This week...

I'm reading

I feel like I am in a bit of a reading frenzy at the moment! This is mainly because I am trying to get ahead with my review reading and library due dates. I also need to take a look at my Big Books of Winter and read something off there because I am probably a book or two behind with that list!

So what did I read this week?

I absolutely devoured Eat Your Heart Out by Australian author Victoria Brownlee. I think this was a case of right book at the right time as I just couldn't put it down. It was a 5/5 read for me, and because it is set in France I reviewed it as part of Paris in July. 

On Tuesday night I went to an author event for Jessica Dettman whose latest book Your Friend and Mine was released at the beginning of July. I had a big of a gap in my reading so I read it. This one is set in London. I liked it and plan to review the book in the next couple of weeks.

I finally finished reading Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. I liked this book too and will read the next book in the series. I think this book suffered a little bit because I kept on putting it aside to read other things. 

When I was looking at my library due dates I was thinking I still had a couple of weeks to read The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson, but it is a big book at nearly 600 pages so I have started that one.

I wanted to get all my review posts done for next week so over the weekend I prioritised reading those books. The first one I read was A Place in the Sun by Jo Thomas. This was another great read from her, and it made me want lasagne so that is what we are having for dinner tonight.

Yesterday I read One Snowy Day by Shari Low. I have only started reading Shari Low this year and I really enjoyed her book.

I did go to another author event last week and I have two coming up this week that I am looking forward to. I went to hear Lucy Sussex talk at my local library about the book she co-wrote with Megan Brown called Outrageous Fortune. It is a non-fiction book about a woman called Mary Fortune who was the first Australian crime writer. She was extremely prolific and had a long running crime series, and yet has basically been lost to history. The irony of her being a crime writer was that her son was a career criminal! It was a fascinating talk.

I'm watching


I went to the movies last week to watch Jane Austen Wrecked My Life again. I first saw it and really enjoyed it earlier this year. I wanted to write about it for Paris in July and so when I saw that it was on at the cinemas again I jumped at the opportunity to watch it again. I really enjoyed it the second time around too. I wrote about it here.

I mentioned last week that I went to the movies to see a Japanese movie called Grand Maison Paris. When I was writing my post about it for Weekend Cooking, I realised that the movie was actually a spin-off from a Netflix TV series called Grand Maison Tokyo. It features a lot of the same characters and is about a couple of Japanese chefs who want to open a French restaurant in Tokyo with the aim of being awarded three Michelin stars. I started watching the series on the weekend.

I also finished watching Gary Barlow's Wine Tour of South Africa. Over the last few weeks I have watched this series and also the one he did in Australia. They are both very easy watching, feature some amazing food and wine and some beautiful scenery.




Life

I forgot to mention last week that we went to see a musical called Here You Come Again which features the song of Dolly Parton. It was a lot of fun, and I have been hearing a lot of her songs in my head ever since. 

On Saturday we went to the National Gallery of Victoria which is an art gallery and saw the French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston exhibition which is currently on. We then had afternoon tea in the Tea Rooms. It was a lovely outing and I will have a Paris in July post up about it on Thursday. 

We then followed that up by going to see an 80's band at a local pub. It's the first time we have been to this pub and I have to say it was so nice to be able to go out and then be home in 15 minutes. Normally, if we are in the city it is half an hour or more to get home. We will go back and see some other shows there in due course. 

The big news in my world is that I finally got a job and I start next week, which is why I am trying to cram so many books and write the reviews for them this week. When I decided to resign from my last job I did so deliberately choosing to take some time off. However, it has taken a bit longer than I would necessarily have liked to get another job! I am definitely relieved and I am really looking forward to the new role


Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Historical Fiction Novels Set in France
Paris in July: Eat Your Heart Out by Victoria Brownlee
Paris in July: Jane Austen Wrecked my Life

Paris in July: The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl
Weekend Cooking/Paris in July: Grande Maison Paris
Bestsellers Around the World: France



I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date and Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz