The Intrepid Reader and Baker: This week....

Can you believe it is December already! Before I get into what I have been reading, watching and doing this week, I wanted to mentioned that I will be launching the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge for 2026 on Wednesday! If you love historical fiction, reading challenges or both, please consider joining us!

I'm reading

Last week I finished reading Life Begins at the Cornish Cottage by Kim Nash. I reviewed it last week and I think it is her best book of the ones I have read. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai is another series that I really enjoy so I was always going to read the third book, Menu of Happiness. So far, it's making me...happy!

The other book I read this week was Christmas at Hollybush Farm by Jo Thomas, which is set in a struggling farming community in Wales.

I feel like my new normal is to read about 8 or 9 books a month. This month it was 9 book and while I didn't have any 5 star reads, there were 4 books that I gave a rating of 4.5/5 and they are pictured at the top of this post.

Books let our imaginations travel where our feet cannot - Nora Nguyen

Here's where I travelled through books in November

Europe

UK - Dear Mrs Bird, Maame, Life Begins at the Cornish Cottage, Christmas at Hollybush Farm

Ireland - Foster

Asia

Japan - The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park, Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop

Australia

Victoria - The Midwife's Christmas Miracle

Good Spirits

I'm watching

It's always a good day when the new season of Great British Bake Off starts. I have already watched two episodes and I am now waiting for inspiration to strike so that I can start baking again!

I did watch my first Christmas movie this week, which is a bit of a late start for this year. Fortunately I thought Champagne Problems was a good one, but there was always every likelihood that it was going to be when it is set in France, features a handsome French man and a beautiful chateau in the wine region of France!

We did watch a really interesting documentary series this week. It is called When the War is Over and it is hosted by actor Rachel Griffiths. It looks at the role of art in all it's forms in telling the story of war. The first episode was all about the impact of the movie Gallipolli in telling the story of Aussies in WWI. The second episode focussed on two songs which profoundly impacted the way that Vietnam veterans were viewed after they returned to normal life. The two songs are Khe Sanh by Cold Chisel and Nineteen by Redgum which is a song that quite often makes me cry! It's so poignant. You can watch the video for Nineteen on Youtube.

Other episodes focus on Afghanistan and the role of the official war painter, the role of music in helping prisoners of war cope with their incarceration in Singapore's Changi prison during WWII, and finally the Australian wars which is basically the story of the killings of Aboriginal men and women as the British colonised their lands.

Here's an intro video about the series

I did also catch 3 episodes of Dish podcast this week on Youtube. It is a show that just brings me so much joy. I watched the episodes with Bob Mortimer, Millie Bobbie Brown and the live show with Jack Whitehall.

Life

We went and enjoyed an afternoon tea with friends yesterday. We have been to the Oxi Tea Rooms before but the menu changes regularly so it was different experience. The menu was called Palete Through Time: Before and so the dishes were inspired by different eras from Ancient Egypt through to Elizabethan era through to now. As usual the food looked spectacular and tasted amazing too. Interestingly, one of the features of this experience was that each dish was accompanied by a different scent.

The menu actually changes in two days to something completely different, so I will be trying to visit Oxi Tea Rooms again to try that menu!