Top Ten Tuesday: Christmas reads this year

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Books I hope Santa Brings/Bookish Wishes. I don't ask for books so I am sharing the last ten Christmassy books I have read!

Best Wishes from the Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki - I didn't realise this was a Christmas book when I decided to read it, but it really is. It is set in the week leading up to Christmas and features talking cats, astrology and amazing sounding food!

Golden Girls on the Run by Judy Leigh - Our Golden Girls end up helping to organise a nativity play in  this book (my review)

The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan - How does getting stuck for Christmas in a crumbling Scottish castle which is full of books sound to you?

Christmas at Hollybush Farm by Jo Thomas - When a community comes together at Christmas, anything can happen. (my review)

Life Begins at the Cornish Cottage by Kim Nash - This is another book with community events at the centre, especially a Christmas pantomime (my review)

Good Spirits by B K Borison - This is a spin on the idea of the ghost of Christmas past visiting our main character but this is a ghost with a difference. 

The Midwife's Christmas Miracle by Fiona McArthur - My favourite part of this book was the metal ornaments that our main male character was making for our female lead.

A Christmas Gift by Sue Moorcroft - This book features a Christmas play! (my review)

A Family for Christmas in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen - I love it when we get to read about Christmas as it is in Australia. Warm days and nights, maybe some time by the pool or the beach. (my review)

Christmas on Fifth Avenue by Julie Caplin - I would love to visit New York at Christmas, but if I can't, reading this book has definitely taken me there! (my review)

I have more Christmas books that I have read this year, but these are the last ten. What I didn't do this year is listen to Hogfather by Terry Pratched or The Secret History of Christmas by Bill Bryson. These have been part of my Christmas traditions over the last few years but I just couldn't fit these audiobooks in this year!

I am sharing this post with Comfy Cozy Christmas hosted hosted by Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.  

This week...

I'm reading

My difficulty in deciding which book to read next continued, which was a bit more heightened given I didn't have much reading time this week. 

In the end I started reading Hot Desk by Zara Stoneley. I have read and loved two books by this author under her other author name, Sue Heath, but it is my first Zara Stoneley book. I was kind of surprised that my library actually had any of her books. I hadn't actually looked but when I was at another library for an event, I noticed that they had one of her books on their shelves, which inspired me to look at my library catalogue, and voila! This one was there waiting for me1

I did also read a couple of chapters of One December Morning by Emma Davies but I haven't made it very far yet!


I'm watching



December 21 is affectionately known as Gravy Day to many Australians, thanks to the lyrics of a song called How to Make Gravy by Paul Kelly. Last year, a movie also inspired by the lyrics of the song came out but I only got around to watching it this week. It's definitely not a light and fluffy Christmas movie which given the story in the song about a man in prison writing to his brother asking who's going to make the Christmas gravy.

 Here's the trailer:

Life


Given that I only changed jobs in August and I have already had a holiday since I started, I don't have any leave entitlements. I am therefore working through the break and so I am only getting the public holidays off. That meant cramming all the Christmas shopping into one day on the weekend.

We did have our end of year event for work last week. It was a bit different from the Christmas events I have been to for my previous employers. There were musicians, a magician, wandering oyster shuckers and so much more!

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Summer 2025-2026 To Read List

Afternoon Tea Diaries: Palate Through Time: Before at Oxi Tea Rooms
Spell the Month in Books: December






I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings

Spell the Month in Books - December

 

Reviews From the Stacks

For 2025 I have decided to have a go at Spell the Month in Books which is hosted at Reviews From the Stacks. The link party opens on the first Saturday of the month, but I won't be posting until after that as I already have other things scheduled every Saturday and for the first two Sundays of the month. I will be sharing this post with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz.

The theme for this month is Giftable. The biggest challenge is finding three E books!

D - Dinner by Nagi Maehashi - We have been cooking out of this cook book for more than a year every week and I am sure anyone could find recipes to cook out! 

E - Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson - This book is funny, irreverent and the start of a series, so you could give someone the next book next year as well! (my review)

C - I am cheating with this one but picked it because it is a lot of fun and is now part of my Christmas tradition. I think I totally get away with it because after all the C in December sounds like an S anyway! Secret History of Christmas by Bill Bryson 

E - Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell - This is an older book but it was on that gives you all the feels. It is also a YA book so would work for a range of giftees. (my review)

M - Me Before You by Jojo Moyes - Another book with all the feels. I have read, and loved, this a few times now! (my review)

B - Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - This might be something a little different but it gives Japanese foodie charm vibes. (my review)

E - Emma by Jane Austen - maybe a lovely special edition in honour of Jane Austen's 250th birthday.

R - Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt - I would recommend the audio of this one. The guy who does the voice of the octopus was exceptional and he is voicing in it the upcoming movie!

I hope that you all get the books you want as gifts this year!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Afternoon Tea Diaries: Palate Through Time; Before at Oxi Tea Rooms

Welcome to another entry in my irregular event, Afternoon Tea Diaries.

Earlier this year my husband and I visited Oxi Tea Rooms and were blown away by the afternoon tea experience we had there. I do use the word experience deliberately as it wasn't just nicely presented food. The food items were mini pieces of art, and there was a fun interactive element as well. I posted about that afternoon tea here.

When I was trying to find a place to catch up with some friends pre Christmas, I thought this would be a great place. The good thing is, the Oxi Tea Rooms menu changes regularly so while it was another great experience, it was different to the first time we went.

The theme this time was Palate Through Time. The pre set afternoon tea menu was called Before and took us on a culinary journey through different times and places. If we had of wanted to also indulge in the a la carte menu, these had a theme of Beyond. These items looked spectacular but we didn't get to taste them. 

The idea was that each item on the board represented a time and place across ten different eras either through the way it was presented, or the flavours or both

Here's the list of items that were included in the Before menu

2500 BC - Ancient Egypt - flatbreads, confit mushrooms, herbed salad

100+500 BC - Ancient Rome - barley, cured king fish, pickled red ginger

800-1100 - Tang Dynasty - mixed rice, osmanthus, dried peach, goji berry

900-1100 - Islamic Golden Age - spiced lavosh, roasted beef, pepper sauce, rose

1200-1600 - Post Colombian Exchange - chocolate, cacao nib, corn, red chilli

1300-1500 - Elizabethan Era - pie tart, nutmeg, curry spiced chicken, puffed spelt

1800s - Industrial Revolution - sponge cake, mixed berry jam, vanilla custard cream

1900s - Belle Epoque France - chocolate lace, lavender, viola, honey madeleine 

2000s - Modern Nordic - foie gras, creme brulee, burnt butter bread

Now - Contemporary Fusion - mandarin foam, genmaicha, miso caramel, buckwheat

Once again this was a multi sensory experience. There were little glass jars on the table that were colour coded to match with each of the courses (except for the first one). In the jar, there was a piece of rock that had been infused with a smell that matched each of the courses. The idea was that you smell the rock and then eat the food and that you then have an enhanced flavour experience. It was going well until we realised that one set of our jars had the lids mixed up.

In the picture above, you can see the horse which was the Colombian era, the curried chicken pie tart, and the sponge cake. In the bottom picture you can see the Ancient Rome cured fish and the lavender dessert. As you can hopefully see they are all exquisitely presented, and for the most part they were all delicious. I didn't love the last one or the lavender one, and my favourites were probably the Elizabethan pie tart and the sponge cake. 

It isn't afternoon tea without tea, and this is one aspect of the experience that didn't change. There were more than 30 different types of tea which we were invited to smell to make our choice. There options vary from Taiwanese oolong tea, to Kenyan tea and South African rooibos tea. I can't remember what I chose last time, but this time my selection was a roast peach tea. I seem to be going through a bit of a peach phase at the moment. 

The tea that you selected was then brewed two ways. The first cup of tea was brewed using a traditional Chinese brewing method and then the second cup was brewed using a futuristic machine called a teapresso. 

The day we went, it was the very end of the Palate Through Time menus. It was changing a couple of days later to a menu called Victoria: The Place to Be which highlights the produce from our state. This menu is available until April. I am definitely planning to go before the menu changes again. And probably when it changes to the next menu as well. 

Weekly meals

Saturday - Away for the weekend    
Sunday - Away for the weekend
Monday - Roast beef rolls and gravy
Tuesday - Pressure cooker spaghetti bolognaise
Wednesday - Pork Stir fry
Thursday - End of year function
Friday - Takeaway

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My Summer 2025-2026 to-Read List

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Books On My Winter 2025-2026 to-Read List. Of course, I live in a land Down Under my to-read list is for summer!

Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees by Aimee Nezhukumatathil - This is the current Cook the Books selection and I am listening to this on audio.

The Croatian Island Library by Eva Glyn - This will be my first blog tour for next year

Flashlight by Helen Choi - Currently buddy reading this one with Bree from All the Things I Can Read. 

The Oyster Catcher by Jo Thomas - I started this a while ago but I had to take it back to the library before I finished it. 

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters - This has been on my TBR list for a long time.

In the Paris Fashion by Sophie Beaumont - I really enjoyed Sophie Beaumont's previous Paris books so I am looking forward to this one. 

Yours Cheerfully by A J Pearce - I loved the first book in the Emmy Lake series so I have high hopes for this one.

My Big Greek Island Ex-Scape by Sandy Barker - This book comes out early next year and it sounds like a lot of fun1

The Arctic Curry Club by Dani Redd - I saw these books on someone's blog last week! This is the only one I can get in Australia

Jean Plaidy - My read on a theme book club theme for January is a childhood favourite. I think I have decided to revisit my high school reading days when I obsessively read every Jean Plaidy book my library had! Big decision is which one! I am leaning towards The Goldsmith's Wife, mainly because I have two copies of that one!

This week

I'm reading

It's been a bit of an odd reading week! 

I finished Golden Girls on the Run by Judy Leigh which was a lot of fun and which I reviewed here.

After that, I pretty much hit a reading wall. I think it is because I don't have any more due dates for blog tours etc so I looked at the 50 books or so that are at the top of the various folders (amongst the thousand or so that I have on there) and couldn't decide which book was next up.

It turns out though, that a delayed flight and three hours sitting at an airport, can help with that. I read Best Wishes From the Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki, which is the second book in the Full Moon Coffee Shop series and is set at Christmas.

I then quickly read the epilogue to Helen Rolfe's Best Days of Our Lives which was lovely. 

On the way home I read The War Time Book Club by Kate Thompson. I have had a couple of her books on my TBR pile for a long time and I have to say I am wondering why I waited so long!

I'm watching

I haven't watched my normal number of Christmas movies yet this year and I can't see that changing this week which is a shame. I did watch Tinsel Town which stars Keifer Sutherland and Rebel Wilson as well as a few familiar British actors. It is about a washed up American action star who ends up in a small town doing pantomime. It was a bit of fun but if I was given away prizes, the prize for worst Yorkshire accent goes to Rebel Wilson. Here's the trailer

We did go to the movies to see a delightful documentary called The Golden Spurtle. It is all about the World Porridge Making Championships which is held in a small Scottish town of Carrbridge each year. You would think that a movie about porridge might be a bit stodgy but it was a lot of fun! We bought a spurtle when we were in Scotland but we haven't used it yet. Here's the trailer

We watched the first episode of the second series of A Man on the Inside with Ted Danson. We really enjoyed the first series and I hope to watch more this week!

Life

We did a quick trip up to Brisbane this weekend to do Christmas with the kids before they start travelling to their Christmas destinations!

We had dinner at a lovely restaurant and then we went to the beach with Nala, the golden retriever who used to live with us! Oh, and the kids and their partners!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in Snowy Places
Blog Tour: Golden Girls on the Run by Judy Leigh
Weekend Cooking: Christmas at Hollybush Farm by Jo Thomas
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: November statistics





I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: November stats

Before I get started with this month's statistics, I wanted to mention that I have announced the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge for 2026! You can find all the details in this post. If you love historical fiction and reading challenges, I hope you will join us!

Now, onto the November statistics

Every month I share some of the statistics related to the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. I find it interesting to see what are the books that people are reading and reviewing!

In terms of the books read in November, there were 42 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 16 participants. There were 39 individual titles reviewed, written by 38 different authors, There were 3 reviewers who reviewed 2 or more books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 8 or just 1.

So which books were reviewed more than once? There were three.

The first book Murder at Cottonwood Creek by Clara McKenna which was reviewed by Mark at Carstairs Considers and Laura from Laura's Reviews. This is the seventh book in the Stella and Lyndy series set at the beginning of the 20th century.

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood is the second book to have been reviewed more than once this month. Actually, I should say that it is a novella which was listed for the Booker Prize. It was reviewed by Kay at What Me Read and Davida from Chocolate Lady's Book Review Blog. 

The final book to mention this month is The Ghost Cat by Alex Howard. This sounds like a really fun read. It was reviewed by Laura from Laura's Review and Margaret at Books Please. 

Agatha Christie makes a comeback this month with Shellie from Shellie Loves Books reviewing both Cat Among the Pigeons and They Came to Baghdad.

Next month I will be back with both the statistics for December and for the whole of 2025! I have had a bit of a sneak peek and as at now there are 2 books that are tied for the honour of being reviewed the most times for this year's challenge. Let's see if that changes during December!

I am sharing this with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and A Good Book and a Cup of Tea hosted at Hopewell's Library.