Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Love That Are More Than 10 Years Old

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Books I Love That ARe More Than 10 Years Old. 

I don't really read a lot of old books, so I decided to tweak the theme a little and share the last ten books I have read that are more than 10 years old. It just so happens that this list includes some books that I loved!!

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones - (published in 1986). I read this earlier this year as part of March Magic. I did see that the movie version of this is currently on Netflix so I might watch it soon.

Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran- (published in 2005) I read this a couple of years ago now for Cook the Books (review here)

Poison Study by Maria V Snyder (also Magic Study and Fire Study) - (published in 2005) I decided I was going to reread this series, and then carry on to read the next books in the series. I did the re-read part, but still haven't read the next books in the series. (review here)

Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys - (published in 1985) - This was originally a series of stories published during WWII and then republished in this form 

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl - (published in 1961) I actually listened to Taika Waititi and his famous friends read this story back in the early days of the pandemic!

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta - (published 2010) - I have listened to this on audio several times now. Might just about be time for another listen!

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley - (published 2008) - Yay! Another opportunity to mention this book! (review)

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett - (published 1990) - So much fun. I have watched the TV adaptation twice so far.

Sylvester by Georgette Heyer - (published 1957)- There are a couple of Georgette Heyer books which have been narrated on abridged audio by Richard Armitage - my idea of aural bliss! Highly recommended. (review here)

Ross Poldark by GrahamWinston - (published 1945) - I read this after watching some of the TV series.



I am looking forward to seeing what books other participants have on their lists.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Names/Character Names in the Title

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Books with Names/Character Names In the Titles (Submitted by BookLoversBlog and Lucy @ Bookworm Blogger)!

To create this list I went back to my handy dandy spreadsheet, started at the latest book and found 10 books. This is a fun topic though, and I am sure I could go back further and find another 10 titles without trying too hard! In fact, I am pretty sure you could do a list just featuring one or two names!

Flora's Travelling Christmas Shop by Rebecca Raisin - I could have chosen one of several of Rebecca Raisin's books (review)

Matilda Next Door by Kelly Hunter - This was part of two quartets set in a small Australian country town, and all of the books had character names as titles. In the end I chose this one because Kelly Hunter is an author I love to read. (review)

Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook by Celia Rees - I read this book 18 months or so ago now and I really enjoyed it. It is set in the immediate aftermath of WWII and it was a really enjoyable read. (review)

Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys - This book was originally published as a series of letters during WWII. 

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn - I guess technically I could have featured The Rose Code here too but let's change it up a bit and choose this one instead.

Dear Banjo by Sasha Wasley - The main character of this book's really name is Willow Patterson, but she is affectionately known as Banjo, hence the title.

Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta - Oh, an opportunity to feature a Melina Marchetta book! I'll take that.

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - I suspect this book might be on a few lists this week!

Circe by Madeline Miller - Circe is the daughter of a god and this book tells her story.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - I nearly forgot this one!!

And a bonus one just so I can share this video...

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl - This was already a magic book but right back at the beginning of the pandemic, Taika Waititi gathered together some of his famous friends and shared the story of James and the Giant Peach and it was so much fun! Here's the first episode

Christmas Quotes: Christmas 1941

Earlier this year I did a Top Ten Tuesday post about books that have been on my shelf for a very long time. Doing that post prompted me to actually read the book and now I am sharing a Christmas Quote from it!

This is an excerpt from a letter written to the writer's childhood friend who is serving in Europe while the writer is at her home in a seaside town in Devon

In the afternoon I went to see Lady B, who wouldn't let me into her room because of germs. So I went back home, lit the fire in the drawing-room, did the black-out all over the house annd sat down with my knitting. At six o'clock there was a lot of scuffling and scrunching on the path outside, and some children began singing carols. We get a lot of carols here, most of them squeaked hurriedly through the letter-box, but these were real carols, sung by a lot of children with a grown-up in charge.
'God Rest Your Merrie Gentlemen', they sang in their clear, sweet voices, and very nearly in tune. After that, we had 'Once in Royal David's City', and 'No-well, No-well'. A very small child came in with the collecting-box, and deeply moved by their performance, I gave, as they say, generously. When Charles came home he found me sitting in the dark, blowing my nose.
"You're not getting a cold, are you?" he said, rather crossly, as he switching on the lights. "Hullo!" he said, rather crossly, as he switched on the lights. "Hullo!" he said, peering at me closely, "what's going on here?"
"It was the carols," I muttered.
"But carols oughtn't to make you sad."
"Well, these did. There is so little, so very little peach and good will in the world just now, Charles."
Charles patted me kindly on the shoulder. "Not the international sort, perhaps. Plenty of individual good will," he said. "And now, go and put that cottage pie in the oven, I'm hungry."

Reading Reflections: June 2020

Here we are...half way through the year already! How did that happen?

June was not a bad reading month for me. A bit of historical fiction, a bit of contemporary fiction, some Australian authors, some not.

Here's what I read:

The Palace of Tears by Julian Leatherdale - 4.5/5

This is the first book I read by Julian Leatherdale, who was an Australian author. The book was inspired by a hotel in the Blue Mountains just outside Sydney. I thoroughly enjoyed this one and am definitely intending to read the other two books that were published before he unfortunately passed away earlier this year.

Normal People by Sally Rooney - 4/5

I had so many thoughts about this book, and then the TV series which I also watched this month, and yet I haven't written any of them down yet. I actually listened to this one on audio which I think helped because I didn't have to notice that the speech marks were missing. A brief summary of my thoughts - what makes this literature instead of young adult fiction?

The Silk House by Katye Nunn - 4/5

This is the first book I have read by Katye Nunn but it won't be the last. I did a joint review of this one with Bree from All the Books I Can Read. You can read our thoughts here.

Aria's Travelling Bookshop by Rebecca Raisin - 3.5/5

Books, food and France. What more can you want?

Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys 4.5/5

If I had to pick a best book of the month it would be this one. The irony is that this book has been on my bookshelf for more than 10 years, and in the end I only picked it up because I featured it as part of a Top Ten list. This book is a series of letters that were published during WWII and were then put together in a collection. The writer is writing to her childhood friend who is off fighting the war and she shares a series of anecdotes about life in her small village.

The House on Boundary Street by Tea Cooper 3.5/5

Part of the reason I mentioned the hotel when I talked about the Julian Leatherdale's book is because the same hotel is mentioned in this book. I do have a review half written on this book. Just need to finish it. I did enjoy some of the information about Sydney in the 1920s.

The New Beginnings Coffee Club by SamanthaTonge 4.5/5

This was my middle of the night read last week. It was also my first book by this British author. My library doesn't seem to have any more but I will be keeping my out for her books going forward.

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

Top Ten Tuesday: 10th Birthday edition

Happy birthday to Top Ten Tuesday! 10 years this week. That's quite a run. Top Ten Tuesday originally started at The Broke and the Bookish but then moved to The Arty Reader Girl in 2018. This week there are a couple of suggested topics, but there is also the freedom to improvise a bit.

While I had been aware of Top Ten Tuesday, I didn't actually start participating until this year, and even then it isn't every week. So, in total, I have participated eleven times. So I thought that what I might do is post one book from every Top Ten Tuesday I have participated in, so in effect a Top Eleven of Top Tens!

The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan - This was one of my choice for the first time I participated when the theme was most anticipated releases for the first half of 2020. I picked this book for today's because it is one that I have read and loved.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - Featured on my 10 newest additions to my TBR pile post back in February. It also featured on a couple of other lists which is why I have included it today.

The Sweet Life by Kate Bracks - For the book cover freebie topic in February I chose to spotlight some cookbooks off my shelf. This book has one of my favourite recipes in it -  Lemon Syrup Cakes. So lemony. So delicious..

The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley - The theme this time was the books on my TBR I think will be 5/5 reads. I am currently listening to this book so the jury is still out. It's definitely good though. The question will be how good.

Lunch in Paris: A Love Story, with Recipes. by Elizabeth Bard -  This was a love freebie and I chose to do books with a variation of the word love in the title. And the reason I chose this today? Because I would love to be having lunch in Paris today. Even though it isn't possible for many many reasons.

Circe by Madeleine Miller - Featured in my list of books with one word titles. So good.

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley - Just one of the many books I highlighted in my post about the top 10 reasons I love historical fiction. One of my favourite books of all time.

The Lost Love Song by Minnie Darke - The theme for the week that I chose this book was opening lines and I am sharing it today as this is probably my favourite book of the year. The opening line for this book is

The love song began it's life, not with a fanfare or a crash of cymbals, but instead with a knock at a door.

The Lost Pearl by Emily Madden - my theme for this post was I want to go there. In this case, there was Hawaii which has been on my visit list for a long time.

Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys - This book featured in my list of books which had been lingering unread on my bookshelves and I couldn't remember why it was there. My post title was Maybe I should read it. And guess what. I did. And it was good!

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo - This was one of my books on the winter 2020 TBR pile. It's still there, but I will get to it!

So there you go. A selection of books I have mentioned in the eleven times I have participated in Top Ten Tuesday.

This week...

I read...

I started reading The House on Boundary Street by Tea Cooper for review. It is set in 1920s Sydney in the aftermath of the Great War. It's interesting because the book was originally published under the title Jazz Baby but has apparently been revised and expanded. I do find it interesting when this happens to a book because I wonder how the author goes about such a process. Were there scenes that were left out the first time around, or has the author thought of something new to add? What was taken out? Or is it a chance to fix some anachronisms? What makes them look at an old book and think I am going to have another go at that story?

Otherwise I am still reading Henrietta's War and listening to The Moon Sister.

I watched....

I finished watching two things this week! Hurrah!

The first was Sweet Magnolias which was based on the books by Sherryl Woods. It's interesting that the series ended on such a cliffhanger when as I understand it there is no guarantee of a second series. I hope that there is because it was easy watching.

The second was Normal People.What a good adaptation this was of the book which I listened to a few weeks ago. It's full of angst and emotion and is very watchable. It feels like it sticks to the book pretty well, including the structure, skipping forward months at a time and the looking back, and the ending, which I think made more sense in the TV show than it did in the book.

Wait, we actually finished watching three things. The third one was Bake Off: The Professionals, which is a show that we love watching. We will never be able to recreate any of the creations at home because they are super complicated but it is amazing to watch what the professionals are able to create in a limited time, and we love watching the judges as they taste and critique the bakes in a very entertaining way.

We also started watching a New Zealand show called The Casketeers. I thought it was a specifically written comedy but it is actually a reality series which follows a funeral director as he goes about his daily business. While it doesn't sound like it would be funny, it really is because of the people who work there. And it is delightful because of the way that he deals with the people he is taking care of. He is very respectful of the people concerned, both those who have passed and those that are left behind.


On Saturday night, we sat and watched the movie Gladiator. The funny thing about that is that this was the first ever DVD that I bought back in the day,and yet I had never, ever watched it. It is one of my husband's favourite movies ever so I guess it was only time before I watched it.

In Life

The number of COVID cases here has increased so they are reimposing some of restrictions that were starting to be lifted.

It has been a very average week in lots of ways. Less said about that the better.

One of the things that I did have to celebrate this week is that I completed 500 playlists on Songpop. This is a music game where you listen to a piece of music and have to choose either the artist or song title from a list, and be faster than the person you are playing. It's taken me a very long time to get to 500 so that's something small to celebrate right?

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday
Library Loot
Weekend Cooking

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

This week...

I'm reading....

I posted the first paragraph or so from Henrietta's War on Friday but I haven't made any progress there. I do really want to get some time to read this book this week because so far I have really enjoyed it!

I have read a fair chunk of Aria's Travelling Bookshop by Rebecca Raisin which is a book that I have downloaded from the library. The odd thing is that I can only read this using the Borrowbox app which I can only seem to read on my phone. That does mean that I can read at 4am if I can't sleep but otherwise isn't that convenient. I definitely prefer to be able to read on my Kindle. I recently got a  review book from Netgalley that couldn't be sent to Kindle either so goodness knows how I am going to read that but I will figure it out.

I am also still listening to The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley. I mentioned last week I was going to try and vary the speed of the audio, which I did, but maybe I have to work up to a higher rate slowly. At the moment I have it at 1.2 and I am not sure that I want to go too much faster at this stage.

I'm watching...

We watched a couple of episodes of Normal People this week. We do have a tendency to watch an episode or two of a show an never get back to it again. There's no reason not to get back to it but we will see.

I did have a Sunday afternoon binge watch of Sweet Magnolias on Netflix which is based on a series of books by Sherryl Woods and which I haven't read. Robert was busy in the bathroom sanding, painting etc so I got to just watch a few episodes in a row. It's pleasant, easy watching, so I will probably watch more.


In Life

The social life is kind of getting back to normal, kind of. I don't mean in terms of going to an art gallery, or the movies. I did get together with a group of friends for a divorce party/dinner. My contribution was White Chocolate Cheesecake. With this particular group of friends, there is no other choice. Last time I went I wanted to try a baked cheesecake so I made a Salted Caramel Baked Cheesecake which was yum but I did get in trouble because it was the "right" cheesecake! I have been making this cheesecake for more than 10 years and apparently they still haven't had it enough times!

We, by which I mean Bob the Builder, is still working on the bathroom, but there is really just one big job to do once the acrylic panels come into the hardware store. Other than that, just finishing touches. I am, however,  looking forward to when my son can go back to using the main bathroom rather than our ensuite. I don't really mind except either his bodywash is different or he uses a lot of it because everytime I have the next shower after him the shower base is like a skating rink. It's so slippery!

We have recently been refinancing and making changes to our financial priorities which sounds very very grown up, and is! It's also kind of stressful but everything was sorted out last week so we are now on our way towards our goals. As part of this,  we are also starting to look at new cars. There are just so many options, and it's hard to know what the right choice to make is. This will be the first time I have ever had a brand new, or near new, car.

The last thing to mention this week is that the signup is now open for Paris in July, hosted at Thyme for Tea! I am excited to participate in this again. It was always part of my plan for this year, but it would have been much easier if we had actually been allowed to go to Paris but I am sure I will come up with something!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday
It's Friday!
Alphabet  2020
Weekend Cooking

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

It's Friday!

I thought I might start participating in a couple of weekly memes on Friday just for a bit of fun. I will therefore be moving my Alphabet 2020 posts to Thursdays from now on.

Let's start with Book Beginnings on Friday which is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reads. The idea is to share the first sentence or two of your current read and share your thoughts

Earlier this week I listed ten books that I have had on my TBR for a long time and I couldn't remember why. One of those books was Henrietta's War by Joyce Dennys. It is a series of letters sharing about life in a small village in Devon during World War II. It starts:

October 18, 1939
My Dear Robert
It was good to get your letter and hear that you are in a 'perfectly safe place', thought I wonder how much of that is true and how much intended to allay the alarms of your Childhood's Friend. And why, when I an everybody else know that you are in France, must I address my letters to Berkshire? Well, well, I suppose They Know Best, and Ours Not to Reason Why, but I seem to remember that when I wrote to you in the last war I used to put 'B.E.F', France, quite boldly on the envelope, therefore no doubt endangering the safey of the British Empire.

I am already pretty sure I am going to love this book!

The other meme is Friday 56 hosted at Freda's Voice

RULES:
Grab a book, any book.
Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your ereader. (If you have to improvise, that is okay)
Find a snippet, short and sweet.
Post it, and add the url to the Linky

I just started reading Aria's Travelling Book Shop by Rebecca Raisin so I thought I would use this book for the Friday 56 this week. I read the previous book in this series earlier this year and really enjoyed it so I am looking forward to reading more!

Jonathan stands out among my nomadic friends, dressed in what looks to be high-end clothes, not as shabby as the rest of us who live in tiny spaces and don't own a lot of anything because there isn't room. But it's more than that - he gives off an air of being slightly aloof and lost in thought that makes him instantly fascinating.