My heart is heavy at the moment at events in the UK. I was unsure whether to speak of this on my blog, it is after all meant to be a cosy looks into the books I am reading and snippets of bookselling stories, adventures in life and living in the most wonderful village. But anyone seeing the news today cannot fail to be upset. The vile rhetoric spilling forth from the far right thugs who have taken the most awful tragedy and used it to push their agenda of hatred and bigotry, to behave like violent thugs attacking people and their communities is absolutely not OK. To those of you living in fear, I am so sorry.

But I am heartened by communities coming together regardless of faith, the colour of our skin and beliefs to repair the damage, rebuild communities or just to bring the police a cup of tea and some food. In the very worst of times, whilst we see the worst of people, we also get to see the very best of people too.

Never more so is this true than at the Olympics. I have seen images of North and South Korean athletes smiling together with their arms around one another, clutching their medals. I have seen the refugee teams get the loudest cheers (and rightly so!). Athletes supporting athletes, cheering them on, celebrating their success and offering a hug or an arm round the shoulders when things don't go to plan. It's been inspirational and kind. I blooming love the Olympics.

If you need some sport inspiration, please read my post about running

On with today's review. A few posts back I mentioned a book that I had started, a Christmas book no less, which I was struggling to get into. Well I do not know if this book had suddenly had it's Weetabix, but heavens it got good. It was almost a contender for #12booksofchristmas (I Know! It's only August!).

Read my review of The Christmas Lights by Karen Swan

Libby and her new boyfriend attend what they think will be a flying visit to meet her university friends after a number of years. It's 3 days before Christmas and at the grand home of Archie Templeton in North Yorkshire. Through a series of flashbacks we learn why this group of friends fractured and didn't speak. The snow is falling stranding the friends and as the power goes out, secrets start to emerge.

Initially, this started off as a bit of a slow burner. We meet the friends and see them through Libby's eyes and initially they don't seem like the best group of people. But as we learn more through the dual timeline, we come to understand them.

There is the hint of a romance, turbulent, and angst-ridden, a university Libby very different from the Libby of now. Christmas is shown off very well at the grand house with Archie having an absolute saint for a housekeeper, rustling up the most wonderful dishes of food, the Christmas tree, walks in the snow, sledging and snowball fights ending with creamy hot chocolate. I felt very Christmassy after reading this.

This felt back to the Karen Swan novels I love. Romantic, a glamorous location but with a slight edge as well. It ended up being a very enjoyable read.