My Week In Review to the 26th August

Dragonfly Cafe, Tavistock 

I am linking up with The Sunday Post hosted by Kimberly at The Caffeinated Reviewer.

I'm also linking up again with What Are You Reading at The Book Date:
Yesterday I finished I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith, one for my Classics Club Challenge. I hadn't read it before - or seen the film - and it wasn't at all what I had expected, but I did love the story.
Now I am reading C H Clepitt's newest novel, Curtain Call.


We popped over to see our friends Chris and Marta (and Banksy the Cat) in Tavistock this week. It was great to catch up with each other's news and we finally got to see the lovely Dragonfly Cafe in the town where Marta now works and organises the perpetual art exhibition. The tea is excellent and I enjoyed briefly wandering around looking at the art. Chris even sold one of his quirky Fishing Boat automata models while we were there so the purchaser got to meet the artist which was fun! Of course, if I were a more organised blogger, I would have snapped a photo of the moment for you! In lieu of that, there's three examples of Chris's work on the shelf in this photo:

I got a lovely tweet from publishers Endeavour Quill:

Another brilliant review of #ConradMonk - thanks @Stephanie_Jne! https://t.co/OtERi7kcvC #newbooks #funnyfiction #TheLastKingdom #historicalfiction @EdoardoAlbert pic.twitter.com/g0jwBiWc0A

— Endeavour Quill (@EndeavourQuill) August 24, 2018

If you like Saxon-Viking era historical fiction and didn't spot Conrad Monk And The Great Heathen Army on NetGalley, take a look at my review which will be blogged on Thursday. Great historical research and a fun adventure storyline!


There was bizarreness for the We Only Saw Happiness giveaway winner picking on Friday. I had to invalidate the first Gleam pick because that person claimed to have completed the Daily Comment entry over about eight days - one of which was picked - yet hadn't left a single comment on any day. This is only a one-person blog - did they really think I wouldn't notice their deceit?! Grrr! I've never had that situation before.
Still, Gleam allows me invalidations so now let's all congratulate Susan T who Did complete the entry she said she had! (Check your emails Susan!)

Giveaways closing soon:
26/08 INT: The Wrath And The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh HB book
31/8 INT: Literary Flits Spotlight post (free book promo!)
31/08 UK: 1 of 5 copies of Twenty Theatres To See Before You Die by Amber Massie-Blomfield (link goes to Official London Theatre website)
31/8 INT: Journey to the Center of the Earth, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and The Gin Thief PBs (link goes to S C Barrus' website)
1/9 USA and Can: Signed PB of The Love Fool by Lorenzo Petruzziello

Posts on my blogs this week were:
My Week in Review to the 19th August
Artisan Rainbow - Bookmarks

Heidi by Johanna Spyri review + #FreeBook + #cake #giveaway
Revolutions: Parabola by Mateusz Skutnik graphic novel review
The Last Plantagenet? by Jennifer C Wilson short story review + Excerpt
Desirable Body by Hubert Haddad - Frankenstein retelling review
The Tale Of The Missing Man by Manzoor Ahtesham DNF review
The High Mountains Of Portugal by Yann Martel review
The Dead Wake Anthology by Ellie Douglas spotlight

Around the blogosphere:
Sherry Jolly reviewed Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
vvb32 reviewed A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Jovita at Inky Impressions considers The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins for her Books From The Backlog

Have a great week :-)