Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Settings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Favourite Settings

So, in no particular order, here are some of my favourite settings

WWII - The Tolstoy Estate by Steven Conte - I know that there is a lot of talk out there about people being over WWII as a time period, but I still love it, mainly because there is so much variety. You could read about Europe, America, Australia, Japan, about someone on the frontlines or the people left behind or so much more. This book is set in Russia, features a German main character and was one of my favourite books of last year. (review)

WWI - The Desert Nurse by Pamela Hart - Actually,  I do enjoy books set against any big conflicts, so I do enjoy it when I read a good book with a WWI setting. I must find some more.

Bookshops/Libraries  - The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan - There's something very comforting about reading books about books, whether it is characters who love to read or work in bookshops or whatever.

Cafe/Bakery/Restaurants -  Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber - The heat in the kitchen (both due to the cooking and between the people who work there on occasion), the sense of community, the delicious sounding food! What's not to love.

Scotland - The Vanished Days by Susanna Kearsley - I love both historical and contemporary books set in Scotland. It is a place that keeps calling my name.

Paris - The Black Swan of  Paris by Karen Robards - Speaking of places that call my name. One day I will get back there. The most recent book I read set in Paris was this one.

Russia - Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten - I don't read them as much as I should be I do love a good book set in Russia.

Africa - Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi - I have long loved a book set in Africa. I chose this book to spotlight because it is a book that was set in Africa (at least at the beginning) and I read it while I was in Africa

Melbourne - Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood - I love it when you get to read a book where you recognise the landmarks and places that are mentioned in a book.

Rural settings - Snowy Mountains Daughter by Alissa Callen - I do love a good rural romance setting. There are so many great books out there. Whole series set in small country towns where you get to know the whole community.

And what's better than one of these settings? When you manage to combine two or more. Bookshop cafe in Scotland...I'm there. Although I am not sure all the combinations would work.

What are your favourite settings?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Meant to Get to in 2020....but I didn't!

 

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 Meant to Get to in 2020....but I didn't. The reality is that this post could be a top 50 or 100 books and it might not still be enough!

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo - After reading With the Fire on High early in 2020, I was super excited to read this book, even pre-ordering it, but I still haven't actually reading it.

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel - I have listened to the first two books in this trilogy and I do intend to do this one on audio too, but with substantially reduced listening time a 38 hour long book feels like too much of a commitment right now.

The Survivors by Jane Harper - I have really enjoyed Jane Harper's other books, and I really need to go to see the new movie which has been made of her first book, The Dry!

Return to Virgin River by Robyn Carr- Oh the surprise when it was announced that there was going to be a new book in the Virgin River series after many years, no doubt on the back of the success of the first series of the adaptation on Netflix. And yet, haven't even looked at the first page yet.

The Lost Girls of Devon by Barbara O'Neal - I have been a fan of Barbara O'Neal for a long time now, and yet I still haven't read this one yet!

Death and the Maiden by Samantha Norman and Ariana Franklin - When Ariana Franklin (who also wrote under the name Diana Norman) died more than ten years ago, I was upset to think that we wouldn't get any more of the Adelia Aguilar story. This book brings the series to it's conclusion.

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams - This book came out just near the beginning of the pandemic and I heard the author talk about this in one of the first online author events I attended, which is what made me buy the book

Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten - I enjoy reading a good book about Russian history, or at least I will when I get to it!

Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain - This is one author I am convinced that I will really enjoy....when I actually read her!

The Paris Hours by Alex George - Recently I was scrolling through my blog and I came across a quote I have shared from a previous book by this author. It reminded me again that I want to read this book.

So there's just ten of the books that I meant to read last year, but didn't quite get to!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I currently have out from the library

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. There is no set theme this week and so today I am sharing the books that I currently have out of the library. Our library system is still closed because we are still in lockdown, so they keep on extending the return date. At the moment the return date is due to be 31 October but that could be extended further depending on what happens. 

The Opal Dragonfly by Julian Leatherdale - I read this author's first book a few months ago and I liked it so requested this one. I intend to read his last book too.

Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten - This was reviewed a lot a couple of months ago and it sounds so good. I requested it from the library straight away

The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman - I saw this mentioned a few times and knew I wanted to read it!

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi - I saw this mentioned on a few Top Ten Tuesday posts over a few weeks so decided I needed to read it myself

Ambulance Girls at War by Deborah Burrows - This is the the third book in the Ambulance Girls trilogy

Those Who Are  Loved by Victoria Hislop - I really enjoyed some books by Victoria Hislop years ago but it has been a long time since I read one.

The Year the Maps Changed by Danielle Binks - This is a middle grade book but I have heard good things about it.

The Poppy Wife by Caroline Scott - I saw this on someone's blog somewhere and it prompted me to request it from the library, but I can't remember where or when.

Rosewater & Soda Bread by Marsha Mehran - This is the last book that I borrowed from the library before it closed that I haven't read yet, so I want to read it before the library opens again

Recipe for a Perfect Wife by Karma Brown - This is the current Cook the Books bookclub choice, I am about half way through this at the moment.

Library Loot: 21 July

Earlier this year when the COVID19 pandemic hit, our local libraries closed to everyone. Gradually as our restrictions lifted, a couple of the local branches reopened with limited opening hours. Unfortunately my branch was not one of those which was disappointing given that I had lots and lots of books waiting to be picked up from the hold shelf. I thought I was being smart in getting my holds transferred from my branch to one of the branches that was opened. I then planned to go and pick them up. Good plan right?

What I hadn't counted on was that we would go back into lockdown and therefore I couldn't go to the other branch either. Luckily my library system does have a delivery service, so I was able to request that my books were delivered to my door! It was exciting to receive that package yesterday. I suspect I might use this delivery service again yet.

Here's what I got:

The Opal Dragonfly by Julian Leatherdale - I read this author's first book a few months ago and I liked it so requested this one. I intend to read his last book too.

Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten - This was reviewed a lot a couple of months ago and it sounds so good. I requested it from the library straight away

The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman - I saw this mentioned a few times and knew I wanted to read it!

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi - I saw this mentioned on a few Top Ten Tuesday posts over a few weeks so decided I needed to read it myself

Ambulance Girls at War by Deborah Burrows - This is the the third book in the Ambulance Girls trilogy

Those Who Are  Loved by Victoria Hislop - I really enjoyed some books by Victoria Hislop years ago but it has been a long time since I read one.

The Year the Maps Changed by Danielle Binks - This is a middle grade book but I have heard good things about it.

The Poppy Wife by Caroline Scott - I saw this on someone's blog somewhere and it prompted me to request it from the library, but I can't remember where or when.

The Spanish Promise by Karen Swan - Bree from All the Books I Can Read has been reading a lot of Karen Swan books this year, so I have decided to see if I like the author as much as she  does. I borrowed this one as an ebook.


Now to decide what to read first.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries