Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Books

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Books for Armchair Travelers (Submitted by Laurie C @ Bay State Reader’s Advisory). 

I don't often save quotes so I am going to do a twist on the topic this week. This year is my third year of participating in the Bookish Books Reading Challenge hosted at Bloggin' 'Bout Books. For my TTT post this week I am going to share the last ten bookish books I read! I think books about books is something that most of us love!

Soyangri Book Kitchen by Kim Jee Hyde - This is a Korean book about a young woman who opens a bookshop and kitchen out in the country. 

The Croatian Island Library by Eva Glyn - A trio of characters sails from island to island in Croatia to share library books. (my review)

Dinner at the Night Library by Hika Harada - Another book that combines food and books! This is a Japanese story about a strange library which holds the books that writers loved. (my review)

Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson - What happens when multiple crime authors get on a train for a crime writers festival, but less people make it to the end of the line. (my review)

The Wartime Bookclub by Kate Thompson - How a Channel Island community comes together through the love of books! (my review)

The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan - When a woman is asked to find one particular item in a falling down stately home in the Scottish highlands at Christmas time, what could go wrong?

I Give You My Body...How I Write Sex Scenes by Diana Gabaldon - This was a very short audio book about writing sex scenes and featuring a lot of quotes from her books as example.

Winter Nights at the Bay Bookshop by Jessica Redland - Featuring a gorgeous sounding small town bookstore at Christmas. (my review)

The Cruise Club by Caroline James - An author with writer's block goes on a cruise where one of her author heroes is giving writing lectures. (my review)

The Storytellers by Sue Heath - A group of very different people come together at a local library with the aim of writing a short story competition entry together! (my review)

This week

I'm reading

This week I finished reading Soyangri Book Kitchen by Kim Jee Hye (translated by Shanna Tan). This was a really cute Korean read, which is about a woman who starts a book kitchen and it tells the story of her guests and the people who end up around her. It is a book about books and about food, which is right in my wheelhouse, and there were some really nice quotes, including this one about why the owner named it a book kitchen

Even landing on the name 'Soyangri Book Kitchen' had taken Yoojin two whole weeks. She wanted a name befitting a place filled with books. Drawing inspiration from the idea that every book has a unique flavour that would appeal differently to its readers, she hoped that by naming the shop a book kitchen, it would become a space where people could enjoy some reading time and rest their weary hearts. Like how food comforts the soul, she hoped, too, that the delicious smell of paper and books would make her guests feel comfortable enough to shed the burden of bottled-up feelings, and to embrace some moments of solace and warmth.

I read The Croatian Island Library by Eva Glyn on the plane to Perth, and I am planning to finish The Arctic Cruise by Caroline James on the plane home. I am due to post reviews of both of those on Wednesday so the pressure is on!

I finished listening to Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathi which is the current selection for Cook the Books. What an enjoyable listening experience this was. My review for this one will be up in a couple of weeks.

I then started listening to The Seven Rings by Nora Roberts, which is the third book in The Lost Brides series. 

I was meant to do my 2025 stats last week but I didn't get it done, so that will have to be next week. I normally try to at least be working on my big posts the week before but I ran out of time this week, and this week looks like it is going to be pretty busy too!

I'm watching


Not much this week!

Life

We did a quick trip to Perth this week to watch the first SailGP race of the season and the first one to be run is Perth! The weather was perfect, the racing was amazing and it was an all round good weekend!

On the first day we sat in the Beach club which was very relaxed. The second day we sat in the grandstands. The view was amazing but it was so windy that I ended up not being able to wear my hat for very long in case it flew off! There are at least 3 more years for the race to be held in Perth and we will definitely be back for at least one of those, or maybe all of them. We'll see. 

 We stayed with my auntie, so we got to see family, eat some great food and catch up!


Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2026
Everyone on this Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson
Dinner at the Night Library by Hika Hirada

Weekend Cooking: Japanese Chicken Curry 





I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings

This Week....

I'm reading

We are well and truly back into the swing of things in terms of being back at work (not that I took a break), reading and blogging! 

Last week I finished a couple of books.

The first was the super fun Everyone on this Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson. This is the second book in the Ernest Cunningham series. I already have the third book in the series out from the library.

Another library book I read this week was Dinner at the Night Library by Hika Hirada, who is a successful Japanese author. I really enjoyed this one and look forward to reading more from her once the English translation is released.

I have started reading Soyangri Book Kitchen by Kim Jee Hye who is a Korean author. So far this one is cute!

I have a couple of other books on the go which I have started and not made much progress on. I am hoping to at least finish my audiobook this week. We'll see.


I'm watching


Last year I listened to an audiobook called The Man Who Pays the Rent by Dame Judi Dench. I had also previously watched an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? where she could trace her family line to members of the Danish Royal Court. This week I watched a show called Shakespeare, My Family and Me where she was looking for evidence that maybe her ancestor could possibly have met Shakespeare when the Danish court visited England. It was very interesting!

I also watched the recently released movie adaptation of The People You Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. I thought it was a very watchable rom-com. I laughed out loud at some points, and rolled my eyes at others!




Life



It is summer in Australia but our weather has been a bit all over the place. Last week we had a few very, very hot days! I was glad that I was just able to stay at home. Unfortunately, that means it is also bushfire weather and there were several burning over the last few days. They are fortunately a fair way from me, but there have been lives and homes lost. The biggest impact for me was when I did open the back door, all I could smell was smoke. It is always eerie and brings back bad memories of really bad fire days we have had in the past.

Last week, it was our meetaversary. Apparently we can't call it an anniversary now that we have a wedding anniversary as well. It was 9 years ago that we first met, so we went out to dinner at the Meat and Wine Company. It was a delicious meal.

Have you ever seen the two movies about The Fisherman's Friends? They are really nice, feel good films about a group of fisherman who were discovered singing sea shanties at their village harbour and have gone on to have successful music careers. We went to see them on Saturday night, and it was so much fun! My favourite parts were when they sang without any musical accompaniment - oh the harmonies! - but really the rest of the songs were just sung with an accordion and some guitars. It was a really fun night!

Here's a taster

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books I Read in 2025
Two Historical Fiction Novels - The Wartime Book Club and The Tea Planter's Wife
Weekend Cooking: Three Japanese Books Set in Cafes/Restaurants
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge Statistics for December and whole of 2025




I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings