Just a mini book haul

Well, hello my lovelies!

I can't believe we're already in August. The year is just flying past so quickly. 

So, here we are again with more books finding their way onto my shelves. When I went to the Post Office on Monday I was expecting just 2 parcels, but walked out with 4 instead. eBay has been coming in clutch over the last few months for older books that are just ridiculously expensive on Amazon (yes, I would order from independent bookshops however not only are they generally more expensive, but the shipping is unbelievable in Australia). 

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a book that I remember from Yr 8 English (way back in the 1990s) and I vaguely remember that I wasn't a fan. Perhaps it was the content, perhaps it was the way it was taught, or maybe - and most likely - a combination of the two, but apart from not enjoying the book we were also made to watch the movie. Not a great movie for Yr 8s. I'm hoping that this time around I will get more out of the book, picking up on the undercurrents and subtleties more than I did at 13.

Next there is The Camomile Lawn by Mary Wesley and The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy. More modern classics to add to my list. And while I have no knowledge of The Camomile Lawn apart from what I read online when searching for it, The Forsyte Saga is a name I remember from my teen years as I remember that the BBC had made that into a mini-series. I have not seen that (at least I don't think so), and after I finish the book I must remember to track down a copy.

Then there is my charming 1889 edition of Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K. Jerome. This was the highlight of my recent eBay searching, and to find it for less than $20 (inc. shipping) was quite the score. It has been just over 8 years since I first read the book - I know, I checked - and I find myself still thinking about it regularly. Surprised that I only gave it 4 stars, but I'll wait until I reread it before messing with my ratings ;D

Anyway, these are the books that arrived in the mail this week. I have been organising the pile of books I've bought over the last 6 months (not all of them, but a good selection) for an upcoming video, and with the new shelves I have come to realise that I really need to go through all my books and be vicious and weed out the books I don't want, have outgrown, are no longer interested in reading from my TBR, or have just hung onto for some reason. So far the donate pile is about 300+, but honestly I should get rid of at least 1000 more. I gave up counting my books in about 2015 and I stopped at just over 3600. Hope my local thrift shops, library and school book drive have room for me.

So, that's it. Let me know if you have any video ideas for me, or if you have any recommendations. I love hearing from you.

Thanks for stopping by, and until I see you next time, 

Am I Getting Too Old For This?...

 

Well, I think today is the day when I have officially felt too old. 

This sucks. I have been a self-taught computer noodler since the late 1990s, and I have always felt pretty confident in my abilities to noodle around a program and figure things out. Before YouTube was a thing it was a case of trial and error - with some pretty big errors along the way - and once I could Google/YouTube something, I was more content in my ability to figure it out. That was until today...

As you may know, I was considering adding another platform for book reviewing. Just trying something new, where I could just make purely bookish content. I did think about another blogspot page, but I was hoping to expand my scope. That's where WordPress came in. I just saw so may great book bloggers using that site that I thought I'd give it a go - and became immediately lost. This site is not intuitive at all. I got myself turned around more than a few times just trying to figure out whether or not to use the AI generative feature to create a site, swiftly abandoned that, and when I went to try it the old fashioned hands-on way, I felt so frustrated with trying to understand and apply the multitude of different themes, pages, designs, links, etc. that I am honestly considering just deleting the blog and moving on to something a little more my speed. Apparently my speed is blogger :/ 

Honestly, it is truly a humbling experience to be (maybe) defeated by a site that seems to have changed its dashboard/design platform in the few weeks that I've been gone, sulking about my previous attempt. I think I'm going to have to do a deep dive into the basics of WordPress (if I even decide to go back) and I may concentrate on the graphic elements that I want to add to this new blog before embarking in the physical manifestation of my plans. Okay, back off to the keyboard salt mines.

Thanks for keeping me company, and until I see you next time... 

July Reading Update

I can't believe we're already more than half way through yet another year. Where does the time go? This month has been quite busy for me. Very slow on the work side (since being cut back to only one day a week), but between trying to get all the physical work done for the full wall off shelving for the back room, I've been a bit of a busy camper. 

 

This, however, does not mean that my work has finished. Oh, no. I may already have the wall shelving up in the book room, but now I have to take down ALL the books that I had put on those shelves, and take the boards down to sand, stain, clear coat, sand, clear coat, and then do this for all 16 shelves (8 per wall) - and then put back all those books. I can't wait for this to be a completed project, but I'm not looking forward to starting this 2nd stage.

 

That said, my reading has been going at either a snails pace or I'm ripping through book after book. This is one DIY job that has really messed with my reading. I'm either so sore and tired that I can only manage a small cozy here and there, or I am taking a few days break from things and devouring all the books from my KU list. 

 

Currently I seem to be falling back into a Nora Roberts rabbit hole. I had to take all the books off the old bookcase and I was going to put them on the new shelving, but she takes up nearly 2½ shelves - and to put that into perspective, each shelf in the back room is 6ft long! - so, that's a lot of Nora Roberts/JD Robb. Anyway, so while I was trying to figure out where to put them I got caught up in musing over my favourite ones, and the books I haven't reread in more than a few years, and before I knew it I was curled up with The Search and contemplating picking up Black Hills, Birthright, Chasing Fire and a few more that are overdue for a reread.

 

"But what about your 2026 reading challenge books?" I hear you ask.  Well... as I said in my update video, I am currently reading Where Angels Fear To Tread by EM Forster. I haven't progressed beyond the 10 pages, but I am looking forward to making time in the next couple of days to knock that out. Sadly, my #bigbook2026 is still languishing on my shelves, untouched. I tell myself I have grand plans to begin, but so far I just haven't felt like picking either of them up. I do plan to pick up one of my "6 books to get off my tbr in 2026" offerings. It's chilly, windy and I think it's just the right time to read either Misery by Stephen King, or finally start the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin. Yes, I know. I'm a bad reader that I still haven't picked up any of the books in the series. I have owned them for nearly a decade, and I just found that by constantly hearing about them everywhere that it put me off reading them. I am still amazed that I have been able to stay spoiler free for all these years, so I will be going into this completely blind (a small miracle I know).

 

So, that's what's on my currently reading table. I just find that I've slowed down in my reading at the moment, or at least that's how it feels. It seems the older I get, the faster time seems to pass - and I can't say I'm a fan. I miss the summers of my childhood where every day seemed to last forever and the summer holidays seemed to stretch out like an endless dream. Perhaps it's that innocence of childhood that gives it such a magical quality, or that you're not worrying about the state of the world and paying the bills. I just wish I could still capture some of that magic every now and then.

 

Anyway, that's all for the moment. I hope you are having a wonderful reading month. Let me know in the comments what your favourite reads have been recently, and until I see you next time... 

Time for a Mid-Year Challenge Update

Well, hello there!

Just finished editing my Mid-Year Reading Challenge Update for 2026, and boy, was it rough. Didn't realise when I was filming it that my sinuses had given me such flat, almost goose-like dulcet tones. Between that and the internet network issues, you're even lucky to be seeing it today (uploaded) as Telstra, a national carrier, is having a nationwide meltdown today and my mobile phone and Internet connection has been absolutely abysmal. Took nearly 3hrs for my video to upload. Oh, the joys of living in a rural area.

That said, I have had a pretty decent first half of the year, reading wise. I got through a few Stephen Kings,  completed my #aclasssicamonth challenges, and have even psyched myself up to give HRCYED 3.0 a go (more on that in a future video). So, let me know in the comments if you have read any of these books, or if you can offer words of encouragement so I will pick up and read my big books for 2026.

Okay... new problem. Blogger is being a bit of a tosser, and won't let me even add a video or image to this post. Have had to just platforms (Safari to Mozilla) just to add the embedded video. What a day :/

Thanks for watching, and until I see you next time...

A new Stephen King Update for 2026

Hi, nice to see you so soon after the last post. After so long m.i.a, I can't believe I've managed to make 2 videos in less than 2 weeks! Go me ;D

In my latest ramble, I just thought that I'd catch you up on where I am with my Stephen King project. I've been reading his bibliography in publication order, and when I got stalled reading Christine (she was a problem), I honestly thought that I'd just have to give up on that plan and either pick the books up from another book further on, or just give up and read whichever book tickled my fancy - and considering I hate  TBRs, I really thought that I would end up choosing that path. However, I persevered with Christine, got through it... and then stalled on reading The Talisman. Ugh.

So, this was just a short (11min) video that I made to mainly remind myself where I am, and how much I enjoy making these kind of videos - even if I only have a small audience watching - and that this makes me want to get my home library finished sooner rather than later so I can have a consistent place to film and edit in (honestly, trying to find a nice bit of sunlight in this house takes work!).

That being said, I hope you enjoy the video, and let me know in the comments what you're currently reading, and if you have a favourite movie soundtrack. And until I see you next time, 

Okay, here we go again...

Hi there. Long time, no see.

I really have no excuse for not tending to this blog in recent years, except maybe for the fact that I just fell out of the habit of reviewing books and what was happening in my life once the spicy rona hit. The world was just in a complete free-fall, and my way of coping was to put my head in the sand and just consume books as I stayed in my house and stressed. Not original, I know. But that was how the ensuing three years for me went. Lockdowns - mind you I live in rural QLD where there were less than a dozen known cases in total - and panic buying at the few local grocery stores in the district. I can't tell you how 'wonderful' it was to walk down the toilet paper aisle and see that it had been stripped bare by panic buyers when all I wanted was a packet of loo paper.

So, that was then and it's now six years later... where has the time gone?... and I've been feeling the urge to get back into this blog. I did try recently to organise a blog on WordPress, but it was so frustrating and not an intuitive system like blogger (for all it's faults, ease of use is not one of them), so instead of beginning anew elsewhere, I thought I might give this old girl an overhaul and see what happens.

With that in mind, I'll be updating my 2026 Reading Challenge list and where I'm at with it. I did resurrect my old #AClassicAMonth challenge as well as my #BigBook challenge (in an upcoming post), plus a new one where I have pulled a few books off my shelves that have been starring, unread, at me for way too many years. Then there is my Stephen King Journey that has had a major resurgence in 2026, as well as the numerous books and series that I have discovered and can't wait to tell you all about. It's all go for me on the reading front at the moment.

Anyway, that's all for this initial rambling. Might get around to changing the appearance of the blog as well as tidy up some of the older tabs. Fingers crossed I can get back into the habit as I had a lot of fun making the graphics and recommending books to you in the past.

So, until I see you next time,