July 2025 Wrap Up

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good day so far. I have had a lovely day of reading and cooking. I am throughly enjoying my time off from teaching. July was definitely my best month for reading so far in 2025.

Statistics

Books

Pages: 45

Format Read: Kindle

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Review to follow

New Book

Pages: 298

Format Read: Paperback

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲

Review to follow

New Book

Pages: 28

Format Read: Kindle

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲

Review to follow

New Book

Pages: 8

Format Read: Kindle

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Review to follow

New Book

Pages: 481

Format Read: Kindle

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Review to follow

New Book

Pages: 251

Format Read: Kindle

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲

Review to follow

New Book

Pages: 371

Format Read: Kindle

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲

Review to follow

New Book

Pages: 168

Format Read: Kindle

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Review to follow

New Book

Pages: 310

Format Read: Paperback

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲

Review to follow

Old Book

Pages: 248

Format Read: Kindle

Dragon Rating: 🐲🐲🐲🐲🐲

Review to follow

New Book

Goodreads Challenge: 38/50

Old Books: 1

New Books: 9

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: 4/8/2025

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 recently attended a talk at the Harvington Hall History Festival by Tracy Borman and it was on The Ambassadors by Holbein. I found the talk absolutely fascinating so of course I had to buy the book. The book is only short so I am sure I will read it soon.

Holbein: The Ambassadors by Tracy Borman

Holbein’s Ambassadors is one of the most famous paintings in the National Gallery.

It is also one of the most intriguing. Laden with hidden symbols and mysteries, the work has been the subject of intense debate among historians during the five centuries since it was created.

Here Tracy Borman unpicks the secrets of this enigmatic artwork, painted during a turbulent time in English history as Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church in order to marry the young Anne Boleyn. From Holbein’s experiences as a German-Swiss

émigré who rose to a position as the ‘King’s Painter’, to the two French ambassadors’ troubles at court, this book illuminates the fascinating story behind a masterpiece of the Tudor era.

Happy Reading

Etsy

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

Mid Week Quote: Richard Evans

Hello!

My chosen quote this week is by the British historian of 19th and 20th century Europe, Richard Evans (1947).

“It is often in the darkest skies that we see the brightest stars.”

Richard Evans

Happy Reading

Etsy

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

WWW Wednesday: 23/7/2025

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 hope everyone is having a good week so far. Apologies for the absence recently, I have been away on a lovely holiday which involved a lot of reading so I am now very behind with my book reviews.

What I am Currently Reading

I am about a quarter of the way through with System Collapse and absolutely loving it. I only have a few pages left of Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey.

What I have Recently Finished Reading

Here are the books I read on my week away. My reviews will follow soon.

What I Think I will Read Next

I’m still really in a sci-fi mood but some of these might be possibles as well.

Happy Reading

Etsy

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

Mid Week Quote: Marianne Williamson

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good week so far.

My chosen quote this week is by the American author, speaker, and political activist Marianne Williamson (1952).

“Success means we go to sleep at night knowing that our talents and ablities were used in a way that served others.”

Marianne Williamson

Happy Reading

Etsy

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

Mid Week Quote: Bob Dylan

Hello!

My chosen quote this week is by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan (1941).

“A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.”

Bob Dylan

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: 7/7/2025

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 has had a good start to the week. I have had a quiet day so I have caught up with jobs around the house and garden and obviously done some reading.

My chosen book to feature this week is a new addition to the TBR pile and one I am hoping to read very soon. I got am email from Harper Collins about this book and knew I wanted to read it.

Under the Lemon Tree by Emma Cowell

Can one Greek summer heal the secrets of the past? Could rediscovering her roots help Kat rebuild a life without her brother…?

Shattered by the sudden loss of her beloved twin, Nik, Kat is struggling to find meaning in a life turned upside down. The comfort of family is both smothering and soothing, but when an unexpected inheritance surfaces — a house on the breathtaking Greek island of Agistri from a mysterious uncle she’s only just heard of — she dares to dream of a new beginning.

Arriving in Agistri, with its crystalline waters and endless blue skies, Kat finds herself surrounded by lush pine forests, secluded coves, and the scent of citrus in the air. Among white-washed houses, the warmth of the island’s people begins to heal the emptiness in her heart. And in their company, she finds both the courage to face her grief — and maybe even the spark of unexpected love…

But as she slowly unearths her family’s buried past, Kat must confront her own fears about belonging, forgiveness, and the possibility of rediscovering happiness in the unlikeliest of places.

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 have had a really good day of reading today which has been just what I needed. I have also watched quite a bit of Wimbledon.

Blog Posts

Currently Reading

I will be honest I finished my current read earlier and I have no idea what I will read next. I will probably choose later tonight.

Happy Reading

Etsy

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

Stacking the Shelves: 5/7/2025

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It is all about sharing the books that you have recently added to your bookshelves. These books can be physical books, ebooks and of course audiobooks.

Hello!

I have been busy buying Kindle books this week ready for my holidays and I’m sure I will probably buy a few more before I go. Here are the ones I have bought so far and they are all new authors for me.

Who Is the Liar by Laura Lee Bahr
While The Dark Remains by Joanna Ruth Meyer
Under the Lemon Tree by Emma Cowell

I’m quite excited to get reading these so hopefully I manage to read them whilst on holiday.

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: D. H. Lawrence

Happy Friday!

I have had a super busy day with my Etsy business and I am looking forward to the weekend.

My chosen poem this week is by David Herbert Lawrence (1885-1930) who was an English writer and poet.

Escape

When we get out of the glass bottles of our own ego,
and when we escape like squirrels from turning in the 
cages of our personality
and get into the forest again, 
we shall shiver with cold and fright
but things will happen to us
so that we don't know ourselves. 

Cool, unlying life will rush in,
and passion will make our bodies taut with power,
we shall stamp our feet with new power
and old things will fall down,
we shall laugh, and institutions will curl up like burnt
paper.

D. H. Lawrence