The past few months, heck, basically this whole year, have been really hard. My world is small and simple - caring for my girls when they're here, running the house and spending as much time as I can in what has become my reading corner in this new flat. I'm reading about a chapter each of different books at the moment, including a journey back into the familiar world of LOTR.

I finally read this - I'm not sure what made me wait. I agree with what others have said about struggling at times to keep the stories straight, and here and there it was a little soppy and on the nose, but altogether I really enjoyed it. It brought up quite a lot of sadness about lost time and opportunities though.

I never read the books (wrong era I think). My ex-husband thought our 12-year-old would like it, but he also never read it, just saw the movies. Today she told me "they don't do anything, but they kiss a lot". Well, I got my sex education mostly through books ?

I can understand others' criticisms of especially the ending, but I loved it and couldn't put it down. The little boy made me think so much of my precious 9-year-old girl and what I would do if anything ever happened to her.

Reactivating Everand has enabled me to read a few books very late to the party. Here and there the narrator's lack of self-awareness grated on me a bit, but mostly I found it sweet.

I really loved this. It was an easy but meaningful read that made me tear up a few times and made it difficult to get into bed at a good hour.

Am I the only one being driven mad by the fact that some characters pronounce it Ven-tham and others Vent-ham?

I started this on the plane, got distracted by Remarkably Bright Creatures and then picked it up again on the flight back today. Every time I open it, I'm completely immersed. It's late afternoon/early evening but there isn't anyone who can tell me it's too early to be in bed with my book.

My view at breakfast. Staying in downtown Cape Town for my conference (a block away in a fancier hotel) has been wonderful and reminded me why this city is so loved.

I stayed up way too late reading after getting in at 23:00 - look at me being up past my bedtime! My presentation is today and I go back tomorrow morning.

A little gift from someone I don't even know in person - we're in a professional organisation together and were discussing something and somehow we started talking about books. She gives almost all hers away when she's read them, by the sounds of it. Also, I got a little box of incense, not sure why 🙂 Very excited to read this one!

I'm on Everand again for the first time in ages. Not that I'm reading much - I'm mostly listening to Agatha Christie audiobooks on YouTube. I'm sick again... Trying to rest today did not go well and I was forbidden from working tomorrow. It was quite unpleasant being told off in that way. Anyway, I have been falling apart lately - incredibly anxious and stressed and working long hours. So I'm actually quite grateful.

I finally read this one! I enjoyed the thoughts on the publishing industry. It goes without saying that I despised June. The twist was... good, but I expected more somehow. Still, very well done.

I'm trying to read this series properly in order. I enjoyed the reread of the first one and remembered precious little.

Catching up on some reviews. This was good but honestly I got a little lost in all the details. It is nice that someone donated it to the library - hopefully I will eventually make it to the end of the series!

If you want to fall asleep with the lights on, you can't go wrong with listening to an AC with your eyes closed after an emotionally draining week. They really are very soothing in audio.

Can I say that I both liked this and found it a slog? All the agonising and calculation and covering the same ground over and over went on for what felt like forever. I had just reread a Kate Atkinson and the pacing was just exquisite, the hidden details tantalising without making you feel that you don't even care anymore what happened. I nearly reached the don't care mark with Exiles. I also had a lot of trouble visualising the terrain ⬇️

I don't talk a lot about my life but... My partner's mental state was really bad the past few days. I eventually called his psychiatrist and got an emergency appointment for him and went along, for the first time. So much of what I thought about our journey together the past 21 months turned out to be completely and utterly different. I was shocked and hurt.

Overexplaining what happened in previous books can irritate me, but these veiled references to stuff that happened in the past are completely over my head - it's so long ago that I read the other books!

I have a lot of feelings about this. It's readable and pulls you along, but the bleakness cut a bit close to home in the light of the mess I've made of my own life. It dwells on the choices we make and the way life turns out and there is no HEA. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was so back and forth on the mixed reviews on this but so far the raging dysfunction is a nice distraction from the hell that is my life. It's sooooo long!

I loved this book. Which would-be contemplative isn't familiar with some of the words of Julian of Norwich or other anchoresses, and yet I had never thought in great detail about what it must have involved. I loved the theme of the body being inescapable and eventually part of worship of God. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I thought I would like this but I'm not enjoying the stories interwoven with the narrative. I should have taken out more books from the library last week!

I thought my girls (either one) might like this (they weren't interested) and then started reading it myself. Call me a prude but I don't think talking about "having his fun" and lust belong in a children's book ?

This one was fun as usual but also had some really sad parts!

This was just beautiful and I finished it in 3 evenings after work. Her writing it just so incredibly good. Sorry, I'm exhausted and others are so much better at eloquent reviews. Just read this!

1. I'm officially on leave! And it's for a full 2.5 weeks as I had to 3 more days in which to move house
2. Moving date was confirmed and all parties were happy with it
3. Lovely sunny Pretoria winter days
4. Had a bit of drama with a junior colleague but we resolved it quite well, I think
5. Some great reading this week

Today was horrid. Just too much going on. In between everything I looked at a house to rent, and my partner liked it (over video call) so that was not bad, but then the late afternoon was full of the stress of trying to get the application in on time. 🤞 Hoping I didn't just waste my money! I didn't get my walk in and my evening was mostly just spent in bed so far so I'm feeling pretty useless.

I seem to have become someone who enjoys audiobooks 🙂 I happened upon the Agatha Christies narrated beautifully by Rosemary Leach and they are very soothing on days that I'm so exhausted I can barely read. Work has been rough! I'm on leave in 2 weeks but so much still needs to be done before then. I haven't read Bertram's Hotel in years and it's been really enjoyable although I remember now why I probably kept skipping it.

This was a mostly light read for me despite the heavy theme of addiction. I found the writing good and the characters engaging even when their behaviour was repulsive. A soft pick.

I learned of Kate Grenville through Litsy and have become such a huge fan. At first I wasn't that crazy about this one, but after a small break, I loved it and I was sad to see it end. She is so good at writing about this period of Australian history. 4.5 🌟

Kindle deal enabled me to finally read this much-anticipated book. I'm sad that I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. I could never connect to Lewis and felt that we kept being told he was so wonderful but not shown. The odds of one person being affected by this mutation thing so closely seemed unlikely to me. The different narratives were also a bit disjointed to me. Still, the writing was well done and I'm not sorry I read it.

I hardly ever listen to audio but I was obsessed with this book! It was so much fun, taught me a lot about subjects I knew nothing about, and despite the nature of Margo's employment, which first had me raising my eyebrows, I really found it to be meaningful, moving and sweet. Extra points for Margo's parenting style 🙂

On another note - I worry these audiobooks on Spotify are somehow unethical but I don't know enough about it.

I think I would have enjoyed this more 20 years ago, but I still enjoyed it, with some caveats. My knowledge of Shakespeare is pretty shameful and maybe theatre students really do speak in Shakespeare quotes to each other, but that eventually started to grate a bit. The writing isn't terrible considering how young the author was, though, and I found the characters interesting and real, if perhaps a bit underdeveloped. I had to know what happened!

Pros: a wild ride set against the backdrop of real South African politics and a real rumour that billions belonging to Muammar Gaddafi ended up in South Africa. At times I struggled to keep everything straight!

Cons: I didn't care for his fictionalised names of real people (done to avoid libel, I guess) and I don't remember there ever being so many grammatical errors in one of his books.

All in all, Meyer really is very good at what he does!

Very work-related! 1. A productive 3 days in the Cape Town office, training a new colleague that I think will add value to our team.We get along great so far.
2. Back in my own house and bed!
3. My abstract for a local conference in August was accepted - an opportunity to grow as a public speaker
4. Gibran, my 💚
5. This is actually kind of left over from 2 weeks ago but from the 1st of June the company will cover my medical aid 🥳

@DebinHawaii

Finished this today on the plane home. I really loved it! I only found out now there is a film. The writing is so well done and I just had so much love and sympathy for Maud throughout. It's incredibly original without coming across as gimmicky, at least for me. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I arrived in Cape Town late afternoon and have nothing to do tonight - feeling very useless/unpopular/lonely. I went for a walk and saw some cute squirrels - we don't see/have them where I live. Aside from a bit of prep I need to do for the 3 days in the office, I plan on reading more of the tagged book, which I was enjoying on the plane.

I'm not sure this was the best book for me right now. I mostly enjoyed it but I don't know. Some of it seems like personal opinions on art and the future and the economy disguised as part of the narrative. And the ending really depressed me! But still, most of it was humorous and poignant and relatable so don't pay me too much mind.

The library was closed! 😭 And it's generally going to be closed on Saturdays because of a labour dispute. I self-soothed by buying from the sales table at the already slightly cheaper, less fancy bookstore. I was really looking forward to stocking up for my trip to Cape Town next weekend.

Oh and I Capture the Castle was a farmer's market buy earlier 🙂

1. Public holiday on Monday - I did Acrobranch with my girls (first time I did the course myself). I'm just sad that I didn't take a picture!
2. My partner completed his outpatient programme and had another really good week
3. Work was not too hectic (boss was away, which is always nice 🙂)
4. My youngest took part in her first choir performance last night and it was such a nice evening
5. Some sunny days in between the unseasonal continuing rain

It didn't take long since I heard about this book on the podcast for my self control to break down and to buy it. No regrets - I loved it so very much. The writing is solid, the story a wild ride and the characters crept into my heart. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

At one point I was very confused with the different generations and where we were, more or less, in the timeline. And it was also so depressing. But I'm glad I persevered and especially loved the last few chapters.

Twi is the main Ghanaian language we work with and I recently needed to read up on the Akan dialect family, so I found all the history around the Asante incredibly interesting. There was so much suffering, though.

My girls may be back but they're at their dad's tonight (family thing) and I miss them. It was cold and gloomy today and I feel at such a loose end this evening. I may finish Homegoing tonight or decide in 5 minutes that I need a break from the unrelenting sadness.

I've never played before and I suck at photo collages, but here goes. I can always use more gratitude in my life.

@DebinHawaii
1. Having my girls back with me after their grandmother (my ex-husband's mother) passed away and they were in Namibia for nearly 2 weeks
2. A somewhat quieter week at work
3. Neighbours who always help me with little things, like yesterday when I couldn't get my en-suite's door back on its track

Update - the weekend didn't much improve (now my love caught his son's stomach bug) and no, the library had none of the books people recommended to me. Bleh. I stil got a number of good books though and listened to an episode of A strong sense of place and really enjoyed it (and now really want to read Daryl Gregory).

Thanks, @Chrissyreadit !

Another Richard Osman raced through in a day 🙂 I feel like I like each one more than the last! Such an enjoyable distraction.

Today was a hard day. My partner has so many health and mental health issues and when I saw him today, I realised how scary tired he is - more than usual. It's just always something, it seems. Anyway I'm heading to the library in the morning as I read all my other loans except Homegoing, which I'm finding not exactly uplifting.

Any suggestions for reads that are light and/or engaging but not cheesy?

The night Effia Otcher was born into the musky heat of Fanteland, a fire raged through the woods just outside her father's compound.

#firstlinefridays
@ShyBookOwl

I don't remember when I last read this one - the joys of getting older and being able to forget every single thing about a Christie novel. It's one of her (underrated, in my opinion) novels with no Poirot or Miss Marple, just a cast of characters we get to know who solve the mystery on their own. Emily is delightfully plucky, brave and loyal. I really enjoyed it again!

I flew through this second installment and loved it. A lovely group of companions on a rainy Saturday. ⭐⭐⭐⭐