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Let’s talk – dying matters
Hi everyone! I’m back this week to acknowledge Dying Matters Awareness Week (6-12 May) in the UK. It goes without saying that I need to flag trigger warnings of conversation here about death and dying. Death is something we will all experience in terms of ourselves. We talk a lot of birth, but why not…
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Alison Weir: The Queen of historical writing
Hi everyone! This week I’m sharing a video update of my trip to Winchester on Saturday to see the really talented novelist and nonfiction writer, Alison Weir, as part of Winchester Books Festival. Many of you will have seen the numerous titles of Alison’s, in bookshops around the UK., she’s admired by many and it…
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Old Romantics – My review
Old Romantics is a collection of short, connected stories mainly set in Dublin. For me, there was a palpable theme of yearning and longing in our main protagonist, Margaret. I’m going to share my reflections on a handful of the stories. In Number One we see Margaret powerfully attracted to a guy who really quite unlikable –…
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Bookish inspiration board
Hi everyone! This week I’m chatting about how my bookish inspiration board is developing! I bought a canvas frame a little while ago from a local craft shop and ever since I’ve been carefully gathering up postcards I’ve collected in recent years as well as bookish themed cards I’ve been sent by friends and relatives.…
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On stage: And Then There Were None
Hi everyone! This week I’m chatting about my visit last night to see a theatre adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1939 novel, And Then There Were None at my local theatre, The Mayflower, in Southampton And Then There Were None is easily my favourite story from the Queen of Crime I think because of its stunning…
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Book thrifting! Library sale haul
Hi everyone! This week I’m chatting about a local library book sale I nipped to this morning to hunt out some bargains! I’d seen posters in Bitterne Library itself as well as on Facebook so I knew I wanted to try and make it along if work commitments allowed. Luckily they did! This morning I…
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Springtime reads
Hi everyone! This week I’m chatting about how the clocks are going are forward one hour here in the UK this weekend to mark the start of springtime. We’ve had a long spell of heavy downpours in recent weeks and hopefully sunnier times and bluer skies are heading our way soon! For now, I thought…
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City On Fire: My review
Jo Howe is back on the streets of Brighton for the third time. In City on Fire, Graham Bartlett really raises the sense of peril and uncertainty which Jo lives and works under. We find Jo’s Operation Eradicate which is centred on getting drug users into treatment and the dealers in prison, in direct battle with…
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90s nostalgia
Hi everyone! This week I’m chatting about some nostalgic titles for me. The other week I popped into a supermarket to pick up a few things and did the usual thing of coming out with a dozen items! One of them was this copy of Vile Victorians by Terry Deary. Back in the mid 1990s,…
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A quarterly Book Journal check-in
Hi everyone! This week I’m chatting about how I’ve been filling out my book journal since 2024 began! As some of you already know my book journal is from the super talented Little Inklings Design, aka Megan, and I love it. I’ve had a habit of writing lists since I was a little girl (my…