{"pageProps":{"posts":[{"id":"676d70465c7aa20e11b7a102","uuid":"ae4a5fc9-51a4-4cad-afe2-cf2a364a39a5","title":"What to buy from the Waterstones Sale","slug":"what-to-buy-from-the-waterstones-sale","html":"

We did this blog post a few years ago and were told it was super helpful so we’re back! Here to make the Christmas Waterstones less overwhelming (and time consuming to scroll through) with our top reccos from the sale all collated in one place.

We’ve linked each book too, so just click on the title of the book if it takes your fancy and you’ll be taken to the website to add to basket.

Let’s start with a few that were in our top 10 books of the year!

\"James

James by Percival Everett

When the enslaved Jim learns he’ll be sold to a new owner in New Orleans, he hides on Jackson’s Island whilst formulating a plan. Meanwhile, Huck Finn fakes his own death to escape his violent father. Thus begins a dangerous journey by raft along the Mississippi River, toward the elusive promise of the free states and beyond for the duo. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and listed as one of NYT’s top 100 books of the century - get it in your basket!

\"Blue

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

Avery, Bonnie and Lucky return to their family home in New York from their respective lives in London, LA and Paris in the wake of the death of their beloved fourth sister. Guaranteed to break your heart from just the gorgeous writing alone, add this to your basket.

\"By

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

Modern playwright Melina Green and her Elizabethan ancestor Emilia Bassano—fight to have their voices heard in a male-dominated world. As Melina’s friend secretly submits her play under a male pseudonym, Emilia, centuries earlier, conspires to have her work staged by paying William Shakespeare to claim it as his. Intertwining timelines weave a gripping tale of ambition, courage, and sacrifice, asking: how far should a writer go to ensure their story endures? Lauren has made Jess want to read it, so add it to your basket too to get in on the action.

\"life

The life Impossible by Matt Haig

Grace Winters, a retired teacher in her 70s, inherits a house on the island of Ibiza from a long-lost acquaintance. As she uncovers the mysteries surrounding her inheritance, Grace is drawn into fantastical realms that force her to confront her own past and regrets. Lauren’s favourite fiction of his yet, so if you’ve enjoyed one of his previous books then pop this in your basket.

We move away from our top 10 books of the year now, but these are stand out specials which we’ve discussed on the podcast so if you’ve been waiting for an excuse to buy them, this is it!

\"we

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Steve enjoys his retired life, just doing the odd bit of investigation work, whilst his daughter-in-law Amy faces all the action as a private security officer. Then a dead body, a bag of money and a killer with their sights on Amy spark breakneck race around the world begins, but can Amy and Steve stay one step ahead of a deadly enemy? If you loved Thursday Murder Club, this new series needs to be added to your basket.

\"shy

Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers

Croydon, 1964. Helen is an art therapist in a psychiatric hospital, where one afternoon they receive a call about a disturbance from a derelict house where a mute, 37yr old man has been shut up for decades. But when it emerges that William is a talented artist, Helen is determined to discover his story. As you can see from the picture, Jess loves Clare’s writing, so if you do too then definitely pop this in your basket.

\"what

What a Way to Go by Bella Mackie

Anthony Wistern is wealthy beyond imagination and has the perfect family and multiple houses to show for it. But he’s now also dead. Suddenly poised to inherit his fortune, each member of the family falls under suspicion. If you like dark comedy with a slightly fantastical edge (yes it’s a thing) then buy this one whilst its half price.

\"you

You Are Here by David Nicholls

Marnie and Michael are both at a bit of a standstill in their lives, so their mutual friend Cleo invites them on a group hike to kick off the new year and pair up her single friends. Whilst not originally paired up, the two find themselves as the only ones left to finish the walk providing the perfect backdrop to get to know each other. Add this to your basket as it's a perfect read for entering the new year.

\"My

My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes

Anna has a life to envy. An apartment in New York, a gorgeous partner and a high-flying job in beauty PR. Who wouldn’t want all that? Anna – it turns out. Turning a minor mid-life crisis into a major life event she bins the lot, heads back to Ireland, and gets a PR job for a super-high-end coastal retreat. But leaving New York doesn’t mean escaping her mistakes and now she has to face them. If you’ve been following the Walsh sisters, then surely this is a no brainer to add to your basket?! P.S if you haven’t, you can still absolutely enjoy this book!

\"ADH&D

Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak and Dogs by Jordan Stephens

Diagnosed twice with ADHD, Jordan Stephens found his teens and twenties a whirl of career success and nurturing friendships but also a brutal pattern of self-harm, hedonism, destructive coping mechanisms and heartbreak. In this very open book he discovers what it means to be a modern man and how the price we pay for love in all its forms is worth it. Although it sounds heavy, his writing style makes it very easy to consume and its a brilliant book - might as well buy it in the sale right?

\"Death

Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson

The stage is set. Marooned overnight by a snowstorm in a grand country house are a cast of characters and a setting that even Agatha Christie might recognize – a vicar, an Army major, a Dowager, a sleuth and his sidekick - except that the sleuth is Jackson Brodie, and the ‘sidekick’ is DC Reggie Chase. The last of our crime reccos in this blog post so get it in your basket.

Hope that helps, happy reading! xx

","comment_id":"676d70465c7aa20e11b7a102","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2024/12/Waterstones-sale-blog-post.png","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2024-12-26T15:03:34.000+00:00","updated_at":"2024-12-26T15:09:32.000+00:00","published_at":"2024-12-26T15:09:32.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/what-to-buy-from-the-waterstones-sale/","excerpt":"We did this blog post a few years ago and were told it was super helpful so\nwe’re back! Here to make the Christmas Waterstones less overwhelming (and time\nconsuming to scroll through) with our top reccos from the sale all collated in\none place.\n\nWe’ve linked each book too, so just click on the title of the book if it takes\nyour fancy and you’ll be taken to the website to add to basket.\n\nLet’s start with a few that were in our top 10 books of the year!\n\nJames by Percival Everett [https://tidd.ly/","reading_time":5,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"waterstones christmas sale","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"66f2c64d5c7aa20e11b79fc6","uuid":"bd63202c-00f6-4ab5-9553-d086e0f95828","title":"Montenegro Road Trip: Where to Go, What to Do, and Where to Stay!","slug":"montenegro-road-trip-where-to-go-what-to-do-and-where-to-stay","html":"

Montenegro may be small, but it’s packed with stunning landscapes and endless opportunities for adventure, from rugged mountains to crystal-clear Adriatic beaches. Not only is it a haven for nature lovers, but it’s also home to four UNESCO World Heritage sites, and I managed to visit three of them during my 9-day trip.

Whether you’re into hiking, exploring charming old towns, or simply lazing on a beach, Montenegro has so much variety Here’s a recap of my road trip, including some favourite spots and must-see stops!

\"Blake

Getting There & Getting Around Montenegro

Flying In: We kicked off our trip by flying into Podgorica which is an airport surrounded by dramatic mountains.

Getting around: If you plan on exploring the country, renting a car is essential—public transport options are limited, and a car gives you the freedom to explore at your own pace. We booked through Sixt, which wasn’t the cheapest option, but it felt reliable compared to some budget companies with mixed reviews. Driving in Montenegro was smooth and straightforward, with well-maintained roads and minimal traffic.

Flights Out: Since we were covering a lot of ground, we booked our return flights from Dubrovnik instead of Tivat. This saved us time and money and allowed us to finish our trip without backtracking.

When to Go to Montenegro

Originally, we planned our trip for May, but we had to reschedule for September, which wasn’t ideal as we knew we’d be entering the stormy season. On the upside, this meant fewer crowds, though the weather was unpredictable with frequent showers. I’d recommend visiting in April to early June for lovely weather and fewer tourists.

The Perfect Montenegro Road Trip Itinerary

Stop 1: Durmitor National Park (2 Days, 2 Nights)

\"Durmitor

Our first stop was Durmitor National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site about a 2-hour drive from Podgorica. Once you get past the initial stretch of straight roads, the scenery becomes breathtaking with dramatic mountains and lush forests. We stayed in a gorgeous cabin just outside Zabljak, the park’s main town.

What to Do:

\"Blake

Tip: Pack your own lunch to enjoy by the lake, or grab a bite at the lakeside restaurant. Don’t miss a refreshing swim in the crystal-clear waters!

Stop 2: Lake Skadar (2 Days, 2 Nights)

\"Lake

Lake Skadar was a highlight of our trip. We stayed in Virpazar at Lake View Apartments, which lived up to its name with stunning vistas. Our hosts, Mama Slavicka and Drako, definitely deserve a recco, they were incredibly welcoming, treating us to homemade wine and local delicacies.

What to Do:

\"Winery

Dining Reccos:

Stop 3: Perast (1 Day)

\"Perast

Perast is a picturesque seaside town perfect for a day trip. We spent our time hiking from the town center to a nearby beach, where we cooled off in the warm Adriatic Sea and relaxed with our books.

Dining Tip: The waterfront is lined with charming restaurants offering fresh seafood, pasta, and pizza. Perfect for a leisurely lunch by the sea.

Stop 4: Budva (1 Night)

\"Budva

Driving into Budva, I initially regretted adding it to our itinerary—think high-rise hotels and bustling crowds. However, the Old Town is a hidden gem! We spent the evening wandering its narrow lanes, discovering cozy bars and quaint restaurants.

What to Do:

Stop 5: Sveti Stefan (1 Day)

\"Sveti

Sveti Stefan is a postcard-perfect island connected to the mainland by a narrow bridge. Though the island itself is off-limits to the public, it’s worth visiting for a beach day and enjoying the stunning views.

Tip: Arrive early to secure a good spot on the beach, especially in peak season.

Stop 6: Kotor (3 Days, 3 Nights)

\"Kotor

The Bay of Kotor, another UNESCO site, was the longest stop on our trip, and for good reason—it’s gorgeous from every angle. The highlight was hiking up to St. John’s Fortress, where the panoramic views of the bay are unbeatable.

What to Do:

Dining Reccos:

Stop 7: Tivat (1 Day)

\"Tivat

Tivat is Montenegro’s answer to Monaco—luxury yachts, designer shops, and upscale eateries (read: lots of men in chinos and boat shoes). It’s fun for a quick visit, though staying here can be pricey.

Dining Tip: Check out Ma Cherie for delicious food and sea views without breaking the bank (heads up the smoked tuna bagel was honestly to die for).

Stop 8: Herceg Novi (1 Day, 1 Night)

\"Herceg

Herceg Novi was our final stop before crossing into Croatia. This charming seaside town is perfect for winding down after a busy trip.

Dining Recommendations:

Final Thoughts and Tips

Montenegro is the perfect destination for a road trip, combining stunning scenery, rich history, and delicious food. If you’re looking for a mix of adventure and relaxation, you can’t go wrong exploring this underrated Balkan gem. Feel free to drop us a DM on Instagram with any questions!

Lauren x

","comment_id":"66f2c64d5c7aa20e11b79fc6","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2024/09/Kotor-Montenegro.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2024-09-24T14:01:49.000+00:00","updated_at":"2024-09-26T13:14:47.000+00:00","published_at":"2024-09-24T15:15:40.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/montenegro-road-trip-where-to-go-what-to-do-and-where-to-stay/","excerpt":"Montenegro may be small, but it’s packed with stunning landscapes and endless\nopportunities for adventure, from rugged mountains to crystal-clear Adriatic\nbeaches. Not only is it a haven for nature lovers, but it’s also home to four\nUNESCO World Heritage sites, and I managed to visit three of them during my\n9-day trip. \n\nWhether you’re into hiking, exploring charming old towns, or simply lazing on a\nbeach, Montenegro has so much variety Here’s a recap of my road trip, including\nsome favourite sp","reading_time":5,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"Guide for a Montenegro road trip","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"66c59d325c7aa20e11b79ed5","uuid":"118b7524-d0eb-44d3-ac95-061393853c0f","title":"66 Books warehouse review","slug":"66-books-warehouse-review","html":"

In case you haven't heard of it, or have but don't fully understand what it is, 66 Books is a wholesale warehouse full of books and on select weekends they open for for the general public to shop and get 70% off retail prices! In this blog I'll give a breakdown of the place, tips on how to get the most out of your visit and address the questions I was asked on our Instagram reel.

📆Firstly, it is a warehouse not a bookshop, you can't turn up any day of the week so please check their site/Facebook page for the specific dates they open to shoppers. It is based in Hemel Hempstead (in Hertfordshire) in an industrial estate so you'll need to drive to it, but there is plenty of parking. When you arrive you'll see signs to scan a QR code to sign up to their book club, which is £2 per year for a whole household.

⏰All advice says to get there early to avoid queues but it seems if you go in the morning it’s inevitable you'll have to wait in line. We were prepared to queue so didn't bother getting there super early (my thinking was that if you arrive before 9am you will still have to wait for it to open?!) plus I'd heard about the delicious coffee cart which kept us going with yummy brownies and blondies! Next time I'll go in the afternoon as when we left there was no queue, but if that really panics you they keep their Facebook page updated with estimated wait times throughout the day so you can monitor it.  Last entry is at 4pm and last sale is at 6pm.

Quick myth-bust on the above too: someone said they'd heard a rumour that you need to go in the morning or they sell out of books... there are far too many books for this to be the case!?

🛍️All books are 70% off the marked retail price, so the average paperback costing £8.99 will be less than £3! Some books are stocked in both hardback and paperback so scout around for the cheaper one (but don’t make a mess as they will likely be in different aisles, more on this in a mo). We left with 21 books, most of which were hardbacks, and our total was £76!

🤯This is not a bookshop, it’s a huge warehouse across two floors. If you change your mind about a book you need to return it to where you found it as there aren't retail staff going around clearing up the shelves.  At first this meant I struggled to commit to picking up books in case I couldn’t find where to return it, so I found myself not adding books to my basket (yes they have baskets), but then I remembered the insane discount and anything that took my eye came home with me.

📚I had lots of questions on the types of books they stock so here are some pointers on that:

💚I had very low expectations of the range of books there'd be and didn’t actually ever plan on going until my husband planned it for a surprise date, and I was SO impressed with the selection of books. You can easily spend two-three hours browsing. This is an absolute must for bookworms!

","comment_id":"66c59d325c7aa20e11b79ed5","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2024/08/unnamed.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2024-08-21T07:54:26.000+00:00","updated_at":"2024-08-28T10:37:43.000+00:00","published_at":"2024-08-21T09:00:04.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/66-books-warehouse-review/","excerpt":"In case you haven't heard of it, or have but don't fully understand what it is,\n66 Books is a wholesale warehouse full of books and on select weekends they open\nfor for the general public to shop and get 70% off retail prices! In this blog\nI'll give a breakdown of the place, tips on how to get the most out of your\nvisit and address the questions I was asked on our Instagram reel\n[https://www.instagram.com/p/C-14T8sADOD/].\n\n📆Firstly, it is a warehouse not a bookshop, you can't turn up any day of","reading_time":3,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"66 Books Warehouse review","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"66f2ec9e5c7aa20e11b7a074","uuid":"4d238e22-4297-4166-bd76-78a8098923cf","title":"Wedding Tips from an Event Planner","slug":"wedding-tips-from-an-event-planner","html":"

Hello from newlywed Jess! In our October Wrap Up podcast episode I gave a few reccos for before, during and after your wedding and since getting messages to say how reassuring it was I thought I’d expand and drop a few more truth bombs, along with some fun things I did on the day in case you need any wedding inspo and some general planning tips which I’m hoping as a full time Event Manager are helpful!

And no, there won’t be pics of my husband in the post, if you follow us you’ll know he is a private person and would prefer not to be shared - soz he’s all mine!

Things you should know before your wedding

The main one is to soak up this special time, it really is like no other and will fly by! If you’re like me and conscious about annoying those around you, I’ll tell you that a) the people who really love you will be just as excited b) everyone is actually very nosey about other people’s weddings… anyway onto the practical advice.

\"Autumn

Suppliers

Obviously you’ve booked your venue first (please do this first) and so I’d recco then looking at photographers, bands, cake makers, florists etc. who have worked at the venue before by browsing tagged photos and locations on Instagram. It just makes everything easier if they already know the space.

\"autumn

I’d also try to be smart about how many different people you’re involving and thus have to deal with. For example Mark Bamforth was our photographer, videographer and brought the photobooth, and the DJ who played in between the band’s sets was organised by the band - and BOY would I recco The Vibrations who bring all the vibes and then seamlessly transition to amazing mixes from the DJ in between so you don’t even mind when it is no longer the incredible live music playing!

Suppliers who also already work together will make your life easier too - my AMAZING hair and make up artists work together all the time and are so in sync that you will not be stretched for time in the morning - and sorry but did you see that bridal braid??

\"wedding

But my main tip regarding suppliers, as mentioned on the pod, is that you are their customer and are paying them for a service! Yes they are very busy people, particularly during the summer when it is peak season, but you are still a customer and you should not be scared to be called a bridezilla purely for chasing for a response to a perfectly normal question. Write this down: Bridezilla is an antifeminist term preventing women from getting what they want.

The Dress

What should be one of the most exciting and special parts, or at least I thought it would be, was by far my most stressful. Of course I didn’t help myself by going bespoke and whilst I love that no one else will ever wear the same dress as me, I’d have had an easier life if I bought one off the rack.

\"wedding

Anyway, as mentioned on the pod I want to reassure you all that it is okay if you don’t get the “this is the one” feeling, it's a bit of a myth. You’ll end up with a dress you like because you’ve tried on X, Y and Z to get to it. As long as you feel good in it then that's all that matters, not whether you get this completely made up feeling that everyone pressurises you to feel.

\"bridal

Oh and also I highly recco choosing an evening outfit to make sure you can dance the night away! Pun intended there as my first dance was a surprise routine to Dua Lipa’s Barbie Movie song with all my best friends that we learnt on my hen do!

Decor

My wedding was themed around Autumn given that it was an October wedding (and we love the season!), but of course not all weddings have to have a theme. What I would say is that choosing your colour palette, metal, font and vibe are helpful for making all decisions. Use pinterest and Instagram to save anything that captures your eye and create a common thread from there, it will be so helpful in choosing bridesmaid dresses, flowers, and your cake even!

\"wedding

I’m pretty crafty so knew I wanted to make as much as I could - hand painting candlesticks, calligraphy on signage, pinecone name cards you name it! But so as not to overwhelm myself with a long to do list (or spend too much in one go), as soon as I had finalised an idea I would make it, so I spent most of 2023 making things in little sessions and only saving the table plan as the final piece of the puzzle in the final month - and even then I had to redo it due to drop outs but we’ll come onto that…

\"pinecone

I know from my career in events how much can be spent on big floral centre pieces so I opted for little vases of dried stems I bought myself across the year, single flowers in bottles from the florist, tree stumps from a local horticulture team and then a mix of candles all within the autumnal theme. I had so much fun browsing charity shops for candle holders, and I then bought a bunch of candles all with a particular scent I liked in bulk so that our wedding would have a smell. I vividly remember smelling them during the ceremony and now whenever we light the candles at home we are taken back to the day.

\"wedding

I used printed.com to make the table numbers as I wanted them to be multipurpose, so they also displayed the menu on one side and a QR code for guests to upload their pics and videos from the day to a shared Google Photo album - we loved this as we now we have everything in one place and all guests can browse everyones content!

The Guests

Yes you’re spending a lot of money on people coming to your wedding, but chances are they are too! New outfits, hotels, taxis, celebrations in the lead up to and it is quite a long old day for them, so we were really conscious that we wanted to make everyone feel special.

\"wedding

This included baskets with helpful bits in the bathrooms (plasters, deodorant etc.), flip flops for boogying in the evening (I got most on Facebook marketplace from other brides who had bought too many), hangover hydration for everyone to take in their taxis at the end of the night and a candle for each of them to take home. We also had a basket of our favourite games for anyone who needed a dancefloor break, which was a personal touch as everyone knows we love a board game!

\"table

You’ll have been strict on the guest list making sure your nearest and dearest are included, and the occasional plus one to make sure everyone is comfortable and can have a good time, however you will have people drop out at last minute. This happened to us on three occasions, so we asked some of our evening guests if they would like to come to the day, it is worth having in mind who you may invite in this scenario.

Hen Do Outfits

I really wanted to wear fun, cute bridal outfits that I would never normally wear because if you can’t on your hen do then when can you?! But as a result I knew I’d never wear them again so I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on them and I got all of them second hand on Vinted! I then listed them after the wedding too and made all the money back again and felt so happy knowing someone else would get the same joy I did out of wearing them - so check Vinted/Depop/charity shops!

\"hen

Tips for making the most of the wedding day itself

I actually had a v stressful morning getting ready due to the venue’s event manager calling in sick and a mix up with a supplier, so I leapt into Event mode and started organising as much as I could myself and then reminded myself the most important thing about the day was my husband to be and our loved ones. So my first tip is to make peace with the fact that no one is in your brain and can’t possibly make things look exactly how you want, or have things run as smoothly as you’d like because you can’t be everywhere at once!

\"autumn

We’d chosen to walk down the aisle together early on in our planning, so when our photographer suggested we do an official “first look” with him we figured why not! And it was so nice for having that private moment and to ground each other and settle any nerves, even if you aren’t walking down the aisle together I’d really recco it - plus you bank some pictures so that you don’t miss too much of the rest of the day doing posed shots!

\"autumn

The drinks reception after the ceremony is a mad whirlwind of having the same conversations with each guest about how the day is going so far/how you look etc. so I’d recco allowing no more than 3-5mins with each person so you can tick as many off as you can, and then catching up with the rest during the meal just doing a quick whip round to tables. Once you know you’ve spoken to everyone you can relax a bit more.

We had heard that it can be hard for the couple to spend time together on the day so we opted for a “sweet heart table” at the wedding breakfast, where we just sat the two of us and it was perfect for catching up, sharing stories and having fun. Top tables are very old school!

\"autumn

As mentioned on the podcast, we organised a game for all the tables of “Who would you rather” where each table received 10 post cards asking if they’d rather rob a bank with the bride and the groom, or who they’d rather was their drill sergeant (and so on) with space for them to write a reason why. We had so much fun reading them back and it was a great way to get our guests talking and mingling. Again I got these printed cheaply with printed.com.

What you should know about the aftermath of the wedding

It is very fun to have a little “day 2,” for your closest friends and family, for us this looked like a mass rounders match. It just gives you a chance to hear about the day from other people and stay on that high for a little longer surrounded by the people you love. Even if this is a group breakfast at the hotel you’re all staying at rather than anything very organised it should definitely be done.

\"wedding

We went on honeymoon 6 days after the wedding which felt perfect, we had enough time to chill out, eat leftover cake (although there is some in the freezer too) and then pack before going away. But I really would recco going as soon as you can rather than leaving it a year for a big trip, that newlywed bubble is perhaps one of the happiest times of my life and whilst nothing changes day to day, that part really is so special.

No one tells you how emotional opening wedding cards is! So pace yourself in reading them and savouring them. I’m very glad we didn’t opt for a guest book as a result too, we asked guests to write a note for our 1 year anniversary and put them in a jar, so I assume we’ll cry whilst reading those too…

\"wedding

Pro tip: because my decor was seasonal and we got married at the start of October, I listed it all on Facebook marketplace the day before the wedding on Friday and someone came to collect £150 worth of it on the Monday, so think about the time of year, and making money back when planning.

I’m sure there’s more but I've rambled on for long enough! I really hope this helps and you have a wonderful wedding day!

Jess x



","comment_id":"66f2ec9e5c7aa20e11b7a074","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2024/09/header.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2024-09-24T16:45:18.000+00:00","updated_at":"2024-09-26T13:14:03.000+00:00","published_at":"2023-11-30T16:54:00.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/wedding-tips-from-an-event-planner/","excerpt":"Hello from newlywed Jess! In our October Wrap Up podcast episode I gave a few\nreccos for before, during and after your wedding and since getting messages to\nsay how reassuring it was I thought I’d expand and drop a few more truth bombs,\nalong with some fun things I did on the day in case you need any wedding inspo\nand some general planning tips which I’m hoping as a full time Event Manager are\nhelpful! \n\nAnd no, there won’t be pics of my husband in the post, if you follow us you’ll\nknow he is a ","reading_time":9,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"Wedding tips from an event planner","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"63e7bde05c7aa20e11b79e2a","uuid":"b4158acd-327d-429f-a84d-8213c2d48adc","title":"Reccos for a Lisbon city break","slug":"reccos-for-a-lisbon-city-break","html":"

I escaped the miserable British weather for a sunny city break in Lisbon to kick off February, arriving Monday and leaving on Friday gave me more than enough time to explore the city whilst also allowing for down time.

I’ll kick this blog post off with some general reccos about visiting the city:

It is a city of cobbled hills, you can’t really go anywhere without walking up or down a hill in the city centre so if you are heading to a specific location, consult your map if you’re not 100% sure you’re heading in the right direction to avoid unnecessarily walking up one!

Uber is so easy and cheap to use in Lisbon, a 25min drive cost €10, so honestly anytime we were headed somewhere that would have been a 30min walk or longer we just summoned a cab and never waited longer than 2mins for one.

June - August is peak season and Lisbon is a very hot and dry place so it makes no sense why anyone would want to walk up all the hills in the summer! My visit was in off season but I’d actually recco Feb-April or October as the perfect time to go, the locals were in coats and scarves but I was fine in a light jacket (being a brit), which you will need for when you’re in the shade.

It took me a while to get my head around how the city was laid out and where was best to stay so a quick recap; Alfama is lots of windy streets and felt mostly residential, Bairro Alto and Chiado are more commercial with good night life, Príncipe Real is the upscale area if you will. We actually stayed outisde the city centre as we strategically booked a spa hotel to relax amidst all the exploring but I think staying in Chiado or Principe Real would be ideal.

What to do

Book your tickets on your phone and jump the line to visit Castelo de S. Jorge. I had a really nice time soaking up the sun and enjoying the views whilst walking around the ruins and climbing up the different levels. It’s a bit of a hike to get to but well worth it, and it would be a gorgeous space to take in the sunset if you time it right.

\"castel

For the first time I booked experiences on Air Bnb and now I think its something I’ll do anywhere I go! In Lisbon I would really recommend doing a Pastel de Nata Baking Workshop, as we really got to learn about the history behind the city’s famous tart as well as gaining an appreciation for what goes into making them. The class lasted 1.5 hours, was so much fun and we got to eat them at the end with a coffee!

\"baking

Outside of the city centre (so yep another Uber) is LX Factory, which is a little hub of independent shops and restaurants, we visited around brunch time but it looked like the type of place that would have a great buzz around 4pm onwards. Here is where you will find the sprawling Ler Devagar bookshop with its high walls of books and a coffee shop. Time it with a snack and you could spend an hour or two mooching about.

\"Ler

We then tied this in with walking to Parque Florestal de Monsanto which to get to was not a scenic walk, but once there we really forgot that we were on a city break and was nice to get some fresh air.

\"Sintra

Back to my new found love of Air Bnb experiences, if you have the time then PLEASE book an afternoon tour to Sintra! We booked this tour on Air Bnb which included a return minibus, where the whole journey we were taught about Lisbon’s history, paving the way to really appreciate UNESCO Cultural Landscape when we arrived. It included time to spend in the local town and sample some port and pastries and then a trip up to the colourful Palacio da Pena. Our tour guide knew so much and we definitely wouldn’t have appreciated the palace without a guide so if you’re going to visit then a tour is definitely the way to go.

What I wouldn't bother doing in Lisbon...

I put a question box on Insta asking for reccos and many people said to visit Belém Tower, so even though it was very far out of the city (definitely an Uber trip, not a walk!) we went there for the morning. It looks very pretty and was nice to be by the sea but it is only a few stories high so you get the same view you did on the floor, and the tower has a confusing one way system so actually you’re just queuing in empty rooms to go to a few different floors. I personally, wouldn’t waste time going so far out of the city to see it.

\"belem

Saying that, it is near the Jerónimos Monastery, so if you really wanted to do that I guess you could say hey to the tower whilst you’re in the vicinity! We decided against doing the Monastery so can’t comment on whether it is worth it.

What to eat and drink in Lisbon

Let’s just address the best pastel de nata up top. Everywhere online said the best ones were at Pastéis de Belém, however I think this is for historical reasons as we were told egg whites were used as starch in the nearby monastery so to use the the yolks the pastel de nata was created in Belém (according to the baker who led our workshop).

\"pastel

After sampling many, these were our least favourite, they aren’t cooked for as long making the middle more runny. I prefer the inside to be stiffer and the whole tart to be sweeter so head to one of the Manteigaria locations instead (which many locals told us was their fave!)

\"time

If you’re after something cheap and cheerful then the Time Out Food Market has lots of options all inside in a large space with eateries of all different cuisines with long tables to dine on in the middle. But if you’d like a sit down meal then Bonjardim has a minimal menu and is famous for their spit-roast chicken with piri-piri sauce.

\"Tapisco

If you’re up for something a little more mid-range than I cannot recco Tapisco enough. Chef Henrique Sá Pessoa has a Two Michelin starred restaurant called Alma in Chiado, but in Princípe Real you can find this very chilled lunch spot where you can eat at the bar whilst watching the chefs cook right in front of you in the open kitchen. It serves both Portugese and Spanish dishes and they are all based on sharing.

I was there for my partner’s 30th birthday so I booked a special dinner to celebrate at Eleven, a Michelin starred restaurant on the outskirts of town, so if you’re after a fine dining experience this is worth a visit! It was very pricey but we were very well fed (honestly must have rolled home after itching so much!) and looked after, they present the courses in fun and imaginative ways and will honestly be one of the best meals out we’ve ever had.

\"Park


If you’re after a drink in Lisbon then surely it needs to be on a rooftop! At the more affordable end we have Park (pictured above), a bar on top of a car park with well priced drinks, we were there around 4pm/5pm but they have events that go late into the night. On the slightly higher end we have Lumi Rooftop Bar on top of the Lumiares Hotel, which is probably best to book for, particularly in the summer.

In Summary, this was the perfect city break to actually relax, if I had written a blog post after visiting Rome for example it would be crammed full of touristy things to do but actually Lisbon is ideal for hanging out either on rooftops or in yummy restaurants, and wandering around beautiful tiled streets.

","comment_id":"63e7bde05c7aa20e11b79e2a","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2023/02/header.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2023-02-11T16:10:08.000+00:00","updated_at":"2023-02-11T16:24:17.000+00:00","published_at":"2023-02-11T16:19:05.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/reccos-for-a-lisbon-city-break/","excerpt":"I escaped the miserable British weather for a sunny city break in Lisbon to kick\noff February, arriving Monday and leaving on Friday gave me more than enough\ntime to explore the city whilst also allowing for down time.\n\nI’ll kick this blog post off with some general reccos about visiting the city:\n\nIt is a city of cobbled hills, you can’t really go anywhere without walking up\nor down a hill in the city centre so if you are heading to a specific location,\nconsult your map if you’re not 100% sure ","reading_time":6,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"lisbon","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"63a97d895c7aa20e11b79d97","uuid":"42f9bdc6-81d2-4a44-b9b2-d1bc2fa5c123","title":"What to buy from the Waterstones Christmas sale","slug":"what-to-buy-from-the-waterstones-christmas-sale","html":"

The Christmas Waterstones sale is always amazing, but it can be overwhelming (and time consuming to scroll through) so we’ve collated our top reccos from the sale, all hardbacks for half the price!

We’ve linked each book too, so just click on the title of the book if it takes your fancy and you’ll be taken to the website to add to basket.

Dear Dolly is a fabulous collection of advice columns about love, friendship and dating, whilst I’m Glad My Mom Died is a confronting memoir about life as a child actor with a controlling parent. For wisdom and wonderful anecdotes then you’ll want to get The Light We Carry or These Precious Days (the latter was in Jess’ top 10 books of the year!)

2022 is the year we accepted that we actually love historical fiction, and it is thanks to these four books in particular! Lessons In Chemistry is a fantastic feminist novel that every reader will fall in love with. The Flames reimagines the lives of the four muses of artist Egon Schiele. Take My Hand is also inspired by true events exploring the young disadvantaged women who were put under life-changing surgery without consent. That Green Eyed Girl is a gripping novel that made it into Lauren’s top 10 books of the year, and this copy has sprayed edges!

If you’ve been holding out to read Taylor Jenkins Reid’s latest book Carrie Soto Is Back then now is the time because it’s half price! Cat Lady is an unputdownable book about grief and breaking the mould. People Person will have you on the edge of your seat seeing how these estranged siblings will help one another. Girl Friends explores the intricacies of female friendship whilst In Case Of Emergency is just a readable and will get you thinking about who you can call on.

You’ll have seen Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow everywhere, and it’s worth the hype if like us, you love character driven novels. Memphis is a short by powerful multi-generational story about the women in one family. In Love Marriage we see two families of different cultures blend and if you loved Little Fires Everywhere then you can now get Celeste Ng’s latest book Our Missing Hearts for a bargain!

For a romance with a shocking twist you must read The No Show or if you want to catch up on what was the the hottest book of the summer then it's time to nab You Made A Fool Of Death With Your Beauty. In Tell Me Everything we get the reassurance that even therapists don’t have it all together and in Welcome To Your Life we see how running out on your wedding day can sometimes be for the better.

Happy reading, and as always, let us know if you love any of these books! xx

","comment_id":"63a97d895c7aa20e11b79d97","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/12/What-to-buy-from-the-Waterstones-Christmas-Sale.png","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-12-26T10:55:05.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-12-26T11:05:05.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-12-26T11:05:05.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/what-to-buy-from-the-waterstones-christmas-sale/","excerpt":"The Christmas Waterstones sale is always amazing, but it can be overwhelming\n(and time consuming to scroll through) so we’ve collated our top reccos from the\nsale, all hardbacks for half the price! \n\nWe’ve linked each book too, so just click on the title of the book if it takes\nyour fancy and you’ll be taken to the website to add to basket.\n\n[https://tidd.ly/3GijbR7]Dear Dolly [https://tidd.ly/3vhds7O] is a fabulous collection of advice columns\nabout love, friendship and dating, whilst I’m Glad ","reading_time":3,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"waterstones christmas sale","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"6377575c5c7aa20e11b79cf1","uuid":"08e5a9d9-21af-4a9c-927d-171eb67b35d3","title":"Etsy Gifts for Booklovers Under £30","slug":"etsy-gifts-for-booklovers-under-30","html":"\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n

Etsy challenged us to create a gift guide from their Editor’s Picks and so we’ve plucked out some truly special goodies that would make perfect gifts for booklovers this Christmas (affiliate links are used throughout this post and pictures are taken from Etsy).

Bookish candle, £11.99

Surely we don’t need to explain why this one is a perfect gift for a book lover? Buy it here.

\"candle

Ceramic Mug with Lid, £10.99

You know when you sit down with a cuppa and a book, get completely lost in the story that by the time you remember you made your drink its gone cold? Well this mug comes with a lid that might just be the answer every reader needs! Buy it here.

\"mug

Pamper Bath Box, £24.00

One of the best things about winter is reading in the bath, we love that this pamper set not only comes with lovely bath goodies but also a candle to create the perfect vibe for reading in the tub! Buy it here.

\"etsy

Plant Bookmark, £8.50

Perfect for any readers like us who regularly misplace their bookmark whilst reading! So cute and you’ll be able to see it safely poking out the top - phew! Buy it here.

\"bookmarks

Hoodie Blanket, £22.99

VITAL for the cosiest reading set up, and a really affordable option for others on the market like these. Buy it here.

\"hoodie

Personalised Book Stamp, £26

Jess has one of these and LOVES it, all bookworms will have played libraries when they younger and this is perfect gift to relive those memories. Buy it here.

\"gift

Blind Date with a Book, £9.75

If you know a genre your friend likes but don’t know which book to buy, then this option does the work for you and creates a lovely little bundle for the reader in your life. Buy it here.

\"gift

Reading Journal, £25

And of course, the perfect way to document the reading experience and keep track of what books still need to be read, or what a favourite quote was, is a reading journal. Buy it here.

\"reading

Merry Christmas xx

","comment_id":"6377575c5c7aa20e11b79cf1","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/11/etsy-blog-post.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-11-18T09:58:52.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-11-18T14:51:22.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-11-18T14:51:22.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/etsy-gifts-for-booklovers-under-30/","excerpt":" [https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?s=3238122&v=6091&q=447454&r=1081299]Etsy\nchallenged us to create a gift guide from their Editor’s Picks\n[https://tidd.ly/3AsiKAm] and so we’ve plucked out some truly special goodies\nthat would make perfect gifts for booklovers this Christmas (affiliate links are\nused throughout this post and pictures are taken from Etsy).\n\nBookish candle, £11.99 [https://tidd.ly/3EjJBjh]\n\nSurely we don’t need to explain why this one is a perfect gift for a book lover? \nBuy it he","reading_time":3,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"etsy christmas gift blog","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"63623b4a5c7aa20e11b79c96","uuid":"4f42fed2-a85d-42ca-95d2-c1fa217ba994","title":"99p Kindle reccos this November","slug":"99p-kindle-reccos-this-november","html":"

November’s 99p Kindle deals have brought us some fabulous books, here are the ones that we recco reading…

Girl Friends by Holly Bourne

Girl Friends follows best friends Fern and Jessica through their teenage years as well as the present day when their paths cross again, it’s full of nostalgia, love and friendship.

\"girl

We had the pleasure of interviewing Holly Bourne on our podcast to chat about this book so do take a listen if you need more convincing, or perhaps once you’ve read it. Click here to get it on Kindle for 99p!

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

When Mitch Albom heard that his college professor, Morrie Schwartz, of nearly 20 years ago was dying of ALS, he visited him every Tuesday up until his death. Together Morrie and Mitch rekindled their relationship and Morrie held one final class for his dear friend: lessons in how to live.

\"tuesdays

This has got to be one of the most beautiful and thought provoking books out there. Click here to get it on Kindle for 99p!

People Person by Candice Carty-Williams

Cyril is an absent father to his five children who are from four different women. The siblings have all only met once in their childhood. But when Dimple comes into some trouble she doesn’t know who else to turn to and calls her brothers and sisters in to help.

\"people

This is shocking, funny, dramatic and a wild ride. Click here to get it on Kindle for 99p!

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

In Trevor Noah’s memoir he illustrates, through a series of stories recollected from his childhood, memories of life growing up in a pre and then post apartheid South Africa, each memory guaranteed to move you to tears, laughter, and outrage. ⁣⁣

\"trevor

This is such a moving story of a mischievous, cheeky boy who despite everything life has thrown at him, has managed to find laughter in the darkest hours. Click here to get it on Kindle for 99p!

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

A sequel to Beartown, Us Against You is the story of two towns, two teams and what it means to believe in something bigger than yourself. It's about how people come together - sometimes in anger, often in sorrow, but also through love.

\"fredrik

If you’ve read Beartown this is the perfect opportunity to carry on the series for a bargain - and the third book has just come out too! Click here to get it on Kindle for 99p!

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Nora is a high flying literary agent, Charlie is an editor and their first meeting doesn’t go so well. But then they keep bumping into each other and it’s clear there is chemistry.

\"book

Funnily enough this is a perfect book for book lovers with its many literary references and insights into publishing. It is the perfect balance of lovey-dovey and real relationships. Click here to get it on Kindle for 99p!

Every Summer After by Carley Fortune

Percy and Sam fell in love over five summers at the lake as teens and now they are brought back together after 12 years, could there still be feelings between them?

\"every

It’s full of nostalgia and all those teenage feelings of wanting to belong and romanticising, well, romance. Complete escapism with wonderful characters. Click here to get it on Kindle for 99p!

Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Becky is back and she has agreed to host Christmas for all of her friends and family. She’s on a mission to buy everyone the perfect Christmas presents, have vegan alternatives for her sister and make Minnie the best costume for the nativity. But does life ever run smoothly for Becky?

\"christmas

Review: This is part of a series but works as a standalone book too, and a hilarious one at that, plus its perfectly timed for Christmas next month! Click here to get it on Kindle for 99p!

Please let us know if you read any of these and love them, tag @bookreccos on insta so we can see your review! xx

","comment_id":"63623b4a5c7aa20e11b79c96","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/11/people-1.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-11-02T09:41:30.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-11-02T09:53:37.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-11-02T09:53:37.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/99p-kindle-reccos-this-november/","excerpt":"November’s 99p Kindle deals have brought us some fabulous books, here are the\nones that we recco reading…\n\nGirl Friends by Holly Bourne [https://amzn.to/3h4yoLy]\n\nGirl Friends follows best friends Fern and Jessica through their teenage years\nas well as the present day when their paths cross again, it’s full of nostalgia,\nlove and friendship.\n\nWe had the pleasure of interviewing Holly Bourne on our podcast to chat about\nthis book so do take a listen if you need more convincing, or perhaps once\nyo","reading_time":4,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"people person and queenie","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"626668409e2d0a3b7af6048c","uuid":"b4d6471f-5b90-406e-9781-a1d84da48e74","title":"The indie bookshops in London you NEED to visit","slug":"the-london-indie-bookshops-you-need-to-visit","html":"

If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that supporting small businesses is more important than ever. Here’s a list of some of our favourite independent bookshops which not only play such an important role in their communities, but have fiercely bookish owners who you will give you reccos for your next favourite read.

Ink@84 Books in Finsbury Park

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInk@84

Every book lover has dreamt of stepping on to a Library Ladder so you can sweep across aisles of books just like Belle did in Beauty and the Beast. Well, thanks to the wonderful owners Tessa and Betsey of Ink@84, your wish is their command. This beautiful bookshop not only has a Library Ladder, but fresh coffee and outdoor seating so you can sit and watch the world go by whilst reading a new book.

Nearest tube station: Finsbury Park

\"Phlox
Here we are after speaking on the panel at Phlox's International Women's Day event

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhlox Books

When we found out this bookshop’s mantra was ‘Books. Booze. Coffee’, we knew we’d found our perfect match. Founded by Aimee in 2017, this East London bookshop is a treasure chest for unearthing your next read. In its bright and beautiful Victorian shop, Phlox sits proudly on a pedestrianised street which has the most women-owned business owners in London!
Nearest tube station: Leyton/Leystonstone

\"Word
There are even more books inside the boat too!

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWord On The Water

It’s charming, it’s cute, it’s an Instagrammers dream. This bookshop-on-a-boat can be found on the canals of Granary Square in King's Cross. When the sun is out and the live jazz music’s playing, this is the only place to be.

Nearest tube station: Kings Cross St Pancras

\"Libreria
Obsessed with the mirror on the back wall and shiny ceilings giving the illusion the shop goes on for miles!

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLibreria

Just off of Brick Lane you can find this beautiful, sunny bookshop with its glossy ceilings and little reading nooks spotted around the shop. The shop runs a subscription service of their own with books delivered right to your door, check out their website (linked above) for pricing and more details!

Nearest tube station: Shoreditch High Street

\"Southbank
On this particular day they had a great Jodi Picoult selection!

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSouthbank Centre Book Market

Okay, it’s not a shop, but many of us have experienced the magnetic energy field surrounding the Southbank Centre Book Market. When you’re in its vicinity it is near on impossible not to fall in love with its charm and root around for a steal!

Nearest tube station: Waterloo

\"Gay's

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGay's The Word

This is the UK's oldest LGBT+ bookshop, set up in January 1979 by a group of gay socialists as a community space where all profits were funnelled back into the business. This ethos continues today with shelves bursting with books and the space used for book and community events. It is a little shop full of fab books and helpful staff - and readers, when we last visited it was so busy, always great to see!

Nearest tube station: Russell Square

Photo Credit @Hurlinghambooks

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHurlingham Books

Owner Ray Cole was inspired to open this shop in 1968 and it’s possibly the oldest independent bookshop in South West London. Located right by the river, this shop is a maze of books piled from floor to ceiling. Ray is always up for a chat and we guarantee that after you’ve visited you’ll leave with a pile of books you can’t wait to get in to.

Nearest tube station: Putney Bridge

\"Book
Look at all the gorgeous wall art? There's a tunnel of famous book quotes too!

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBooks on the Hill

Okay so this one isn’t technically in London but very easy to get to with trains from Kings Cross! If you’re after a spacious bookshop with lots of cosy (and very Instagrammable corners) then you need to visit this beautiful bookshop in St Albans, Hertfordshire. There are reading rooms, a tunnel of bookish quotes to walk through, oh and their second hand books are all colour coordinated!

Nearest Train Station: St Albans City



","comment_id":"626668409e2d0a3b7af6048c","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/07/book.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-04-25T09:22:08.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-10-07T13:28:00.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-10-07T13:28:00.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/the-london-indie-bookshops-you-need-to-visit/","excerpt":"If the pandemic taught us anything, it’s that supporting small businesses is\nmore important than ever. Here’s a list of some of our favourite independent\nbookshops which not only play such an important role in their communities, but\nhave fiercely bookish owners who you will give you reccos for your next\nfavourite read.\n\nInk@84 Books in Finsbury ParkInk@84 [https://www.ink84bookshop.co.uk/]\n\nEvery book lover has dreamt of stepping on to a Library Ladder so you can sweep\nacross aisles of books jus","reading_time":4,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"words on the water bookshop in london","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"628cf1cc9e2d0a3b7af606b2","uuid":"b0e62a3b-84e2-48d4-a4ae-949b1f1a9bd3","title":"Home decor for book lovers","slug":"creating-the-perfect-home-library","html":"

Whether you have a room full of books or a reading nook in the corner of your bedroom we've got you covered with these reccos of bookish decor and helpful home accessories to improve your reading experience.

\"bookish
Picture credit: PrintDesignType & Spilt Milk Press

Sally Rooney fans, we know this BEAUTIFUL wall art from Spilt Milk Press will have caught your eye, she illustrates lots of bookish posters but if you’re a Swiftie, Harry Styles or Moulin Rouge fan she’s got you covered.

Also found on Etsy is this Classic Penguin themed art which was super cheap and such a fun addition to a home library, and the Etsy seller also sent a bonus print with a lovely bookish quote on it.

\"Home

When I posted this wired wall art we were INUNDATED with comments and DMs asking for the seller, it took me ages to find in a corner of, yep you guessed it, Etsy so I went digging once more to find the link for you all.

I’ve linked to the seller’s full stock here because there are quite a few reading/book related ones but there are also some other fun styles which could be perfect for a kitchen or bathroom!

\"book

Dunelm’s Cuddle Cushion is the ultimate reading pillow providing support to prop your elbows up while holding your book, they have it in lots of colours and designs too so you’re guaranteed to find one that fits your decor.

\"book
Picture credit: Dunelm & Modern Homstead Store

Sometimes, us readers can get overwhelmed with the books we’re excited to read and we’ve found that separating them out can help with feeling inspired to read them. So this TBR Basket could be perfect to keep on your nightstand, or this trolley could even be your nightstand with space for a lamp and your phone on top and your books in the bottom two shelves!

\"lumie

Speaking of nightstands, you need good lighting for starting or ending your day with a book! We love Lumie’s Body Clocks which you can time to gradually light up (or dim) to mimic the sun rising and setting.

\"Bath
Picture credit: Temple Spring Store

Reading in the bath is a risky past time, but we’ve found the ultimate shelf here which has a support for keeping your book or kindle upright in the bath as well as a secure space for a candle and a glass of wine. A bargain game changer!

We hope this has helped, if you buy any of the products please tag us on insta @bookrecos because we'd love to see our reccos in action!

","comment_id":"628cf1cc9e2d0a3b7af606b2","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/05/8569B16A-8516-483E-8F4F-3D204FEBBD8D.JPG","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-05-24T14:55:08.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-09-15T15:58:38.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-09-15T15:58:38.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/creating-the-perfect-home-library/","excerpt":"Whether you have a room full of books or a reading nook in the corner of your\nbedroom we've got you covered with these reccos of bookish decor and helpful\nhome accessories to improve your reading experience.\n\nPicture credit: PrintDesignType & Spilt Milk PressSally Rooney fans, we know\nthis BEAUTIFUL wall art from Spilt Milk Press\n[https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=6091&awinaffid=1081299&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.etsy.com%2Fuk%2Fshop%2FSpiltMilkPress] \nwill have caught your eye, she illustrates","reading_time":3,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"Book reccos home library","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"6311c1559e2d0a3b7af608f5","uuid":"3b4c17a3-6809-48fd-b1d2-bdc77dc3ec13","title":"September's 99p Kindle Deals you MUST read","slug":"septembers-99p-kindle-deals-you-must-read","html":"

Yes summer is over, but its the start of a new month which means that there are a new range of books available for 99p on Kindle! Here are some of our faves which are worth bagging for this great price...

\tOn Rotation by Shirlene Obuobi

Angie has checked off all the boxes for the ‘Perfect Immigrant Daughter’: enroll in an elite medical school; snag a lawyer boyfriend, and surround herself with a gaggle of successful friends… But then she gets dumped, her best friend pulls away, and she bombs the most important exam of her medical career. Enter Ricky who makes it all seem better but there’s no way Angie is falling for someone who seems too good to be true.

\"On

Obviously we were going to read a book described as “Grey’s Anatomy meets Seven Days in June” and this didn’t disappoint!! It’s modern and fun but also informative and Shirlene Obuobi strikes this balance perfectly. Buy it for 99p here

\tThe Funny Thing About Norman Foreman by Julietta Henderson

Norman and his best friend Jax made a plan to be the best comedy duo in the world when they turned 15, but Jax dies before their 12th birthdays so Norman, with the help of his mum and pensioner Leonard, make the journey all the way from Penzance to honour him with a tribute act at Edinburgh Fringe.

\"The

This is GORGEOUS - think “About a Boy” meets “Little Miss Sunshine.” This book is everything you want it to be; switching from the perspectives of mother and son, it will break your heart but not enough that you won’t feel all the warm and fuzzies of this story. Buy it for 99p here

\tPaper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller
Elle and Jonas grew up spending summers together in Cape Cod. Now, after all this time they have slept together whilst their families were just inside. Over the next 24 hours Elle must decide between the life she loves with her husband and children or the one that got away.

\"paper

This book switches between past and present making it impossibly hard to determine where Elle’s heart lies, you’ll be kept guessing until the final page. Buy it for 99p here.

\tSo Lucky by Dawn O’Porter

This novel follows the lives of three women; Ruby cannot even look at herself in the mirror because of her condition so is fully aware of the irony of her job photoshopping cellulite in magazine shoots. Beth, a wedding planner has scored the celebrity wedding of the decade yet she cannot focus and her mind wanders elsewhere. Lauren’s life looks perfect on Instagram but that may not be the case in real life.⁣

⁣It is impossible to not physically laugh out loud whilst reading this book! A modern, witty and empowering novel commenting on appearance, worth and girl power! The short chapters that switch between points of view make it pretty hard to put down too.⁣⁣ Buy it for 99p here

\tBecause Of You by Dawn French

On the first day of the new millennium two women living very different lives give birth. One of them leaves with a baby girl whilst the other leaves with empty arms. 17 years later the truth of that day begins to unravel.

\"Because

Whilst it may seem like the premise has been done before, we guarantee you it has never been written in this way. The characters are so realistic and just lovely that the line between right and wrong becomes so blurred. As always we want to keep this spoiler free but the ending was STUNNING! Buy it for 99p here

\tMemphis by Tara M. Stringfellow
Hazel’s husband built their home in Memphis where he was lynched days after becoming the first black detective. Her daughters Miriam and August are now back living together in the house in Memphis since Miriam left her abusive marriage along with her daughters Mya and Joan who have their own battles to face.

\"Memphis

If you enjoyed the other books in the above photo then this is a book for you - multi-generations, strong women and all written brilliantly! Buy it for 99p here.

\tSlow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

Laura has spent most of her life being judged. She’s seen as hot-tempered, troubled, a loner. Some even call her dangerous. Miriam knows that just because Laura is witnessed leaving the scene of a horrific murder with blood on her clothes, that doesn’t mean she’s a killer. Carla is reeling from the brutal murder of her nephew. She trusts no one: good people are capable of terrible deeds. Innocent or guilty, everyone is damaged. Some are damaged enough to kill.

\"a

Paula brings us more twists and turns and troubled characters just like Girl on the Train. Its very clever and is three books in one - you’ll have to read it to see… buy it for 99p here.

\tBear Town by Fredrik Backman

In a small, isolated town Hockey is what unites them all. So when the captain rapes the manager’s daughter the town is completely divided.

When reading this book you will feel like you really are a local in Bear Town, it feels like the entire community are telling their story with its many complex characters. It has a great pace and this is the perfect opportunity to read the book and then carry on with the series! Buy it for 99p here.

Let us know if you love any of them by tagging us on Instagram @bookreccos - we love to read everyone's reviews! x

","comment_id":"6311c1559e2d0a3b7af608f5","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/09/memp.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-09-02T08:39:49.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-09-15T16:00:09.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-09-07T11:37:08.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/septembers-99p-kindle-deals-you-must-read/","excerpt":"Yes summer is over, but its the start of a new month which means that there are\na new range of books available for 99p on Kindle! Here are some of our faves\nwhich are worth bagging for this great price...\n\nOn Rotation by Shirlene Obuobi [https://amzn.to/3KDHqd7]\n\nAngie has checked off all the boxes for the ‘Perfect Immigrant Daughter’: enroll\nin an elite medical school; snag a lawyer boyfriend, and surround herself with a\ngaggle of successful friends… But then she gets dumped, her best friend pu","reading_time":5,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"99p kindle books you must read","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"62b5c47c9e2d0a3b7af60806","uuid":"3e016955-bf85-4cac-8d1a-a2dfc3b3024c","title":"Dyson Airwrap review with tips for creating lasting curls","slug":"honest-review-of-the-dyson-air","html":"

Me and Lauren have been lusting over the Dyson Airwrap ever since it was released, but were too scared to pay the pricey sum for something that we weren't sure would work.

We've seen people have great success with it, their bouncy blow dries lasting all day, but we've also heard rubbish reviews and so when I got given one for my birthday we thought we'd share the highs and lows of the Airwrap with some tips in the hopes it helps your decision if you're thinking of purchasing your own.

What is it and what does it come with?

For those that don’t know, although I assume if you’re reading this you do, the Dyson Airwrap is a styling tool used on wet hair that both dries and styles simultaneously. It is a way of creating a bouncy blow dry without visiting the salon.

\"Dyson

It comes with a range of attachments, including the hairdryer which is a mini version of Dyson’s hair dryer (a different stand alone product) so you’re definitely getting more bang for your buck with this - although it does also cost more…

Will it suit my hair type?

Firstly, I own the version for longer hair where the attachments are all slightly longer so make sure you look into buying the right kit.

I also have hair that is pretty easy to deal with - my strands of hair are quite fine but there are LOTS of them. If I leave it to dry naturally it will only have a slight wave and generally dries straight.

Lauren’s hair is naturally curly and the first use on her with it didn’t go so well, however we think we know why and so will update this blog post when we have found the key to styling curly hair with it!

My first use with the Dyson Airwrap

I very excitedly used it upon opening it when my hair wasn’t actually wet using the 30mm barrels for voluminous waves, these barrels use air to suck the hair around it and naturally \"wraps\" them into curls. It is mesmerising to watch but unfortunately in this instance no curls held because my hair wasn’t wet.

Feeling slightly disheartened I spent hours on Youtube and Instagram looking for tips to make the hair style hold (it was hard to find so I have created a reel on our Instagram for quick access!)

I then took it on holiday, excited to use my new techniques and it instantly dropped in the heat each night. So I can confirm that the 30mm barrels do not hold up well when it is 30C and you’re a sweaty mess.

Since returning home to the UK and using my new tips I’m pleased to report I think I’ve nailed the Airwrap and I think one of the key differences (aside from the heat) was using the 20mm barrels. See these images for proof:

\"Creating
I curled my hair at 1pm on Saturday, the left pic is Sunday morning and the right pic is Sunday night

How to create curls that last 3 days with the Dyson Airwrap:

  1. Your hair needs to basically be dry, only slightly wet, so make sure you’ve gone to town with the hairdryer first, especially on your roots
  2. With your fingers comb through some, but not lots, of mousse through your hair. Then brush your hair once more so it isn’t knotted
  3. Use the smaller barrel, I promise it won’t leave you with tight ragdoll looking locks, they will drop to create nice big loose curls that hold eventually
  4. Use the hottest setting, really working the ends before wrapping the whole of each strand, then whilst its all wrapped switch to the coolest heat setting. This means that curl cools whilst in the curled position (effectively like the technique they use in Liverpool where they pin their curls)
  5. Repeat all over and then use hair spray to keep it all fixed
  6. Avoid immediately combing your fingers through it, so yes you will look like an old fashioned china doll for a bit but use this time to do your make up, get changed etc. I have been known to even keep the ringlet look all the way until I reach my destination
  7. Then comb through, just with fingers is fine, and keep working it until the curls are as loose and wavy as you’d like them
  8. A bonus tip if want them to last until the next day, like the pics above, then I twist all my hair into a very loose bun (or buns) which I pin, loose is key so you can actually sleep comfortably and it hasn’t caused me a bad night sleep yet

Watch our reel going through these steps here.

Using the other attachments:

The 30mm barrel waves do hold slightly better with my above techniques but you'll likely be left with only slightly fancy looking hair throughout the day rather than the va-va-voom look. They also don't last longer than a day.

The round volumising brush holds slightly less and definitely takes more effort to use so I won't be reaching for that attachment very often.

The straightening brushes work very well on my hair, but like I said my hair mostly dries straight anyway. I've found them quite good for shaping the layers around my face to give them some life though.

I love the hairdryer and feel like my hair dries faster than with any other hairdryer - I used to have to take three shifts to dry my hair before because my arms got so tired.

Would I recco the Dyson Airwrap?

I'm very pleased to report that yes I would! But I would think a bit more about your hair type first, if yours is similar to mine or you're happy to spend a bit more time with the hairdryer first then I'd say go for it and I hope my tips work for you too.

Jess x

","comment_id":"62b5c47c9e2d0a3b7af60806","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/07/yson.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-06-24T14:04:44.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-07-04T08:44:32.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-07-03T18:42:18.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/honest-review-of-the-dyson-air/","excerpt":"Me and Lauren have been lusting over the Dyson Airwrap ever since it was\nreleased, but were too scared to pay the pricey sum for something that we\nweren't sure would work.\n\nWe've seen people have great success with it, their bouncy blow dries lasting\nall day, but we've also heard rubbish reviews and so when I got given one for my\nbirthday we thought we'd share the highs and lows of the Airwrap with some tips\nin the hopes it helps your decision if you're thinking of purchasing your own.\n\nWhat is ","reading_time":4,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"Tips for using the Dyson Airwrap","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"62a36de99e2d0a3b7af607ab","uuid":"6009b12a-ada4-42de-91a8-3014e570a482","title":"Cosy cabin in the countryside","slug":"cosy-cabin-in-the-countryside","html":"

Following the success of our January Reading Retreat, after being so busy these past few months, we decided now would be the perfect time to escape to the country and take a reset together.

\"Fat

Key for us was finding a place that had stunning scenery, gorgeous decor, relaxing vibes and all whilst being Instagrammable (obvs).

We came across the wonderful Fat Pheasant’s Instagram account and they checked all of our boxes.

\"Fat

Located in Banbury Oxford, Bury Court Farm has four beautiful Shepherd Huts which are completely off the grid, surrounded by nature and situated across their 500 acre farm - no people, no interruptions, pure relaxed bliss!

\"Fat

Each hut has a king size bed, en-suite bathroom and a wood burning stove. We’d 100% recco staying in the Huxley hut, the bed was SO comfy and had two large windows around it which had the most breathtaking views.

\"Fat

Huxley also has a beautiful pink outdoor claw foot bath tub, which was the perfect spot to relax with a book and glass of vino. Other huts have wood fired hot tubs which were also tempting!

\"outdoor

Fancy visiting? Here’s some of our reccos…

You can cook on the outside fire pit or BBQ. We used the inside hob to make a delicious halloumi salad for dinner and saved the fire pit for toasting mallows (which were kindly gifted in each hut).

There’s no Wi-Fi so bring lots of books: it’s the perfect opportunity to switch off so embrace it! Our hut also had an enviable bookshelf to select from…

We didn’t have a dog, but there is a dog paddock so you could bring your pup and take them for a walk knowing that it’s safe to do so.

Jo can recco some great routes you can explore walking, or if you fancied it you can hire one of their ex postman bikes at £30 for your full stay (or bring your own ofc).

Less than a two and half hour drive outside of London, The Fat Pheasants is £150 a night and is perfect for a relaxing city break.

\"Fat

","comment_id":"62a36de99e2d0a3b7af607ab","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/06/cropped.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-06-10T16:14:33.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-06-10T16:23:32.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-06-10T16:23:32.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/cosy-cabin-in-the-countryside/","excerpt":"Following the success of our January Reading Retreat\n[https://www.bookreccos.com/visiting-hay-on-wye-the-worlds-first-book-town],\nafter being so busy these past few months, we decided now would be the perfect\ntime to escape to the country and take a reset together.\n\nKey for us was finding a place that had stunning scenery, gorgeous decor,\nrelaxing vibes and all whilst being Instagrammable (obvs).\n\nWe came across the wonderful Fat Pheasant’s Instagram account\n[https://www.instagram.com/fatpheasan","reading_time":2,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"fat pheasant shepherd huts","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"629080da9e2d0a3b7af606f3","uuid":"eebc80b6-bbbf-4560-be8a-1da7229abfd5","title":"Skincare Reccos","slug":"skincare-reccos","html":"

We are obsessed with Caroline Hirons aka the queen of skincare, and whilst 50% of our Whatsapp is about books, the other half is encouraging one another to spend copious amounts of money on skincare products.

We read Caroline Hiron’s book Skincare  a few years ago and it is one we constantly refer back to and after a recent re-read we felt inspired to share some of our favourite skincare reccos.

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Ordinary

The Ordinary is without a doubt the best priced skincare brand out there. Their products aren’t fussy and once you know what works for your skin you can set up a really good base routine - in fact this was Jess’ gateway brand into skincare.

\"The

Our favourite products are the Squalene Cleaner and Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% both of which are part of this gift set which means they are smaller bottles and therefore perfect for testing out!

Not technically skincare but we have to mention their serum foundation which is a recent discovery of ours and what a game changer! One pump gives complete coverage without feeling heavy and thick or drying you out.

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tREN Clean Skincare

\"REN

Jess actually gets excited to use the REN Jelly Oil Cleanser, it feels thick, smells of cherries and glides over your face. It is perfect for a first cleanse and also doubles up as a great make up remover.

Who doesn’t want to look more radiant? The REN Glow & Protect Serum feels light and soaks in quickly, its a really easy addition to your skincare routine. As is the REN Clearcalm 3 Replenishing Gel Cream which is perfect if you’re prone to breakouts or have sensitive skin.

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLa Roche-Posay

\"la

Caroline Hirons taught us the importance of the double cleanse and we’re both fans of this HUGE bottle of La Roche-Posay Effaclar Cleansing Gel which is ridiculously affordable for such a giant bottle.

They are also our go to brand for SPF because their range (see here) is huge, have a browse to find out what is best for your skin.

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTanluxe

\"tanluxe\"

The MVP! If you want to brighten up your face with a subtle but impactful glow then Tanluxe is what you’re after, it won’t harm your skin or clog your pores and it slowly builds into a natural tan.

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPIXI\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\"pixi

Caroline actually produced a product with PIXI - the Double Cleanse 2in1 regime. But we we love from PIXI is their little 100ml tonic bottles, particularly their super affordable collagen to keep skin looking plump and reducing fine lines.

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t111SKIN

\"111skin

If you want to feel boujee and treat yourself (or buy someone a luxe feeling gift) then we love the 111SKIN masks, we pop them in the fridge for 10mins before using too for an extra soothing effect.

We'll keep adding to this post as we discover new products but if you want to get a better understanding of how to build a routine, what suits your skin and what to use when then we'd really recco giving one of Caroline's books a read! You can buy it from an indie bookshop online here.

","comment_id":"629080da9e2d0a3b7af606f3","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/05/IMG_7115.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-05-27T07:42:18.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-05-27T08:40:24.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-05-27T08:40:24.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/skincare-reccos/","excerpt":"We are obsessed with Caroline Hirons aka the queen of skincare, and whilst 50%\nof our Whatsapp is about books, the other half is encouraging one another to\nspend copious amounts of money on skincare products.\n\nWe read Caroline Hiron’s book Skincare\n[https://uk.bookshop.org/a/2307/9780008375522]a few years ago and it is one we\nconstantly refer back to and after a recent re-read we felt inspired to share\nsome of our favourite skincare reccos.\n\nThe Ordinary [https://www.stylink.it/AGx36ua0MA]\n\nThe ","reading_time":3,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"skincare book caroline hirons","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"626686609e2d0a3b7af6052e","uuid":"072429cc-eea8-4c09-9735-699b21e6d0c8","title":"Cheers to 2 years of Book Reccos!","slug":"celebrating-2-years-of-book-reccos","html":"

We cannot believe that our little lockdown project is 2 years old! For those that don’t know, we created @bookreccos in the first lockdown of 2020 - remember those awful days?!

We’ve been friends for a long time – we bonded over lunch boxes aged 4, they were much simpler times — and over the years, books have always been a conversational point for us. Many a Whatsapp message would start with “Hey, got a recco for you”.

So, when the pandemic hit, we suddenly had a lot more time on our hands and inevitably started reading more; we’d receive lots of messages from our friends and family members asking for reccos on what to read...

Cut to the chase, Jess said to Lauren, ‘wouldn’t it be great if we could just send all of our friends to one place when they ask us for a book to read?’ And so it was, Book Reccos was born.

Lauren’s mate, Vicky, created the most PERFECT logo for us (check out some of her illos @spicychiliyang, her DM’s are always open for requests), and we were suddenly working with some of the UK’s top publishers and authors to support them with sharing honest (non-spoiler reviews).

We firmly believe that if you haven’t got anything nice to say, then don’t say it. So you’ll never see a bad review on our page. If we read a book and don’t like it - then we won’t post about it.

\"book
Thanks Vicky!

Last year, on our one year anniversary, we launched our very own podcast! Again, Jess said to Lauren, ‘Okay, reviews are great, but not everyone wants to read reviews, they want to hear us talk about them: I think we should have a podcast’. Lauren said ‘absolutely not’, Jess won. Book Reccos: Between the Pages was launched on all streaming platforms!

We worked with a wonderful musician (big up Alex Thomas!)  to record our very own jingle (which now feels like the soundtrack to our lives and permanent ear worm), and Vicky returned by creating us a new version of our logo!

The last year podcasting has been so much fun! As soon as we got over the fear of putting ourselves out there (imposter syndrome, anyone?!) we have had the pleasure of interviewing some incredible authors, from Poppy Jamie, Poorna Bell, Coco Mellors and Nikki May, plus so many more.

\"Book
Hooray for Vicky!

Now, two years in, we want to find more ways to inspire others to read, and make it easier for our community to connect with us, so here we have it: the Book Reccos blog! Once again, we have another talented friend to thank, Alex Hamilton and we couldn't be more chuffed with what he's created for us! If you are ever in need of a web designer please get in touch because we'd love to share his details with you.

This website will be a place for us to write more in-depth reviews of the books we have loved and some blog posts on what we’re getting up to, brands we’re working with and exciting announcements.

Make sure you’re signed up to our newsletter in the link below so we can stay connected (we promise not to spam!)

We didn’t ever imagine that 2 years later, we’d have over 20k followers and a fully fledged side hustle, but we couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved together and are lucky to be part of such a beautiful community.

Happy Reading Lovelies,

Jess and Lauren x

","comment_id":"626686609e2d0a3b7af6052e","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/05/IMG-8067.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-04-25T11:30:40.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-05-27T08:41:01.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-05-01T17:00:00.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/celebrating-2-years-of-book-reccos/","excerpt":"We cannot believe that our little lockdown project is 2 years old! For those\nthat don’t know, we created @bookreccos [https://www.instagram.com/bookreccos/] \nin the first lockdown of 2020 - remember those awful days?! \n\nWe’ve been friends for a long time – we bonded over lunch boxes aged 4, they\nwere much simpler times — and over the years, books have always been a\nconversational point for us. Many a Whatsapp message would start with “Hey, got\na recco for you”. \n\nSo, when the pandemic hit, we su","reading_time":3,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"Book reccos in Joanie Clothing boiler suits","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"626676db9e2d0a3b7af604f2","uuid":"eb54b2b6-1d0d-4e76-8b54-3739fb845131","title":"Celebrating Women’s History Month","slug":"celebrating-womens-history-month","html":"

March is a month we look forward to every year - there are so many moments to celebrate the phenomenal women in our lives, from International Women’s Day on the 8th, to Mother’s Day on the 27th, and let’s not forget the entire month is recognised as Women’s History Month!

So, for the past two years we have celebrated by committing to reading books exclusively written by women, and people who identify as women, throughout the whole month, and let us tell you - it’s pretty special! In this post, we’ll recap some of our favourite reads, authors and women owned brands and businesses that we highly recco.

\"Cleopatra

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
Looking for a new piece of modern fiction to obsess over? Look no further. Cleopatra and Frankenstein is the hottest debut novel by @cocomellors, where protagonists Cleo (in her 20’s) and Frank (in his 40’s), meet at a New Years party and after six months of dating, are married.

The novel follows their lives, loved ones and the ups and downs of their tumultuous and, at times, toxic relationship. We guarantee you’ll be hooked from the opening page.

Want to find out more? Listen to our no spoilers interview with the wonderful Coco, who tells us more about the book, the writing process and background to our new favourite fictional characters.

\"Books

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBrand Spotlight: Books That Matter
Books That Matter is the UK’s leading, award winning, book subscription box putting women’s writing in the spotlight. So, if you’re someone who walks into a bookshop and feels overwhelmed by too much choice, then why not leave it to the girl gang at BTM to take care of your next read?

Their subscription service is super affordable, and each month a beautiful box will arrive on your doorstep with an empowering read from a woman author, alongside some wonderful goodies from women owned businesses. Use code BOOKRECCOS10 for 10% off.

\"Brown

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBrown Girls by Daphne Andreades Palasi
It’s another cracking debut! In her blazingly original debut novel Brown Girls which explores the relationship between a group of friends and their immigrant families from Queens, New York, this is a tender, poetic and fiercely empowering love letter to a modern generation of brown girls. We had the pleasure of interviewing Daphne on her novel for our podcast - check it out below!

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBrand Spotlight: Mustard Made

\"Lockers

I mean, how stunning are these lockers?! Founded by two sisters, Becca and Jess, Mustard Made have done the unthinkable, they’ve made lockers sexy, and we are ob-sessed with ours.

Our pink and green lockers are bedside staples, providing a beautiful home for our ever growing TBR’s. Coming in all shapes and sizes their website is well worth a visit.

\"Chanel

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKnow My Name by Chanel Miller

You may remember Chanel's victim impact statement was posted on BuzzFeed. In four days it have been viewed by 11million people and read on the floor of congress.

In her memoir Know My Name, Chanel reclaims her identity against her attacker, Brock Turner, who sexually assaulted her and confronts us with the injustice of his sentencing. Its an incredibly well written, albeit heavy, book that every person should take the time to read.

Want to hear more about our March Women’s History Month reads? Then give this episode of the Podcast a listen, as we recap some of our favs from the month:

In this blog post, you'll see the books we have mentioned are linked to Bookshop.org, a hub where you can buy books online but from independent bookshops. Please support small businesses.  

","comment_id":"626676db9e2d0a3b7af604f2","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/04/pasted-image-0--1-.png","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-04-25T10:24:27.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-04-29T19:44:24.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-03-31T19:43:00.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/celebrating-womens-history-month/","excerpt":"March is a month we look forward to every year - there are so many moments to\ncelebrate the phenomenal women in our lives, from International Women’s Day on\nthe 8th, to Mother’s Day on the 27th, and let’s not forget the entire month is\nrecognised as Women’s History Month! \n\nSo, for the past two years we have celebrated by committing to reading books\nexclusively written by women, and people who identify as women, throughout the\nwhole month, and let us tell you - it’s pretty special! In this post,","reading_time":3,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":null,"feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"625daf0d9e2d0a3b7af603bc","uuid":"76bdbc01-203e-426c-8a1a-93abf44a429d","title":"Empowering Book Reccos","slug":"empowering-book-reccos","html":"

Recently we keep being asked for books that will make you feel empowered, ready to take on the world and like the best you can be so we thought to help anyone else that may be seeking out a similar book recco we'd put some of our favourites together in one blog post, although there are more reviews to be found on our Instagram account @bookreccos.

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHappy Not Perfect by Poppy Jamie

Poppy Jamie is one of the world’s leading entrepreneurs and speakers in the mental wellbeing and mindfulness space. Along with co-founding accessories brand Pop & Suki, with her best friend model/actor Suki Waterhouse (the success of which led to Forbes naming her one of their 30 under 30), she has also founded the award winning Happy Not Perfect mindset app.

Most recently, she's written for Kourtney Kardashian's wellness site Poosh but she has also written her own incredible book Happy Not Perfect: Upgrade Your Mind, Challenge Your Thoughts and Free Yourself From Anxiety, which is full of workable tools for emotional and mental health that can be so easily applied to every day life.

We were delighted to interview Poppy on our podcast which you can listen to below on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts:

\t\t\t\t\tWorking Hard, Hardly Working by Grace Beverley

Influencer turned CEO, founder of fitness brands TALA and Shreddy, Grace Beverley knows a thing or two about multi-tasking and productivity and she's kindly gathered all her tips and tricks into her book Working Hard, Hardly Working: How to achieve more, stress less and feel fulfilled.

It's jam-packed with realistic scenarios and the hacks were very easy to apply to our working lives. Whether you're a bit of a procrastinator or are running out of hours in the day, we think they'll be something for you to get out of this book to apply to your own career.

\"Working

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStronger by Poorna Bell

Poorna Bell is an award-winning journalist, author and digital editorial expert, she specialises in women’s issues, diversity, fitness and mental health, and you can find her work in the likes of The Times, Grazia, The Guardian as well as in her three non-fiction books.

Poorna is also a competitive powerlifter, after discovering this new passion in her forties, which led to her most recent piece of non-fiction, Stronger. Part manifesto, part memoir, Stronger is inspired by her journey to get physically strong after her husband passed away and is full of interviews exploring size, age, race, and ability.

We had the absolute pleasure of interviewing Poorna about her book on our podcast, which you can listen to below on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts:

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBigger Than Us by Fearne Cotton

Fearne Cotton has written many books now, including Happy, Calm and Quiet but in her latest, Bigger Than Us, she seeks insight and advice of wise minds to explore what they can teach us to achieve happiness, connection and hope.

With their help, she peels back layers of anxiety and self-limiting beliefs to find contentment and deeper meaning, by exploring positive ideas and simple exercises that are available to every single one of us.

\"Bigger

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBig Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Author of Eat Pray Love and City of Girls (both firm faves of ours) Elizabeth Gilbert use her book Big Magic to explore the notion of creativity, big thinking and inspiration. It's a little book FULL of thought provoking anecdotes that left us buzzing with thoughts and feelings.

We have an entire podcast episode dedicated to this book, and in it we also recco some other self help books that we've loved, you can listen below on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts:

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDaring Greatly by Brené Brown

If you’re in need of a book that’s going to make you feel 6 inches taller and give you the confidence to make changes in your life, then look no further.

This book’s been tried and tested. In a society that’s conditioned us to feel “not enough”, this book gives us the perspective to step back and examine our lives and imagine what it would be like if we had the courage to transform the way we live, love, parent and lead.

In our opinion, this book is even better on audio; so you can listen to Brené’s voice in your ears giving you a pep talk.

\"Daring
Fav quote: “Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”

\t\t\t\t\t\tWe Need To Talk About Money by Otegha Uwagba

Otegha Uwagba is a bestselling author and culture journalist who has written three books: Little Black Book: A Toolkit for Working Women, short essay Whites: On Race And Other Falsehoods and the Sunday Times bestseller We Need To Talk About Money, a part memoir, part cultural commentary published in 2021 and selected as an Observer Book of the Year.

It was fantastic, so yep you guessed it we took it to the podcast to discuss in more depth. In 2021 the Sunday Times highlighted Otegha as one of seven young writers “changing the literary world,” and its easy to see why, give our podcast episode a listen below on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts:

In this blog post, you'll see the books we have mentioned are linked to Bookshop.org, a hub where you can buy books online but from independent bookshops. Please support small businesses.  

","comment_id":"625daf0d9e2d0a3b7af603bc","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/04/IMG_6369.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-04-18T18:33:49.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-04-29T19:43:49.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-02-28T19:18:00.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/empowering-book-reccos/","excerpt":"Recently we keep being asked for books that will make you feel empowered, ready\nto take on the world and like the best you can be so we thought to help anyone\nelse that may be seeking out a similar book recco we'd put some of our\nfavourites together in one blog post, although there are more reviews to be\nfound on our Instagram account @bookreccos [www.instagram.com/bookreccos].\n\nHappy Not Perfect by Poppy Jamie [https://uk.bookshop.org/a/2307/9781529339161]\n\nPoppy Jamie is one of the world’s lea","reading_time":4,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"Empowering books","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"62548a089e2d0a3b7af60231","uuid":"8e7f717c-b85f-4f8b-a8d1-2295461b9a26","title":"Switching out every day products for eco-friendly reccos","slug":"switching-out-every-day-products-for-eco-friendly-reccos","html":"

We love working with environmentally conscious brands, particularly having read books like A Bigger Picture by Vanessa Nakate and Who Cares Wins by Lily Cole - in fact, we have a podcast episode giving book reccos for books about our planet called Destroy the Patriarchy Not the Planet which you can listen to here:

So for anyone else looking to make small changes to their daily lives and shopping habits, we're sharing our reccos for sustainable brands we adore. Each of these brands is a genuine recco (as always) and we have used their products both before and after working with them.

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAccessorise with Monica Vinader

We all know jewellery can elevate an outfit, but not all brands make conscious to be sustainable - which is why we are so chuffed to be Monica Vinader affiliates.

\"Monica
Use code MVINSIDER19-A359 for 20% off

Their jewellery is impeccably classy and made exclusively from recycled gold vermeil, sterling silver and sustainably sourced natural gemstones, diamonds & pearls - oh, and all of their packaging is recyclable! We love to see it 👏🏻  

We love their Deia range, the rings and earrings are so simple statement pieces, and their pearl jewellery is stunning, as well as being sustainably farmed.

Use code MVINSIDER19-A359 for 20% off at https://family.monicavinader.com/s/bookreccos [Aff link, where we make a bit of commission so please use this link if making a purchase!]

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMake Your Skin Glow with UpCircle

UpCircle repurpose would-be waste ingredients to create award-winning skincare & beauty products. They're natural, vegan and cruelty free and because all their products are made from food waste, they all smell delicious!

\"Upcircle
Use code BOOKRECCOS for 15% off

Each product has a core repurposed ingredient – their coffee scrubs are made with top quality arabica coffee grounds, rescued from London cafes - and to date they’ve rescued over 350 tonnes of coffee!

Other ingredients rescued by UpCircle include olive stones from the olive oil industry (found in their face mask), and chai spices repurposed from the production of tea (found in their soaps).

Their Cleansing Face Balm is the best make up remover, leaving your skin feeling oily and rejuvenated rather than rubbed raw. Their Moisturiser is also the perfect finisher for your morning routine, to give you that glow for the whole day. Use code BOOKRECCOS for 15% off at upcirclebeauty.com

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSmell Fresh with Wild

Wild is the new, sustainable Natural Deodorant delivered straight to your door, which is aluminium free with compostable, plastic free refills and a 100% effective formula.

\"Wild
Use code BOOKS for 15% off

First, you select your refillable case, they have a range of colours and patterns and you can even get them personalised!

Next, pick your refills from a wide selection of scents, our favourites have been the rhubarb, peach bellini and mint & eucalyptus.

Finally, decide how frequently you want your refills sent to you - or you can buy as a one off. It’s really easy to navigate, and a very flexible subscription service.

They even do travel sized deodorants that are so handy for just having in your handbag when you need to freshen up and are the size of a chapstick. Grace Beverly is an investor and she’s a big champion of sustainable brands, so you know they must be doing something right! Use code BOOKS for 15% off at wearewild.com

\t\t\t\t\tMake Your Home Smell Divine with Perfect Chaos

Perfect Chaos are a small business founded by two fabulous women, Penny and Lisa, who just like us are lifelong friends! They produce affordable, hand-poured luxury candles (that’s right, they aren’t mass produced in a factory) which are made with natural essential oils, meaning they're free from harmful chemicals. All their packaging is made from recycled materials and we can confirm that their products feel incredibly luxurious and smell heavenly!

\"Perfect
Use code BOOKRECCOS15 for 15% off 

Our favourite Perfect Chaos scents are from their collaboration with Mirabeau (ofc, we love their wine), And Enjoy' which is lime, basil and mandarin, and And Buzz Off which is an outdoor citronella and thyme candle. Each candle's wax is poured into gorgeous silver and rose gold pots, which can be refilled and used again! Just clean them out and purchase the correct size refill on their website, meaning, zero waste!

They’ve really thought of everything, so if you’re looking to buy a special gift or just fancy treating yourself, then use code BOOKRECCOS15 for 15% off at perfect-chaos.co.uk

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDress the Part with Nobody’s Child

When Nobody’s Child reached out to work with us, it was a big bloody deal as we’ve been wearing their sustainable clothes for years. For those that don’t know, they're an independent London based brand who create responsible and affordable fashion for kind and spirited women.

\"Nobody's

90% of their collection is made from responsible fabrics (they’re working towards 100%). For example, their exercise leggings are made from 60 recycled plastic bottles and their jeans are made from 50% organic cotton and 50% BCI cotton.

Their clothing also FITS! The dresses come in a range of different styles (and patterns of course), their loungewear is super soft and cosy and their knitwear feels incredibly luxurious for reasonable prices.

","comment_id":"62548a089e2d0a3b7af60231","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/04/IMG_4647-1.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-04-11T20:05:28.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-04-29T19:21:51.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-02-22T12:38:00.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/switching-out-every-day-products-for-eco-friendly-reccos/","excerpt":"We love working with environmentally conscious brands, particularly having read\nbooks like A Bigger Picture by Vanessa Nakate\n[https://uk.bookshop.org/a/2307/9781529075687] and Who Cares Wins by Lily Cole\n[https://uk.bookshop.org/a/2307/9780241309148]- in fact, we have a podcast\nepisode giving book reccos for books about our planet called Destroy the\nPatriarchy Not the Planet which you can listen to here:\n\nSo for anyone else looking to make small changes to their daily lives and\nshopping habits,","reading_time":4,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"Scenes of a Graphic Nature by Caroline O'Donoghue","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"626678719e2d0a3b7af60514","uuid":"d5e20268-2238-496e-b8ff-a339c6c39ebf","title":"The only reading light you need before bed","slug":"the-blue-light-blocking-brand","html":"

Our April podcast sponsor is a brand we’ve become borderline obsessed with for a while now: BLUBlox. They’re the original, science backed brand, providing fashionable, Australian made blue light management and red light therapy products, spotted in Vogue, GQ and Elle.

\"Red

We’ve been on an educational journey to understand more about the ways blue light can have detrimental impact on our brains. Now, we’re in no means experts, but to put it simply, here’s a quick science lesson for you…

The sun is the most natural source of blue light, and rather cleverly our brains use the light from the sun to regulate our body clocks. When the sun starts to set, this signals to our brains to start producing melatonin which prepares us for sleep.

However, with more and more artificial blue light products in our everyday lives (TVs, lightbulbs, phone screens, laptops etc), this quite understandably confuses the eff out of our brains! In fact Harvard University found that too much exposure to blue light not only disrupts our sleep but can increases our risk for multiple health issues.

\"Red

Enter BLUBlox! They have a range of products which filter down harmful artificial blue light. Our favourite product of BLUBlox product is the Lumi Clip Sleep + which is the most perfect reading light, particularly before bed, it's red light is not only cosy and easy on the eye, but has been proven to stimulate melatonin production which improves sleep - hurrah!

It perfectly clips to your book, its rechargeable and the light is easy to manoeuvre, it's been a real game changer.

\"BluBLOX
Photo Credit: https://www.blublox.com/

It's a perfect size and super lightweight, which means you can have it on you wherever you go, whether you're travelling, using to read before bed, or even just need to get up in the middle of the night and don't want to turn on a overhead light. Oh, and it also comes in a bigger size as a bedside lamp, too!

Their website is great and breaks down all the science behind their products so head to blublox.com and use code BOOKRECCOS15 for 15% off all their products.

","comment_id":"626678719e2d0a3b7af60514","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/04/IMG_4240.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-04-25T10:31:13.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-04-29T18:48:19.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-02-10T07:07:00.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/the-blue-light-blocking-brand/","excerpt":"Our April podcast sponsor is a brand we’ve become borderline obsessed with for a\nwhile now: BLUBlox [https://www.blublox.com/]. They’re the original, science\nbacked brand, providing fashionable, Australian made blue light management and\nred light therapy products, spotted in Vogue, GQ and Elle. \n\nWe’ve been on an educational journey to understand more about the ways blue\nlight can have detrimental impact on our brains. Now, we’re in no means experts,\nbut to put it simply, here’s a quick science ","reading_time":2,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"Reading books in bed with a red light reading light","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"625484c69e2d0a3b7af601e7","uuid":"ea1b0e0d-35e5-460a-aaca-8a5745405293","title":"Visiting Hay-on-Wye, the World’s First Book Town","slug":"visiting-hay-on-wye-the-worlds-first-book-town","html":"

January is bleak, so to have something to look forward to we took ourselves on a little reading retreat and really there was only one place we thought to go - the world’s first book town (we think this might be a self-proclaimed title?)! Hay-on-Wye is a small market town just on the outskirts of the Brecon Beacons in Wales, UK.

\"Book

Getting there is super easy, there's one large car park by the information centre which we parked in with ease and everything is within walking distance.

What to do in Hay-on-Wye

We spent an afternoon mooching around the town which is probably the perfect amount of time, although a day would also work depending on the speed at which you book browse, and we predominantly spent our time looking in all of the independent shops and having yummy food and coffees in cafes.

We’ll get onto the bookshops but if you’re after beautiful homewares, second hand clothes and crafty items then you’ll be delighted to learn that Hay-on-Wye is a treasure trove!

There are apparently over 15 bookshops in this one little town, which we’ve looked up afterwards as we lost count of how many we went in and out of, there’s just so many and they all have such extensive second-hand book collections (Lauren expanded both her Paulo Coelho and Elif Shafak collections!)  so we’ll highlight a few of our favourites.

The Hay Castle Bookshop is an open air bookshop in the castle ruins which runs on an honesty policy whereby if you see a book you like, you’ll leave your coins in the money box. We found a few of our reccos including My Dark Vanessa, The Ice Cream Girls and The Invisible Girl.

Hay-on-Wye Bookshops

Richard Booth’s Bookshop is probably the biggest bookshop spanning across a few floors and selling  new and second-hand books, as well as gifts, games AND there’s a café so you really can spend hours on end in here.

\"Richard
Photo credit: Richard Booth Bookshop

Green Ink Booksellers was the newest second-hand bookshop in the town and felt light and airy inside and had a great range of children’s books.

\"Green
Photo credit: Green Ink Booksellers

It would be remiss not to mention the Hay Festival in this blog post, although we weren’t there for it, it’s a staple in the town’s calendar every late May/early June and brings readers and writers together to share stories and ideas in sustainable events around the world. We’d love to go back for it but if you’re planning a trip perhaps see if you can tie it in for this time of year!

Where to Stay in Hay-on-Wye

We feel like we completely lucked out finding a very affordable luxe pod for our two night stay at Cynefin Retreats just an eight minute drive out of the town.

\"Cynefin
The Hazel Luxe Pod where we stayed

There are a few luxe pods all really well spaced out so that they are really private, in fact we didn’t see anyone else there during our stay! Each pod has a double bedroom, a bathroom with a huge shower, a fully equipped kitchen with a dining table and lounge area complete with a log burner.

The heated floors meant we could open the big glass doors so we could enjoy our morning coffees alfresco whilst feeling really cosy (sometimes log cabins can be chilly but this definitely wasn’t!)

Cynefin retreats hot tub

Each luxe pod has a fire pit, which we failed to light with the wood provided - we could have bought more for a few £s but after acknowledging that we are city girls who don’t really know how to start a fire, we decided against it and lit the log burner inside instead. Shame really because they provide you with a few yummy marshmallows for roasting!

There is also a hot tub on the deck which is always running so no faff there apart from taking the lid off, it’s the perfect heat and we spent an afternoon reading and drinking  wine. It's also slightly under cover, so if you do get some Welsh rain (highly likely) you can still enjoy the tub.

To see our day out exploring Hay-on-Wye check out our reel on our Instagram!

In this blog post, you'll see the books we have mentioned are linked to Bookshop.org, a hub where you can buy books online but from independent bookshops. Please support small businesses.  

","comment_id":"625484c69e2d0a3b7af601e7","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/04/Icon-image-for-blog-post.JPG","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-04-11T19:43:02.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-04-29T19:45:30.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-01-10T20:00:00.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/visiting-hay-on-wye-the-worlds-first-book-town/","excerpt":"January is bleak, so to have something to look forward to we took ourselves on a\nlittle reading retreat and really there was only one place we thought to go -\nthe world’s first book town (we think this might be a self-proclaimed title?)!\nHay-on-Wye is a small market town just on the outskirts of the Brecon Beacons in\nWales, UK.\n\nGetting there is super easy, there's one large car park by the information\ncentre which we parked in with ease and everything is within walking distance. \n\nWhat to do in","reading_time":4,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"The Hay Castle Bookshop","feature_image_caption":null},{"id":"625d81f99e2d0a3b7af602e9","uuid":"20365e62-8b61-4b8a-8d5f-4d9ef88445f9","title":"A week in Oahu, Hawaii","slug":"a-week-in-oahu-hawaii","html":"

When we were 10 years old we said that one day we’d go to Hawaii together, and in our early twenties we did just that. Only able to take a week off work it was a jam-packed trip with a busy itinerary exploring the entire island which Lauren gladly let Type A Jess take the reigns on.

We’re gonna break it down in this blog post by location around the island but if you want to see the trip in full then you can watch a short video of the busy week here:

Waikiki

We stayed in an Air Bnb in Waikiki, a 10 minute walk from the beach which was definitely the way to go for the type of trip we had! Hawaii is home to some beautiful hotels but we knew we weren’t going to be spending any time at our accommodation apart from sleeping (which we didn’t do a great deal of either!) so we’d recco looking into this as an option.

Waikiki Beach is everything we hoped it would be, very busy but with a long stretch of sand surrounded by restaurants and amenities, plus the water is perfect. Speaking of Waikiki restaurants, we enjoyed our final night meal, with plenty of mai tais, at Duke’s, a brilliant seafood restaurant that you can access from the beach.

Another fun evening we had was doing a catamaran sunset boat trip which started and finished at Waikiki Beach. There are a few companies running them and we went with Manu Kai which included unlimited mai tais - are you sensing a bit of a theme here?

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Waikiki Beach

Overlooking Waikiki Beach is Diamond Head which is one of the easier hikes on the island, well if you set off first thing before the sun gets too hot. Its very easy to get to with a big car park that also has toilets and refreshments which really does make it more of a “mainstream” hike than some of the others on the island which you could only find if you’re with a local (more on that later). From the car park the round trip is under 2miles but it gets very steep in parts and some of it is up steps so it’s not accessible.

Best part of getting your hike done by 8am? A big breakfast! We headed to M.A.C 24/7 for the biggest pancakes ever where Man Vs Food went to try their challenge, remember him?

Lanikai & Waimanalo

These are two separate small areas that we visited on two different dates in the end but they are definitely close enough for one long day out, especially if you have a car. Lanikai is home to the incredibly instagrammable Pillbox Hike (pic below for THAT view) but getting up to that picture spot was no easy task, or at least it wasn’t for us novice hiking tourists.

It starts off on a dirt path that is so steep we were grabbing onto plants to actually get up it, thankfully someone installed a rope after a short while which we made good use of - and stood out like sore thumbs in the process with all the locals storming ahead!

Once you’re up it’s a stunning walk with panoramic views over Lanikai beach’s turquoise waters and the trail gets its name from the military bunkers up there - where you can get insane pics like this:

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Pillbox Hike overlooking Lanikai Beach

Best bit of the hike is coming back down and spending time at the beautiful and serene Lanikai Beach, which we found quite similar to Waimanalo Beach being on the same stretch of the island. Both were very quiet with warm bright blue ocean but not as many amenities as Waikiki.

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Waimanalo Beach

Kualoa Ranch

You'll have seen Kualoa Ranch in many films including Jurassic Park and King Kong as just a few low-key examples... As a result there are a multitude of tours you can take around the park to see it in all its beauty and for the infamous film locations like the fallen tree they hide behind in Jurassic Park, and you can do so via ATV, mountain bike, on a horse or even by ziplining.

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Kualoa Ranch

We booked before leaving the UK and went for a combination tour that included transfers from our hotel and lunch - its a well oiled machine over there and they've thought of everything.

We arrived in the morning to hop on our quad bikes and do an hour long ATV tour which was great fun, if a little slow in a big group. We then had our buffet lunch on the ranch before being whisked away for an afternoon of zip lining which was the absolute highlight of the entire trip! It's comprised of seven different lines and they are all completely different, a little scary at first but we cannot recco it enough, please if you visit Kualoa Ranch sign up for this!!

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Zip lining at Kualoa Ranch

North Shore

We completely lucked out with our Air Bnb host who kindly took us for a day out driving us around the island and showing us all of her favourite spots. We'd kind of chatted about it with her before arriving and then solidified our plans once there so we'd recco asking your host if its something they'd be up for in return for petrol money/a small fee because it was such a great day out!

For example she took us on a secret hike to a secluded waterfall, so much so that we can't even recco it in this blog post because we have no concept of where it was, sorry!

We were very keen to visit the North Shore, a surfers paradise full of cool shops, shaved ice and gorgeous beaches. Jess had hunted out Laniakea Beach where wild turtles are known to hang out which we made a beeline for as the first stop.

It isn't the kind of beach you'd spend the day because the shoreline is just completely littered with turtles from who you should keep a safe distance to respect them, so we just spent about half an hour there watching them on our way up to the top of the island.

\"Turtles
Laniakea Beach

The beaches in the North Shore had a completely different vibe to the other beaches we'd visited; for example at Waimea Bay we jumped off of a 40ft rock into the ocean, and nearly broke the Go Pro in the process, in fact we can't watch that part of the video without feeling sick to our stomachs even now haha.

Our favourite beach of the trip was on this day trip actually - Mokule'ia Beach aka the beach where the plane crashed on that little TV show Lost. The waves at this time of year were small but oh were they mighty! It made for such a fun yet safe swimming spot and we loved soaking up the sun there for a fair few hours.

\"The
Mokule'ia Beach

It truly was the trip of a lifetime and we're just so pleased we finally visited after so many years of having it as our goal, the only thing we would have changed would be taking lots of books for the most amazing book pics whilst there hahaha.

Jess & Lauren xx

","comment_id":"625d81f99e2d0a3b7af602e9","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/04/north.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2022-04-18T15:21:29.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-04-29T18:44:09.000+00:00","published_at":"2017-07-31T16:48:00.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/a-week-in-oahu-hawaii/","excerpt":"When we were 10 years old we said that one day we’d go to Hawaii together, and\nin our early twenties we did just that. Only able to take a week off work it was\na jam-packed trip with a busy itinerary exploring the entire island which Lauren\ngladly let Type A Jess take the reigns on. \n\nWe’re gonna break it down in this blog post by location around the island but if\nyou want to see the trip in full then you can watch a short video of the busy\nweek here:\n\nWaikiki\n\nWe stayed in an Air Bnb in Waikiki","reading_time":6,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"Book Reccos in Hawaii","feature_image_caption":null}],"aboutpagedata":{"slug":"about","id":"622097e5d4c755a2f92cc70e","uuid":"e53fc5a3-590e-4a6f-8650-13b71bb63bc0","title":"About","html":"

Hey! We're Jess & Lauren, the best friends and bookworms behind the podcast & Instagram account @bookreccos where we recommend (or recco!) the books and brands we are loving.

As our platform is only for genuine recommendations you won’t see a negative review, if we don’t enjoy a book or rate a product/brand you simply won’t hear about it, because we believe, if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all!

","comment_id":"622097e5d4c755a2f92cc70e","feature_image":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/content/images/2022/05/IMG-8102.jpg","featured":false,"visibility":"public","created_at":"2022-03-03T10:26:45.000+00:00","updated_at":"2022-05-01T11:19:28.000+00:00","published_at":"2022-03-03T10:30:00.000+00:00","custom_excerpt":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"url":"https://cms.bookreccos.com/about/","excerpt":"Hey! We're Jess & Lauren, the best friends and bookworms behind the podcast &\nInstagram account @bookreccos where we recommend (or recco!) the books and\nbrands we are loving.\n\n\nAs our platform is only for genuine recommendations you won’t see a negative\nreview, if we don’t enjoy a book or rate a product/brand you simply won’t hear\nabout it, because we believe, if you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say\nanything at all!","reading_time":0,"page":true,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"book reccos in pink and green","feature_image_caption":null}},"__N_SSG":true}