First book of year - Finished

 I finished my first book of the year - Daughters of the Bamboo Grove by Barbara Demick.

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption and Separated Twins.

In 1979 Chinese law was enacted to limit one child per family. You could petition or apply to have another child if your first baby was a girl.  Boys were desired and there were brutal laws about having children without a permit.  Having another child without a government sanctioned permit came with such severe penalties.   If you didn't have a planned birth you could be fined as much as a year's wages, have your house demolished and property confiscated.

If you were found pregnant without a permit a woman could be hog-tied and hauled away for a forced abortion.  Then they'd send you a bill. Those who hid an extra birth by giving the child to a family member to raise for a while were punished if a neighbor ratted them out.  Then the Family Planning Office would come seize the baby or toddler and take it to an orphanage where they would be a adopted out to foreigners.  All for a hefty price, it was like buying a child.

But that isn't how the government "marketed" the babies.  It was said the children were abandoned by their mothers so people felt good about adopting a child no one wanted.  An American family adopted a baby who, unbeknownst to them, was a twin.  What the adoptive family didn't know was this baby had a family who diligently searched for her for years.  There are many such scenarios like this.  Children taken and the birth families with little resources trying to find their babies.

This book details the history and focuses on one family in particular - the separated twins and how they came to find one another again.  It's good story, very sad at times.

Grace Newton, who is an adoptee and writes about it on her blog Red Thread Broken,  recalled a conversation she had on a flight to China.  Because she is Chinese the seatmate "launched into the familiar spiel about how "lucky" she was: "I didn't tell him how unlucky it is not to know your first family, to not know your medical history, to not know who you are and  have to fly seven thousand miles to try and figure it out, to feel like a foreigner wherever you go. Adoption has given me great opportunity,  but it was at a great cost," she wrote on her website.

The tags on this book are History, Adoption, China, Asia, Nonfiction, Memoir.

352 pages, 4.5 stars.

Linking up with Shelleyrae at Book'd Out for the 2026 Nonfiction Reading Challenge. Category: History

New year, new planner and pen

Here I am welcoming 2026 with a pretty planner and a new Scriveiner ballpoint pen.  #happiness

Posted this week - A Couple of Favorites for 2025.  That was a good reading year for me.  I can't read over 100 books as some of you all can but the ones I did read were excellent.

My first book will be Daughters of the Bamboo Grove by Barbara Demick.  I am already close to 60 percent into it.  Fascinating yet brutal how the female children were viewed and treated. #nonfiction

Watching /  We had finished For All Mankind and are now trying Invasion.  Drumming my fingers waiting on Shrinking to come back,

Last but not least we have Loki.  He has a toy that goes with him everywhere.  To bed, sitting outside getting sun.....his constant companion. 

The neighbors cat, Griffin, visits him quite a bit and they check each other out when we walk. But Loki is not going to share his toy.  Nope.

Linking with Deb for Sunday Salon.

A couple of favorites for 2025

 Writing up a list of favorites for the year can be challenging as I enjoyed just about all the books I read.  Here are a few standouts for me.  (Reviews/more info in links. )

I started January with my first book of the year titled Olive, Mabel and Me by Andrew Cotter.  If you have heard his sports broadcasts or his comedic "broadcast" describing his dogs vying for a bone during the lockdown years ago, that's the voice you'll hear while reading this book. #nonfiction

An absolute favorite here is The Story of a Heart by Rachel Clarke. Fascinating book and so well written. #nonfiction

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

The Correspondent by Virgina Evans - amazing. Buddy read with Susan.

Two John Boyne books - The Elements and All the Broken Places.

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks - powerful and raw emotional writing. #nonfiction 

The last book of the year was a buddy read with Susan at The Cue Card and I have rounded it to 4.5 stars. The Booker prize winner Flesh by David Szalay.  Now that I have read it the cover makes me think, take a bite of the apple, says temptation. 

This is a slow moving character study of a Hungarian man named Istvan.  It starts when he is fifteen years old with some raunchy scenes involving his neighbor who is an older married woman.  You will read about his life experiences  from his teen years, his service in the military and his early work life.  Working as a bouncer, getting a job in security, then a driver for for the uber rich.  

 

In spite of the dialogue being simplistic at times I was never tempted to put it down.  It's Istvan's circle of life from schoolboy to an aged man with all those life experiences packed in between.  Very hard to review without spoilers so I will write about it on Goodreads with the Spoiler option to hide some observations.  

Honorable Mention

Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave.

Fever by Mary Beth Keane

 

Seascrape by Benjamin Wood - another buddy read with Susan

There are so many more I enjoyed but these deserved a mention.

It's been so nice visiting other blogs and seeing what you loved reading this year.  All my buddy reads have been fun   💗📚  Of course there are more books around the house than I haven't managed to get to but...that's a goal for next year.

Please leave a comment to tell me a few of your favorites.  Happy new year and may you have good times, good reading, good health and lots of love in your life.

Sharing with:

Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon 

Joy's Book Blog for British Isles Friday as I read so many set in the British Isles such as Flesh, Seascraper, Story of the Heart, two John Boyne books and Olive, Mabel and Me.

After my nap I'll be reading....

Happy Saturday. After a crazy week of traffic and avoiding crowds we are settling into some quiet times for walking.  Our weather has been up and down with a few freezing nights which required covering the plants...then an upswing of record highs in the 70s this week.

This week I posted about the 2026 Nonfiction Reader Challenge hosted by Shelleyrae at Book'd Out. Join in if you fancy some good suggestions and love nonfiction.

Are you participating in Shelia's First Book of the Year photo collage?  Check it out at Book Journey.  I see my photo there from last year with my first book of 2025 - Olive, Mabel and me by Andrew Cotter. I've already picked put my first book for 2026 and it's a nonfiction.

Hello Santa, am I too late? (haha) I enjoyed reading the book lovers' wish list for Christmas many of you posted this past week so I thought I would make mine for fun.  Yes, I know Santa is gone but I do love making a list. Here is mine.

The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom by Slavomir Rawicz

 Evensong by Stewart O'Nan

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

Tata by Valerie Perrin I have enjoyed the three previous books by Perrin but this one has not been translated into English yet and available in my country.  According to the link here at Amazon. One day...

📚📚  Currently reading and almost done with Flesh by David Szalay.  This is a buddy read with Susan at The Cue Card.   Szalay is the first Hungarian-British  author to win the Booker Prize.  The settings are in Hungary, with our character living in a poor housing development, and London where he experiences a richer lifestyle through the employment of upper class individuals.  This is not a rags to riches story by any means. Lots of graphic passages.

Today......

Linking up with:

Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon

Joy for British Isles Friday

2026 Nonfiction Reader Challenge at Book'd Out

 It's that time of year to think about the 2026 Nonfiction Challenge hosted by Shellyrae at Book'd Out.  Count me in this year.

Here is the signup intel and here are the categories below which I shamelessly copied from Shelleyrae's blog. 👇

Choose a goal:

Nonfiction Nipper: Read & review 3 books, from any 3 listed categories

Nonfiction Nibbler: Read & review 6 books, from any 6 listed categories

Nonfiction Nosher: Read & review 12 books, one for each category

Nonfiction Grazer: Read & review any nonfiction book. Set your own goal, or none at all, just share the nonfiction you read through the year.

Categories:

History
Memoir/Biography
True Crime
Science
Health
Food
South East Asia
Humour (Humor)
Lost or found
Television
Subculture
Published in 2026

I have a few books in mind for next year:

Wild Ride: I.V. Drips and Rocket Ships by Halley Arceneaux

A Time Remembered: American Women in the Vietnam War by Olga Gruhzit-Hoyt

Daughters of the Bamboo Grove by Barbara Demick

A Bunker in Kyiv: The Astonishing Story of the People's Army Defying Putin

I'd love to know some of the nonfiction titles on your radar.  This year I am signing up for the Grazer but hope I can manage 12. Join in, it's always fun!

Armchair travel to Northern England and Korea this week

 Posted this week / Mailbox Monday where I shared my library haul of 9 books and a DVD.  We watched Chernobyl, vey grim but fascinating.  I've read two of the books so far and also made a recipe from the air fryer cookbook.

Books read /  Seascraper by Benjamin Wood.  This very short book was a buddy read with Susan.

This is a short novella which packs so much in.  I know the term atmospheric tends to be overused these days in describing a book but this one places you directly into the cold, damp and often gloomy seaside. 

Our main character Thomas Flett is 20 years old but has the aches of an old man.  His love is music and his secret desire is to play guitar and write songs.  This he keeps hiden from his mother and everyone else he encounters.  This is set in the 1960 time period in Longferry England

His sad fate is taking over the shrimp harvesting as it was his father and grandfather's way to make a living.  He must support his mother ( who incidentally is only 15 years older than Thomas) by heading out to the shore early in the mornings and sometimes again in the evening, throwing nets to harvest shrimp to sell.

Then Edgar Acheson arrives.  Edgar is an American film maker who wants to hire Thomas to show him the shore and landmarks, safely get him around and make a film based on a novel.  Their interactions are interesting - Thomas suspicious at first and Edgar full of excitement about the perfect place to film. I liked the turn of events at the end. 4.5 stars

The Second Chance Convenient Store by Ho-Yeon Kim.

This isn't my typical genre but the short 206 page story was a nice read.  Set in Korea, Mrs. Yeom is traveling and realizes she has lost her wallet and valuables. 

A man named Dokgo calls her to say he has found her wallet and she arranges to meet him.  He is homeless but with an interesting back story as to why he ended up that way.  Mrs. Yeom owns convenience store and grateful for his kindness she offers him help by feeding him.  While Dokgo doesn't accept at first, his character development shows us about trust, forgiveness and kindness.  

Currently reading / Well, I started Horse by Geraldine Brooks and it pulled me in. But it's a physical book with smallish font and I am considering waiting until my Kindle hold for this title comes in. 

That's all I have for this week.  Maybe make some bread for the neighbors who are down with the flu and plan a safe handoff :-)

Linking up with:

Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon

Joy for British Isles Friday

Monday Mailbox - a plethora of library books

 Mailbox Monday is hosted by Vicki at I'd Rather Be At The Beach.  I have been absent in participating because I have been reading from what is on hand.  

But - our library now has the extended holiday checkout period of 6 weeks so, I loaded up!  One book arrived in the mail and is a complimentary copy of Cecile Pin's upcoming release Celestial Lights.

The mini series about Chernobyl

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood

The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-Yeon

Loved One by Aisha Muharrar

The Ship Beneath the Ice by Mensun Bound

Swallow by Natsuo Kirino

Horse by Geraldine Brooks

Also some foodie books.  Hope I can read them all before they are due!

Linking up with Monday Mailbox.

Hello Sunshine 🌞

Happy Saturday! We had rain for days on end, steady and solid without breaks.  It was no fun trying to get Loki out to do his business. Thankfully we have a break for now and the skies are blue.  Here is a photo of a little shopping area 2 miles from our house.  They have a lovely tree decorated in the middle of the square and there are so many restaurants here, all decorated for the holiday. 🌞

While I was inside a few days I finished a dog themed puzzle which was fun.

📚 Book Chat 📚

Earlier this week I posted my 2025 Nonfiction Reading Challenge wrap up.

Books read / Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks

What an emotionally charged memoir. So raw, so honest about how she experienced the pain, loss and how she kept it inside while dealing with the many aspects of an unexpected death of a loved one.  Keeping it together for her children, figuring things out on her own without allowing herself to mourn was heart wrenching to read.  Finally she gave herself time to think about everything and get away from everyone on Flinders Island where she could grieve and be alone.   Highly recommended memoir that packs a punch.  5 stars

A Family Matter by Claire Lynch

We start this story with Heron (real name Henry) receiving the awful news he has cancer.  He has a 44 year old daughter named Maggie and is trying to decide how and when to tell her about his health situation.  He has brought Maggie up on his own and she never knew what became of her mother Dawn. So many unanswered questions.

Maggie's thoughts on hearing her father has cancer:

She cannot say, you cannot die, not now, because I will sometimes want to call you, to tell you a joke I read in the paper, or that I saw a famous person on the platform at London Bridge. You cannot die, because you will be missing from the photographs of all the days that haven’t happened yet—

The story is set in Ireland, switching back and forth between two timelines - 1982 and 2022. Maggie is obviously devoted to her father as all they had were each other.   

The sad thing is why Dawn wasn't part of Maggie's life growing up. You learn about archaic practices/laws in place in 1982 which tore a family apart.  This short book of 240 pages intensifies near the end when Maggie, now a 44 year old mother, discovers why her mother was absent in her life all those years. 

Currently reading / The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-Yeon. Translated by Janet Hong.

Coming up is the 2026 Nonfiction Reading Challenge hosted by Shelleyrae at Book'd Out and more book chat.  Wishing you a happy and healthy week.

Linking up with:

Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon

Joy for British Isles Friday

The 2025 Nonfiction Reading Challenge Wrap-up

 The 2025 Nonfiction Reader Challenge is hosted by Shelleyrae at Book'd Out.   I signed up for six categories but completed nine.

 

Categories completed:

History

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

Memoir/Biography

 Olive, Mabel and Me by Andrew Cotter and Be Ready When Luck Happens by Ina Garten

True Crime 

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel

Health

The Story of a Heart by Dr. Rachel Clarke

Food

What I Ate in One Year {and related thoughts} by Stanley Tucci 

Travel 

Hidden Libraries by Lonely Planet

Garden

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan

Myth, Legend and Folklore

Vanishing Cornwall by Daphne du Maurier

Published in 2025 

On the Hippie Trail by Rick Steves

It's always fun making the lists of books.

Check out the challenge link at Book'd Out. You will get many great ideas for titles and I am already in process of list making for the 2026 challenge.

Thank you for hosting, Shellyrae! 💓😍

  

Hello December....❄

Hello world. I've been absent for a bit but probably haven't missed anything crucial.  I guess.  Life got mad at us in November.   Earlier in November my husband had to go to the emergency room. They transported him to a larger hospital and kept him a night so that was stressful all the way around, for all of us. He is doing well now.  Then I was violently ill from some stomach bug. Knocked me for a loop.  Also had other things come up and frankly, besides a little bit of reading and starting a puzzle - nothing worth getting on the keyboard to share.

Apologies for my lack of visitation and response. Hope to catch up soon.

Thanksgiving was quiet as it's just the two of us.  We were able to talk to our son for a bit and hear how his turkey roasting was going.  Doug and I had meatloaf, potatoes and gravy, veggies and I had also made a pumpkin pie.  You can't beat Libby's recipe for pumpkin pie.  I hope you all had a nice holiday if it's one you partipate in.

Books //   Recently I finished  The Art Thief by Michael Finkel and it was a buddy read with Susan.  (Review in link)

Also read a novel by John Boyne which was well done, in my opinion.  Review of All the Broken Places HERE on Goodreads with spoilers mentioned but hidden. I will be looking for more John Boyne novels in 2026.

I was reading The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller.  This is set in 1962, rural west England shortly after WW II.  Apparently there actually was a severely frigid winter in that year.  It's slow but I thought it would pick up soon with some revelations about our main characters. Perhaps I am an unsophisticated reader as it was nominated for book awards but...just didn't resonate with me.  The extreme detail and minutiae in some passages had me wanting to flip ahead.  But again, I am probably in the minority about this book.

As I get older I tend to DNF something I'm not loving because i have so many other books I want to read.

Currently reading Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks. Sad and absorbing, can't put it down.

Watching / We finished season one of Bad Monkey starring Vince Vaughn. A good mixture of crime, drama and humor.  

Also finished season 5 of Slow Horses.  Love Gary Oldman.

First Christmas movie of the year was It's a Wonderful Life and that was a treat for me.

Wishing you all well, good health and plenty of whatever makes you happy. 

Sharing with:

Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon

Joy for British Isles Friday  for Slow Horses

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel {2025 Nonfiction Reading Challenge}

Here is a true crime book about art theft that had me turning the pages. This was a buddy read with Susan at The Cue Card.

I have bookmarked so many passages on my Kindle while reading this book.  It's incredible that Breitweiser was able to steal so many masterpieces in such a short period.  After finishing the book I realize he must have some mental issue that made him continue down a path of destruction, not only for the loss of his own freedom but at the expense of his mother and his beloved girlfriend, Anne-Catherine.  He is completely different from other art thieves as he never sought to sell the items.  He needed to surround himself with the beauty.

At first I felt sorry for Anne-Catherine when she gave him the ultimatum of choosing art or her....he paused and had to think about that.  But did she walk away then knowing she would always hold second place to his art obsession?   She did not.  Then the lies she told in court dissolved any sympathy I had for her. As for his mother...wow, zero sympathy for her. She did some despicable revenge.

It was stated that when museums had more financial resources where they could beef up security they chose to buy more art instead.  I think I understand that because if you already have security it's more inportant to acquire more art for ALL people to enjoy.  More art draws larger crowds. That certainly changed after Breitweiser's crimes were revealed.

Reading this true crime narrative educated me on security systems as as well as art detectives.  I didn't know so many detectives were employed solely to investigate art thefts.  Italy has the largest number of detectives boasting 300, Switzerland has a handful, France has 30 and the United States employs roughly 20 detectives and produces their own Ten Most Wanted list for missing art. These figures are from the date of publication here so I imagine there are more now. 

This book is shared with:

 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out for the 2025 Nonfiction Reader Challenge. Category: True Crime

Nope on Ford Madox Ford but yes on Plath

Catching up on book reviews and making plans.

Epic fail on my Classic Club Spin.  I just couldn't get on with A Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford so it's a DNF.  Having planned to knock out one of my titles on the list I chose The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.  Now I need to edit my Classic Club list on the tab.

I'm sure Sylvia Plath used much of her own thoughts in writing the character of Esther Greenwood.

This novel was before the pill, medical knowledge of mental illness, women's studies and a bit like that TV series Mad Men in regard how women were viewed. The character  Esther recognized this despite her mental illness, or perhaps because of it.

She wanted more from life than the traditional path expected and having depression and suicidal thoughts didn't help with her mental state and decision making.

Noting how it would turn out if she married - "And I knew that in spite of all the roses and kisses and restaurant dinners a man showered on a woman before he married her, what he secetly wanted when the wedding ended was for her to flatten out underneath his feet like Mrs. Willard's kitchen mat."

She just wanted more out of life.

 The character mentions she should be grateful for the friend of her mother, Mrs. Guinea, for affording Esther to stay at a nicer sanatorium during her treatment.  But she was no more grateful than being gifted a ticket to Europe, or a world cruise or trip to Paris to sit and enjoy a sidewalk cafe...she'd still be under that vacuum, that Bell Jar, feeling nothing but misery. It wasn' that she was an ingrate, she was mentally paralyzed.

Medical knowledge and treatment were woefully lacking in those days regarding depression. Esther's mother was always asking her why was she like this, as if it were her fault. Knowing Plath's true life story made this a sad read. 4 stars

📚📚📚📚📚

Frankie by Graham Norton

I've read a few of Graham Norton's fiction and this one, true to form, gives us a setting in Ireland and lots to think about.  The plot centers around Frances Howe and how her very sad childhood changed her path in life.  The different time periods are well described, in my opinion. We start with Damien who is a care giver living in London.

Frances, dubbed Frankie once she arrived in New York, is now in her eighties and has broken ankle.  Damien is sent to her for the temporay care she needs.  As they are both Irish and Damien knows the area Frankie grew up in this opens a window for them to reminisce.  He's great at getting his clients to chat and this opens up a flood of memories from Frankie as she slowly tells him her life story.  From county Cork in Ireland to London, Frankie finds happiness for a while and it's an interesting journey.  

📚📚📚

This week I posted and tried to join in on Nonfiction November Here. Upcoming I have a stack of books and need to decide which to tackle first, some depend on library due dates.

Hope your reading week is a good one!

 Linking up with:

Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon

Joy for British Isles Friday

Nonfiction November - week one

This is my first time participating in Nonfiction November although I do participate in an annual nonfiction challenge at Book'd Out.  

Our host for the first week here is Heather at Based on a True Story.

 Week 1 (10/27 – 11/2) Your Year in Nonfiction: Celebrate your year of nonfiction. What books have you read? What were your favorites? Have you had a favorite topic? Is there a topic you want to read about more?  What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November? 

So far this year I have read thirteen nonfiction books with various topics such as Food, Health, Travel, Garden, Myths/Legends and Memoir/Biography.  I am about to start The Art Thief by Michael Finkel which is true crime, also a buddy read with Susan at The Cue Card.

Favorites / One of my absolute favorite for 2025 is The Story of a Heart by Dr. Rachel Clarke. That book could well have landed under the science category but I chose health.  

Here is a list of the nonfiction completed so far in 2025.

Olive, Mabel and Me by Andrew Cotter

Be Ready When Luck Happens by Ina Garten

Atlas of Abandoned Places

Hidden Libraries

On the Hippie Trail by Rick Steves

Vanishing Cornwall by Daphne du Maurier

The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede

What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain

The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks

Pastoral Song by James Rebanks

The Story of a Heart by Dr. Rachel Clarke ★

I have been reading nonfiction all year as I participate in Shelleyrae's Nonfiction Reading Challenge .  You can find more about this annual challenge at Book'd Out.

Sharing with the hosts Heather at Nonfiction November and Readerbuzz.

UPDATE - I am not on Facebook and can not sign in to participate in the link on Heather's blog.  So...yeah.