This week...

I'm reading

It's been a pretty good reading week for me this week, including a 5 star reads! 

I mentioned last week that I had started The Little Wartime Bookclub by Kate Thompson. I was surprised when I first picked it us to see how long the book is. It's very close to being a chunkster, but despite it's size I sped through it in just a couple of days. I loved it! And it was a 5/5 read!

Next I picked up Hot Chocolate on Thursday by Japanese author Michiko Aoyama. This is the third book I have read by her, and it was her debut and I thought it was fabulous. I am looking forward to reading the sequel to this book which is out in a few weeks. I will post a review of this one for Weekend Cooking in a couple of weeks time.

I then read The Paradise Pact by Anita Heiss. It has made me laugh out loud a couple of times but it also irritated me at times. I made it to the end though. 

Finally, I started my first Twenty Books of Winter read which was First-Time Caller by B K Borison. I think I started it too early though as I could easily have finished it yesterday. I had to pace myself so I could finish it today and have it count as a June read!

How on earth is it the end of May already? And isn't that what I think at the end of every month! May was a pretty good month for me. I had two 5 star reads this month being In the Paris Fashion by Sophie Beaumont and The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson. Shout out to Hot Chocolate on Thursday which was a standout read too, even if it didn't quite make it 5 stars. It was very close. In total I read 11 books for the month so that it s a pretty good average.

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

Bookish travel

Here's where I travelled too through the pages of books during May

Asia 

China - The Bonesetter's Daughter

Korea - A Midnight Pastry Shop Called Hwawoldang

Japan - Gate to Kagoshima, Hot Chocolate on Thursday

America

California - The Bonesetter's Daughter

Hawaii  - The Paradise Pact

Europe

Italy - An Italian Island Love Story, A Venice Summer

Spain - Call of the Camino

UK - The Seaside Book Club. The Little Wartime Library

France - In a Paris Fashion

I'm watching


We are big fans of Welcome to Wrexham, so the other night we watched the first episode of Nexacas which is where Eva Longoria buys into a Mexican soccer team. It is aiming for the same kind of feel as Wrexham. Not sure we will watch all the episodes but it was interesting. Now it has been announced that there will be a similar series about the Bonds Flying Roos which is the Australian Sail GP team owned by Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. 

On Saturday night we finally got around to watching Remarkably Bright Creatures, which is based on the book by Shelby van Pelt, which I read and loved last year. I listened to the audio where the voice of Marcellus was provided by Michael Urie. When I first heard that they were making a movie I did hear that Urie would once again providing the voice which I was excited about. However, in the end Marcellus was voiced by Alfred Molina and he did a great job.

Here's the trailer

Life

On Thursday night we went to a new to us restaurant and had a delicious dinner and then we went to an event at the Immigration Museum called Enlightenment which is an immersive light and sound experience. The light show is set to the music of Vivaldi's Four Seasons. It was a really nice evening.  I do think we will go back to the restaurant, particularly because they had some truly amazing looking cocktails!


On Sunday afternoon I did something a bit different for me called Sip and Slay. Basically it was a makeup class accompanied by as much wine, champers or soft drink as you like, which may or may not be a good combination. Most days my idea of putting make up on is foundation, mascara and something on the lips, and the thought of having to put eye shadow on puts me in a cold sweat. It was a fun afternoon and I did learn a bit but I am not sure I can do the full routine that we learnt while I am sitting at traffic lights in the car!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite books by favourite authors
Gate to Kagoshima by Poppy Kuroki
Weekend Cooking/Cook the Books: Call of the Camino by Suzanne Redfearn






I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings