Obsessed with the American pronunciation of Aaron…
Lowkey forgot and was wondering who “Erin” was 🤣
Obsessed with the American pronunciation of Aaron…
Lowkey forgot and was wondering who “Erin” was 🤣
I‘ve previously struggled to connect with Gaiman‘s books - so I‘ve been putting off trying this one for years even though it comes highly recommended and I admire the author (he‘s hilarious on tumblr) - and so I gave the audiobook a go and this was the NG book for me! I loved how it was bookended with the MC‘s adult self - with the majority of the story taking place when he was 7. The epilogue!!! Oof!
My March Book Chat books - I had 20 minutes left on the Ocean at the End of the Lane audiobook (not that I mentioned that 🙈) so I finished that off after the chat… 9 people attended this month, which I think is a nice amount (last months 16 was a bit overwhelming for the space we hold it in) and a good mix of new and returning readers!
I somehow thought Rainbow Crate were doing a The Sunshine Court box but that in no way stopped me from ordering a new set of All For The Game books.
I don‘t know what I enjoyed most - converting the hitman who is babysitting your trio of cat thieves while they pull off an art heist by gently bullying him - not only onto their side but into moving across the world and starting a new life of art crime OR that they solved an art heist gone wrong by floating out of a flooding museum on a torpedo. Absolutely insane behaviour. Enjoyed it muchly!
This had such a nostalgic style! Louise is the youngest of the cousins who all spend the summer with their grandmother who lives near the beach. Being the youngest, she gets left out as the older girls crush on cute guys at the beach & smoke cigarettes. She ends up befriending a mischievous ghost, who has a family connection. A beautiful coming of age story, filled with very realistic sibling behaviour & the sad realities of the passage of time.
You and me both!
Why is it almost 2am and 27°C/80°F?
It‘s been awhile since I‘ve whispered “wtf” while reading… and I say that as a positive thing.
As a card carrying Winter enthusiast- may I be the first to say - WHHHHHYYYYYYYY!?! (It‘s now Autumn, Summer be GONE)
(That‘s 98°F)
And it‘s not really cooling down overnight… unsubscribe!
Moomba was cancelled over heat concerns ?
1. Sophie Hatter. She keeps a tidy home, no messy bathroom cabinets or spider webs here. We‘d be able to hype each other up and spill all the tea.
2. If you squint, this book contains roommates - in that Sophie just moves in, tells Howl she‘s staying and that‘s that. Best thing that ever happened to Howl, Calcifer and Michael tbh. Heck of a first meeting.
#two4tuesday
A car show comes to Normal… and there is a murder at Mae‘s camp ground… and suspects galore! When one of the bungalows goes up in flames (along with the lead suspect) - Mae has flash backs to the deaths (suspected murders) of her family in a house fire when she was just a teen. I‘m glad that the threads of Mae‘s past have been picked up again, interested to see where it leads in the next book.
This might be controversial but I had to read this for Literature and it was the only book in my high school career that I just couldn‘t do… I just didn‘t like it at all.
Made it halfway and gave up.
I absolutely adore Ang Lee‘s 1995 adaptation with Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant & Alan Rickman tho…
#sundayfunday
Gentle, slice of life, short story collection with characters that are all connected not just through the library but by also just by living and working in the same community. I really liked getting a second glimpse of most of the characters, as we meet them after they did indeed find what (they didn‘t know) they were looking for at the library.
I read my post from 7 years ago and would you believe - I am once again in the position of needing a new muffin tin? My old one got yeeted in a fit of rage during the moving/packing process - something that had slipped my mind until after I‘d started mixing up a batch of banana muffins… so now it‘s a Bundt cake…
I‘m off to see some Shakespeare while picnicking tonight - so this isn‘t quite as convenient as muffins but what can you do? ♐️
This story asks - what happens if murder victims didn‘t actually die but instead disappeared and woke up at home, naked in bed? And then shows you how capitalism would monetise this in a variety of ways but mostly by the health insurance industry AND then it really kicks into gear as a kidnapping story and a rush to see if Tony Valdez can work out what happened to his colleague *before* something irreversible happens. Super short, I ate this up.
Today, I hit the kind of bored that had me, a collection services officer, rummaging through the compactus for yellow paper to make a ☀️
Excited to see if the public are going to be keen to borrow yellow books!
THIS WAS SO GOOD! I was so hooked, I was genuinely annoyed that I had to go to work and had to wait to finish this. When the pieces all finally slot into place, I had to put the book down for a couple of minutes - just to process. *chiefs kiss*
I mean… I think I still hold the crown for the most unusual name in the family…
Certainly no fancy name stickers in the shops with my name on it… (a source of such disappointment for my younger self)
#MotivationalMonday
1. Survive the heat & trying not to roll my eyes at anyone who complains about the lack of summer in the cooler months only to complain about the hot days 🙄
2. Mickey Mouse. Mum tells hilarious stories about toddler me being absolutely unimpressed about being gifted Minnie Mouse stuff.
Mum had to buy “boys” undies with Mickey on them as I‘d refuse them if they just had Minnie.
3. I‘m looking forward to travelling ✈️
Is Ashleigh not a reasonably common name?
🤔🤔
Brb - gonna message my sister and let her know that her name is unusual 🤭
It‘s 1.30AM and I‘m reluctantly putting the book mark in 😫
Gave myself a cardboard cut on the index finger of my dominant hand… pretty sure that means I can go home now… Work drew first blood.
I thought all was well and took the bandaid off… but that sucker just reopened 😐 (it‘s not deep, it‘s just in an annoying spot)
First library book chat of the year. Each month a colleague and I talk about 4 of our recent reads (⬆️ those are mine). Last year,our best attended session had 10 people - so we were both surprised when 16 people showed up today 🫢 had to hustle to the photocopier to copy the reading list because we were caught unprepared.
I‘m not one to prepare notes, I freestyle - and all in all - happy with how today went.
I don‘t usually chose my books by how likely I am to be able to have finished them by the next afternoon but since that‘s the situation I found myself in, I‘m quite pleased that this is the one I landed on.
This had an unusual style - it‘s more vibe based than plot but basically we follow Lizzie as she goes about her life as a mother, wife, sister, librarian, unofficial shrink & climate podcaster email answerer and see how each role intersects.
Me googling “short audiobooks” the day before I‘m meant to be speaking at the first “book chat” of the year when I realise I‘m a book shy 🤓 I‘m at 56% now and the session is in the early afternoon… so there is a solid chance I‘m going to pull this off…
This was fun! My library hold took forever (almost a year!) to come through - but it was worth the wait (and I do like being the first reader, the cover was so shiny)
It‘s so strange revisiting Obernewtyn because I remember some parts so strongly and other parts feel brand new… it‘s also strange because I hold memories of characters who I love but who you only get glimmers of in book one (and those glimmers are not always complimentary).
This is very much an introductory book, it sets up the world, the characters and what‘s at stake - and I really had a great time reacquainting myself with Elspeth & co.
This fell out of one of the newspapers yesterday… so I stuck it up on the wall of the circ desk… TBD if it makes it through the weekend 😂
I really loved most of this coming of age story… but the ending - Jemma deserved so much better but I guess that‘s also kind of the point.
3 very different girls share a hospital room, forced proximity means there are no secrets or privacy and a friendship of sorts arises. When they spot something strange out the window one day, they realise they hold the key to unravelling a recent local burglary spree. With tragic consequences, obviously.
Me mid way through telling someone that I was reading Obernewyton by Isobelle Carmody
Them : oooh, by the lady who wrote the Chrestomanci books?
Me in a horrified whisper : that‘s Diana Wynne Jones
Anyway, I read the majority of IC books in high school before I got entirely too impatient with her publishing schedule. The last book published in 2015 & I really want to finish the series but it‘s been awhile so I‘m back at bk 1 this time on 🎧
I am eating cereal, sitting near the AC on my living room floor after midnight thinking about all the people who complained about the lack of summer this year (I told them all, summer was coming)
Top of 36°C / 97°F today
I‘ve got a laser appointment in the morning and then I think I‘ll hit the cinema - see what gems cheap Tuesday has to offer (lowkey will just see whatever is on the closest to my arrival time)
Currently struggling through the “Sharni, pick a book and finish it” challenge 🤘🏼
I‘ve started 2 audiobooks, I‘m part way through a book of short stories from Netgalley, part way through a library ebook and then there is my ever growing pile of physical books 🤪 I‘m usually a 1 book/1 audio at a time kind of reader so idk what I‘m doing right now but I‘m a week out from the library‘s first book chat of the year so some focus is needed, STAT
Idk why but I started getting targeted IG ads for this 2016 comic… but volume 1 was free so I read it 🤣
It‘s pretty dramatic - lots of angst. I‘ve been having trouble focusing on anything but I read this over two evenings, which is an absolute win.
It genuinely hurts my soul to see Neighbor spelled without the U tho 🤪
Gorgeous gorgeous girls are a bit surprised when they open up book mail and realise that they ordered book one which they‘ve already read and not the new one…
(It‘s ordered now - and it will match this one)
That feeling when someone tests covid positive towards the end of the work day… triggering multiple covid policies and all the rat tests expired yesterday…
🫠
Tested anyway and so far so good, new tests should turn up tomorrow.
I‘ve decided that 2024 is the year I‘m gonna finish some series. And that means rereading to continue - so here I am, on audio this time, feeling super normal about the whole thing…
Funniest email I‘ve ever had from Spotify…
My two moods (according to Spotify) are : optimism and unrelenting existential dread
Anyway, I discovered a whole bunch of cool new music in January so who knows what my future emails from Spotify will bring.
Changing up the Teen display again…
halfway through the week and 🙃 it‘s been a slog. Schools are back which means traffic is back… I was not mentally prepared to get stuck in a traffic jam two blocks from work 😖 almost made me late (I turned around the earliest opportunity and went on a side street adventure)
This is the first Little People, Big Dreams book i've read with an Australian star - and as an Aussie who grew up singing along with Kylie - what a great place to start. The illustrations seemed especially gorgeous - and I loved that Dannii got a mention, as did Kylie's battle with breast cancer. #netgalley
I‘ve been watching the story around Robinson‘s Bookstore owner Susanne Horman comments on X around diverse stories develop. The story has been picked up from Instagram by a variety of news sources (reputable and click bait).
So far they‘ve gone for the gaslighting option in apologising only for people who might have been offended. No accountability, just a wild claim that the screenshots had been edited and taken out of context.
This was on my tbr pile of books I bought at an op (thrift) shop because it looked interesting… not sure how long I‘ve had this one - but it absolutely sent me down an internet rabbit hole to discover what I could about Ruth M. Hawker - which I‘ve since added to her GR page. Put my GR librarian powers to good use.
I‘ve never seen this kind of notice before! Truely a glimpse into a different time.
A rather gorgeous slice of life fiction about town girl, Heather, who gets sent to spend her holidays with her uncle who lives on a remote outback farm when her mother is called away to take care of a sick relative. Heather makes a friend, learns to ride a horse, writes a brilliant essay about her holiday and overcomes several sticky situations with good cheer.
Originally published in 1950 - this is a nostalgic look at (white) rural life in 🇦🇺
Very mixed feelings about HMC getting the fairy loot treatment…
It‘s not a pastel book, this makes it look like a fairytale romance…
https://community.fairyloot.com/howls-moving-castle-by-diana-wynne-jones/
I loved reading this so much that I had to buy a copy for myself - and while researching prices, I saw that Barnes & Noble had an exclusive edition with a bonus epilogue… so obviously had to have that one (after I talked myself down from buying an illumicrate edition with sprayed edges).
I‘m all set for the extended edition lord of the rings marathon… turned up early to make sure I got the seat I wanted 💪🏼 (the seats at the Astor vary wildly in comfort - I don‘t think they are the original 1936 seats but maybe they are?)
Maybe should have worn shoes that didn‘t clash with the carpet… (please excuse the weird tan the top of my feet are currently rocking… genuinely perplexed by the tan lines I have)
Nearly broke my no crying at work rule today.
That‘s gonna be a fun incident report to write up tomorrow morning. There was just ✨ so much ✨ colourful language.
“I do,” Boehm said. “Mr. Vice-President, I have no answers for you at this time. All I know - all any of us know at the moment - are two things. One, the President is by all outward and most inward appearances entirely healthy for a 63-year-old man. Two, his brain is absolutely gone.”
Absolutely entertaining story about what the White House staff do when they realise the POTUS‘s brain is gone.
Also available as a free short story on Tor.com
I‘m off to an extended edition lord of the rings marathon next weekend - and I‘m so excited!
I see the trilogy on an almost yearly basis in cinema - and I‘m so chuffed that it‘s back at The Astor - not just because it‘s the last standing, single screen movie palace in Melbourne but because they always play the extended editions (Lido may have the comfier seats but the theatrical edition don‘t have Legolas & Gimli trying to out drink each other)