May Round up of Reading

Total books read this month:  11

Book Ratings

The Money Club 4.25 stars (review book)
My Oxford Year. 4.25 stars.( audio)
Take My Hand   5 stars (library book)
The Wonderful Thing About Phoenix Rose (my own book)
Daisies and Devotion 3 stars.( audio)
The Last Lie Told. 3.25 stars. (library book)
The Little Italian Hotel. Phaedra Patrick 3.77 (review book)
Identity   4.25 stars ( my own paperback)
Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt.  4.8 stars (audio)
The Emma Project 4 stars. (my own paperback)
A Rule Against Murder.  4.25 stars (my own paperback)

Settings

South west Australia
Oxford, England
Alabama, USA
London/Somerset. England
Australia
Tennessee USA
Bologna Italy
Vermont USA
France/Germany/Norway/Scotland/England/Australia/Switzerland/Brazil/USA/Spain
California USA
Canada

New to me authors:

Dolen Perkins Valdez

Top Book for May

A Few of the Books I look forward to seeing published in June

Linking up with Nicole from FeedYourFiction Addiction.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels or anything in those genres – join them.

Well one of my usual weeks with a bit of this and that. My reading slowed a bit as other things took over and I can see the coming week will be even slower but that’s okay. I am loving my audiobook and even though it started out at about 25 hours, its getting whittled down fast as I want to find out all the details.

What I read last week:

What I am reading now:

And still listening to…

Up next:

Not sure. Will decide a bit later down the track. 

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It’s Monday! What are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels or anything in those genres – join them.

Welcome in. Hope you’ve all had a great reading week.

The third book is The Last Lie Told by Debra Webb. Not showing up in some browsers. I have so much trouble with this image I give up!

What I read last week:

What I am reading now:

And listening to…

Up next:

Last Week’s Posts

Books I Recommend

April Reading Round Up

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Books with Strong Romance Elements

Joining up with ThatArtsyReadergirl

I’ve chosen to list some books I read in 2022 with strong romance elements. I usually now leave the outright romance books but I love a good story with a strong romance element.

Looking at these books and you think you could recommend me something equally as good – go for it.

Flirting with the Beast: Jane Porter. Is pretty much outright romance but for older characters. Four stars.

State of Shock Marie Force: An ongoing series with two of the most romantic married characters in a book. Romantic suspense.  4 stars

Snowed in For Christmas. Sarah Morgan. Another pretty much outright romance but has the best grandma and family characters that would make me want to reread this one at some point. And…. set in Scotland. Five stars

Thank You For Listening.   Julia Whelan.  Audiobook narrators who eventually meet! It’s a Rom Com that I really recommend, but its more than that. It has wisdom and growth of character and things to think about. Five stars

The Choice: Nora Roberts. This is a paranormal fantasy set “beside” Ireland. Keegan and Breen are a pair who over three books ( this is the last in the trilogy) defeat evil and celebrate love.  4.5 stars.

Nora Goes Off Script. Annabel Monaghan. Thoroughly enjoyed this romance, loved the characters and especially the down to earth family and friends. Nora and Leo – what a pair. Bernadette and Arthur not far behind. It was cute and made me laugh out loud at times. I never saw what caused the trouble and kept wondering what on earth is going on. Well now I know! Very satisfying. Would definitely read another by this author.  4.5 stars.

Storm Echo.  Nalini Singh. Another very enjoyable addition to the series. Pay/changeling/human unite in a way that brings about a welcome result. Ivan believes he is fated to have to live in a cage, but since Silence has fallen and what was once believed has altered is that actually going to happen? Soliel is a changeling delight and I really loved her story and her strength and love. I love the values of family and hope and the right use of power that underlines this book and all the series.  4.5 stars.

The Bodyguard.  Katherine Center. Read in a day. Just couldn’t put it down. Feel good, warm hearted book with entertainment and sprinkles of life giving wisdom.  4.5 stars

Hana Khan Carries On. Uzma Jalaluddin. Very much enjoyed this book. A rom com, but…. The kind I like, great characters, comedic bits, interspersed with serious issues. Full of family, immigrant issues and most of all love. Highly recommend.

Dance Away With Me Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Five big fat stars. I loved this book, worth every big fat dollar I paid to get a hardback copy. I loved the characters, the serious issues covered and that Wren, she was just baby delicious. And sprinkled through was Susan Elizabeth Phillips smart, funny voice. It’s there, don’t say it’s not. I savoured every morsel of this book,  This was a reread in 2022 via audiobook, every bit as good second time round.  5 stars.

My Anticpated New Release Reads for the first half 2023.

Today I am taking part in The Artsy Reader Girl’s  link up.

Todays link up asks us to take a look at our most anticipated books being released in the first half of 2023.

I thought I wouldn’t find ten but I did!  There are a couple of others but I have them so I am choosing the ten I want to remind myself to keep an eye out for.

1. Someone Else’s Shoes  Jojo Moyes.  February

2. Coronation Year.     Jennifer Robson.   April

3. The Wonderful Thing about Phoenix Rose.   Josephine Moon.   April

4. Identity.   Nora Roberts.   May

5. The Girl from Donegal.  Carmel Harrington. No cover out yet.  May

6. Warrior Girl Unearthed.  Andeline Boulley.  May

7. The Celebrants.   Steven Rowley.   May

8. Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt. Lucinda Riley/Harry Whittaker.  Audio most likely.  May

9.  The Secret Book of Flora Lea.  Patti Callahan Henry.   May

10. The Money Club  Fiona Lowe.  May

December Reading Wrap Up

Total books read this month:  11

Book Ratings

The Choice.   4 stars
Lessons from the Prairie. 3.75 stars
The Clockmaker’s Daughter. 4 stars.
Miracle Creek Christmas. 4 stars
Flirting with the Beast. 4 stars.
The Sweetness of Forgetting. 4 stars.
State of Shock.  Marie Force. 4 stars.
Christmas at the Edge of the World.  4 stars.

New to me authors:

Kristin Harmel

Top Book for December.

Sadly I can’t name a top book for December. They were all good reads, but no one stands out to me as a top read.

Looking forward to reading in January

Linking up with Nicole from FeedYourFiction Addiction.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels or anything in those genres – join them.

Hope you are all keeping well. I’ve had a quiet week on the whole, one day with a friend, but apart from that read, quilt – rinse and repeat! One good thing is now that the holiday season is coming up I see that the library has extended our loan period, so that’s a small delight.

What I read last week:

What I am reading now:

My slow reads are

And my audiobook is still

Up next:

 

Last Week’s Posts

The Sunshine Girls. Molly Fader.

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels or anything in those genres – join them.

December greetings. The days are moving on! On Saturday we had our extended family Christmas gathering that one of my beautiful nieces and her husband hosted. It was great, some had travelled quite a distance and then back for work day Monday so I am in admiration of them too. It was just lovely to see the young ones growing up and having fun together – the young ones are now all second cousins.  We never knew our second cousins so that is so lovely that they do.

Apart from that not much. My car goes into the paint and panel beaters tomorrow for some touch up from where I scraped it against the garage a few weeks ago. So last week I was organising that.

I seem to have got stuck on watching The Crown but must get back to it. I watched Trevor Noah on Netflix in Canada, he always lifts my spirits. Plus I love The Block Australia. They really know how to do it, our NZ one is hopeless in comparison, but I guess small country syndrome, small budget!

What I read last week:

It looks better than it really was. Somewhere Between Luck and Trust was an audiobook I’d been listening to for awhile and Lessons from the Prairie was my nighttime slow read. One evening I went down the rabbit hole of listening to the Megyn Kelly interview with Melissa Francis on YouTube and that was really good.

What I am reading now:

So my two slow reads are still these, These Precious Days came back to me from the library, they had heaps of copies so I wasn’t too surprised my turn came around quickly and now I can finish it.

My audiobook is…

Up next:

 

Last Week’s Posts

Work Wives  Rachael Johns

November Reading Wrap

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organise yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels or anything in those genres – join them.

I didn’t seem to get much reading done this week and I didn’t even have an excuse of a big celebration like Thanksgiving! But what I read I liked so that counts! Well will see you all on the other side of November, this month has sped by.

What I read last week:

During the week I finished Doctor’s and Friends. I liked it and am a reading fan of Kimmery Martin. She wrote this book just before the Covid pandemic. Kimmery is a doctor herself  and decided to write a pandemic book. Then Covid hit and she wasn’t sure whether to publish or not, but went ahead. This is a sobering book in the light of what we actually experienced. Kimmery Martin herself has had long Covid and hasn’t had an easy path through it.  Sometimes fiction predicts fact. With Covid still lingering about it was almost too much for me to read but I went ahead.

What I am reading now:

At present this is what I am reading. It is a dual time line book.

I am still listening to my reread of…

And my slow read had to change as These Precious Days ( my night slow read) had to go back to the library but I have requested it again and am in line! So this is what I am reading now, Lessons from the Praire while I wait for These Precious Days. The Clockmaker’s Daughter is my morning read.

Up next:

 Last Week’s Posts

The Stolen Book of Evelyn Aubrey.  Serena Burdick

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Books Read from my Shelf in July

I’m aiming this year – 2022, to read five books of my print shelf each month, and I have already achieved that for July.  Three were from 2022, one from 2021 and one from 2018.

About one quarter of the way through Nightwork I was ready to fire this book into the “get rid of pile” and concede I’d made a buying mistake. A hero who is a thief just didn’t wash with me.

But Its Nora Roberts! Plus at this point I read Debbie’s review at The Reading Frenzy and that sort of encouraged me.

And within a few more lines I was hooked. The plot turned a little, I became more involved with the characters and I increasingly liked this thief. And what a gifted one at that. Only 4.5 stars though for giving me a “poor start.” Which probably says more about me the reader than the book, but there you are!

I so wanted to love it, but Out of the Clear Blue Sky did not provide me with the reading I desired. Everything is going down the drain and very little of it is uplifting. The main character Lillie is a hot mess of a victim who does some downright retaliative mean and nasty things. I think they were meant to be funny but I thought they were so sad. Melissa the “other woman” has very little going for her, although there is a little hope she might improve. Lillie is a homemaker for sure and I guess she and Ben will one day be a great pair, but we just had to read and read all the whiny victim stuff. KH has been up until now an automatic buy, now I will most likely read the next one, but will be via the library. And hubby? Well what. a wet blanket! Best characters – the dogs! Cover does not relate to the book at all.  2.75 stars.

Birds of a Feather by Australian author Tricia Stringer drew me in well at the beginning and then ensnared me in the day to day lives of three women. One in her seventies, one mid life and one the mother of two young children. They find themselves together and slowly some sincere and important relationships are formed. As well as that each of the three share and come to terms with what has been eating at them from the past and enables them to embrace their futures.  4 stars

A delightful book, With Love From London was one that is both full of love and loss, so both heart warming and tinged always with a sense of sadness. If only relationships could have worked out perfectly, but no. However what lasts, lasts and in a way in the end love wins. Plus a charming bookstore, books loved and a bookstore cat. Good reading.  4.25 stars.

An enjoyable story set in Scotland and involving a manor and a teashop and some fun characters. It has family and romance and new beginnings, nicely told, warm and cozy. The cover is especially delicious and does match the book! 3.75 stars.