Top Ten Tuesday: Armchair Travelling

 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 love armchair travel and books where people make a new start. I can and have done posts about specific destinations like Paris and Greece. My take on the theme this week is choosing books where the travelling is an integral part of the story, and I am using all different forms of transport!

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells - I have gone big with my first form of transport - space travel!  And the transporter is actually a key character in the book. 

Everyone on this Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson - I have read a number of books where travel on the Ghan is featured. The Ghan is a train that runs through central Australia from Darwin to Adelaide and vice versa. (my review)

Last Stop on the Winter Wonderland Express by Rebecca Raisin - This is another train book. This time the train goes through Europe ending up in Lapland

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles - This book probably have a bit of a different feel to most on this list, but at it's heart this is a road trip as a young man travels from Nebraska to New York.

The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary - This is the story of an uncomfortable road trip to Scotland when two sisters give on their exes and his mate a ride to a wedding. 

A Wedding in the Sun by Leonie Mack - Speaking of road trip to weddings, this book features the ex wife and the ex husband of the happy couple who are thrown together at the last minute and have to make it to the wedding in Spain in time! (my review)

The Croatian Island Library by Eva Glyn - Our characters spend the summer sailing between Croatian islands providing a library service. (my review)

The Arctic Cruise by Caroline James - I have read a couple of books set on cruise ships by this author. This was my latest and saw the characters chasing the Northern Lights. (my review)

Golden Girls on the Run by Judy Leigh - When two older women borrow one of their grandson's red Ferrari, they travel from Ireland to the south of England. (my review)

Where the Birds Call Her Name by Claire van Ryn - The modern part of this dual timeline features a mother and daughter travelling from far north Western Australia to Tasmania (my review)

Sunday Salon: Spell the Month in Books - March

 

Reviews From the Stacks

For 2025 I have decided to have a go at Spell the Month in Books which is hosted at Reviews From the Stacks. The link party opens on the first Saturday of the month, but I won't be posting until after that as I already have other things scheduled every Saturday and for the first two Sundays of the month.

The idea is that you use the title of books to spell the month name. There is also a theme each month, with the theme for March being Sci Fi. I am not going to lie. I thought I was really going to struggle with sticking to the theme, but this was actually the easiest one so far!

The Martian by Andy Weir - This is one of my favourite movies, and I loved the audiobook of it too.

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness - It's funny. I was thinking about using a different Patrick Ness book for something else the other day, and then I needed an A and here this one was! This is the second book in the Chaos Walking series.

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells - I love the Murderbot series. They aren't my normal genre, but they are fun and irreverent, a bit violent but oh so good!

Cordelia's Honor  by Lois McMaster Bujold - Somewhat strangely these are a combined issue of books 1 and 7 in the Vorkisagan series. 

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir  - I have read the first book in this series, Gideon the Ninth, but haven't read this one yet

Much easier than I expected! 

The April theme is Animal on the Cover or in the Title.

I am sharing this post with Sunday Salon hosted by Readerbuzz.

Top Ten Tuesday: Trick or Treat

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's is a Halloween freebie, so we can post whatever we like, presumably at least Halloween related. However, I haven't been reading anything particularly Halloweeny recently as I am all about the feel good reads at the moment,

Bearing that in mind, my post this week is called Trick or Treat, and the books will all start with the letters of those words.

TRICK

These Old Shades by Georgette Heyer 

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Cracklescape by Margot Lanagan

Kitchen by Banana Yashimoto

TREAT

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Exit Strategy by Kelley Armstrong

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The Tolstoy Estate by Steven Conte

We don't really do Halloween but I can say it anyway......   

Happy Halloween!

Top Ten Tuesday: May Flowers

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is May Flowers - Pick your own title for this one to reflect the direction you choose to go with this prompt (books with flowers on the cover, flower names in the title, characters whose names are flower names, stories involving flowers/gardeners).

Here are some flowers that I have received this week!

Back in April, the theme was April Showers and rather than do showers, I thought I would share 10 years worth of April reads. I thought I would do the same with this week's theme. So here are 10 books I read in May over the last few years.

2024 - The Shakespeare Sisters by Juliet Greenwood - I am currently reading this book. I have the second book in the series to read soon too.

2023 - The War Nurses by Anthea Hodgson - I really liked this one when I read it last year.

2023 - A Taste of Italian Sunshine by Leonie Mack - The first book I read by Leonie Mack was set in Paris, this one in the vineyards of Italy, and the last one in the mountains of France. I already have the next book to read by her and this one is set in Spain

2022 - The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles - This was a long, but enjoyable read.

2021 - The Dressmakers of Yarrandarah Prison by Meredith Jaffe - this one is a 5/5 read for me!

2021 - All Systems Red by Martha Wells - I don't read a lot of sci-fi but this series is a lot of fun!

2020  - The Postmistress by Alison Stuart - Australian historical fiction set in a fictitious town inspired by an actual town a few hours away from me that I would love to visit

2020 - The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan- I do mix things up a little bit genre wise! This is crime fiction!

2019 - The Flat Share by Beth O'Leary - Still the best book by this author that I have read.

2018 - Templar Silks by Elizabeth Chadwick - This is one of my favourite historical fiction authors and yet I don't often read her. Must rectify that!

Six Degrees of Separation: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow to Sunflowers

 

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 for this book is  Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabriele Zevin which isn't a book I have read before. It does sound like an interesting read, and was a Goodreads Choice Award winner in 2022.

According to the blurb this book is set in the world of video game design. Now that I am writing this post I have  thought of another direction to go in but when I did my chain, the first book I thought of was Ready Player One by Ernest Kline, which is a book that is set both within and outside a video game.

The audiobook for Ready Player One is read by Wil Wheaton who also narrated The Martian by Andy Weir which was one of my favourite audiobooks in 2023.

I don't read a lot of sci-fi. A couple of years ago I did The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson on a recommendation from friends. There is a sequel to this book coming out in March which I am looking forward to.

The last sci-fi book I read was Exit Strategy by Martha Wells. This book is part of Murderbot series which is a lot of fun. It has recently been announced that there is a TV series being made of Murderbot.

I have a number of books on my Kindle by Martha Hall Kelly which I have never read so lets go with her book Sunflower Sisters.

The title Sunflower Sisters reminded me of the painting Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh so I am finishing with a book about Van Gogh which is called Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick.

Next month we start with the book we finished on this month (or the last book read), whichever we like. I think Sunflowers has lots of potential as a place to start.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Summer 2023-2024 to read list

 

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

e is Books on My Winter 2023/24 to-Read List but it is summer here so this is my summer to read list.

The Vintage Village Bakeoff by Judy Leigh - This is for a review. Apparently it was supposed to be last week but I wrote next week's date down instead.

The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns - I am a big fan of Rachael Johns so of course this is on my list!

The Chocolate Factory by Mary-Lou Stephens - I enjoyed this author's debut novel The Last of the Apple Blossom so I am looking forward to this one!

The Secrets of Crestwell Hall by Alexandra Walsh - Another review copy!

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang - I am always up for a new Kate Quinn novel.

The Secret Ingredient by Sue Heath - This will be a future Weekend Cooking post.

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells - the fourth Murderbot book! I have already started this one.

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett - My now traditional re-listen to this book!

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros - I am pretty sure this won't be the only time this book appears on TTT posts.

Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazzu Kawaguchi - I will be listening to this for the Japanese Literature Challenge

Do you have any of these books on your TBR list?

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2023

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2023.  Normally I have to go looking for books for this prompt but there are so many good books coming out over the next few months!

Codenamed Charming by Lucy Parker - I read the first book in this series a couple of years ago and have been waiting for this ever since.


Daisy and Kate by Meredith Appleyard - This author was at the retreat I went to last month and the book sounds good. It doesn't hurt that the cover is gorgeous.

The Girl from Portofino by Siobhan Daiko - I read The Girl from Venice a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it so I am on the lookout for this one.

Back on Track by Tricia Stringer - Another author who was at the retreat, this book is primarily set on the train that goes from Adelaide to Darwin,  The Ghan, which is a trip I would love to do at some point.

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo - This is this author's first adult book. I loved the YA book I have read by her so hopefuly that this would be good.

 

At the Coffee Shop of Curiosities by Heather Webber - I have enjoyed this authors previous books!

Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See - So looking forward to this one. I really enjoyed her last book.

System Collapse by Martha Wells - The fact that I still haven't read the last book in the series doesn't mean that I can't be excited about this one!

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang - Kate Quinn. Need I say more!


The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer - Very excited about this one!

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

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I Would Like to Start, Catch Up On or Finish

 

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

week the theme is Series I’d Like to Start/Catch up on/Finish. A couple of months ago, I did TTT which was about the series that I kind of, sort of, just stopped reading. In order to stretch myself I am going to to try to avoid choosing any of those series this time, which might be harder than I think but let's see.

Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley - I still haven't read the latest book in the Seven Sisters series. I really should get on to it given that Pa Salt's story is going to come out next year.

London Celebrities series by Lucy Parker - l recently read Act Like It, the first book in the London Celebrities series. I am really waiting for the next book in the Palace Insiders series but I am happy enough to read the next books in the London Celebrities series.

The Kiss Quotient trilogy by Helen Hoang - I've read the first book but I need to read the next couple of books too.

Murderbot series by Martha Wells - I've read the first three books in this series, but still need to read more.

Eleanor of Aquitaine series by Elizabeth Chadwick - I listened to the first book in this series a while ago but I do need to get back to the second book.

Discworld series by Terry Pratchett - I really, really need to get back to this series.

Harold Fry series by Rachel Joyce - Does a duology count as a series? I am counting it! This is an author who I have been meaning to try for the longest time. I did read a short story by her the other day which does make me want to read more.

Outback Babies series - There have been a couple series set in the small country town of Wirralong. I have read the first two books in the current series, but I haven't yet read the last two.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold trilogy by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - This is the third book in the series. This time the setting has moved to a new location so I am excited to see what happens next.

Bunyip Bay series by Rachael Johns - I honestly can't believe I haven't read this yet.

So there's just some of the series that I would like to start, catch up on or finish!

Top Ten Tuesday: Second Book in a Series

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is a freebie so I can choose what I like. A few weeks ago now the topic was Dynamic Duos. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do that topic so I decided instead to do a twist on the topic by playing on the idea of duo meaning two  and do second books in a series. Often, we all remember the first book in a series, but not so much the second book, although that isn't always true.

Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn - Lady Julia Grey series.

The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett - Discworld series

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon - Outlander series

The Life She Chooses by Maggie Christensen - Granite Springs series

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells - Murderbot Diaries

Secrets of the Railway Girls by Maisie Thomas - Railway Girls series

The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley - Seven Sisters series

The Endless Beach by Jenny Colgan - Mure series

The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan- Cormac Reilly 

To Say Nothing of the Dog - Oxford Time Travel

What topic did you choose to do this week?