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

Welcome to August! And yes, in my head I am thinking how did that happen! 

It was a pretty normal reading week for me. I finished a book I had started last week, finished a couple of books and started a couple more! Seems to be my regular pattern at the moment. 

The book that I had started last week was Summer at the French Bakery by Jo Thomas. As you might guess from the title it is about a woman who moves to France and starts a bakery. It was also the last book I reviewed for this year's Paris in July! My review is here.

I then had a complete change of pace. I used to read a lot of historical romance but it is very, very rare for me to do so these days. This was not only a historical romance it was also a m/m romance. How to Fake it in Society by K J Charles was so much fun. I originally picked it up as it would have fitted a prompt for the Spring Reading Challenge at Goodreads but then I ended up reading something else. I have already requested another K J Charles book from the library

I have three blog tours this week, so I realised that I needed to focus on those books. I therefore read The Secret Dressmaker by Jenny O'Brien. This is the second book in the Threads of Resistance series. My review will be up later this week.

Another book that I need to review this week is Finding Forever in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen. I love Maggie's books set in Pelican Crossing! I started this and I am about half way through, and it is the same comforting, familiar read! My review for this will be up later this week too!

I did also read the first couple of chapters in A Far-Flung Life by M L Stedman. It almost seems a shame to reading it now. Most years, my read on a theme bookclub decides we will go down the more traditional route of all reading the same book. We have chosen this book to read together in October, but this will be due back at the library long before then.

July was a pretty good reading month. I had one 5 star reads and I did have 4 books that I rated as 4.5/5 reads! I also had a lot of fun with Paris in July (as usual) which was Secret Society of Librarians by Kate Thompson! I have now read and loved all of her WWII librarians books so now I have to wait patiently for the next one of those which I think will be out in a couple of years. In the meantime, I will be starting to work through her backlist. 

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

Bookish travel

At the end of every month I like to look and see where I have visited through the books I have read. Here's where I travelled to in July

USA

Maryland - In the Weeds by B K Borison

Minnesota - Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal

Europe

Wales - The King's Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick

Italy - Secrets of the Italian Guesthouse by Sue Moorcroft

France - Don't Brake My Heart by Leonie Mack, The Island of Mists and Miracles by Victoria Mas, Summer at the French Bakery by Jo Thomas

Ireland - Seascraper by Benjamin Wood, The Story Collector by Evie Woods

England - The Book Lover's Bucket List by Hannah Claire, The Secret Society of Librarians by Kate Thompson, The Palace Women by Jennifer Ryan, How to Fake it in Society by K J Charles

Portugal - Escape to the Turquoise Seas by Carrie Walker

Australia

Queensland - Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson

I'm watching

We started watching Ride or Die with Hannah Waddington and Octavia Spencer this week. So far we have watched three episodes and we will watch it through to the end.

We also started watching World War II with Tom Hanks which we will continue with. I am, however, a bit surprised that there are twenty episodes to get through, so it might take us a while. 

Breakaway Femmes - The Forgotten TDF - documentary about the women's Tour de France in the late 1980s. It was a really interesting documentary and fascinating to think that the rampant sexism and misogyny talked about in this series was so recent! By which I mean in my adult lifetime! And shocking to think that it took until the mid 2010s for the women's TdF to start again. Here's the trailer:

Life


On Saturday we had a lovely day out in the Yarra Valley which is a wine area about an hour and a half away from us. We did something called the Coldstream Food Trail which has about 10 stops on it, although we only did 4 stops. We stopped at a brewery, and then went to a place called Coombe Yarra Valley which is a lovely place that has been created in the former home of world famous Australian opera singer, Dame Nellie Melba. from there we did some cider and cheese tastings. The main reason we went out there was to do a Fondue and Bingo lunch at Chandon which was a lot of fun! I mean, fondue and sparkling wines...what's not to love. It was a beautiful clear winter's day and a lovely way to do some exploration of just one tiny pocket of the Yarra Valley. We did see some amazing looking restaurants that we will go back and visit again at some point!

The other thing that we did last week was go to see the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Winter Gala which featured music from composers such as Bernstein, Gerswhin and Cole Porter! It was a lot of fun, and the tickets were super cheap at only $20 each. My husband loves orchestral music so we go semi regularly, but this was too good an opportunity to pass by. 

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesdays: Historical Fiction set in France - the WWII edition

Paris in July: French movies

Summer at the French Bakery by Sue Thomas

Paris in July: Au revoir!

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: August Links

In My Kitchen: July 

Six Degrees of Separation: Land to Still Life

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 pretty good reading week for me this week, including a 5 star reads! 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bookish travel

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

Asia 

China - The Bonesetter's Daughter

Korea - A Midnight Pastry Shop Called Hwawoldang

Japan - Gate to Kagoshima, Hot Chocolate on Thursday

America

California - The Bonesetter's Daughter

Hawaii  - The Paradise Pact

Europe

Italy - An Italian Island Love Story, A Venice Summer

Spain - Call of the Camino

UK - The Seaside Book Club. The Little Wartime Library

France - In a Paris Fashion

I'm watching


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

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

Here's the trailer

Life

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


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

Posts from the last week

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






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

This week....or more precisely the last couple of weeks.

 

First of all.....Happy Star Wars Day

It's a bit strange to me that I am all over this Star Wars thing now. Up until about 10 years ago I had never seen a Star Wars movie but my husband is a big fan so we now watch all the spin offs and I already know we will be going to the movies to see the new Mandalorian movie when it comes out soon. I still have never seen all of the movies though.

I'm reading

As a general rule, I don't read as much while I am holidays as I do when I am home. Occasionally we have holidays where that doesn't apply, but over the last two and a bit weeks where we have been in Turkiye it has definitely been the case.

Since my last This Week post I finished reading both New Chapters on the French Riviera by Jennifer Bohnet and The Hotel by the Sea by Julie Caplin (which I reviewed here and here respectively).

I then decided to read The Astral Library by Kate Quinn, as it fit two categories in the Goodreads Spring challenge, and because I really enjoy her historical fiction writing. This one is most definitely not historical fiction. I enjoyed it, but it did take me a while to get through, and it isn't my favourite book of hers.

After that I read The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan. My read on a theme book club theme for May is Mothers and Daughters and this book definitely met that theme. I have only ever read The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, and that was in the 1990s so it was interesting reading this book now.

My final read while I was away was An Italian Island Love Story by Leonie Mack. This is part of her Wedding Adventures series which I really love! it was perfect plane reading! 

My reading numbers were down for April (mostly because I was too busy being on holiday). I read 7 books in total. I gave most of them a grade of 4 out of 5 but nothing really jumps out as being a best of the month. Hopefully next month. 

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

Bookish Travel

While I didn't read many books, I did visit quite a few places in April (both in real life and through books!)

Europe

UK - Hopes and Dreams at the Chocolate Pot Cafe

Greece - The Islander's Daughter

France - New Chapters on the French Riviera

Portugal - The Hotel by the Sea

Australia

Queensland - Something in the Air in Pelican Crossing

America

Maine - The Seven Rings

Massachusetts - The Astral Library

I'm watching

We flew a Chinese airline this time as we had to rebook our flights to avoid the conflict in the Middle East. We would absolutely fly them again, but I know to expect that the entertainment selection is limited. I therefore only watched a couple of documentaries. One was about various destinations in China and another was an Italian documentary about The Hermitage museum in St Petersburg. When I say watched, I am being literal here as I couldn't understand what was being said in either of them!

Life

We had the most amazing time in Turkiye! Apart from one day we had amazing weather, we saw some amazing sights and food. If you have ever thought about visiting Turkiye, then do it. We would both love to go back!

The first few days we were there daughter came to stay with us with her partner we had never met before so we enjoyed time with them visiting some of the major sights including The Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar and we did a foodie walking tour. After they left we did a Turkish bath, visited the Basilica Cistern and more. We then joined our tour which included a visit to Topkapi Palace.

After that we left Istanbul and headed to Cannakale which was our base for spending time on the Gallipoli peninsula. The whole reason we booked this tour was so we could attend the Dawn Service at Anzac Cove on Anzac Day and it was a truly memorable experience.

After that we headed to see the ancient cities of Troy and Ephesus, visited places like Pamukkale and finally Cappadocia where we were able to take a hot air balloon ride!

It was a such a fantastic trip!

Now I have to get ready to go back to work tomorrow! 

Posts from the last week


Blog Tour: The Hotel by the Sea by Julie Caplin
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - May Links
Six Degrees of Separation: Wild Dark Shore to The Enlightenment of Bees





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 is really annoying when work gets in the way of reading time. It has definitely been one of those weeks for me. By the time I finish work every day I am too brain dead to even think about reading too much. 

I did finish The Stolen Sister by Jan Baynham, because I had committed to a date for a blog tour.  I reviewed the book here. 

I then started The Strawberry House by Rachel Burton. My review for this one isn't due until later this week but I am trying to get a bit ahead of the game. I don't have any more blog tours in March, but I do have a lot in early April. 

What do you do when you have some reading space? Why, of course, you overcommit yourself to other books. I need to read my book club book, my Classics Spin book and now I have gone through and selected my Goodreads challenge books. I think I am expecting too much of myself but we will see how it goes.

The first book I started for the Goodreads Challenge is Lovelight Farms by B K Borison, which fits the Swoony prompt!

It's hard to believe that it is the end of February already. I only read 6 books in February which is the least I have read for a while. However, of those 6, there were 2 books that I rated 5 stars. The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters was an excellent own voices read and The Silent Resistance by Anna Normann was a WWII story set in Norway. Both were fantastic reads. I haven't reviewed The Berry Pickers yet, but here is my review of The Silent Resistance. 

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

Bookish travel

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

Europe

France - The Resistance Knitting Club
Norway - The Silent Resistance
Germany - The Wartime Affair
UK - The Cottage at the Edge of the Woods
Greece - The Stolen Sister

North America

Canada/Maine - The Berry Pickers

I'm watching


I went and watched an amazing movie this week. I Swear is a British film which tells the story of John Davidson, who is a campaigner for Tourettes education. It is a powerful and inspiring story about facing head first into adversity and finding a way. If you get a chance to see it, it's worth the time.

Here's the trailer

Life

It is crazy busy at work, and I don't see it dying off over the next couple of weeks, especially seeing as I am going on an overseas work trip next week! I am very excited about it, although I suspect I am going to be exhausted at the end of it, but more about that in the next couple of weeks

We did take some time out this weekend and went for afternoon tea at what is one of our favourite tea locations. Once again the food was absolutely gorgeous and tasted amazing. The koala at the top of the post is a macadamia, maple, mango and strawberry gum flavours! And yes, it tasted as good as it looks.

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Books!

Blog Tour: The Cottage at the Edge of the Woods by Jane Lovering

Blog Tour: The Stolen Sister by Jan Baynham

Weekend Cooking: The Oyster Catcher by Jo Thomas

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: March links

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

Happy New Year everyone! 

The beginning of the year means resetting everything, including the counter for the number of books read. However, the counter now sits at 2 after the first 4 days of the year. Admittedly I finished two books yesterday otherwise it would still be at zero. 

I finished reading The Sweet Life Cafe by Helen Rolfe which I really enjoyed. It is set on an island in the Channel Islands. In the list of books it is shown as a standalone novel, but it really does feel like it could be the start of a duology or trilogy! I am planning to review this later in the month!

I also read So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan. Her books are very short, but they do pack a punch!

Finally, I started reading The Girl from Lake Maggiore by Siobhan Daiko.

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

Bookish travel

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

Asia

Japan - The Menu of Happiness, Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop

Europe

Scotland  - The Secret Christmas Library

Britain - Golden Girls on the Run, Hot Desk, The War Time Library, One December Morning, 

Ireland - The Oyster Catcher

Normally this is where I talk about my best books for the month before. I read 8 books in December and they were all good but there was nothing exceptional. I gave every book I read a grading of 4/5. That may well also reflect how busy my brain is with other things!

I'm watching

We went to the movies on New Year's Eve and watched Nuremberg which stars Russell Crowe as Hermann Goerring, Rami Malek and Leo Woodall. It tells the story of the Nuremberg war trials, starting with the arrest of Goerring through to the verdicts in the first trial. It's a serious subject but the movie was very compelling. Here's the trailer

After we got home we watched the concert from Sydney leading up to the always spectacular fireworks. We do get a bit of a show in our local area with all the illegal fireworks!

On the lighter side we also watched Big Fat Quiz of the Year, hosted by Jimmy Carr, which is always a fun way to revisit some of the bigger stories of the year.

Life

On New Year's Day we decided to go and visit the Melbourne Museum where they currently have an exhibition called Treasures of the Viking Age which all about the Galloway Horde which was found in Scotland in 2014. The exhibition itself was very interesting. We also took the opportunity to take a look around the other parts of the museum. They have recently reopened the natural history part of the museum with all the stuffed animals etc. It is now very modern, very interactive with the use of lots of technology like screens etc. It's a very different space to what it was when I used to take my son to the museum! My favourite part is the garden, and it was great to see so many families out there!


Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Most Recent Additions
One December Morning by Emma Davies
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - January
January in Japan: Since the last January in Japan
In My Kitchen: December
Six Degrees of Separation: The Four Dutchmen to Case Histories


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....

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


I'm reading

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

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

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

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

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

Here's where I travelled through books in November

Europe

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

Ireland - Foster

Asia

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

Australia

Victoria - The Midwife's Christmas Miracle 

US

Good Spirits 

I'm watching

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

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

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

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

Here's an intro video about the series

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


Life

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

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

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: The last ten author events I have been to
Blog Tour: Life Begins at the Cornish Cottage by Kim Nash
Weekend Cooking: Eating on Trains
Festive Treats so far....





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 couple of weeks as we have been on holidays but now we are back so it is time to catch up on everything I have read while I was away.

The first book I read was The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jeffries which I chose to read because it is set in Sri Lanka which is one of the places we were going. I carried this book half way around the world with me to try and get a photo of it in a fitting location. It took a couple of attempts but the photo above was taken in front of tea bushes.

Then I read several review books which are all due to be reviewed this week so now I need to get cracking on writing the reviews. Those books were Escape to the Northern Lights by Carrie Walker, A Family for Christmas in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen, A Christmas Gift by Sue Moorcroft and Saving Starlight Hall by Debbie Viggiano

I then read The Lucky Sisters by Rachel Johns which is also a review book but not a blog tour book!

Finally I started reading Dear Mrs Bird by A J Pearce just for fun, and so far it is! I can't wait to read it and I am pretty sure I will be picking up the next book in the series as well.

In October I read a total of 11 books. While most of them were good reads which I gave a rating of 4/5 stars there was nothing that I rated as a 5/5 read. I do want to specifically call out The Lucky Sisters by Rachael Johns which was the only book that I gave a rating of 4.5/5 stars to.

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

Here's where I travelled through books in October

Europe

The Netherlands - A New Life in Amsterdam by Helga Jensen

Lots of countries - Last Stop on the Winter Wonderland Express by Rebecca Raisin

 - Escape to the Northern Lights by Carrie Walker

UK - A Christmas Gift by Sue Moorcroft, Saving Starlight Hall by Debbie Viggiano

America

Minnesota - Heidi's Guide to Four Letter Words by Tara Sivec and Andi Arndt

New York - Christmas on Fifth Avenue by Julie Caplin

Asia

Sri Lanka - The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jeffries

Australia

Queensland - A Family for Christmas in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen

Western Australia - The Lucky Sisters by Rachael Johns

Before moving on I wanted to acknowledge the sad new of the passing of Christopher Gortner, who wrote as C W Gortner. I have read a number of his books over the years and loved most of them. I first met him on the forums at Historical Fiction Online which must have been 22 years or so ago. Since then I have been Facebook friends with him. He was articulate and opinionated and far to young to have passed. RIP Christopher. 

I'm watching

I've pretty much been watching the world go by and watching sunsets. This photo was taken from the sunset cruise we did on our last night in The Maldives. I didn't even watch a movie on the plane even though they were quite long flights.

On Saturday night we watched Operation Mincemeat which was quite interesting. It has quite a few big names from British cinema in it but the main two are Colin Firth and Matthew MacFadyen. The story tells of how sending a body carrying fake papers was the key to the successful landing of the Allied forces in Sicily in WWII. Here's the trailer

Life

We had an amazing time in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. We stayed in some amazing hotels, ate some great food and saw some amazing sites. I will try and share some photos across the next couple of weeks. One downside was that my phone died on day two of our trip so my husband's phone became our phone. Hopefully mine can be fixed without losing all my data as I have lots of photos from our last couple of trips on there that I never quite got around to downloading.

It was our sixth wedding anniversary the day after we got home. We didn't do much this weekend but we are doing a fun meal next weekend to celebrate.

Posts since my last This Week post



Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Have Returned to the Library Unread
Weekend Cooking: Dish Podcast
Spell the Month in Books: October
Top Ten Tuesday: Arches and Windows
Blog Tour: Christmas on Fifth Avenue by Julie Caplin
Weekend Cooking: Making Couscous

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Weather Events in the Title

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: November Links

Weekend Cooking: In My Kitchen - October

Six Degrees of Separation: We Have Always Lived in a Castle to The Girl Who Chased the Moon

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

And just like that August is over, winter is over for another year and spring has sprung. Well, actually it's still pretty cold today but it should start to warm up a little bit. We are certainly seeing quite a few blossoms starting to appear on the trees.

I have had a pretty busy reading and a very wintery reading week which might be appropriate given that it was the last week of winter. I read Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson which was a whole heap of fun. It is set in the Australian Alps during the winter so there was a lot of snow.

I then read A Winter Wedding Adventure by Leonie Mack which is the second book in the Wedding Adventures series and was set in the Italian Alps. so plenty of snow  I also read Meet Me Under the Northern Lights by Mandy Baggot which is for a blog tour this week. This one was set in Iceland. And yes, there was snow.

We don't get snow where I live but I certainly read a lot about snow this week!

In non snow related reading I read The Mad Women's Ball by Victoria Mas which was a fascinating French historical fiction novel. I really enjoyed this one.

I also started The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden. It's due back at the library so I am not sure if I will get it finished or not. I hope so.

Yesterday I also started reading The Last Love Note by Emma Grey and it was a real push to get it read so that I could count it as one of my Aussie August reads. I only just made it but it was so worth the effort!

This week I finished listening to Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, which is an audiobook experience I would highly recommend. I loved the way that Marcellus the Octopus was voiced and I was pleased to learn that the same guy is going to be giving Marcellus a voice in the upcoming movie! 

I started listening to Daughters of Batavia which is a debut novel by Australian author Stefanie Koens. I I have long been fascinated by the story of the Batavia shipwreck. It does always take me a little while to get used to listening to Australian audiobooks but I think I am getting there now. 

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

Here's where I travelled this month through books

Australia 

Sydney - One Hundred Years of Betty 

Canberra - The Last Love Note

The Alps - Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone

Americas

Washington DC - The Briar Club

Washington State - Remarkably Bright Creatures

Asia 

Japan - The Library of Heartbeats, The Convenience Store by the Sea, Butter

Europe 

England - The Summer Before the War, Will You Stay Another Day?, The Midnight Bakery The Girl from the War Room, The Friendship List

Italy - Glorious Exploits, The Florence Sisters, A Winter Wedding Advenuture

Scotland - The Whisky Widow

Austria  - So This is Christmas

France - The Mad Women's Ball

Iceland -  Meet Me Under the Stars

August was an exceptional reading month both from a numbers and quality wise and to be honest I am a bit shocked. I managed to read 20 books this month, which is surprising since I went back to work full time early in the month.I truly expected my reading to drop right off, and yet it didn't really. And then of those books I rated half of them as either 4.5 or 5 star reads Here are the books that rated either 4.5 or 5 out of 5 with the first three books being 5/5 reads. 

I'm watching

We watched an older superhero movie called Bloodshot with Vin Diesel last night. It was supposed to be the first in a series based on the Valiant comics. It wasn't bad. I've certainly seen worse. It doesn't appear that any more movie set in this world got made though.

We did watch The Thursday Murder Club on Saturday night, and really enjoyed it. It has a phenomenal British cast including Dame Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Richard E Grant, David Tenant and more. It had a good storyline and I did laugh several times. Here's the trailer:

On Sunday night we watched a documentary movie called The Last Journey which tells the story of a Swedish man who takes his dad on a driving adventure to France in a bid to try and shake him out of is post retirement blues. Along the way he learns that ageing is something that is inevitable and can't just be shaken off. I have seen it before at the cinema a while ago and it was just as lovely the second time around.

Life

On Tuesday night we went to see Keith Urban's High and Alive tour. I think this is maybe the ninth or tenth time I have seen him and he was great as always! He always puts on such a great show!

Have you ever done DNA testing. I did mine this week, and I was a bit surprised by. The test says  that I am only 3% Welsh and 14% Germanic. Given that I believed that my mother's father was Welsh, it is something of a surprise. And I have no idea where the Germanic comes in. Guess I will have to start looking to see what I can find!

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Aussie August 2025
Blog Tour: So This is Christmas by Helen Rolfe
One Hundred Years of Betty by Debra Oswald
The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
Weekend Cooking: The Midnight Bakery by Emma Davies
Sunday Salon: 3 Mini Reviews for Women in Translation Month
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: September links

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