I recently tidied up one of my bookshelves, and decided to put my books into something resembling order.  When I look at the shelf now, I can actually see the books, they are not all falling over each other and hidden under piles of other books.  The fact that I still have piles of books in my spare room, with no where to put them as yet, is another matter, but for now I can enjoy this bookshelf.

Do you see anything you have read and enjoyed?  Anything you fancy reading?

Some of the books above include (from left to right) Jane Austen The Collected Works, Alan Bennett, The Uncommon Reader, Dickens, Somerset Maugham (x2) 3 lovely Persephone books and more.

I do have to share that this is only a tiny portion of the books I own.  There are many more!  So I am currently trying to decide between properly made shelves by a carpenter or running down to IKEA.  It’s where to put the shelves, never mind the books that is becoming an issue.  Still, it’s all worth it when you love your books.

At the end of May, I will be reviewing the next book club choice, which is The Night Watch by Sarah Waters.  I hope you will feel free to share your thoughts and opinions on anything you have read on my blog.

 

 

Today’s blog post is not a book review, more a series of updates about books, new releases, and writing.

Firstly I apologize for the sporadic nature of both the blog and the monthly book club.  As I am sure you can appreciate, sometimes life throws up complications and jobs to do, and other aspects of your work/life have no choice but to take a back seat.

In my case it was clearing out my late father’s house which has been both physically and mentally exhausting.  However it is done now, and I hope to return to my regular routine of blogging.

I do plan to read the last ‘Monthly Book Club’ choice I posted, which was Sarah Waters ‘The Night Watch.’  So if anyone wishes to read along, you will find a bit about it under the ‘Monthly Book Club’ tab, and I plan to review it in May.

Secondly, I recently received an interesting email from Denny and Lies Velthuizen who told me about a new app they are developing, which they asked me to share with my fellow readers and writers.  I think the easiest thing is to share part of their email and let them explain:

“With the free Storytime app you always have a children’s story at hand. The app contains unique stories and rhymes, written by (grand)parents and writers. You can search for a specific story or topic, stories for boys or girls of a certain age or filter stories by the time you want to spend reading aloud. Some stories even contain fun sound effects to optimize the reading experience.

The Storytime app will soon be launched. Currently, we are looking for people who like to write children’s stories. The Storytime app will offer them a great platform to easily share their stories with others. Writers who submit a story won’t give up any of the copyrights of their story. We would appreciate it if you could share our website www.storytime.info/en and our call to submit stories, with your writing group.”

So if you know of anyone who write children’s stories, or indeed you have children and like to read them stories, this is definitely worth checking out.   Thank you.

What have you been reading lately?  Anything worth sharing?  I am currently reading the Dublin ‘One City One Book’ choice for 2016 which encourages everyone to read a book connected with the capital city during the month of April every year.  The choice for 2016 is ‘Fallen’ by Lia Mills and I am reading it for my third Thursday book club.   I am enjoying it so far and there is a whole range of programmes to go with it.  Find out more here:

http://www.dublinonecityonebook.ie/

I look forward to hearing what you have been reading, and if you have any suggestions for the next Monthly Book Club choice, please feel free to post them in the comments section.

Keep Reading!