Thank you, @batsy ❤️🎄

#Jolabokaflodswap
@MaleficentBookDragon

“…we would be together and have our books and at night be warm in bed together with the windows open and the stars bright.”
Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast.

#GratefulHarvest #warmth

Thanks @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs for a month of fun photo challenge. Haven‘t played in a while and I enjoyed it! 🤗

Impactful poems. Joy Harjo reflects on the historical events that affected her ancestors and the Native Americans; she also shares her experiences from her own life and family. So much loss, grief, injustice.

#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth

Lots of conversations happened on the #porch in the film adaptation.
#GratefulHarvest

I have not read this but I suspect @LeahBergen would have, or at least own a copy with a more vintage (and prettier) cover! 😊

#GratefulHarvest #lantern

(image from eBay)

#GratefulHarvest #Boots
Lovely read.

“Quiet is peace. Tranquility. Quiet is turning down the volume knob on life. Silence is pushing the off button. Shutting it down. All of it.” - Amir.

#GratefulHarvest #Silence

The #Enchanted Wood, the first in the series of The Magic Faraway Tree. One of my many favourite series when I was young, and I remember owning a copy of this exact edition, the 1971 Dean edition illustrations by Rene Cloke. Feeling nostalgic seeing this.🥰
#GratefulHarvest

“It snowed all week. Wheels and footsteps moved soundlessly on the street, as if the business of living continued secretly behind a pale but impenetrable curtain. In the falling quiet there was no sky or earth, only snow lifting in the wind, frosting the window glass, chilling the rooms, deadening and hushing the city.”
- Truman Capote in ‘Miriam‘ from tagged book.

I‘m now intrigued to read this creepy short story!

#GratefulHarvest #chilly

This was a cute story I‘ve read. 🎃

#GratefulHarvest #Pumpkin

One from the author of hard-boiled detective fiction.

#GratefulHarvest #Harvest

Scarves are good for cold days and nights (which we never require here). Besides, they give the literary character style. I‘ve not seen Sidney Paget‘s original illustrations of Sherlock Holmes wearing a #scarf but actors like Basil Rathbone and Benedict Cumberbatch don it well..look elegant and charismatic. 👀 👀 👍👍
#GratefulHarvest 🧣

I love a good, fun, #cozy mystery once in a while. They‘re entertaining and a good way to unwind. There‘s one for almost all the holidays/seasons; cover various themes -bookshop, knitting club, bakery, wedding planner…etc. And the titles! Fun pun-based titles!

#GratefulHarvest

Scarlet and Ivy is a middle-grade series of 6 books, following the adventures of Scarlet and Ivy Grey, 13-year-old twins who attend Rookwood School, an English boarding school in the 1930s. Tagged book is the 5th in the series. My daughter has read the first 3 books and she has given her 👍.

#GratefulHarvest #candlelight

#GratefulHarvest #snuggle
🍃🍂🍁🍂🍁

#GratefulHarvest

The Yellow House is where Van Gogh painted his bedroom and the series of paintings of sunnflowers. Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin shared the #yellow house for six weeks and it's where he also painted portraits of the chairs they each used. I‘m interested to read about their friendship, the tensions, and the events that led to Van Gogh slicing off his own ears, and what happened thereafter.

I Must Remember By Shel Silverstein.

I must remember…
Turkey on Thanksgiving,
Pudding on Christmas,
Eggs on Easter,
Chicken on Sunday,
Fish on Friday,
Leftovers, Monday.
But ah, me – I am such a dunce.
I went and ate them all at once.

#GratefulHarvest #turkey

A quick read about a teenage girl trying to cope with her best friend‘s death, and reconnect with her roots. This is a rerelease of the original published in 2001, it feels dated. I think I needed more follow up on the many other things going on in the story. Not a very satisfactory ending either.

#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth

A remarkable listen…DL shares stories of her life, and her observations, with themes of politics, womanhood, motherhood, and writing, weaved in. Evocative, contains some beautiful passages and the stories about her mother are the most moving. I enjoyed it.

#GratefulHarvest
Wally (or Waldo, or Charlie, or Walter, depending which country) in his distinctive #sweater .

Have you ever found Wally?

#GratefulHarvest

Love the iconic Penguin #Orange Collection of books (fiction), and the mugs are just perfect! 👌

So much hype and love for this book but I‘m in the minority. Duchess Day Radley, certainly not a character one will likely forget soon but I find her somewhat not believeable. My big gripe is the writing style, took me a while to get a hang of, but once I did, the story was engrossing enough..beautifully layered and heartbreaking…the sacrifices that some make for the ones they love 💔..and I sympathised with some of the characters. Low Pick.🤷‍♀️

#GratefulHarvest
These diverse children‘s books inspire us to celebrate cultural #tradition (s). Sharing these stories with our little ones is a wonderful way for children to celebrate diversity.

“…By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.”
💚

Mary Oliver‘s poems mostly focused on the quiet and beauty of #nature , and how humans can learn from it. Here‘s a beautiful one from her.

#GratefulHarvest

#GratefulHarvest
Two books with title #Home . Tagged book was a good story about loneliness and friendship. I‘ve enjoyed Tryon‘s ‘The Other‘ and Harvest Home sounds as great.

#ThoughtfulThursday Thanks for the tag @MoonWitch94

📖 Tagged.
🍁 Looking at some old photos.
📚 Constant interruptions and noise!

All are welcome to play! Want to have a go @rockpools @RamsFan1963 @LostInSpace @SamanthaMarie @Megabooks ?

#GratefulHarvest #Family
One from my daughter‘s shelves, but I haven‘t read it.
A story of the Ruggles, a working class family‘s everyday life in a small English town.

A good story about a young girl who learns about her family history and heritage. It‘s also about the importance of family love, navigating friendship issues, and reconnecting with one‘s culture. Some sad history learnt.

#NativeAmericanHeritageMonth

#MGBuddyRead @megnews

#GratefulHarvest
A retelling of Arthurian tales for younger audience - King Arthur and His Knights of the Round #Table

#GratefulHarvest #Giving
💖

This will probably be among my favourites this year. A beautiful and haunting story with a strong message about the environment; a story of a woman with secrets and her search for redemption. From Greenland to the Antarctic, the details are gorgeously described, and we learn of Franny‘s past…she is such a complex character, it makes a compelling read. The grief, loss, agony,..so heartbreaking, yet it is not without hope.

#GratefulHarvest
This is a sweet read for children and families - teaches us to remember to be #thankful for everything in our lives.

An enjoyable spooky, mystery story for fans of City of Ghosts and Small Spaces. The story about 12-yr old Claire, who is being haunted by a ghost, after she went on her father‘s ghost tour bus. The book includes some interesting local history of Chicago which made me Google-up the events. Fun, ghostly story with themes of family, friendship, & remembering the past. Check out the author‘s 1st book-The Peculiar Incident on Shady Street- just as fun.

On revisiting, I found the play to be more than just a young lovers‘ tragic love story. I appreciated it more than I did when read in school,…beautiful language, timeless story, ..I enjoyed the banters, the famous lines, and good insights from the #shakespearereadalong group .

#GratefulHarvest
No actual #pie is involved in this made-up literary club; invented by one of the ‘party-goers‘ when questioned by a German patrol after curfew hours in the novel.

#GratefulHarvest
Here‘s a beautiful #Moon poem from Emily Dickinson. Enjoy.

My favourite swaps are back! They‘re real simple, and lots of fun! Check out the hosts‘ original posts for the sign-up forms.
#LittleChristmasSwap
#Jolabokaflodswap

#GratefulHarvest
Here‘s a book that #BeginsWithN which may not be everybody‘s cup of tea,…I find it melancholic, thoughtful, and quite chilling. If it‘s still on your tbr, remember not to read any reviews, just dive into it.

#GratefulHarvest #Brown
Not one of Christie‘s better books, I think she did locked-room mysteries or murder mysteries in quiet villages better than thrillers. The 1989 film adaptation is only slightly more engaging.

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

1. The Adventure Series, Five Find-Outers, Malory Towers..
2. It‘s either hot, hot & humid, or rainy here..I prefer indoors 😂
3. I‘m grateful for sleep in over the next few days as school is out till next Monday.
🌞🌥☁️🌦🌧⛈

Tagging @Ruthiella @LeahBergen @CarolynM @TrishB

#GratefulHarvest #Leaves

One from the massive TBR, a heart-rending memoir.
“A harrowing story of emotional cruelty.” The Times called it.

#GratefulHarvest #Apples
I have enjoyed most of Liane Moriarty‘s books, and I look forward to reading her latest, highly anticipated novel, which the TV rights has already been sold.

A witchy tale, good for October reading. It‘s atmospheric, with a nice mystery at its centre, but it could do away with the romance part 🙄. Overall, it felt ‘meh‘. Her City of Ghosts, Cassidy Blake series are much more enjoyable.

#AuthorAMonth

Slacking on my reading. Binge watching on Vera tv series. That‘s what I‘ve been doing lately. 😂 I want to watch season 11, so did a mini marathon viewing. Almost caught up now, onto season 9. Anyone else a fan of the series? Loving the beautiful north-east Northumberland setting too.

I didn‘t manage to slot this in for Sep‘s author a month, but Oct seems to be a good time to read it too. A magical story about secrets, and an ancient curse. Of a lonely girl longing for friendship, and a town dead-set to hunt down a ‘monster‘. It has a touch of mystery. A little predictable, overall a sweet story of hope.

It‘s been a long while I read a historical romance & I enjoyed this far more than I expected. I liked that it talks about the women‘s suffrage movement, women‘s position in society as a subplot. Interesting-a time when women were allowed to attend college,& rally to amend the Married Women‘s Property Act 1882. Slow burn romance, steamy scenes..not sure if it‘s over-done (I don‘t read enough historical romances) but fans of HEAs will be satisfied.

I have been dipping in and out of this book (life got busy) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Delightful! And like the #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub gang said, a true comfort read. I love the humour, the atmosphere - makes me want to follow the adventurous island hopping, the hikes. Lovely pick!

A play with dark undertones that raises important questions about judgement and punishment, sexual exploitation, and human rights. The play and ambiguous ending leave many unsatisfied but memorable and powerful.
Some good, worth remembering quotes :

“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”

and

“What‘s mine is yours, and what is yours is mine.”

#shakespearereadalong

Happy Mid Autumn Festival! Today, when the moon is at its fullest and brightest, families gather to appreciate the moon, indulge in moon cakes, and children play paper lanterns to celebrate the Moon Festival. It‘s sort of a Chinese Thanksgiving 😄, a history of over 3,000 years, dating back to moon worship in the ancient Shang Dynasty. Here‘s a well known poem by a poet from the Song Dynasty, have been widely used during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

This is in the same vein as The Hunting Party. The body is discovered early on, but we don‘t know who died and who the murderer was. Told from different perspectives, alternating between present day & the day before the extravagant wedding, backstories, and dark secrets are revealed as the story unfolds… and many with a motive! Overall a fun book to get lost in.