Top Ten Tuesday: Holiday countdown!

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Ten Favorite Books from Ten Series (We all have a favorite book in our favorite series, right?) (submitted by A Hot Cup of Pleasure)

However, I have holidays on my mind, so I am going to do the last ten books I have read that have given me holiday vibes. Lucky I read a lot of escape lit at the moment!

An Island Promise by Kate Frost - Three friends go on holidays to Ibiza and promise that in 10 years time they will do it all again, except everything is different.

The Stolen Hours by Karen Swan - This book doesn't have a holiday feel at all, but it is set in Scotland and that is one of the places we are visiting.

Poppy's Parisian Patisserie by Daisy James - Poppy goes to Paris to work, but I would love to go back for holidays again and again. (my review)

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum - I picked this one because we are going to Korea next year.

The One That I Want by Sandy Barker - This doesn't really have holiday vibes either, but it is all about London, which is one of our destinations this time. (my review)

A Love Letter from Paris by Rebecca Raisin - Paris! Paris! Paris!! (my review)

The Itinerary by Penny Pentley - This is a fun read in which the main characters starts a European trip in Rome and ends up in France.

The Riviera House Swap by Gillian Harvey - The idea of being able to swap houses and spend some time on the French Riviera sounds amazing! (my review)

The Golden Gal's French Adventure by Judy Leigh - The two main characters in this story, head off to the north of France for a life changing holiday. (my review)

A Wedding in the Sun by Leonie Mack - Two people end up getting into all sorts of adventures on the way to the wedding of their exes. (my review)

What kind of books give you holiday vibes?

Top Ten Tuesday: First books

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Debut Novels I Enjoyed (A debut novel is an author’s first published book. You could also choose to share genre or age group debuts if you’d prefer, such as an adult fiction author’s first YA book or a mystery writer’s first romance.) (submitted by Angela @ Reading Frenzy)

I keep track of a lot of things on my two spreadsheets, whether a book is the author's debut or not is not one of them. So I am going to twist the topic a little bit and share the last ten books that I have read where I hadn't read the author before.

Champagne Widows by Rebecca Rosenberg - If all goes to plan I will be reviewing this next weekend.

The Itinerary by Penny Pentley - This was a fun trip through Europe

Family Tree by Susan Wiggs - I can't believe I hadn't read this author before now. (My review)

A New Dawn at Owl's Lodge by Jessica Redland - I would like to read more from this author (My review)

Come Fly With Me by Helen Rolfe - I will be reading my next book from this author soon  (My review)

The French Cookery School by Caroline James -  This was so much fun! Made me want to do a cooking course in France. (My review)

Invitation to Italy by Victoria Springfield - I'd be happy to visit Italy or France. Either one really. (My review)

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - i can't wait to see the movie of this! The cast looks stellar. 

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa - I have the next book on my Kindle already.

The French Adventure by Jennifer Bohnet - Say yes to adventure! (My review)

This week....

Max

It was this handsome boys second birthday last week!

I'm reading

It's been a really busy reading week this week!

I finished The Itinerary by Penny Pentley, started and finished Clara Reads Proust by Stephani Carlier, both of which continue my recent run of French inspired reads. 

Next up I started and finished a short intro prequel to a series called The Barrington Series. I heard about this series over the weekend. The newest book in particular sounds appealing, but I thought I would start with this free prequel.

Finally, I started reading Midnight Blue by Simone van der Vlugt. This is a third book that will count for my read on a theme bookclub. The theme this month is Translated Books. I suspect they will give me some grief about over-achieving. What can I say?

I'm Watching

Who has time to watch anything!

Life


It's been a really busy week! Last week I spent a couple of days in Sydney as I was welcoming a new team member. I flew up on Monday, which was a public holiday, so I had a bit of time. I therefore took the opportunity to do a harbour cruise to see the amazing lights around the harbour as part of #vividSydney. 

I was home for a day and then we flew up to the Gold Coast for Rachael Johns Book Club Reader Retreat. This is the second retreat which I have attended, and it was fabulous. This is an opportunity to interact with other book people and authors. I plan to write more about this over the weekend!

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Same, Same But Different!

Blog Tour: The Riviera House Swap by Gillian Harvey

Weekend Cooking: Masterchef Alumni







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

This week...

I'm reading

Last week I mentioned that I was starting An Astronomer in Love by Antoine Laurain. What a delight this book was. I am planning to review this and a couple of other books by this author as part of Paris in July. If you haven't read Laurain before, keep an eye out for his books!

I then continued my book visit to France and read The Riviera House Swap by Gillian Harvey. I really like her books and this was no exception. My review for this will be up later this week. 

I then have a big gap before my next review book is due, so in theory I could read anything. Do you know how hard it is to choose what to read next when there are no parameters. Talk about paralysis by analysis. In the end I started The Itinerary by Penny Pentley. You can tell from the cover that at least some of this book will be set in Paris.

I'm watching


Nothing much!


Life


The highlight of the last week was my birthday dinner. We went to a pop up restaurant called Alumni which was being run by Masterchef Australia alumni, Calum Hann. It was a four course set menu and that means that you end up eating things that you might not otherwise try! More about that in Weekend Cooking this week.

I am in Sydney for work for a couple of days this week, and then going to the Gold Coast for the weekend so it's a bit frantic here at the moment.

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Happy! 

Blog Tour: The Golden Gals' French Adventure by Judy Leigh

Weekend Cooking: The Chocolate Factory by Mary-Lou Stephens

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - May Statistics



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