This week...

Big news this week!! I have launched the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge for 2026! If you love reading historical fiction, reading challenges and want to connect with other historical fiction lovers....join us! Here is the sign up post

2026 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

 I'm reading

Given the above I probably should be reading some historical fiction but it feels like I am reading everything but that genre at the moment!

I finished reading Menu of Happiness by Hisashi Kashiwai, which is the third book in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series. As usual I enjoyed the stories in this book, and I will read the next book when it comes out in English. 

I also finished listening to The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan. This was connected to a short story she put out last year called The Christmas Book Hunt. This time, Mirren and Theo head to the Scottish Highlands to help a cash poor laird search his book rich castle for a book following a series of clues left for him by his grandfather. It was a fun story, but the audio wasn't fantastic. There were lots of weird gaps so I had to listen to it sped up otherwise it annoyed me!

From here it is all the books I started!

I am supposed to be buddy reading Flashlight by Helen Choi. I have read the first chapter, which was very interesting, but I hadn't gotten to it yet! Will make more in roads this week. 

Last year I read A Christmas Carol and The Chimes by Charles Dickens and posted about it here. I decided that I was going to read Dickens' other Christmas stories and so this week I started reading The Cricket and the Hearth. I must confess that I was a bit perplexed by the first part of the book which was all about the cricket, but the story is moving along now!

I also started reading Golden Girls on the Run by Judy Leigh. I need to finish this one first as I am on a blog tour for the book this week! 

I normally try to listen to Hogfather by Terry Pratchett every Christmas and I will still try to but I thought I better start Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil first. This is the current Cook the Books selection. I would prefer to be reading it, but this book isn't available in any of the libraries in my state, and the ebook was completely unreasonable priced so I have used one of my Audible credits to get it. I wasn't sure how it work as an audiobook but so far it is good. 

I'm watching


I am starting to get my Christmas on, mostly through watching things on TV, but that's a start. This week I watched A Merry Little Ex-mas, which stars Oliver Hudson and Alicia Silverstone as a newly, amicably divorced couple who are trying to look like what Christmas looks like for this first year as a separated family. It was a fun watch. 

I did also watch The Chocolate Queen - a Very Chocolatey Christmas. The Chocolate Queen is Australian pastry chef queen Kirsten Tibballs, and she shared a number of relatively simple recipes, along with a couple of guest chefs. I might watch it again to see if I can get motivated to make some of what she shared. Maybe.

We have watched quite a bit of the cricket this week, which is very out of character for us! It's not something we have really done together since we met, but apparently this year we are interested! Australia is playing England, in a test series called The Ashes which has been happening every couple of years since 1882. It helps that Australia is performing pretty well!

On Sunday I went and watched Hamnet which is showing here as part of the British Film Festival. This is the movie adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's book of the same name. It isn't a happy movie, but it was definitely good, and very moving. Definitely worth seeing if you enjoyed the book!

Life

Speaking of getting our Christmas on, we did take a quick trip into the city to check out the Myer windows. Every year they have a specially themed Christmas story. This year it was all Lego and it was a lot of fun. I did try to convince Robert to go and do some other Christmassy stuff in the city but it was the end of a long day, so that will have to be on another day!

We had our book club Christmas lunch yesterday and we did a book gifting! We all ikced a number and then we got to unwrap the corresponding book. I ended up with a book I had already read but someone else had a book they already owned so we did a sneaky swap. The book I bought home with me was Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz. It was a lovely lunch and I got to have my first mince pie and christmas pudding of the season as well as a delicious burrata and tomato salad and some roast turkey!

Finally, a quick shout out to anyone who is visiting as part of Comfy, Cozy Christmas, hosted by Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs. I look forward to seeing what Christmassy adventures other people are having! I should warn you though, I am in Australia and our Christmas is less comfy and cozy than hot and sweaty, weather depending! Melbourne does tend to have variable weather so it could be 15C/59F or 38C/100F, or anywhere in between!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Christmas Books That Remind Me of Songs
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2026 Sign Up
Daughters of Batavia by Stefanie Koens
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2025 Wrap Up Posts

In My Kitchen: November
Six Degrees of Separation: Seascraper to The Four Dutchmen




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: Classics I Haven't Read

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.
This week the theme is Modern Books You Think Will Be Classics In The Future (submitted by Veros @ Dark Shelf of Wonders). I was having a look at some lists of classics and it seems I am not great at even recognising what a classic classic is let alone looking at modern books and thinking it will become a classic in the future. So I am turning the theme on it's head and instead sharing 10 classics I haven't yet read. 

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque - Not too long ago we watched the recent German adaptation of the movie and then an older English version. Remarque was clearly something of a celebrity in his day as he was involved with Marlene Dietrich and married to actress Paulette Goddard

My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin -- Mile Franklin, real name Stella  has given her name to not one but two of the major awards in Australian literature (Miles Franklin award and Stella Prize)  but I haven't read anything by her. The book was published in 2001.

The Tree of Man by Patrick White - Patrick White is the only Australian winner of the Nobel Prize for literature. 

The Fortunes of Richard Mahony by Henry Handel Richardson - I had this book on my shelves for a long time but at some point it didn't survive a cull. Like Miles Franklin, Richardson is using a male name but is actually a female writer. 

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë - I haven't actually read any of the books by the Bronte sisters.

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank - You would think I would have managed to read this given how much I read about WWII. 

Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien - It's not like I haven't tried! I have read and loved The Hobbit at least 3 times. I have started the first book int he Lord of the Rings trilogy several times but I have never made it through to the end. 

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - I did get this on audio a few years ago, mainy because Richard Armitage was one of the narrators. I didn't get very far though. 

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne - I read Around the World in Eighty Days a couple of years ago and really loved it but haven't read anything else by him yet.  According to Goodreads there are apparently 6726 different editions of this book! Made choosing a cover a bit of a challenge.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle - I have known lot of people over the years who name this as a childhood favourite but I never read it!

I am contemplating using this as the basis to maybe join in on the Classics Spin next year, but we will see. I would have to find another 10 classics to add to make a full list. What's your favourite classic?

This week

 I'm reading

Well, it has been a very busy couple of weeks, which is why I missed last week so we have a bit to catch up on. From a reading perspective though, the first week was very busy, but this second week I haven't read much at all!

On audiobook, I finished listening to The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley! This is the seventh book in the Seven Sisters series, and I have to say....  arrggghhh that ending! It felt like an unfinished book to me. I therefore started listening to Atlas: The  Story of Pa Salt so that I could get some answers. It doesn't hurt that Richard Armitage is one of the narrators.

I managed to squeeze in The Chimes by Charles Dickens, which I posted about here.

I did start reading Last Christmas by Clare Swatman, but I have had to put it aside for now. Not sure if I am going to get back to this. It might be next Christmas.

As I mentioned in last week's Top Ten Tuesday post, we did a family read of Bluey: Verandah Santa, which was a lot of fun..

Finally I started reading The Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang which is the current selection for Cook the Books. To be fair, I am struggling with it a bit, but I am determined to finish it this year!

I'm watching


Before we came away we watched the movie Blitz, which tells the story of the Blitz on London, through the eyes of a young woman and her son. It wasn't too bad.

I then  watched A Paris Christmas Waltz. I mean.. Paris and Christmas? Yes please!

We then watched A Very Musical Christmas which was the stars of Australian musical theatre singing Christmas songs! The event raised funds for Beyond Blue, and I hope that they do it again.

On our family Christmas Day, the two boys/men said that we should watch a movie together and it was decided that we would watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The irony is that they were both asleep very quickly so the rest of us watched it but they didn't!

Life


We travelled to Adelaide for Christmas Day, and then after that, we have taken a road trip to the Eyre Peninsula, and we are just beginning to start the journey back to Melbourne! There have been silos, sailings, street art, seafood, scenery and so much more! Here's a couple of pics

Posts from the last two weeks



Countdown to 2025: Day 16
Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Summer 2024-25 To Read List
Countdown to 2025: Day 17
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge Wrap Up Posts
Countdown to 2025: Day 18
Countdown to 2025: Day 19
Countdown to 2025: Day 20
Countdown to 2025: Day 21
Weekend Cooking: Christmas Tree Cake
Countdown to 2025: Day 22
Sunday Salon: A Very Dickens Christmas
Countdown to 2025: Day 23
Countdown to 2025: Day 24
Top Ten Tuesday: Christmas Reads!
Countdown to 2025: Day 25
Countdown to 2025: Day 26
Countdown to 2025: Day 27
Countdown to 2025: Day 28
Weekend Cooking: A Tale of Two Christmases




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: Christmas reads!

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books I Hope Santa Brings/Bookish Wishes. I don't tend to ask or receive books as gifts, with the notable exception of cookbooks. So, here are the ten Christmas books I have read so far this year. I am currently reading another two as well!

Actually, I am going to start with a bonus book! Last night I read this book to my nephew. My sister, her husband and my husband were all in the room as well, so it was like a group readalong.

And now on for the actual top ten!

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - I can't believe I haven't read this until now!

The Silver Haired Sisterhood by Judy Leigh - Christmas on the Isle of Skye sound great. (My review)

A Christmas Surprise in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen - It's so nice to read a Christmas novel set in Australia! (My review)

The Christmas Book Hunt by Jenny Colgan - A fun short story! Must read more Jenny Colgan (My review)

A Skye Full of Stars by Sue Moorcroft - Yes, this is another Christmas novel set on the Isle of Skye. (My review)

Someone Like You by Sandy Barker - This one was set in both London and Seattle, which I loved! (My review)

A Recipe For Christmas by Jo Thomas - This one had it all! Chocolate, grumpy hero, and snow in Switzerland! (My review)

The Village Christmas Party by Sue Roberts - What happens when the village senior Christmas lunch is booked at the same time as a birthday party for a 5 year old. (My review)

One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot - When a journalist is sent to a village in the French Alps to cover a story about a pregnant reindeer and a man named Wolf, Christmas magic ensues. (My review)

Christmas at the Little Paris Hotel by Rebecca Raisin - Christmas in Paris! Yes please. (My review)

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Sunday Salon: A Very Dickens Christmas

 

If I asked you to name one Charles Dickens book, I am sure that you would easily name A Christmas Carol. You might name others, but that one would be sure to be named. But did you know that Dickens wrote several Christmas novels, and multiple short stories

When we went England and Scotland earlier this year, we were flying home, and I was found some podcast episodes about books. One of the podcasts was talking to one of Charles Dickens descendants Lucinda Hawksley  During the course of the podcast she talked about how there were multiple Christmas books and short stories, and so I was determined that this year I would read some.

A Christmas Carol was the first of Dickens Christmas book, and is the one that still continues to remembered nearly 200 years ago. There have been multiple movies including the one featuring the Muppets, plays, and the idea of being visited by the ghosts of the past, present and future continues to be referenced in modern culture. Recently I watched Sabrina Carpenter's A Nonsense Christmas and there was a skit in that show where they talked about being visited by the ghosted of past, present and future, as in when you are dating someone and they stop returning text, calls etc with no explanation.

I don't know why, but I hadn't read A Christmas Carol before. It seems like an oversight really, but it is what it is. I have rectified it now!

When I was reading it I was surprised at how readable it was, which lead me to wonder if maybe this was because  I was pretty familiar with the story, so my brain was reading what it already know. Or maybe Dickens is really not that hard to read. He does love a run on sentence, and repetition, but for the most part it was an easy read. What that means is that really The Chimes was the story to gauge this accessibility on. After all, I was not familiar with this story at all. And my outcome - well, it is definitely readable.

I don't feel like I need to spend too much time on talking about A Christmas Carol, other than to say that I can see myself reading it again in the Christmas futures, but I did want to talk a little more about The Chimes.

The Chimes, or to give it it's full title The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In, was written one year after the hugely successful A Christmas Carol, and to be honest, it has a lot of similarities in terms of the themes that are being talked about. It was very successful when it was published, but has not stood the test of time in the same way.

In A Christmas Carol, the main character is the rich man Ebenezer Scrooge, but in The Chimes it is a very poor ticket porter by the name of Toby Veck, also known as Trotty. We first meet Trotty in the present, when we learn that his beloved daughter Meg is to marry her fiance Richard on New Years Day. They are poor but they are determined to marry and build their life together. However, a rich man name Alderman Cute plants doubts in their minds about being able to do so given their situation in life. Alderman Cute and Sir Joseph Bowley have very firm ideas about the poor, which basically say that it is their own fault that they are poor, and if they cannot pay their debts or meet their bills then they must be "Put Down", as in sent to jail.

Next we see Trotty in the near future, then much further into the future as he learns what becomes of both he himself and his family and friends, some of whom have spent considerable portions of their lives in and out of jail.All the while, Trotty hears the chimes, the bells in the local church. Sometimes, they call encouragement to him. Other times, the chimes are far more nefarious, but they are ever present.

Dickens was championing the rights of the poor, to say that mercy and charity were of no less importance than justice, that being poor does not make them automatically unable to be valuable members of society, destined for a life of crime. 

Ultimately, then end of the story is quite uplifting but it does get quite dark at times. 

There are another 3 novellas in the book that I have, but I won't get to them this Christmas. I think it is likely that I might re-read  A Christmas Carol and one of the other stories next year but we will see.

This is my contribution to A Very Dickens Christmas hosted at Snapdragon Alcove. I am also sharing it with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz.

In closing, I wish all those that are celebrating a very Merry Christmas, and to all of us a very safe and happy holidays and New Year period.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Summer 2024-25 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 Winter 2024-2025 to-Read List. As I am an Aussie, it is currently way too hot for it be winter, so these are my summer reads!

Midnight in Paris by Gillian Harvey - I am always very excited by the news that there is a new Gillian Harvey book on the way. This one is out in January, and the cover is gorgeous!

The Chimes by Charles Dickens - I read A Christmas Carol a couple of weeks ago, and I am intending to read at least one more of his Christmas stories. Yes, there is more than one!

The Many Futures of Maddy Lawson by Laura Pearson - Spoiler! Laura Pearson is going to be on my list of favourite new authors that I first read in 2024

Venice Hotel by Tess Woods - I have actually already started this one. Now it's a question of finishing it!

Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt by Lucinda Riley and Harry Whittaker - I just finished listening to The Missing Sister. There was a three year gap between the last two books but I am not waiting that long to listen to the final book in the series.

The Mirror by Nora Roberts - This is the second book in The Lost Bride trilogy. I will also listen to this one. The question is will it be before Atlas or after it!

The Last Illusion of Paige White by Vanessa McCausland - I have loved the last two books I have read by Vanessa McCausland so I have high hopes for this one.

The Jam Maker by Mary-Lou Stephenson - This one is out in February and I am very much looking forward to it!

The Secret Paris Garden by Sophie Beaumont - I really liked The Paris Cooking School! My plan is to read this before the end of the year but we will see!

The Bad Bridesmaid by Rachael Johns - I posted my review of The Other Bridesmaid yesterday. The Bad Bridesmaid is about Bridget's best friend Fred and is out in February!

Are any of these books on your list!

This Week ....

 

I'm reading

Can you believe that it is so close to the end of the year? We are on holidays from next week so really it feels very close. I am still getting some reading in and have a few books that I want to get read before we get to the start of 2025.

Last week I read Stuck in Second Gear by Carmen Reid which I really enjoyed. I will definitely be reading more from Carmen Reid!

For a complete change of pace, I then read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I had never read the actual book, although obviously I know the fundamentals of the story. 

I then did something I haven't done for a long time. I sat and read a book through from beginning to end in one day. The book in question was The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns. 

I then started reading The Venice Hotel by Tess Woods. I am only a few chapters in yet, but I am already intrigued. Even though there is nothing to indicate it all on the cover, this is actually set at Christmas time, so this is a good time to be reading it!



I'm watching

I didn't get as much watched this week as I have in previous weeks. 

The only Christmas movie I watched was Bringing Home Christmas. An antique store owner finds a WWII uniform and a love letter and sets about trying to find the rightful owner with the help of a military professor. It sounds like a dual timeline novel that I would have read, and it was a nice movie.

I then watched A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter. It's fair to say that I had heard of her, but I couldn't say that I know a lot about her. And I certainly didn't know who a lot of her guests were. Nevertheless, I very much enjoyed the show and I thought she was pretty entertaining! I particularly liked the duet of Last Christmas with Chappell Roan!

Life

It was a busy week activities wise!

On Tuesday night we went to an author talk featuring four chefs who all have new books out. The four chefs were Tony Tan, Alice Zablanski, Emelia Jackson and Ben Shewry. I am hoping to talk more about this night a bit more as a Weekend Cooking post soon. At least that is the plan!

On Saturday I did a cake decorating workshop, where had slice the cake, add the fillings, decorate with buttercream and then pipe the Christmas tree design on the front. It was the first time I have done a cake with this particular shop, and I will definitely do more!

And then on Saturday night, we went to see Hans - A Christmas Hootenanny. Hans is an Australian entertainer who labels himself as a German superstar. Think all the disco hits, accordion, song and dance you can handle, with a Christmas twist! It was a lot of fun.

Afterwards we joined thousands of others walking along the river bank looking at the Christmas decorations and a water, light and sound show. 

It was a very big Saturday! 

Posts from the last week


Countdown to 2025: Day 9
Top Ten Tuesday: Stormy!

Countdown to 2025: Day 10

Blog Tour: Stuck in Second Gear by Carmen Reid

Countdown to 2025: Day 11

Countdown to 2025: Day 12

Countdown to 2025: Day 13

Weekend Cooking: Advent by Anja Dunk
Countdown to 2025: Day 14
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge November Statistics
Countdown to 2025: Day 15



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: The Classics edition

 

 

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Favorite Heroines (or heroes, if you prefer!) but I am going to go off topic this week...again. I am currently listening to Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne, so I thought that I would share classics I have read. I know that I should have read many more, but oh well. No guilt allowed right!

Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne - Listening to this now!

Les Miserable by Victor Hugo - What a massive undertaking this was!

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - I read this last year for Cook the Books and thoroughly enjoyed it!

East of Eden by John Steinbeck -   There's several books on this list that I read thanks to Oprah's book club!

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald - I read this back in high school and then read it again 10 years ago.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - This was another Oprah read. I did end up going on to read and enjoy a number of his books.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen  - Still the only Austen I have ever read - Shocking I know!

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - I read this after reading Mr Pip!

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - I did think about putting up the cover of the DVD of the BBC series as the picture here (hello Richard Armitage) but I restrained myself!

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - I really enjoyed this! Another Oprah read!

What's your favourite classic?

Weekly Geeks #3 - The Classics

I don't know where I was last week, but I completely neglected to do Weekly Geeks! So this week I want to get an early start. This week's theme is to "have fun with the classics". The explanation is a long one, so I am just going to link to it for now, and you can go and have a look at the suggestions at your leisure.

The timing of this assignment is actually pretty good because I have just recently finished listening to Great Expectations on audio book. Having really enjoyed that listening experience I am planning to listen to more classics on audio during this year. The first step will be to rectify what others may perceive as being one of the big gaps in my reading experience, and that is the fact that I have never, ever read any Jane Austen. I have Pride and Prejudice waiting for me to pick up the next time that I make it to the library.

Whilst I have read some classics (some thanks to Oprah and others due to the old Barnes and Noble University), it is an area where I am not as well read as I probably should be. Part of the reason for that is the general impression that reading them will be a bit too much like hard work. Of the ones I have read like East of Eden, Anna Karenina, The Odyssey and One Hundred Years of Solitude, I ended up really loving them. I do think that part of the reason for my enjoyment is the fact that I read it along with an online group, and therefore was able to chat about my reading experience as I went along, and to hear other people's thoughts and questions. With the Gabriel Garcia Marquez books I was able to pick up a couple of his other books and read them by myself, but I haven't yet got that brave when it comes to Tolstoy. It's not that I haven't thought about reading War and Peace for example. It's more that I would prefer to read the version by the same translators who did Anna Karenina and I haven't yet seen it in the shops here, and I don't really think that War and Peace is a practical choice for a library read. Of course, I didn't love them all. There are some that I just didn't really get why particular books are considered classics, or even if I can see why, found them just not readable - not books that you can easily get lost in. (William Faulkner anyone?)

So what prompted me to actually pick up Great Expectations by myself? Well, it was really as a result of other reads. Last year I read Jack Maggs by Peter Carey for an online reading group, and I really did not know until we were part way through the discussion that the book was a reworking of Great Expectations with a couple of additional angles and characters. Not long after that I also read Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones, which isn't a retelling as such but rather a homage to the power of a classic book. Having read both of those, it was an obvious step to actually pick up the book that inspired both of those authors. I think that because the path seemed so organic and that I wasn't forcing myself to read something is a part of why I enjoyed it as well.

The only other classic that I have read recently was North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, and that was inspired by the BBC adaption. (It is sooo tempting to put in a gratuitous picture of Richard Armitage, but I will try to control myself).

I have often thought about reading more classics, particularly as I know that it will enhance my reading of some of my other favourite reads - for example the Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde which are populated by so many classic characters. Whilst I have always known who Miss Havisham is as an example, I am pretty sure that I would appreciate her character when she appears in the Fforde books more now that I have read more about Miss Havisham in her original setting.

As an additional part of this week's Weekly Geeks, I am going to try to ensure that I post my review of Great Expectations! Stay tuned.

Oh, what the heck! Gratuitous shot included for my viewing pleasure, and anyone else who happens to enjoy the view too!