May Life: This weekend I'm attending my first session at a writer's festival. Writers By the Sea is a biennial festival in Yeppoon and I missed the last one due to a migraine. M and I have tickets to the Saturday evening event, with Michael Robotham and Chris Hammer, also featuring a slam poet who … Continue reading The Month That Was…
My Reading Life
The Month That Was…
April At last the weather has turned and Autumn is well and truly here. Not only are the mornings and nights cooler, the days are pleasant right the way through. Perfect reading - and tea drinking - weather. My blog hit a milestone this month, thank you to all of you who interact with me … Continue reading The Month That Was…
The Month That Was…
March Life has been busy and joyful for the past month. Each of my children celebrated birthdays, turning 21, 19 and 17, and Zeus had his 10th birthday! Zeus, making sure no one steals his back legs while he is not watching... I've decided to combine my weekly newsletter posts with my monthly reading check … Continue reading The Month That Was…
Top 15 Books of my 2022 Reading Year
In no particular order, here are my top 15 books of the year. Over the year, I read 90 books, and quite a lot of them were five star reads, so it was no mean feat to whittle down to a list of 15. But here it is, the favourites of the favourites. All titles … Continue reading Top 15 Books of my 2022 Reading Year
A Month of Reading: December
Another month of reading has passed, so too, has another year. First up, let's look at December. I read six books in December, unsurprising that the total is low, December is a notoriously busy month for everyone. Two of my December reads were real chunksters though, so overall, I didn't do too badly and it … Continue reading A Month of Reading: December
A Month of Reading: November
November has finished with eight books read. I've changed it up a bit this month too, with a cookbook, a short story collection, and a non-fiction/essay collection, definitely a change from my usual fiction only focus. I felt like I was really getting back into my reading routine in this last week of November too, … Continue reading A Month of Reading: November
A Month of Reading: August
I just realised this evening that it's September. I mean, I knew it was September, but I realised that it was several days into the new month and I hadn't written up my recap on what I'd read for August. I can't believe we are now in the last quarter of the year! I thought … Continue reading A Month of Reading: August
Thinking Out Loud: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf. Up until last week, unread by me. Now I can say I've read her, but am I richer for the experience? I buddy read Mrs Dalloway with a friend, which was a good thing because I might not have persevered without the back and forth chat confirming that my reading experience of Mrs … Continue reading Thinking Out Loud: Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
A Month of Reading: April
It was a bit of a slow reading month for me throughout April. I only clocked seven books in total, six of which were five star reads though, so once again, quality is winning out over quantity. All seven were review books, so no progress on my 22 in 2022 and the classics shelf remains … Continue reading A Month of Reading: April
A Month of Reading: March
Is eight the new magic number for me? Eight books in February and now eight again for March. I made inroads with my 22 in 2022 challenge, ticking off another two books read for that. Still no classics... Total books read for March: 8 All eight books were five star reads. So the quantity may … Continue reading A Month of Reading: March
Theresa Smith Writes 