Best Fiction For 2018 - A Month of Sundays

If you were asked to pick a book you've read that tells others a bit about you, what would you choose?

I have a few I could think of and one of those may be this book A Month of Sundays by Australian author and journalist Liz Byrski. 

Byrski has written a lot of fiction and this one caught my eye when I saw the bookshelves on its cover, read the synopsis and the author's letter at the start about how much she wanted to write a book about books. 

A Month of Sundays tells the story of four retired/soon-to-be-retired women, who have met for more  than 10 years as part of an online book club. They've never met in person until one of the women suggests they do so. She invites them to help her house-sit in the Blue Mountains for a month. They're each asked to bring a book which will teach the others more about her. They have a week to read each of the respective books chosen while also spending time getting to know each other. Each Sunday they discuss one of the books.

I loved the portrayal of each of the four women and their past and present stories. Each is dealing with different issues - sickness, business ventures, approval of others and family relationships - to name a few. 

I couldn't put this book down. It is easily the best piece of fiction I've read in 2018.

The Late Bloomers' Club

Does the cover of a book make you want to read it? I saw this book The Late Bloomers Club by Louise Miller on social media and was instantly drawn to it, even before reading the synopsis.  Reviews of Miller's previous book likened it to the TV series Gilmore Girls. I'd go as far as to say this book also has a Gilmore Girls feel about it.

It tells the story in the first person of Nora Huckleberry who is running her family's diner in the town of Guthrie. She has a sister Kit who flitters in and out of Guthrie. The pair inherit a neighbour's property complete with a dog called Freckles who goes missing immediately after his owner's death. The neighbour was known for her cakes including a Burnt Sugar Cake with Maple Icing. Throughout this book we also find out lots more about Peggy the neighbour.

The sisters are trying to decide whether to sell the inherited property and if so who to. Nora is also focused on finding Freckles as well as managing the diner while Kit is busy making movies.

This is definitely a feel-good story. I love the sense of community promoted in the book and how the story is written in the first person.

A great summer  (I live in New Zealand so summer is fast approaching) read!

Bookworm - A Memoir of Childhood Reading

Who remembers reading Flat Stanley or about Charlie or Matilda or Danny or Lucy or Aslan or Milly Molly Mandy? I do!

I don't think I was a bookworm growing up but I remember reading many of the books mentioned in this memoir Bookworm by Lucy Mangan.

Mangan, a British journalist who is of a similar age to me, was definitely a bookworm and in this lovely book she goes back over many of the books she has read. It covers her earliest memories of reading The Hungry Caterpillar and The Tiger Who Came to Tea, her love of Milly Molly Mandy and reading about all the adventures in Narnia and the many books in between and beyond.

I learnt a lot I didn't know about Enid Blyton's books - books I couldn't get enough of growing up. Some of the information came as a surprise. 

I could relate to Mangan for her lack of interest in Tolkien, eek like me. I've never picked up any of his books and I think I fell asleep about 30 minutes into a showing of one of the movies of the Lord of Rings trilogy at a friend's house. Sorry no offence Peter Jackson. I still think you have done an incredible job with those movies and we will always be grateful for your efforts in putting New Zealand on the map! Each to their own.

I enjoyed her views on the popular Ladybird books and her discovery of Roald Dahl and revisiting another favourite childhood book of mine E. Nesbit's The Railway Children. 

One of the best parts of this book was how much her father encouraged her reading. As a five-year-old Mangan's father would buy her a book each Friday and Lucy would find it waiting for her when she went down for breakfast each Saturday. What an awesome Dad.

A great feature at the end of the book is a list of books Mangan read throughout her childhood.  

If you're in your late 30s to early 50s, loved reading as a child and feeling nostalgic, you will want to get your hands on this book!  

The Book of Ordinary People

Does the cover of a book ever say "read me"? This was one of those books for me. It was actually the title on the spine that caught my attention first and then I pulled the book out of our New Releases section at the public library I work at and just knew I had to read it. So I ended up buying it!

The Book of Ordinary People by Australian author Claire Varley would be a favourite read for me so far for 2018.

I don't like thrillers, fantasy or too much romance but I love books about ordinary people so I knew this book was going to get to me. It did.

The book features several characters. They're all ordinary people trying to make a go of life in Melbourne. There's  a woman trying to make sense of the loss of her mother and trying to write her mother's biography. She can't find anything to write, thinking her mother's existence was too ordinary She heads off to a biography writing course or does she? 

There's a lawyer who just wants a promotion, thinking then the grass will be greener but will it?

There's a young lawyer trying to make a go of her career.

There's a journalist wondering if he's past it.

And then there's an asylum seeker waiting, waiting, waiting and waiting... for refugee status.

The writing in this book is powerful. At the end of each chapter I found myself stopping for a minute and thinking about the characters. I also got a glimpse into life as an asylum seeker. I really had no idea until reading this book and I'm grateful to Varley for opening my eyes just a wee bit.

As for the feathers on the front of the book, you will find out their significance when you read it.

Matilda, Charlie, Danny, Pippi and the Naughtiest Girl - Where Would They Be Now?

A post on a Roald Dahl Facebook fan page got me thinking about where would some of his characters would be today.

The post was celebrating the 30th birthday of the Roald Dahl character Matilda. The illustrator of Dahl's books, Quentin Blake, was asked what he thought Matilda would be doing now as a 30-year-old.  He thought she may be an Astrophysicist, a World Traveller or perhaps even the Chief Executive of the British Library. Blake has illustrated the latest edition of Matilda with images of her as a 30-year-old.

But it got me thinking wouldn't it be awesome if someone actually wrote a book about the 30-year-old Matilda. How would she feel towards her parents now? Would her parents be nicer to her now? Maybe treating her better than they did when she was a child. What about her lovely teacher Miss Honey? What role would she now be playing in Matilda's life? Would Matilda still be burying herself in books?

And what about Danny from my favourite Roald Dahl story Danny, the Champion of the World?

How did growing up in a caravan affect him? Does he now live in a caravan himself or has he made a lot of money and lives in a mansion? Does he still poach pheasants? Is he breaking the law in any other way? What about his amazing father? Is he still around? Maybe he's living in a granny flat in the bottom floor of his son's three-storey mansion.

What about Charlie? How's that chocolate factory getting on? Has Charlie moved with the times or been left bankrupt and had to walk away from the factory? Are people even eating chocolate now or too worried about too much sugar and ensuring they stick to the Keto or the Five/Two diet. Or is it still the incredible place it was for Charlie when he was a child.

What about Pippilotta Viktualia Rullgardina Krusmynta Efraimsdotter Langstrump, or more affectionately known as Pippi Longstocking? She would be in her 80s now? What would she be like as a senior citizen? Is she still wild, funny and crazy. Does she still live with pets like a horse or a monkey or has she settled for a dog or a cat? And what about that suitcase full of gold? Is she also living in a mansion or has she settled for a new spot at one of those fancy and modern retirement homes?

And then there's Elizabeth Allen or otherwise known as the naughtiest girl? Her creator Enid Blyton  wrote 10 books about her but surely there's another story there. She's obviously left school. Hello.... she would be in her 80s. Maybe she is causing merry havoc in the same retirement home as Pippi Longstocking, leading all the other residents astray. Maybe she is being kept in line by the twins from St Clare's boarding school Isabel and Patricia O'Sullivan.

As for the Famous Five - there have been stories made of them tackling issues of the 21st Century thanks to author Bruno Vincent with books including Five Get on the Property Ladder, Five Get Gran Online, Five Go Gluten Free and Five Give Up The Booze.

If Vincent can bring back Julian, Dick, Anne, George and even Timmy the dog (how is that even possible), maybe there is another author or budding writer reading this who would like to update us on the happenings of Matilda, Danny, Charlie, Pippi and the Naughtiest Girl. Just putting the idea out there.

The 104-Storey Treehouse

If you're looking for colour, fun and so much imagination then you can't go past The 104-Storey Treehouse.

I'm a wee bit late to all the fuss. This is the eighth and latest book in the Treehouse series written by Andy Griffiths and illustrated by Terry Denton. I've not read the other seven... yet.

So the first book is called The 13-Storey Treehouse, the second The 26-Story Treehouse and then every 13 storeys there's a new book. After listening to a radio interview with the Australian pair I went out and bought their latest offering.

It's a long book for a child - 351 pages to be precise. What made me laugh was that 27 of those pages just had the words "Up and Up and Up and Up and Up and Up and Up" on each page accompanied by illustrations of a staircase and cute chatter in speech bubbles from the book's main characters as they went on their never ending climb. 

If you've read some of the other books you will know that Andy and Terry live in a treehouse. It's now 104 storeys high. The treehouse has everything you could imagine including a Two Dollar Shop, a Two Million Dollar Shop, a Deep Thoughts Thinking Room and a Money Making Machine (wouldn't we all like one of those?).

In this book Andy has agonising toothache but has a deadline to meet to finish writing his next book. He needs the Joke Writer 2000 pen to help him write the book and so the pair along with their friend Jill go on an adventure to get the pen. I loved the poem about pens, pencils and writing utensils.

I don't think you need to read the other seven books before reading the 104-Storey Treehouse. I enjoyed the story and was captivated by the illustrations and reading the chatter in the little speech bubbles. There is even a joke on each double page spread to annoy your parents  or others with.

Five stars for this one! Now I'm off to read the other seven books.    

What I'm Learning Five Years On.

Today marks five years since I left my "long-time" job as a journalist at the Rotorua Daily Post - the local newspaper I worked at and it has got me thinking about some of the things I've learnt since leaving.

I thought I'd share a few of those things here -

*  Life is not defined by what you do but by who you are!

*  Life is too short to worry about what people think about you or what you perceive they think of you.

*  Living a slower life can be better.

*  Being grateful for the small things matters like a walk with the dog in the Redwoods, having a latte with a book in your favourite cafe, watching your favourite TV series, going to a movie with a mate or appreciating the flowers your husband has planted in the garden.

*  It can take time to find a new job but stick at it!

*  It's important to grieve for things or people you've lost or couldn't have but it's okay to move on even if it does take a while.

*  It can be fun learning and embracing new things and cultures.

*  You can find your passion again.

*  Kindness matters!

*  A dog is a loyal friend.

And with that I'm off to my favourite cafe to read a book and enjoy a latte before I start work later this afternoon. 

Blogging and Bookstagram

I have another new hobby - taking photos of books. Who knew it could be so much fun and that you could spend hours at a time browsing countless websites or wandering through department stores, craft stores and looking around home for props?

A year ago this month I launched/started Book Blogger NZ. It was only really meant to be a hobby. I love writing and I love books so setting up a blog about books seemed the next step. It is still only a hobby and I only write about books that I've enjoyed. If I don't like a book I stop reading it or I finish it and I don't write about it - simple really. In a world where there is so much negativity I prefer to stay as positive as I can.

I've loved writing blogs about books but another aspect of blogging I've enjoyed is taking photographs of books. I also love seeing the creativeness of the many photos on Instagram/Bookstagram. Some people reading this must think I'm a little crazy. Well Bookstagram is a thing you know. Look up #Bookstagram on Instragram and as at 3pm (New Zealand time) on Monday August 20, 2018 you will see I'm not alone. There are 22,714,700 images posted with that hashtag. And #Bookstagram is just one of the many hashtags where you can see photos of books. The images are STUNNING! and I'm blown away by some of the ideas people have when it comes to taking photos of books.

I'm not one for clutter. My husband loves ornaments. Me not so much..... that is until now. Now that I know I can find some way of using it in a photograph. I've taken to spending way too much time wandering through stores, browsing the internet or looking around our house for props that will accompany a book in an image for my blog and Instagram.   

I've even starting writing a list of all the props I could use in a photo. However. I have learnt a valuable lesson. Wait until you're nearing the end of a book before buying any props. The other week I spent an hour or two looking and then buying some props to go with a book I was reading. I got home and continued reading the book and just got frustrated with it and thought I don't want to finish this book and I don't want to take a photo of it. I now have four rubber ducks and a pair of swimming goggles in my Bookstagram Box/Drawer. Yes I do have a place where I store bookish props.

For all of those out there in Bookstagram world - thanks for the amazing images - please keep taking more!

Bono

If you haven't read any of New Zealand author Helen Brown's books, you're missing out. 

I first stumbled across Helen Brown looking for a book to read while on holiday in Melbourne. We'd just got a dog - a little puppy we called Dollar and who has been in a way a substitute for a child we were not able to have.

So it was 2012 and we were off on holiday to Melbourne - a 40th birthday present from my husband. Whenever I go on holiday I always really miss Dollar.and that leads to buying books about animals.

And that's how I spotted a book called Cleo written by Brown about a cat who had helped her through the most traumatic time of losing her young son.  I remember being engrossed in the book on the flight over to and back from Melbourne. I later read After Cleo came Jonah  and I'v just finished Brown's latest book called Bono. 

In this book Brown writes about her time in New York where she in part had gone to promote her earlier books but also to take stock of her life. Before even arriving in New York, she was asked if she would take on a terminally ill rescue cat during her stay there. Enter Bono. At first things don't look too good with Bono. He's struggling to settle into his new home and Brown has second thoughts about him staying. I won't give too much more of the book away but it's a heartwarming read about how animals can help us humans.

This book made me think a lot about how our dog Dollar, who's now nearly 7, has helped us. One of my favourite moments of the day is to sit on our couch with a cup of tea and a biscuit (for humans) with Dollar curled on my lap.  

If you enjoyed Brown's first two cat-related books, you will love Bono too.

  

Granny McFlitter The Champion Knitter

I was captivated by this book after seeing a photo on Facebook of the most delightful cake made for the book launch.

Granny McFlitter The Champion Knitter tells the story of Granny McFlitter who loves to knit. Knitting is her passion and it's a passion that is starting to annoy those around her but good on her she doesn't care. She keeps on knitting.

One day she is watching the news on her knitted TV and she sees a story about a ship running aground and spilling oil into the sea. Sound familiar? In 2011, a container ship called the MV Rena hit the Astrolabe Reef off the coast of Tauranga in New Zealand. The oil spill has been described as New Zealand's worst maritime environmental disaster.

In this story by New Zealand author Heather Haylock Granny McFlitter sets to work knitting jumpers for all the penguins who were left covered in oil. Once the oil was washed off the penguins were left shivering and so Granny McFlitter's jumpers were a warm relief.

This is a delightful book centred around the theme of putting your passions to good use. Talking about passion it's obvious the New Zealand illustrator of this book Lael Chisholm has an immense passion for art and design. I just loved the pictures throughout this book. It's hard to believe Lael was only 20 when this book was released earlier this year. She won The Storylines Gavin Bishop Award for her beautiful illustrations in this book.

The book was also a finalist in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

Book Towns

I work part-time in a public library and several weeks ago I was standing waiting to help a customer and out of the corner of my eye I saw this book's cover flash up on our website as a new book on offer in the library. I couldn't wait until the end of my shift to go and find the book.

As soon as I opened it I knew I was going to love it! It is a fantastic book - the best work of non fiction I've read for quite a while.

Think Lonely Planet meets a world full of books and you have this gem. I loved the book so much I went and bought my own copy. This book by Alex Johnson explores 45 Book Towns.

So what is a Book Town? Simply put by Johnson, it is a "small town, usually rural and scenic, full of bookshops and book-related industries".

These are small towns that I would love to visit one day. It even includes the town of Featherston in New Zealand - the country where I live.

Another place the book features is Wigtown in Scotland which boasts a range of bookstores, hosts books festivals and even has a bed and breakfast/second-hand bookstore where people can stay in exchange for running the store.

There is Bowral in Australia which was once home to a famous resident by the name of PL Travers who created the character of Mary Poppins.

As well as a write-up on each book town, there are photos and website addresses for more details.   

A few of the other book towns highlighted in the book include Bredevoort in the Netherlands, Borby in Sweden, Bellprat in Spain, Gold Cities in California, Tvedestrand in Norway and Hay-on-Wye in Wales - the birthplace of book towns.

Now that I have this beautiful travel guide of book towns, all I have to do is convince my husband to let me travel to visit all/some of them.

The Library at the Edge of the World

I gravitate towards any book that has library or bookshop in the title so when I saw this book in the library I work at, I was immediately interested.

This book has taken longer than normal to read. Life has been busy with work and study and I didn't really feel like being in a rush with this book. It was quite slow-moving but I think that's what appealed.

The Library at the Edge of the World by Felicity Hayes-McCoy tells the story of librarian Hanna Casey. She works at the Lissberg Library in the fictitious village of Finfarran in Ireland. Conor, a young lad, is the only other worker at the library. The library also has a mobile library which Casey drives along the Finfarran Peninsula and visits various communities. I love the parts set in the library and the mobile library and the characters that they both attract.

Casey, whose daughter has grown up and left home, now lives with her mother but wants to move out and renovate an old run-down bungalow left to her by a great aunt. Meanwhile, all is not as it seems for little Lissberg Library and the community comes together to help ensure its future.

I enjoyed the characters and how the different relationships and tensions within the community and Casey's family were portrayed.

This book is a few years old. It was published in 2016. I loved it so much that as soon I finished it I went online to see if Hayes-McCoy has written a sequel. She has. It was published last year and is called Summer at the Garden Cafe. I've already ordered it.

Footnote: The photo of the book was taken outside the library I work at - Te Aka Mauri - Rotorua Library and Children's Health Hub. This library, which has undergone an amazing refurbishment, is not at the edge of the world or maybe it is - it's in New Zealand in the centre of the North Island.

Gabriel's Bay

Gabriel's Bay caught me from the minute I started reading it. 

It tells the story of an English guy Kerry Macfarlane who runs away from a wedding that wasn't and arrives in the coastal New Zealand community of Gabriel's Bay.

Gabriel's Bay may be a fictitious setting but I'm sure depicts many a typical small New Zealand community. 

I loved the characters of Gabriel's Bay written by New Zealander Catherine Robertson. There are a number. I wonder if the book could have had a character list at the start. I've seen it in other books and it has helped. But that aside, the development of each character was well done. Each chapter centres around one character and his or her take on what's happening in his or her life and the community. By the end of the book you get to know each character well.

I liked the community meetings held and the banter about various issues including the use of the apostrophe in the name Gabriel's Bay. There were some great descriptive pieces throughout the book about everyday life in this small community.

I loved this book but the fantastic storytelling through a dog's eyes in the first and last chapter made it for me. I'm quietly hoping there might be a sequel. In the meantime I'm looking forward to reading some more of Robertson's books. 

On the Bright Side

So let me start off by saying that I didn't finish this book. It's another year in the life of Hendrik Groen and I got to the end of July. I didn't finish it because I didn't like it. I didn't finish it because it wasn't the right time to read it. I don't think I've given up on a book for that reason but there is always a first for everything.

The first diary of Hendrik Groen was one of my favourite books that I've read in the past few years and I couldn't wait for this book On The Bright Side - The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen to be translated from Dutch into English.

In the first book Hendrik Groen is 83 and a 1/4. In this book he is 85 and maybe a little bit crankier but still making the most of life with his mates who are all part of the Old But Not Dead Club at the resthome they live at in the Netherlands.

Members of the club are also all members of the resthome's Residents' Committee. The club now goes on fortnightly dinner excursions to a restaurant with various international cuisine. They also still have their regular outings including a two day trip to Bruges where they visit the Frites (Fries) Museum. Their visit to the museum ends in a letter written about their visit and their view on the fries.
And I quote from the letter - " We were counting on a masterful fry but it was limp, too pale and made from an inferior tasteless spud".

The book has some hilarious lines but I don't think it's as funny as the first book.

It deals with death a lot more than the first book, which given the residents' age, is not surprising. I guess that is why I struggled with it at the moment, having recently lost an older person who was very dear to me.

I'm still a huge fan of Hendrik. I love his character, his attitude and most of his outlook on life. One day I will pick the book up and read August to December.

Bring Back Snail Mail!

It didn't take too long for the memories of my grandmother to flood back after reading this beautiful book Snail Mail by Michelle Mackintosh.

In the book she talks about aerograms. Who remembers those? I certainly do. I remember writing to my grandmother aka Oma Wolters on them. She lived in the Netherlands and would visit me and her other grandchildren in New Zealand every two years when I was young.

I remember being excited about going to Auckland International Airport to pick her up. She would always give us a big cuddle at the airport and then when we all arrived home after a two-hour trip, she would open her suitcase to reveal what she had brought us.

It was usually Hagelslag - a chocolate or other flavoured sprinkle, a large chocolate letter - usually the first letter of our name, very salty licorice and other treats.

After lots of tears saying goodbye at the airport before she flew home, we would always try to keep in touch. Sending an aerogram was the most cost effective way. I loved writing to her but my biggest bugbear was that many of the aerograms in those days were not lined so my writing was all wonky. I'm sure she appreciated receiving them anyway. She would send us aerograms in return.

Sorry I digress but the sign of a good book often is the memories they stir up.  This book, which I found while shelving books at my local library where I work, covers all types of snail mail, the lost art of manners, lettiquette and netiquette. It compares telegrams to Twitter and postcards to Facebook. It has so many ideas for creative letters, invites and other crafty correspondence and ideas. It looks at how we should start and finish letters. It has templates to make envelopes and the aerogram and ideas for invites. It features some examples of some great letters written. The best thing about this book is its beautiful illustrations and layout.

If you love stationery, paper arts or just simply want to send a letter, have a flick through this book.

Journal Life!

Some time ago I saw a bookshop promoting Bullet Journals. I had no clue what they were.
What I do know is that I love journals. I try to keep four of them. I don't share my deepest darkest secrets (I don't really have many of those) in them but I do share bits of information and what interests me.

Journal 1 - Literary Journeys - In this I share some of my notes which help in writing up book reviews for my blogs. Each page has the following sections - Book Title, Author, Plot Notes, Character Notes, Favourite Quotes, Other Books to be read by this Author, Date Started, Date Finished and a place to rate the book out of 5. It is a pen and paper version of Goodreads with a few extras.

Journal 2 - Q & A - 365 Questions - 5 Years - 1825 Answers - I bought this journal while on holiday in Europe and each day there is a question to answer. A few of the 365 questions or statements to answer include Today was delightful because....., Where do you go for good ideas?,  What was the last thing you  baked or cooked? and so the very long list of 365 goes on.  There's room to answer for five years and I try to write in this journal as much as I can.

Journal 3 - 3am Journal - This is a journal I picked up from one of my favourite stores Kikki K a year or two ago. What's supposed to happen is that you wake up at 3am or some other unearthly hour of the evening with all these amazing ideas and you quickly jot them down in your 3am Journal. Thankfully, most of my ideas come at more friendly times of the day so I just use it for notes and ideas.

Journal 4 - Literary Listography - I just love this reading journal - so much so that I'm too scared to write in it. On each page there is a bibliography list to complete. There are more than 70 lists including My Top 20 Most Beloved Books,  My Favourite Classics, Fictional Characters I Connected With, My Favourite Book Covers, etc.

And now I'm about to add Journal 5 to the pile - A Bullet Journal.
A Bullet Journal is  described as the "analog system for the digital age" by its creator Ryder Carroll. He says the Bullet Journal is a customisable and forgiving organisation system. It can be your to-do list, sketchbook, notebook and diary, but most likely, it will be all of the above. It will teach you to do more with less. From the research I've done Bullet Journals can be as simple or as complex or as creative as you want them to be.

I'm still in the research phase as to what sort of Bullet Journal I want to keep but there is so much resource out there on the web - whether it be Instagram, Facebook or other areas of the Internet to explore. I'm hoping to keep a Bullet Journal with a bit of a bookish theme. I've already found one Bullet Journalist who designed her own Book Bingo which I loved.
I've started following a number of Instagrammers who create the most creative and colourful spreads for each week or month of the year. I'm not that creative when it comes to drawing but having been a fan of scrapbooking and stamping I realise I have a lot of materials I can use.

And I have now found something for which I can use the pens I initially bought for the adult colouring phase I unfortunately had to give up. And there is a huge amount of templates of Bullet Journal pages available to download online. You can also buy templates to help with drawing more than stick figures.
I will leave you with a few people to follow on Instagram and some links if you want to start a Bullet Journal.

To follow on Instagram

@bulletjournal
@bulletjournal.ideas
@thebujobuzz
@written.intentions
@journalwithpurpose
@bujobeauties
@candyloucreative
@fischrjournals
or search with the hashtag #bulletjournal

Some links
https://kalynbrooke.com/life-and-style/time-management/how-to-start-a-bullet-journal/
http://bulletjournal.com/
http://www.infiniteplanner.com/
Or just type Bullet Journal in Google for thousands of resources!

 

A delightful find at my library!

Okay I admit it  - I love children's books and I LOVED this book Not Just a Book. It's written by Jeanne Willis and illustrated by Tony Ross.

I found it in the library I work at Te Aka Mauri - Rotorua Library in Rotorua, New Zealand.

I think people look at me oddly when I say I love children's books but some of the books being published today are pretty amazing often because of their beautiful illustrations but many have great messages too.

Not Just a Book is one of those books with a great message and also the most adorable illustrations. I won't give the message away but have you ever wondered what other uses books have? Some of those uses are illustrated in this children's picture book.

If you re looking for a delightful read for your toddler, then check out this book. And if you're a lover of books about books or anything book-related like me, you will love it too!

The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr

If you loved Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman then you will love The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr by Frances Maynard.

I remember looking at this book in a bookshop and the bookshop owner said she was reading both at the same time and said remarked on how similar they were.

Elvira Carr is 27 and is neuro-atypical. I still don't know what that term means but according to the Internet, it means someone whose neurological structure or function does not fit in with what society says is normal.

Elvira lives with her mother but at the start of the book her mother has a stroke and has to move into a resthome. Elvira is left alone. Her father died a few years earlier. She manages her life by reading up about her condition online and coming up with seven rules to help her cope and adjust. The last thing she wants to happen is for someone to put her in a special facility. She has a neighbour who looks out for her and she makes friends with some of the people she works with at a zoo once a week. 

She regularly visits her mother in the resthome and helps out with the resthome's pet therapy using guinea pigs. Any questions Elvira has about life she notes down in a notebook - a special notebook she thought her father had brought her back from Japan. Questions start to arise about her father. Everything starts to unravel for Elvira and what she believed about her father.

This book has some sad and some tough moments but also some beautiful moments. I just love Elvira's character. This is the best book I've read so far in 2018. Okay to be fair I've only read a few!

Footnote: Pictured with the book are some biscuits or cookies as the Dutch would call them. They are a special delicacy called Stroopwafels. We were given several packets of these during our visit to the Netherlands last year. These Stroopwafels were gifted in a beautiful delft blue tin. The reason I've included them in this image is that one of Elvira's favourite topics to talk about is biscuits and their packaging.
  

Books, Books and more Books!

I love books about books, bookshops and libraries. I also love bookish ornaments and Bookstagram - books-related Instagram. So I thought I'd share a selection of books about my favourite subject and a few ones on my TBR (To Be Read) pile.

MY FAVES!

The Reading Promise - 3,218 Nights of Reading with my Father by Alice Ozma
When Alice was 9 she and her father - a school librarian - made a promise to read aloud together for 100 consecutive nights. They reached their goal and decided to continue reading. Alice's father went on to read to her for eight years. It's been a while since I read this book but I remember loving it!

The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell
Shaun Bythell owns The Bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland. It's a secondhand bookstore and his diary covers his day-to-day life from February 2014 to February 2015 - the customers he meets, the employees he has to share food, gathered from the skip, with, his friends and family. For my review of this book go to 
https://bookbloggernz.blogspot.co.nz/2018/01/the-diary-of-bookseller.html

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
Absolutely adored this book! A.J.Fikry is a grumpy bookstore owner on an island which is hard to get to and only attracts visitors during the summer. His wife has died and his bookstore is not doing well. Then one day a small package is left in the bookstore for him and his life changes. For my review go to 
https://bookbloggernz.blogspot.co.nz/2017/11/the-storied-life-of-ajfikry.html

Lost for Words by Stephanie Butland

The book tells the story of Loveday Cardew who works in a secondhand bookstore called Lost for Words in York. She prefers books to people. Really enjoyed this book. The chapters take us from the present day of 2016 and then to an incident in 2013 and to Loveday as a child in 1999. I thought it was going to be confusing. It wasn't. This book is very well written. It has strong and raw themes which can be hard to read about at times but I really wanted to read to the end to see how the mystery unfolded and was resolved. For more go to 
https://bookbloggernz.blogspot.co.nz/2017/10/lost-for-words.html

Scribbles in the Margins - 50 Eternal Delights of Books by Daniel Gray
This books features 50 short essays of why we love books so much. A gorgeous book to own if you love books. For my review go to to
https://bookbloggernz.blogspot.co.nz/2017/10/scribbles-in-margin-50-eternal-delights.html

The Little Shop of Happy Ever After by Jenny Colgan
When I read the synopsis of the book - a woman starting life over by buying a bus and selling books from it - I was intrigued. The main character Nina loves books, she buys a bus and turns it into a travelling bookshop. The first half of the book was great but then it got a bit too chick-lit for me.
For my review go to
https://bookbloggernz.blogspot.co.nz/2017/09/the-little-shop-of-happy-ever-after.html

SOME OF THE BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS ON MY EVER INCREASING TBR PILE (and some you may want to look out for if you haven't read them already)!

• Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell
• The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell
• The Library at the Edge of the World by Felicity Hayes-McCoy
• My Life with Bob by Pamela Paul
• The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald
• The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap by Wendy Welch
• The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
• The Bookshop in Rosemary Lane by Ellen Berry

The Diary of a Bookseller

I have a new appreciation for booksellers after reading this book.

Several weeks ago I travelled to a secondhand bookstore out of town to sell several pretty much brand new books they had offered to buy. I arrived there and the secondhand book dealer went through the books, offered me some money (enough to buy my lunch and a latte while I was in said city) and I accepted the deal. To be fair the secondhand book dealer had warned me a few days earlier that they wouldn't be able to offer me much.

After reading The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell I understand a bit more where the secondhand book dealer I'd had dealings with was coming from.

I loved this book for a few reasons - 1) I love books written in diary format 2) It's about books 3) It's funny!

Bythell owns The Bookshop in Wigtown, Scotland. It's a secondhand bookstore and his diary covers his day-to-day life from February 2014 to February 2015 - the customers he meets, the employees he has to share food, gathered from the skip, with, his friends and family.

At the start of each day's entry he lists the online orders the bookstore's had and the books he has managed to find to meet those orders. At the end of each day's entry he lists the till total and the customers (the people who have actually bought books) in the shop that day. Each month starts with a piece from George Orwell's Bookshop Memories and Bythell's own views on the topics covered in George Orwell's Bookshop Memories.

Bythell spends a lot of time travelling to people's home to buy books that have been left in a deceased person's estate or by someone wanting to get rid of a collection. I love his interactions with his customers.

You come away from this book knowing there is still a place for the physical book.

I would love to travel to Wigtown one day to check out The Bookshop but also spend a week or two staying at and running the bookshop called The Open Book, which is also in Wigtown.

• Bythell has a great Facebook page called The Bookshop. Here's a link to it  https://www.facebook.com/thebookshopwigtown/
• And here's a link to what The Open Book experience is all about too      https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews/videos/1974842162529912/