This week

I'm reading

Another busy week reading wise! It is surprising in a way as it doesn't feel like I have a lot of reading time but I am making some good progress.

First I finished We'll Prescribe You Another Cat by Syou Ishida, which is the second book in the series. The third is due to be released later this year and I will read it! It's funny because I am not really a cat series, but I don't mind reading Japanese series that features cats.

Next up, I read Careful, He Might Hear You by Sumner Locke Elliott which was my selection for the current Classic Club Spin! I absolutely loved this. It was a really engaging read which I got through in just a couple of days, even though it is a pretty big book! This book also counts as a read for my read on a theme book club. This month the theme is Secrets

I then started Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak. This book is going to slow my reading down as it is pretty dense. I love that it is set in Konya though, which is a city in Turkiye that we visited on our recent trip.

On the audiobook front I finished Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir which I loved. The audio experience of this one was great!

My next audio book is Before I Knew I Loved You by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, the next book in the Before The Coffee Gets Cold series. I have only listened to the prologue so far though

I'm watching


A while ago now I read The Convenience Store by the Sea by Sonoko Machida and really enjoyed it. (my review). I only just learnt this weekend that they have made a TV version of the book, so I watched the first episode on Saturday. It is a bit kitschy but it is a lot of fun so far. 

We finished watching two series this week.  We finished watching the latest series of Welcome to Wrexham, which is always really good TV. 

The other series was The Ottoman Empire by Train which is hosted by British archaelogist Alice Roberts. This journey started in Turkiye, visiting cities like Ankara and Istanbul, and then on into Eastern Europe. It was very interesting! And it too visited Konya!

I also binged watched the third season of Stuff the British Stole. In this season, they talked about the English flag, a meteorite that was found in Victoria but is now in Britain, the history of tea and more. It is always very interesting viewing.

Here's the trailer

Life

It is end of financial year here which means that I am crazy, crazy busy. Not that I am not super busy the rest of the time too, but even more so this week. 

I could really have done with a quiet weekend but instead we had two very enjoyable events. 

On Friday night we went to see Post Modern Jukebox in concert. This is the second time I have seen them live. They do amazing versions of songs that you know really well and adapt them to the sounds of different musical eras. One of the highlights was a version of Every Breath You Take by The Police.

On Saturday night, we went to an amazing 5 course (plus some extra little morsels) Japanese dinner in the city. It was a delicious dinner, plus a cooking demonstration as we were shown how each dish was made, and then a cultural demonstration as well. There were drumming displays, judo demonstration and a musical performance. It was such a great night! I have so many food photos but I have resisted the urge and only shared the ones above!

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: My Current Library Check Outs
The Palace of Lost Virtue by Anthea Hodgson
Weekend Cooking: Two South American movies
Sunday Salon: Rachael John's Book Club Reader Retreat




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: My current library checkouts

 Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week theme is Books on My Summer 2026 To-Read List.or in my case, the Winter to read-list. 

For the most part, my winter TBR list should be dictated by the books that I nominated for the 20 Books of Winter which I have shared in previous TTT posts here and here. It is, however, inevitable that as soon as I create a list I will start reading books that are not on that listj! Often those books are library books, so today I am sharing the next ten library books I plan to read, some of which are on my 20 books list, and some which are not. There is also a fair chance that at least one or two of these might go back unread but hopefully not too many!

A Far Flung Life by M L Stedman - I have heard a lot of good things about this book!

And Now Back to You by B K Borison - This is the second book in the Heart Strings series.

In the Weeds by B K Borison - Yes, I really do have two B K Borison books out from the library at the same time.

The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak - This will be my third Elif Shafak read and I have high hopes for this one too!

Careful He Might Hear You by Sumner Locke Elliot - This is my Classics Spin choice

We'll Prescribe You Another Cat by Syou Ishida - I actually finished this one today after I put this list together.

Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson - I will be all caught up on this series once I read this one.

The Palace Women by Jennifer Ryan - I picked this up on a whim on a recent visit to the library.

The Island of Mists and Miracles by Victoria Mas  - I really enjoyed the last book I read by Victoria Mas.

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood - This should be a quick read at least!

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

 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 and A Good Book and a Cup of Tea hosted at Boondock Ramblings.

This month the starting point is The Post-Office Girl by Stefan Zweig

The first book I thought of when I saw the title was The Postmistress by Alison Stuart, set in the goldfields of Victoria in the late 19th century. (my review)

Alison Stuart has written a mystery set in colonial Singapore under the name of A M Stuart. Singapore Sapphire is the first book in the Harriet Gordon series which is set in the early 20th century. 

A recent release that I really want to read is The Singapore Secret by Clare Willis which is set in WWII Singapore

I had some Singapore books in a recent Six Degrees post, so I wanted to make sure I didn't choose those same books again. Therefore, instead of choosing another book about Singapore, I am going a different route (pun intended). The last time I travelled via Singapore I was reading The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa, which was the first time I had participated in the Classics Spin. (my review)

I am participating in the Classics Spin again this time and the book I will be reading is Careful, He Might Hear You by Sumner Locke Elliot which is set in 1920s Australia and won the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 1963.

A recent Miles Franklin Literary Award winner that I have read is Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran, which won the award back in 2023. 

Next month's starting point is Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Will you be joining us?