Top Ten Tuesday: Books set in a snowy place

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Books Set in Snowy Places (If snow isn’t your thing, pick another kind of place and share books set there!)

Normally when there is a seasonal theme I swap it to represent the season here in Australia. However, this time I decided to go with the theme even though it is summer here.

The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan - I just finished listening to this. There is a lot of snow in this book to the point that the characters get snowed in for some of the book!

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson - This isn't a common Australian setting as it is set in the Alps in winter, and there is a lot of snow. (my review)

Meet Me Under the Northern Lights by Mandy Baggot - This one sees our main character heading off on a last minute trip to Iceland (my review)

Last Stop on the Winter Wonderland Express by Rebecca Raisin - This luxury festive train travels across Northern Europe and ending up in Lapland

Small Things Like These by Claire Foster - Now, I didn't read this book all that long ago, and I am relatively sure that there was snow in the book, but I am prepared to be wrong about that!

Escape to the Northern Lights by Carrie Walker - our main character thinks she is going to a luxury spa weekend but really it is a winter back to nature, vegan wellness retreat (my review)

A Winter Wedding Adventure by Leonie Mack - This is the second book in the Adventure Wedding series, set in the Italian Alps, and Mother Nature plays a bit part in the story! (my review)

One Snowy Day by Shari Low - I mean it even tells you about the weather in the title! (my review)

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - This one is set in winter in Norway! (my review)

Beartown by Fredrik Backman - It's ice hockey season in Sweden. Of course there's snow! (my review)

Top Ten Tuesday: Arches and Windows

 Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Cozy/Atmospheric Reads

I am going a bit rogue this week and I am choosing covers which features archways or windows. It's an idea that has been calling to me for a couple of months now, and today is the day that I make it happen! These are all books that I have read this year!

The Lost Garden by Angela Petch - This is the book that made me think about doing this as a topic. (my review)

Winter Nights at the Bay Bookshop by Jessica Redland - This arch kind of reminded me of the arch window on Play School, which is the window I hoped they would choose every time. Australians will get this, or at least Australians of a certain age! (my review)

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - This is the first book in the Emily Wilde series. It probably almost doesn't count but the frame forms an arch like shape. At least that's my story and I am sticking to it. (my review)

The Magic of Provence by Alison Roberts - love the view extending out through the arch here. (my review)

The Santorini Writing Retreat by Eva Glyn - It looks like this might be a picture from a balcony but the flowers form an arch to look out across that iconic Santorini view. (my review)

The House at River's Edge by Rachel Burton - The windows are flung wide open on this cover (my review)

A Greek Island Gift by Mandy Baggot - Love the colours on this cover! (my review)

Under a Riviera Moon by Helen McGinn - How nice would it be to sit outside on a beautiful warm Riviera evening and look at this view. (My review)

Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki - I am really looking forward to reading the follow up to the book soon! (My review)

The Secrets of the Rose by Nicola Cornick - I do love it when you see an series of arches covered in flowers like this! (My review)

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Have Returned to the Library Unread

 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 Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time (This week was originally scheduled to be a non-bookish freebie, but I realized how close it was to the last non-bookish freebie we did. If you’re super on top of it and already wrote your post for this week, post it anyway! If you’d rather do a non-bookish freebie, go for it!). 

I am, however, going rogue this week and I am going to share the last ten books I have returned to the library unread, and I haven't reborrowed .... yet!

The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris by Daisy Woods - I originally requested this one after it was reviewed for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. 

Return to the Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee - I read the first book in this series a while ago

The Midwife of Auschwitz by Anna Stuart - Anna Stuart has been on the French bestseller lists for a while. When I did my Bestsellers Around the World post during Paris in July I decided it was time to try her books. 

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman - I read Beartown and loved it ages ago and fully intend to read the rest of the series.

All the Bees in the Hollow by Lauren Keegan - Lauren Keegan used to be a book blogger and I picked up her book when I saw it next to Claire Keegan's books.

The Ingredients of Love by Nicolas Barreau - This is a French author that I am hoping to read soon.

The Yellow Villa by Amanda Hampson - After reading all of the Tea Ladies mysteries, I am now keen to read the other books by Amanda Hampson.

An Act of Love by Carol Drinkwater - I read my first Carol Drinkwater book during Paris in July this year and now I will read her backlist.  

Emily Wilde's Map of the Other Lands by Heather Fawcett - I read the first book in this trilogy earlier this year

Three by Valerie Perrin - I really enjoyed Fresh Water for Flowers by this author earlier this year

I'll be reborrowing all of these at some point!

Top Ten Tuesday: Satisfying Book Series

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Satisfying Book Series (Maybe all the books were amazing or there wasn’t any second book syndrome or the final book wrapped everything up soooo perfectly.)

My list today will feature some of the more recent entries in a book series that I have read.

The Calico Cat at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi - Like a lot of Japanese books this was a cute and satisfying read! This is the second book in the series. I reviewed the first book, The Chibineko Kitchen, here. 

A Winter Wedding Adventure by Leonie Mack - This is the second book in Leonie Mack's series which features adventure guides and weddings. (my review)

Everyone in My Family has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson - I only realised recently that Benjamin is an Australian author. This book, the first in the Ernest Cunningham mystery series, was a lot of fun!

The Convenience Store by the Sea by Sonoko Machida - I might be cheating a little bit with this one. There are currently four books in the series but this is the only one that has been translated into English....so far. I really hope we get to see more books in the series. (my review)

Waves of Change in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen - This is the third series that I have read by Maggie Christensen. I love her books. They are the ultimate comfort reads for me. (my review)

The Deadly Dispute by Amanda Hampson  - i have read all three books that are out so far over the last few months. The next book in the series has just been announced and I will be reading it! (my review)

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - This is the first book in the Emily Wilde series. (my review)

Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee - This is the first book in the Dallergut Dream Department Store series which is by Korean author Miye Lee. (my review)

Beartown by Fredrik Backman - This is another first book in a trilogy and was a 5/5 read for me! (my review)

The Bookstore Family by Alice Hoffman - This is the fourth in a series of connected short stories. I still haven't read nay full length books by Alice Hoffman yet but I will because she really nails the short story format so I will be interested to see how she handles a longer story. 

What are some of your favourite series?

Top Ten Tuesday: It's a flower!

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Book Covers that Give off Fall Vibes (Or, if you’re not a cover person, share the books in general that feel like Fall.). It is Spring here, so I am choosing to focus on gardens and flowers this week. 

The Lucky Sisters by Rachael Johns - This book isn't even out yet but how could I not include it in a post about flowers on covers!

The Lost Garden by Angela Petch - The title says it all really. This garden is found again in WWII Italy. (my review)

Once Upon  a Thyme by Jane Lovering - This book is set in a herb garden (my review)

The Whisky Widow by Karen Brooks - I love the thistles on the cover of this book (my review)

The Woman Who Got Her Spark Back by Fiona Gibson - The main character of this book runs a plant hospital (my review)

A Secret Garden in Paris by Sophie Beaumont - This books takes it's characters on a walking tour of the gardens of Paris. (my review)

Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin - This books features a cemetery caretaker who takes care of the garden and the graves (my review)

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - I love the cover on this book! (my review)

The Magic of Provence by Alison Roberts - I like the way the flowers frame the arch on this cover. I am thinking about doing a TTT all about books with arches on the cover. (my review)

The Secrets of the Huon Wren by Claire van Ryn - This cover is so pretty with all the flowers cascading down the cover. (my review)

Have you read any of these books?

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

 

Sometimes there are books that call your name either because of the cover or title or subject, but you just don't find time to read them. This is one of those books for me! I guess the good thing about having waited this long to read the book is that all three books in the trilogy are already out so I will be able to read them relatively closely together.

Emily Wilde is an academic who is working towards completing an encyclopaedia of faeries. She believes that this encyclopaedia will finally bring her the respect she deserves in academic circles. She has travelled far and wide to hear the stories from locals, to encounter the fae at any opportunity and to learn and record everything she can about all things faerie. Emily is a very self sufficient and contained woman, who often struggles to connect with ordinary people. 

She travels to Norway to a small island where she hopes to learn more about the local faerie population. In the town, she soon finds evidence of a changeling child and of townspeople being lured away either never to return or to return a shadow of their former selves. After getting the townspeople offside pretty much straight away, Emily has no choice but to work by herself, traipsing over the snow covered lands to find the doors into the faerie lands.

Emily is nothing if not independent, and the last thing she needs is the dubious assistance of her colleague Wendall Bambleby. As far as Emily can see, Bambleby is out to steal her glory for his own purposes, is far too lazy, and somehow manages to make all the locals like him with very little effort. Oh, and he is far too handsome for his own good! Charming, handsome, likeable. All the things that Emily is not. And now he is sharing the very small cottage with Emily. 

What Emily doesn't seem to be able to see is that far from wanting to take Emily's work as his own, Bambleby loves Emily. He loves her methodical and logical brain, her persistence and determination to finish her book and her direct nature. But Bambleby is not necessarily being truthful with Emily about who and what he is. It is only as they go through various trials that Emily begins to understand him, and to begin to work with him instead of fighting against him.

This is historical fantasy, not a genre that I read that often. Whilst the book is filled with the fae, both everyday and royalty, with danger and intrigue, it is also firmly set in the early 1900's when you look at the setting, the challenges and perils of travel and the attitudes towards women, particularly those who are ambitious and trying to do things outside of what society expects of women. It is a very interesting mix.

This is the first in a trilogy, and I do intend to read more. This one did take me a little bit of time to get through because other deadlines kept on getting in the way. I think it also took me a little while to come to appreciate Emily's way of working. She really doesn't see how her manner is offputting to those around her, although she does find herself wondering why people don't warm to her. You can see how the possibility of working with Bambleby will bring some balance.

In the end, I did like this book, enough to know that I will read the next couple of books. I think it will be easier going into the next book already understanding the dynamic between the two main characters, and who they both are. Given that this is a combination of historical and fantasy there are many different directions the story can go in. I am looking forward to the adventure.

Oh, and a shout out to the publisher for this lovely cover! 

This is one of the books that I nominated to read for the 20 Books of Winter. I am also counting it towards the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host.

Rating 4/5

20 Books of Winter - July

 

We are already two months through the 20 Books of Summer/Winter event! Can you believe how quickly that has gone?

Our hosts, Emma from Words and Peace and Annabel from Annabookbel have come up with some fun questions for our end of month recaps.

I think I am a little bit behind at this point and that I am going to struggle to get some of the remaining books read. I read 7 books in June and 5 of the books that I nominated on my original lists in July I did read 19 books in total in June and 18 in July so I do have some opportunities for swaps should I need them later. 

Here's my full list. The ones in bold are the titles I have read. The purple ones are the ones I read in June and the ones in red are the ones I read in July

20 Books of Winter

Beartown by Fredrik Backman - Review will be posted soon

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn - Review

A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K Runyan - Review

Over the Seas to Skye by Sue Moorcroft - Review

Three Juliets by Minnie Darke

A Secret Garden in Paris by Sophie Beaumont

The Midnight Bakery by Emma Davies

Half Truth by Nadia Mahjouri - Review

The Village Cafe in the Loire by Gillian Harvey - Review

The Storytellers by Sue Heath

The Story Collector by Evie Woods

French Rhapsody by Antoine Laurain

The King's Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Butterfly Women by Madeleine Cleary - Review

The Last Love Note by Emma Grey

The Library of Heartbeats by Laura Imai Messina

Emily Wildes Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee

Our hosts, Emma from Words and Peace and Annabel from Annabookbel have come up with some fun questions for our end of month recaps.

Which book surprised you the most this month?

I think that would have to be Beartown by Fredrik Backman. I knew that this book was going to be good as lots of people I know have loved it. I think what surprised me the most about this book was the way that the tension built throughout the book. There were times when I knew that something momentous was about to happen and the tension was ramping up so much that I had to put the book down for a while to psych myself up for the action. 

If your July reading experience was a weather forecast, what would it be and why?

Dreamy with a chance of snow - winter was very much the setting in both Beartown and Emily Wilde! The dreamy comes from both Dallergut and Emily Wilde.

Name a setting from your July books where you’d love (or hate) to take a summer vacation.

Well......I don't think it would surprise anyone if I say France. I would love to wander the streets of Montmartre to find the Bakery in Paris and then I would be more than happy to find a cafe in the Loire Valley to sit and watch the world pass by!

If you could turn one book into a summer festival, what would the main event be?

I think that the Dallergut Dream Store would be a perfect theme for a summer festival.  The idea of the book is that when we are sleeping we visit the store and choose to buy our dream themes, and there are even dreams for your pets. You could do an amazing festival with all the different types of dreams. 

Choose your own adventure—recap July in the style of your choice:

I am not terribly creative so here is my cover collage

This week...

I'm reading

I feel like I am in a bit of a reading frenzy at the moment! This is mainly because I am trying to get ahead with my review reading and library due dates. I also need to take a look at my Big Books of Winter and read something off there because I am probably a book or two behind with that list!

So what did I read this week?

I absolutely devoured Eat Your Heart Out by Australian author Victoria Brownlee. I think this was a case of right book at the right time as I just couldn't put it down. It was a 5/5 read for me, and because it is set in France I reviewed it as part of Paris in July. 

On Tuesday night I went to an author event for Jessica Dettman whose latest book Your Friend and Mine was released at the beginning of July. I had a big of a gap in my reading so I read it. This one is set in London. I liked it and plan to review the book in the next couple of weeks.

I finally finished reading Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. I liked this book too and will read the next book in the series. I think this book suffered a little bit because I kept on putting it aside to read other things. 

When I was looking at my library due dates I was thinking I still had a couple of weeks to read The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson, but it is a big book at nearly 600 pages so I have started that one.

I wanted to get all my review posts done for next week so over the weekend I prioritised reading those books. The first one I read was A Place in the Sun by Jo Thomas. This was another great read from her, and it made me want lasagne so that is what we are having for dinner tonight.

Yesterday I read One Snowy Day by Shari Low. I have only started reading Shari Low this year and I really enjoyed her book.

I did go to another author event last week and I have two coming up this week that I am looking forward to. I went to hear Lucy Sussex talk at my local library about the book she co-wrote with Megan Brown called Outrageous Fortune. It is a non-fiction book about a woman called Mary Fortune who was the first Australian crime writer. She was extremely prolific and had a long running crime series, and yet has basically been lost to history. The irony of her being a crime writer was that her son was a career criminal! It was a fascinating talk.

I'm watching


I went to the movies last week to watch Jane Austen Wrecked My Life again. I first saw it and really enjoyed it earlier this year. I wanted to write about it for Paris in July and so when I saw that it was on at the cinemas again I jumped at the opportunity to watch it again. I really enjoyed it the second time around too. I wrote about it here.

I mentioned last week that I went to the movies to see a Japanese movie called Grand Maison Paris. When I was writing my post about it for Weekend Cooking, I realised that the movie was actually a spin-off from a Netflix TV series called Grand Maison Tokyo. It features a lot of the same characters and is about a couple of Japanese chefs who want to open a French restaurant in Tokyo with the aim of being awarded three Michelin stars. I started watching the series on the weekend.

I also finished watching Gary Barlow's Wine Tour of South Africa. Over the last few weeks I have watched this series and also the one he did in Australia. They are both very easy watching, feature some amazing food and wine and some beautiful scenery.




Life

I forgot to mention last week that we went to see a musical called Here You Come Again which features the song of Dolly Parton. It was a lot of fun, and I have been hearing a lot of her songs in my head ever since. 

On Saturday we went to the National Gallery of Victoria which is an art gallery and saw the French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston exhibition which is currently on. We then had afternoon tea in the Tea Rooms. It was a lovely outing and I will have a Paris in July post up about it on Thursday. 

We then followed that up by going to see an 80's band at a local pub. It's the first time we have been to this pub and I have to say it was so nice to be able to go out and then be home in 15 minutes. Normally, if we are in the city it is half an hour or more to get home. We will go back and see some other shows there in due course. 

The big news in my world is that I finally got a job and I start next week, which is why I am trying to cram so many books and write the reviews for them this week. When I decided to resign from my last job I did so deliberately choosing to take some time off. However, it has taken a bit longer than I would necessarily have liked to get another job! I am definitely relieved and I am really looking forward to the new role


Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Historical Fiction Novels Set in France
Paris in July: Eat Your Heart Out by Victoria Brownlee
Paris in July: Jane Austen Wrecked my Life

Paris in July: The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl
Weekend Cooking/Paris in July: Grande Maison Paris
Bestsellers Around the World: France



I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date and Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz

This week...

I'm reading

It's been another busy reading and blogging week! I feel like I have had a lot of different books in my hands and this list will confirm that!

I finished The Cryptic Clue by Amanda Hampson as I had to return it to the library. My review is here. This is the second book in the Tea Ladies series and I have already requested the third book.

I had to put Beartown by Fredrik Backman down in order to finish The Cryptic Clue. Once I picked it up again I was absolutely absorbed. This is one of my 20 Books of Winter and counts as a Big Book of Summer. It was a 5/5 read for me and I have already requested the next book in the trilogy.

Then I started a couple of books but I will need to go back to them again this week. I started The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl because of Paris in July.  I also started Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, which is another of my 20 Books of Winter reads.

Once again, the library conspired against me and said I couldn't renew Secrets of the Huon Wren by Claire van Ryn so I read that. This was Claire van Ryn's debut novel, but I had already read her second book. I hope to have a review for this one up shortly.

In order to try to get in front of the library I then read Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee who is from South Korea This is also one of my 20 Books of Winter. It's a different read for me but I did like it enough to request the second book in the series. The idea is that in our sleep we all go to the dream store to purchase the dreams that we want. We then pay for them using our emotions. 

Finally, I started reading A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K. Runyan which is the current Cook the Books selection.

I did do a summary of the books that I read for June for the 20 Books of Winter . You can read my recap post here.

Bookish Travel

I did a fair bit of travelling through the pages of books during June. Here's some of the places I visited.

Australia 

Melbourne  - The Butterfly Women

Sydney - The Cryptic Club

America

Maine- The Mirror

Washington - The Diamond Eye

Michigan/New York - The Page Turner

Europe

England - The Silver Ladies Seize the Day, Once Upon a Thyme, The Storytellers

Scotland - Over the Seas to Skye, the Woman Who Got Her Spark Back

Ukraine/USSR -- The Diamond Eye

France  - A Secret Garden in Paris, French Rhapsody, The Girl from Normandy

Greece - The Island of Hope and Dreams, Not My Greek Wedding

Portugal - The Lost Story of Sofia Costello

The Cruise Club (visited several countries!)

Africa

Morocco - Half Truth

Best of June

In June I read 19 books and these 6 are the ones I rated as 4.5/5 reads. 

I'm watching

I finished watching Gary Barlow's Wine Tour: Australia. I will finish watching his South Africa show this week I think. 

I also re-watched The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan this week. I originally watched it last year as part of the French Film Festival (and I posted about it here). I was surprised to see it on the normal movie channels on our cable provider as normally if I want to watch any foreign language films you have to go searching for it. 

Life


After 3 weeks, I still sound a bit husky but finally feel like I am getting better. 

We did have a busy weekend as our kids were down from Brisbane for the day on Saturday so Robert was being dad's taxi service driving all over the city while I cooked dinner. Then we had my sister and her family around for dinner on Sunday along with my mum who is over from Adelaide. 


Posts from the last week

20 Books of Winter: June

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: July links
Paris in July 2025!

Paris in July/Top Ten Tuesday: Books with the Eiffel Tower on the Cover
Paris in July: Since the last Paris in July
The Lost Story of Sofia Castello by Siobhan Curham

Paris in July: Mini Movie Reviews
Blog Tour: The Cruise Club by Caroline James
The Cryptic Clue by Amanda Hampson
Weekend Cooking: In My Kitchen - June
Six Degrees of Separaton: Theory & Practice to Sisters of the Resistance

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: Books on my Winter 2025 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 Summer Winter 2025 to-Read List.

A couple of weeks ago I shared the first 10 of my 20 books that I plan to read for the 20 Books of Winter event hosted by Emma from Words and Peace and Annabel from Annabookbel. Today I am sharing the rest of the books I plan to read. 

The Last Love Note by Emma Grey - I loved Pictures of You when I read it earlier this year so I am really looking forward to this one. 

The Library of Heartbeats by Laura Imai Messina - This sounds like such a lovely read. 

Emily Wildes Encyclopeadia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - I have been not so gently encouraged to read this book for a while!

The Storytellers by Sue Heath - I am so excited for this book. The Secret Ingredient was one of my favourite books last year. 

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn - I have had this on my Kindle for 3 years. I actually already read and reviewed this one.  (My review)

Over the Sea to Skye by Sue Moorcroft  - I have already read and reviewed this one too. (My review)

Butter by Asako Yuzuki  - Every now and again my read on a theme book club reads the same book. This is the book we are going to read for our August meeting.

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson. I recently read her latest book. Having read and love both her first and latest books I had to read the one in the middle that I haven't read yet.

DallerGut Dream Department Store by Lee Mi-Ye - Can't remember where I heard about this book but I currently have it out of the library, along with a few others that I didn't include on this list. Not sure when I will read those!

The Butterfly Women by Madeleine Cleary - I am going to an author event for this book soon so will definitely want to read it after hearing the author talk

So now I have put my 20 Books of Winter out into the world. Now to read them all!

Do you have any of these books on your list this week?

SIx Degrees of Separaton: Rapture to The Swan Maiden

 Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best. The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links. I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

The starting point this month is an historical novel longlisted for the 2025 Stella Prize, Rapture by Emily Maguire. I actually had a couple of goes at this one this month. In the other attempt I ended up with a lot of chocolate and jam related books, despite starting with two very serious books! In the end I decided to keep this option which has a decidedly avian feel to it!

Using the name Emily as my link, the first connection is to Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett. This is the third book in the Emily Wilde series. I haven't actually read this series although I do own them. The covers do have a similar feel to them too!

Another book by an author with the first name of Heather is Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber. (my review)

The most recent birdy book I read (and loved) was Claire van Ryn's latest book Where The Birds Call Her Name.  I just reviewed this book a few days ago and I loved it!

Both Where the Birds Call Her Name and Sunbirds by Mirandi Riwoe have in common other than a bird related title is that they both have a connection to Broome in Western Australia. (my review)

The setting for Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson is in Nigeria but the word Sunbirds does connect them nicely. (my review)

My final choice uses the surname Watson as the connection. The Swan Maiden is by Jules Watson who is an Australian author who had a few books out about 15 years ago but I haven't seen anything new from her for years. I also reviewed these books about a week apart back in 2011. 

Next month, the starting point is nominee for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction, All Fours by Miranda July.

Will you be joining us?

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Most Recent Additions to my Kindle

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Book Collection (or to your to-read list!)

I started writing this list late last week, which might have been a bit dangerous give how often I tend to 1click books in the middle of the night. Here are the last ten books I have acquired (as at the end of last week). ETA - yep, it would have looked a bit different if I was writing this post on Tuesday!

Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao - Can't remember where I saw this that prompted me to buy it, but it is probably because it is set in Tokyo.

The Last Lifeboat by Hazel Gaynor - I think I added this to my list because I saw that it had been shortlisted for an Irish literature prize.

Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami - I saw this on Emma's blog over at Words and Peace

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - I have been thinking about getting this for a while and finally bit the bullet.

The Last Love Note by Emma Grey - I first heard of this book last year at Rachael Johns Reader Retreat and have been meaning to get it since then.

Never Want to Sea You Again by Leonie Mack - I really enjoy Leonie Mack's books so when I saw that she was releasing this short story on her Substack I had to get it. It is still available

The Baby Dragon Cafe by Aamna Qureshi - Somehow I ended up on a broadcast channel from the publisher for this book, and in the end I couldn't help but pre-order it.

If You Could See Me Now by Samantha Tonge  - Upcoming blog tour review book. I do like Samantha Tonge's books.

Happily Ever After by Jane Lovering - This is also an upcoming blog tour review book

Where the Birds Call Her Name by Claire van Ryn - This is an Australian author and the book sounds great. I was pleased when it was approved on Netgalley.

Have you read any of these?