I'm a Copycat

My genimate Jennifer recently posted something on her Best Bookish Blog that is right up my alley. Jennifer shared the Better Reading Top 100 Books of 2023 list then proceeded to mark the list in bold to show the books she has read.

That set me to wondering what I have read from the list (and what I may have missed) so I am taking a leaf out of Jennifer's book and copying her exercise. These books are not all Australian nor are they all new titles. Some are old faves and some new ones I have on reserve at local libraries. A few are in my TBR pile waiting patiently for me to pick them up.

Following is the list, the titles in bold, are the books that I’ve read.

Honey Bee by Craig Silvey
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Tilt by Chris Hammer  (On reserve at library)
The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams
The Lost Man by Jane Harper
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
Still Life by Sarah Winman
The Soul Mate by Sally Hepworth
The Dry by Jane Harper
Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid   (On reserve at library)
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty  (TBR pile)
The Godmothers by Monica McInerney
The Orphans by Fiona McIntosh
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 
How To Mend A Broken Heart by Rachel John
Seven Skins of Esther Wilding by Holly Ringland
A Court of Thorns and Roses by S.J. Mass
The Couple Upstairs by H. Wainwright
The Butterfly Collector by Tea Cooper
A Man Called ove by Fredrik Backman   (On reserve at library)
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
You Need To Know by Nicola Moriarty
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
The Good Wife of Bath by Karen Brooks
Horse by Geraldine Brooks
The Rook by Daniel O’Malley
Before the Storm by Di Morrissey
Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles  (On reserve at library)
Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult
The Lost Flowers of Alice Heart by Holly Ringland
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Verity by Colleen Hoover
Devotion by Hannah Kent
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
The Angry Women’s Choir by Meg Bignell
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The Otherside of Beautiful by Kim Lock
Broad River Station by Fleur McDonald
Ice Station by Matthew Reilly
Scrublands by Chris Hammer
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Nurses War by Victoria Purman
The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison by Meredith Jaffe
Everyone in My Family has killed someone by Benjamin Stevenson
The Husbands Secret by Liane Moriarty
The Torrent by Dinuka McKenzie
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
Keeping Up Appearances by Tricia Stringer
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne  (On reserve at library)
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Prodigal Sister by Darry Fraser  (TBR pile)
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
The Liars by Petronella McGovern
The Night Circus by Erin Morgernstern
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
The Last Station by Nicole Alexander
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Wife & the Widow by Christian White
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
No Plan B by Lee Child   (On reserve at library)
Paperbark Hill by Maya Linnell
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
1984 by George Orwell
The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
The Unbelieved by Vikki Petraitis
Exiles by Jane Harper
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Normal People by Sally Rooney
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan
Dirt Town by Hayley Scrivenor
This Has Been Absolutely Lovely by Jessica Dettman
Killing Floor by Lee Child
Dune by Frank Herbert
All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton  (TBR Pile)
Lying Beside You by Michael Robotham
Again, Rachel by Marian Keyes
All That’s Left Unsaid by Tracey Lien
It by Stephen King
Khaki Town by Judy Nunn
The Good Mother by Rae Cairns
The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill
The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

Having perused the list I can't believe how many titles I haven't read. I read a lot of historical and crime novels and a fair bit of non-fiction. 

My constant enemy, however,  is TIME. 

New Tricks

You can aways teach an old dog new tricks. 

Here is Miss 12 teaching her grandfather the finer points of Snapchat.

Hawkesbury Reflections

 A convenient and inexpensive way for me to travel to Sydney is by rail (Seniors can travel all day for $2.50.

 Until today I hadn't boarded a Sydney bound train since pre Covid times. As I was meeting up with some schoolfriends at the Art Gallery for lunch I had ample time to hop on a train at Fassifern and make the meeting time of noon.

I had forgotten about some of the pretty scenery encountered on that 2 hour journey and was entranced by some of the reflections I spotted on the calm waters in the calm waters of the Hawkesbury River near Brooklyn.

Pink Bubbles

Shared this rather nice pink bubbly this evening, thanks to daughter and son-in-law. Might have to visit the Peterson House winery to get some stock as it's not far from home.

Where's Paddy?

 Paddy is relaxing by the Lake while his Dad does the hard yards mowing the lawn.

Paddy and his Dad in the backyard

A Family of Five

I was sitting in bed drinking my morning coffee this morning when Robert called me to take a look in the backyard. 

I jumped up, grabbed my phone and went out on the balcony to see that a family of five had landed on our jetty. I started snapping while they enjoyed their sojourn in the morning sun.

It was a glorious calm morning on the lake for our visitors 

I wonder if that chap was looking at his reflection

They wriggled and jiggled as they surveyed the neighbourhood

It appeared to be a Mum, Dad and three kids

Mother's Day

Was great to catch up with many descendants on Mothers' Day.

Mother's Day Flowers

Hide and Seek

The moon was playing hide and seek in the clouds tonight.

Moon at Carey Bay

When I went outside to investigate the bright light I found that the water was shimmering and there were some interesting reflections off the Lake. I was rather pleased with the images I captured on my phone, there was just a smidgin of colour in my snaps.

Fuel for a Coronation

Some of our family joined us last night to watch the Coronation of Charles III on the box. 

Let the celebrations begin

Our fuel of choice for this regal occasion was a jug (or two) of Pimms. 

Cheers Charles

Elderly Bikies

Yesterday we made use of a Christmas voucher for a 2 hour tour in the Hunter Valley. It was on a motor bike/trike with Hunter Trikes. What a super gift it was.

Both Robert and I enjoyed the exhilarating experience of riding through the Hunter Valley, a premium Australian wine region which is less than an hour from our home. That it was a glorious autumn day added our overall delight.

I took over one hundred photos and videos during our tour some of which I will share below.

Our adventure kicked off at Hunter Trikes in Lovedale where we were fitted out with helmets and given  safety instructions and information about our ride. I was a trifle anxious but was quickly put at ease by our guide and driver, Darren. 

Safety gear

On board

Once ready we set off for a half hour's ride past many of the vineyards in the area. It was a comfortable, breezy ride which provided stunning, uninterrupted views.

Off we go

We passed a few locals along the way

Hunter vines

Darren took several photos of the bikies when we stopped

Our stop was at the delightful Tintilla Estate where we enjoyed a wine tasting and grazing platter while drinking in the sweeping views across the vineyard. Our host, John, chatted with us about winegrowing in general and the wines from Tintilla. 

Tintilla Estate

Tasting and Grazing

Pleasant outlook

Tintilla Produce

Vines at Tintilla

Having demolished the nibblies and sampling the wine it was back on the bike/trike for a scenic ride back to Lovedale.

Elderly Bikies at Tintilla

We were in good hands.

We would both recommend Darren and Hunter Trikes for a spin around the valley.

In Anno Itinerantur - A Winner

My theme this year's challenge was In Anno Itinerantur in which I planned to share photos and stories from our travels between April 2022 and March 2023. 

Having completed the challenge I can proudly display the 2023 Winner's Trophy on my blog.

AtoZ Challenge Trophy

In the past year since travel opened up for Australians Robert and I took several journeys at home and overseas. While I posted many photos of these adventures on Facebook I wanted to leave a more permanent record of some of our adventures. This challenge provided me with opportunities to share my photos and stories while recording some personal history. 

While this exercise was time consuming I was able to complete it without much stress because I got off to any early start. I missed the date for the Theme Reveal but got started on my planning in mid March. I set up a spreadsheet to manage my posts, created a template for my posts and then created a draft for each letter of the alphabet. As always the X and Z posts were the greatest challenges, I had so many changes of mind and redrafts for them.

When April 1 came around I had completed and scheduled ten posts and had more underway so it was easy to keep up. I was even able to take a few days off to concentrate on the family over Easter.

Although sourcing the many photographs for my posts was time consuming it was an enjoyable activity through which I was able to relive some memorable moments. Having metadata (tags) attached to my photos made the task of retrieval easier than if I would have had to scroll through thousands of images. 

During the month I followed some of my blogging mates by reading and commenting on their challenge posts. I was delighted to find some new-to-me Australian bloggers and a couple of bibliophiles from over the seas. I have added their blogs to my blog roll. Time is our constant enemy as reading and commenting on posts is time-consuming. 

One small dilemma I have is that two of the blogs I followed have spelling errors on their blog headers. Should I send the bloggers a gentle message alerting them to this or leave it be? 

Will I enter the challenge again? Over the years I have taken up the challenge if I am at home. So a  2024 commitment depends on our travel schedule. I already have several ideas that I am considering some related to our planned travels in the next 12 months. 

Finally congratulations to everyone who attempted or completed the challenge and thanks to the team of volunteers at The April Blogging from A to Z  Challenge for organising and curating this event for the international blogging community.

Nautical Neighbour

When I looked out into the backyard this morning I saw some chaps working on a mooring and another fellow in a kayak chatting with them. I thought they were working on the mooring for a little boat named "Pearl" that has been absent for a while.

Man in kayak having a chat with the mooring workers

I went around my business for the rest of the day and didn't venture outside until the late afternoon light created some nice reflections on the Lake. Phone in hand I started taking a few photos and, when I looked right, spotted something that wasn't there this morning.

Something new in the backyard

I spotted something new in the backyard. I realised that the mooring I saw getting attention this morning was a new one, a bit closer to our home than "Pearl's". Attached to the mooring was a new little sailing boat. Perhaps it belongs to the man I saw in the kayak this morning. 

 

Lovely afternoon reflection of our new nautical neighbour

I love watching the comings and goings in our quiet corner of Lake Macquarie. There is something new that attracts my interest each day.