini’s scrapbooks, papers and other documents form the background for Houdini’s Fabulous Magic. Also a magician, Walter toured with and wrote for magicians such as Blackstone (Sr.), Thurston and Raymond. He was a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the American Society for Psychical Research, the Magician’s Guild of America and the Magician’s Club of London.
Morris N. Young, M.D. (1909-2002)
Morris, a graduate of M.I.T., Harvard and Columbia University was Director of Ophthalmology at Beekman Downtown Hospital in New York City. Aside from his numerous professional memberships, he was a member of the Society of American Magicians (to which Houdini had helped him join as a young man), the International Brotherhood of Magicians and a member of the Inner Circle of the Magic Circle (London). He was a founder of the Magic Collectors Association including their publication MAGICOL. Along with his wife Chesley, he established the largest private holdings on memory and mnemonics which now resides at the University of San Marino. Along with his friend John McManus, in 1955 they established the McManus-Young Collections at the Library of Congress, The University of Texas, Austin and the University of California in Berkeley. Morris’ other book publications include Hobby Magic, Houdini on Magic (with Walter Gibson), Presto Prestige, Bibliography of Memory, How To Develop An Exceptional Memory (with Walter Gibson), The Complete Guide to Science Fair Competition (with John Stolzfus) and Radio Music Live (with John Stolzfus).
You can visit the website created by Morris N. Young’s children, Charles C. Young and Cheryl L. Young by clicking here.
***GIVEAWAY!!!***
I am doing a giveaway of a e-book copy of the book! I’ll be running the giveaway through both my Facebook and Instagram accounts, so you can enter twice! You won’t have to do much, I promise! And if you win you can learn how Houdini performed!
Giveaway will run through Tuesday the 4th at midnight:
CLICK HERE to go to Instagram to enter!!
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