Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is a Indie Freebie (This topic encompasses a lot: your favorite indie bookstores, indie books, indie authors, indie publishers/presses, indie books on your to-read list, indie authors I read before they became traditionally published, etc.) (submitted by @dark.shelf.of.wonders and Books Are The New Black)
However, I am going to go rogue (again) and I am featuring books with books on the cover!
The Story Collector by Evie Woods - I am a bit hit and miss on books by this author. I loved The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris. This one....not so much. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't great either! (review) The Secret Society of Librarians by Kate Thompson - I have, however, loved all the librarian books by Kate Thompson
This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page - Loved this one too.
A Study in Sparkling by Jodi McAlister - I haven't read this one yet, but I did recently go to the launch. I did love the previous book in this trilogy so I have high hopes for this one!
The Astral Library by Kate Quinn - I had high hopes for this one too as I had really enjoyed quite a few of Kate Quinn's historical fiction novels, but this one was very different from her normal books. (mini review)
The Last Page Cafe by Kate Storey - This book is on my list as it is one I want to read!
The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan - A crumbling Scottish castle, a blizzard, a missing book! A lot of fun.
The Storytellers by Sue Heath - I am always very excited to read a new Sue Heath book! There's a new one out soon! (my review)
The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns - I love the cover of this book with all the books on the shelf! (my review) The Paris Bookshop for the Broken Hearted by Rebecca Raisin - A bookshop in Paris! I am there! (my review)
When I finished my post last week, I only have two books on the go. One was my audiobook which I suspect I might finish this week, and the other was The Story Collector by Evie Woods which I finished this week. I have mixed results with Evie Woods. I really loved her book The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris when I read it last year! I was underwhelmed by The Lost Bookshop, but wondered if that was about the audio production, but I was underwhelmed by The Story Collector too. I feel like I should have connected much better with the book which is all about Irish folklore, fairies and the like.
After that I read The Palace Women by Jennifer Ryan which is set in Buckingham Palace in the lead up to the Queen's coronation ceremony in 1952.
I have also made significant progress with Jo Thomas's latest book Summer at The French Bakery. I really enjoy the way that Thomas writes her stories, which always have a lot of focus on food. This one is no exception.
We had book club this week. The theme for this selection was secrets, which I found to be a very easy theme for me. I read 10 books that might have counted for this theme! The next theme is the environment and I have a couple of ideas about what I might read! Shown above are just some of the books that the group read for this theme.
I'm watching
I went and watched a French movie yesterday called Colours of Time. It is a dual timeline story set in the 1890s and the modern day and features cameos by some pretty important people in French art history! I liked it a lot. Here's the trailer
Life
We did Christmassy in July on the weekend. We had some people come around for dinner, which wasn't really traditional Christmas dinner but it was not too far off! We made roast chicken, roast pork, champagne sauce, apple cider gravy, mushroom sauce, cauliflower and broccoli cheese and roast potatoes. For dessert I made a Sticky Date Pudding Cake which was yum!
One fun thing is that we used our fire pit for the first time since we moved into this house which was nearly four years ago!
I seem to have gotten into a bit of a routine now where I finish a couple of books and start a couple more and then ...voila...there's my reading for the week!
This week I finished Escape to the Turquoise Seas by Carrie Walker, which I reviewed here.
I also finished The Secret Society of Librarians by Kate Thompson. I am excited that she has just announced that there will be another WWII librarians series. I have loved all three books so far and this one was a 5 star read for me.
I also finished Kitchens of the Great MidWest by J Ryan Stradal, which is the current Cook the Books selection. My post about this book will be up on Saturday.
I then started The Story Collector by Evie Woods. This is one of my 20 Books of Winter selections. So far, so good.
Finally I also started (and finished) The Island of Mists and Miracles by French author Victoria Mas. I read her book The Mad Women's Ball last year and I really enjoyed it. I did just find out that there was a movie made of the book so I am hoping to watch that over the next couple of weeks
I'm watching
We went to the movies and watch The Odyssey on Saturday afternoon. We enjoyed it but it was a very long movie! I was very careful not to drink too much so that I didn't need to leave half way through for a bathroom break. It is also a pretty bleak, but I guess that is reflective of the source material. It has a big name cast and I would say it is worth seeing!
Life
On Sunday we went to an exhibition called Rome: Empire, People and Power which is at our local museum. It was a really good exhibition, and one of the things that we enjoyed was that, for once, an exhibition wasn't super crowded! There was a section in the exhibition which was set up like it was a pool and we enjoyed sitting on the bench and passing the time of day while the lights and sounds made us feel like we were sitting in the pool back in Roman times!
We also went to a new Korean inspired cafe which does amazing desserts. I had this amazing looking pear dessert! The shell was super thin, and the inside was very peary!!
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Book Titles That Include the Word “[insert word of your choice here]” (Pick a word and share ten book titles that include that word!).
Given that I am currently participating in Paris in July, my favourite annual blogging event, my word of choice is Paris! I have done this type of Paris post before but it has been a couple of years, and I have read more than 10 books that fit this prompt since then so there will be no double ups!
Here are the last 10 books I have read with the word Paris in the title.
In the Paris Fashion by Sophie Beaumont - I have really enjoyed all three of Sophie Beaumont's books. My review for this one will be posted in a couple of weeks.
The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl - I liked quite a lot about this book but there was one thing that bothered me. Here's my review.
A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K Runyan - A bakery? In Paris? Yes, please. Here'smy review from last year.
A Secret Garden in Paris by Sophie Beaumont - Yes, another Sophie Beaumont book. Here's my review.
The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods - This one is a bit deceptive because it is set in France, but not in Paris. (my review)
The Paris Dancer by Nicola Rayner - This is a dual timeline WWII novel set in Paris. (my review)
The Paris Bookshop for the Broken Hearted by Rebecca Raisin - I love the way that Rebecca Raisin writes about food, books, and yes, Paris. (my review)
The Paris Chapter by Victoria Walters - This is another contemporary novel set in Paris. (my review)
Midnight in Paris by Gillian Harvey - Gillian Harvey writes a lot of books set in France. This is one of my favourites. (my review)
Christmas at the Little Paris Hotel by Rebecca Raisin - I forgot Christmas on my list of things I like about her list.
Check out more Paris in July posts by visiting the host, Emma from Words and Peace.
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is May Flowers (This is a companion to the April Showers topic from last month. Interpret however you’d like: books with flowers on the cover, colorful covers, books set in springtime, books where flowers/plants are a common theme, titles with flower names in them, characters named after flowers, covers that are as pretty as flowers, books featuring gardens, etc.)
However, I have done a flowers on the cover theme for the last couple of years now, so I am turning my thoughts to the 20 Books of Winter which is hosted by AnnaBookBel this year. So here are 10 of the 20 books I am planning on reading for at some point between 1 June and 31 August. I'll be back next week with the next 10 (assuming that I have completed building my list!)
This list is subject to change but at this stage, this is the plan
Charlie's Last Angel by Maggie Christensen - I read a lot of Maggie Christensen's books that are part of series, but this one is a blog tour for a standalone novel.
Secrets of the Italian Guesthouse by Sue Moorcroft - I do enjoy Sue Moorcroft's books. It's been a while since I read one of her books set in Italy. This is also for a blog tour
Escape to the Turquoise Seas by Carrie Walker - My final blog tour book is this one which is the fourth book in the Holiday Romance series. I am due to review this in July but it looks like publication has been pushed back to October so that date might change.
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal- This is the next Cook the Books selection
Three Juliets by Minnie Darke - The next three books are all books that I meant to read last year but I ended up swapping out so they are back on the list for this year. I actually read at least a third of this book but I will have to start again now.
The Kings Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick - It's been so long since I read an Elizabeth Chadwick so I need to prioritise this one.
The Story Collector by Evie Woods - I have had mixed results with Evie Woods books so far, so I am interested to read this one to see where it lands for me!
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy - Last year I was trying to read War and Peace and I was doing pretty well until I started work again in August at which point I stopped. I think I have about 300 paged to go so my plan is to finish it. This will also count for a Goodreads challenge.
The Maid by Nita Prose - Both this and the next book are for Goodreads challenges
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon - This book has been on my TBR pile for a long time now. I plan to read it before the end of June.
Are you planning to participate in the 20 Books of Summer/Winter?
Every month I share some of the statistics related to the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. I try very hard to visit every post which has been linked (time permitting) and I find it interesting to see what are the books that people are reading and reviewing! I often end up adding a couple of books to my never ending TBR list.
In terms of the books read in July, there were 77 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 21 participants. There were 74 individual titles reviewed, written by 68 different authors, although one of the books reviewed had 8 contributing authors which I only count that as one for the purposes of the statistics. There were 6 reviewers who reviewed 5 or more books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 9 or just 1.
So which books were reviewed more than once in July? There were actually 3, and interestingly they are all somewhat foodie.
The fact that Paris in July was happening during the month, it probably isn't surprising that two of the books that were reviewed twice were set in France and posted for that event. The first book that had two reviews was A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K Runyan which was reviewed by Deb at Readerbuzz and by me! This was also the Cook the Books selection so both of these posts also include a recipe, although Deb's was much more ambitious than mine!!
I also reviewed The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods as did Constance from Staircase Wit. This is a dual timeline featuring lots of delicious sounding goodies!
The third book which was reviewed twice was The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson which was reviewed by both Helen at She Reads Novels and Cathy at What Cathy Read Next. Part of this story includes some history about ice cream! I've added this one to my TBR!
We also had a couple of author who were read multiple times this month.
Agatha Christie made two appearances this month with reviews of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Alexis on Goodreads and Death Comes at the End by Kay at What Me Read.
By far the author who was reviewed the most this month was Laurie R King thanks to Kim on Goodreads who is doing a read through of the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. Kim read 5 different books in the series.
If you love historical fiction and reading challenges, it isn't too late to join us! All the details can be found in the sign up post.
Last year I listened to The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods and I thought it was an okay read, a tad on the underwhelming side, but okay. That didn't stop my from jumping at the opportunity to read this book the second I saw it on Netgalley. A mysterious bakery in France - yes please. And I am so glad that I did as I really enjoyed this book!
When Irish woman Edie Lane sees an ad for a job in a bakery in Paris where the only requirements are that the person speaks English and has some experience working in the service industry, she knows this is the job for her! So what if she doesn't know anyone in Paris. It[s Paris, and it will help her get out of the rut she has been in for a while.
Things start to go wrong when she finds out that she isn't going to be working in a bakery on rue de Compiegne in Paris but rather she has accepted a role at the bakery on rue de Paris in Compiegne, about an hour north of Paris by train. So much for living the Paris dream.
When she finally arrives at her destination, she is given a less than warm welcome by the owner of the bakery, Madame Moreau. The one thing that was made very clear is that under no circumstances was Edie to mention the kitchen downstairs where all the baking happened. That area was very much out of bounds to everyone except Madame Moreau and the delivery boy Manu.
Thrown straight into work in the bakery, Edie realises that is going to take some work to get her French up to scratch enough to understanding most of her customers. But while the cafe is busy, there is also a black cloud hanging over it's futures. Developers are buying up all the buildings on the street and they want the bakery too. Maybe this is why Madame Moreau is always so surly, except for when she is serving the customers. Then she is very friendly with everyone except Edie..
As Edie's time in Compiegne continues she gradually begins to make some friends who slowly help bring the charms of the town to the fore. There is Geoff who gives tours of the area, Nicole the hairdresser whose boyfriend is in a band, and then there is Hugo who keeps on turning up. Hugo loves taking photos of old buildings and he and Edie just click straight away, All the while, Edie senses that there is something strange going on in the bakery, a touch of other worldliness, and she needs to work out what it is.
Sprinkled throughout the story there are small sections which tell the story of Pierre Moreau, who originally founded the bakery, including some of the events in the town during WWII. Some of the actions taken at that time continue to shape the town and relationships even now.
This is a book that you don't want to read when you are hungry. There are so many delicious sounding foods mentioned that you can almost smell them as you read. And there was a passage that just made me crave a proper French hot chocolate. Or Dutch. Something from that Northern part of Europe. I wouldn't be that fussy.
Inspired by a recipe book that she found in her room, Edie begins to cook some of the recipes, but also to make some of her own concoctions, a mixture of French and Irish flavours, to sell to the locals and tourists alike.
Music is also very important in this book, often being used as a tool to change the moods of the characters, to inspire memories and to draw people together.
The town of Compiegne has an important place in 20th century history. In a train carriage in the Forest of Compiegne, the Germans signed the armistice which ended WWI. Years later, Hitler made the French sign their own surrender in the same train carriage in the same location. There is also a chateau nearby with links to Napoleon. I am always drawing a mental map of what our next trip to France might look like, and Compiegne is definitely on the route I have in my head after reading this book.
It turns out that this isn't a new book. It was originally released around 10 years ago and has been revised and rereleased this year. Either way, I am so glad that I found this book as it brought me a lot of joy as i read it!
I am sharing this review as part of Paris in July, with Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story and with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge that I host.
Rating 4.5/5
Weekly meals
Saturday - Baked Ratatouille with beans Sunday - Meatballs Monday - Chicken Parma with chips and broccoli Tuesday - Sausages, mash, vegies and gravy Wednesday - Greek Style chicken with smashed potatoes Thursday - nothing Friday - Tonkatsu Ramen
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is a Summer/Winter Freebie so there is no set theme.
Recently it was announced that Emma from Words and Peace and Annabel from Annabookbel have taken over the 20 Books of Summer event that was previously hosted by Cathy at 746Books. It was an event that I always intended to participate in, but it's winter here and so it just didn't happen. This year though, there is even a 20 Books of Winter graphic, so my post this week is 10 of the 20 books that I intend to read for the Books of Winter event. I haven't decided if I am going to aim for 15 or 20 books and chances are that I won't review everything even if I do read them. We'll see. We also have a Books of my Winter TBR topic coming up in a couple of weeks so I will probably share the rest then.
The books themselves are a combination of old and new books, books that I want to read for events, and some that I have been meaning to read for the longest time but just haven't gotten to yet.
Beartown by Fredrik Backman - I know a few people who LOVE Fredrik Backman. So far, the only thing I have read from him is a short story called The Answer is No.
A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K Runyan - This is the current Cook the Books selection and also will be one of my posts for Paris In July.
Half Truth by Nadia Mahjouri - I heard Nadia speak at the Rachael John's Readers Retreat last month, and I just had to buy the book straight away. I am really looking forward to this one! In fact, I have hold myself back from starting this one too early in case I finished it before 1 June.
Three Juliets by Minnie Darke - I have really enjoyed everything I have read from Minnie Darke so I have high hopes for this one too!
A Secret Garden in Paris by Sophie Beaumont - I really liked The Paris Cooking School, and I have been intending to read this one ever since it came out. Sophie Beaumont has just announced her next Paris book which will be out later in the year.
French Rhapsody by Antoine Laurain - I have read a number of Antoine Laurain books over the last couple of years. This year I think I will read this one.
The French Kitchen by Emma Davies - Unsurprisingly this will likely be a Paris in July books too.
The Village Cafe in the Loire by Gillian Harvey - I am on a blog tour for this book in July, and it will also be a Paris in July book.
The Story Collector by Evie Woods - I have read two Evie Woods books now. I thought one was fine but the other was fantastic so I am keen to read this one to see where it lands!
The Kings Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick - I have had this on several lists as a book I really want to read. I am determined to read it soon!
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books with the Word “[Insert Word Here]” in the Title (Choose a word and find ten books with that word in the title.)
My initial thought was to use the word girl but in the last few days I have read a couple of really good books which both had the word cafe in the title, so I am going with that!
The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe by Alexander McCall Smith - This is book number 15 in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series
The Cafe by the Bridge by Lily Malone - This is the second book in a trilogy set in in southern Western Australia.
Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webb - I loved this book when I read it a few years ago (my review)
Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Cafe by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - This is the second book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series
The Custard Tart Cafe by Isabella May - Just thinking about this book makes me want to eat a Portuguese Custard Tart! (my review)
The Enchanted Garden Cafe by Abigail Drake - This is the first book in a series set in Pittsburgh. (my review)
Finding Family at the Cornish Cove by Kim Nash - whoops. Had this recorded in my spreadsheet as Finding Family at the Cornish Cafe. It is, however, set in a cafe so I am keeping it! It is the second book in the lovely Cornish Cove series. (my review)
The Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore - This is the first book in the very popular Dream Harbor series.
The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe by Catherine Greer - I just read this last week and I loved it. I will be reviewing it in a couple of weeks.
The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods - Whoops this is a bakery not cafe but it was such a good read I am going to count it anyway!
I am also going to be sharing this post with Weekend Cooking which I host here!
Last week was the inaugural Global Book Crawl in Melbourne, so Bree from All the Books I Can Read and I couldn't resist the idea of wandering around the city visiting bookstores! The idea behind the crawl is that you have to visit between 8 and 12 bookstores around the city and collect stamps. As long as you visited the required number of stores then you could get a free book and you would go into the draw to win 50 books. If you spent $100 in a single store you should have received a Global Book Crawl tote bag.
We were somewhat thwarted by the fact that one of the stores that you had to visit was only open on certain days so we didn't get to get the free book, but we did have a fabulous day visiting some bookstores that we were familiar with, others we had never visited before. We got to talk books, life and everything in general and I did as many steps on that day as I normally do when I am holidays! The photo above was taken at the first bookstore so I still look relatively fresh!
I did get a bag from the last store that we visited but they had already run out of the specific tote bags and it was only the second day when we did it.
The stores that we visited included Books for Cooks, Hill of Content Bookshop, Kay Craddock Antiquarian Booksellers, Mary Martin Bookshop (where the pic above was taken), Paperback Bookshop, Readings Emporium and Readings at the State Library.
I can definitely see myself doing this again if they have it again next year.
Here are a couple more pics, including my haul for the day.
I'm reading
Unlike last week I actually finished more books than I started this week! I also posted 5 reviews which is a very unusual for me! I have a few I would like to post this week and then I will be almost caught up I think!
I finished reading Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods which I thoroughly enjoyed. Last year I listened to the audio of The Lost Bookshop and was underwhelmed but this one grabbed my attention straight away and didn't let go!
I also finished The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe by Catherine Greer which was a really good read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will post a review of this one in a couple of weeks time.
I also read A Greek Island Gift by Mandy Baggot. I have read a few of Mandy Baggot's books now and enjoy her portrayal of Greece in the pages of her books. My review for this one will be up later this week.
I went to the library to pick up a cookbook that was on hold for me and saw The Rainfall Market by Korean author You Yeong-Gwang on the hot picks shelf and couldn't help myself. I have started reading it and so far it is good. Different from my usual reads but good.
I'm watching
We sat down this week and watched the most recent version of All Quiet on the Western Front which was an excellent film. What I didn't expect is that we would watched some of the 1979 version starring Ernest Borgnine as well. By comparing the two you can definitely see how movies have changed over the last 50 or so years. For example, the soldiers in the earlier version were very clean and tidy. The ones in the recent version with covered in mud and other things for most of the movie
However, they both don't compare to the gritty reality of war, as we saw when we watched a couple of epsides of the Ken Burns documentary about Vietnam.
We have watched a few documentaries this week. We watched a four episodes of a documentary series about the life of Winston Churchill which was very interesting. Whilst he is rightly famous for leading the British during WWII, there are some less than stellar instances in his life where he made decisions that had devestating consequences.
On a lighter note we went to the movies over the weekend to see The Penguin Lessons which stars British actor Steve Coogan. It is about a man who is a bit lost really who starts teaching at a school in Argentina right when the military coup happens. He acquires a penguin, and the movie tells the story about how his life changed as a result. It wasn't a bad movie. The word nice probably applies more than anything.
I did catch up on my Springtime in Paris movie viewing this week by watching Paris Blues and Hugo.
Paris Blues stars Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Joanne Woodward and Diahann Caroll, with a guest appearance by the great Louis Armstrong. The story is about two American musicians who live in Paris. They meet two American women who have come to Paris on holidays and they quickly fall in love. I hadn't heard a lot about this movie but I did enjoy it for a number of reasons. Firstly, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward were married in real life so it was fun seeing them together on screen. Secondly, it was interesting to see the way that the race question was addressed in this movie. If you had of asked me to name a movie which starred Sidney Poitier which addressed issues relating to race I would have said Guess Who's Coming to Dinner or To Sir With Love. This movie looked at how different the experience was for Poitier's character living as an African American in Paris compared to what it would have been in America at the time. Another point of interest for me was seeing Paris itself. Yes, there was glamourous side of Paris, but this movie was made in 1961 and there were evident signs of the destruction of Paris during WWII. For example, there was a scene where they visit what looks like a market, and the market is set up amongst some runs.
After watching two older movies, Hugo was a more recent movie (made in 2011) but set in the 1930s. It surprised me that this movie was made by Martin Scorcese. I always associate his name with more violent movies but this was a very sweet movie which was based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabaret by Brian Selznick.
In this movie orphaned boy Hugo lives in a train station in Paris, keeping the clocks wound up as he was taught to do by his uncle before he disappeared. He is trying to fix an automoton that his father had found at a museum, in the hope that he would get one final message from his dad. In order to survive and get the parts that he needs he steals from various stores in the train station, which brings him to the attention of the station policeman. If I had one criticism it is about the police man, but otherwise it is a great cast that brings a lovely story to life.
There were so many layers to this movie, which at its core is about the power of imagination and in particular the magic of movies.
I am really looking forward to watching The Intouchables this week. It is a movie I have been meaning to watch for years!
Life
We did spend a lovely afternoon have afternoon tea at Oxi Tea Rooms. It is more of an immersive experience rather than just afternoon tea. I will post more about it in a couple of weeks for Weekend Cooking but this is one photo.
I did a lot of starting books this week! Some finishing but nowhere near as many as I started!
One book that I finished was the audio of Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt by Lucinda Riley and Harry Whittaker, the final book in the Seven Sisters series. I have listened to all of these on audiobook. Given that each of these books is more than 20 hours long that's a lot of listening time! I started listening to the first book more than 6.5 years ago, so it has been a bit commitment! This final book was narrated by Richard Armitage for Pa Salt's parts and Tuppence Middleton for the modern story. It feels like this book did what it needed to do in terms of tying all the origin stories together, and telling Pa's story, so I was satisfied with the end of the series. I did have one question about what happened on the luxury super yachts (IFYKYK) but overall it was good.
I then started listening to Away with the Fairies by Kerry Greenwood. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Kerry Greenwood had passed away recently, so I thought it would be a good time to go back to the next Phryne Fisher book. It did surprise me a little that is 16 years since I read one of the books but I think I have slipped back into the world quickly. After listening to Richard Armitage for so long it did take me a little while to get used to the sound of a new narrator but I think I am there now!
We did a bit of a roadtrip on the Friday and Saturday of the Easter weekend, and I convinced my husband that we could listen to a book while we drove. It needed to be something that he would enjoy too, so I chose The World According to Kaleb by Kaleb Cooper. Kaleb Cooper is a young British farmer who is now a bit of a celebrity thanks to his appearances on Clarkson's Farm, a reality TV show featuring well known British....presenter I guess is the best word....Jeremy Clarkson. It is only a short book at around 2.5 hours and it was amusing. Kaleb is a young man who knows exactly what he likes (farming) and what he doesn't like (sheep among other things!).
As that book was so short, we then started listening to The Satsuma Complex which is both written and narrated by Bob Mortimer. Bob Mortimer is a British comedian who appears regularly on panel shows such as Would I Lie to You and he makes us laugh a lot every time he is on! He's a great oral storyteller. We will listen to this when we are in the car together for the next little while!
In terms of books I was reading myself, I finished The Best Days of Our Lives by Helen Rolfe. The review for that will be up this week.
I then read The House of Lost Whispers by Jenni Keer, which is another super interesting book by her! It's a bit of a genre bender but I will say more when I review it next week!
I also started The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson which is going to be my read on a theme book club selection this time around. The theme is 1960s and this book is set in 1966 so it fits the theme beautifully.
I also started The Bittersweet Bakery Cafe by Catherine Greer. I picked it up on a whim when I went to the library last week, but I can only borrow it for a week so I needed to get going with that one sooner rather than later!
Finally, I didn't take the physical books I was reading with me when we went away so started The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods. I am a bit torn now as to which book to finish first as I did get sucked into this one pretty much straight away!
I'm watching
We are big fans of the archeological show Time Team here in my house. It is often on the Real History channel at around dinner time so we will watch it if it is on, even if we have seen the episode multiple times before. I was a bit surprised to find that over the last couple of years they have been making Time Team specials that are only on Youtube! This week we watched one called Digging Band of Brothers which was an excavation of the camp where the US 101st Airborne Division was based in Britain. There are a few other specials that we will watch now! If you are interested this is the link.
We also started watching a new series of the American Baking Show which is the first one I have seen where Paul and Prue are the judges.
I also watched How to Steal a Million as part of the Springtime in Paris event hosted by Erin from Still Life, with Cracker Crumband Lisa from Boondock Ramblings. What a fun movie! It starred the beautiful and ethereal Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole, who was very handsome as a young man. The premise is that Audrey Hepburn's father is a serial art forger. He agrees to hand over a famous statue to display in a museum without realising that he has agreed to have the piece authenticated. If it is tested, then it will be revealed as a fake then he will be found out. Hepburn's character then enlists the help of a man she caught stealing a painting from her own house (or so she thought) and hijinks ensue. The movie had such charm and naivety. I couldn't help but think if the movie was made today how very different it would be! I am planning to watch the next couple of movies for the event this week.
Life
I had to go to the funeral of a friend last week. He was a larger than life character who drew people to him. It was a reminder to live life to the best of your ability as you don't really know how long you have. Also #$%$ cancer.
In Australia, Easter is a four day weekend with public holidays on both Good Friday and Easter Monday. A lot of people choose to go away for the weekend. Originally, we were planning to go away overnight next weekend, but then my son is going interstate that weekend so we decided to go on Friday and come back on Saturday.
You probably recall that we like a good art silo, and this trip we managed to see 4 full size ones, plus a collection of smaller ones. The main reason for heading up the highway was to go to the Lake Boga Flying Boat Museum. During WWII, Lake Boga was a secret base for the repair of flying boats like the Catalina aircraft and saw Australian, American and Dutch planes landing on the lake. It was also a key point in the communications between the Allies. It was a fascinating place, and I think it might be a place that we go back to should we be up that way again. Recently there has been a new art silo done at Lake Boga, which reflects this history. The other photo is of a silo at a place called Sea Lake, which was cool because in the day you can see the image below, but at night they projects some films onto the silos taking about the farming and the dark sky environs around which means amazing stargazing
One of the highlights of the trip was going to a nearby lake called Lake Tyrrell which is the largest salt water lake in the state of Victoria. We went at sunset the first night and it was spectacular. I took so many photos. The next morning we went at about 8am and we were pretty much the only ones there. Well...us and the flies.
We had to come back on Saturday as we had a show from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival featuring another British comic, Tom Allen! He is on various UK show and he was very entertaining. This was the only show we got to go to in this year's festival as we were away for most of it!
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 Spring 2025 to-Read List. For us, it is autumn, so I am really doing Books on My Autumn 2025 to-Read List
The Mademoiselle Alliance by Natasha Lester - In May I am going to Perth for the Rachael Johns Reader Retreat and this is one of the book club books which will be discussed.
A Snowy River Summer by Stella Quinn - Same with this one!
Where the Birds Call Her Name by Claire van Ryn - This is the same book club's selection for April. I have a review copy so I really want to read it and participate in the conversation for once.
I am Nannertgarrook by Tasma Walton - This is a book from a new indigenous imprint with one of the major publishers. It is historical fiction and so it should work for me.
The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris by Evie Woods - A bakery! In France! Sign me up
The House of Lost Whispers by Jenni Keer - I am due to review this towards the end of April. I am looking forward to it.
The King,s Messenger by Susanna Kearsley - Susanna Kearsley is one of my all time favourite authors but I still haven't read this!
The King's Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick - And the same applies for Elizabeth Chadwick!
The Last Lifeboat by Hazel Gaynor - I have heard such good things about this book!
The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki - I am heading off to Japan this week on holidays so I really want to read one or more Japanese books while I am away.
Of course, this is all subject to change at any times and some or all of these books may yet appear on my Winter reading list. Well, except for the first two!
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's them is Books I Never Reviewed. When I set my reading/blogging goals this year, I said that I wanted to make sure that I reviewed all the historical fiction I read and all the books by Aussie authors. So far, I have well and truly exceeded that and have reviewed just about everything I have read. It isn't my intention to go back to reviewing every book I read as there is too much "I am so far behind" pressure that comes with that, but when it happens organically....great.
So I will start with the couple of things I have read but not reviewed this year, and then go back to last year's list to see what I can find there!
The Wedding People by Alison Espach - I read this a couple of weeks ago and absolutely loved it! It's a 5 star read for me. I intend to review this later this week.
Never Want to Sea You Again by Leonie Woods - This is a short story freebie from the author's Substack page. It's a fun, forced proximity romance. One fun thing is that you can choose if you want to read the spice version or the not so spicy version of the story! I chose the spicy version. A billionaire's secret daughter hides on board a yacht and finds herself in the middle of the ocean with a grumpy sailor!
The Venice Hotel by Tess Woods - I read this towards the end of last year and really enjoyed it! It brings together a group of characters in a Venice hotel at Christmas time and they end up having to work together to help one of the guests. It was darker than I expected but very good!
The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley - You know, I have read all but the last book in this series and never reviewed any of them! I listen to them all on audio and they are big books. I do find the accents that are used, and the fact that there are different narrators for every audiobook, a bit odd. Maybe when I finish the series I will do some kind of retrospective review!
The Last Night in London by Karen White - I meant to pick up a Madeline Martin book when I started this one, but I liked it nonetheless!
The Ex Factor by Rachael Johns - This was another free short story and is still available on Substack. In this story a woman returns to the town and the husband she left behind so that she can get her divorce papers signed. This one was a bit spicy too!
Before We Forget Kindness by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - This is part of the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. I have reviewed a couple of them but not all of the. Seeing this author at Melbourne Writers Festival was one of my bookish highlights of last year. I listen to this series on audio too!
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods - Another audio read. I liked this one, without loving it. It's about a bookshop that has disappeared and a modern quest to find out what happened there. I am super excited about Evie Woods next book which is out soon called The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris!
The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson - Yes, another opportunity to gush about how amazing Laura Pearson is. I have now read three of her books and they are all so unusual with really imaginative ideas! And, of course, great reads! My favourite is The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine, but this comes a close second.
The Yellow Wood by Minnie Darke - I have been a huge fan of Aussie author Minnie Darke since I read The Lost Love Song which is an absolutely beautiful book. This was an Audible only book about a free spirited woman who doesn't want to be tied down to anyone or anywhere and the artist who loves her and is trying to move on.
The Presidents Hat by Antoine Laurain - Over the last couple of years I have become a bit of an Antoine Laurain fan girl. There's every chance I will still review this for Paris in July later this year.
And yes, I know that is eleven choices but I thought I would throw in an extra given that two of them are short story freebies from the authors!
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