Top Ten Tuesday: Books with books on the cover

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)

This week....

I'm reading

My big news this week....I finished War and Peace! Yes! I started this for the second time in January last year and was determined to finish it by June 30 and made it!

In other reading news, sometimes a book feels as though it was specifically written with me in mind, and that is definitely the case with This Book Made me Think of You by Libby Page. I loved it from beginning to end. I loved how bookish it was, it was sad but also hopeful, warm and uplifting! This will be on my best of list for 2026 for sure!

This week I also finished reading my first ever novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Atmosphere, which I read to fulfil two categories in the Goodreads Spring challenge. It is kind of funny that I was reading this book and listening to Project Hail Mary at the same time! I am making some progress with PHM, but it will be a while until I actually finish it.

I also finished reading The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon which was another Goodreads challenge read. It's my first book by her and it won't be my last.

Now I am reading The Model Murders by Amanda Hampson, which is the fourth book in the Tea Ladies series. It's so much fun visiting with these characters again!

We had our read on a theme book club meeting this weekend, and for the first time since we started this book club I didn't read a book to match the theme. I thinks on the shelf I could of read but they just didn't really appeal. The next theme is Secrets and I feel like both of the last two books I mentioned could fit for that theme!

I'm watching


On Friday night we went and saw a Peruvian movie called Mistura which is set in the 1960s in Lima and features a woman who needs to come up with a plan to save her house after her husband leaves her for a younger woman. It was very foodie and worth a watch!

On Satruday night we watched two movies. The first was a WWII file called Into the White which was set in Norway. It was based on a true story where a German plane crew and a British plane crew come together in a remove cottage in the middle of nowhere and have to work out how they are going to survive.

In a change of pace we then watched Office Romance which stars Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein as the boss and her lawyer who begin an inappropriate office relationship. I actually laughed out loud several times!

And for old times sake I watched First Wives Club with Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler and Diane Keaton as three women whose husbands left them for younger women.

Life

Not a lot to tell this week!

Max


Happy birthday to the Max! This good boi turned 4 this week! 

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Books with handwriting on the cover
Blog Tour: Charlie's Last Angel by Maggie Christensen
The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson
Afternoon Tea Diaries: Paradox at Oxi Tea Rooms
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: May statistics



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

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Handwriting on the Cover

 Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. 

This week theme is Books with Handwriting on the Cover (Or fonts that look like handwriting. Titles, subtitles, covers with letters on them, etc.). There is a publisher that I read quite a lot from who tends to put their author names on the cover in a cursive like font, but I am going to see how far I can get but focussing only books where it is the title that is in cursive. On some covers it might be the whole title but on others it is just words like the or on!

A Venice Summer by Lynne Shelby - I read this a couple of months ago and enjoyed it a lot.

The Palace of Lost Virtue by Anthea Hodgson - This one was sitting on my desk right in my eye line so I couldn't not have this on the list even though I haven't read it yet!

This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page - same with this one really

An Italian Island Love Story by Leonie Mack - This might look more like handwriting if you squint at it slightly but it is there!

Hopes and Dreams at the Chocolate Pot Cafe by Jessica Redland - Isn't this cover fun?

The Seaside Book Club by Helen Rolfe - This is a cute cover too!

The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa - This is such an eye catching cover. I am glad that it is the one that got.

The Cottage at the Edge of the Woods by Jane Lovering - The contrast between the block letters and the cursive is very effective as we can see on several covers in this list.

The Resistance Knitting Club by Jenny O'Brien - It's only one word but it still counts!

The Boulangerie on the Corner by Susan Buchanan - And now I want to eat France and eat lots of fresh bread.

This week...

I'm reading

Do you ever feel like it doesn't matter how much you read, the amount of books that add to your TBR is always far greater than the number of books that you actually read! That is definitely the case for me at the moment.

I did get get through several books last week, and then I started or picked up other books that I had previously started and put down. 

I finished reading Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. We went to see the Movie of The Sheep Detectives a few weeks ago and I picked up the book after that. It is fair to say that this is one of those rare occasions where the movie is better than the book. To be fair, they have two completely different story lines which only have some character names and the basic premise of the sheep doing the investigating in common but still.

The I sped through First Time Caller by B K Borison. I have only read a couple of her books so far but I have loved them both and I know that I am going to enjoy whatever she puts out!

I also read The Maid by Nita Prose. This was a selection for one of the Goodreads challenge categories. It's not my normal genre but I did enjoy it!

I then read Piglettes by Clementine Beauvais. I swear I saw that someone had read it for a previous iteration of Paris in July but I can't find who. It has been years since I read a YA book, and there were a couple of things that bothered me but overall it was a fun read. My review will be up in July as part of Paris in July

I am on the blog tour for Charlie's Last Angel by Maggie Christensen this week so I need to get on and write the review. 

I then started This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page. I am not very far in but I am loving it already. Can't wait to get back to it!

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon is another Goodreads challenge selection, so this is the book I am reading when I can't sleep at night!

I am making a concerted effort to finally finish War and Peace. My aim is to finish it by the end of this month! Currently I would need to read an average of 8 pages a day to get there. Wish me luck.

I was sorry to see the news that Iranian/French author Marjane Satrapi has passed away at the very young age of 56. Many years ago her Persepolis books were doing the rounds in the blogosphere. I also loved the movie adaptation of her book Chicken with Plums. In particular there is a montage scene towards the end of the movie which I still remember with fondness now.

I'm watching

A couple of months ago we re-watched the first two seasons of Ted Lasso. This week we started re-watching season 3 so it should be relatively fresh in our minds for when the next season comes out in August.

I did go to the movies this week to see a Mexican/Uruguyan film called Nothing Between Us which is showing as part of the Spanish and Latin American Film Festival. It is about two people who have an affair while on a work trip to Mexico. I am going to see a Spanish film this week so I will post about both of them soon.

Life


It was my birthday on Sunday so we went to our favourite afternoon tea destination. As always it was an exceptional experience with amazing customer service!

My husband bought me this cute booknook for my birthday! Now to find the time to start to put it together!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Author names - Jane who?    

20 Books of Winter: 2026 reading list

The Seaside Book Club by Helen Rolfe

In My Kitchen: April/May

Six Degrees of Separation: The Post-Office Girl to Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens







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