Weekly check-in

Sunday, February 28, 2016 Permalink

Forgive me dear blogging gods for I have sinned. It’s been TWO weeks since my last weekly check-in!

But I’m back. Like the proverbial bad smell. Or Arnie (circa Terminator 2!)

What I read

A fortnight seems a very long time in obsessive book-reading land, but (according to my Goodreads account) I started the fortnight with Darkest Place by Jaye Ford, an Australian author. It was a last minute request on NetGalley as I enjoy her work and only belatedly discovered she had a new book out.

And then (as planned) I read Alafair Burke’s The Ex. Which I loved. Indeed it may be my fave of hers to date.

There was a lengthy hiatus as I went gallivanting off to catch up with long lost friends, before returning home to read The Light on the Water by Aussie author Olga Lorenzo (and I’ll be publishing an interview with Olga in the next week or two).

the light on the water

I followed that up with The Silent Inheritance by another Aussie author, Joy Dettman.

And I then got to dive into the latest Jonathan Kellerman, Breakdown; before ending the week with Sharon Guskin’s The Forgetting Time.

breakdown by jonathan kellerman

What I wrote

It was a relatively slow fortnight on the blog but I managed to post a few reviews:

Darkest Place by Jaye Ford
The Narrow Bed by Sophie Hannah
The Ex by Alafair Burke
The Silent Inheritance by Joy Dettman

I shared my five favourite books of February over on the popular Australian Styling You blog.

fave-february-reads

I wrote about working out what you want via a process of elimination… (ie. working out what you don’t want!)

And finally I reviewed The Forgetting Time in Goodreads.

the forgetting time

What I did

I’ve survived weeks two and three in my new job and went away to hang out with some of my BFFs. Four of us had a loud and effusive catch up on the first evening. I’ve known two of these girls (in top right pic) since we met at University (in the late 80s) and the other shortly after (and that’s her baby in the bottom right pic). So we go back. WAAAAAY back.

weekly checkin pics

My friend from New Zealand (LJ) and I had four days together (in an inner-city apartment in Brisbane with amazing views) which was lovely and I was sad to see her head back across the ditch (as we call the ocean between Australia and New Zealand). It’s been really refreshing though… to see people who know me well (and still like me despite that!).

I forced LJ to come to see the movie Room with me, as it’s possibly my favourite book ever and I’ve been waiting (impatiently) for the film to come to my hometown… knowing it may not. The movie did the book justice and I cried and cried.

What I plan to read

I don’t even know where to start on the weekly reading front, but I’ve added last week’s arrivals to my Trello project board and sorted them chronologically. For the first time in ages I’m behind on my reading list so have a stack of already-out books to choose from as well as some being published in coming months.

reading pile

TBR pile. And this doesn’t include my ebooks

I also need to catch up on some blog-reading as that’s also gone awry over the past fortnight. But finally… things seem to be falling into place.

What’s on your agenda for this week? Do any of my books appeal? 

Linking up with Kimberly for the SundayPost and Kathryn for ‘It’s Monday!

76 Comments
  • kimbacaffeinate
    February 28, 2016

    You read some interesting books, and it looks like you had some good times with friends. I feel like I read very little in February and will be curious to see my tallies on Tuesday. Somehow I am 4 books behind on Goodreads already for the year and it is just taunting me!!

    • Debbish
      February 28, 2016

      My first week was really slow and I think I only read 1 or maybe 2 books, but the second week I took several days break but read 3 books in 3 nights so caught up a little!

  • Jess
    February 28, 2016

    Glad you got to spend some time away with your friends. Nothing like catching up with old friends.

    • Debbish
      February 28, 2016

      True Jess and I hadn’t seen my NZ friend for 2-3 years or so, so that was wonderful.

  • laurelrainsnow
    February 28, 2016

    I want to read The Perfect Girl and Breakdown…and I loved The Ex and Find Her.

    Hanging out with friends is the best…love the photos! Thanks for sharing, and enjoy your week. And thanks for visiting my blog.

    • Debbish
      February 28, 2016

      I’m seeing The Perfect Girl around on a few blogs. I’ve obviously requested that and it looks like it’s out here in a week or so!

  • charliegirlteachergirl
    February 28, 2016

    Glad you got to catch up with old friends. I want to take my mom to see How to be Single. I think she would die laughing. As far as books, Goodreads says I’m behind by one, but I feel like I haven’t made any progress this year.

    • Debbish
      February 28, 2016

      I’ve been thinking about that movie, but also keen to see Deadpool and might take myself to see that this week some time!

  • Greg Hill
    February 28, 2016

    Welcome back! It looks like you stayed busy with reading. I love that cover of Light on the Water.

    Great pics- looks like an awesome getaway. That third pic- looks like you had a pretty awesome view. Getaways are nice (and much needed sometimes just to recharge). Glad you enjoyed your time off. Hope this week is nice for you as well.

    • Debbish
      February 28, 2016

      Our view was stunning Greg and I ‘may’ have overshared pics on my FB and Instagram pages!

      I agree re the cover of Light on the Water – it’s stunning!

  • lattenightsreviews
    February 28, 2016

    Sometimes taking a small break is good for you 🙂
    It’s great you went out with friends! You seem liked you had a blast!

    • Debbish
      February 28, 2016

      Yes… I had a lovely time with my friends and it was nice to catch up (as a group) after so long!

  • Ceri
    February 28, 2016

    Ooh, I noticed you have How to be Single on your TBR list. Didn’t they just make that into a film? The trailer made it look … well … not great but I’d definitely be interested to know what the book’s like. 😀 It’s always fab to catch up with old friends, isn’t it? Nothing more relaxing.

    • Debbish
      February 28, 2016

      Another Aussie book blogger DNF’d the book but didn’t mind the movie. I’ve deferred the book for a bit until I’m looking for something particularly light to read. (Perhaps after engaging with a few serial killers and psychopaths!) 🙂

  • Megan @ reading away the days
    February 28, 2016

    It looks like you had fun with your friends it’s always nice to meet up with long time friends and enjoy food and their company. You have some great books to read. I actually just brought how to be single and I am looking forward to reading it. Have a great week.

    Megan @ http://readingawaythedays.blogspot.co.uk

    • Debbish
      February 28, 2016

      I hope you enjoy it Megan! Keen to hear what you think.

  • Lexxie @ (un)Conventional Bookviews
    February 28, 2016

    Hanging out with friends who have known us forever is like a turbo recharge of our batteries, don’t you think? It’s very important, but not all that easy to do 🙂 I’m glad you managed to spend a few days with your friends, and that you had such a good time with them.
    It’s great that your new job is working out well. I hope it will continue to treat you well.
    And I had to smile at your book haul… we are amazing at amassing more books, aren’t we?
    Have a wonderful week ahead and happy reading 🙂

    • Debbish
      February 28, 2016

      I know… so many books. I really am very appreciative and know I’m lucky but the control freak in me HATES not having them read before publication date!

  • Laura
    February 28, 2016

    Two weeks always seems like ages to me too! But you do seem to have had an absolutely packed time of it! I love spending time with my uni friends so I can definitely relate! Have a great week and happy reading!

    Laura @ http://a-reader-lives-a-thousand-lives.blogspot.co.uk

    • Debbish
      February 28, 2016

      I had a lovely time Laura. I hadn’t been working for a while so hadn’t had a getaway / weekend away in years. This felt like a bit of a splurge – though my friend shouted the accommodation.

  • Maureen Beatrice
    February 28, 2016

    Sounds like you had a great time with your friends. Sometimes it’s definitely good to have a little less blogging time. And how great that you know them for so long already.
    You read some awesome books. ‘The light on the Water’ sounds really good.
    Have a great week and good luck with catching up on your reading! 😉

    • Debbish
      February 28, 2016

      I’m the sort of person who doesn’t accumulate friends Maureen. I have a heap of friends I’ve made via work over the years and some close friends (locally) now, but most of my ‘best’ friends are those from Uni (nearly 30yrs ago) and I’m still close to a group of my school friends I try to see regularly.

  • Karen Blue
    February 28, 2016

    I think it is great you took a little break and spent time with friends. It is really important for women to have people we go way back with in this life. You got some great reads in. Your TRB pile is massive (mine is as well, so don’t feel bad. I think it comes with the book blogging territory.) Have a great week!

    • Debbish
      February 28, 2016

      Very true Karen. I just need to accept the growing pile and live with it I think! It felt as if things slowed up a little over Christmas (particularly as I don’t read nonfiction – memoirs and cookbooks!) but it’s certainly busy now!

  • Jeann @ Happy Indulgence
    February 28, 2016

    Oooh I sent Beautiful Broken Things to my co-blogger to review, I hope you enjoy it! It’s lovely that you got to spend some quality time with friends that you’re comfortable with – definitely refreshing. Have a lovely week ahead Deb!

    • Debbish
      February 28, 2016

      I really enjoyed Beautiful Broken Things Jeann. A very rare 5-star book for me!

  • Whitney
    February 28, 2016

    The Light on the Water sounds really interesting, I can understand why you requested it!

    • Debbish
      February 29, 2016

      It is… and you’ve reminded me I’m supposedly coming up with some interview questions for the author!!!

  • Just Jitty
    February 28, 2016

    I like your picks on books! I haven’t heard of any of them (I don’t get out much…) but I will definitely be looking into them. It is so nice you got to spend time with your friends and in such a beautiful place! I am completely jealous.

    Have a great week 🙂

    • Debbish
      February 29, 2016

      I tend to read a lot of thrillers, suspense / crime fiction though ‘try’ to broaden my horizons every so often! 🙂

      And yes, the long weekend with friends was lovely!

  • Jan @ Notes from a Readerholic
    February 29, 2016

    It’s so great to catch up with BFF’s. I love all the photos. I hope the job is going well and you’ve got lots of books to pick from. I like choices! Have a great week, Deborah!

  • danielaark
    February 29, 2016

    Yup I was wondering why you were MIA but kinda knew…when you announced your new job I commented this may happened! Welcome back! Nothings like BFFs to help you survive those first weeks in a new job especially when you go WAAAAAY back. 🙂
    I love that feeling too of people that have known me in my best and worse moments and they still like me 🙂
    Hope you enjoy your big stack books!

    • Debbish
      February 29, 2016

      Thanks Daniela. And yes… I headed away straight from work one day and then returned and headed to work. Interestingly I took my laptop and had a bit of time while away so started last week’s Sunday Post but decided not to worry when I didn’t get back to it!

  • Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight
    February 29, 2016

    That’s great that you got to catch up with old friends! It sounds like you had a fun time, but, of course, they wouldn’t be old friends if you didn’t enjoy being around them 😛 And I’m glad the movie adaptation you saw turned out well! I was kind of nervous for you just reading the paragraph when you said it was your favorite book!

    • Debbish
      February 29, 2016

      I know… I usually don’t see the movie if I’ve read the book. In fact I actually held off reading The Martian because I’d heard so many good things about the movie I decided to see that instead of reading the book.

      But… I hadn’t read Room for a few years which was good. And I’d heard wonderful things about the movie (nominated for an Oscar etc).

  • Rita @ View From My Home
    February 29, 2016

    Oh Deb, what a couple of weeks of fun for you! And your books… you are in sync with me at the moment. I put your Aussie title The Light on the Water on my GR wishlist just now and I adore the cover! Can’t wait for your thoughts on it.

    I had similar issues with The Forgetting Time. I started it from library and put it aside after only about 15% as a DNF. Not what I was expecting and for me, a big yawn. Unfortunately.

    I read Find Her, one of my auto-read authors, and loved it as expected, but the storyline was similar to one by CJ Boxd I read last year and it is ultra-creepy fo rme and bummed me out. I want to read The Ex & Orphan X (the X pair!) asap and Kellerman has a spot in my heart since book one, so so many years ago, though I haven’t read his past few. Might try this one.

    Glad you had a fun time with your gal pals! I had fun reading this post– was worth the wait!

    • Debbish
      March 6, 2016

      Glad it wasn’t just me Rita (re Forgetting Time). It really wasn’t what I was expecting…

      Find Her reminded me of What Doesn’t Kill Her by Carla Norton – for a while I was worried I’d read it before, but it ended up being quite different!

  • Rita @ View From My Home
    February 29, 2016

    Sorry for the spelling and formatting issues with my comment above 🙂 One of my cats was leaning on my right arm and I didn’t notice it until hit send, dang.

  • Tracy @ Cornerfolds
    February 29, 2016

    Interesting books this week!! I haven’t read any of them, but Beautiful Broken Things is on my TBR list and I’m going to check out The Forgetting Time right now! Good luck with your massive TBR pile! XD

    Here’s my Weekly Recap!

  • Katherine @ I Wish I Lived in a Library
    February 29, 2016

    Sounds like you’ve had a fun couple of weeks! That’s fantastic to have a group of friends you go back with like that and you’ve been hitting the Aussie authors pretty hard. I’ve added Be Frank with Me to my TBR because of you but I haven’t gotten to your The Ex review yet. I have a feeling that’ll be on my list as well. Have a great week!

    • Debbish
      March 6, 2016

      Keen to hear what you think of Be Frank With Me when you get to it. My mother read it (she usually reads my faves straight after me… doesn’t need to worry about chronologically ordering her TBR pile!) and wasn’t as enamoured.

  • limabean74
    February 29, 2016

    Fun to catch up with friends! It looks like you had a great week! I also missed my sunday post last week just need a day off.

    I hope you have a great week, Debbie! Happy Reading!

    • Debbish
      March 6, 2016

      Ah yes, nice to have a break every so often. I have to remind myself sometimes that this is just a hobby. Well… supposedly!

  • Emma
    February 29, 2016

    It’s so lovely to catch up with friends. Sounds like you had a great time…and worth a bit of a blogging break I bet!

  • Char
    February 29, 2016

    How lovely that you got to catch up with friends. Your friend from NZ needs to come over more often – or maybe it’s your turn to go over the ditch. NZ is beautiful.

    • Debbish
      March 6, 2016

      It’s most definitely my turn Char but I don’t have a passport at the moment plus don’t want to stress about airplane seats etc… LJ was working for an airline and coming back to Brisbane regularly when she first moved to NZ 6ish years ago, but now she works for a different airline and travels mostly within NZ.

  • Suzanne
    February 29, 2016

    Great books, wonderful friends, what more could you ask for! So nice that you were able to spend some time with them! Thanks for sharing the books, I love the cover for The Light on The Water! I also want to read it!! It’s not available yet in the US, so I may have to just order it from The Book Depository! But it seems like a worthy read!

    Enjoy your week!

    • Debbish
      March 1, 2016

      It is a beautiful cover, isn’t it Suzanne?!

  • Maree
    February 29, 2016

    Goodness, that’s quite the book stack! I’m glad you had a good time with your friends. Have a great week! 🙂

  • Angelized1st
    February 29, 2016

    It’s great to have you back! It looks like you’ve enjoyed your downtime. Now that you have an awesome new stack of books, I’m sure you’ll read more next month.

    • Debbish
      March 1, 2016

      I hope so. I caught up a little on my reviewing on the weekend so don’t have to hold back!!!! 🙂

  • fuonlyknew
    February 29, 2016

    Every now and then I miss a Sunday check in. One fun thing. All the news and books for two weeks instead of one. And you sure have an amazing haul of new reads:)

    My Sunday Post – http://fuonlyknew.com/2016/02/28/whats-new-on-my-bookshelf-149-and-the-sunday-post/

    • Debbish
      March 1, 2016

      It does make one’s list look more impressive doesn’t it?!

  • Grace Rebele
    February 29, 2016

    I’m glad you are surviving the job! Your time with your friends looks like it was a blast. I’m glad to hear Room was done well. Enjoy your next reads and have a great week!

  • Nise' (Under the Boardwalk)
    February 29, 2016

    Your top books are all on my TBR stacks! Looks like you had a nice time away with your friends. Hope the job continues to go well. Have a great week.

    • Debbish
      March 1, 2016

      I think we often read similar books Nise – similar taste perhaps (and by that, naturally I mean ‘good’ taste!) 😉

  • MarthaE
    February 29, 2016

    I love the covers of Light on the Water and The Forgetting Time. Sounds/looks like a fun busy week. I am glad that you liked the movie ROOM – I loved the book too.
    That is an impressive TBR stack. Happy Reading!

    • Debbish
      March 1, 2016

      I didn’t mention it, but The Forgetting Time cover has a holes in the cover with a yellow page underneath to make it look like the lights are shining. Very clever!

  • Christy LoveOfBooks
    February 29, 2016

    What a great time with your friends. Definitely worth ditching blogging for. 😀

  • CARLA
    February 29, 2016

    SO glad to hear it’s so far so good on the job front.
    And I also covet the time away with friends. You are wise to put you and self-care first.
    BLOG SCHMOG 🙂 we will always be here.

  • Literary Feline
    March 1, 2016

    Sounds like you had a fun time with your friends. I am glad your job is going well. I am glad you enjoyed The Ex. It’s on my list to read. Hopefully soon! I hope you have a great week!

    • Debbish
      March 1, 2016

      I very much enjoyed The Ex – I love Alafair Burke and it’s probably my favourite of hers (in memory anyway!).

  • Kathryn
    March 1, 2016

    Just belatedly calling in to say hi! Glad you enjoyed your time with friends – specially your kiwi one. Room must be really sad, had been wondering about it, having seen it all around at the moment. I think I might be persuaded to read The Ex, will have to see, my reading has slowed. 🙁

    • Debbish
      March 1, 2016

      Am behind in my reading too Kathryn – as I had to travel to some meetings on Monday. (And same on Wednesday!) Slowly getting into the groove of this new job!

  • Lark @ The Bookwyrm's Hoard
    March 4, 2016

    What a lovely time — it’s so much fun to get together with good friends! Congratulations on your new job and I hope it’s going well. And you had an interesting fortnight reading-wise, too.

    • Debbish
      March 5, 2016

      Thanks so much. Had a lovely weekend with friends… though it’s starting to feel like a distant memory!

  • Heather Duff (@hross42)
    March 6, 2016

    I love to see Janet Ellis’s book on your pile, she was a big tv presenter when I was little but her book is getting rave reviews over here!

    I saw some of your pics on Instagram and it looks like you had great fun, my mother in law still raves about her friend who owns a flat in one of the building over looking the Brisbane river and she was only in it once 10 years ago!

    Have a good week and glad your new job is going well!

    • Debbish
      March 6, 2016

      I hadn’t heard of Janet Ellis Heather, so might review its position in my TBR pile!

I'd love to hear your thoughts