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: Authors going to the Rachael Johns author retreat this weekend

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Things That Make Me Instantly Want to Read a Book (these can be auto-buy authors, tropes you love, if an author you love blurbed it, settings, genres, etc.). However, this weekend I am going to the Rachael Johns Reader Retreat so my theme this week is authors attending the retreat

Rachael Johns - Of course I had to start with the host!

Anthea Hodgson - I am currently reading this book in anticipation of the book club discussion 

Victoria Purman- I've read a few of this author's books now.

Tricia Stringer - I have been reading this author for years, right from her initial book.

Penelope Janu - I have only read one of this author's books but I know people who love her

Emily Madden - When I read The Lost Pearl I was inspired to make a lemon crunch cake

Sandy Barker - I love the idea of this author's books which are all about fun locations and romance. I have read this book but I am very much looking forward to getting in on her next series from the first book

Leonie Kelsall - This author is local to where the retreat is being held and has been super helpful

Kim Lock - I haven't read this author yet.

Meredith Appleyard -  Or this one.

There are more authors going, but here are ten!

Six Degrees of Separation: From Postcards from the Edge to Queen of the Road

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.

This month the starting point is Postcards from the Edge by Carrie Fisher. I actually had a number of different ideas about how to start this chain, from using the names Carrie or Fisher to something about postcards or stars, but in the end I have gone in another direction. Carrie Fisher's most famous role is undoubtedly that of Princess Leia in Star Wars, and so my chain this month is about princesses and queens. 

Another famous movie princess is Princess Buttercup from The Princess Bride by William Goldman. As I was preparing this post I searched for some key words on my blog and found that I participated in a readalong for this book more than 10 years ago which I had completely forgotten about.

Whereas I intended to go to a fantasy book about a queen, now I find myself wondering about other readalongs that I have participated in, but wait, I think I can get this back on track.  Many of the readalongs I have participated in over the years have been for blog events such Once Upon a Time that Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings used to host which was about reading fantasy, myth, folklore and fairy tale.

Now it's a generalisation but if we work on the basis that fantasy is a genre that starts with the words "once upon a time" and the fact my next book, Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner is a fantasy novel which is part of a great series there's my link. There was a really long gap between books 4 and 5 in this series, and I still haven't read the latest books.

Speaking of series where there has been a big gap between books and I still haven't read the final book, my next choice is Queen of the Darkness by Anne Bishop. This is the third book in the Black Jewels series and looking back at my review, I loved it!

In my mind, if The Princess Bride is fantasy light, then Queen of Attolia is fantasy medium whereas the Black Jewel books are pretty dark fantasy. I therefore need to dial it back a little so my next queen book is more magical realism style of fantasy.  I have enjoyed a lot of Sarah Addison Allen's books, and The Sugar Queen ties in nicely with my next book.

I reviewed The Jam Queens by Australian author Josephine Moon yesterday. You definitely need sugar of some kind to make jam right?

My final choice is by another Australian author, Tricia Stringer, with one her earlier books, Queen of the Road. This book is about a female truck driver who finds love and was one of the earliest rural romance novels I read

This month we started with a princess and then graduated to fantasy queens and ending up with two Australian authors.

Where has your string taken you this month?

Next month we start with Second Place by Rachel Cusk.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I have 1-Clicked recently

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's theme is about quotes which is something that I am really absolutely no good at. So instead, I bring you something I am good at, which is the 1-click purchase, whether it be for books or audiobooks. I have a terrible tendency to read emails from Bookbub in the middle of the night I am not sure if that is why I 1-Click with abandon or if I would do that anyway! Probably the latter. 

Here are ten of my recent purchases:

Boys Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton - this has been one of the biggest books here in Australia so it is possibly a bit surprising that I haven't already read this, but I haven't. When it came up as a daily deal on Audible I snapped it up.

The Model Wife by Tricia Stringer - I have read a few books by Tricia Springer over the years and so when this came up as a Daily Deal I didn't have to think twice.

Thirty Thousand Bottles of Wine and a Pig Called Helga by Todd Alexander - I have no idea why I bought this one! Maybe because of the title?

War Brides by Helen Bryan - I do like a WWII story, and this one looks like a good one.

Opium and Absinth by Lydia Kang - I have seen this book mentioned on a few Top Ten Tuesday posts so I htought I would take a chance on it.

Deadman's Track by Sarah Barrie - I have heard a lot of good things about Sarah Barrie so thought I would give her a try.

The Life She Chooses by Maggie Christenson - A few months ago I bought the first book in this series. I haven't read it yet but that doesn't stop me from buying book two.

The Sun Also Rose in Paris by Penny Fields-Schneider - Arty Paris in the 1930s! Yes please.

The Little Teashop in Tokyo by Julie Caplan - These destination style books are generally something that I enjoy. I haven't read this author before so we will see how it goes.

The Beekeepers Promise by Fiona Valpy - Dual timeline, France, WWII. This one ticks all my boxes!

Have you read any of these books? Do you have a tendency to 1-click at any time of the day?

Will I ever read again?

So given how few posts there are on this blog, it is obvious that I am not blogging much at the moment and haven't been for quite some time. However, the problem goes deeper than that. I'm actually not reading either. Oh, I might start a book and read a couple of page then I will lose interest and just stop. It doesn't matter if we are talking about reading new books, rereading favourites, paper books, ebooks and even audio books. And this is a long term issue. My reading has become non existent over the last couple of years to the point that I haven't actually finished a book since March. Shocking I know.

I'm not sure this is a terminal problem though because even though I am not reading I am still happy to engage in conversations with people about books. Last week at work there was a conversation happening about starting a book club and I was quite keen about the concept even though I know that it is highly unlikely that I will actually read the chosen book. Luckily my actual book club doesn't really seem to care if I read the book or not. I haven't actually been to that book club for the last couple of months because I have been working late but I know when I do go back they will be glad to see me. I also know that when I say I haven't even read the synopsis the reaction will be okay and then ask if I want a party pie or sausage roll (to which the answer is obviously yes!!)

This weekend was the launch of the Melbourne Writer's Festival and despite my lack of reading mojo, I did end up buying tickets to a couple of sessions and also attended a couple of free sessions. I was reminded that bookish things are actually good for my soul and also a couple of other things.

Unlike previous years where I took copious notes so that I could blog in depth recaps of the sessions I attended, this year I have just sat and listened and just enjoyed being in the presence of authors whose books I have enjoyed previously.

The four sessions that I attended were:

Justin Cronin
YA Superstars featuring Rainbow Rowell and David Leviathan
Australia Through Time featuring Anita Heiss, Tricia Stringer and Kate Mildenhall
Wickedly Funny featuring Liane Moriarty and Rosalie Ham

All four sessions were really interesting and I have to say I was very impressed with the quality of the free sessions that were on offer. Both Australia Through Time and Wickedly Funny were free sessions and they were full houses. I only just got into Wickedly Funny even though I went and lined up half an hour before. They probably turned out away an equivalent of 50% of the crowd. The session was just that popular.

One of the things that I have taken away from this weekend is that maybe this might be a long break from reading but I don't think I am done forever and ever. Whilst I don't expect to go back to reading 200 plus books a year, I also don't expect to stay at reading less than 10 books in a year. Somewhere in the middle would be good.

I also came out of the sessions and a trip to a nearly bookstore I was reminded of a few things. Firstly, there are a number of authors who I used to wait avidly for each new book from and they have at least one and maybe two books out that I still haven't read yet. In other words my TBR list continues to grow even though I am not reading. Secondly, there were a number of books that I really wanted to read a couple of years ago that I still haven't read yet and thirdly, that there are any number of books that I wouldn't mind rereading at some point.

My reading life might be flat lining but it hasn't quite been declared dead yet. There's still a glimmer of hope. Just.