Taste by Mary E Twomey

Another book by Mary E Twomey, and another series that I got hooked on - this time I read all 9 books in under a week!

Taste follows the life of October Grace.  She works as a nurse in a prison, lives with OCD and an obsession with cleaning, and has a dysfunctional relationship with her hoarding mother.  Out of the blue, her mother announces her engagement to an English gentleman, Ezra, and October and her brother Ollie prepare to meet the man willing to take on their mother.  In Ezra's house, October cannot cope with her mother's charade, and runs to the bathroom to wash her hands again.  Whilst there, October accidentally overhears Ezra's family talking about her, specifically whether she is the one they've been looking for...

The blurb says:

Just when correctional nurse October Grace has a handle on her stressful job and taking care of her mentally ill mother, a shifter king and a potential vampire mate plunge her into a foreign land that’s on the brink of starvation. Now, with a ticking clock and a target on her back, October takes up the mantle of becoming one of the rare Omens who can bring hope to a dying world.

Mason and Von remain by her side to shield the national treasure while she sacrifices herself to reap the souls that will feed the nations of Terraway. As the death toll rises daily, October finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat world where fairytale creatures run wild… and every day is a new bloody battle.

Given that I bought and read the whole series, it's obviously I liked it, so I'll start this review by saying what I didn't like: the chapter titles.  Such a small thing, I know, but I found they gave away what was about to happen, so I had to train myself to not read them as I was going through this book.

This book as a fantasy, so there are many fantastical creatures in addition to the humans: vampires, shape-shifters, mermen, Goblins, and reverse centaurs amongst them.  It is set between Terraway and Earth (or Topside), and only a few people from each Terraway country can port between the two.  Unfortunately, Terraway is in the grip of the evil Sama, who despite being banished to an undisclosed island, still manages to cause terror in the nations through starvation and famine.  Terraway needs to stop its scorching suns, so that their food can grow, but because a magical stone has been hidden Topside, the only way to keep the heat of the suns in check is for Omens to reap a soul for Topside for each nation, every day.  Until now, only Ezra's daughter Mariang has been able to reap souls, but fortunately for Terraway, October is about to be awakened...

It is YA.  There is copious amounts of kissing and snogging between October and almost all the male characters, but no sex scenes.  The closest to a sex scene is the occasional spicy dream that October has, but even these would be suitable for a teen to read. In the later books there is reference to rape (though the specifics are not described) and as has been hinted, October is polyamorous.  

I like the way Mary E Twomey writes about the psychological side of October's personality, the impact of her neglectful mother, the impact of growing up not knowing her father, and essentially being parented by her older brother and sister.  Despite all the trauma and underprivilege of growing up in a trailer park, October has made it on her own two feet. And because some of the characters are English, I liked how Twomey includes English dialect (though to me, they are just normal words, lol) - who doesn't use 'hence' in a sentence?? The only minor criticism here is the use of "mates" and "knickers".  Whilst an English person would call someone "mate" or refer to their "mates", you wouldn't actually say to a group of friends "hey mates", rather in this circumstance you'd say "hey guys" (where guy refers to male and female friends).  Similarly, "knickers" are specifically female underwear, a bloke would wear "pants" (though I do understand the confusion with Americans calling trousers, pants) or depending on the type of pants, you'd call them Boxers or Y-Fronts. 

Taste was T in my A-Z of Fiction Titles.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) for me, my U is also by Mary E Twomey (Ugly Girl) and is also the start of a series.  I am forcing myself to take at least a week's break from reading so I can bet back to the real world a bit and do all the stuff I've been neglecting, before I dive headfirst into yet another absorbing word.

Strengthening Home Education Report - Part 3

If you haven't already read it, please click HERE to see Part 1 of my read-through.
And HERE is the original report (all 67 pages!).

This, Part 3, starts on p12 of the report: What do we know abut children who are home-educated?

And I'm going to start again with my refrain of RESEARCH EXISTS!

Elective Home Education: what data do we have?

I have to confess, I'm getting tired now. Sitting here, reading this bumf, isn't fun.  I am trying to pick out the key points, but much of it adds to the rage.  As such, if you want to rage, I suggest you read it yourself then take yourself to the gym or pound the streets with your anger.  I, however, may be a bit more succinct as I'm fed up of repeating myself.  There is so much conjecture and opinion in this document, without evidence behind it (yet there is research in the opposite direction that has mysteriously been overlooked), if I don't pick out bits and pieces, I'm going to end up reproducing the whole document.  That's no fun for me, and less fun for you who not only reads the doc, but my words in between.

So, data.  

“the Department does not collect statistics on the number of children in home education”

This makes sense because the state is not responsible for these children, their parents are. 
If the majority of children being deregistered come from a minority of schools, look into those schools.  Seven schools had more that 30 children deregistered in the year 2017-18? Something is seriously amiss at those schools.  As much as I'm for home education, I'm not anti-school, and any school that is losing that number of children suggests there is something deeper going on.  Don't mess around with HE, sort the schools out first!
The report goes on to say that there was an uptake of deregistrations due to covid - no shit sherlock!  If schools are going to fine parents (as was threatened at the start of the pandemic) for keeping their children off school for health reasons (either of the child themselves or close family members), of course the alternative is deregistration!  This is actually a sign of the parents putting their children/family life first - and it should be applauded.
The report uses the ADCE numbers, which are not to be trusted.  There has been a wider response using FOI data that gives the true number at 25% increase, not 38%.
From paragraph25: "It is vital that the OSA returns to home education as a topic in future surveys." No, the Office of the Schools Adjudicator should be looking at the schools; there is enough within them that need fixing!

"Without more robust data, commentators such as Fraser Nelson have raised concerns about a possible 20,000 pupils who “seem to have vanished from the school roll”"

Schools have a legal obligation of reporting deregistrations to the LA.  If there are 20,000 pupils who have vanished from the school roll, that is a fault of the schools.

 "However, she [Amanda Spielman] added that some had chosen to keep their children at home, and that “not every parent is equipped to be a teacher”—an issue which could “seriously derail the catch-up effort,” especially as children who had not yet returned to school were “disproportionately” those with “various kinds of problem or need”."

Firstly, there is a big misunderstanding of what home education is, if she thinks that every parent should be aa teacher.  Home education is learning outside of school, and learning does not stop at age 18. If a parent home educates their children, they only need be facilitators of that education.  They are not required to have learnt everything themselves so they can regurgitate it.  Nor is there any wrongdoing if the parent ends up learning alongside their children.
Secondly, I don't think there should be any "catch-up effort".  Maybe it's justifiable for children who are in exam years, but other than that, it's a waste of time and effort and I would go so far to say that it would have a negative impact on children's lives.  
Imagine you attend a school where Romans are taught in Yr7, but you missed much of the content due to the pandemic.  How is that going to stop you learning about WW2 for GCSE history years later?  Or if it is needed, why can't you learn it at the point it is needed?  Why are you suggesting that children need to be filled with more information that is ultimately going to be forgotten about anyway?  Why should children stay afterschool later, or have summer schools or evening classes to catch up?  All children across the country were (and are) affected by the pandemic.  Nobody is left behind because of it.
Thirdly, there may be many reasons why those with "various kinds of problem or need" may not have returned to school.  It could be because covid19 is still here and schools are not yet safe enough for those who are immunocompromised (or their family members).  Or it could be that parents realised that children learn loads without school and after a 'practice' during lockdown, they have decided to fully embrace home education.  Maybe they have realised that without school, their children are happier and have less mental health issues?  
A statutory register for children in EHE

"The Department’s own guidance states that there is “considerable evidence” that many of those children are not receiving a suitable education, and “increasing concern that some children educated at home may not be in safe environments.”"

Evidence please.   
Just because the EHE DGfLAs states "there is considerable evidence that many of these children are not receiving a suitable education. There is a less well evidenced but increasing concern that some children educated at home may not be in safe environments" does not mean it is true.  Indeed, in that document, there is no evidence given.  Clearly, if you say something enough to the government they start believing it's true.  That does explain some of the goings-on politically recently...

(Here is my readthrough of the aforementioned guidance from April 2019)

"Many written submissions to the inquiry from home educating families and the organisations that support them rejected the idea of a register" 

Actually over 75% of all published submissions are against having a register, however, they have only quoted a section from HEAS, but lots of quotes from people who are for a register.  Is the ESC actually listening to home educators??

Summary of published submissions
to the HE Inquiry, so far.
Analysed by the EHE Alliance.

"37. On 8 June 2021, Baroness Berridge, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education, responded to a Parliamentary Question that the Government’s guidance to local authorities on EHE would be “reviewed again in due course”. She added that: We remain committed to a registration system for children who are not in school. Further details on a proposed registration system will be in the government response to the Children Not in School consultation, which we intend to publish in due course."

I actually participated in the CNIS consultation.  It was kicked off in the January with Channel 4's Dispatches program , in the April I compared the new EHE guidance to the CME guidance, in the June of 2019 I was invited to attend an oral session which I shared here, and finally did a multi-part readthrough of the CME document in Nov 2020.

"The Committee heard from home educators that home-educated children are not ‘invisible’"

Actually, it was Graham Stuart MP, previous chair of the ESC, who said that home educated children were "peculiarly visible". 

"and that safeguarding has failed children who were already known to local authorities."

Yes! There are zero SCRs where HE is a contributory factor. 

"39. The Committee’s view remains that a statutory register, serving to more consistently identify children outside of school, is absolutely necessary. This would aim not to remove freedoms from those who are providing an effective education for their families, but to better target support to those who need it. The register should have a national reach but be administered locally. Rather than only targeting EHE children, it must cover all those who do not receive their principal education in a mainstream school. It may well be that the Government announces a statutory register ahead of this report being published. In any case, it must adhere to the principles we outline."

Bold and italics to emphasise that they didn't care about any submissions that they have received, the ESC had already decided they want a register and aim to bringing it in regardless.

 Inclusion, Off-rolling and Unregistered Schools 

I haven't looked yet, but this whole section is going to be stuff that has nothing to do with HE, but the ESC are using as "proof" they need to register and monitor HErs.  There's no need to fix schools, they'll just go after those parents who are doing their legal duty by providing an efficient education for their children.

Again, the paragraph about SEND and HE not being a "positive choice" fails to distinguish between those who realise  after they have already started that HE is a better solution for their children than schools, and those who are struggling and want their children to return to a school where they can get the support they need.

They have also made a note of the report that led to the Dispatches program I shared above, and are using this to try and justify a register.

"48. Throughout the inquiry, home educators and the organisations that support them told us that the problems of off-rolling, exclusion and illegal schools were not problems of EHE. Indeed, we were told that EHE was “a casualty and not a cause of these unacceptable practices”"

 And that is because off-rolling is an action by a school, so is clearly the school that needs to be dealt with.  Suppose I started stabbing people, should the solution be to take a register of everyone or to remove the knife from my hand?

I will continue with this series tomorrow (as I have to ferry my girls to their activities tonight).  The next section will be Part 4 (link HERE) and looks at the support given by LAs.

Strengthening Home Education - Part 2

If you haven't already read it, please click HERE to see Part 1 of my read-through.
And HERE is the original report (all 67 pages!).

So, the Introduction starts on page 7 of the document.  Paragraph 2 details that not much has changed since the recommendations of the previous inquiry and that there is indeed a "postcode lottery" - I said that myself in my submission.

The Committees Inquiry

"The inquiry sought not to debate the desirability of EHE, but rather to explore the extent to which current arrangements provide sufficient support for home-educated children to access efficient, full-time and suitable education, and to establish what further measures may be necessary in order to facilitate this."

Except, of course, it is obvious to all who read this, that the "desirability of EHE" for the ESC is that all HE kids get put into schools. 

"We held oral evidence sessions in November 2020 and March 2021"

But did not hear from any home educators during this time, and only heard from a single HE organisation (Education Otherwise) and conveniently twisted their words, so much so that the EHE Alliance (a group of HE organisations and academics all working together for the same goal) had to put out a letter complaining about the behaviour of some during the hearing )this can be found HERE).

"6. The State should not view those who make the perfectly legitimate choice to home educate with automatic suspicion, nor should it put unreasonable barriers in their way. However, as a society we must seek to balance the right of families to make the best choices for themselves with the responsibility to promote good outcomes for all children and young people, whether or not they go to school. It is not unreasonable to seek some reassurance about the suitability of the education received by children who are electively home-educated."

 This sounds all fine and dandy, I mean who in their right minds would complain about this paragraph?  Well, me for one.  Not that I have an issue with what it says, rather than what it doesn't say (though that may be in the document later on.  This is my 'live' read-through, so it's perfectly possible I haven't got there yet).

LAs already have the power to check up on families who have deregistered their child from school, and for these children, they already receive annual updates: sometimes over the phone (or online this past year), sometimes in person and sometimes a written report.  For children for whom there is evidence to suggest they are not receiving a suitable education, the LA already has powers to get further information and if they are not satisfied, they can issue a s437 and ultimately a School Attendance Order forcing that child into school.

"7. The Committee’s primary concerns centre on those children who are currently missing education. Indeed, our understanding is that children receiving an efficient, fulltime and suitable education at home would not fall under the Department’s definition of that category."

So basically, the government are getting battered because they cannot keep children in school, nor keep tabs on the children who are registered at school but not attending.  Therefore, the obvious conclusion is to have a go at EHE children, drumming up more paperwork and therefore possibilities for people to slip through the net, rather than tackling schools with what is their issue.
Yes, makes total sense... <hugely sarcastic tone and eye roll>

The legal framework for EHE in England

"8. Parents in England have a legal duty to secure the education of their compulsory school age children “either by regular attendance at school or otherwise”. Those who choose to home educate are responsible for ensuring that the education provided is efficient, full-time and suitable to the child’s age, ability, aptitude and any Special Educational Needs. (SEN)"

And those who choose to school educate are responsible for ensuring that the education provided is efficient, full-time and suitable to the child’s age, ability, aptitude and any Special Educational Needs (SEN).  Why isn't that bit mentioned???

"According to Government guidance, parents are not required to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, follow the National Curriculum, or aim for children to acquire specific qualifications."

 And (last time I checked), private schools are not required to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, follow the National Curriculum, or aim for children to acquire specific qualifications, yet many people aspire to or do send their children to private schools.

 "As of 2016, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimated that there were around nine million working aged adults in England with low literacy skills, numeracy skills, or both."

I would bet my bottom dollar that, of these, around nine million of them went to school. 

"10. When the Department’s guidance is next revisited, it must indicate what level of numeracy and literacy is sufficient, in its view, to enable an adult who received EHE as a child to “function as an independent citizen in the UK."

So, there will be a minimum level of numeracy and literacy imposed on EHE kids, but not one for schooled children?  Who can school-parents complain to when their child is unable to read or do basic maths, whether or not the child has SEND?

 "11. Guidance for local authorities specifies that approaches such as autonomous and self-directed learning should be “judged by outcomes, not on the basis that a different way of educating children must be wrong.”

Would the ESC care to explain to me how a child can be monitored yearly and how a child can be "judged by outcomes" (which in England would be at age 18)?  These are contradictory, and we know that the better scenario ("judged by outcomes") will be pushed aside by those proclaiming that children must be monitored annually.

Paragraph 11 also goes on about Fundamental British Values and how HE parents take financial responsibility.

"14. Compared with our European neighbours, the English model is relatively permissive. A 2018 survey of systems participating in the Eurydice network found that “home education at the request of families is possible in a majority of educational systems.” However, in a dozen countries—including Germany—“it is possible only in exceptional circumstances” and “in many cases, parents have to ask for authorisation from top level or local authorities.” Furthermore, students’ progress was “monitored and assessed everywhere except in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom”."

I don't see the point of this paragraph, since we're in England and we've been forced to leave the EU.  Wasn't part of our sovereignty meant to be that we don't have to be forced to follow EU rules and whatnot?  Unless, of course, the government wants to limit home education? Surely that's not the case? <more sarcasm> 

Why do parents choose to home educate?

"18. Submissions from home educating parents and the organisations that support them told us that EHE could deliver a more personalised, individual education which moved at the pace of the child. We heard from parents who had observed huge improvements in their children’s mental health after being removed from schools where they were not kept safe from bullying, and from those who relished the opportunity to spend time together as a family, providing their children with a wealth of experiences outside the relatively narrow school curriculum."

Of course there are only 400-odd submissions that have been published of the 900+ this report has stated to have received.  But anyway, this was a good paragraph, so to maintain the appearance of being balanced, I thought it best to include it here.

"19. The Committee unanimously supports the right of families to opt for EHE, provided it is in the best interests of the child and the education provided is of a suitable standard to meet the needs of the child. In the eyes of the law, the duty to secure an education for a child rests with parents. It follows that the choice to home educate should be afforded the same respect as the choice for children to attend a state or private school. However, without data on outcomes we cannot know how many children receiving EHE are getting a suitable education. For that reason, it is reasonable that local authorities have the ability to assess the suitability of education"

Research Exists!!!

"20. The next iteration of the Government’s guidance for local authorities and parents must set out a clearer vision for a ‘suitable’ education - including the levels of numeracy and literacy which it would usually expect students to have achieved before they move on to later education, training or employment. This vision should take into account the different paths that children with SEND might take."

This paragraph must be super way* important for it to be italicised AND bolded!
        * I've just read a series, starting Ugly Girl by Mary E Twomey, and the protagonist is always saying 'super way' instead of another descriptor.

Again, because of the different routes through home education for ALL children (whether they have SEND or otherwise), specifying levels of attainment in numeracy and literacy on an annual level does not make sense.  And if there are sanctions for parents whose children do not achieve these attainment levels (because of course, a stick is what is needed for parents who are often already down to a single income and are financially responsible for everything), can these sanctions be given to schools who have children who fail to meet these levels?

 Part 3 of this read-through is available HERE.

Strengthening Home Education Report - Part 1

Last night, at 10pm, the Education Committee published its Strengthening Home Education Report.  Apparently, this was so that it could be discussed in today's papers, yet I know many journalists got a heads-up what the report was going to say, so already had their articles written and waiting.  Home educators, otoh, had to wait until it was actually published before being able to read it.

I have not yet read the report myself, though I have seen some people's reactions to it.  I thought I would share my reaction with you, as I read it and jot down notes.  There may be the occasional swear word, but fuck it - I'm an adult.

So, opening up the report I can see that it is 67 pages long. Joy.

Looking at the contents list, under "Summary" it begins - a statutory register for children out of school...

"The Association of Directors of Children’s Services projected that as of October 2020 more than 75,000 children were being educated at home, an increase of 38 per cent from the previous year"

The ADCS numbers are inaccurate.  This has already be clarified by WCW of Education Otherwise, yet the Education Select Committee (ESC) still continues to use it.

"It is simply not good enough that we are only able to make a best guess at the number of children receiving EHE, especially when the Department for Education itself acknowledges that there is “considerable evidence” that many children may not be receiving a suitable education"

Really?  I'd like to see this "considerable evidence" as it all seems anecdotal and made-up to me.

 "The Committee remains deeply concerned that we cannot support children who may have been ‘left behind’ during the pandemic without knowing who they are and how many of them there are."

'Left behind' does not make sense when talking about home education.  The law clearly states that the education must be suitable to their age, ability and aptitude.  I am much more concerned about the children in schools who genuinely get 'left behind' because they do not have the individual support needed in order to keep up with the rest of the class. 

"Without a national register for EHE, we have no equivalent intelligence about the impact of covid-19 on the participation in educational activities of the full range of children receiving EHE."

The Centre for Personalised Education (CPE) recently held a conference with leading academics entitled "Research Exists".  The research is there already, and there is still some ongoing research regarding to covid (for exam THIS research project looking at the impact on HErs trying to take exams during covid).  If Robert Halfon (Chair of the ESC) refuses to attend such conferences, how does he expect to find out about the evidence? Oh yeah, by bringing in a register... (See my thoughts on bringing in a register HERE).

"During the inquiry hundreds of parents that home educate their children told us about the benefits they see from EHE."

There were actually over 1000 responses to the HE Inquiry, it's just that they have only published a few hundred of them. 

Summary Recommendations:

1. A Statutory register for children out of school

As I've said before, a register will not achieve anything that they are hoping it to.  They keep saying that the evidence from home educators cannot be trusted to ensure that all HE children are receiving a suitable education, but unless they search every single house (which may be next steps, who knows?) anybody who is nefarious will simply not register their children.  They are encouraging people to snitch on their neighbours for having children.

"Once the register is up and running, we expect the Department to collate, analyse and publish anonymised annual data on the number of children out of school so that stakeholders are better able to understand trends and create effective policy in response to them."

And that's what this is about, really.  Stakeholders in a children's education are the child themselves and the parent.  Schools are involved if the child is registered at school, and the LA should only be involved if there is evidence to suggest that an education is not taking place.  Creating work for paper-pushers within the government is not a good use of tax payer money, especially when there are already researchers from various universities who study trends and can actually understand what they are looking at.

2. Supporting children with SEND and home education

"We do know that for some families EHE is not truly ‘elective’, especially those where children have special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and do not get the support they need from the school system. No-one should be forced into educating at home through lack of support—instead the Government must act to ensure that schools are able to provide proper support for SEND in the first place."

This is not a HE thing.  Instead they have conflated two things, and are using it as a way to 'encourage' more children back into school.
The government must act to ensure schools are able to provide proper support for SEND - absolutely!  If a child is in school, they should get all the help and support they need in order to get the education they deserve.
Some parents of children with SEND do look into HE due to the lack of support and services on offer at school.  These parents are then split into two groups - parents who decide that HE is the best way for their children to get a good education, and those who feel forced into home education.  This latter group is then split into a further two groups - those who realise HE is totally flexible and therefore the best place for their children to get a good education, and those who still wish they could send their child to school.  It is this latter group of parents that need the support.  Having already used a school, these children will be known to their Local Authorities.  A register will not make a difference here.

"To ensure that families who are considering EHE receive the right information at the right time to make the best decision for their children, we call for the Department to reconsider the creation of an independent, neutral advocate which has the responsibility for co-ordinating all statutory SEND processes and could support families where a choice about EHE is being made."

Will this "independent, neutral advocate" have knowledge about home education and have firm links with the home educating community, or will it be someone else to suggest that children with SEND need to be in school, and therefore yet another hoop for these parents to jump through?

3. Assessment of a 'suitable' education

 "Local authorities must be able to assess the educational progress of children who are home educated at least once a year, in order to take reasonable steps to reassure themselves that EHE is providing a ‘suitable’ education."

So, I'm not even out of the initial summary of this document (bottom of page 4) and already a recommendation for a register has turned into "at least" annual monitoring. 

"However, as a minimum, home-educated children must have equity of access to the next stage of their education, work or training with their schooled peers. This means attaining essential standards of literacy and numeracy, while also taking into account the different paths that children with SEND might follow."

"Next stage of their education" means, imo, age 16+ when they go off to college/sixth form or apprenticeships.  At a push, it could be brought back to age 14 (when schooled children start studying for their GCSEs) to ensure that these options are available for home educated kids, but however you look at it, it does not mean there should be annual monitoring.

Then there's a sentence about LA staff needing effective training, which I totally agree with, but again, there should be input from one of the national HE organisations (Educational Freedom, Education Otherwise, or whoever) to ensure that this training is correct wrt HE, and not just pushed from the government/ESC to make even more LAs act unlawfully.

"While we know that a number of local authorities do more than the bare minimum, local authorities must have the ability to see children (at a venue of the family’s choosing) and evidence of their progress as appropriate, even where educational content and style varies widely from the school curriculum"

So a child no longer has autonomy over themselves or their belongings?  They cannot refuse to meet a stranger?  They must hand over their work to be scrutinised by some random?
Small consolation - but at least they have said "at a venue of the family's choosing", rather than demanding to see and inspect children's homes and safe spaces too.

4. Better data on outcomes

As I've already said, there has even been a conference entitled Research Exists.  Even anecdotally, join a national HE facebook group or two, and you can see loads of examples about outcomes from home education. 

Personally, I don't think this section is a bad thing, however, it should be voluntary (whilst acknowledging that may skew the data slightly).

5. A level playing field on access to examinations

"The Department for Education must work to establish the appropriate level of entitlement, to which examinations the entitlement will apply, and the additional funding the Department will commit to support this, in order to help EHE children gain the qualifications needed for the future education, training and employment that will allow them to play active roles in society."

Apart from the derisive suggestion that only people with specific qualifications "play active roles in society", I do think there should be better support for HE kids taking exams.  However, these should not be limited to specific subjects, qualifications nor age of the child - they should be available as and when needed.

This is the end of the summary of the document.  In Part 2 I will go through the introduction of the report.

 

Season of Hope by Dayo Benson

After a dystopian thriller, what better than a cosy Christmas chick-lit to remind me of all that is well in the world?

The blurb says:

Last Christmas, Robyn Kellett was distraught because her fiancé broke up with her. This Christmas promises to be even worse as Chad Ryder, the man she loved as a naïve eighteen-year old, resurfaces with an invitation to come to a university reunion in Blackpool. Robyn’s only hope of having a merry Christmas is the mysterious man she talks to every night online. They have a date for Christmas Eve, and Robyn hopes he’s as perfect in real life as he seems on the Internet.

Chad Ryder needs Robyn to come to Blackpool. It’s the only chance he has to win her heart before she finds out that the man she’s been falling in love with online for the past six months is none other than him.

At Blackpool, Robyn is infuriated by all of Chad’s efforts to win her heart, and Chad is frustrated with her constant resistance. As Christmas Eve draws near, Chad hopes for forgiveness for his deception, and Robyn hopes for the man of her dreams.

Will either of them get what they want?

I do like Dayo Benson as an author, having got introduced to her writing through Searchlight, the first in the paranormal Crystal series.

Season of Hope is a short romance that is set in the UK, and follows the story of Robyn as she psyches herself up for her university reunion.  Having recently separated from her fiancé, and knowing that her teenage crush is going to be there, Robyn is thankful that she can confide in her online confidant.

It is light, it is predictable, it is Christmassy - everything you want from a seasonal chick lit. 😊

Rift by Andreas Christensen

 

As I read a lot of free kindle books, many are self-published, and many are the result of writing competitions.  When that happens, I find it interesting to see how common starting points can result in totally differing books.  Now, I don't know if that has happened with Rift, but there are definite initial similarities to The Hunger Games: Once a year a group of newly graduated (from High School) students get selected for Service to the State.  The students don't get a choice in where they serve, or whether they serve, but get taken from their home towns and villages for the greater good.

The blurb says:

In the ruins of what was once North America lays the Covenant, a nation forged by the iron will of the Moon people, who descended from their dusty refuge on the Moon after the Fall. The Moon people are wealthy, ruled by a strong government who protects its citizens from the dangers from outside their borders. Their greatest achievement is having learned the secret of immortality, and every citizen has the opportunity to live nearly forever if they choose to, a life of riches and abundance.

The English are the descendants of the original inhabitants of this place, and they live very different lives from that of the Moon people. They only live to serve the greater good, and citizenship is something few have the opportunity to earn. At the age of fifty all non-citizens are subjected to mandatory euthanasia. In order to maintain a sustainable society, they are told.

Every year a number of girls and boys at the age of eighteen are selected for Service to the State. The brightest and most talented are sent to become Students. The strong, the fighters and the athletes become Janissaries, a band of soldiers protecting the northern border from the enemies of the Covenant. The Wardens, a secretive organization known to operate far to the west, near the Rift, which makes up the border to the wastelands, sometimes choses one or two initiates, but nobody knows what becomes of them. And then there is the Corpus, where the whip rules and backs are bent.

Those who complete their Service, may become citizens. And although they will never be equal to the Moon people, they will have access to all the riches and opportunities granted by the Covenant leadership to its citizens.

As Sue is nearing Selection Day, she secretly hopes to be chosen, despite having to leave her mother and brother behind. She doesn't crave glory or wealth though. A man or woman with citizen status can do a lot of good, and although few return to their home towns, Sue hopes to return to give her family a better life on the other side of Service.

But the Covenant is rotten to the core, and as she begins to learn its secrets, Sue must question everything she has always taken for granted. Soon she will find herself in dire peril, for she has seen the truth and there will be no turning back after that...

This science fiction dystopian trilogy is set more than two centuries after the events of Exodus, in a future dystopian society forged from the ashes of global disaster.

Yeah yeah, I know that my two favourite genres are SciFi and dystopia, so when I come across a book that starts a series I will get absorbed and buy the whole series.  I know that it will be of no surprise to you to discover that has happened again, and I ended up buying and reading Covenant and Legacy too, but it had to be done - honest!!

So, Rift follows the story of Sue.  She is well educated and wants to go into Service so she can eventually become a Citizen and help her family have a better life.  She becomes an initiate to the Janissaries - military service designed to keep the English and the Moon people safe from the French and other outsiders, thankful to have avoided service to the Corpus - chain gangs used to mine the earth for raw materials often resulting in illness and death.

During her time with the Janissaries, Sue becomes captured by the French and is treated humanely in a hospital - nothing like the monsters and imagery that she has been fed with.  She discovers more corruption and starts to question everything to do with the Covenant and the Moon people - the saviours and masters of the English.

An amazing series.  The author is really good at conveying the emotion, thrilling, cliff-hangers and menace as you get your head around this future dystopia for Earth. Loved it.

I hadn't actually realised that this series is a sequel to The Exodus Trilogy, and not having the previous knowledge, did not distract from this series at all.  I have added the previous series to my wishlist.

 

Quantum by Patricia Cornwell

 Q in my A-Z of Fiction Titles is Quantum.  

The blurb says:

On the eve of a top secret space mission, Captain Calli Chase detects a tripped alarm in the tunnels deep below a NASA research center. A NASA pilot, quantum physicist, and cybercrime investigator, Calli knows that a looming blizzard and government shutdown could provide the perfect cover for sabotage, with deadly consequences.

As it turns out, the danger is worse than she thought. A spatter of dried blood, a missing security badge, a suspicious suicide—a series of disturbing clues point to Calli’s twin sister, Carme, who’s been MIA for days.

Desperate to halt the countdown to disaster and to clear her sister’s name, Captain Chase digs deep into her vast cyber security knowledge and her painful past, probing for answers to her twin’s erratic conduct. As time is running out, she realizes that failure means catastrophe—not just for the space program but for the safety of the whole nation.

 I don't think I've read any of Patricia Cornwell's books before, though I'm well aware she is a prolific and well-revered author.

The thriller side of this book I enjoyed.  Trying to work out what is going on with Carme as well as finding out why there was a suicide and the mystery of the tripped alarm.  However, I didn't see the point of the NASA background, the rocket launch and all that side of thing.  I get that it's just the backing for the story, yet it seemed so irrelevant, that the story could have been situated elsewhere and nothing much would be lost.

There is also no ending to the book.  I understand the idea of ending on a cliff-hanger, but I much rather books that have some sort of ending, with an epilogue/final chapter that introduces the cliff-hanger.  This book, however, simply doesn't end.

Overall, I'm just disappointed by this book.  Reading other reviews however, have shown me that even Cornwell fans didn't like this book, so that gives me hope should I ever decide to read one of her other series.

I've put the next book on my wishlist, just because I want to know how the story ends, but there are a load of books on my wishlist that I will be buying before the next one. 
(For new readers to my blog - hello, and welcome!  After discovering I had nearly 1000 unread books on my kindle [I love a freebie!], I'm now working through them, refusing to buy any more books until these are read and down to a decent level.  I'm getting there, with only 660 still to go, lol.  The only exception to my no-buying rule, is if a book is so amazing, then I do tend to buy the rest of the series and live in that world for a week or two...)