Two by Two

I came back from the UK with one more suitcase than we went with..

It was mostly filled with bargain finds from the fifty two charity shops in my parents' town - and Cheltenham Racecourse Car Boot.

Here are some of my favourite finds - they all came in pairs!

Two Kathie Winkle plates - five pounds for both from the car boot sale

Nice editions of Little Women and Little Men, two pounds each from Oxfam

Two lovely old cameras - an Agfa Box Spezial - three pounds from the car boot sale (I beat him down from five pounds) and the Instamatic is my mum's old camera and the first camera I ever took a photo on. 
Unfortunately you can't get film for it any more but you can adapt 135mm film to fit - not sure if I'm going to try this or not...

Australian Advent Calendar Day 19

                       

This is my favourite Christmas book from when I was little - Tom likes it too - it's the story of Santa Claus when he was a little boy.

Interesting fact- the illustrator Victor Ambrus is the artist on Time Team who draws all the amazing pictures: http://www.timeteamdigital.com/the-team/victor-ambrus

Sunshine Day

Sun shining...

Tomatoes growing...

New Frangipanis sprouting...

Flowers blooming...

And a new book I'm attempting not to read until we go on holiday in two weeks - I might need to hide it!

What I read in September

My favourite book this month was The Vale Girl by Nelika McDonald - small town prejudice with a twist.

I also enjoyed Colin McLaren's telling of his Grandfather's experience in Gallipoli and the trenches of First World War France

I picked up The Handmaid's Tale in the Salvos book section and it was as chilling as the first time I read it in high school.

Blow on a Dead Man's Embers was a story of a family in a small Welsh village struggling to carry on in spite of wartime betrayals and secrets.

What I read in August

My favourite read this month was...

Frankie and Stankie by Barbara Trapido - coming of age in 1960's South Africa

I also loved...

Thornwood House  Anna Romer - haunting family secrets...

The Railwayman's Wife  Ashley Hay - post-war traumas in a small Australian town

Valentine Grey  Sandi Toksvig - a feisty Victorian girl goes off to fight in the Boer War

The Long Earth and The Long War   Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter - I loved these two really believable tales of parallel Earths - and The Long War was the first book I read on my iPad!

What I read in July...

My favourite read this month was...

A story of neighbourly relationships in Newcastle. (The Australian Newcastle..)

I also read, in no particular order -

The Twelve 
Justin Cronin

(Scary)

Peaches for Monsieur Le Cure 
Joanne Harris

(The sequel to Chocolat and The Lollipop Shoes)

The Last Girls
Lee Smith

(Mississippi reunion)

The Camomile Lawn 
Mary Wesley

(Wartime Cornwall)

The Forgotten World 
Mark O'Flynn

(Coal mining in the Blue Mountains)

What I read in June...

I bought the first two from the library for a dollar! (A dollar for both!)
Both worth a read.

The Nature of Ice by Robyn Mundy

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

Five Bells by Gail Jones

I'm discovering a lot of Australian authors, and Gail Jones is my new favourite - I'm now reading Sorry which I'm having trouble putting down.

The Language of Others by Clare Morrall

I love Clare Morrall's novels because they're usually set in Birmingham which takes me back to my uni days - especially this one which is partly set in Selly Oak and Harborne - ah those were the days...

The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett

I picked up The Midnight Zoo while the boys were in their art class at the library - it's really a children's book but  I loved its depiction of three children taking care of each other and then discovering a zoo full of animals to take care of.

What have you been reading?

Recently...

I got all excited at finding an actual genuine deciduous tree!

It rained...

I became addicted to Smooth FM...

It started to feel like Winter (sort of..)

Our library started giving away free books!

All good stuff :)

Reading this month...

My top recommendations for this month!


A dark tale of guilt and retribution from WA's King of fiction!



True stories of life in East Germany

Sibling rivalry and childhood secrets


From the author of Chocolat, a story of island tension


I loved this for it's detailed descriptions of 1950's New York

March Books

I didn't have a lot of time for reading in March, but the books I did read were a bit of an eclectic mix...




All that I Am by Anna Funder

Based on true events, a story of German resistance to the rise of Hitler in the 1930s



Dirt Music by Tim Winton

By Western Australia's favourite author, a tale of love, tragedy and fishing...



The Island by Victoria Hislop

I re-read this one - lovely story of family redemption set on the island of Crete



The Last Letter from your Lover by Jojo Moyes

I love Jojo Moyes - this is a bit of a detective story chasing the writer of a long lost love letter


Peter Duck by Arthur Ransome

I loved the Swallows and Amazons books when I was younger - real pirates in this one!

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey

Craig Silvey is another Western Australian author - set in 1960s WA this is a story of friendship, racism and young love.

Making and Reading 3

I'm quite proud of this  - I made a half decent skirt - in that it fits and the zip is quite good! (i hate sewing zips..)

And this week I've been reading short stories - I love Joanne Harris (Chocolat) - she has a really dark imagination, and I'll definitely be looking for more books by Alice Munro.

I'm keeping a reading list for this year here, with a little note about each book - this is mostly for my own reference so I can look back over the year and see what I read, but also might be useful if you're looking for some ideas of new books to try.

SUPs, good books and massive ants

So far this weekend has been all about our new stand up paddleboard - it is GINORMOUS and we all love it.

I'm reading The Paperbark Shoe by Goldie Goldbloom (great name), although shortly after taking the below photo I was bitten on the bottom by a fearsome looking ant and quickly jumped back in the water...

Cloudstreet

I just finished reading Cloudstreet by Tim Winton which was great.
Just thought I'd share that with you... (Go read it)

What I've read so far this year...

Last January I gave myself a reading list.
It didn't go well...
This year I'm just reading whatever catches my eye - so far.....

Solar by Ian McEwan

I find myself reading an Ian McEwan book, getting a quarter of the way through and thinking why am I reading this depressing book... but then I have to finish it.. (See also Enduring Love and The Innocent - Atonement is also depressing but in a good way..)

A Neville Shute triple bill - The Far Country, On the Beach and A Town like Alice - I love novels about Australia, and these three sum up a certain era of Australian history which I love. 

Wise Children by Angela Carter - I must be getting old because I heard an extract from Susannah Clapp's 'A card from Angela Carter' on Radio 4 (?!) on the way to work and remembered how much I loved 'The Magic Toyshop'.  
I love Wise Children too.


Finally, from the library - Ice Road by Gillian Slovo

I love books about the siege of Leningrad, I read The Siege by Helen Dunmore when I was in hospital having Bill... Cheery I know!


What are you reading at the moment? What's on your Amazon wishlist....