I'm reading
When I finished my post last week, I only have two books on the go. One was my audiobook which I suspect I might finish this week, and the other was The Story Collector by Evie Woods which I finished this week. I have mixed results with Evie Woods. I really loved her book The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris when I read it last year! I was underwhelmed by The Lost Bookshop, but wondered if that was about the audio production, but I was underwhelmed by The Story Collector too. I feel like I should have connected much better with the book which is all about Irish folklore, fairies and the like.
After that I read The Palace Women by Jennifer Ryan which is set in Buckingham Palace in the lead up to the Queen's coronation ceremony in 1952.
I have also made significant progress with Jo Thomas's latest book Summer at The French Bakery. I really enjoy the way that Thomas writes her stories, which always have a lot of focus on food. This one is no exception.
We had book club this week. The theme for this selection was secrets, which I found to be a very easy theme for me. I read 10 books that might have counted for this theme! The next theme is the environment and I have a couple of ideas about what I might read! Shown above are just some of the books that the group read for this theme.
I'm watching
I went and watched a French movie yesterday called Colours of Time. It is a dual timeline story set in the 1890s and the modern day and features cameos by some pretty important people in French art history! I liked it a lot. Here's the trailer
Life
We did Christmassy in July on the weekend. We had some people come around for dinner, which wasn't really traditional Christmas dinner but it was not too far off! We made roast chicken, roast pork, champagne sauce, apple cider gravy, mushroom sauce, cauliflower and broccoli cheese and roast potatoes. For dessert I made a Sticky Date Pudding Cake which was yum!
One fun thing is that we used our fire pit for the first time since we moved into this house which was nearly four years ago!
Posts from the last week
Top Ten Tuesday: Free Books!
Paris in July: Island of Mists and Miracles by Victoria Mas
Weekend Cooking: Eva Longoria: Searching for France
Cook the Books: Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal
Paris in July: Bestsellers Around the World: France
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
Sounds like a wonderful week. I can never seem to stick with a book club. Hope you enjoyed Christmas in July!
ReplyDeletehttps://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2026/07/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-mailbox_01367582537.html
I think it helps that it is read on a theme rather than everyone reading the same book!
DeleteI accidentally did Christmas in July this past weekend by reading a book that was set in December (I didn't know that before I read it) and watching an episode of Call the Midwife that happened to be the first part of a Christmas special (again, I didn't know before I watched it!).
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a book club reading on a theme! When I was in a book club, we only briefly discussed the book, spent a lot of time catching up on our lives, and then even more time trying to choose our next book. A theme would make things much simpler! A fire pit is so cozy!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun week. Your books sound interesting too. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a good week. Enjoy your books and have a great week!
ReplyDeleteSucks when an author's other books turn out underwhelming after really enjoying one. Sounds like you've had a good week, though!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great week. I like the sound of Summer at The French Bakery---glad to see you are enjoying it a lot. The French movie sounds delightful.
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