I received Good Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian, shown here with one of my spider plants and ferns. It's one of the titles on my classics list so I will get to that in the next few months for sure. Perhaps I'll watch the movie afterwards.
That's my week's Mailbox Monday. Hope you received some goodies this week.
Sharing with Vicki for Mailbox Monday
Sunday already. This week has flown by for me. The temps have been up and down so one day we are sitting on the porch while Loki suns himself and the next I have the heater going and I'm inside working on a puzzle.
I have a new puzzle, courtesy of my son, so I started sorting the colors on Monday evening. It's the World of Jane Austen with a photo key on the back describing each character and which book they belong with. Very cool.
A fox visited us this week to eat the birdseed. Sometimes I think I am feeding everyone but birds here :-)
Books finished this week
The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan
The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico
The Book Club by Roisin Meaney
Currently reading / Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh and Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave.
Sharing with:
Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon
It's Sunday and the rain has been coming down since last night. We have a mini pond out front where the water is collecting. I expect to see ducks before too long!
I am still adhering to the No Buy 2025 and making purchases only as needed. I don't buy books now either - I use the library and if they don't have my book/DVD, I utilize their inter library loan program to borrow a book from a participating source.
“When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day One,” Trump said at a press conference in August 2024, targeting voters who have been dissatisfied with the price of goods.
How's that going? 👆
This week....
Watching / We are still enjoying MASH and are on to season two now.
Just in from the library is season three of London Kills. We had watched the first two seasons a few years ago and never got back to it. Will see if it still appeals.
Reading / I just finished James Rebanks second book Pastoral Song.
For Mailbox Monday the library came through for me with three books.
A nonfiction by Terry Gross titled All I Did Was Ask
Rosamunde Pilcher's Voices in Summer
Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisted
I'll most likely start Brideshead Revisited as it's the book selected for The Classics Spin.
Hope your week is going well and you have lots of good books and joy in your life.
Sharing with:
Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon
I ended up behind this week in everything. Blogging, correspondence and the house is a tip.
Tuesday my husband had a dentist appointment and he was turned away because the blood pressure was something like 200/100 - stroke territory. He's on BP meds so next day we went to the primary care. New meds. There are other reasons for this but suffice it to say he ought to be back to "normal" much later in the year.
Thursday I had my annual opththalmologist appointment - cataract followup and pressure checks. Once I am dilated I am pretty much done for hours as to looking at a tablet or phone. Can't even read. Ugh. OK, old lady talk finished now. haha
Book chat
So....this week I finished Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain. My third book for the Classics Club - review HERE. It was a tough read for me and thankfully I had JoAnn laboring along with me to complete a buddy read.
I also finished The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks. Very much enjoyed hearing about fell farming life and reading Rebank's memoir.
Library acquisitions
The series Blue Lights, set in Belfast Ireland. It's been a while since we've watched a police drama and we are enjoying this one very much. It has six episodes per season. The tensions in northern Ireland are well represented.
Later today I hope to catch up on emails and do some visiting!
Sharing with:
Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon
This has been a good week for book and movie arrivals here.
Currently Reading / Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain (buddy read with JoAnn)
Also in bookish updates, The Classics Club. announced their Spin so I made my list of 20 possibilities. It's my first time participating and it was fun making my list. My Spin List is HERE and I see (as of Sunday) the book I'll be reading is Brideshead Revisted by Evelyn Waugh.
Book Accessories / When I am not reading on a Kindle I can read anywhere but physical books require sufficient light in the evenings. Recently I broke out my pretty book light and it's helping me get more book time late.
The horizontal position of this light works better than an older one I had with a vertical drop. It also provides more light across both page surfaces.
My tablet basically died. It was locking up, going to black screen and I couldn't turn it off. As the tablet and blogging are my only interaction with book sites & friends, news, etc.....I had to get a new one. It interfered with some posts I was hoping to get done but...now I am all set.
Very irritating to have to spend the money on it as I was digging in to No Buy 2025. Here are a couple of articles about that Here and Here.
In book news....
Just finished The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough which was a buddy read with Deb at Readerbuzz. It's always nice to read with someone :-)
Currently reading / Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain with JoAnn. Also started The Story of a Heart by Dr. Rachel Clarke, a page turner in nonfiction. Fascinating so far.
Sharing a couple of "new" books for Mailbox Monday (hosted by Vicki). I have The Shepherd's Life by James Rebanks from the library and I purchased White Oleander by Janet Fitch for $2 from their sale shelves. Not sure when I will get started on the Rebanks book as I am finishing up the nonfiction right now.
Other posts this week besides the Thorn Birds review was about Loki's birthday/ gotcha day
That's about it. Not a crazy exciting week here but I am getting some good reading in. I hope your week is a good one.
Sharing with:
Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon
This week we saw unusual snowfall in northern Florida. See post and more photos HERE. Below is a photo of our field. I grew up in Pennsylvania and Michigan so I experienced snowy winters but this is so very unusual for Florida.
Foodie stuff / JoAnn posted about Chicken Tortellini soup HERE. So I have made that, very hearty.
Reading
Upcoming for one of my classics is Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain, a buddy read with JoAnn for February. Currently reading The Thorn Birds with Deb at Readerbuzz, also for my classic club list.
For Mailbox Monday I picked up the following - Orbital by Samantha Harvey, Pastoral Song by James Rebanks and the final season of Madam Secretary.
James Rebanks has a farm in Cumbria England and may be found on IG at Herdyshepherd1. The photos and videos are fantastic and I am looking forward to his book.
Finally, here is Loki soaking up some sun from his bedroom. I think about moving the furniture around but the placement of this bed near the window allows him to get a good view of the field. Spoiled...just a bit.
Sharing with:
Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon
I know I have mentioned being appreciative for having access to such a good library in previous posts. They keep me in entertainment and I don't spend any money. If a book or movie isn't for me, I just return it. This week's bounty has been good.
This week I finished Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors. Review HERE. My husband wanted the latest Godzilla movie and we watched/read that. It's all subtitled and the special effects were cool.
Into season 5 now of Madam Secretary and will finish that series before the end of January. Alas, I did not get to Moonflower Murders in time but have returned it and placed a new hold.
Today I watched The Quiet Girl, an Irish film based on the book Foster by Claire Keegan. As I said in the review of the book, the themes of kindness, hopefulness and love bring this short story to life, both on film as well as the book.
The Irish country setting was beautiful and reminded me of places we'd visited many years ago.
That's it for the week. Hope your week was good.
Loki‘s in there somewhere!
Sharing with:
Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon
Reading / I have been inside reading quite a bit and finished several books, all of which I enjoyed. No DNF books so far 😀.
So Eris Island is not a true island but it is very isolated. With a dangerously thin road connecting Eris to the mainland only a mile in length. It's possible to go walk or drive from the small village during a six hour window. Once the tide comes in you are stuck.
The story weaves back-and-forth between present day and the past. There are three main points of view involving current day perspectives and flashbacks to events in the past.
Vanessa Chapman was a brillant artist who died of cancer, leaving her entire collection of art to The Fairburn Foundation. This was a surprise as she'd had a huge falling out with Douglas Fairburn, pulling her show out at the last minute and thus, starting a lengthy legal battle. Besides being famous for her artwork she is also associated with the mysterious disappearance of her ex husband Julian Chapman. He visited her island one day and afterwards, vanished without a trace.
Grace is a pivital character in the novel. Grace is a doctor and met Vanessa when she struggled into the practice with a broken wrist. You could say they became friends or you could also see Grace positioning herself into Vanessa's life as friend/caretaker/medical professional.
As more of the character development is revealed you will come to realize Grace had a very lonely life. In one flashback to her college life I felt very sorry for her when she was put in the hospital and no one came to visit. Her roommates disappeared. Abandonment. But there is more to Grace than meets the eye.
Becker is the third narrator. He is a curator for the Fairburn Foundation and obessesed with Vanessa's work. He is in an awkward position at the foundation, a down to earth type who wants to do the right thing. Then he discovers some sordid secrets.
Without spoilers I will say this is a slow burn and the revelations sometimes contradict each other, depending on perspective of the character narrating. Toward the end you see all the pieces fit together. I was never tempted to bail but I didn't like how it ended. 3.5 stars
Watching / A series new to us is Madam Secretary and we are enjoying it. Just finished season four and looking forward to the last two seasons. Please don't give me spoilers! We tend to lose interest in series after a while but this one has kept our attention.
Sharing with:
Deb at Readerbuzz for Sunday Salon
If you like puzzles this is a very good one. If you are also a fan of Jane Austen you will love it. The back of the photo page, which came...
