Tag: 2022

Goodreads Monday: 24/10/2022

Goodreads Monday is now hosted by Budget Tales Book Club.  All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.

Hello!

Happy Monday! I hope everyone has had a good start to the week so far.

My chosen book to feature today is one that I have always wanted to read because it has always sounded like a rather fun read.

Gulliver’s Travels describes the four voyages of Lemuel Gulliver, a ship’s surgeon. In Lilliput he discovers a world in miniature; towering over the people and their city, he is able to view their society from the viewpoint of a god. However, in Brobdingnag, a land of giants, tiny Gulliver himself comes under observation, exhibited as a curiosity at markets and fairs. In Laputa, a flying island, he encounters a society of speculators and projectors who have lost all grip on everyday reality; while they plan and calculate, their country lies in ruins. Gulliver’s final voyage takes him to the land of the Houyhnhnms, gentle horses whom he quickly comes to admire – in contrast to the Yahoos, filthy bestial creatures who bear a disturbing resemblance to humans. This text, based on the first edition of 1726, reproduces all the original illustrations and includes an introduction by Robert Demaria, Jr, which discusses the ways Gulliver’s Travels has been interpreted since its first publication. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was born in Dublin. 

Please drop me a comment if you have taken part in Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

Etsy

Goodreads Monday: 17/10/2022

Goodreads Monday is now hosted by Budget Tales Book Club.  All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.

Hello!

So sadly my Blogtober has been ruined because I missed Saturday and Sunday due to feeling too ill to blog. I’m still feeling rather rough but have made the effort to blog today and I hope to manage the rest of the month.

My chosen book for the week is another off my Classics Club list.

So Melville wrote of his masterpiece, one of the greatest works of imagination in literary history. In part, Moby-Dick is the story of an eerily compelling madman pursuing an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous and unknowable as the sea itself. But more than just a novel of adventure, more than an encyclopaedia of whaling lore and legend, the book can be seen as part of its author’s lifelong meditation on America. Written with wonderfully redemptive humour, Moby-Dick is also a profound inquiry into character, faith, and the nature of perception.

Please drop me a comment if you have taken part in Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

Etsy

Friday Poetry: Anon

Happy Friday!

My chosen poem today is a little different but something that means a lot to me. It is quite often used as a blessing and is a traditional Irish Gaelic prayer. 

A Prayer for Travellers

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Anon

Happy Reading

Etsy

This and That Thursday

Happy Thursday!

I thought it was time for a non bookish update. I will be honest since being back at school I haven’t had as much time for adventures but we are trying to make the most of our days off together.

Boscobel House and White Ladies Priory

Last week we visited Boscobel Hosue and White Ladies Priory. We loved the fact that you get a candle and every time you see the candle symbol you put your candle on it and something happens, whether that be sound effects or videos. It was a nice feature that we had never seen before. When we had finished in the house we walked to the ruin that is White Ladies Priory and then went around the farm at Boscobel.

Berrington Hall

Today we met up with a friend and visited the National Trust property Berrington Hall. Berrington is one of my favourite National Trust properties because I always love how they decorate the rooms at Christmas. It was also nice to see the house without the scaffolding inside as that was there when we last visited. After a lovely lunch we went for a nice walk around the grounds and enjoyed the beautiful views and Autumn sunshine.

I am really looking forward to half term as we have lots of adventures planned so I will probably do another This and That Thursday then.

Happy Reading

Etsy

WWW Wednesday: 12/10/2022

WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

The rules are answer the questions below and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you will read next?

Hello!

We are half way through the week and I hope it is going well for everyone so far.

I managed to finish my first book of October yesterday so that pleased me.

What I am Currently Reading

I have started reading this again after taking a little break because I wanted to read some nonfiction. I am really enjoying it so far, I really do enjoy Weir’s writing. It is very rare that I find myself craving nonfiction.

What I have Recently Finished Reading

I picked this back up after a long break but this time I could not put it down. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it really interested.

What I Think I will Read Next

I’m really not sure what I will read next. I am quite tired a lot at the moment due to work so I’m craving easy and comforting reads.

Please drop me a comment with your WWW Wednesday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

Etsy

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read On Vacation

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. For more info please check out Jana’s blog.

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good week so far. I managed to finish my first book of October today so I am a lot happier.

I love this weeks topic for Top Ten Tuesday because one thing I do when on holiday is read.

  1. Fireside Gothic by Andrew Taylor – I read this on the beach in Maui when we were there in 2019. This was a book my husband had brought with him and one that I picked up once he had read it.
  2. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James – This one was also read in Maui but I really didn’t enjoy it that much and found it rather dull.
  3. Death of Darkness by Dianne Duvall – This was another Maui read and one I read because I was taking part in the blog tour for it.
  4. Jaws by Peter Benchley – Another Maui read! I read a lot of books in Maui, it was our first resort holiday and we really made the most of the relaxing beach.
  5. The Woolworths Girls by Elaine Everest – This was one of the books I read whilst on holiday in Nice this year. We did some exploring on this holiday but we also did a lot of relaxing by the beach and by the pool because it was our first holiday abroad since 2019 so we decided to have a chill holiday. This also meant I read quite a few books.
  6. The Empty House by Rosamunde Pilcher – Another Nice read. This one was a little disappointing.
  7. All Systems Red by Martha Wells – Another Nice read. Got hooked on this series.
  8. Artificial Condition by Martha Wells – Another Nice read. I’m quite surprised just how many books I did read on this holiday.
  9. Border Lands by Brian McGilloway – I read this whilst in Hay-on-Wye last year. I loved it so much I bought the rest of the books in the series in the Cinema Bookshop in Hay.
  10. Harry Potter and Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling – I’m not sure what year this was but whilst on holiday in Scotland visiting my sister my nephews introduced me to the Harry Potter series. I loved the first book so much I went out and managed to buy the next two books in the local Co-Op. Only four of the books had been released at this point.

So there are the books I can remember reading whilst away on holiday. There are a lot more but I can’t remember which ones I read and where sadly.

If you have taken part in Top Ten Tuesday this week please drop me your link and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Goodreads Monday: 10/10/2022

Goodreads Monday is now hosted by Budget Tales Book Club.  All you have to do is show off a book from your TBR that you’re looking forward to reading.

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone has had a good start to the week. I have had a busy day but I finished it with a lovely walk in the evening.

My chosen book today is another classic that I really want to read and one I have on my Classics Club list.

Cecilia is an heiress, but she can only keep her fortune if her husband will consent to take her surname. Fanny Burney’s unusual love story and deft social satire was much admired on its first publication in 1782 for its subtle interweaving of comedy, humanity, and social analysis. Controversial in its time, this eighteenth-century novel seems entirely fresh in relation to late twentieth-century concerns.

This sounds like a really good read and one that I am quite excited to start.

Please drop me a comment if you have taken part in Goodreads Monday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

The Weekly Brief

Hello!

I hope everyone has had a nice weekend. I have been really busy this weekend playing for weddings and church services so I’ve only managed a little bit of reading. However, Blogtober is still on track so fingers crossed I will complete the month.

Posts this Week

Currently Reading

I have almost finished this and so far it has been a really fascinating read.

Happy Reading

Etsy

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you

Friday Poetry: Matt Goodfellow

Happy Friday!

Yesterday was National Poetry Day so my chosen poem is one that was specially written for National Poetry Day in 2016. 

Messages

look closely and you'll find them
everywhere

in fields of patterned grasses
drafted by the hare

embroidered by the bluebells
through a wood

in scattered trails of blossom
stamped into the mud

scorched by heather-fire
across the moors

in looping snail-trails
scrawled on forest floors

scored across the sky
by screaming swifts

in rolling, twisting peaks
of drifting mountain mist

scribbled by an ocean
on the sand

look closely: you will see 
and understand. 

Matt Goodfellow

Happy Reading

If you enjoy reading my blog and would like to make a donation I would be very grateful. Thank you