Top Ten Tuesday: Library Love!

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Love/Valentine’s Freebie. I am adding my own twist because while Valentine's Day is coming up, and we do always do something, February 14 is also Library Lover's Day. My Top Ten Tuesday is therefore 10 of the 21 books I have out from the library right now. These are the books that are due to be returned soonest 

First though, I thought I would share a pic of my local library which is a gorgeous building itself inside and out.  The building was opened back in 2013 but it still feels very new. This picture is a bit old as the trees have grown quite a bit. 

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters - Reading and enjoying this at the moment.

Antarctica by Claire Keegan - I am working my way through Claire Keegan's backlist

Lessons in Love at the Seaside Salon by Sophie Green - I have been meaning to try this Aussie author for a while now!

Sunshine, Lemons and Sea Salt by Donna Hay - I have cooked a few things out of this already and just bought my own copy!

In the Paris Fashion by Sophie Beaumont - I have really enjoyed Sophie Beaumont's other books so I am looking forward to this one!

The Dog Sitter by Zara Stoneley - I love Sue Heath's books so now I am reading what I can from her other author name, Zara Stoneley.

Secrets by Judi Morison - This was the Rachael John's book club choice for January.

Sit, Stay, Love by Amy Hutton - This author was an author for the day in an online book group I am in.

The Golden Hour by Kate Lord Brown - I have read a Kate Lord Brown book years ago. It must be time to read another.

The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson - I really enjoyed the last book I read by this author!

This week...

I'm reading

I managed to finished a few books this week. 

I finished reading Hot Desk by Zara Stoneley which I had out from the library. I mentioned last week that I first discovered this author through her books written under the name Sue Heath. I will definitely be reading more Zara Stoneley books through the library. 

I also finished One December Morning by Emma Davies. My review will be up in the next couple of days. 

I also started and finished The Oyster Catcher by Jo Thomas. I have read quite a few of her later books so now it is time to start catching up on the earlier releases.

Next up, I started reading Everyone on This Train is a Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson, as I am trying to get ahead of the library due dates. This is not being helped by the fact that I have 6 books all waiting to be picked up!

I'm watching

In the lead up to Christmas, I watched several different Christmas themed music events which were fine. Carols by Candelight is an Aussie tradition and this year I watched the Salvation Army Carols in the Domain, plus Delta Goodrem's Christmas special which were nice to have on in the background more than anything. 

Wed did watch quite a bit of the cricket this week. The game should have lasted 5 days but it was all done in 2. I don't think it is that great for the game really. It's exciting to watch but losing 3 days of ticket sales, advertising revenue etc has to hurt the business side of the game!

I did also watch a TV show called Europe's Greatest Gardens all about Hortus Botanicas in Leiden in the Netherlands. Next time we go to visit my brother in law it's a place I would like to visit.

Life

Welcome to that awkward week between Christmas and New Year where you lose track of what you are meant to be doing, what day of the week it is and general confusion prevails. I do have to keep an eye on the calendar as I am working every day this week except New Years Day. Robert isn't working so he has created his own Honey Do list.

Christmas was lovely as usual. We go to my sister's most years, and have a very traditional meal of prawn cocktail, roast turkey and ham, and then a Christmas pudding and other desserts.

I did make a cheesecake on Saturday because I had a lot of berries left over and I used them to decorate.  Then on Sunday we went for a drive in the country to a small town near us called Trentham. it was a lovely day out.

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Christmas Reads This Year
Festive Treats: 2025
Weekend Cooking: Best of 2025
Sunday Salon: 2026 Reading Challenges




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

This week...

I'm reading

My difficulty in deciding which book to read next continued, which was a bit more heightened given I didn't have much reading time this week. 

In the end I started reading Hot Desk by Zara Stoneley. I have read and loved two books by this author under her other author name, Sue Heath, but it is my first Zara Stoneley book. I was kind of surprised that my library actually had any of her books. I hadn't actually looked but when I was at another library for an event, I noticed that they had one of her books on their shelves, which inspired me to look at my library catalogue, and voila! This one was there waiting for me1

I did also read a couple of chapters of One December Morning by Emma Davies but I haven't made it very far yet!


I'm watching



December 21 is affectionately known as Gravy Day to many Australians, thanks to the lyrics of a song called How to Make Gravy by Paul Kelly. Last year, a movie also inspired by the lyrics of the song came out but I only got around to watching it this week. It's definitely not a light and fluffy Christmas movie which given the story in the song about a man in prison writing to his brother asking who's going to make the Christmas gravy.

 Here's the trailer:

Life


Given that I only changed jobs in August and I have already had a holiday since I started, I don't have any leave entitlements. I am therefore working through the break and so I am only getting the public holidays off. That meant cramming all the Christmas shopping into one day on the weekend.

We did have our end of year event for work last week. It was a bit different from the Christmas events I have been to for my previous employers. There were musicians, a magician, wandering oyster shuckers and so much more!

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Summer 2025-2026 To Read List

Afternoon Tea Diaries: Palate Through Time: Before at Oxi Tea Rooms
Spell the Month in Books: December






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