Aaaaaand it‘s finished! 779 pages - I feel like that‘s worth celebrating!
This has more characters in it than any other Dickens I‘ve read - which kept it entertaining, but could be confusing if you were dipping in and out. It‘s also the most humorous of his books I‘ve read, very satirical about the upper classes and politicians. Dickens has a political point to make about the Poor Law here too, always aware of and illustrating those injustices ⬇️

#notbookrelated

It‘s my 20th wedding anniversary today! A bit too busy to do anything about it for a couple of weeks at least, but I got some lovely flowers 😍 I‘m glad I chose peony season to get married!

#weeklyforecast

A much smaller library haul this week with nothing for the Elderly Father or the Young Reader son. I‘m still ploughing through Our Mutual Friend but will take a break for Becky Chambers and try out Mambo Kings from my ancient TBR.
Speaking of ancient, here‘s my recent purchase of a 110 year old chest that came over with a British immigrant back in the day. Love it bc it‘s the right height and width for sitting on too!

Charles Dickens does a good rendition of “not all men” circa 1863. Love it!

(Dickens doesn‘t have a good record for writing realistic female characters but I love that he is completely on Jenny‘s side in this instance.)

Bradley “But I was not aware it was the way with all of us ... won‘t you say, some of us?”
Jenny “Meaning... everyone of you, but you. Hah!”

#bookreport

Another Saturday, another book report. I read Human Voices ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, 150 pages of Our Mutual Friend #chunkster and finished listening to my Harry Potter audiobook, such a good comfort read/listen.
Dad finished Double Cross which he loved - he‘s also read Agent Zigzag by this author and loved it too.
Son and I started The Amber Spyglass as a read aloud.
Gratuitous picture of Dad‘s cats Casey and Charley who read nothing this week.

Penelope Fitzgerald worked for the BBC during WW2, which is probably why this novel, in that setting, rings with such truth. Not much plot, just a coming and going of characters. The BBC is painted with gentle satire - it is both foolish and noble - so are many of the characters. There is rampant sexism, but again realistic. I was engaged with her writing style and the telling details of inner city life during the Blitz. A thoughtful quiet book

It‘s daughter‘s birthday today so I was audio baking - chocolate strawberry cupcakes with Stephen Fry in the background reading Harry Potter to me. That‘s some #happybaking
I got the idea from Lauren Reads youtube channel to use audio to listen to rereads of favourite books - really worked for me 😍

Cute book I found for the Christmas Stocking. 100 flaps with the strangest artefacts in the world behind them. Kid might think he is too old for flap books but there are such weird (and sometimes gross) things in here that I think he‘ll love it. 🤶🎅

#weeklyforecast

This weeks #libraryhaul and a bit. (The Dickens is from the shelf)

For Dad - The Search for the Sydney - The Oregon Trail
For Kid - Trapped! - the last one in the Framed series

For me - Human Voices - been on my TBR for a dozen years. It won the Booker in 1979. And getting back to Our Mutual Friend which I‘d put aside for more urgent reads. Fingers crossed I can get back into the groove without having to restart 🤞

#bookreport time - it‘s Saturday here in NZ

87yo Dad‘s reading -He loved The Shipwreck Hunter but bailed on Enemy at the Gates because it was too detailed for him.

9yo‘s reading - Finished Vanished, book2 in a series he LOVES. He‘s also listening to audio books and reading graphic novels on an app called Epic. I finished reading The Subtle Knife aloud to him. First time I‘ve read it and managed to cry and read simultaneously 😭⬇️

My first Winterson and I thoroughly enjoyed it. She is so adept with novels and themes that she can play with structure and sentences and make UP become DOWN like some kind of literary juggler. And all the while I‘m watching the things in her hands, applauding myself when I recognise spinning tea kettles and toasters.
All of which is to say that Winterson plays with the novel Frankenstein and the life of Mary Shelley - a subject I love ⬇️

#weeklyforecast This is my library haul so I thought I‘d include my dad‘s reading in my report as keeping him in books is a big part of my library goals (#allnonfiction #allthetime) The Mary Rose and Jungle of Stone are for him - the rest are for me. I will try Cryptonomicon but I may be burning out on my Year of SFF. Five Go Feasting is a cookbook - I think I saw this on @LeahBergen who is always tempting me with books! ⬇️

#bookreport Well I finished two books this week which is about average for me - but considering it was a 4 day week, we all had colds, I had two school events to attend and a bunch of kids to take trick or treating... not too bad!

The weather is wonderful here today - just a shame we‘re all sick - but still trying to sit in the sun, sip some Vitamin C and listen to the birds chirping Spring songs.

Absolute Book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Chilling Effect ⭐️⭐️⭐️

A great setup - if like me you need some more Becky Chambers/Firefly flavoured space opera. Captain Innocente is exceptionally kick ass, her crew are colourful, her love interest is lizardy and she is in deep merde with both a criminal empire and a jilted royal with serious firepower. Plenty of space opera tropes but the new elements were excellent. I just wish she‘d made more of the psychic cats. 3.5 stars

I really enjoyed this but I can‘t think of anyone else to recommend it to! It‘s a clash of a fantasy world with a contemporary one, written in a literary style. Perhaps if you liked Lev Grossman‘s The Magicians but wanted it to be less like Hogwarts and more Cormoran Strike?
Anyway, Knox does a fabulous job of imagining the other world; the gods and fairy folk and the way their magic works is deftly woven and enchanting. ⬇️

This book is complete madness and yet I‘m thoroughly enjoying it. ALSO first day out on the water this summer. Look @Reggie we have a replacement boat 🎉🎉🎉 Thank the lord the drama of the stolen boat has concluded. Gorgeous day - the water‘s turquoise coloured from a distance, clear up close, and this beach is pebbled and grey. Been watching paradise ducks on shore and terns diving for fish. 🦆🦅🐟🐠 Glorious.

Summer is coming! First day I can read on the deck. I‘m reading cookbooks and thinking biscotti thoughts - and also bemoaning the state of the deck (I want to replace the timber but DIY Dad is crazy busy and I‘m not promoting myself to the job 😂) Also new library book which I hope will break my reading drought...

A thoughtful little book of four essays - four writers explore their own reactions to first reading about the March sisters (of Little Women) and how they now see each character‘s role and motivations. A dash of sociology, a little Alcott history, a touch of personal memoir - it‘s an amuse bouche for Alcott fans! You learn more about how each of the four writers see the world than anything else - but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Look @TheBookHippie a little late but I‘m reading it now! #childrensclassicread2019

Are you having a go at this one @batsy ?

At first this wasn‘t working for me. Rowell takes a work of fiction from inside a previous novel and has to make it stand on its own two legs. It‘s a mash up of Twilight and HP and you step into it at a point 5 years into its own history - you have to swallow all those references. It‘s self conscious of that at first then it develops its own momentum and turns into something lovely - great YA fantasy/romance w some satirical side eye at HP tropes

I loved this book and I‘m surprised it has such a low Litsy score. Perhaps it‘s because this is a very internal novel with a lot of character exploration rather than plot. Ali takes us through Nazneen‘s life from her birth in Bangladesh, her arranged marriage and immigration to England and her life there as a wife, mother and eventually active member of her community. It‘s a book about an immigrant experience but also about relationships ⬇️

I read this book watching my family on the luge, with Queenstown below me. More #sceneryspam

I really enjoyed this although I‘m fond of the “loner child observes upper class English family” trope. Flora is a neglected child who falls in love with an entire family. Over the years they vary in their treatment of her. Wesley has a sharp eye for showing the flaws in characters without turning them into straight forward villains. ⬇️

#notbookrelated

Travelling around the bottom of the South Island at the moment and thought I‘d share one spectacular view with you all. Any lighthouse lovers out there? This is called Nugget Point or Tokata. We walked right out to the balcony that hangs over the edge. It‘s amazing to get out and see the lesser known treasures of your own country 😊 hope you all get the chance to see some treasures wherever you are!

This is definitely my “flavour” of book - a genre mash of historical/magical/fantasy. It‘s picturesque but a slow moving, character driven plot that isn‘t for everyone. A wounded 19th century explorer is brought out of retirement for a seemingly impossible expedition to smuggle plants out of Peru. His path will lead him to confront an ancient culture and upend many of his assumptions about the world.

#bookserendipity

When you buy a book from Abebooks for a couple of dollars and it turns out to be signed by the author. 😍

PS this book is well travelled. Seems to have started life in Memphis, then I bought it from a bookshop near Edinburgh and it‘s come now to New Zealand!

Wow.
This book punched me in the guts, stood me on my head and forcibly opened my eyes. I mean I thought I understood quite a lot about racism and slavery and the ongoing impacts in modern times, but I clearly did not. This felt visceral and intellectual both.
I appreciated that Coates takes you through his own progress in investigating, his deeper and deeper understanding - it helped me to get past the easy truths to the harder ones.

#notbookrelated

I‘ve been in “not reading” mode. First a horrible chest infection - you know when you are actually too sick to read, that sucks - and then four days in Melbourne, a mother daughter treat for her upcoming 15th birthday.
@Reggie here is another pavlova for you! This one is at the Hopetoun Tea Rooms, Melbourne‘s oldest tea room 😍
Now I seriously hope my reading mojo is back because 5 books just came in for me at the library!

#7days7covers #covercrush Day 7

Would you like to play @swishandflick ? Post a favourite cover every day for 7 days and tag someone in if you can.

Dickens reaches Peak Snark in this novel. He‘s ripping into all manners of bourgeoisie behaviour in nineteenth century London. The chapters about the Veneerings are pretty damn funny! 😂 Here he has Lady Tippins who comes to weddings specifically to sum them up in her caustic manner.

#7days7covers #covercrush Day 6

@thegirlwiththelibrarybag would you like to play? Post a favourite cover every day for 7 days, no explanation, and tag someone else. No pressure to join in though!

#7days7covers #covercrush Day 5

@kezzlou85 would you like to play along? A cover each day, no explanation, and tag someone new in if you can.

#7days7covers #covercrush Day 4

@BarbaraTheBibliophage would you like to play? Post a favourite cover a day with no explanation - tag someone in each day if you can.

#7days7covers #covercrush Day 3

@Oryx would you like to have a go at this challenge? Post 7 favourite covers over 7 days without explanation - just tag a new person each time.

Fry covers the Greek origin myths from creation through the Titans and then the major gods plus a lot of fun smaller ones like the Muses. As always he has a gentle wry style with the odd pop culture reference or double entendre. A light and easy way to read about Greek myths. I think I‘ll get the next one on audio though because his voice is 😍.
3.5 stars. It probably would be 4 except I‘m a little bit in love with Ovid who overshadows this 😜

#7days7covers #covercrush Day 2

Would you like to have a go at this challenge @Dragon ? Post a favourite cover each day for 7 days and tag someone new each time 😊

#7days7covers #covercrush Day 1

Thanks for the tag @CarolynM 😘

@Jas16 would you like to have a go? 7 days, 7 covers you love, no explanation - and tag someone new each time.

Spring is sprung! 🇳🇿 Well here it has. After a month of rain and being cooped up indoors, the smell of flowers on our Sunday walk was heady I tell you! 😍

It‘s been hard to settle down with a book lately. What is it about funerals that bring up old family dramas? 🙄 I am taking no sides, but it seems that means ALL the people want to tell me how awful everyone else is.

Bah humbug. I finally get a chance to avoid the humans. This little book seems like it will do the trick. I can‘t do anything too serious or philosophical this week!

A 1959 book that was unknown to me, discovered for my year of SFF. It reminded me a little of Foundation and also Fahrenheit 451, with the concept of civilisation destroying itself, rebuilding, only to destroy itself again. The book is told in three linked novellas - each one the forgotten prehistory of the next. For such a serious theme there is also humour and fascinating characters 4.5 stars (pic: piece of a recent New Yorker review)

Thursday flowers a la @Cinfhen 💕

Much needed this week. My step sister is in hospice and going through her last days. We weren‘t super close but I‘ve been visiting her a lot and cooking for her over the past three months. It was a gift to have that time in retrospect. She‘s in a coma now so I think she‘s out of pain - we‘re all in this waiting space. 🌸🌼🌻🌷🌹

From the first sentence Jesmyn Ward has picked up my heart and is carrying it in her hands. I‘m tense because I‘m not sure if she‘s going to crush it or even give it back to me. I want to protect her 12 year old protagonist Jojo so much that I can‘t breathe in some places. But Ward isn‘t writing a thriller, isn‘t trying to push my buttons, her depiction of a life and a history is made brutal because it‘s authentic and one we rarely hear. 5 stars.

I‘ve had a very busy non-reading few days with my great nephews visiting from Melbourne (yes I‘m young to be a great aunt, thank you for noticing 😋) They are so delicious. They have already had a bunch of picture books from me so I‘m now gifting them some chapter books - by the time they start school they‘ll be well set up!

I put together my 2020 book list and I‘m sorry, I couldn‘t help it. 😂 But it was so much fun and I‘m looking forward to next year x1000! My list is made up of a challenge I‘ve set myself to read some classics I‘ve never read (like Proust 😬) plus titles from my original, written in a journal, TBR, that are from the early 2000s, a few from my Litsy stack and a few diverse reads that I‘m guilty I haven‘t read yet. How do you plan your reading year?

This was a very enjoyable read. I think this landed on my TBR thanks to you @Crazeedi ? I know you‘ve recommended it to others recently so it was probably one of your posts that did it! Commissario Brunetti is a great character, I like his gentle humour and long suffering patience - and his happy family life makes him so different to most of my detective reads! I like how his wife and kids have their opinions about his case too 😊👍

Ovid and I are finally finished with each other - between this and Silence of the Girls I feel like I‘ve been vacationing in Ancient Greece 😍 (and a little bit of Rome, yes Ovid, we see you sucking up to Augustus there at the end 😂)
If you like Greek mythology this is actually not a hard read. Although it‘s an epic poem, it was easy to follow and the adventures and tragedies had recognisable beginnings, middles and ends. ⬇️

Beautifully told and harrowing account of the Trojan War from the perspective of Briseis, a Trojan princess given as a slave to Achilles. The only thing that stopped this being a 5 star read for me was that I didn‘t think the chapters from Achilles perspective were as powerful - I was disappointed to move away from Briseis perspective. That‘s a small quibble though, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I‘ve been hoping my 9yo would someday find a book so exciting that he could live without illustrations or cartoon graphics in the text - turns out this was the book 😍. Before Story Thieves, he would flick through books and assume they were “too hard” or “boring”. For the past cpl years I‘ve been thankful for all the great books with graphic elements on most pages - now I‘m glad he can now choose an all text book too 🙌 #raisingreaders

Looks like I needed something else light and fluffy and this was great. I‘d been recommended Tessa Dare and I was impressed. Although simpler than Courtney Milan IMO, it was still very enjoyable. I do like a grumpy hero with a heart of gold and a straight talking, strong minded heroine. Also explicit - so not for the faint of heart 😂😂

After a week of reading about war atrocities something lighter was called for - this cosy mystery did the trick! I actually ate dumplings today and Did Not Think to photograph them - such rookie behaviour! ?? So these are Googled dumplings, not the cute gyoza with pea purée and fried sugar snaps and roasted almonds I had for lunch ?
This is a cute little book - not much to it, but sweet characters and lots of food. ? ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Watched this version of Jane Eyre on Netflix this week and god, Mia Wasikowska was amazing! I know she doesn‘t want to be typecast as the nineteenth century literary heroine actress, but I would pay to see her do all my favourites! Also Michael Fassbender... I‘ve never really been a Rochester fan... but Fassbender, I‘m prepared to swoon for Fassbender! 😍😂😂😂