My Week:An ordinary few days as my hayfever symptoms ramp up another notch.Enjoying our mini-wine bottle Advent calendar - a lot!Restacked my TBR piles into a semblance of order and jettisoned a few old ones I will never read now.I Am Reading:The Living Sea of Waking Dreams | Richard Flanagan | 65% doneMy Love Must … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #35

 My Week: In the past few weeks I've suddenly been confronted by the ageing process and genes. I am now taking cholesterol reducing tablets (not so surprising, the numbers have been heading in that direction for a few years now).But not so expected was the sudden sharp spike in my blood pressure. I'm slim, I eat well, … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #34

 My Life This Week:I'm struggling to find blogging time again, now that I'm back at work. A quick Stories & Shout Out post seemed the best solution for now.Our brief foray into Spring has departed once again, but I guess that's what happens in the springtime; it comes and goes.I've managed to get my phone screen … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #33

So, I've caught a cold.Just a regular, end-of-winter cold, but for the first day or two one now lives on tenterhooks, waiting to see if it might be something worse.What I'm Reading:A Study in Scarlet | Arthur Conan Doyle - my latest CC Spin bookFracture | Andre Neuman - I don't know why I'm reading … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #32

 Everything feels like a bit of a chore at the moment.I have a backlog of un-reviewed books that I should could be preparing a post for instead of fluffling around with this. Yet here I am, fluffing around with another post that does nothing to advance the reviewing situation!The positive? I will, very soon, run … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #31

I'm feeling rather blah today. It's my day off work and we should be heading off to lunch with friends, but their daughter has come down with a cold - tested for Covid and not positive - but in this new world we all live it, it's enough to put a lunch date on hold for … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #30

I should be writing one of the five outstanding book responses I have building up next to my computer. Instead, I decided to tidy up the stack of books spreading around my chair, in preparation for this weekend's Dewey's Readathon.What will I be reading?With so many choices, I may need your help to decide?Have you … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #29

I Am Reading:Moby-Dick | Herman Melville | #slowreadWar and Peace | Leo Tolstoy | chapter-a-dayThe Rotters' Club | Jonathan CoeSalt, Fat, Acid, Heat | Samin NosratThe Gravity of Us | Phil Stamper | my YA lunch time read.New to the Pile:Here Until August | Josephine Rowe | Stella Prize longlist 2020The Eighth Life | Nino … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #28

My Week: didn't really go to plan.The dishwasher died last Friday. Not a huge drama in the scheme of things, except we had visitors for the weekend, then midweek visitors as well. Everyone concerned revisited the lost art of washing up by hand with good grace, and Mr Books and myself even rediscovered how nice it … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #27

My Week:Change of management at work plus renovations = stress and uncertainty.A couple of much-loved colleagues left work = emotional upheaval.New boss seems organised, easy to get along with and professional = huge sense of relief.B18 became B19.Mr Books and I enjoyed a fun night out at the theatre to see Chicago.A sunny, spring-like weekend = … Continue reading Stories & Shout Outs #26