The It’s Monday! What Are You Reading meme is hosted at BookDate
I’m also linking to The Sunday Post @ Caffeinated Reviewer
And the Sunday Salon @ ReaderBuzz
Life…
I really enjoyed attending the Triple M concert midweek, where my middle children sang Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ with their a capella group. The other performers which ranged from rock bands to a very talented clarinet player, were also impressive, and in all it was a great night.
My son is second from the left (his music teacher is next to him), only a sliver of my daughter is visible on the far right).
I was also very proud to learn my son earned a place in the top five students of his grade at his mid year assembly. My youngest son also came home with good results on his mid year report.
Unfortunately the rest of the week got away from me and between one thing and another, I just barely got my reviews up, and all I managed to read were two books.
School holidays start today for my kids, though as teenagers they sleep til noon and keep themselves amused mostly. We have some vague plans but much will depend on the weather.
And CONGRATULATIONS to Claire Louisa who has won a copy of All That Impossible Space by Anna Morgan courtesy Hachette Australia
I hope you have a great week!
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What I’ve Read Since I last Posted…
The Chain by Andrew McKinty
The Heart Keeper by Alex Dahl
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New Posts
Review: The Bride Test by Helen Hoang ★★★1/2
Review: Six Minutes by Petronella McGovern ★★★★
Review: Wild Horses of the Summer Sun by Tory Bilski ★★★
Review: The Roadhouse by Kerry McGinnis ★★★
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What I’m Reading This Week
Tom Hope doesn’t chase rainbows. He does his best on the farm – he milks the cows, harvests the apples, looks after the sheep – but Tom’s been lonely since his wife Trudy left, taking little Peter with her to go join the holy rollers.
Enter Hannah Babel, quixotic smalltown bookseller: the second Jew – and the most vivid person – Tom has ever met. When she asks him to move in, and help her build Australia’s most beautiful bookshop, Tom dares to believe they could make each other happy.
But it is 1968: twenty-four years since Hannah and her own little boy arrived at Auschwitz. Tom Hope is taking on a battle with heartbreak he can barely even begin to imagine.
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The highly anticipated first book by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, the voices behind the #1 hit podcast My Favorite Murder!
Sharing never-before-heard stories ranging from their struggles with depression, eating disorders, and addiction, Karen and Georgia irreverently recount their biggest mistakes and deepest fears, reflecting on the formative life events that shaped them into two of the most followed voices in the nation.
In Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered, Karen and Georgia focus on the importance of self-advocating and valuing personal safety over being ‘nice’ or ‘helpful.’ They delve into their own pasts, true crime stories, and beyond to discuss meaningful cultural and societal issues with fierce empathy and unapologetic frankness.
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Moving between Imperial China and France during the ‘Terror’ of the French Revolution and inspired by the true story of the quest for a blood-red rose.
Viviane de Faitaud has grown up alone at the Chateau de Belisama-sur-le-Lac in Brittany, for her father, the Marquis de Ravoisier, lives at the court of Louis XVI in Versailles. After a hailstorm destroys the chateau’s orchards, gardens and fields an ambitious young Welshman, David Stronach, accepts the commission to plan the chateau’s new gardens in the hope of making his name as a landscape designer.
David and Viviane fall in love, but it is an impossible romance. Her father has betrothed her to a rich duke who she is forced to marry and David is hunted from the property. Viviane goes to court and becomes a maid-in-waiting to Marie-Antoinette and a member of the extended royal family. Angry and embittered, David sails away from England with Lord Macartney, the British ambassador, who hopes to open up trade with Imperial China.
In Canton, the British embassy at last receives news from home, including their first reports of the French Revolution. David hears the story of ‘The Blue Rose’, a Chinese fable of impossible love, and discovers the blood-red rose growing in the wintry garden. He realises that he is still in love with Viviane and must find her.
Viviane escapes the guillotine and returns to the ruin of Chateau de Belisima to rebuild her life. David carrying a cluster of rosehips finds her there, and together they decide to grow the fabled red rose of China in France.
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What if the love of your life forgot who you were?
When outback midwife Ava May meets Zac on a flight to Alice Springs, they tumble into a whirlwind affair. But an exciting adventure leads to a terrible accident, with shattering consequences. The couple who had so much going for them now find themselves with everything to lose.
Devastated, Ava retreats to her family cattle station to help salvage what she can of the critical situation. But at home on the drought-ridden farm, her brother is being pushed to his limits, and as his depression intensifies, Ava must step in to prevent another family tragedy.
Against the majestic backdrop of Australia’s Red Centre, old dreams are shattered, new babies are born and true love takes flight.
By Australia’s renowned midwife and bestselling author of Mothers’ Day, The Desert Midwife is a romantic drama about strong women, medical miracles and new beginnings
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Thanks for stopping by!
Great list!
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I love the look of Bookshop for the Broken Hearted. I’m on the lookout for that book now.
Congratulations to all the achievements of your children!
I hope you have a great week.
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Your teens must indeed make you feel very proud of their good results school wise. You sure have a number of books on the go, I still need to read The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted, so many books call out to me and the library keeps sending!
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Sounds like a fun and busy week! Congrats kids!!!
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Congrats on your kids’ accomplishments- that’s awesome. The music show sounds amazing!
“sleep til noon” lol- so true.
Blue Rose sounds good!
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Fantastic! How wonderful to see them singing like that in a concert. Congratulations to them!
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What a great week! Spending time watching your kids perform is a nice change from reading.
Enjoy your week, and here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
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The Triple M concert sounds like a lot of fun! I bet you are so proud of your kids. I hope they (and you) enjoy their break! I hope you are enjoying your current reads! They all look so good. I hope you have a wonderful week!
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I love how proud you are of your kids!!! Thats so awesome! Hope they enjoy sleeping until noon 🙂
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Wow, that concert sounds so fun! I’m glad you enjoyed it (and congrats to your kids too). The Blue Roses also sound like an amazing book, I’ll make sure to check it out.
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Your kids are doing wonderful things.. you must be very proud. Looks like you’ve got some fun books ahead, too!
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Congratulations to your kids! How wonderful! I really enjoyed The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted — can’t wait to hear what you think. And I like the sound of the Kate Forsyth book too. Will look forward to your reviews. Have a great reading week!
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Sounds like a good week! I’m happy your kids did so well in their show! That’s fantastic. Those shows/concerts are always so wonderful to watch. Seeing the different types of music expression is such a joy. Here’s to hoping you have a good upcoming week and that the weather doesn’t get itself in the way of too many days/plans.
I REALLY am intrigued by The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted. Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered is on my list too.
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Congrats to your children! How great. I really liked Bookshop of the Broken Hearted. Hope you do too.
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Looks like you have a great bunch of books coming up. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
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Your books look good. My week of reading
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Love that your kids are part of an a capella group! How fun!!
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Congrats to your kids! They sound like they deserve a little sleeping in late. 🙂 And I love that Queen song. 🙂 I really need to read Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered!
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You must be very proud over their achievements. Nice to see young people with diverse interests.
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Congrats to your kids! Singing is one thing that I am horrible at and I am always jealous of those with a good singing voice. I need to look for The Bookshop book. It sounds amazing.
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How awesome that your kids are in an a capella group!
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Congrats to the kids!
Also: Hello, possible fellow murderino? I finished this one a little bit ago and still need to the write the review! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it as well. 🙂
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Yep, fellow murderino here 🙂
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Wonderful accomplishments for your kids!
Looks like you enjoyed The Bride Test but not without some niggles. I liked The Kiss Quotient better, but I still enjoyed TBT. I’ve seen Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered somewhere else. The title and description are intriguing. Enjoy your books! 🙂
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Seems you didn’t enjoy the Bride Test as much as other I’ve read. Sounds like your kids are really impressive too!! What a neat thing to participate in. ❤️
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That concert sounds like it must have been great. I’m always so impressed by a capella performances.
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Yay for live performances starring family :-). Enjoy your latest batch of books.
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Don’t Stop Me Now is one of those songs that never fails to make me smile!
My kiddo still has another two weeks of school before summer break but I’m already in planning mode for how to keep him entertained on our days… I think I’ll probably quite enjoy the teenage sleeping until noon when we finally get there! lol
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Congrats to your sons!!!!! And I love going to concerts and singing LOL
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Congrats to your sons, that is fantastic news! Oh yes, summer vacation. We have a couple of weeks left before they start here.
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Winter vacation here, actually 🙂
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Congratulation on your kids’ achievements! I just can imagine how proud you felt)))
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I love concerts! Congrats to your kiddos on all of their accomplishments. I average about two books a week too. I use to read a book a day, but now I just don’t have the time! Great looking books for your TBR!
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