Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books Guaranteed to Put an End to Your Book Slump (Which books would you recommend to someone (it’s Jana) dealing with the dreaded book slump? No book is grabbing their attention or making them excited to sit down and read and they are suffering for it.)
I have been there. Back in 2016 and 2017 I had a massive slump. I only read 16 books in 2016 and 11 books in 2017. Given in the past I had been reading 200+ a year it was a big change. The only recommendations I would have is to try reading authors your know you love or rereading favourite books to try and kickstart your reading again. The only other piece of advice I would have is to be kind to yourself. There might be a reason why you just can't at the moment. And your reading will come back in due course. It might look different than it used to, but it will come back.
Rather than do the theme today, I am instead going to share ten books I have read in August over the last eleven years. Why eleven years? You might notice that there is no book for August 2017 which is when I was in my big slump. The year is the year I read them in, not when they were published.
Funny Story by Emily Henry - 2024 - I would have listened to this on audio!
The Little Paris Toy Shop by Lauren Westwood - 2023 - Man I loved this book so much! (my review)
Elodie's Library of Second Chances by Rebecca Raisin - 2022 - Rebecca Raisin is now an auto-read author for me. (my review)
Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber - 2021 - This was my first book by Heather Webb and I loved it to so much. (my review)
The Switch by Beth O'Leary - 2020 - I liked this one, and yet I still haven't read any more of her books. I do own some of them so I will get to them one day. Maybe. (my review)
The Place on Dalhousie by Melina Marchetta - 2019 - What can I say about Melina Marchetta that I haven't said before. Not much really.
The Desert Nurse by Pamela Hart - 2018 - I really liked this book.
The Light Between Oceans by M L Stedman 2016 - When I went to get the cover image for this book I saw that this author is expected to have a new book out next year called A Far Flung Life. I'm excited for it!
First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen - 2015 - I just inhaled Sarah Addison Allen's first few books.
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - 2014 - What a fun read this was!
If I was to hit a slump again, I think the book that I would try rereading first from this list would be The Little Paris Toy Shop, closely followed by Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe and a couple of Rebecca Raisin's books.
I am pleased to see that half of these books are by Aussie authors too.
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Beach/Beachy Reads (Share books you’d take to the beach OR books that take place at the beach.)
I am going to twist the topic a little this week. I have read several books recently where the colours on the cover are pink, orange, yellow and red, the colours of a lovely sunset on the beach so I thought I would use this as my theme for this week. . Coincidentally these are also the colours of the Top Ten Tuesday logo.
Love and Saffron by Kim Fay - I read this a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. I still need to read her latest book! (My review)
The Alphabet Sisters by Monica McInerney - This was the original cover when this book first came out, and which I still have now.
Eat Your Heart Out by Victoria Brownlee - This is my most recent 5 star read, and the most recent cover with these colours. (My review)
An Italian Wedding Adventure by Leonie Mack - I do enjoy this author's books and was glad I could find a cover that worked for this post. (My review)
Happy Place by Emily Henry - In my mind a lot of Emily Henry's books would suit this theme but it turns out they really don't!
A Sunrise Over Bali by Sandy Barker - Sunrise, sunset! Oh well. The colours worked. I have read a lot of Sandy Barker's books but I still need to read this series.
The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe by Catherine Greer - Read and loved this earlier this year! Even cooked a recipe from it. (My review)
One Day and Forever by Shari Low - I am about to read my next book by this author so I needed to add her to this list.
Happily Ever After by Jane Lovering - I have read a few books by this author now and like the way she tells her stories. (My review)
Half Truth by Nadia Mahjouri - This is the colour as it gets darker and darker! Another great read from an Australian author! (My review)
This was another week where I started more than I finished. Whilst that isn't a terrible thing it also isn't ideal, especially seeing as I haven't started that one book that I need to review this week! I guess there's still time.
As Imentioned last week, I was in Perth for the Rachael John's Book Club Retreat last weekend, and I took The Bad Bridesmaid with me to both read and get signed. I ended up finishing the book 5 minutes into my flight home, and then I tried to sleep because it was the red-eye flight. Notice I said tried, not really succeeded. I have shared a post about the retreat yesterday.
I then finished Wicket Maiden by Chrissie Harrison, which is a book featuring a woman cricketer as the sport star. I reviewed it here.
Next up was The Woman Who Met Herself by Laura Pearson, who is now an auto-buy author for me! My review is here.
On audio I finished listening to Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. I had seen a lot of reviews saying it didn't feel like an Emily Henry romance, but it did to me!
For my next audiobook, I started listening to The Mirror by Nora Roberts, which is the second book in the Lost Brides series. I listened to the first one at the beginning of last year.
I also started reading Page Turners by Viola Shipman. Shipman's books can be very difficult to get hold of here, so when I saw that my old library system had it I decided the 40 minute drive to the library was worth it!
I also started reading Head Over Wheels by Leonie Mack. This is another sports romance, this time featuring professional cyclists! Have only read a few chapters but I am really liking it to so far!
In other news, Emma from Words and Peace has announced that she will once again be hosting Paris in July, which is one of my favourite blogging events! Check out the announcement post!
I'm watching
This week we watched all five episodes of the new Stanley Tucci show, Tucci in Italy. If you watched his previous series it follows the same format where he visits different places, they all love him, he loves the food they share and so on! There's every chance I might watch it again yet. I still enjoy watching his previous series.
I also watched the Netflix movie, Nonnas which stars Vince Vaughan and Susan Sarandon amongst others. It tell the story of a man who wants to start a restaurant on Statton Island where all the chefs are nonnas. It was a lovely movie, made even better by the fact that it is based on a true story.
We also watched the first few episodes of Murderbot, based on the books by Martha Wells. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this. We now have to wait for each new episode to come out.
Life
I started listening to a new podcast called No One Saw it Coming which is hosted by Marc Fennell. I am becoming a big fan of Marc Fennell. He does intelligent TV and podcasts, as well as hosting the TV quiz show Mastermind. In this series, they talk about the things that kind of just happened, and no one was expecting. This week's episode was about how you can trace the roots of chemotherapy as a treatment back to a WWII attack on the port of Bari in Italy.
We had a very French weekend. It wasn't necessarily designed that way but it just happened. Last week I made chocolate eclairs. Then on Friday night we went to a French themed dinner before we went to see the arena version of Les Miserables. It was so good!
Then on Saturday, I went to a macaroon making class, which was so much fun. I am aiming to post about that for my next Weekend Cooking post.
Now, we are going to be eating macaroons and chocolate eclairs for the next few days. We had a lot of passionfruit flavoured ganache left over from the class, so I ended up using this as a glaze on some eclairs, and filling it with chocolate cream, so in effect combining the two!
I'm reading I finished reading The Rainfall Market by You Yeong-Gwang, and liked it. It was a book I picked up on a whim from the library having not heard anything about it. It has a really fun premise, is a bit fantastical and just that little bit different.
I started reading The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson. This is the current Cook the Books selection and so I will be reviewing it later this month and finding something to cook from it as well. It's not as foodie as most of the other selections are so I am not sure what I will make yet.
I read One More Day of Us by Shari Low, which I am due to review this week. I also started The House on the River by Rachel Burton which is also due for review this week. I actually have another book that I need to squeeze in before Friday but I haven't started that yet.
A couple of weeks ago I went to an author event at my local library to see Australian author Amanda Hampson talk about her latest book, The Deadly Dispute, which is the third book in the Tea Ladies series. I just finished reading the first book in the series, called The Tea Ladies, and it was a fun tea-cosy mystery! It is set in the garment trade in 1965 so it is also a great choice for my read on a theme book club this month as the theme for that is the 60s.
On audio, I finished listening to Away with the Fairies which is the 11th book in the Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood. I hadn't actually read any of the series for many years, but it didn't take me long to get back into that world! I then started listening to Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry. Is there a more perfect author/narrator combination than Emily Henry and Julia Whelan? I'm not sure there is!
I did also go to one author event last week. I drove to a small country town called Gisborne which is about 40 minutes away from me to hear Natasha Lester talk about her new book, The Madamoiselle Alliance which is based on a real person. What a woman! I was ready to drop anything and just start reading that book straight away. I will read it next week as it is one of the book club selection for the readers retreat I am going to in a couple of weeks.
I did share my April highlights on Instagram which were the books below. There are reviews for three of them up on the blog already, and a fourth will be up this weekend. These are the books I rated as 4.5 or 5 star reads with Pictures of You being the 5 star read for this month.
I'm watching
Masterchef Australia is back! Yay! This is a show that my husband and I enjoy watching together. This year it is a Back To Win series, meaning that all of the contestants have been on the show once or twice before but never won! I think I would prefer a show with new contestants but this will still be good.
I watched the first three episodes of a new show called The Secret DNA of Us. The idea is that a couple of hundred people from a town all come together and get DNA tested and then they come back together once the results are in and talk about what connects them. In some cases they find out that they might be fourth cousins, or that at some point they had an ancestor from a part of the world they had no idea about. There is also a reporter who is a researcher and she has come up with some very interesting stories to connect the DNA results with history. It's my kind of show!
I need to say thank you toErin from Still Life, with Cracker Crumband Lisa from Boondock Ramblingswho are hosting the Springtime in Paris movie event. I have been meaning to watch the French movie The Intouchables starring Omar Sy for the longest time and I never quite got around to it! It was this week's selection for the event, and I loved it!
The Intouchables is about a young unemployed man named Driss who just needs someone to sign his paper to say that he attended for a job interview and was unsuccessful so he can get his unemployment benefit. The job is to look after a man named Philippe who is a quadriplegic. No one is more surprised than Driss is when he is offered a trial period. Philippe is an aristocrat who lives in an amazing house in Paris, Driss grew up in the projects. Philippe loves classical music and expensive art. Driss grew up living off his wits and getting by however he could. What sets Driss apart from everyone else is that he doesn't see Philippe as just a quadriplegic man, he sees him as a man. A man who used to love extreme sports, a man who now has an accessible van to move around in but has a very expensive, fast car just sitting in the driveway.
The movie is a touching look at care and compassion and about seeing the best in each other, and it is even more touching given that it is based on a true story I am so pleased to have watched it now.
Here's the trailer
The last movie for the event is Charade which I hope to watch this week.
Life
I went to aqua class for the first time in forever last week. In fact, I went twice and I am going again this morning. It's a friendly enough group, who clearly have all known each other for a long time. The first class I did I was thinking that it wasn't really pushing me, until later that day when I could definitely feel it in my legs.
On Wednesday night we went to see German composer Hans Zimmer live in concert. My husband loves listening to movie soundtracks while he is working and Hans Zimmer is one of his favourites so this was his birthday present! It was a really good show, different to what I was expecting really. I wasn't familiar with everything but I still enjoyed the show. There was music from movies like Gladiator, Inception, Dune and much more. The highlight for me was music from The Lion King.
On Saturday it was our federal election. In Australia it is compulsory to vote, or should I say it is compulsory to turn up to the polling station and get your name crossed of. If you are lucky, your polling station will have a barbecue set up where you by what is known as a democracy sausage. It is a sausage in white bread, sometimes with onion, and with the sauce of your choice. Australians do get excited about the democracy sausage on election day. My polling station doesn't have a barbecue. I think we are going to have to find one that does for the next election.
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is a love freebie so I am bringing you ten books I loved so much I gave them a 5/5 rating! And let's face it, I love a good love story so a lot of them will be about love in some form or another!
Given that we have only recently done our best of lists for 2024, I have decided to go with the last ten books that I gave this rating to before 2024.
The Dressmaker's of Yarrandarrah Prison by Meredith Jaffe - I recently saw that Lisa from ANZ Litlovers had reviewed this book, and I was reminded again how much I enjoyed it! (My review)
The Cartographer's Secret by Tea Cooper - I saw Tea Cooper talking about her latest book a few months ago! I really must read it!
Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak - My goodness I loved this book! And I recently read her latest book which I liked a lot too! (My review)
The Beautiful Words by Vanessa McCausland - The first of two books by this author on my list today!
Book Lovers by Emily Henry - I have really liked all the Emily Henry books I have read but this is the one that I loved the most when I gave it a rating!
The Forgotten Palace by Alexandra Walsh - I have since read a couple more of this author's books. They have all been set in different time periods but all really good. (My review)
The Lost Daughters of Ukraine by Erin Litteken - A really good WWII novel with an unusual setting (My review)
The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams - Not as well known as the accompanying book, The Lost Dictionary of Words, but an excellent read!
Dreaming in French by Vanessa McCausland - I really must read this author's newest book and see if it is as good as the two I have on this list (My review)
The Little Paris Toy Shop by Lauren Westwood - I love the cover of this one, the story, the Paris setting! I am about to read another book from this author! I hope I love it! (My review)
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2025
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (April) - I expect to see this on quite a few lists today!
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros (January) - Speaking of books I expect to see on lots of lists!
Kate and Frida by Kim Fay (March) - I enjoyed Love & Saffron when I read it a couple of years ago so looking forward to this one!
Midnight in Paris by Gillian Harvey (January) - Over the last 18 months, Gillian Harvey has become one of my must read authors so I am looking forward to this one.
The Bad Bridesmaid by Rachael Johns (January) - Rachael Johns has long been an autobuy author for me. I read the connected book to this one, The Other Bridget, in one sitting late last year. I expect to love this one just as much!
The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods (March) - The description for this book could be written just for me - Paris, Baking, a bit of magic
The Many Future of Maddy Hart by Laura Pearson - The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine was one of my favourite reads of 2024. I then read The Last List of Mabel Beaumont and loved it! I have high expectations for this one.
The Jam Maker by Mary-Lou Stephens (January)- Another food based historical novel set in Tasmania!
The Paris Bookshop for the Broken-Hearted by Rebecca Raisin (February) - I love the way that Rebecca Raisin writes about books, food, and Paris!
Three Juliets by Minnie Darke (April) - I loved The Lost Love Letter by Minnie Darke. I have since read With Love from Wish & Co and listened to the Audible short stories she has written. I am very excited a new book from her.
Do you have any of these books on your list this week?
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Best Books I Read in 2024
The first three are easy! These are the three books that I rated as 5/5 reads.
The Secret Ingredient by Sue Heath - I knew from the first couple of pages I was going to love this book! And I did! (my review)
The Naturalist of Amsterdam by Melissa Ashley - This was my very first read of 2024 and I loved it! (my review)
The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine by Laura Pearson- This book is the book that I recommended to the most people this year. I loved the whole concept! I also gave 4.5/5 to another book from this author. Can't wait to read her next book which I have waiting for me to read soon. (my review)
After that, it gets a bit harder as I had 15 books that I rated as 4.5/5 but I can only choose 7 more, so here goes!
The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns - This was a big book, and I read it in a day! Can't remember when I last did that! (My review)
A Wedding in the Sun by Leonie Mack - Given that I had two books by Leonie Mack that I gave 4.5/5, I had to have at least one of her books in the top ten today. (My review)
Funny Story by Emily Henry - Emily Henry is consistently good!
An Astronomer in Love by Antoine Laurain - I read several books by this author this year so it is only right that he is on this list. (My review)
Summer at Santorini Bookshop by Rebecca Raisin - I love the way that Rebecca Raisin writes about food, books, places! (My review)
Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See - I pretty much always enjoy Lisa See's books! This was no exception!
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros - I gave this a 4.5 just because of the fact that I could not put it down! I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series when it comes out!
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is How My Reading Habits Have Changed Over Time (submitted by Lydia @ https://lydiaschoch.com)
Occasionally I do a look back at books I have read in this month over previous years and this theme seems like it would work for that quite well. So, here are some books that I have read in October over the last few years
2023 - The Christmas Love Letters by Sue Moorcroft - Reading Christmas novels is something I would never have done 10 years ago
2022 - A Year at the French Farmhouse by Gillian Harvey - This was my first Gillian Harvey book, but I have now read a further 6 books by her, and consider her an auto-read author
2021 - The Summer Cottage by Viola Shipman - In October 2021 I read two books by Viola Shipman. I would have read more but his books are a bit tricky to get on e-book here.
2020 - Beach Read by Emily Henry - I did read my first Viola Shipman in October 2020, but it was also the first time I read Emily Henry, who I definitely consider and auto-read author now, or rather auto-listen as I tend to listen to her books.
2019 - The Pearl Sister by Lucinda Riley - Another series I tend to listen to. I really must listen to the last couple of books in this series. They are a big commitment though.
2018 - Lethal White by Robert Galbraith - I really enjoyed the audiobooks of this series, but these days I don't really read this series.
2017 - A Letter from Italy by Pamela Hart - So I have been reading about Italy for a while now
2016 - The Art of Keeping Secrets by Rachael Johns - Even during my biggest reading slump, Rachael Johns was an author I read..
2015- Taken with You by Shannon Stacey - I used to read a lot of books from this author, but this was the last one I read, and I have no idea why.
2014 - Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins - Back in the day I used to read and love the occasional YA book but it has been a while now
I've finished a couple of books this week, and started a couple more.
I finished the audiobook that I was listening to, which was Funny Story by Emily Henry. This was narrated by Julia Whelan, who always does a great job. I haven't quite decided which book I will start listening to next. I have a few options I guess.
I also finished reading French Windows by Antoine Laurain, which was another excellent read. I started and finished An Island Promise by Kate Frost, which I will review later in the week.
Now I am reading The Secret Keeper by Renita D'Silva, who is a new to me author! I'll have the review up for this next week
I'm watching
Is there anything on other than Olympics? We've been watching whatever sport comes up from BMX to swimming, to kayak cross which is a crazy event I had never seen before!
We did go to the movies with friends on Saturday night to see Deadpool & Wolverine. Like all the Deadpool movies there was a lot of in jokes, and I am sure that I missed a few. There was also a killer soundtrack and lots of action.
Life
We are getting ready to go away, so yes that means that there will be holiday spam coming up over the next few weeks! Just need to make it through the last couple of days at work, and then collapse into the seat on the plane ready for the long flight.
Max and Nala
This is Nala watching the dressage at the Olympics. She was very confused by the dancing horses.
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 Had VERY Strong Emotions About (Any emotion! Did a book make you super happy or sad? Angry? Terrified? Surprised?), I am focusing on books with variations on the word happy in the title.
The Happiest Refugee by Ahn Do - Ahn is pretty much a national treasure at this point but he started his life in Australia as a refugee.
The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku - This man went through so much but still knew how to be happy.
Happy Ever After in Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen - Book number 9 in the Bellbird Bay series (review)
Happy Place by Emily Henry - I must get to the new Emily Henry book.
The Recipe for Happiness by Jane Lovering - I read this a while ago and really enjoyed it. (review)
Isla and the Happy Ever After by Stephanie Perkins - This was the follow up to the hugely successful Anna and the French Kiss!
The Lost Recipe for Happiness by Barbara O'Neal - I doe enjoy Barbara O'Neal's books.
Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith - Book number 7 in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (review)
Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts - The covers for this series are so gorgeous!
Happy People are Annoying by Josh Peck - No, I haven't read this one! But it did amuse me to include it in this list.
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is a Love Freebie (in honor of Valentine’s Day tomorrow). I have kept it simple and I am sharing the last ten books I have read with some variation of the word love in the title.
The Lost Love Song by Minnie Darke - Still love this book so much! (my review)
Those Who Are Loved by Victoria Hislop - I do enjoy Victoria Hislop's books although it has been a while since I read one.
The Railway Girls in Love by Maisie Thomas - I am a bit behind on this series. (my review)
Love Stories by Trent Dalton - This was such a fun book. Short vignettes on love. It could be a person or a thing.
With Love from Wish & Co by Minnie Darke - Another good book from this author
Book Lovers by Emily Henry - Because we all love books right?
Finding Love at the Christmas Market by Jo Thomas - I really need to read more Jo Thomas books.
Love and Saffron by Kim Fay - I am wondering how many more times I can sneak this book onto a TTT list. (my review)
The Christmas Love Letters by Sue Moorcroft - This was a lovely Christmas story (my review)
Love in the Time of War by Adrienne Chinn - This is the most recent book I bought with the word love in the title. I haven't actually read it yet.
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2024
The Radio Hour by Victoria Purman (May) - I love this cover!!
The Chocolate Factory by Mary-Lou Stephens (January) - I am really looking forward to reading this book which is set in Tasmania
The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns (January) - How cute is this cover.
Funny Story by Emily Henry (April) - Emily Henry is pretty much an autobuy author for me now.
The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan (March) - I really enjoyed The Kitchen Front so I am looking forward to this one.
Those Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (March) - I don't read a lot of sci-fi but I did enjoy this author's previous book, The Space Between Worlds.
Happy Ever After in Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen (February) - I always look forward to a new Bellbird Bay book.
Bordeaux Book Club by Gillian Harvey (March) - This cover was only revealed a couple of days ago,and I think it is cool!
The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang (February) - This sounds really good!
The Dubrovnik Book Club by Eva Glyn (March) - I've never read this author but as soon as I saw the title I knew it would be on my list!
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