Top Ten Tuesday: Author Events

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Authors I’ve Met. 

I am very lucky to be able to attend author events pretty regularly, whether it be as part of individual authors, panel events, or even a reader's retreat that I attend every year. For my post today, I am going to share about some of the more recent events I have been too. If I go back 15 or 20 years there are some big name authors I could name such as Paullina Simons, Maria Snyder and more. I could also talk about the time I had dinner with Sara Donati in the Pacific North West or many years ago with Paullina Simons but I won't. For my post today, I am going to share about some of the more recent events I have been to which means that they are all Australian authors. 

Tess Woods -The most recent event I went to was in respect of Tess Woods new release, The Cairo Bridal Shop. Sometimes at these events there are even cocktails

Anita Heiss - I have met this author a few times now, and she was even the author on our table at one of the retreats we attended a couple of years ago. She is such a lively person! I last saw her at a romance panel event I went to a few weeks ago

Also at that same event there were a number of other authors including Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus , Nina Kenwood, Victoria Brownlee, Darcy Green and more. And there was swag!

Jodi McAlister - This author was at that same panel event but I have now met her a couple of times, including at the launch of her latest book

Steph Vizard  - This is another author I have met more than once who was at the panel. I see her at quite a few events, but specifically attended her book launch last year and re-met her at the readers retreat that I attended in June

Emma Grey - I was so excited to attend an evening with Emma Grey and Kate Solly. I read two of Emma's books last year and gave them both 5/5. This one was at a bookstore I had never visited before which is always fun.

Benjamin Stevenson - The author of the Ernest Cunningham series came to my local library as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival so I always try to attend events there because I would like there to be more!

Tom Trumble - a more unusual choice for me given that it is a non fiction book but I chose it because I thought that my husband would like to come to this one and he did. This event was held at the War Memorial. Interestingly, it was only as I searched my blog for a picture for this post that I realised that I had heard this author speak previously at a Melbourne Writer's Festival event 15 years ago!

Holly Brunnbauer  - An event at my previous local library which is about half an hour away from me, so I try to go to events there as well. 

Rachael Johns - Rachael Johns is possibly the only author who I would deliberately go and see twice in one day. On this particular day she was at my local library and also at an event called Books in Bars which is held in a regional city about 90mins away. Of course, I did both! The readers retreat that I have mentioned a couple of times is her brainchild. You can read about the fab time I had at this year's event here. 

This week....

I'm reading

This week I finished off my Goodreads Summer Reading Challenge by finishing reading One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle and then reading The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson. Both of these were okay reads without being spectacular.

I also read Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen which was a much more enjoyable read!

Now I am reading The Way We Are Now by Julie Houston for a blog tour later this week! It is set in the early 1980s in Yorkshire and so far it is really good! This is a new author to me.

This weekend it was my read on a theme book club meeting. Our theme was environment and interestingly two of us read the same book which was Wild Dark Shore and another person read another book by her as well! Next time we are doing our annual meeting where we do read the same book like most other  bookclubs. We will be reading A Far-Flung Life by M L Stedman. I am looking forward to reading that book!

I had a fun afternoon on Sunday afternoon when I went to an author event from Tess Woods where she was talking about her new book, The Cairo Bridal Shop. The cover on this book is gorgeous, and I am really looking forward to read it! I also got to have a delicious cocktail, listen to interesting conversation and meeting new people. There were a few people who didn't like some of the conversation because it was a bit political, but I didn't mind too much!

Before we look forward to September, I am going to take this opportunity to think about what my best reads were for the month of August. I read 15 books for the month and had some great reads. My one 5 star read was The Little Porto Book Club by Rebecca Raisin, but I also loved books Minnie Darke, B K Borison and the aforementioned Charlotte McConaghey.

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

Every month I also like to look at where I travelled through the pages of the books I read! Here's where I travelled in August

Europe

France - The Secret Dressmaker, Kate and Frida

Britain - Unruly: The Ridiculous History of England's Kings and Queens

Portugal - The Little Porto Book Club

Italy - Italy and Forever, The Secret Diary of Rome, One Italian Summer

Australia

Queensland - Finding Forever in Pelican Crossing

Antarctica (Australian territories) -  The Wild Dark Shore

Various states - Three Juliets

Africa 

Egypt - The Nile Cruise

America

Washington - Kate and Frida

Maryland - And Now, Back to You, Mixed Signals

Asia

Japan - The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop

I'm watching

Nothing new really.

Life

On Sunday afternoon we went and had a traditional afternoon tea at a place called Mary Eats Cake. It was a place that I had been looking forward to trying for a while!


Max

A couple of months ago we changed Max's medication, and he is obviously feeling pretty good! Yesterday we were all out, and so he was home by himself. He helped himself to a huge helping of pasta that my son had left on the cupboard. I was very surprised that he could stand up on his back two legs long enough to even eat a small bit let alone have a bit of a feast. Who knew!

Posts from the last week

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - September links
Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Place Names in the Title
Three Juliets by Minnie Darke
Blog Tour: The Secret Diary of Rome by M A McLaughlin

In My Kitchen: August

Six Degrees: Wild Dark Shore to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close



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

Back to work this week, so in theory I had less reading time! I did still manage to get through several books.

I had started Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T J Klune last week and I finished that book, which was one of my Goodreads Summer Challenge selections. I liked the book, but it did feel a bit preachy.

I then read A Secret Diary in Rome by M A McLaughlin for a blog tour. My review will be up later this week!

Then I moved onto Mixed Signals by B K Borison. I am working my way through all of Borison's books, and only have one more book to read before her new book comes out in October. 

The last book I started this week was One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle, which is another challenge selection. I have been meaning to read Rebecca Serle for a long time! After this book, I only have one more challenge book to read. I do know what I am going to read, I just have to read it

Did you notice that three of these four books had author names with just initials! That's a bit of a funny coincidence!

I'm watching


We didn't start anything new this week




Life


Why is it when I return from holidays I often get sick! Pushing on though. No time off work as things are ramping up on the project I am involved in.

On Saturday I went to the inaugural Readings Romance event (Readings is a bookstore chain here in Melbourne). The even featured the always amazing Dr Anita Heiss as a guest speaker, and then there were two really fun panels. The first talked about the meet-cute and the second was about mis-matched characters! There was swag, a paper cup of bubbles, great conversation and lots of books lovers in the room!

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Places
Italy and Forever by Leonie Mack
Kate and Frida by Kim Fay
Sunday Salon: Aussie Authors Mini Reviews




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

Sunday Salon: Rachael John's Book Club Readers Retreat 2026

Last weekend I attended the Rachael John's Book Club Retreat which, this year, was held at a regional called Geelong which is just over an hour away from where I live. Geelong is a city that I love visiting but I have never stayed there before. Above is the view from my hotel room! 

The city sits on a bay with beautiful beaches, a fun waterside walk and some interesting museums and art galleries. It is also gateway to the Bellarine Peninsula which has some really lovely wineries, restaurants and fantastic beaches which we enjoy visiting. In other words, we often drive through Geelong!

The advantage of having it at this location is that it was close enough to drive although I did miss the reading time on the plane that I have had when travelling to the previous locations. I do have a tendency to do a lot of my required reading on the plane there! 

So what happens at one of these events? I could say what happens on retreat, stays on retreat, but I won't! There are 120 or so readers, plus around 20 authors and you get to spend the whole weekend talking about books, eating, and generally having a good time!

The event started with a cocktail party on Friday night where the theme was Madams and Miners, which ties in with one of the hosts books. I don't love a dress up, but I do make something of an effort. There are plenty of people who made a really big effort with some amazing costumes.

On the Saturday night it was a formal dinner where the theme was From Poolside to Party Ready: Dress Like You’re on Holiday with your Besties. 

And during the two days? There are book club discussions, author panels, author speed dating (which is always a lot of fun, optional yoga sessions and writer sessions, a bookshop where you can shop the books of all the fab authors you have met over the weekend and more! This year, there was the new addition of a game show called A Romance Knockout where authors competed against each other on specialist subjects, tropes and writing prompts.

The book club reads this year were Anthea Hodgson's The Palace of Lost Virtue which is set in 1890s and 1920's Kalgoorlie, which is a gold mining town in Western Australia. The palace of the title is a brothel, hence the theme of Madams and Miners. I reviewed the book last week.

The other book was The Couples Retreat by Mercedes Mercier who is a new author to me. It is a crime/psychological thriller which isn't my normal cup of tea, but it never hurts to read outside your comfort zone right. This book is set on Kangaroo Island in South Australia and features a rookie cop who gets drawn into a murder at a luxurious property. Kangaroo Island is a place that has been on my list of places to visit for a long time. 

One of the highlights every year is the debate. It is always hilarious and this year was no exception. The debate topic was This house believes that reading romance gives women unrealistic expectations of men and our debaters certainly gave interesting and compelling arguments both for and against!

Pictured above are Rachael and Anthea during the book club discussion, Bree from All the Books You Can Read leading an author panel and Sarah Clutton and Ali Sinclair visiting our table during author speed dating. 

Unsurprisingly I came home with more books, than I went there with, as well as bookish paraphernalia including what we received in the goodie bag,  To be fair, I only bought one book which was very controlled. More surprisingly, I also came home with more clothes than I went with!

I have been to all 4 of the retreats so far, which makes me an OG. This year there was a t-shirt that we could buy to celebrate this fact.  Every year since the beginning I have sat at the same table with the same group of people (pictured above on the Friday night). Some of us knew some of us, but no one knew all of us when we first started sitting together.  We now have a group chat, we are all Facebook friends and we have become more than just book friends. We also had a t-shirts to celebrate this year the group this year!

This retreat is always a lot of fun and Rachel, Anthea and their team does a fantastic job. I have already booked for Hobart next year

You can read about previous years here.

2025 - Perth

2024 - Gold Coast

2023 - Hahndorf

This week....

I'm reading

I had to do some last minute reading for the Rachael John's Book Club Retreat weekend in the last week. 

First, I had to read The Palace of Lost Virtue by Anthea Hodgson which is a historical fiction novel about two women who live in the remote gold mining town of Kalgoorlie in the late 1800s. One of the women is a young Christian woman and the other is a jaded madam. It was a fun read.

Then I read The Couples Retreat by Mercedes Mercier, which I only finished with a couple of hours spare before the discussion!

Both of these books are on my 20 Books of Winter list, as is The King's Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick. This book was on the list as I didn't get to it last year so I started it as soon as I could and I have made some good progress so far.

I did intend to start my Classics Spin read next but then I realised that I can't extend one of my library books, so needed to start that instead. That book was We'll Prescribe You Another Cat by Syou Ishida. This is a pretty quick read though and I am now maybe 2/3 of the way through even though I only started it this morning. 

I'm watching


Not much really!

Life


This weekend was the annual Rachael John's Book Club Retreat weekend. This year it was held in a regional city which is about an hour away from me, Geelong. It was another great event where you get to meet up with other book lovers, talk books all weekend, hang out with authors and generally have a great time. I am planning to write something more about this later this week so I will just say it was a lot of fun! I have already booked my ticket for next year!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Authors I Am Looking Forward to Meeting at the Rachael Johns Book Club Retreat This Weekend

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Weekend Cooking: Hot Chocolate on Thursday by Michiko Aoyama

Thoughts on War and Peace

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

Top Ten Tuesdays: 10 Authors I am Looking Forward to Meeting at the Rachael Johns Book Club Retreat this weekend

 Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Bookish Wishes (List the top 10 books you’d love to own and include a link to your wishlist so that people can grant your wish. Make sure you link your wishlist to your mailing address [here’s how to do it on Amazon] or include the email address associated with your ereader in the list description so people know how to get the book to you. After you post, jump around the Linky and grant a wish or two if you’d like. Please don’t feel obligated to send anything to anyone!)

I am always a bit uncomfortable with this prompt, so I am changing the theme to suit me, which I do pretty regularly to be fair. This coming weekend I am heading down to Geelong, a regional city just over an hour away from where I live, and I will be attending the 2027 Racheal Johns Book Club Reader Retreat. I have been to all four of these and they are such a good weekend. There are usually around 100 readers and 20 guest authors. So here are books by 10 of the authors I am looking forward to meeting or seeing again this weekend.

The Lucky Sisters by Rachael Johns - Of course I had to have Rachael Johns on the list.

The Palace of Lost Virtue by Anthea Hodgson - Anthea is the co-host of the retreat so I had to have her on the list as well. I really liked The War Nurses by this author. We started hearing about this book at the last retreat and it sounds great. It is one of the book club choices for the weekend!

A Woman's Voice by Alli Sinclair - Last year I went to hear Alli Sinclair talk about this book and it sounds so good. 

The Paradise Pact by Anita Heiss - Anita Heiss is an amazing person to spend time with. Can't wait to hear more about this book! (Update - since I wrote this post a few weeks ago, it has been announced that Anita can no longer attend)

Where the Birds Call Her Name by Claire van Ryn - I have absolutely loved both of Claire van Ryn's books so I am very excited to meet her!

The Paradise Heights Miniature Railway Club by Kate Solly - I have booked a couple of times to go to author events with Kate Solly, but it just hasn't worked out, so I am pleased she is one of the feature authors this weekend.

The Bookshop of Buried Pasts by Sarah Clutton - I was supposed to go to the launch of this book a few weeks ago but I ended up having to work late so I didn't make it!

Better than the Real Thing by Brooke Crawford - Last year I ran into this author at quite a few events, so looking forward to seeing her again.

Sunrise at Sunny Cross Farm by Maya Linnell - I have read a couple of books by this author. This is her new book which has just come out!

The Wedding Forecast by Nina Kenwood - This sounds like such a fun read!

Have you ever been to a reader's retreat?

This week...

I'm reading

Another week where I just didn't find a lot of time to read! I did finish The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters which I loved, and then I started Sophie Green's book Lessons in Love at the Seaside Salon but I am probably about a quarter of the way in...maybe. I am not sure when I will be able to get back to this book now.

The problem I have is that I have multiple blog tour books this week and I have only read one which is The Silent Resistance by Anna Normann which was really good! I am going to be feeling the pressure all this week!

I was supposed to go to three bookish events over the last week but in the end I only went to one, but it was a really good one. I went to an author talk at our Shrine of Remembrance for a non-fiction book called Survival in Singapore by Tom Trumble. It is a non fiction book about some events in WWII Singapore. After the talk we attended the Last Post ceremony which focussed on the fall of Singapore which was 84 years ago yesterday.

We were also a bit nerdy. We caught the train through the new Metro Tunnel and got out at all the new train stations for a look around on the way! It was a fun day!

I'm watching


We've pretty much only been watching the Olympics ranging from curling to ice dance to moguls and the other events that the Aussies have won medals in!

We did catch most of the 2025 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo when it was showing on free to air TV last week. It bought back such great memories of when we were there live 18 months ago. There is a military tattoo happening in Brisbane this weekend and we gave tickets to my step daughter and her partner. I am a bit jealous that they are going although the weather isn't going to be that great. 



Life

My husband isn't one for the big gestures but we have always done something for Valentine's Day. This weekend we went to lunch at a winery which is about 15 minutes away from home. We have been meaning to try this winery ever since we moved into the area. It won't take us another 3.5 years to go there for a meal again!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Library Love!

Us Against You by Fredrik Backmann

Weekend Cooking: The Golden Spurtle

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: January Statistics

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

Top Ten Tuesday: Last 10 Author Events I Have Been To!

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Thanksgiving/Thankful Freebie. It took me a little while to think of something, but I got there in the end.

I am very lucky and yes, thankful, to live in a city with a very active book scene. There are always events on. Some times they are big named authors who attract a crowd of thousands, and sometimes it is a small event at a local library with just a handful of people. Then there are multiple festivals in various country towns and suburban areas. Sometimes I know lots of people in the room and other times not. One thing you do know when you go to an author event is that if nothing else you can talk about books! 

My post this week is the last ten author events I have been too. Usually if I attend an event I will buy the book and get it signed. Sometimes there are goodies, sometimes tasty treats, but the events are always fun!

Holly Brunbauuer - Just last week Bree from All the Books I Can Read went to our local library to hear this author talk about her debut novel, What Did I Miss? It was a very interactive session!

Rachael Johns (twice) - A couple of weeks ago I went to see Rachael Johns talk about The Lucky Sisters (my review) both at my even localler local library and then to a Books in Bars events in a regional city about an hour away from me.

Helen Goh - This was an event in the city where we not only got to listen to the conversation but also got to try some of the recipes from her latest cookbook, Baking and the Meaning of Life.

Steph Vizard - It was standing room only at this event which was the launch of her latest book,  A Smart Girl's Guide to Second Chances. 

January Gilchrist - By contrast, this was a very intimate conversation about January Gilchrist's debut novel,  The Final Chapter, which was held in what is in effect a sales office at a new residential development. This night was so much fun because it was such a small gathering! I took a friend with me who had never been to an author event before.

Madeleine Cleary and Anne Freeman - This was a fun night where these two authors spoke about their two books which both feature sex workers. One was set in 1850s Melbourne, The Butterfly Women (my review) and the other is a modern story about an online sex worker, Me That You See.

Emma Mugglestone - This launch for In the Long Run was held in a bar around half an hour or so away from me. There was even a delicious cocktail!

Alli Sinclair - This was a drive up the highway for an hour or so to an event in Ballarat to hear Alli Sinclair talk about her new book, A Woman's Voice.

Joanne Miller (The Eights), Chloe Adams (The Occupation) and Michelle See-Toh (Jade and Emerald) - This was an event held in a library about half an hour away from me, and featured three debut authors from Penguin. 

Alli Parker - This was a fun launch for Until the Red Leave Fall. It was held in a super cool bar. The mood was set with 1950s music and the crowd was buzzing! And there were these super cute cupcakes

Wow, that has surprised me. That only takes me back to the end of July this year. Oh, and I just realised I missed one too! Sorry Christine Newel! I suspect that there will be only one more event this year which I am going to on Thursday, but bring on next year, when it will start all over again!

This week

I'm reading

It's November and the best of 2025 lists are coming out. It always bemuses me a little bit because there are still 5 weeks of year left and I still might not have read my best book of year yet! The other thing that I am always left wondering at the end of the year is what have I been reading. I have read some really great books this year, and have read more 5 star books this year than I have in the the two previous years combined. However, when I look at all the best of lists, I haven't read any of them!

I finished three books this week. The first was Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop by Kenji Ueda. This is another of the Japanese book which have a number of stories that are really only linked by location and theme. In this case, the location was a stationery shop. I loved all the talk of pens and notebooks and the like, but I am not sure this one worked completely for me.

By contrast, I loved  Good Spirits by B K Borison and started telling my friend to read it when I had only read the first chapter. It was so much fun and I am really looking forward to the second book of the series coming out in the second half of next year.

I was trying to get through my library books which I can't extend again, and so I picked up Foster by Claire Keegan. This is such a small book, less than 100 pages, but Keegan definitely knows how to tell a great story, about not a lot, in very few words! I am already looking forward to reading more from her.

I am currently reading Kim Nash's Life Begins at the Cornish Cottage and I am having so much fun with it! The main character is producing a pantomime which is very British Christmas to me. My review for this one will be up in the next few days for the blog tour.

I thought I had gone to my last author event for the year but it turns out I have two more in me. Last week I went to see Holly Brunbauuer talk about her book What Did I Miss? at my old library system. It's funny because the branch we went to is at the major shopping centre in the area but I had never been in the branch before even though it's been open for years! I have another library event this week  and then maybe that will be it for the year. Maybe!


I'm watching



We went to the movies on Saturday night to see The Choral which is showing as part of the British Film Festival. The movie stars Ralph Fiennes as a choirmaster who is recruited to lead the choir of a Yorkshire town. He's a controversial choice because he has spent a lot of time in Germany. It also follows the lives of some of the younger people in the village who face the inevitability of being sent to the War and the impact of the conflict on life.  It was a really lovely movie! If you've read either of the last two books by Helena Simonson you might enjoy this! Here's the trailer:

Life


We went to a lovely lunch with my sister and brother in law on a moving restaurant called Q Train. It was yet another meal on a train, although as far as I know that is the last one for the year.

We moved into this house 3 years ago. It was built new so there wasn't anything major to be done but there were still projects. This week, my lovely, handy husband finished building a deck by our front door. We upcycled the wood from my sister's old deck and it came up a treat! Now to the next two, much bigger projects. 

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Classics I Haven't Read
The Lucky Sisters by Rachael Johns
Dear Mrs Bird by A J Pearce
Cook the Books: Maame by Jessica George
Spell the Month in Books: November




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

This week I finished reading Dear Mrs Bird by A J Pearce, and I am happy to report that I loved it. I have already bought the next book in the series and hope to get to it soon! 

I then read The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park by Michiko Aoyama. I read her book What You Are Looking for in the Library last year, and liked it, but there was one particular element of the story which bothered me a bit. No such issue with this one. I am already looking forward to her next book and thankfully there isn't too long to wait as it is out early next year. 

Next I started reading Maame by Jessica George. This is the current Cook the Books selection and I think I already know what I am going to cook. That could change but we will see. 

Finally I started reading The Midwives Christmas Miracle by Fiona McArthur. This is the first in a new trilogy that is set in the same world as a number of other books I have read. Only thing is the main female character is friends with a person who was clearly in another book. I thought I had read all the books set in Wirralong but apparently I only read the first two books in the last series set there! Time to rectify that I think. 

I did go to not one but two Rachael Johns events. I had already bought tickets to the Books in Bar event which is held in a city about an hour away from me and then they announced an event at my local library. I am trying to support anything held at the library so they keep having them so snuck away for a long lunch and went to both events!

I'm watching

We started watching Joanna Lumley's Spice Trails and we are finding it very interesting. In the first three episodes she has visiting Indonesia, India, and Madagascar. 

Life


The day after we got back from holidays was our wedding anniversary but I didn't want to schedule something so close to being away, so last night we went to our anniversary dinner. We did a thing called Le Petit Chef and Friends. Basically it is an animation than uses your table cloth and plate as a screen and tells a story about each course that you are going to eat. It was a lot of fun and the food was surprisingly good as well. 

I mentioned last week that my phone died while we were on holidays. I got it back from the repair shop this week which is good news. The bad news is that they had to replace the motherboard and I lost everything I had on my phones, which is basically thousands of photos. 

Posts from the last week



Top Ten Tuesday: What I am reading and have just read
Blog Tour: Escape to the Northern Lights by Carrie Walker
Blog Tour: Saving Starlight Hall by Debbie Viggiano
Blog Tour: A Family for Christmas in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen
Blog Tour: A Christmas Gift by Sue Moorcroft
What We Ate on Holidays: Sri Lanka and The Maldives

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: October statistics

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

I didn't have a huge amount of reading time or inclination this week.

I did finish A New Life in Amsterdam by Helga Jensen which I reviewed here. And now I am immersed in Christmas on Fifth Avenue by Julie Caplin, but I should finish it today. My review will be up next week but basically if you have ever thought about spending Christmas in New York, this is the book for you. 

I did finish listening to Heidi's Guide to Four Letter Words by Tara Sivec and Andi Arndt  on audiobook. This book was an Audible exclusive book and when I was looking for which book to read next I realised that it was leaving Audible soon so I figured I should probably listen to it. It was a lot of fun and I laughed out loud several times. I do wonder what it says about me that the last two audiobooks have both included a list which consisted of different names for the male appendage. To be fair, the first one was non fiction book about writing sex scenes and also included a shorter list of words for the female equivalent. 

I haven't chosen a book to listen to next. It will be a surprise for all of us!

I did go to an author event last week. It was a bit different to my normal author event. I went to hear cookbook author and Ottolenghi co-writer Helen Goh speak. As a bonus there were nibbles which were several of her recipes. Helen Goh was born in Malaysia but moved to Australia when she was young before moving to London which is where she started working for Yotam Ottolenghi. The conversation was a bit of fun, and she confessed to things like loving the meat pies that you can get at the petrol station and that being one of the things she misses when she was in not in Australia. She was promoting her new baking book, Baking and the Meaning of Life.

It was Love Your Bookshop Day this weekend so I did my duty and visited a bookshop which was a new one to me! I did get this adorable little penguin because I bought two books from Penguin (the publisher). 

We also visited a local farmers market where there was a stall selling lots of book related paraphernalia, mostly 3D printed items. My husband bought me this cute bookshelf pictured above, which you can expect to see popping up in my Bookstagram photos at some point! Also fun to play with all the little books and the blocks!

I'm watching

The only thing that I watched that was not quiz shows or British comedy shows this week was a movie called All of You. It was billed as a sci-fi romance but I am not sure it was really either of those things. The sci-fi element was that you could pay to have a test done that tells you who your soulmate was. The story is about two friends played by Brett Goldstein (of Ted Lasso fame) and Imogen Poots. She does the test and is matched with a man, but they have always circled around each other. It follows them for 12 years or so as they battle their attraction to each other, sometimes with more success than other times. It was interesting, but ultimately didn't truly work for me.

Here's the trailer

Life

We are getting ready to go on holidays later this week. 2 weeks in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Can not wait! 

There will be no This Week post for the next couple of weeks

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Satisfying Series
Blog Tour: A New Life in Amsterdam by Helga Jensen
Weekend Cooking: The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: September Statistics 




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 a few quieter weeks it was a busy reading week this week!

I finished reading The Last Stop on the Winter Wonderland Express by  Rebecca Raisin which was a thoroughly enjoyable Christmas romp on a train through Europe.

I also finished listening to an audiobook this week. Somewhat unusually it was a non fiction book about writing. I Give You My Body...How I Write About Sex by Diana Gabaldon was mentioned at the reader retreat I attended earlier this year, purely because of some of the names she lists for the male appendage which was mentioned as being particularly humourous. The book was narrated by Herself (which is what dedicated DG fans call her) but it also featured a lot of excerpts from the audiobooks of the series. The two things I took away from it were that Diana Gabaldon talks really fast, and it also reminded me how much I loved this series back in the day. I still haven't read the last book because the last couple have been a bit like hard work to get through. I haven't yet started my next audiobook. Not sure what I am going to choose. 

I started reading A New Life in Amsterdam by Helga Jenssen. I will have the review for that one later this week. 

I also started The Oyster Catcher by Jo Thomas. I have read a few of Jo Thomas' books over the year and really enjoyed them all, so this is me now starting to go back through her backlist.

A few months ago now, I went to an author event which featured Jodi McAlister who had just launched An Academic Affair. This weekend was our read on a theme book club meeting and the theme for this time was Romance. Now, I am never going to be short of a read for this theme, but I decided that this book was going to be the one that I specifically chose to read. And I loved it!

I also talked about The Last Love Note by Emma Grey.

Here are just some of the books that other members read this month!

We agreed that for next month is a freebie. Not sure if that is going to make it harder or easier to choose which book to talk about. 

I did go to a book launch this week. Steph Vizard's new book A Smart Girl's Guide to Second Chances was launched at a local bookstore, and it was standing room only there were so many people there! It was a good night, and I got to see a few other bloggers, bookstagrammers and authors that I am getting to know as we all turn up at the same events from time to time. I am looking forward to reading the book. 

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

Here's where I travelled through books in September

Australia

Tasmania - An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister

Western Australia - Daughter of Batavia by Stefanie Koens

Asia

Japan - The Calico Cat at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi, The Phone Box at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina

Europe

France - A French Inheritance by Jennifer Bohnet

Ireland - Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Italy - The Lost Garden by Angela Petch, Daughter of Genoa by Angela Petch

UK - Winter Nights at the Bay Bookshop by Jessica Redland, The Life She Could Have Lived by Laura Pearson

US 

Seattle - The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden

I also share my favourite reads for the month on Bookstagram and here. I read 11 books in September which is down a bit from the last couple of months but not really surprising. An Academic Affair was a 5 star read and the others shown were both 4.5 star reads! 

I'm watching

After book club on Saturday three of us went and sat at a cafe near the beach and just watched the world go by before we went to see Napoli - New York as part of the Italian Film Festival. It was a good movie. It's the story of two orphans from Napoli who stow away on a boat to get to America and all the things that happen to them along the way. I actually like it a lot. It was a big melodramatic but ti was entertaining.

Life

We booked our next year's holiday and I am so excited! However, my attention is now turned to our next holiday which is in a couple of weeks. Better start getting organised. 

Max

Because my son was away at the same time we were, we had to get a petsitter in for Max. I think he was okay with it! She shared a lot of photos with us over the three days we were away.


Posts from the last week



Top Ten Tuesday: It's a Flower!
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - October links

In My Kitchen - September

Six Degrees of Separation - I Want Everything to Dear Mrs Bird





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

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