participation | Sophie E Tallis - Author/Illustrator

Here is a marvellous new Reading Blog Tour for the Summer. So for all of you jet-setting to sunnier climbs or just hoping for some chill time in the garden with a good book, this is for YOU! Over the next few weeks I’ve been lucky enough to be able to participate in this wonderful Summer Blog Tour (brainchild of the ultra-talented Lisa Weidmeier) – highlighting the very best new books and authors for you to enjoy! Have a happy Summer! 😀 xxx

Andrea Baker Author

As you’ll know from my earlier post, my wonderful friend and fellow author Lisa has put together a 13 week experience where you get to meet new people, and discover some of their favourite summer reads.

Lisa is one of my favourite up and coming authors, her “Timeless Series” is a fantastic read, and there are already four of them available. Be warned though, you may become a fellow sufferer of CATTS (chronic addiction to Timeless Series) 😉

Find out more about Lisa here

I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself!! Sam, Carrie and I wanted to provide for you, my avid readers, a way to not only meet new authors, but also books you might not have seen or heard about. A way to expand your reading list for the summer.

Over the next 13 weeks, I've asked various authors I know to come share not only…

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Anyone who knows me, knows I’m not exactly a sports fanatic, far from it. In fact I often joke that we have a non-sport zone in the house! But despite my cynicism and initial misgivings, especially after what I considered to be a very confusing and convoluted vision from Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony, I have been utterly blown away by the Olympics!

Without meaning to, I have found myself on many an occasion watching completely spellbound by the rowing, sprinting, pentathlon, swimming and the cycling…wow…the cycling!

What has made the greatest impression, more than our incredible sporting achievements, which for such a small nation have been monumental – who would ever have guessed that our little isle would be third, beating mighty powerhouses like Russia, Korea and even our sporting rivals Australia in the medal haul! – but the greatest impression has been the sheer infectious optimism which has pored over our country, unifying all of us. The power of the human spirit, eh? A strange and wondrous thing…

So yes, I have thoroughly enjoyed these Olympics despite my jaded tendencies. The cheer of the crowds, don’t we do that well? I’ve often been to concerts in the past when the bands have declared that British audiences are the best for our sheer level of manic enthusiasm and the way we throw ourselves into the spectacle with wild abandon. No stiff upper lips here, just joy and full participation. Now, I’ve never been a flag waving nationalist, but I have felt myself brimming with national pride on many occasions over the course of these Games. Well done Team GB!!!

Somehow, despite the terrible economic situation, the wars, the strifes, the conflicts, the disappointments…we’ve all grown a little taller over these past few magical days. I guess that is what sport in the Olympic tradition really means, a bringing together of nations in peace, away from politics, religion and all the things that divide us. We are one nation, one people under the sun.

And so, after sixteen days of optimism, national pride and sporting excellence we bid a sad farewell to the London 2012 Olympics, which should really be renamed the Britain 2012 Olympics, as every city, town and community has been involved or touched in some way by these Games.

Farewell and thank you for a wonderful sixteen days of drama, achievement, laughter and tears and yes, I must say…amazing sport!

😀 xx