This week....

I'm reading

The highlight of my reading week this week was finishing The Whisky Widow by Karen Brooks. I have no idea why I have never read her before but I really wish I had! I have several of her books on my Kindle and I will now be trying to read them because I loved The Whisky Widow so much!!! This was a 5/5 read for me.

Another book that I finished reading this week was The Friendship List by Beth Miller which I reviewed here. 

I also read So This is Christmas by Helen Rolfe, which I am due to review this week. This is my second Christmassy novel already this year and I have a few more lined up to read too!

I mentioned last week that I was very late in starting my book club book. I finished the book late on the Friday night before our meeting on Saturday morning. Normally we are a read on a theme book club but this month we all agreed to read Butter by Asako Yuzuki. It's fair to say that this was not a popular choice with one of the members declaring it her most hated book ever! It definitely made for a lively discussion! We are going back to our normal format next month with the theme being romance. I am pretty sure I am going to have no trouble finding books to read for that theme!

Now I just have to figure out what I will read next! I have a number of books out from the library at the moment, so I think I will start with Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson. I have only found out recently that he is Australian so it will count as a last minue read for Aussie  August 2025. (Edited to add - I did indeed start this book!)

I did go to an author event this week. It was a library sponsored event and there were maybe 10 of us in the room, so it was just like we were just chatting with author January Gilchrist about her book The Final Chapter. The book is a murder mystery set at a writer's retreat. It was a really fun evening with lots of laughs even though there were just a few of us. I invited a friend who is now engaged to one of my friends that I have had for years. It was the first author event she has ever been too, but I think she will come to another one! I may have converted someone to the joys of author events! One convert at a time!

I'm watching

Nothing new really!


Life

Not a lot here either


Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Big Books!
Blog Tour: The Girl from the War Room by Catherine Law
Blog Tour: The Friendship List by Beth Miller
Your Friend and Mine by Jessica Dettman
Weekend Cooking: The Convenience Store by the Sea by Sonoko Machida
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett



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

This week....

I'm reading

After last week's post where I lamented the challenges I am facing in keeping up with library and blog post due dates in my reading, this week I would like to add one more layer of complexity into the mix. Normally my book club is read upon a theme, but this month we decided that we would follow the more traditional approach of all reading the same book. The book club meeting is on Saturday and no, I haven't even started reading the book yet. I don't think I will get it read in time but we will see. I would like to finish it this month as it will count for Women in Translation month.

I did finish a few books this week. I finished reading The Midnight Bakery by Emma Davies. I liked this one and will review it at some point in the near future as a Weekend Cooking post. 

I also finished reading The Florence Sisters by Tessa Harris. This was my first book by this author and I will keep an eye out for me. I plan to review this in a couple of weeks.

I did read The Girl from the War Room by Catherine Law, which I am on a blog tour for this week. I also am due to review The Friendship List by Beth Miller this week. I have started it but still need to finish it.

I also started The Whisky Widow by Karen Brooks which is a library book that is due back and I can't extend. I have read a bit of this and so far really like it. I am not sure why I haven't read Karen Brooks before as I own several of her books.

I did also go to two author events this week. The first was to hear Anne Freeman and Madeleine Cleary talk about Women of Ill Repute. Madeleine Cleary's debut novel is The Butterfly Women and it is set in a brothel in 1850's Melbourne. Anne Freeman's latest book, Me That You See, is about contemporary online sex workers. The conversation was wide ranging and covered topics like what has and hasn't changed for those who make their living in this way. It was really interesting. I reviewed The Butterfly Women here.

The second event was a launch for a book called In the Long Run by Emma Mugglestone which is a romance novel where the characters are members of a running club, which apparently is a great place to meet people these days. It would never have worked for me because I don't think I could run even if I was being chased by lions! Coincidentally, Anne Freeman was the interviewer at this event so I got to meet her twice in just a few days.

The launch was lots of fun! There was a great vibe, great conversation, a cocktail, cake and so much more!

I'm watching

Last week was the final of Masterchef Australia. Now we have to work out what to watch every night! We have Bake Off one night but not sure what else!

We did watch the first episode The Casketeers: Life and Death Around the World. The Casketeers is a show that we have watched previously and it follows a funeral company as they prepare those who have passed for their final farewell. It is very tender and funny, and now the couple visits various places around the world to learn more about the funerary traditions. The first place that they visited was Tonga. It doesn't sound like it would be particularly amusing, but it is funny and compassionate, and ultimately is uplifting TV

Life

We went and had afternoon tea with some friends at the Ritz Carlton in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon. The dining area and reception are on the 80th floor, and the views are exceptional! The afternoon tea itself was good, although I was a bit disappointed in the scones. The hit for me were the savoury items, which is a bit unusual for me. Normally I am all about the sweet treats. I'll post more about this soon.

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Books I read in August over the last 11 years
Beartown by Fredrik Backman
Blog Tour: Will You Stay Another Day? by Samantha Tonge
The Secrets of the Huon Wren by Claire van Ryn
Weekend Cooking: The Deadly Dispute by Amanda Hampson
Spell the Month in Books: August


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

This week....

I'm reading

It's been a busy reading this week with books read and author events attended! 

I read Waves of Change in Pelican Cove by Maggie Christensen who is definitely a comfort read author for me. My review will be up later this week!

I also finished reading The Library of Heartbeats by Laura Imai Messina which is an absolutely delightful read. She is an Italian author who has lived in Japan for 20 years. The book felt like a Japanese book, and I can't wait to read more from her. This book will count as a read for Women in Translation Month.

I finished listening to The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. What a book! I really need to find someone to talk to about parts of the book. I will have a review up later in the month, but I can't talk about some of the things that happened as they are major spoilers! Anyone up for a chat about this book?

I then started listening to Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt. I am only a short way in but I already know I am going to love this book too! I love Marcellus the Octopus! I am also already looking forward to the movie adaptation. 

The book that has taken most of my reading time is The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson. It's a big book at nearly 600 pages, but so good - a five star read for me! I have now read all of her books which means I just have to wait for the next one. She does tend to have pretty big gaps between books but it will be worth the wait I am sure.

I did also start reading Kelly Rimmer's new book, The Midnight Estate. It is only early days but I am enjoying it so far.

Now I have to work out what my new normal looks like seeing as I won't have as much reading and blogging time going forward. 

At the end of each month I share where my reading has taken me. Before I do that though, I found this quote in the Author's Note for Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen and it sums up bookish travel perfectly!

Books let our imaginations travel where our feet cannot.

You might note a lot of books set in France. I was participating in Paris In July and making the most of it!

Europe

Sweden - Beartown

France - The Magic of Provence, A Bakery in Paris, The Paris Novel, The Village Cafe in the Loire, One Summer in Provence, Fresh Water for Flowers, Eat Your Heart Out

United Kingdom - Your Friend and Mine, One Snowy Day, The Summer Before the War

Iceland - Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Italy - A Place in the Sun

Asia

Vietnam - Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour

Australia

Tasmania - The Secrets of the Huon Wren

Sydney - The Deadly Dispute

Queensland - Waves of Change in Pelican Crossing

I also share my favourite reads for the month on Bookstagram and here. I read 18 books in July. Beartown and Eat Your Heart Out were both 5 star reads and the others shown were all 4.5 star reads! Not a bad reading month.

I attended a couple of author events this week. The first was the launch for Alli Parker's new book Until the Red Leaves Fall which was held in a super cool bar with 1950s music playing and there were these adorably cupcakes. It was such a fun night.

The second was an event at a nearby library run by Penguin which featured three of their debut authors, Joanne Miller (The Eights), Chloe Adams (The Occupation) and Michelle See-Toh (Jade and Emerald). It was such an interesting discussion. I ended up buying two of the three books.

There are a couple of theme for August and I am going to be participating in them to some degree or another. The first is Women in Translation and on Instagram also Aussie August 2025 which is a focus on Aussie authors. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of crossover there. After all I shouldn't need Australian translated for me, but I will do my best to read for both of them! 

Have you seen that Lisa from Hopewell has a new monthly link party called A Cup of Tea and a Good Book. The idea is that you can add any bookish links to her link party. All she asks in return is that you visit a couple of other people's links during the month. I am going to be participating where I can.

I'm watching

We finally finished watching season 2 of Andor. The last few episodes were amazing!

We also finished watching the Great Canadian Bake-off. Just in time too, as the Great Australian Bake-off started this week!

We went and saw The Stolen Painting which is a French movie about a painting that was thought to be lost during WWII being found. It was based on a true story. In the movie, a young factory work buys a house, contents and all and it turns out one of the paintings is a masterpiece. Here's the trailer

Life


I spent the last week trying to get some of the things done that I have been meaning to do while I wasn't working. 

I went to the National Gallery of Victoria and took one of their free collections highlight tour. I go to the NGV quite regularly for their big exhibitions but I don't often look at any of the other rooms outside the major exhibition spaces. The tour was super interesting as the guide told us stories behind the pictures, and explained a lot of the symbolism in the painting.  She mainly concentrated on 17 and 18th century pictures but there were some later pictures too. I am definitely going to go and do more of these tours.

On Thursday I went for a very nice massage and facial experience which included a hammam and I could stay in the pool and spa for as long as I wanted to.  

On Friday we went for a drive to the Yarra Valley for a lovely lunch at a winery and a visit to the locat Chocolaterie. It was a lovely way to spend my last weekday before I get back into the working life.

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Sunset Colours

Paris in July: Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin

Paris in July: French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston exhibition
Paris in July: The End
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: August links
The Storytellers by Sue Heath
Weekend Cooking: In My Kitchen - July
Six Degrees of Separation: The Safekeep to I Knew You Were Trouble


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

This Week...

I'm reading

As I mentioned last week, the theme for our next read on a theme book club is war. I probably have at least 50 options already on my Kindle to fit that theme so I suspect that I will be reading multiple books again this month. I have already read the first which was The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn. I had this from Netgalley before it was even released. I do intend to write a review. Do you think it's too late to add feedback now?

I also read Over the Sea to Skye this week. This is the third book in the Skye Sisters trilogy and I enjoyed it. My review will be up later this week.

On audio, I finished The Mirror by Nora Roberts, the second book in the Lost Brides trilogy. The final book comes out later this year and I am looking forward to seeing how she wraps the story up. I have no idea what book I am going to listen to next. I have so many options and I can't make a decision. I did look at all the books I have nominated for 20 Books of Winter, but I already own them all or at least have them out of the library. 

I also finished The Page Turner by Viola Shipman Normally l love this author but this one didn't work for me. It did, however, have some great quotes about books and reading.  Here's just one

"Sometimes we forget why we read," my mother says as if to herself. "Sometimes it is to walk in someone else's shoes for a while. Sometimes it is to travel to a place or time we never will. Sometimes it is to get angry or more informed. And sometimes it's simply to escape, smile and be offered a little bit of hope so it's possible to go on in this world."

I was excited to attend the launch event for Jodie McAlister's new book, An Academic Affair. I am really looking forward to reading this one! It sounds so good!

I'm watching


I watched a French movie called Siddonie in Japan. It was a very quiet movie about an author who goes on a book tour to Japan. However, the ghost of her husband starts to appear to her as she begins to have feelings for her publisher. She visits some of the same places we went to in Japan. Only difference....there were no crowds! Here's the trailer

Life

It's been a very social long weekend here. Today is a public holiday to celebrate the King's Birthday (it's not his actual birthday) but it was mine! I was out for lunch and dinner on Friday, then we went to Geelong for lunch, and then to an engagement party and then brunch on both Sunday and Monday! Now I am ready for a good lay down!

Everything at the lunch at Geelong was delicious, and the view is pretty spectacular too!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 of my 20 Books of Summer
The Women by Kristin Hannah

The Bad Bridesmaid by Rachael Johns

Blog Tour: The Silver Ladies Seize the Day by Judy Leigh
Weekend Cooking: In My Kitchen - May

Six Degrees: All Fours to War and Peace






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

Sunday Salon: The Rachael Johns Book Club Retreat 2025

Last weekend I was privileged to attend the third Rachael Johns Book Club Retreat which was held in Perth in Western Australia with around 80 other readers and 16 authors. I have been to all three and they are always a lot of fun, and a great chance to connect with other readers and with authors! Here are the links to my 2023 and 2024 recap post. For context, Perth is about at a 3 and a half to 4 hour flight from where I live in Melbourne, which it turns out it the perfect length of time to read a book that you have left to the last minute to read!

I was born in Perth, and I still have a lot of family left there so I was able to combine the retreat with spending a little bit of time with a few of them, particularly my aunts! We went to lunch at a nearby pub on the Friday before one of them dropped me off at the hotel in Scarborough, and the other one picked me up on Sunday afternoon before we all had dinner together before I got on the red-eye flight which basically leaves Perth at midnight and arrives in Melbourne at 5.15 the next morning (still about 3 and a half hours allowing for time zone changes)

One of the highlights is always catching up with the people who you don't get to see very often. We now have a pretty established group of people, most of whom come from Sydney, but there are a couple from Melbourne and Adelaide. One of the people who goes is Bree from All the Books I Can Read. There are a few other bloggers and bookstagrammers who attended too.  Here are some of us at the photo booth during the Friday night cocktail party in our bad bridesmaid and/or devil horns! The theme is related to the last book released by Rachael Johns, which is called The Bad Bridesmaid

Scarborough is a beachside suburb and the venue was literally across the road from the beach. Think long sandy beaches, decent waves, and the weather was a perfect 25 or 26 celcius every day. I did manage to go and stick my feet in the Indian ocean. And the sunsets? Absolutely spectacular.

I mentioned the theme for the Friday night cocktail party. There is another reason to dress up which is the formal dinner on Saturday night. The theme for that was All that Glitters. As you might imagine the sequins got a big workout! There was bling everywhere! It was fantastic!

It's not all about socialising though. During the weekend their are two book club discussions. The first was for Stella Quinn's latest book A Snowy River Summer, which was the book that I read on the plane, and the Sunday session was for Natasha Lester's The Madamoiselle Alliance (which I reviewed here). Both sessions included an In Conversation with the featured author and an opportunity for us as readers to have a face to face conversation about the books.

In addition there were also several author panels. These covered topics like The Dark Side of Fiction, Bold Women, Big Stories and finally From Meet Cutes to Magic. The last two were moderated by Bree who did a great job! We also got to meet all the authors in a couple of speed dating sessions. And what is the effect of all of these reader/author interactions? An ever expanding TBR list of course! And there are also lots of opportunities to get books signed. The dodgy curtains did provide a distraction during the panels because the sun was beating down on the glass and the maintenance guy had to come in to try and move them. I wasn't sure that they weren't going to fall down at one point.

I did come home with 3 books, one from the goodie bag that we received on arrival, which is also packed with things like bookmarks and other merch, and one as a prize. There are always so many great prizes to choose from through the weekend. I did also buy some book earrings, a tea strainer and mug and one book! Here's some of the merch. Yes, there is more!

One of the highlights every year is the closing debate. This year the theme was that historical fiction is harder to write than contemporary fiction (paraphrasing but it was basically that). This is always so much fun and has everyone laughing. I have to say that Stella Quinn did amazingly well given that she got called in at the last minute. And the winner? The historical fiction writers for the win!

There are so many others things I could talk about and photos I could share but I hope that this summary gives you a good feel for the event!

Next year's event is a bit closer to home in Geelong, which is about an hour an a bit from my place. I have already booked my ticket and the hotel and I am already looking forward to it! We were also given a clue as to what the Friday night cocktail party theme might be. That gives me just over a year to stress about what to wear! 

Have you ever attended a book event like this?

This week...

Rachael Johns Reader's Retreat

I spent the weekend in Perth (my home town) at the Rachael Johns Readers Retreat! I will do a proper post later in the week once I catch up on a few things, but it was an amazing weekend. The hotel was right on the beach, the weather was glorious, the sunsets were spectacular and I got to talk about books all weekend with other book lovers! I am already looking forward to next year's event which is going to be in Geelong which is a bit closer to home!

I'm reading

Most of my reading this week for for the retreat. There were two book club books and so at the very least I wanted to make sure that I had read both of those. I had started The Madamoiselle Alliance by Natasha Lester last week and I finished that this week. 

The second book club book was A Snowy River Summer by Stella Quinn. I saved that one for the plane because I was hoping that I would get it read on the flight, and it turned out it was the perfect length as I started it at the airport and I finished it just as we were landing in Perth!

I took The Bad Bridesmaid by Rachael Johns with me to Perth to get signed so I figured it was probably time to read it! I finished this one on the flight home. I was glad I didn't have much left to read as I was on the red-eye special which left Perth at 11.45 at night and got to Melbourne at 5.15am. I was able to finish the book and then attempt to sleep a bit!

In other books, I finished An Italian Wedding Adventure by Leonie Mack which I started last week. 

I have two reviews due this week. The first is Wicket Maiden by Chrissie Harrison which is cricket romance featuring a woman cricketer. I have started this one. I haven't even started the second one yet. Time to get reading. 

I'm watching


We didn't realise that there was a second series of Andor so we watched the first episode of that last week. We will watch more. 

There are a couple of new shows that came out over the last week that I am excited about so I am hoping to get to those soon. 

Other than that I watched sunsets and sunrises from the hotel window



Life


While I was in Perth I was able to spend some time with my aunts and other family. It is always lovely to see them! And we always talk about books too!

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Change is Good....and Somewhat Inevitable

Blog Tour: The Cornish Cottage by the Sea by Kim Nash

Blog Tour: One Summer in Italy by Victoria Springfield

Away with the Fairies by Kerry Greenwood

Afternoon Tea Diaries - Red at Oxi Tea Room

Spell the Month in Books - May


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

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors attending the Rachael Johns Reader Retreat 2025

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Authors (or books by authors) Who Live In My State/Country (submitted by Jennifer @ Funk-N-Fiction)

I love it when I am able to focus on Australian authors, and I think I could write a post just on authors who live in Melbourne but I am going to narrow it down a little bit. In a couple of weeks I am heading over to Perth for the weekend to see some family and to attend the 3rd Rachael Johns Reader Retreat. There will be about 100 readers and 20 featured authors attending and I am looking forward to it! 

Today, I am sharing ten authors who are attending the retreat! A lot of these authors live in Perth so it is good for them not to have to travel to the retreat this year. I have met some of the other authors at previous retreats so I am going to start with the ones I have not yet met.

I posted about the previous retreats. This is the post for 2024 and this is the one for 2023.

Some of these might be a bit hard to track down for anyone living outside Australia, but I hope that this list is still of interest

Barbara Hannay - I have read Barbara Hannay before when she was part of the quartet of writers who wrote the Outback Brides of Wirralong (reviewed here) and the Outback Babies series. She has quite an extensive backlist!

Kylie Kaden - I am not familiar with this author's books so it will be interesting to learn more about her!

Alexandra Almond - A debut author who comes from Melbourne!

Nadia Mahjouri - I have heard such good things about this author's debut novel.

Deb Jordan - The third of the debut authors who will be attending the retreat

Nicole Flockton - I am not really that familiar with this author although she has written a lot and is a USA Today best selling author! I had to pick this title as soon as I saw it although this particular book doesn't come out until June!

Christine Wells - I have been meaning to read Christine Wells for the longest time as I should love her books! I did start this one once but didn't get very far before I got distracted!

Sara Foster - Technically I did meet Sara Foster years ago, but it was a very, very long time ago!

Natasha Lester - I actually did meet Natasha Lester a couple of weeks ago, but her book The Madamoiselle Alliance is one of the book club books we will be discussing over the weekend.

Stella Quinn - This is the other book club book that we will be discussing over the weekend. Stella was at the inaugural retreat a couple of years ago.

There are lots of other authors going that I have met before! I will most likely post something about the retreat once I get back!

That Island Feeling by Karina May

When Andie's best friend Taylor announces that she is getting divorced, she knows exactly what needs to happen! It's the ideal opportunity for a week long divorce party for Andy, Taylor and two of their friends, and where better to hold the party than on Pearl Island! Andie is the organiser! There's the colour theme, the games, the movies, the pampering. She has it all worked out!

Things start to go awry when the group arrives at the accommodation, only to find out that the house has been double booked and there is also a group of guys there for a bucks party. Soon, Andy's carefully planned activities are being hijacked or disregarded altogether.

One bright spot is the island guy who brought them over to island on the boat. Jack seems to be happy go lucky and everything to everyone on the island. He's sorting out the accommodation issues, he's making bacon rolls and coffee at the shop on the island. He's also carrying a lot of guilt because he thinks that the reason why everyone on the island is struggling following the collapse of the local oyster industry is his fault. 

Andie has organised this trip for Taylor, but really Andie needs this time away as much as anyone. Her mother has recently passed away, her father has just moved into a care facility as he has advanced dementia and Andy is reluctant to share the carers responsibility with anyone, even her younger brother. She is also desperately trying to hold on to the memories that she has of her parents. She has even chosen Pearl Island as the destination for this trip as it is where her parents came on their honeymoon, and they always spoke about what a special place this is.

There is an instant attraction between Jack and Andie and soon her friends are encouraging her to have a holiday fling! Doesn't she need a bit of fun in her life? It soon becomes clear that Jack sees her, as in really sees who she is, sees everything she is holding onto so tightly.  And he isn't as happy go lucky as he seems! Maybe this is more than just a fling.

The story is structured so that we get the now story in sections titled Island Life, and then we get to see both Andie and Jack's story over various increments - 3 hours, 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months before etc. It's very cleverly done.

I really enjoyed this book! The cover is gorgeous, the story gets the mix of serious subjects and fun romance just right! The book is littered with pop culture references to movies like 27 Dresses, Dirty Dancing and lots of others, and I had a lot of fun spotting all the different references. There are some really interesting secondary characters, particularly those who live on the island.

I hadn't read Karina May before, and this was a great place to start. I think my next by her will be Duck a L'Orange for Breakfast. It sounds like my kind of read.

I was lucky enough to go to an event for this book last night! I went with my friend Kathy and Bree from All the Books I Can Read, which meant Bree and I got a good hour or more talking books on the way there and back! There were also lots of other bookstagrammers in the house!

Karina May was very interesting to listen to as she spoke about her writing process, about this book, balancing work and writing and so much more. There were also these delightful oyster shaped gingerbread biscuits! And isn't her dress amazing!

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more from Karina May in the future!

Rating 4.5/5

Sunday Salon: Rachael Johns Book Club Reader Retreat 2024

Last weekend, I spent the weekend with around 100 other readers and 18 authors at the Rachael Johns Book Club Reader Retreat. After the success of last year's event in Hahndorf, this one had a bit of a different feel as it was held at a big hotel which was located one block off the beach on the Gold Coast. It was nice to head up to Queensland where the weather was warm, the water was even warmer (at least according to the pilot when we were coming in to land), and there was much fun to be had! Robert came with me as it was an opportunity for him to visit his son who lives just up the road in Brisbane! Pretty sure I can't write a post about going to the Gold Coast without having at least one photo of the beach so here it is

The Friday night event was an Op Shop Glamour Cocktail Party. I don't really like shopping at Op Shops but I did find two outfits. One was a black dress with a glitzy part on the side. The other option was a purple ruffled number which is what I went with because I knew that I was bringing out the sparkles on Saturday night. 

For those that were keen you could either choose a run or some yoga early on Saturday morning. I chose to sleep! 

First up on Saturday, we had some readings from upcoming books from our hosts, Rachael Johns and Anthea Hodgson. I am a big fan of Rachael Johns - she was one of only two authors I continued to read when I had a reading slump that lasted years. I have only read two books by Anthea Hodgson. As soon as she started her reading, I knew exactly where the book was set and I already know I want to read the book when it comes out, presumably some time next year!

All through the weekend there were many different bookish related activities and plenty of chances to make catch up with old friends and to make new friends, all of whom have one things in common - a love of books! It was great to spend some time with Bree from All the Books I Can Read too! Here we are at the Op Shop Glam event. Bree is the administrator extraordinaire for the book club, and she also hosted one of the panels over the weekend!

It amazes me how much some people read. Some of the people on the retreat have read nearly every book club selection over the last few years. Back in the day I used to read a lot, but not so much these days.

Over the course of the weekend there were two book club sessions. The first was for Rachel Treasure's book Milking Time, which I hadn't read. I did read Tilda is Visible, so it was good to hear the author, Jane Tara, talk about the book.

One of the highlights is the author speed dating sessions which we had on both Saturday and Sunday. Each author comes around to the tables in turn, and in some way interact to tell us about their books, or just to have fun in some ways! I have definitely added books to my TBR list after these sessions! I posted about just some of these in last week's Top Ten Tuesday post.

There were also some interesting panels, and the weekend finished with a debate where the question asked was basically What's more important - plot or character. I found myself changing my vote with each speaker!

On the Saturday night it was the formal dinner where the theme was black and white. I bought out the sparkles big time. We were lucky enough to have author Anita Heiss at our table and we had a lot of fun!

There is so much more I could say, but I think I will leave it there by saying that this is the kind of event that  fills my cup! There won't be a retreat next year, but I already know I will be doing my best to attend the one in 2026, wherever it will be. There might be some dinners. Who knows, we might just find ourselves tripping up to Sydney so that we can go and see our table mates!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Winter 2024 To-Read List

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books on My Summer Winter 2024 To-Read List. Now I am going to twist it a bit and talk about just some of the books by authors who attended the Rachael Johns Book Club Reader Retreat over the last weekend (pictured above). I do feel a bit guilty that I can't talk about all the authors, but this is Top TEN Tuesday. I will talk more about the actual event next weekend

Anita Heiss - I am very much looking forward to reading the next book, Dirrayawadha, which is out in July. I am also looking to seeing at what books come out under the indigenous imprint which Heiss talked about this weekend.

Rachael Johns - I bought The Other Bridget months ago. Now it is signed I should probably read it right?

Sophie Green - I feel like I should have already read Sophie Green!

Clare Fletcher - I love the sound of Clare Fletcher's book, Five Bush Weddings.

Michael Trant - The only male author at the retreat!

Susan Mackie - I love the story behind the covers of the books in the series. And a book about a book club - yes please!

Fiona McArthur - I have read a couple of Fiona McArthur books which were part of a connected series. Time to read some of her other books!

Karina May -With a title like Duck A L'Orange for Breakfast, I should already have read this!

Leanne Lovegrove - When Leanne said that she adds a little twist of France into each book, I knew I would need to read this.

Cathryn Hein - I read this author as part of the same connected series as Fiona McArthur.

Weekend Cooking: Bonnie Garmus

This week I was lucky enough to go to an event at Melbourne Town Hall where "global phenomenon" Bonnie Garmus was the guest author. This was a very popular event with around 2000 people in attendance.

In case this name doesn't ring any bells, Garmus is the author of the hugely successful novel Lessons in Chemistry. I read the book and watched the TV series last year. 

Now, full disclosure, the food aspect of Lessons in Chemistry was barely even mentioned, which was a bit disappointing, but I thought I would still share. I do wonder if the session had been a bit longer this topic would have come up. Given how popular the session clearly was, I do wonder why it couldn't have been longer than an hour, but I guess that they had to allow enough time for the book signing as well.

The main focus of the conversation related to the feminist themes in the book. The author talked about how she wrote the first chapter after a particular day at work where she experience discrimination in the workplace. After a meeting where her work waspresented by a man as his own, she was dismissed and told to go back to her desk and finish a menial task. Instead, she went back to her desk feeling incredibly angry and bashed out the first chapter of the book that would in time become Lessons in Chemistry.

Along the way she touched on a few different interesting topics. When asked what her mother, who was a nurse, would have thought about the book she said she wouldn't liked the swearing or the fact that Elizabeth is an atheist. When asked what her kids thought about it, she mentioned that they didn't really realise that the book was a big deal until Garmus went to a huge event and was described as a global phenomenon, and from that point on that is what they had her down as in their contacts on the phone.

Garmus also talked about that whilst it might feel like Lessons in Chemistry came out of nowhere, it isn't actually the first book that she had written. She had a previous book which was 700 pages long, which no publishers would touch. And interestingly, before she even started, she had already written part of a story where Maddie Zott was the main character, but as a grown up. She talked about how that  made it easier to write the child version of Maddie because she already knew who Maddie grew up to be.

Another story that Garmus shared was about signing with her agent, Felicity Blunt. She told a story of being somewhat embarassed when she was talking to Blunt, who mentioned that her husband is an actor and her response was a somewhat dismissive question of "would I have heard of him". Given that Felicity Blunt is the sister of actress Emily Blunt and is married to Stanley Tucci, chances are that the answer is yes!

Whilst I was surprised that they didn't talk about the role of food in the novel there is no way that we could have gone through the whole conversation without mentioning Six-Thirty the dog. Appparently the presence of the dog was a source of contention between the author and Felicity Blunt. Luckily she won the battle, as it is difficult to imagine Lessons in Chemistry without the dog being present.

There is much more that I could share but hopefully this is a good taste of the conversation.

One thing I thought I would mention that at each of the last two author events I have been to, there have been hardcover  special editions available that are absolutely gorgeous. Here is the cover for Lessons in Chemistry. I didn't end up buying it but it was definitely tempting. 

I am also sharing this post with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Pea and ham soup, bread
Sunday - Singoalese chicken, salsa and tortillas
Monday -Chicken, Bacon, Zucchine, Mushroom pasta
Tuesday - Takeaway
Wednesday -Spaghetti Bolognaise
Thursday - Pork chop, mash, beans and gravy
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Sydney baby!!

I am in Sydney this weekend for the inaugural Historical Novel Society Australia conference, and I have to say I am excited to be here! I have long looked at the HNS conferences that have been held in the US and the UK and wished I could be there and finally it is our turn. Not to mention the fact that I have been doing lots of drives to the airport to drop other people off and pick them up but finally it is my chance to get on a plane and go somewhere!

My friend and I flew up on Friday morning and so we got to do some touristy stuff which was fun and then there was the opening reception tonight. I am not sure I am going to write a whole lot about the conference but I thought I would share a few photos over the next couple of days.

I will start with a bonus in relation to the weight loss I have been talking about recently. Today, I was able to get on the plane and not feel self conscious at all about being too fat for the person that I am sitting next to, or about something as simple as doing up the seatbelt. On previous journeys I have either had to really struggle hard to get the seatbelt done up or even just hide the seatbelt clip under my clothes and pretend that it was done up as the flight attendants walked through the plane. The other day I was talking to my beauty therapist about the fact that you are always thinking about your weight when you are overweight and this is a classic example. I was so excited by how easy it was to do it up that I even took a photo which just looks odd but what the heck, I am sharing it here anyway.

Once we checked in to our hotel, we spent the afternoon doing the tourist thing. I said to my friend that I am travelling with that I wanted to just hang out at Circular Quay, and she was initially not keen. In the end that is basically what we ended up doing but not before we spent some time walking through the gorgeous Queen Victoria Building here in Sydney.

Firstly, here's the view from the top of our hotel, which was built in the late 60s and you can quite honestly tell. Accommodation in Sydney is so expensive, so whilst it would be great to have a gorgeous hotel room, who can afford that!!

The QV building is now a shopping centre and it is gorgeous. We could quite easily have spent a lot of time looking at some of the more interesting shops, and maybe having some coffee and cake and just appreciating the interior, especially one of the clocks

We walked to the Opera House and then back around so that we were standing under the bridge looking back towards the Opera House. Of course, that means that there are plenty of the quintessential Sydney photos, although I am looking very windswept because it was windy.

And to give you some idea of exactly how windy it was....

Tonight was the first session for the conference and very dignified it was too. Champagne, some delicious finger foods, more champagne, a welcome address by Kate Forsyth and an opening address by Sophie Masson, a book launch for Felicity Pulman and then a discussion panel whose topic was ‘What can historical novelists and historians learn from each other?’.

And now, time to sleep before another big day tomorrow!! Before that though. Did you notice? I almost talked about bookish type stuff in this post!! Go me!