Aussie tragedy and Labradors

Hello...(tapping on screen). I was posting regularly for a while but have been hibernating with some miserable allergies as well as some healing from the dermatolgist cutting on me. Nothing like stitches on the face to make one feel pretty, lol. Results back show some precancer areas which can be handled by a precription cream. Yea for that.

Enough complaining.  Let's talk about books.  I can share two I have finished and a few reading plans.

Currently Reading / Buckeye by Patrick Ryan.  This is a buddy read with Susan at The Cue Card. Just started part two and this is a good read, in my opinion.

Finished

I had been looking forward to another book by M.L. Stedman for well over a decade.  I thought The Light Between Oceans was amazing, filled with love, grief and much emotion.  (click on the title link for review on my old book blog, if interested).

This book hit me the same way.  No one writes tragedy like Stedman, pulling you in with empathy and compassion for the characters as they navigate life with secrets and hardships.  Set in the far-flung reaches of Australia on a sheep station, the McBride family had been farming, called pastoralists, for generations.

The beginning: Phil McBride is the father, driving his truck with his eldest son Warren and youngest Matt.  The truck crashes, killing Phil and Warren almost instantly.  Matt is flung through the window with grave injuries and has a long recuperation with a head injury which caused significant memory loss.

Everything changes then, for so many people.  Lorna McBride loses Phil, her husband and love of her life.  Matt didn't have the responsibility of inheriting the family business and had dreams of traveling as Warren would take over the station ...but Warren is dead.  Rosie is the middle child and only daughter, helping run things best she can while also visiting Matt in rehab until he comes home.

Is that enough tragedy? Nope. Something unspeakable happens which will turn off some readers and they will quit the book (I saw that voiced in a few reviews) but if you do, you will miss out on a good story.  One of my favorite characters is Pete Peachy, a roo hunter who works for the McBrides.  He is a good man and I wanted to know more about him.

Great character development, lots of side stories, themes of compassion, love, guilt and duty. 5 stars.  Well done.

Next up is Dog Days by Andrew Cotter.  

This is a second book about the adorable labs Olive and Mabel in a diary type accounting told by Andrew Cotter.  I will admit to loving his first book Olive, Mabel and Me more.  That said, if you like following this trio, you'll be amused by this accounting of post Covid activities and appearances. Amazing how popular these canines are and the following they have on social media. 

The first book had lots of background on the dogs, Cotter's experiences with mountain climbing and the lockdown from Covid.  Also photos which were great.   This second book does not compare. If you can get Dog Days from the library or on a good sale it would be worth it.  If you have an interest in Olive and Mabel then grab this one pictured below.

Rounded up to 3 stars.

This is a nonfiction I could place under the memoirs category but I will add it to my Grazing Category.  I've some other books in mind for memoirs for the 2026 Nonfiction Reading Challenge.

Up next in no particular order - Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green, The Astral Library by Kate Quinn and Dear Missing Friend by Susan McGuirk.

Linking with:

Shelleyrae at Book'd Out for the 2026 Nonfiction Reading Challenge for the grazing category. 

Joy for British Isles Friday for Scottish author Andrew Cotter

Lost Gardens of the World

 Best laid plans....I wanted to write about M.L. Stedman's long awaited book A Far Flung Life but life got in my way.   It's a five star for me and I will write about it soon.

Between some rather serious allergies this Spring and a nasty visit to the dermatologist (resulting in stitches on my face ) I have been unable to motivate myself to write much.  Reading is a solace for me so I have been chilling out with books. Best medicine I can think of right now.

Here is one for the 2026 nonfiction reading challenge.

Lost Gardens of the World is a cool little coffee table book you can flip through and then get lost down the rabbit hole looking up the actual locale.  There are lovely illustrations of the gardens as they once were (or as perceived) as well as historical information telling us about the families who owned the land.

Some of my favorites were in England. The garden in Pentewan England was one that had me looking up the Tremayne family and how this beautiful estate and gardens were abandoned. Eighty years after the first World War it is slowly being restored. Most of the young men went off to war and never returned, taking the heart out of those left behind.

In 1991 a team of volunteers starting cutting through the tangled overgrown area, finding remains of water features, paths and a lake. 

Another very interesting story is about Cougar Annie's Garden on Vancouver Island.  Well, it was of interest to me. Annie was quite a character and what a determined woman. She cleared land herself and built up an orchard business, started the Boat Basin Post Office and shot cougars, yes...real cougars.

This is a good armchair travel book with the featured neglected or abandoned gardens in Italy, The Netherlands, Canada, Morocco, Nepal and more.

Sharing with:

 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out for the 2026 Nonfiction Reading Challenge
Category: Lost and Found

Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday

A midmonth collection of randomness

 Well I don't have much to contribute to any bookish news but felt like posting anyway.  It's been one of those weeks.

Took a quick trip to the library and picked up the March edition of Book Page.  Found some good suggestions for upcoming publications and added those to Goodreads.

Currently reading M.L. Stedman's new book A Far-Flung Life.  It's been fifteen years since she broke my heart reading The Light Between the Oceans, keeping me up until midnight finishing that one.  Now I am totally absorbed with this new book. She can write tragedy like no one else I have ever read.  The weather cooperated so I could sit outside and read these past few days.

Went to the nursery and picked up some seeds to plant in a few weeks. The white alyssum is doing very well out front and spreading like wildfire.  So I want to try this multi color pack and see what that looks like blended in.  Also have columbine and some Japanese eggplant, for out back.

Last and almost least...because the coffee wasn't remarkable but the beignets were...we tried a new-to-us place for a treat.

Hot and so good.

That's it.  All I have going.  Just in a funk mood but wanted to connect.  Wishing anyone who reads this a happy fun week filled with books and joy.

Last day of February...the monthly update on reading and watching

Well this month went by fast. I had some good reading, good walking, time fiddling with my plants which did not freeze to death this month....and yesterday was my granddaughter's 12th birthday.  That time flew!  I can still remember Doug and I leaving work to drive to Ft. Stewart in Georgia for her birth. She is as tall as I am now. 

 Here's the February breakdown.........

Watched........ 📺

This month we watched a variety of genres.  We finished season 2 of Fallout (SciFi based on a game our son was pumped about) season 2 of Patriot starring Terry O'Quinn and Michael Dorman (quirky) and just started a second season of Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Very much looking forward to Shrinking and For All Mankind.

📚  Read   📚

I had a good month of reading.  Some books I loved and others were just meh...but I read quite a bit. Reviews may be found by clicking on the title links.

Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty

Crux by Gabriel Tallent (a buddy read with Susan of The Cue Card blog.)

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

Within the Walled City by Virginia Evans

Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee Newitz (nonfiction)

Loving / My new pen! I already had the Scriveiner ballpoint and just received this silver chrome Crown and Regent rollerball. It's lovely for journaling and letter writing.

That's it for now.  End of February, over and out!

Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon

Fickle February weather means more reading time

 Four days ago I was wearing short sleeves and wishing it were cooler.  Night before last I had to cover the plants as the temps dropped to be 27F / -3C.  Our walk today was brisk to say the least with 18 mph wind and heavy coats.  Loki's ears were flapping, lol.

This is Loki and his neighbor buddy Daisy on a warm morning walk this past weekend. The photo makes them look to be the same size but Loki is a good 28 pounds bigger.   Looks like they are about to drop a new album.

Two books finished this week. Let's start with a fiction by Virginia Evans - Within the Walled City. I loved her latest book The Correspondent but this one I have mixed feelings. 

Starting  with the good things I will say the cover art is beautiful. The story mostly takes place in Siena Italy and the descriptions of architecture, interactions and food come alive.  I could clearly picture the characters, the vibrant colors and conversations weren't stilted.

Jillian is the narrator, a college aged young woman focusing on art, planning a work study program in Italy.  It must be noted Jillian and her father have a cool relationship and by that I mean civil after a huge falling out.  As Jillian's mom Lily had cancer and died when Jillian was nine years old, she naturally had questions about her mother. Her requests for info about her mother were usually stonewalled over the years and then, she finds a treasure trove of Lily's paintings hidden in the attic.  Confrontation ensued.

Time passes....

Suddenly her father is encouraging her to accept the art study in Sienna over other Italian cities.  Before leaving, he hands her Lily's journal, written when Lily was an art student in....you guessed it, Siena.

There are times this story was rather slow and others storylines about her roommates in Siena get mixed in but overall, I did like the book.  It's a lovely armchair excursion to Tuscany where you'll love the foodie descriptions, a bit of romance and most of the loose ends get tied up neatly. 

I was fortunate enough to purchase this book on Kindle shortly after reading The Correspondent (which I loved) but now it appears the book is unavailable in either Kindle or physical book format. The great success of The Correspondent must have inspired bookworms to seek out Evan's earlier book.  Rating it a 3.75 and should probably round to 4 as I was never tempted to put it down.  Just the ending seemed "too" tied up and improbable, in my humble opinion.  I'll put a spoiler note on Goodreads with those thoughts.

Next we have a nonfiction.  Just finished Four Lost Cities: a Secret History of an Urban Age  by Annelee Newit last night. 

 Did you know we have a World Heritage site here in the United States? I did not until I read this book.  It's located about 10 miles from St Louis Missouri, a large prehistoric civilization which  was larger than London in 1250 AD.   Here is a link to Cahokia Mounds, a World Heritage and State Historical site.  

The chapters about Pompeii was my main interest and learning about the society.  Freed slaves (libertli) their children or those who earned their freedom constituted the major part of the population.  It was a vibrant city, ruined and abandoned so quickly after the volcanic eruption.  Sad. A citizen named Julia Felix was particularly interesting as she held ownership of several blocks of buildings, quite a businesswoman.

The other two cities excavated and studied are Cataholyuk, Turkey and Angkor in Cambodia. This book is tagged as science with much info about the archeological digs and finds. 

The book was written by a journalist, not an archeological team, so keep that in mind when reading about environmental and political reasons why a vibrant civilization disappeared. Rounded up to 3.5 stars

This was for the Nonfiction Reading Challenge hosted by Shelleyrae at Book'd Out. Category: Science.

Sharing with Shelleyrae at Book'd Out for the 2026 Nonfiction Reading Challenge.

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte(Classics Club Spin)

 The pick for my Classic Club Spin was Agnes Grey and while it was one on my classics bucket list, I didn't love it. That said, I completed the book. 

Agnes Grey wasn't what I thought it might be and I didn't find this book particularly engaging. I've heard from friends Anne Bronte's second book, Tenant of Wildfell Hall, is much better.  So I will try that book one day.  Won't be soon though.....

 As the youngest Bronte daughter Anne's experiences, personality and insecurities came through in this novel. The fictional Grey family face financial difficulties so Agnes decides she wants to help by becoming a governess.  Her mother and sister are surprised and don't show her any encouragement but Agnes persists.  

Agnes accepts a position with the Bloomfields, a heinous family who are snobby,  rude and cruel. The children are absolutely horrid! Straight off, that child Tom is a serial killer in the making with talk of hurting his pony and cutting up birds. Wicked child who follows his father and uncle's way of thinking.  Pure evil the lot of them.  Agnes only lasts a short time, is dismissed and moves on to the next position. 

Our author interjects religion and moralizing into Agnes' character,  complaining away while trying to enlighten the reader about the indignities of being a governess. 

Complain. Rinse. Repeat.  The romance between Agnes and Mr. Weston, a man of the cloth of course,  was tepid at best. 

Happy ending...kinda...but I won't think about this book and the nonexistant depth of the character developments later on.

I'm surely in the minority with my 2 star review of a Bronte classic but we all have different takes on a story.  It's one I wanted to knock off my classic club bucket list and ✔...it's done. 

Sharing with Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday and The Classics Club.

Mid February Update

Hello February. So far this month has been productive in regards to reading and other pursuits. Lots of walking, cleaning out the house and ridding outselves of superfluous items and watching some of the Olympics.

Here's the midmonth roundup.

Read / Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty

Stella and Gerry have been married over 35 years so they know each others habits, have comfortable silences and their own little secrets.

The book starts with the minutiae of the evening as Stella is preparing them for their trip to Amsterdam the next day. When I say the minutiae of their activities I mean just that - it's all the little almost inconsequential details of turning down the heat, turning down the bedclothes, putting on lotion and being sure the toiletries bag is packed....like that.

The entire book is like this with normal conversations between the two.  There are also  flashbacks to the past where you learn about life changing events in their marriage,  They are a Northern Irish couple living in the north when violence touches their lives.  In their older years they live in Scotland, their son grown and living with his family in Canada.

I wrote a more detailed review on Goodreads HERE. Settings are Scotland but most of the book takes place in Amsterdam.

Crux by Gabriel Tallent

This book was a buddy read with Susan at The Cue Card. I will admit the teemage chatter between two best friends, Tamma and Dan, was annoying at first but quickly gave way to the excellent writing and plot.  I was very much invested in the lives of our main characters.

Two teens living in poverty; one with opportunties for college, the other written off.  You'll notice when reading that Dan is described as a scholar and good looking.  Tamma is described by her deformities (mind you, her father caused them) and how she is perceived to be stupid. She is not.  She is a powerhouse of ambition and tenacity. 

Neither one has scenes with friends other than each other. There is a loneliness for both of them, Tamma gives it the middle finger but Dan has depression he tamps down. Both are alive and happy when climbing or planning a climb. They trust each other implicitly.

This story is about perserverance, friendship and loyalty.  I wrote up a longish review but realized I ought to mark it as spoilers so that's on Goodreads HERE. You will come to seriously dislike one of the mothers. 

📚 Currently Reading 📚 

Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte as it was my Classics Club spin book and a nonfiction, titled  Four Lost Cities by Annalee Newitz.

Today......

Sharing with Joy for British Isles Friday  with Irish author Bernard MacLaverty