Top Ten Tuesday: Cartoon Covers

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Colorful Book Covers. I feel like I did this theme not too long ago, so I am twisting it a bit to be Cartoon-ish Covers.  They should be somewhat colourful by nature shouldn't they? 

Sweetheart by Sarah Mayberry - This book is part of four connected series of books set in the World of True North. All of the books set in the Busy Bean cafe have this style of cover.

Flying the Nest by Rachael Johns - Love the yellow of this cover!

You Were Made for me by Jenna Guillaume - If you fancy some Aussie YA this might be a good choice for you.

Rosie's Travelling Tea Shop by Rebecca Raisin - I enjoy the way Raisin writes about books and food (and Paris, although this one isn't set there)

If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane - I must read more by this author.

Beach Read by Emily Henry  - I am very much looking forward to reading this author's next book!

The Switch by Beth O'Leary - another author with an upcoming book that I am excited about!

Welcome to Rosie Hopkin's Sweet Shop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan - This was the first Jenny Colgan book I read but it wasn't the last. I still have plenty more of her backlist to get through.

The New Beginnings Coffee Club by Samantha Tonge - I randomly read this book about 18 months ago and I really enjoyed it! I need to read more from her.

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett - I couldn't do a TTT about cartoon covers without including at least one Pratchett cover!

Reading Reflections: August 2020

I a little bit surprised to see that I read quite so many books this month. But I do need to be honest and confess that a couple of these were quite short!

You Were Made for Me by Jenna Guillaume - 4/5 (Australian)

A super fun read where a couple of young girls create the perfect boy!  Read my review here.

The Switch by Beth O'Leary - 4/5 (Audiobook)

As soon as I saw that this was available as part of Netgalley's new offering of audiobooks and their app. I enjoyed the book and the performance but the app was a bit glitchy. Read my review here.

The Roommate by Dervla McTiernan - 4/5 (Australian Authors)

This is a prequel to the Cormac Reilly series, featuring a young garda Cormac Reilly as he investigates a murder in Dublin. This one is/was available from Audible for free for members.

The Secrets of Saffron Hall by Clare Marchant - 4/5

Ooopss. I swear I had posted the review for this book but it seems that maybe I only wrote this in my head. Must get onto writing it for real. I love a good dual timeline, and a story of a building with a long hidden history and this book had both!

Matilda Next Door by Kelly Hunter - 4/5 (Australian author)

I really enjoy Kelly Hunter's books at the best of times, and I have previously enjoyed all the books set in the small town of Wirralong. This is the first book in the new quartet called the Outback Brides Return to Wirralong. I am really looking forward to reading the last two books!

Maeve's Baby by Fiona Macarthur - 3.5/5 (Australian author)

No I didn't make a mistake in the last paragraph. I already read the second book in the quartet. I actually completely forgot that I preordered this entire series so it was something of a surprise when this one dropped onto my Kindle, but I did enjoy reading both off these stories over the course of one weekend.

The Last Charm by Ella Allbright (3.5/5)

This is one where I knew that I haven't yet finished the review. I mean I have an opening paragraph, I have a bit near the middle and some of the ending. Just need to fill in the gaps really! Watch this space.

The Deadly Hours by Susanna Kearsley, Anna Lee Huber, Christine Trent and CS Harris (4/5)

This is a collection of  4 stories that follows a cursed watch through history from the 1700s through to the 1940s. I read this because I love Susanna Kearsley, and this story actually feature characters from a couple of her previous books. I enjoyed the last two books but the Anna Lee Huber was the one I enjoyed the most. It clearly is part of a series, and I don't read series out of order but still!

I am linking my post up to the Monthly Wrap up which is hosted at Feed Your Fiction Addiction

You Were Made For Me by Jenna Guilaume

Do you remember when you were a teenager? When you were absolutely convinced that the cool guy is never going to be into you? Not least of all because he has a beautiful, popular girlfriend who happens to be your nemesis, but also because you know you're not in his league?

I remember feeling similar things to this, and to be honest, not only as a teenager. As an adult I spent many years as a single parent and there were times I believed it wouldn't be possible for me to meet the perfect guy. Luckily, I ended up meeting my pretty much perfect guy but it did take a long time.

What I didn't ever do though is accidentally create my own perfect guy (I had to rely on book boyfriends to fulfil that role) but that's exactly what happens for Katie. She's never been kissed and the boy that she really likes is oblivious to her existence. One night, after a rough day at school Katie and her friend Libby conjure up the perfect boy. When she goes to bed she has an anatomically correct clay figurine and when she wakes up there is 6 foot of Hemsworth-like boy in her room. What else are you going to do but freak out? And then you give them a completely imaginative name like, um, Guy?

Fortunately Libby and Katie's next door neighbour Theo are on hand to help with issues like where Guy can sleep because Libby's parents would freak if he stayed at her place. Theo has been Katie's friend for years. They have been there for each other through tragedy and triumph. But will their friendship survive Guy?

But here's the thing about creating someone so perfect. Guy has no life experience of his own. He has just popped into existence. Every time he eats something, it is the best thing he ever tasted. He has never been to school, and so just waits around for Katie to come home from work or school. He has to learn about working and money. The one thing he knows is Katie. But how do you know what they see in you when you made them to love just you?

I am not the target demographic for this book at all. I am more like the parent of the target demographic, but that doesn't mean to say that I couldn't enjoy the book. I enjoyed the back and forth on the page between Libby and Katie, and, obviously suspending disbelief, I enjoyed the premise of the book. It has that same kind of feel as movies like Freaky Friday and Big. And I definitely could relate to some of the issues around self worth as I did in this author's debut novel which I read last year. I think that there are certain feelings that you have as a teenager that you don't have to dig very hard to be able to find within yourself as an adult.

There is no doubt that this book is on the lighter end of the scale, but if you are looking for a fun read with a very Australian feel that still manages to cover off serious subjects such as grief, sexuality and finding your own identity, this was a pleasure to read.

Rating 4/5

Thanks to Netgalley for this book.

Goodreads summary

The day I created a boy started out like any other.
Katie didn't mean to create a boy. A boy like a long-lost Hemsworth brother: six-foot tall with floppy hair and eyes like the sky on a clear summer's day; whose lips taste like cookie-dough and whose skin smells like springtime.
A boy who is completely devoted to Katie.
He was meant to be perfect.
But he was never meant to exist.

This week...

I'm reading....

While I am spending plenty of time writing blog posts and visiting other bloggers, I am not doing much reading, which obviously is going to have an impact soon because how can you write about books when you aren't readingmuch?

I did start reading Jenna Guillaume's new book You Were Made For Me. I am not really the target audience for this book, but it is a lot of fun. It was perfect 4am reading over the weekend.

I am also a mere couple of hours away from finishing The Switch by Beth O'Leary and then it will be time to pick a new audiobook. There are several options,but I don't really know which one I am going to pick yet.

I'm watching...

Over the last couple of weeks we have been all about the feel good crafty type shows. Last week I mentioned that we were watching Great Canadian Baking Show and The Repair Shop. We are still watching those, as well as shows like Selling Houses Australia.

This week we added another crafty show into the mix - Making It which is hosted by Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman. This show is so much fun. The only thing that was a bit odd is that the first five episodes were available to stream, but the sixth episode, which also happens to be the final, was not available. In order to watch it wehave now had to subscribe to yet another streaming provider.  We got a free two week trial so I assume we will see what else is  available on there, and then maybe cancel it, if we remember.

We did start a couple of other drama series this week. The first was Trackers, which is based on
a series books by Deon Meyer featuring a former policeman by the name of Lemmer. I have read one of the books in the series. This show is set in South Africa which is where my husband was originally from, and the series rated really highly there, even beating out Game of Thrones apparently. The first episode was a fair bit of set up and introduction of the characters  so was a bit slow but there was enough to keep us interested in what happens next.

We did come up with one fun game. I pronounced all the place names in the most Aussie way possible and he got to correct my pronunciation. Hours of fun. Although he does win because he doesn't need to read the subtitles when the characters are speaking Afrikaans.

We also starting watching Singapore Grip which is a story set during WWII. The series starts just before the Japanese invasion of Singapore. The main families are involved in the rubber industry and live a lavish colonial lifestyle. Years ago I read a book called Tanamera by Noel Barber and it had a very similar premise and I loved that book. There was also a mini series made of that back in the 80s.

It's interesting to think how huge mini series used to be back in the day. The whole coming soon scenario, a stunning/gripping/enticing 4 part series. And there was some great TV. Series like North and South, The Thorn Birds and so many more. There is some times that sense of anticipation now, but it is usually expected that it will be for a whole series, rather than a 4 part epic, and of course, there's always the expectation that there has be

In Life

It was very exciting this weekend. Remember we bought a car a month ago. We finally put petrol in the car! It is so economical. I mean, it's taken a month to need to put petrol in. Let's not talk about the fact that is because we aren't allowed to go anywhere.

On that basis, the current tank of fuel may end up lasting us until November because we have now gone into Stage 4 Lockdown for at least the next six weeks. There has been a state of disaster declared and as such there is a curfew in place from 8pm to 5am. You can only leave home for work, medical reasons and caregiving. Only one person per household can leave once each day to purchase food but you have to stay within a 5km radius of your home. Schools go back to online learning, and non essential businesses are closing. There's more but that is most of the rules.

While the numbers continue to increase I do understand the need to put these restrictions in place, but it is disheartening. We have now been working from home for nearly 5 months, and as much as we are trying to keep ourselves entertained, there are moments in the day where it is easy to feel discouraged.

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Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in Paris
Alphabet 2020: New and Old
Paris in July: Cheese and Books
Weekend Cooking: Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook
Reading Reflections: July
Six Degrees of Separation

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

Six Degrees of Separation: How to Do Nothing to What I Like About Me

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.

This month's starting book is How to do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny ODell. I don't read a lot of non fiction so this is a book that I wasn't familiar with, and I am unlikely to read.

Having done this for a few months now, I am coming to realise that often the first idea is the best, if you have an idea in the first place! I probably should at least look at the cover before I decide on a theme though because I could have done something around flowers too. Anyway, the first thing that I thought of when I saw the title was to focus on the word how, and that then led to other interrogative words like how, who, what, where, why, when.

So here are my connections:

How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal - I first read Barbara O'Neal around 9 years ago when this book beat out two other books that I loved to win a RITA award in the Novel with Strong Romantic Elements category. I have since read a lot of this author's books and I always enjoy them. (review here)

The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters -  This is the tenth book in the Amelia Peabody mystery series, which is predominantly set in Egypt in the late 1880s through the 1920s. It is such a fun series, featuring Egyptian archaeology, a dastardly archenemy, humour,crimes and so much more. I might need to go back and pick up where I left off. Or maybe, restart at a point in the series and then go forward. (review here)

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens - This is one of those books that sticks around the bestsellers list for a long time. It was also a selection for Reese Witherspoon's book club and then with a movie adaptation in the works, it will probably stay around for a while longer yet. I listened to it on audio earlier this year.

Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer -Georgette Heyer was much better known for her regency romances but she also wrote a number of mysteries. I read this one many years ago!

When It All Went to Custard by Danielle Hawkins - From a book that I read many years ago to an author I have only discovered this year, Danielle Hawkins is a New Zealand author who writes rural romance. I have read a couple of her books so far and I have thoroughly enjoyed them

What I Like About Me by Jenna Guillaume - This was Australian YA author Jenna Guillaume's debut novel. I am due to read her second novel in the next few weeks.

Next month's starting point is Rodham by Curtis Sittenfield. As of now, I don't even have a first idea. Good thing I have a month to come up with something.

Where has your six degrees taken you this month?

Top Ten Tuesday: Most anticipated books in 2020

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is the most anticipated books still to be released in the second half of 2020.

Without further ado....

Return to Virgin River by Robyn Carr (October)- I wasn't really expecting a new Virgin River book but it makes sense to build on the success of the TV series. I really loved this series, and I also glommed the whole series in a reread frenzy a few years ago. I am wondering if maybe I should start another reread. I would have to rebuy the whole series again as the last time around was years

The Lost Girls of Devon by Barbara O'Neal (July)- I first read Barbara O'Neal when she won an award that one of my favourite author's was also nominated for. Since then I have read most of her books and find them very readable.

You Were Made for Me by Jenna Guillaume  (August)- I have known Jenna Guillaume online for a long time, so I was excited when I enjoyed her debut novel last year and I will definitely be reading her second novel.

Flying the Nest by Rachael Johns (November) - I am a big fan of Rachael Johns, whether it is her rural romance, or her contemporary women's fiction!

The Survivors by Jane Harper (September) - I have thoroughly enjoyed all of Jane Harper's books, and I am sure this will be no exception!

Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith (September) - This is the next Cormoran Strike novel. I have listened to these all on audio and I can't see that this one will be any different. The narrator on these books is so good!

Return of the Thief  by Megan Whalen Turner (August) - The Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner was a blogger favourite about ten years ago. It was a bit of a surprise to see that there is a new  book coming out after so long, in a good way!

Deadly Hours (September) - Susanna Kearsley is one of my favourite authors (even if I still haven't read her latest book) so I am excited at the prospect of a short story which connects to several of her other books. The other authors in this collection include CS Harris, Anna Lee Huber and Christine Trent

The Ringmasters Daughter by Carly Schabowski (July)- I want this just for the cover. Although the blurb sounds pretty good too.

The Women's Pages by Victoria Purman (September) - This was actually on my list in January but the release date was postponed until later in the year due to COVID. So now I am posting it again!

What books are you excited about that are due to be released in the next few months.