The Intrepid Reader and Baker

The French Christmas Market by Gillian Harvey

2026-10-28T02:58:00.000+11:00

I am a big fan of Gillian Harvey's novels where she mostly tells the story of people making a fresh start in France. As soon as I saw there was going to be a Christmassy story I was in!

Nicola has just moved into a house is provincial France. Unfortunately, her husband Steven still has a few months to go until her can join her permanently due to his work situation. Nicola is just trying to hold everything together until he comes for Christmas, until he announces that he can't come. When she realises that he accidentally took her passport home with him the last time he visited, it looks like she is going to be stuck in France on her own for Christmas.

It isn't like Nicola isn't trying to settle into her new community, but even her closest neighbour is rejecting her friendly gestures. And the longer she is away from her husband the more distance grows in their relationship which just increases her feelings of loneliness.

Nicola's plan for the future is to offer art lessons which is a complete change of career from her life in the UK. When she meets her first student, Lucien, things begin to look up. Lucien wants to paint a special picture as a Christmas gift, but soon he is taking Nicola to nearby towns, especially to the nearby Christmas markets. At one of the markets, she acquires a wooden angel and is told to make a wish. Can wishes come true? Can she build her new life in France and be happy?

While we obviously got to read Nicola's story, we also got to know that of Lucien and Monsieur Remi's story. I loved the next-door neighbour's story. It was so sweet and touching. I was glad to see that not all the most obvious choices were the ones taken here. I am being a little bit obscure because I am trying to avoid spoilers.

I also loved that we got to hear about the differences in the way that French families celebrate Christmas. This always fascinates me. Being in Australia we normally have a hot Christmas, although we do things fairly traditionally British most of the time.

A few years ago now we were in Europe for Christmas. I went to a number of Dutch Christmas markets, and saw the decorations in chateaux such as Chambord in France, but by the time we go to France all their Christmas markets were done. Reading this book made me wish that I could visit again. A girl can dream right! I did recently hear that Shanghai has some amazing Christmas markets which might be a more achievable dream. Maybe next year!!

This was another fun read from Gillian Harvey with a Christmassy twist!

I am sharing this review with New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog. Thanks to the publisher for the review copy.

Rating 4/5

Top Ten Tuesday: A Touch of Magic

2026-10-27T01:21:00.000+11:00

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is a Halloween Freebie, so I am going to keep it on the lighter side and focus on books with a touch of magic. These are books that are set in our contemporary worlds, but there is something magical that happens. Often they would be classed as magical realism.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman - I have always associated Alice Hoffman with magic but had never actually read the book until recently. Still haven't seen the movie but I would like to now!

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen - All of SAA's books have magical elements in them, often related to food, and this one is no different.

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak - Don't let the fact that one of the narrators in this book is a tree put you off. Such an excellent read! (my review)

Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran - One of the characters in this book, Marjan, has unsurpassed ability with food. Her food can change your mood, and even the direction of your life in some cases. (my review)

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber - I loved this book so much and always keep an eye out for Heather Webber's new books (my review)

The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden - When eating a lemon drop can help you see what your life might have been like had things worked out differently, there's definitely a touch of magic involved. Loved this book! (my review)

The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop by Takuya Asakura - In this book, if circumstances align, you can find yourself inside the cherry blossom bookshop. (mini review)

A Midnight Pastry Shop Called Hwawoldang by Lee Onhwa - This one features amazing sounding Korean treats that help people say goodbye to their loved ones after they have passed (my review)

The Anywhere Hotel by Gisele Stein - I love the idea of this one. At the Anywhere Hotel, you can pick up a charm and instantly be transported anywhere in the world. Paris here I come!

Before I Knew I Loved You by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - There are lots of examples of these books with a touch of magic in them in Asian fiction. This one is the most recent book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. (mini review)

This Week

2026-10-26T07:16:00.000+11:00

I'm reading

I am well and truly into my Christmas reading now! This week I finished reading The Last Christmas by Liz Fenwick, which I reviewed here. I do have a couple more festive reads coming up too!

I started reading a really interesting book called A Short History of Longans by Mirandi Riwoe. who is an Australian author.

I also finished reading not 1 but 2 volumes of The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion by Beth Brower. To be honest, if I could I would have gone straight onto book 3 if I didn't have to wait for it to come into the library! I had listened to vol 1 as an audiobook, but I read the book of volume 2.

In other holiday reading, I also started reading Grim Tidings by B K Borison. Once I have finished this i will be completely caught up on B K Borison's books, until the new one comes out next week!

I'm watching

After a few weeks of not really watching much, this week we started watching a new cooking show called Recipe of the Year. It features members of the Country Women's Association who are renowned for being amazing bakers.

The 2026 season of Great Australian Bake Off came to an end this week. Fortunately, the new series of Great British Bake Off started, so Bake Off equilibrium is maintained.

On Saturday night, I watched the movie Practical Magic, yes, the original one! I finished listening to the book a couple of weeks ago so it seemed like a good opportunity to watch it. I don't believe I have seen it before. Maybe I will be able to watch Practical Magic 2 soon.

Life

We have been waiting for the SailGP tickets to be released for the Hong Kong race in January, and finally, this week they were released. Within a 30 minute period we bought tickets, booked flights and bought insurance! Accommodation is also booked so we are all set!

I did go to an author event last week. It featured Aussie authors Chris Hammer and Louise Milligan being interviewed by Mark Smith! It was a very interesting conversation. It always makes me laugh when I listen to writers from different genres and hear them talking about things and comparing it to what other genre writers say! They are very similar!

I know some people have been getting a malware warning when they visited my blog, and this week I started getting it this week. A couple of weeks ago, I had removed some blank pages to see if that fixed the issues. but alas no. This week I tracked it back to the image slider I had at the top of the blog. It is one of my favourite features of this blog design but I have removed the codefor now to try and fix the malware issue. Please let me know if you have any issues, but I am hoping that this will fix the issue.

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Published Under Multiple Titles

Blog Tour: The Christmas Rift by K L Crear

Blog Tour: The Last Christmas by Liz Fenwick

Weekend Cooking: Che Dio perdona a tutti (Holy Cannoli)

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings

Weekend Cooking: Che Dio perdona a tutti (Holy Cannoli)

2026-10-24T09:04:00.000+11:00

I love a good foodie film, and I love a good foreign film. When you get the mixture of those two things, you know I am going to making plans to go and see it!

Originally released in Italy under the title Che Dio perdona a tutti (which translates as God Forgives Everyone), Holy Cannoli is a fun movie set in Sicily which was recently showing here as part of the Italian Film Festival.

Arturo enjoys his job as a real estate agent, and he is pretty good at getting people to overlook the flaws in properties and getting them to sign on the dotted line. He is an enthusiastic participant in the office soccer team, performing his role as the goalkeeper pretty badly, and he is also unlucky in love.

He has always been an enthusiastic follower of Italian football, even believing that god answered his prayers back in 1982 when Italy beat Brazil in the World Cup. However, at that same moment he realised that there would have been another boy in Brazil praying for the opposite result. From that point, Arturo stopped believing in the concept of god

His real passion is Sicilian pastries. He has an active social media account where he films each pastry and then gives his verdict on them.

His two worlds collide when his boss asks him to show a new client some properties. Her father is the owner of one of the most famous pasticceria in Palermo. The instant that Arturo meets Flora, he is consumed with passion for her. She is beautiful, successful, and an amazing baker. In short, she's the perfect woman and Arturo can't stay away. The only thing is that Flora is a devout Catholic and it is important to her that her partner is too, and so Arturo lies about his own (lack of) faith, leading to some very funny situations, including one which might remind the viewer of a famous scene from Life of Brian by Monty Python

The film takes a turn into the fantastical when Flora and Arturo have a fight about religion. He is stuffing himself with sciù (eating 35 of them) and suddenly the Pope appears in his apartment to give him spiritual advice. Arturo goes from one extreme to the other, suddenly trying to live his life by the strict wording of the gospels, and things go even more awry at this point both at work and in his relationship with Flora.

Most of the story is told through Arturo's perspective as he is confessing to the Pope all the things that have gone wrong in his life recently.

Featuring football, religion, and pastries - so many amazing looking pastries - this is a really fun movie which doesn't take itself seriously at all. It was a delicious way to spend a couple of hours. I would recommend not going in hungry as you will come out wanting to go and eat sciù or cannoli or cassata, or all of them!

Arturo is played by a man who is so well known in Italy that he just goes by the name Pif. His full name is Pierfrancesco Diliberto and he previously made the film The Mafia Kills Only In Summer, which I would love to watch now. The gorgeous and talented Flora is played by Giusy Buscemi, and together they made a great couple, trying to navigate the perils of a new relationship in modern Italy.

Weekly meals

Saturday -

Sunday - Takeaway

Monday - Smashburgers

Tuesday - Chicken Stir Fry

Wednesday - Nothing

Thursday - Pizza

Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend in the comments. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Blog Tour: The Last Christmas by Liz Fenwick (includes UK Giveaway)

2026-10-22T08:06:00.000+11:00

Nonagenerian Meredith Russell has returned to her family home in Cornwall for Christmas. She has lived in America for many years, working professionally as a professor and raising her family, but she has always kept hold of Kestle. Now, she must decide what to do with the property.

Accompanying Meredith is her granddaughter Grace, who was forced to travel by her mother given that she only works in a bar which isn't a real job. Grace is the odd one out in her family. Her mother, Marina, sees her as directionless and an underachiever. She certainly has no interest in becoming an academic like her sister, her parents and her grandparents.

What Meredith hasn't told anyone is that she knows that her time on this earth is coming to an end. She is looking forward to being reunited in the afterlife with her beloved husband Jake. This visit is a chance for Meredith to say goodbye to friends, and to visit the places that have been so important in her life and to spread her husband's ashes. The memories are strong at Kestle, including those of her marriage to Jake on Christmas Eve 66 years previously.

Meredith, Jake and her mother lived quite extraordinary lives, particularly during WWII. Meredith worked in the map rooms, and she worked closely with someone who is very well known now, but for different reasons, Ian Fleming. In addition, her mother worked behind enemy lines. Don't be mistaken, whilst Meredith does share her memories and I would love to have heard more, these WWII memories are not the true focus of this book. Rather they help us understand Meredith and Jake were when they met and fell in love.

One of the last things Meredith wants to do is to help Grace map out what her life might look like, but with Marina interfering from the other side of the Atlantic it's not going to be easy. The longer Grace spends at Kestle, the more she begins to bloom.

Yesterday I reviewed another Christmas book where I used words like silly, fun and festive to describe it. This book is no less Christmas focussed but has a completely different feel. The words that I would use to describe this book would be emotional and poignant

I love that this book references quite a few instantly recognisable things. For example, the property has Frenchman's Creek as one of its boundary, which you may recognise as the name of one of Daphne du Maurier.

I am sharing this review with New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog. Thanks to the publisher and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. Be sure to check out other stops on the blog tour below, and if you are in the UK, enter into the giveaway.

Rating 4/5

The Last Christmas

When a final goodbye in Cornwall is only the beginning…

Meredith Tremayne Russell has spent her life mapping the world, first in intelligence during WWII, and later as a professor. But at ninety-eight with time running out, she faces a journey she cannot chart, a return to her old Cornish home to sell it and to scatter her beloved husband’s ashes.

With her is her twenty-five-year-old granddaughter, Grace, a dyslexic who believes she is a failure in a family of academics. For Grace the trip is a welcome escape from her mother’s demands. But when she unlocks her great-grandmother’s abandoned art studio, she finds a legacy of a passionate artist and a French resistance fighter.

As Meredith relives the frozen December of her 1946 wedding, she understands her final mission isn't to say goodbye to her old home, but to draw one last map—showing Grace how to navigate a life of her own making.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0HH9QRQYL (ebook)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HH9QRQYL (Amazon US)

https://www.lizfenwick.com/store-1/p/the-last-christmas (paperback)

About the author

Liz Fenwick, dubbed ‘the queen of the Cornish contemporary novel’ by The Guardian, is an award-winning author of emotional, immersive, feel-good fiction. Her books are filled with history, mystery and love. She loves stories that pull her into their world like they did when she was young so that’s what she writes. When she’s not writing, she’s procrastinating on Instagram, plot walking, reading and painting. She lives in Cornwall with her husband and two mad cats.

Social Media Links –

@liz_fenwick (insta & twitter & threads)

@lizfenwickauthor (TikTok)

Giveaway to Win 3 x Paperback copies of The Last Christmas (Open to UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome. Please enter using the Gleam box below. The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Blog Tour: The Christmas Rift by K L Crear

2026-10-21T08:09:00.000+11:00

Everyone knows that it is expensive to live in London, even in flats that are in less than trendy areas and that might not be the most modern space. Given that the two women who live at 42 Miller Avenue call their flat Mildew Avenue, it's clear from early on that this is not exactly des res. However, there are two other inhabitants in the flat. First, there is Nigel the debonair mouse, and Winston the spider.

For Daisy and Kate, Mildew Avenue is home. They can barely make ends meet, but they have each other. It is close to Christmas and Daisy is busy trying to wrap presents using pre used sticky tape and Kate is planning her next acquisition for her collection of crystal fairies.

Their equilibrium is shattered when their effusive landlady excitedly announces that she has found a new tenant named Maxi to help share the rent costs. However, it turns out that Maxi is a wannabe male model and to be honest, a bit of a tosser. He tells the girls that he is vegan but then eats their non vegan treats, leaving them to accuse each other.

When Daisy first meets Maxi, she sees a blissful future complete with wedding bells. For Kate, there is an equally instant reaction, although hers is more sexual in natures.

Soon, Nigel (the mouse) is despairing as the girls turn against each other, Maxi is revelling in being the centre of attention. Something needs to be done!

If I was challenged to review this book in only three words, then I would choose silly, fun and festive. Admittedly, silly might not always be a good thing, but I read this book straight after quite a heavy read and so it was the perfect palate cleanser. It was a quick read, and I literally laughed out loud at several scenes. It helps to have an appreciation for British humour!

There are several interesting choices that the author has made in this book. The most obvious is the inclusion of multiple points of views telling the reader about each event from their different perspectives, and yes, that includes Nigel.

This was a really pleasant surprise. Fun and festive. Just don't expect anything too serious!

I am sharing this review with New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog. Thanks to the publisher and Random Things Tours for the review copy. Be sure to check out other stops on the blog tour below.

Rating 3.5/5

About the book

The Christmas Rift

Christmas is coming... and so is the biggest rift this tiny flat has ever seen.

When Daisy and Kate's glamorous new housemate is announced, they picture another girl.

Instead, they get Maxi.

A ridiculously handsome male model with an ego the size of Lapland, an appetite that empties the fridge daily and a nasty habit of encouraging two best friends to compete for his attention.

Before long, Daisy's mentally picking out wedding dresses, Kate's having far less wholesome thoughts and the flat has descended into festive warfare.

Watching every drama unfold from the safety of the skirting board is Nigel, the house's delightfully eccentric resident mouse. Sporting an abandoned contact lens as a monocle and never knowingly short of an opinion, he's firmly convinced humans are the daftest creatures ever created.

He's probably right.

A laugh-out-loud Christmas comedy about friendship, festive disasters and why some housemates really should come with a warning label.

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0HF54P5FM

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HF54P5FM

About the author

Karen (K.L. Crear) is an author, over-sharer, and walking cautionary tale. Think: a sweary teenager trapped in the body of a menopausal woman who can’t sneeze without risking a wardrobe malfunction. You’re welcome.

Once upon a time, she worked in banking, the Civil Service, and property management, or as she likes to call it, The Beige Trilogy. She spent decades being respectable (ish), responsible (occasionally), and quietly losing the will to live. Then one day she found herself broke, baffled, and built entirely out of biscuit crumbs and unresolved trauma. So she did what any sensible woman would do, she wrote it all down and flogged it in paperback.

Karen has battled cancer twice, and her coping strategy was to laugh at wildly inappropriate moments and shout “F*ck off!” at inspirational quotes. Spoiler: it worked. Her sense of humour is deeply questionable, but it’s kept her just about sane through grief, illness, love, lies, and the time she gave herself food poisoning with a dodgy prawn ring from Iceland.

After years of procrastination (and one too many vinos), she finally swapped Pinot for a pen. She now writes jaw-dropping memoirs and hilarious women’s fiction about women who’ve had enough, snapped slightly, and are thriving in spite of it all, usually with a glass in hand, some top mates, and a solid alibi.

Her hobbies include eating anything wrapped in pastry, shouting at the Real Housewives (“She’s definitely had something done - she’s melting!”), and threatening to adopt an axolotl because they look so absurdly cheerful. She once turned down hugging a sloth in Mexico, it dangles upside down, pees on itself, and honestly felt like a warning from the future.

Karen lives in a sleepy Northern town with her long-suffering husband (he’s partially deaf, which helps) and their cat Pickle, who looks permanently disgusted with their life choices and the ongoing Dreamies rationing.

A portion of every book sale goes to Women’s Aid, Great Ormond Street, the Epilepsy Society, and Macmillan. because she knows what it’s like to need help. The world’s a shitshow, but we can all make a little difference in our own way.

Social Media Links –

https://www.klcrear.com

https://www.facebook.com/klcrearauthor

https://www.instagram.com/klcrear_author

https://www.amazon.com/author/klcrear

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Published under multiple names.

2026-10-20T01:21:00.000+11:00

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Things That Make Up My Perfect Day (Share the people, places, activities, foods, circumstances, etc. that make a day perfect for you. Go into as much or as little detail as possible!) This is such a good prompt that I did something very similar a couple of days ago for the prompt of happy! I am therefore going to go off topic this week and bring you books published under different names. It could be because the books were given different names in different markets, or they were given a post publishing revamp, or who knows why else publishers change the name of a book after it is released.

Sophia's Secret/The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley - Yes, I am unashamedly using this same book in a TTT list two weeks in a row. Sophia's Secret was the original UK title. (my review)

People We Meet on Vacation/You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry - A lot of the time the title change is just for different markets. You and Me on Vacation was again the UK title, and because we are part of the Commonwealth we often get the same titles.

The Brides of Rollrock Island/Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan - The bottom cover here is the Australian title. I think I preferred both the title and the cover from overseas.

The Scandal/Beartown by Fredrik Backman - Sometimes the different titles are due to being published in different languages. For example, the book known as Beartown in English was originally published with a title that would translate to Scandal, but there was at least one edition that came out in English with that title. (my review)

The Chibineko Kitchen/The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi - I think the idea here was to really cash in on the role the cat plays in this book! (my review)

Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies/The Woman Who Wanted More by Vicky Zimmerman - It is interesting to me that the cover is so similar even when the title is so different.

The Life and Loves of Becca Valentine/The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine by Laura Pearson - I loved The Beforelife of Eliza Valentine and loved the title, but I do think that the bottom title is probably more accessible. (My review)

Falling for the Italian Dream/An Italian Wedding Adventure by Leonie Mack - I am not sure why this one got changed. An Italian Wedding Adventure was a good title for this book. (my review)

The House at Riverton/Shifting Fog by Kate Morton - Finishing up with two older books. You can tell straight away that the top cover here was the Australian cover. Every historical fiction book being published around this time had a woman on the cover

Cross Stitch/Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - Cross Stitch was the UK title, and it was the one I read!

This week

2026-10-19T13:07:00.000+11:00

I'm reading

It's been a busy reading week. It always looks even busier than usual when I finish an audio book and start the next one which is what happened this week.

I finished listening to Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman. Given that this book was published in 1995 it is possibly a little surprising that I am only just reading it now. I did enjoy it but I was expecting to love, love, love it! Never mind. The narration was by Saskia Maarleveld as she did a very good job, as she always does.

For my next audio, I started listening to The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol 1 by Beth Brower. The good news is that this is a very short book so the audio comes in at around 3.5 hours. I already think I will be picking up the next book in the series.

In terms of books I read rather than listened to, I finished Twenty Dates by Ko Porteous which was a lot of fun. I reviewed this book here.

I then read The Christmas Rift by K L Crear. If I was going to give a one word review for this book it would be "silly", but it was exactly what I needed. I need to to come up with more than one word for my review which will be up later this week. I do have another review due later this week too. Better start reading that one soon!

It was book club meeting on the weekend. Normally we are a read on a theme book club but every 18 months or so we agree to all read the same book like a more traditional book club. This month, our choice was A Far Flung Life for M L Stedman. Most people liked it well enough, but I absolutely loved it and have given it a 5 star rating! We had lovely weather over the weekend, so it was nice to be able to sit outside and enjoy the fresh air while we met this time. We have never done that before!

I'm watching

We had a pretty quiet weekend but we did go to see an Italian movie called Holy Cannoli on the weekend. It was a really fun movie, with plenty of soccer, religion and cakes! Here's the trailer

Life

All of our visitors left during the week so a quiet weekend really! And most of the major deliverables have been done, so now I have to focus on all the things I didn't get done over the crazy last few weeks!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Opposites!
Blog Tour: The Twenty Dates by Ko Porteous
Weekend Cooking: The Slow Cooker Supper Club by Sue Heath
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: September Statistics

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: September Statistics

2026-10-18T11:52:53.463+11:00

Every month I share some of the statistics related to the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. I try very hard to visit every post which has been linked (time permitting) and I find it interesting to see what are the books that people are reading and reviewing! I often end up adding a couple of books to my never ending TBR list.

September was a very good month. There were 60 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 19 participants. There were 51 individual titles reviewed, written by 50 different authors. There were 5 reviewers who reviewed 5 or more books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 13 or just 1.

You may not recall but in May and June this year we had months where there was no book that was reviewed more than once for the challenge! That is NOT the case this month! This is most I have seen for a long time.

There was one book that was reviewed 3 times during the month, which was The Heiress of Northanger Abbey, by challenge favourite Nancy Bilyeau, and it is a sequel of sorts to Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. This book was reviewed by Helen at She Reads Novels, Laura at Reading Books Again and Laura at Laura's Reviews

In addition, there were 5 other books that were reviewed twice. They were

Cold Sunset by William Boyd - Third book in the William Dax series, reviewed by Helen at She Reads Novels and Cathy from What Cathy Read Next

The Housekeeper by Rose Tremain - An imagining of Daphne du Maurier's life which was read by Helen at She Reads Novels and Cathy at What Cathy Read Next

The Lost Perfumes of Paris by Australian author Christine Wells - This was read and reviewed by Davida at The Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog and Laura from Laura's Reviews

The Newer World by Sebastian Barry - Reviewed by Helen at She Reads Novels and Cathy at What Cathy Read Next

The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon - Reviewed by Shelleyrae at Book'd Out and myself

The Witches of Cambridge by Alice Hoffman - review by Laura at Laura's Reviews and by Kim on Goodreads

In addition, there were two different books reviewed by Elizabeth Goudge. Both were reviewed by Barbara at Stray Thoughts reviewed both The Scent of Water and The Bird in the Tree which you can read here and here respectively.

If you enjoy reading Historical Fiction why not join us? You can find all the details here.

I am sharing this with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and A Good Book and a Cup of Tea hosted at Hopewell's Library.

Weekend Cooking: The Slow Cooker Supper Club by Sue Heath

2026-10-17T08:15:00.000+11:00

Erin can't believe that she has made such a major oversight. As a seasoned traveller, she should know the expiry date of her passport and so it is embarrassing when she can't board the plane on her latest trip. Now she needs to apply for a new passport, so she needs somewhere to stay for as long as that will take.

When her aunt lines up a housesitting gig with her friend Marie, who is off on a four-month cruise, Erin says yes, knowing full well (and disclosing) that she probably won't stay for the whole time. Once she has her passport, she will be off again. Marie has only a couple of requests. Erin will need to care for her dog, Bella, and keep an eye on her section of the community allotment. Oh, and she needs to continue to host the Thursday Night Slow Cooker Supper Club.

Not long before Marie's husband passed away, he bought her a slow cooker. It sat in the cupboard for a while but one day Marie decided she would use it and invite her neighbours in the Station Cottages to join her, and the Thursday Night Slow Cooker Supper Club was born.

The club became a weekly highlight for all the neighbours. There is Eva, the elderly but still feisty and nosy neighbour. There are Phil (as in Philomena) and Johh who both have suffered losses and then newcomer Danny, who is recovering from a breakup and trying to decide what direction he wants to take in his career. Together they forge friendships and a sense of community that sees them working together

When Marie goes on her cruise, they are going to miss her, but they are also keen to get to know Erin. Erin doesn't necessarily want them to get to know her. She has been moving from one place to another for years and so doesn't really form friendships, but it doesn't take long before she feels part of the little community. The longer she stays, the more settled she feels.

She is a bit daunted by the supper club as she isn't much of a cook, but with the direction of the local butcher, she is soon able to rustle up a dish and bring some of her own experiences to the table.

However, there are reasons why Erin has made some of the decisions she has made, and staying in one place and growing friendships with her neighbours has her reexamining her life and maybe thinking about reaching out to her family. The one person she doesn't need to reexamine her relationship with is her ex, Tim. Will Tim get in the way of her growing friendship with Danny?

As you would expect with a book set in a supper club, there are plenty of mentions of food ranging from Poulet Breton to ox tail stew, pulled pork and bread and butter pudding I did think that food would be more central to the story, and would love to have seen a recipe or two at the end of the book

This is my third book by Sue Heath. I absolutely adored The Secret Ingredient and loved The Storytellers. This one, I liked a lot, but if I had to rank them, then this would be the third on the list. Interestingly, Sue Heath also writes romances under the name Zara Stoneley

What each of the books by Sue Heath has in common is the coming together of a group of people to form a found family, but she does it in a way that feels quite organic and not contrived at all! Whenever I finish one of her books I am already looking forward to the next one, and this time is no exception!

We love our pressure cooker/slow cooker combo appliance. Maybe this week we will pull it out of the cupboard and use it. It has been a while.

I am sharing this review with Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story and with the New Release Challenge hosed at The Chocolate Lady's Book Blog

Rating 4/5

Weekly meals

Saturday - Nothing
Sunday - Out for dinner
Monday - Pasta Alfredo
Tuesday - Chicken Stir fry and rice
Wednesday - Italian Meatballs
Thursday - Steak, egg and chips
Friday - Takeaway

Blog Tour: The Twenty Dates by Ko Porteous

2026-10-14T20:05:00.000+11:00

When Claire's husband of 19 years gives her a set of smart scales for their 19th wedding anniversary she is livid. And then when he decides to use the table that she cleared for their special dinner to fix the door she has been nagging about for months, she hits the roof! Meanwhile Mark is absolutely stumped. She had been saying she wanted the door fixed and a set of smart scales, so he just doesn't get why she is upset

When they first got together, Claire and Mark were madly in love. Now, they are two people who care for each other and live in the same house but that's about it and Claire has had enough, especially on top of the fact that she is feeling the effects of menopause, she's been made redundant and their only son, Aidan, has left home.

Mark is shocked by Claire's declaration. He still loves her and doesn't quite understand why she is so upset. So, he suggests that he goes to live at his sister's while he has a big work project, but that they go on a number of dates over the coming months to see if they can revive their flagging marriage. Claire agrees, although she doesn't have much hope.

The dates range from very personal to challenging in many ways. In the meantime, both of them need to work on themselves.

I knew this book was going to work for me right from the first chapter. After the smart scales debacle, Claire is in the kitchen mashing the potatoes furiously and there's a line that says "There's nothing like marital strife to help achieve a perfect mashed potato." Meanwhile, Mark is in the other room and notes "Claire takes ages over the mash, getting it just right. Frankly, he'd be happy with the lumps." It made me laugh and perfectly illustrates how different their point of views are.

These are two people who either never really knew or have forgotten how to communicate. They both have things that they do that impact the other person. It's not just Mark who needs to look at what he says and does. Hopefully over the course of the dates, they can reconnect and practice not taking each other for granted, or maybe it really is the end.

I loved Claire's circle of friends who somehow managed to find out what is going on and offer her support in many ways. I also liked that both of them had some childhood issues that they needed to deal with to help them with their current circumstances. It wasn't a one-sided thing.

This is Ko Porteous' second book but I haven't read the first one...yet! But I will because I enjoyed this one very much. Sometimes it can be a bit of a risk trying a new author. In this case it paid off.

Claire and Mark have twenty dates to find their way back to each other. It isn't smooth sailing, but they each grow and experience new things, both together and apart.

Rating 4/5

About the Book

The Twenty Dates

The kids have left, assuming love endures. But can yours?

Book #2 in The Empty Nesters Series

Claire’s marriage is in (total!) crisis. Her husband, Mark, is distracted, presumptuous, and utterly clueless - smart scales for their 19th wedding anniversary? Really? Perhaps she'd be better off alone. At least there'd be less laundry.

When Claire suggests separating, Mark panics. He asks for one last chance: twenty dates, one for each year of their marriage, to prove they're better off together than apart.

What follows is a series of adventures Claire never saw coming - some mortifying, some exhilarating, and some that make her question everything she thought she knew. About Mark. About marriage. And about the woman she's quietly become while she wasn't paying attention.

As the dates tick down, Claire must decide: is the spark still there - or has their marriage simply run its course?

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Twenty-Dates-Empty-Nesters-Book-ebook/dp/B0H5G54FXK/

https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Dates-Empty-Nesters-Book-ebook/dp/B0H5G54FXK/

About the Author

Ko Porteous lived in a tiny fishing village in the north of Scotland before moving to Edinburgh aged 10.  

Ko loves meeting people with interesting stories to tell and is constantly on the lookout for knotty story themes, particularly involving women navigating the messiness of mid-life. She has worked as a Research Chemist, Assistant Chef, Teacher and School Leader.  

As well as writing, Ko works as a Business Manager and a Funeral Celebrant.  

In her free time Ko loves to run, meditate and travel; preferably all on the same day.   

Ko has been married for 25 years, has 2 children of her own and is now navigating her own empty nest.  

The Twenty Dates is Ko’s second novel and the second book in ‘The Empty Nesters’ series.  

Social Media Links –

Instagram: @koporteousauthor

Facebook: Ko Porteous Author

Top Ten Tuesday: Opposites

2026-10-13T05:16:00.000+11:00

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Book Covers Featuring Autumnal Colors (submitted by Wordy Witterings)

Because I live in Australia I could be doing spring colours, but I actually did a spring colours post a couple of weeks ago (inspired by my nail polish), so was thinking about what else I could do. My twist this week is to do opposites because we are in spring and not autumn. And all my choices are related to being in the opposite hemisphere!

Spring/Autumn

Spring Clean for a Peach Queen by Sasha Wasley - Spring and Autumn seemed like an obvious place to start given that this is related to the actual theme. (review)

It Happened One Autumn by Lisa Kleypas - I am so pleased to see that Lisa Kleypas is coming out with a new book soon! (review)

Winter/Summer

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley - never miss an opportunity to mention this book (review)

The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick - I love the way Elizabeth Chadwick brings the medieval world to life

North/South

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - I am cheating a little bit by having both words in both titles, but oh well! Just thinking about watching the BBC adaptation of this book. (review)

North and South by John Jakes - I first heard about John Jakes from the miniseries which starred a very young Patrick Swayze as well as plenty of other big names.

East /West

East of the Sun by Julia Gregson - I am moving from the northern and southern hemisphere to the eastern and western hemisphere. The East in question here is India! (review)

West with Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge - This book has been on my TBR for a long time. One day I will read it!

Night/Day

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - When it is night here it is day on the other side of the world!

So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan - When it is late in the day it might be the early hours of the morning in other places!

This Week

2026-10-12T12:11:00.000+11:00

I'm reading

My reading was somewhat back to normal this week. I finished reading Business Casual by B K Borison, and I also finished reading Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.

I also finished reading The Slow Cooker Supper Club by Sue Heath. My plan is to review this one on Saturday. I enjoyed this one but not as much as the earlier books she published under this name.

I also started reading Twenty Dates by Ko Porteous. I need to get a hurry on with this one as my review is due up on Wednesday! I then have three books I need to read in the next week!

I'm watching

No time for watching anything at the moment!

Life

My youngest stepdaughter is back from the UK on holidays with her partner, and the older one got engaged in July, so they decided to combine a celebration of the two events and so we had 17 people here for lunch on Saturday. Because most of the guests originally came from South Africa we had a South African flavoured barbecue, with boerewors, pap (pounded maize meal) and chakalaka and then milk tart and peppermint crisp for dessert. It was a really lovely afternoon, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves which is great.

The photo at the bottom left is my husband holding court at the barbecue with the two girl's partners, both of whom happen to be English.

The next day we took a bit of a road trip along the Great Ocean Road which is one of the great drives in the world. On Sunday we drove as far as Apollo Bay and then on Monday morning we went to the Twelve Apostles and then home again. Along the way we managed to see a koala and a wallaby (and not just the painted one at the Chocolaterie.

I go back to work tomorrow but they are here for a couple more days and then they drive up the east coast of Australia

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Things That Make Me Happy!
Afternoon Tea Diaries: Native High Tea at the Westin

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings

Afternoon Tea Diaries: Native High Tea at the Westin

2026-10-10T01:19:00.000+11:00

It is time for another entry in The Afternoon Tea Diaries.

The last time we went to an afternoon tea it was quite a traditional afternoon tea experience. This time we went to the Westin Hotel in the city centre where they have an afternoon tea....with a twist. The twist is that all of the dishes have native ingredients included in them

It was quite a rainy day on the day that we visited but the location has floor to ceiling windows where you can sit and watch the city traffic go by!

Our experience started with a look at the tea list which had a lot of teas you would normally expect to see (like Earl Grey, Green Tea, Lemongrass and Giner) but it also had some more unusual choices like Berry Mad (elderberries, raspberries, blackcurrant and hibiscus). I ended up trying two teas. The first was called Bewitching Butterly Pea and the second was Coconut Truffle. The Coconut Truffle is described as "a decadent blend of creamy coconut, smooth white tea, vanilla and sweet carob" and it was delicious.

However, the Butterfuly Pea Tea was definitely the more bewitching. The description for this one was "A captivating butterfly pea infusion that transforms from deep blue to vibrant purple with a squeeze of lemon - pure visual delight." I would have described the transformation more from purple to pink, but it was super fun. And more importantly, it tasted amazing

The afternoon tea itself looked really lovely and was more along the traditional lines than some of the more artistic teas we have had but it was still very pretty.

Our food started with a really interesting first taste which was a Cinnamon Myrtle-Scented Warm Orange Soup. I wasn't sure at first that it appealed, but it was actually really delicious!

For the rest of the savoury dishes, there was a potato nest, an open sandwich, a finger sandwich and a pithivier. The potato nest was really, really crunchy and somewhat surprisingly it did really taste like potato still. The bread for the sandwich was super fresh, and the pithivier was lovely. I do love a pithivier at the best of times.

We didn't realise at first but somehow, we got the wrong open sandwich. The one on the menu said that we were going to be having yellowfin tuna with mountain pepperberry crust, fennel spiced cream cheese and finger lime. However, it turned out that we got a cured watermelon open sandwich instead. They bought over the right one, so we actually got have both. I only had a bit of the watermelon because I was curious about how the curing would impact the taste. I don't really like watermelon and this did not change my mind.

Then onto the desserts. Mille-Feuille tart, tea cake, a dessert inspired by a lamington but flavoured with mango and a Pannamisu featuring pistachio flavours. Everything was good, but if I had to pick a favourite it would be the mango lamington dish!

Finally, onto the scones. There was traditional vanilla scone and then a Muntries, Raisin and Blackcurrant Scone. No, I had no idea what muntries were either. They are "small, edible Australian native berries with a spicy apple flavour". The good thing was we got small pots of jam and cream but it was no trouble to get more.

I must confess that I don't really cook with native ingredients, but this menu definitely reminded me that it is possible to eat really delicious, sophisticated food using native ingredients.

I was really impressed by the whole Westin experience and would definitely go back again at some point in the future!

Weekly meals

Saturday - Sausages, chips, cheese and gravy (poutine style)
Sunday -
Monday - Takeaway
Tuesday - Quick salmon tray bake (new)
Wednesday - Pork schnitzel, chips
Thursday - Baked Tuscan pasta
Friday - Take away

Top Ten Tuesday: Things that make me happy

2026-10-06T01:10:00.000+11:00

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books that Conjure Up Happy Memories (Feel free to tell us about those memories if you’d like!).

I was going to keeping it simple and share ten titles that have some variation of the word happy in the title. I had all the titles chosen and then I realised that I did the same thing two years ago and only two books would be different, so I had to think of something different. I am going to keep those two books in the list though!

So here are some bookish references to things that make me happy

The Good Husband of Zebra Drive by Alexander McCall Smith- Whilst our street name isn't Zebra Drive, my good husband is from South Africa originally (review)

The Secret Society of Librarians by Kate Thompson - I love books and I love books about books, and this authors books about WWII librarians are right up there! They are so good.

The Little Porto Book Club by Rebecca Raisin- Love travelling, and planning travel. Portugal is my next must visit destination. Reading books set in the destinations I want to visit do give me ideas of things to include in our itinerary (review)

The German Ward by Pip Williams - Love going to author events. I went to an event for this book last night!

You Had Me at Cake by Emelia Jackson - Loving baking out of this book at the moment, or any of her books really

Summer at the French Bakery by Jo Thomas - Set in France and foodie! To be fair I do like Jo Thomas's books wherever they are set. (review)

Mixed Signals by B K Borison - I am loving on B K Borison's books right now, although I am pretty much caught up on all of them. Just need to read her latest book.

The French Christmas Market by Gillian Harvey - For a long time I was a bit of a scrooge when it came to Christmas, or more precisely I was faking it until I made it, but over the last few years I have begun to love Christmas books. This one is the latest one I read and has a bonus element as it is set in France

The Menu of Happiness by Hisashi Kashiwai - Japanese, foodie and it has the word Happiness in the title! (review)

Happily Ever After by Jane Lovering - I do enjoy Jane Lovering's books which are set predominantly in Yorkshire in England (review)

This week...

2026-10-05T05:05:00.000+11:00

I'm reading

Well it finally happened. Things are so frantic and stressful at work that I didn't actually finish reading anything this week!

However, I did start reading another book because it makes perfect sense to do that when you already have three on the go, and two more that you say that you are desperate to read right?

The book that I started to read was Business Casual by B K Borison. It is a book that I have out of the library and some other patron had put a hold on it so I couldn't extend it. How rude!

It is time to look at my best reads on September. I only read 9 books this month, which is a bit less than usual. I had three 4.5 star reads, but I did one 5 star read which I reviewed here

Books let our imaginations travel where our feet cannot - Nora Nguyen

Every month I also like to look at where I travelled through the pages of the books I read! Here's where I travelled in September

South Carolina - Other Birds

Europe

England - Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame, The Way We Are Now (Yorkshire)
Scotland - Winter Magic at Hollybrae Castle
Ireland - The Pirate Queen
France - The French Christmas Market

Asia

Japan - Before I Knew I Loved You, Matcha on Monday, Dreamers of the Full Moon Coffee Shop

I'm watching

Not much really

Life

Last weekend the weather where we were was beautiful. This weekend, we were back to winter weather! Melbourne is known for changeable weather most of the time though, so probably shouldn't be surprised! What was a surprise was that we had a pretty decent sized earthquake early on Saturday morning. There's no damage but it is unusual for us.

Despite the rain, we had a lovely day on Saturday. We started by going to a Virtual Reality experience called Starstruck, which takes you exploring through the cosmos. After that we went to one of the fancy hotels in town and had a afternoon tea. This was pretty traditional but with a twist - everything had native flavours in it! It was really delicious! One of the unusual things I tried was a butterfly pea tea which changed colour when you added lemon into it!

Then on Saturday night we went to an event to hear the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra perform the songs of Elton John! It was a really fun night!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Spring Freebie!
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: October links
In My Kitchen: September
Six Degrees: Life of M to Champagne Widows

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings

Six Degrees of Separation: Life of M to Champagne Widows

2026-10-04T06:20:00.000+11:00

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best. The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links. I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz and A Good Book and a Cup of Tea hosted at Boondock Ramblings.

This month, the starting point if Life of M by Rachel Cusk. At first, I wasn't sure I had any ideas ono where to start with my first link. In the end though, I did three different chains with different ideas for each starting point, but eventually had to pick one and go with it.

My first link uses the initial M being part of the title as the connection. The Unselected Diaries of Emma M Lion Vol. 1 by Beth Brower is a book that I am desperate to read. I have downloaded the audio but just need to finish my current audio book before I can start it. I also have it requested it from the library but I am in the queue. I may still end up just buying the ebook so I can read it but I do have two books on the go already.

My next link is to Emma by Kaoru Mori which is the first book in a graphic novel series set in Victorian England. Whilst I have been read quite a few Japanese books over the last few years I had forgotten that I was reading this series more than 15 years ago!

Another first book in a graphic novel series that I was reading around 14 years ago is Fables: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham. This series feature many familiar fairy tale characters like Cinderella, Prince Charming who come to live in our modern world.

Good Spirits by B K Borison features a Ghost of Christmas Past who also finds himself living in our modern world where he is meant to be haunting a woman

I am going to take the word spirit and use it in a different context. A good spirit is whisky, so my next choice is The Whisky Widow by Karen Brooks, which tells the story of a woman trying to make her way in 18th century Scotland.

I was going to use the word widow as my next length and then I was pleased to see that Champagne Widows: First Woman of Champagne, Veuve Clicquot by Rebecca Rosenberg shares both the word and a form of alcohol in the title!

Next month, the starting point is to start with a novella that's on your reading list, in recognition of Novellas in November. Hmmm. Might have to start with a very short book LOL

In My Kitchen: September

2026-10-03T05:01:00.000+10:00

Welcome to the first Saturday of the month where I share everything I have made over the previous month.

I had quite a busy month getting out and doing things so I didn't bake much this month, but what I did bake was delicious

Caramel Slice - I haven't ever made this cafe classic before but I have had it on my list to make for a while now. I was looking in the pantry and realised that we have a lot of condensed milk so decided the time was right. It was so good but it did make a lot. I even took some to work because otherwise we weren't going to get through it. I used the recipe from Everything is Indian by Justin Narayan. He has a variation on the recipe where he gives it Indian flavours so I might make that next time.

Black Forest Gateau - This was inspired by reading Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford for Cook the Books. It was mentioned in the second paragraph of the book and I pretty much knew straight away that this is what I would be making. I used the recipe from You Had Me at Cake by Emelia Jackson

In terms of foodie things, we did do a traditional afternoon tea which I posted about here.

We also went away last weekend up to a place called Yarrawonga which is a town along the Murray River. There are lots of great wineries not too far away, and it has quite a lot of foodie things up in the area. We went for lunch at a winery we had been to before. The setting is lovely but the food wasn't as good as it was last time.

We then went to visit an olive producer called Gooramadda. This was a man who is passionate about his olives. We did an olive oil tasting and it was really interesting! We learnt how to tell if olive oil is good quality, why we should buy it in casks instead of bottles and more. I had to buy one of the Frock oils because the bottles are so cool. This one is a citrus flavoured olive oil.

After that we crossed the border into New South Wales and went to a town called Corowa. There we visited a chocolate and whiskey factory that has been established in a former mill. They have done such a great job. There's the chocolate and whiskey areas but there is also a cafe with an outdoor area and I really cool events area. I would totally love to go back there again.

One of the things that our friends had been recommended by the olive guy on a previous visit was these packets of freeze dried cheese. It's not something that I would necessarily have picked up off the supermarket shelves but we had some in a salad and they give a really good burst of flavour. I have already ordered some!

New recipes

Caramel Slice

Pumpkin curry

Black Forest Gateau

Salmon, Brown Rice and Bok Choy

Coconut Prawn Curry

Weekend Cooking posts from the last month

Bake Your Sweet Time by Tat Effby

Afternoon Tea Diaries: Mary Eats Cake

Mini reviews: Three Japanese Novels

Cook the Books: Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford

Weekly meals

Saturday - Away for the weekend
Sunday - Mac and cheese
Monday - Mexican Chicken and Rice
Tuesday - Salmon, Brown Rice and Bok Choy
Wednesday - Coconut Prawn Curry (new)
Thursday - Egg Curry
Friday - Takeaway

I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: October links

2026-10-01T07:02:10.791+10:00

Thank you to everyone who contributed a review in September for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. I will be back in the next week or so with all the statistics for September!

I am looking forward to reading your reviews throughout the rest of the year, although there isn't much of the year left yet. How did that happen? I am sure there is going to be a lot of great historical fiction discovered and shared with fellow HF lovers over the course of this year!

If you haven't already signed up, it's not too late! The sign up post is here.

Just to recap what participants need to know. At the beginning of each month I will put up a post which will have a Mr Linky embedded into it for you to add your link.

Please remember...

add the link(s) of your review(s) including your name and book title to the Mister Linky we’ll be adding to our monthly post (please, do not add your blog link, but the correct address that will guide us directly to your review).
it doesn't matter where you review - Bookstagram, Goodreads etc as long as you share a direct link to your review.
any kind of historical fiction is accepted (fantasy, young adult, graphic novels...)
if you have time, have a look some of the other links that are present. You never know when you will discover new blogs or books!

You can also join the challenge group on Facebook which you can find here and don't forget to use the #histficreadingchallenge hashtag on the socials.

Let the reading begin!!

Top Ten Tuesday: Spring Freebie

2026-09-29T06:38:00.000+10:00

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Fall-Themed Freebie (or Spring if you live in the Southern Hemisphere)

Recently it was time to get my nails redone, and I wanted to get something a bit fun to celebrate the end of winter. In the end I chose to get my nails done in spring colours - think five different pastel colours. I have a different colour on each nail - yellow, pink, purple, green and blue - so here are 10 books with covers that feature those colours.

Matcha on Monday by Michiko Aoyama- see how well my nails match this cover. Totally a coincidence! (mini review)

A Song in Daylight by Paullina Simons - This book was one that jumped out at me from my bookshelves with the yellow vibes. Now that I look it at though, it doesn't really go with the others as the others are all cartoon-y style.

Piglettes by Clementine Beauvais - This cover bring the pink vibes. (review)

In the Paris Fashion by Sophie Beaumont - I could have chosen any of the covers from this author. The other covers are pink and green. (review)

And Now, Back to You by B K Borison - This book made me feel anything but blue!

How to Fake it in Society by K J Charles - This book was such a fun read and totally bring the green vibes

First Time Caller by B K Borison - I know, I know. Two books by B K Borison and from the same series is possibly cheating but it had both pink and yellow so I couldn't resist.

Before I knew I Loved You by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - Purple is my favourite colour so this cover caught my attention straight away when it was revealed. And it is the book I had just finished listening to when I started putting this post together

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisash Kashiwai - I am just about to reread this book so it was a book I thought of when I was looking for my last green cover (review)

We'll Prescribe You a Cat by Syou Ishida - The second half of this list has taken a decidedly Japanese turn!

This week

2026-09-28T05:38:00.000+10:00

I'm reading

My reading was more normal this week than it was last week!

I was pleased to finish my selection for the Classics Spin with a couple of weeks to spare. This time, the selection was The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. Not only did I finish reading it, but I also managed to get the review done which you can read here.

I also finished my second Christmas novel for this year which was The French Christmas Market by Gillian Harvey. I like her books and this was another good one!

On Thursday, I reviewed three Japanese novels. I was hoping to get through a fourth but my reviews were all done before I finished reading the fourth one which was Dreamers of the Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki. I ended up finishing it over the weekend

I also started reading The Slow Cooker Supper Club by Sue Heath. I have loved both of the Sue Heath books I have read previously and I have high hopes for this one!

I'm watching

A couple of months we watched archaeologist Dr Alice Roberts as she went in search of the Ottoman Empire by Train and really enjoyed it. This week we saw that she has a new series out where she goes in search of the Roman Empire. It feels like there is plenty of Roman history around but we will still watch it as her shows are always interesting!

Max

Max went on holidays this weekend. It's the first time he's gone sightseeing around the state. He got to work along the edge of Lake Mulwala, he got to see New South Wales, he got to explore lots and lots of new places!

Life

Last week was a crazy, crazy week including a banking outage on pay day which was pretty stressful. Thankfully the bank system came back up at around 7.30 and the bank extended the deadline so everything got sent in due course. It was only a four day week as we had a long weekend with Friday off, but it felt like five days worth of work!

You may have guessed that if Max went away for the weekend, then there's every chance we did too! We went up to stay with friends who moved to a town called Yarrawonga. We had a lovely weekend. We had a chance to catch up, we went to lunch at a winery that has been in operation more than 100 years old. We crossed the river and went to a town called Corowa in New South Wales, where we visited a mill that has been converted into a Whiskey and Chocolate Factory, including an amazing events space and a cafe. We also managed to see two new art silos

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Spring TBR
Mini Reviews: Three Japanese Novels
Cook the Books: Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford
Classics Club Spin: The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings

Classics Club Spin: The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

2026-09-27T05:31:00.000+10:00

When the recent Classics Spin landed on number 18 I was pleased to see that it landed on The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. There's been a recent TV adapation, it's quite short so I expected it to be quite a quick read! What I couldnt remember was why I added to my classics list in the first place. I don't It's not really my kind of read at all.

Tom Ripley is something of a con man living in a shared apartment in New York. He has the distinct feeling that things are closing in on him so when he is offered an all expense paid trip to Italy it seems the answer to all his problems. In return, he needs to convince his acquaintance Dickie Greenleaf to return home to his family. Dickie has been living in a small town in southern Italy, spending his life attempting to paint, drinking, swimming and generally living the good life. It;s not that Tom wants to live Dickie's life, he wants to BE Dickie.

What follows is a series of actions which are Tom trying to cover his tracks as he travels around Europe, trying to keep both himself and Dickie's profile

I found it in turns offputting, fascinating, compelling and strange.

I can't think of too many crime novels where the story is told from the point of view of the erstwhile bad guy. Of course, Tom doesn't see himself in that way. He is just trying to improve himself and give himself the life that he feels he deserves. Why shouldn't he have a glamourous life. He had a rough start in life after all. And people should not get in his way

One of the things I really enjoyed was the predominantly Italian setting. I could see the small village of Mongibello, I enjoyed the time spent in Rome, and Venice and more. It's clear that Italy was the country of Tom's heart! It's hard to see him ever returning to America!

I did find myself wondering if this book would be published today. I am not sure that the methods he used for identify theft wouldn't stand up bu tmaybe working out a way to bet all the technology would be interesting. There is an undertow of homosexuality insinuated so that would be more overt. I am not sure if there are modern books being written from the view of the killer, especially one like Tom.

I had no idea that this was the first in a five book series which follows Ripley's life. Do I want to read more about Tom Ripley? Not straight away but maybe in due course.

I did find myself wondering if this book would be published today. I am not sure that the methods he used for identity theft would stand up but maybe working out a way to beat all the modern technological safeguards would be interesting. There is an undercurrent of homosexuality through the story so that would be more overt if the book was written now, but not given the book was written in the 1950s.

There were times when I had to put the book down as the intensity built, and as we saw Tom unravelling a bit, then pulling himself back together and once again being one step ahead of everyone, whether it be Dickie's family and friends, or the Italian police who are trying to piece together a puzzle where they have two different sets of pieces all jumbled together!

Ultimately this was a pretty different read for me, and it was satisfying. It certainly had my mind racing as I read each step that Tom took. Now that I have finished the book, I am tempted to watch the recent TV adaptation that stars Andrew Scott and Dakota Fanning. Maybe in a couple of week's time!

So far I have enjoyed all three books I have read for the Classics Spin. Bring on the next one!

Cook the Books: Mrs Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford

2026-09-26T06:39:00.000+10:00

We are big Bake Off fans in our house. At last count we have watched Australian, Kiwi, Canadian, Kenyan, South African, American, Bake Off The Professionals, celebrity versions and, of course, the original and the best, The Great British Bake Off.

When this book was announced as the next selection for Cook the Books, I read the blurb and went, I am going to love this book. Whilst the show in the book is called Britain Bakes, it is very definitely a knock off of Bake Off.

When 77 year old Jenny Quinn decides to apply to be on Britain Bakes, she keeps it a secret from everyone around her, including her husband of 59 years Bernie. The main reason she keeps it a secret is because she doesn't expect to get past the application stage let alone make it all the way through to being on the TV. Keeping it a secret, is very unusual for Jenny and Bernie. Throughout their long marriage she has only ever kept one secret from him, albeit a very BIG secret.

Baking has been part of Jenny's whole life, but getting ready for competing on the show takes things to a whole new level. Jenny has the recipes that she has known and loves for years, but she needs to show skills for more than just retro baking!

Jenny makes it onto the show and becomes something of a favourite. She insists on using her trusted balancing scales (no electric scales here) and her warm nature, and in particular her friendship with a young fellow contestant by the name of Azeez, endear her to the public and the crew of the show.

By taking this step to do things for herself though, Jenny finds herself thinking back to an earlier time in her life, the point where the biggest choices were taken away from her. This book is, in effect a dual time line, where the recipes Jenny is baking now are conduits back to that earlier time in her life.

The big question is what happens when the show is aired. Will Jenny win? And will all her secrets be revealed? Of course, I can't tell you that! You will just need to read this fun, delicious and delightful read for yourself!

This is Olivia Ford's first and only book so far. I will be looking out for her next book because I really loved this one.

Because this was a read for Cook the Books, I also needed to choose what to make. There is so much delicious food in this book, both savoury and sweet. I did keep a list, but the reality is that I already knew what I was going to be making as soon as I read the second paragraph of the book! That doesn't mean to say that I didn't contemplate other things. This is one of those choices where there were dozens and dozens of different types of food mentioned!

Here is that paragraph:

Recipe one. It had to be her favourite birthday cake - she had quite a reputation for it in the family. She wrote the heading, Jenny's Black Forest Gateau, twisting her best handwriting into loops and flicks as she divided the page into Ingredients and Method. She could feel the wet cloth of the cream-filled piping bag, the magic of neat rosettes spiralling from its nozzle. She thought of the bitter smell of cocoa powder which clung to the back of your throat if you made the mistake of pouring it too enthusiastically, and how it complemented the tender cherry pie filling.

The reason why this jumped out so much is that Black Forest Cake is my husband's favourite, and I haven't made it for him for a long time! A quick look through my baking cook books gave me a few different options, but in the end I chose a recipe from the cook book that I have been doing a lot of baking from recently which is You Had Me at Cake by Emelia Jackson

In order to make the recipe as written, I did have to sent Robert to go to a specialty place that does all kind of frozen fruits to get frozen sour cherries, and I also had to go and buy kirsch as we didn't have any in the house.

I also had to adapt because I don't have 18cm cake tins. In the end I used 22 cm cake tins and cooked the cakes for 30 minutes which may have been a fraction too long.

It turns out that really this recipe looks more complicated than it really is. None of the three components is difficult, and it looks fine if you put it together somewhat rustically. At least, that is what I am telling myself!

The next Cook the Books selection is The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai and I am the host! I really hope that everyone enjoys it! I am a bit nervous though! If you would like to know more about Cook the Books, click here for more details.

Black Forest Gateau (Emelia Jackson)

Chocolate Cake

6 eggs, room temperature
250g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
90g plain flour
60g cocoa powder
150g unsalted butter, melted

Sour Cherry Compote

800g frozen sour cherries, defrosted
200g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
100ml kirsch

Chantilly cream

600g thickened cream
300g double cream
100g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
shaved dark chocolate to finish

For the chocolate sponge cakes, preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional) and line three 18cm round cake tins with baking paper.

Combine the eggs, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is pale and has doubled in volume. Sift the flour and cocoa powder over the egg mixture, gently fold together, then mix through the melted butter.

Once combined, divide the batter evenly among three cake tins and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If you only have one or two cake tins, bake each layer separately. The remaining batter is fine to wait as each layer bakes.

Remove the cakes from the oven and allow them to cool in their tins for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the cherry compote, put the cherries and their juices in a saucepan with the sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and allow the cherries to cook for 30 minutes, or until the juices have reduced by half. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla paste and kirsch before letting the compote cool completely. This can be made up to a week ahead and kept in the fridge until ready to use.

For the chantilly cream, combine all the ingredients (except the chocolate) in a mixing bowl and whisk by hand until firm peaks form. It will take a little elbow grease, but I prefer to err on the side of caution and whisk by hand as the higher fat content means it can easily split. Once the cream has thickened, place it in the fridge until the cakes and compote have cooled and you are ready to assemble the cake.

To assemble, place the first cake layer onto the serving plate and soak it liberally with cherry syrup, before layering over ⅓ of the cream and cherries. Repeat this process until you’ve stacked all layers with the fillings. To finish, liberally spread the rest of the cream over the top of the cake and pile it high with cherries. Finish with some curls of dark chocolate shaved with a vegetable peeler and set the cake in the fridge for at least 4 hours (overnight is best) to firm up before serving.

Weekly meals

Saturday - Hamburgers
Sunday - Grilled cheese on toast
Monday - Pork and beans stir fry
Tuesday - Spaghetti bolognaise
Wednesday -
Thursday - Out for dinner
Friday - Away for the weekend

Mini reviews - Three Japanese novels

2026-09-24T01:06:00.000+10:00

This week I am bringing you somewhat mini reviews of three recent Japanese reads. I am not that good at being mini. Half the time they would only need one more paragraph to make them a normal review!

Before I Knew I Loved You by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (translated by Geoffrey Trousselot)

This is the sixth book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series and it is very similar is structure and tone. There are four individual stories where we meet people who want to go either forward or back in time to get closure.

In the first story, a young woman hopes to meet up with the stepmother who she treated badly to say she's sorry. Then we meet a teenager who hopes to meet the girl that she liked. The last time he saw her he didn't say what was in his heart and now it is too late. In the third story, a woman has to decide whether to say yes to her partner, even knowing what she knows and finally, a young man wants to go back in time to see his dead father one last time. Each of these stories is moving and meaningful in it's own way.

One of the things about this series is that rules about the time travel do get repeated a lot. Despite that, every now and again it feels like the rules change ever so slightly. For example, it was a couple of books into the series before it said that people could go forward in time as well as backward. There was an aspect of the first story in this book which felt like the rules got a little bent. We will see if anyone else uses this particular method going forward.

Whilst this book is set in a cafe, there isn't that much food in them usually. People who visit the cafe can ask for whatever they like to eat and Nagare, the chef and owner, will make it for them if he has the ingredient. I did, however, enjoy the foodie aspect of the last story where the young man remembers the pasta dish that his dad had prepared for them.

So far I have listened to this entire series on audio narrated by Kevin Shen. I am not sure that I would even be able to read one of these books now without hearing his voice in my head, particularly when someone enters the cafe and he does the klang-dong sound of the doorbell.

The more I read this series, the more I find myself pondering the properties of hot water in Japan. The whole premise is that you only have maybe 10 minutes in the past, as you have to finish your coffee before it gets cold. However, when I make myself a tea, it takes at least 45 minutes before the tea gets completely cold. Maybe it is our definition on what temperature cold is that varies!

I did see something the other day that said that the author has recently finished the seventh book in the series. I will, of course, be reading it! Or rather, listening to it!

Rating 4/5

The Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop by Takuya Asakura (translated by Yuka Maeno)

If you read a particular book at a particular time of year (specifically during cherry blossom season) you may suddenly find yourself visiting the Vanishing Cherry Blossom Bookshop which is run by a young woman named Sakura and her cat Kabako.

This book shares a similar structure and feel to many of these popular Japanese books, including the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series. There is a hard to find setting, a bit of magic realism and four stories of people who need to find peace regarding some particular aspect of their life.

We meet a woman whose mother has recently passed away, leaving thing unresolved. In another story, there is a man with dementia who is trying something important and then two sisters whose lives are going in different directions. Of these, I thought the story about the man with dementia was very moving.

I didn't mind this one until the last chapter when it all got a bit weird which is a real shame because this is where we got to learn how Sakura ended up being in the store, so it would have been great to have been able to connect to this. I am assuming

This is a case where the absolutely gorgeous cover lured me in, but the book itself wasn't quite as good as I would have hoped it would be. I did love all the discussions about the four special books that were the triggers to bring the different characters into the store! Don't get me wrong. It was still a decent read, just not great.

This book counts for the Bookish Books challenge.

Rating 3/5

Matcha on Monday by Michiko Aoyama (translated by E Madison Shimoda)

On the cover this is advertised as "By the best selling author of What You Are Looking For is in the Library. The thing is that book is my least favourite of the four books I have read by this author so far.

Matcha on Monday is the companion book to Hot Chocolate on Thursdays which I read earlier this year. Whilst these two books share the common trait of featuring individual by connected stories, this time there are 12 stories (one for each month of the year). Some of the stories are set in or near the Marble Cafe in Tokyo, but others are set in Kyoto. This time there is no magical element, other than the power of unknown connections, and I don't think there is even a cat, although I could be wrong!

The Marble Cafe is normally closed on a Monday but every now and again the mysterious owner who is known only as The Maestro holds special events. In the first of the stories, a young woman visits the cafe during an event which is featuring matcha teas. In the next story, a man tries to visit the cafe after a fight with his wife but it is closed. Instead, he visits a nearby store. Then we learn more about the store owner and so the connected stories continue. Through the stories we learn lots about matcha, about several important Japanese traditions and more.

These couple of paragraphs give an example of how each of the stories is connected, and I love this whole idea!

"Right, we have no clue who they are, but they definitely existed. If you trace things back, the number of linked hands multiplies exponentially. If even one of those hands had let go, we wouldn't have made it here. Every encounter is the result of a long line of connections between people whose faces we'll never know."
Moved, I look at the Maestro.
He cradles his coffee cup with both hands and adds, "The most wonderful thing about this is that the far-off people who once held hands have no idea that they might be making someone somewhere down the line happy. That's what's great: unbeknownst to you, simply working on your life can impact the life of complete strangers."

I certainly found myself thinking about some of the things that happened in my life and where those magical hands, whether known or unknown, have helped me to get to where I am in my life right now. For example, my husband moved to Australia 8 years before we met. I'd like to thank whoever the first person was who put that idea in his head!

I enjoyed both of the books in the Marble Cafe series. And I will read whatever book is translated into English from Michiko Aoyama.

Rating 4.5/5

All of these books count for the Books in Translation challenge hosted at The Introverted Reader. Before I Knew I Loved You and Matcha on Monday count for Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story and Weekend Cooking which I host. The first two books count for the Speccy Fic challenge, hosted at Book'd Out and Before I Knew I Loved You counts for the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Spring TBR

2026-09-22T05:52:00.000+10:00

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books on My Fall 2026 To-Read List (or Spring if you live in the Southern Hemisphere). So here are ten books from my Spring TBR

Secrets of a Winter Escape by Sue Moorcroft - The is the second book in The Italian Legacy trilogy, which is set in a small town on Lake Como in Italy.

A Fresh Start in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen - If Maggie Christensen has a new book out, it will be on my TBR list, whatever the season.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai - This is the next selection for Cook the Books. Given that I am the host I need to reread and decide what I am going to cook from the book.

A Far-flung Life by M L Stedman - Normally my book club is read on a theme, but evey 18 months or so we all agree to read the same book. This is the book for October.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman - These next few books are all the books I have chosen for the Goodreads Fall challenge. I am currently listening to this one whenever I am in the car by myself!

Long Island by Colm Toibin - I read Brooklyn years ago but I never got around to this one.

The Other Moctezuma Girls by Sofia Robleda - This one is for Hispanic Heritage Month.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee - I have had my eye on this book for a long time! Now I am finally going to read it!

The French Christmas Market by Gillian Harvey - I feel like I need at least one Christmas book on the list!

The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith - This was the book that came up on the Classics Spin. I am currently reading it, and it is ...interesting to say the least.