First Lines Friday: 29/07/2022

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
  • Finally… reveal the book!

Hello!

Apologies for the break from blogging. I just decided I needed a little break but hopefully I am back to normal blogging routine now. I started a new book today so I thought I would use it for my First Lines Friday post. Answer will be below the cat pictures.

Shipperton Church was a very different-looking building five-and-twenty years ago. To be sure, its substantial stone tower looks at you through its intelligent eye, the clock, with the friendly expression of former days; but in everything else what changes!

and the answer is…

When Scenes of Clerical Life, Eliot’s first work of fiction, first appeared in print anonymously in 1857, critics immediately hailed it for its humorous irony, the truthfulness of its presentation of the lives of ordinary men and women, and its compassionate acceptance of human weakness. The three stories that comprise the volume foreshadow Eliot’s greatest work, and an acquaintance with them is essential to a full understanding of one of the greatest English novelists.

Purchase Links

Book Depository | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)

Please drop me a comment with your First Lines Friday and I will head over for a visit.

Happy Reading

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

Friday Poetry: D. H. Lawrence

Happy Friday!

I still have covid but I am very slowly starting to get a bit of energy back. The reason I have chosen this poem for this week is because I am missing the sea. Whilst on holiday it was so nice to be right next to the sea everyday.

Seaweed

Seaweed sways and sways and swirls
as if swaying were its form of stillness;
and it flushes against fierce rock
it slips over it as shadows do, without hurting itself. 

D. H. Lawrence

Happy Reading

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

Mid Week Quote: Jane Austen

Hello!

During the recent heat wave that we have been going through I have been constantly thinking of this quote by Jane Austen so I thought I would share it this week.

“What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance.”

Jane Austen

Happy Reading

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

WWW Wednesday: 20/07/2022

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!

I haven’t taken part in WWW Wednesday for a while because I was stuck trying to finish Dombey and Son. However, whilst away on holiday last week I managed to finish 3 books and this week I have been stuck at home with Covid so I have been doing a lot of reading.

What I am Currently Reading

This is my first Agatha Christie of the year but I thought it was time to get back into my Agatha Christie challenge.

What I have Recently Finished Reading

I don’t think I have ever read so many books within a week but they are all rather small books so didn’t take long to read. Just got to write up all the reviews now.

What I Think I will Read Next

I’m really not sure what I will read next. I seem to be in the mood for smaller books at the moment so maybe nothing too big.

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

Happy Reading

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

Goodreads Monday: 18/07/2022

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! It is heatwave here so I will be spending the day trying to keep cool and reading a good book.

My chosen book today is another new author for me and one on my Classics Club list.

This 1872 novel by a mid-Victorian poet and novelist is about a girl named Clarice, living with her widowed father and her governess ‘in a charming home at a convenient (railway) distance from the city.’ One day she finds a girl of her own age hiding in the shrubbery. She is Olga and ‘there is no question that she is the liveliest child character in English fiction’ said the Observer in 1936.

Purchase Links

Book Depository | Waterstones

(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)

Happy Reading

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

The Weekly Brief

Hello!

This week has been another quiet week on the blog but I have been away on holiday so I have spent a lot of time relaxing. This has meant that I have read quite a few books so I do have a lot of reviews to write over the next few weeks.

Posts this Week

Currently Reading

I started this series whilst in France and now I am addicted. I have almost finished this book and will be downloading the next one on to the Kindle as soon as I have finished.

Happy Reading

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

Friday Poetry: Lord Byron

Happy Friday!

I hope everyone has had a good week so far.

She Walks in Beauty

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impaired the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express,
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow, 
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent, 
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

Lord Byron

Happy Reading

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

Goodreads Monday: 11/07/2022

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!

I hope everyone is having a good Monday so far. My chosen book today is by the author Jules Verne. I have only ever read one book by Jules Verne so I included some more of his books on my Classics Club challenge as I wanted to read more of his books.

One night in the reform club, Phileas Fogg bets his companions that he can travel across the globe in just eighty days. Breaking the well-established routine of his daily life, he immediately sets off for Dover with his astonished valet Passepartout. Passing through exotic lands and dangerous locations, they seize whatever transportation is at hand—whether train or elephant—overcoming set-backs and always racing against the clock.

Purchase Links

Book Depository | Foyles | Waterstones | Wordery

(All purchases made using one of the above affiliate links gives a small percentage of money to myself with no extra cost to yourself. All proceeds go towards the upkeep of this blog. Thank you ever so much, your support is gratefully received.)

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

Happy Reading

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 is having a good weekend so far. My blogging has not gone well this week but my reading has, so at least that will feed into the blog eventually.

Posts this Week

Currently Reading

Just a quick read for me as I needed something small to recover from finishing Dombey and Son.

Happy Reading

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

Friday Poetry: Lewis Carroll

Happy Friday!

My chosen poem this week is by Lewis Carroll and is an acrostic poem.

A Boat, Beneath a Sunny Sky

A boat, beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July - 

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear - 

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes. 

Children yet, the tale to hear, 
Eager eye and willing ear, 
Lovingly shall nestle near. 

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream -
Lingering in a golden gleam - 
Life, what is it but a dream?

Lewis Carroll

Happy Reading

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