Julia Williams (1)Besprekingen

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book xx
It’s a Wonderful Life is the story of three people, where we get to know the ups and downs of their family life. The story is well written with some likeable characters. I loved the way we got to know all about each of the three main characters and how their stories all came together. The author obviously did some research into certain subjects in this book which really showed.

This was a very enjoyable read of which I can highly recommend.

Im not a lover of historical books so the beginning of this book made me think i'd chose the wrong book to read.
How wrong can a girl be and it just proves that you should carry on reading as little treasures will pop up.
i found myself looking forward to reading about Edward & Lily and what happened in the earlier days.
This book is wonderful for any gardeners as well as people tracing their family tree ( as i do).I adore the village life feel to the book too aswell as the other characters in the book. A definate worthy read.

I got about 15% in and decided not to carry on.. The first pages were great and i thought i'd enjoy this book but then we went to a different time zone and i got rather confused.. there seemed to be lots of different names popping up and i couldn't follow just the one person.. I will probably give it another go next Christmas but for now, its on hold

Im not a lover of historical books so the beginning of this book made me think i'd chose the wrong book to read.
How wrong can a girl be and it just proves that you should carry on reading as little treasures will pop up.
i found myself looking forward to reading about Edward & Lily and what happened in the earlier days.
This book is wonderful for any gardeners as well as people tracing their family tree ( as i do).I adore the village life feel to the book too aswell as the other characters in the book. A definate worthy read.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book xx
It’s a Wonderful Life is the story of three people, where we get to know the ups and downs of their family life. The story is well written with some likeable characters. I loved the way we got to know all about each of the three main characters and how their stories all came together. The author obviously did some research into certain subjects in this book which really showed.

This was a very enjoyable read of which I can highly recommend.

I got about 15% in and decided not to carry on.. The first pages were great and i thought i'd enjoy this book but then we went to a different time zone and i got rather confused.. there seemed to be lots of different names popping up and i couldn't follow just the one person.. I will probably give it another go next Christmas but for now, its on hold

Coming Home for Christmas by Julia Williams
A Christmas tradition which I have actively done over the last couple of years is reading a festive book. As soon as it is December 1st I get out my Christmas books which I have collected over the years and pick one I haven’t read yet. Nothing beats sitting all cosied up while it is miserable outside and immersing yourself in the world you are reading. This years Christmas book was Coming Home for Christmas.

With the novel bookending itself with Christmas, you spend much of the reading time at various parts of the year but somehow you are still able to feel the Christmas magic throughout. By following three separate characters, you can see the different struggles the woman cope with and ultimately how they are resolved. This is an easy reading book and is perfect to read over the festive period.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

Story starts at New Year and the follows three families as they navigate through a whole year to Christmas - so December takes up only3 of 36 chapters. Good characters

Christmas Read 2019 - Book 1 = Naughty

It's a rare book that could engender such intense loathing from me in such a short amount of time. I started listening to the audiobook on my way to work today, and everything about it made me angry. I hated the whiny protagonist, I hated the narrator's voice, and I hated the fact that literally nothing happened in the half hour it took me to make the drive.

And so ends my first attempt for 2019 to locate and read a Christmas book that I enjoy. I have had dismal luck in previous years, but hope springs eternal. It is after all the season of miracles.

mi aspettavo uno di quei libri di Natale tutto dolcezze e lucine, invece è proprio un bel libro sull'amicizia e la solidarietà. Un piccolo appunto: perché se è ambientato in Inghilterra si parla di dollari come 'paghetta' ai figli?½

Amy, a young widow, and her young son Josh move from London to the countryside. The book charts their progress, the friends the make, and their relationships. Reasonably well-written and interesting, but the characters don't come alive at all. Too much authorial explanation for my tastes. But a pleasant enough light read.

Looking at the train ticket bookmark, I can see I started this before Christmas 2010 and abandoned after a chapter or two. Picking it up 3 years later and re-starting, I can see what annoyed me so much the first time round.

Williams is obsessed with giving every dull back-story, and explaining her characters at length every time they manage a 'hello', treating her readers as complete imbeciles who need everything spelt out and repeated. A scream of 'show' don't 'tell' was relentlessly cannoning round my brain. Bah humbug.

Still, it had an attractive seasonal cover.

Merry Christmas.

An enjoyable read though I'd worked out the key to the resolution of one of the storylines very early on so got frustrated that the characters kept missing the clues that were there.

An enjoyable read though I'd worked out the key to the resolution of one of the storylines very early on so got frustrated that the characters kept missing the clues that were there.

This is Julia's first published novel and I really liked it. Reminiscent of Katie Fforde and Erica James, she created characters that I really cared about.