Happy Friday! Okay, I realize I'm setting the record for the World's Longest BookTube Video but this is actually edited (!) and I cut out five other books to share another time! Ha! 😅 It's a long chat with several (low-spoiler) reviews and (I hope) some titles you'll be excited about, as I am! What are y'all currently reading? Have a fantastic weekend!

I read Mrs. Palfrey this past spring and loved it and I too, put it on my short list of best books ever. I can't believe I hadn't read it before. I loved the movie as well. Very tender......very poignant. Agree it is a great great book!

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

HI Donna! I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've also heard it's good! Such a marvelous novel with a good deal of bittersweet humor. Very endearing. I'm glad you love it, too!

Thimble Summer is one of the few Newbery books I've read. It sounds like it would be worth a read. I've only ever read On the Beach by Neville Shute. I read that one around forty years ago when I was in college. I didn't have to read it, I'd just heard so much about it that I read it for fun. I've seen both True Grit movies but I've never read the book either. It will be interesting to see what you think of it! Years ago, I worked in a public library and an elderly lady came in who would check out bags full of mysteries. Her favorite was Mrs. Pollifax! I hope you enjoy The Secret Life of Bees! Thanks for all the new ideas!

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

Hi Linda! When I worked at the public library there was a particular lady who always came in and loaded up on the most interesting sounding books! When I pulled holds I would always take a moment to examine her selections! 🤓 She turned me on to Inspector Morse books (I knew only of the TV series) and she recommended lots of nature books and also a mystery called The Tiger in the Smoke. So glad to see you back on KZread! Have a great weekend. 👍🏻

Thank you for your recommendations, Celeste! All the books seem very interesting. The Blank Wall especially intrigued me, sounds fascinating and I like Persephone Books. Have a great weekend!

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

Hi Daria! I’m super enjoying The Blank Wall! I think I’m going to need to read more of Elizabeth Sanxay Holding’s work! Have a great weekend!

Mary Stewart, Phyllis Whitney...you're singin' my tune, Celeste, I guess I should get on Mrs. Pollifax!

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

Hi, Margaret! Yes -- well, Mary Stewart and Phyllis Whitney are more gothic suspense/romance (yum!) whereas Mrs. Pollifax is a funny older woman who lives an invisible life in her quiet flat but through a comedy of errors gets drawn into international intrigues and life-threatening situations. There's comedy in the books --but also a bit of a mystery to solve, and each takes place in a different country. : )

@MargaretPinard

Ай бұрын

@@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366 yes, this still sounds up my alley!

A swimming pool and a Lido are the same thing really, but Lidos tend to be outdoors and often I think built in the 1920s or 30s and still used today. Swimming pools can be indoors or outdoors. I'm fairly sure I saw a documentary on the Hampstead Heath swimming ponds and I would say the set-up is pretty unusual for this country. More on the lines of wild swimming in a small lake but more civilised. I read A Town LIke Alice back in my teens. Nevil Shute was very much a recommended author back then for teens just coming out of children's or YA books. I plan a reread and would like to read Pied Piper too, which I have not read. I haven't read a lot of books set in Australia but my favourite is Down Under by Bill Bryson, it has another title in the US. True Grit is excellent... I've been reading around the USA since 2011. LOL! I've read the skiing Nancy Spain and enjoyed it. I've just finished What Would Jane Austen Do? by Linda Corbett, anticipating Jane Austen July rather. It was undemanding and fun. Excellent video, Celeste.

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

Hi Cath! Thanks for the wild swimming but more civilized description. I like that! Oh, my dad when he was alive loved Bill Bryson! . . . used to chuckle out loud when he read one of his books! Ha, you’ve read more around the US than I have, LOL! ☺️ Have a great weekend!

The Secret Life of Bees is a brilliant book which you must read.

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

I really want to get to that, this summer! It LOOKS good!

I just read a charming novel called The Lido by Libby Page; I learned that a Lido is an open-air swimming pool. 🙂 The first Mrs. Pollifax is on my Summer TBR this year.

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

I hope you really enjoy Mrs. Pollifax, Michael! I got a real kick out of it! I’ll check out The Lido- thanks for the suggestion!

I'm in the process of making my way through Newbery Medal winners (and honors), too. I haven't read Thimble Summer yet but it sounds like I'm going to really like it. Like you, I enjoy children's books that are about everyday life, especially if they're set in a time period or location that I haven't experienced myself. I'm going to bump this one up toward the top of my tbr.💜

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

Hi, Jessica! Thimble Summer is a great book-and not too long ago. I hope you love it! 😊

All the books sound terrific - I usually plan one book at a time . Two hopeful reads are “At The Pond” and “A Town Like Alice”.

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

Hi Betty! At the Pond is a light, lovely essay collection . . . very easy to get through in a weekend. I loved A Town Called Alice! I’m still having a bit of a reading hangover from it and I’m still thinking about it! 😊 Have a great weekend!

I am such a big fan of Elizabeth Von Arnim, so thank you for singing her praises! Another of my favorites of hers is The Benefactress. Happy reading!

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

Hi Barbara! My pleasure! Von Arnim has such a beautiful and engaging prose style, doesn’t she? I’ll check out The Benefactress -I’d never heard of that one before! Thanks so much for watching and reaching out. 😊

35:25 maybe more like Tuppence of Tommy and Tuppence? I need to stop commenting before you finish your thought… 39:17 what a lovely cover!

This is so interesting as usual. Yes, we love summer reading, but then we love reading all the time don’t we? 😊 I am trying to read through my Miss Marple books, and reread my Mary Stewart’s. Right now I’m reading The Moonspinners, which is a very summary book and I watched the older movie of it first. So I’m having fun doing that.😊❤😊

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

Ooh, The Moon Spinners! Such a good Summer read, and a Haley Mills movie always makes me very nostalgic for my childhood. ❤ And Miss Marple- you can’t beat her! Have fun and thanks so much for watching!

I read True Grit last week for June on the Range and absolutely loved it. I hope you enjoy it when you get around to it. The Personal History of Rachel Dupree sounds fabulous. What a great selection of books you’ve read/ plan to read. Plenty to add to my tbr. Really enjoyed this video. 😊

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

Thanks so much for watching! I will definitely head over to your channel and watch your video on True Grit! 😉

I absolutely love blue willow! I re-read it over and over as a child. And as an adult it set off my blue willow dishwater collection!

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

Hi Bonnie! So glad you enjoyed it! I’m looking forward to it. Blue Willow is so evocative and it’s been the basis for several stories. ☺️

Hi Celeste! Oh how I love your version of Thimble Summer! I will need to get that version!!! Are you an affiliate of Abebooks or Thrift Books so I can purchase through your links? Sometimes I think you and I are book soulmates! I was just thinking the other day how I really need to update my version of Thimble Summer. So many new books I had not heard of, ''A Town Like Alice' is going on my TBR. 'True Grit' has been on my TBR since I saw the Folio Society version! Thank you so much for reminding me! 'R in the Month' looks great too! Oh The Secret Life of Bees! Another one I need to get to! Thoroughly enjoyed this video - Ive been housecleaning like crazy as my Mom and Dad in Law are coming for a weekend visit and took a break with coffee in hand to watch your video! Lovely!!!!💙💙💙💙💙. Cant wait for your other book hauls!

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

Hi Heather! Thanks! I’m not currently an affiliate on any book buying sites but would like to be! I used to have a wishlist on Book Depository but unfortunately they shut down. I would like to be book soulmates! 🤓 So A Town Like Alice IS old fashioned and the way the narrator tells it, a bit reserved, but I personally LOVED it and alternated between being horrified and smiling romantically. I will definitely read more Neville Shute. I didn’t realize Folio published an edition of True Grit! I love Folio Editions but they are soooo expensive! Maybe some are available on eBay? . . . Thanks for watching and have fun with your family!

@WaterBearReads

Ай бұрын

@@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366 Pleasure!

Hi, first time watcher and new subscriber. Posted before I meant to. Oops. One of those days. 28:04 I love the movie “True Grit” (there is only the John Wayne movie for me. It might be a bit stubborn of me, but I didn’t think it needed to be remade); I didn’t realize there was a book. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. “Rooster Cogburn and the Lady” is the sequel to the original “True Grit”. Kathrine Hepburn plays John Wayne’s costar. Edit: Sorry if I insulted a movie you enjoyed. I grew up watching the original

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

Hi there and welcome! Thanks for watching! Yup, it’s based on the book! The John Wayne adaptation is great! Thanks for the clarification on Rooster C. 😊

Thank you for your recommendations and reviews of books outside the current bestsellers so many others discuss. If you are interested in a nonfiction book about a woman’s experiences in a Japanese POW camp I highly recommend Three Came Home by Agnes Newton Smith. She and her young son were captured in 1942 and held in civilian internee camps in North Borneo and Sarawak until 1945. A movie of the same title starring Claudette Colbert was released in 1950.

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

Hi Barbara! Three Came Home sounds so good! I looked at an article on the author and have put the book on my TBR. I’d never heard of this story before! ☺️

@Barbara-db7jh

Ай бұрын

Seems you found the author despite my getting her name wrong. Agnes Newton Keith is correct. Sorry about the mistake. I’d be interested to know your opinion.

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

@@Barbara-db7jh Yup! I looked it up by title and Agnes came up. : )

@Barbara-db7jh

Ай бұрын

@@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366 One more thing if I may. I know you are interested in books that have Australia as the setting but you like movies too. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, is one I recommend. Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, and Terrence Stamp play three drag queens on a quest that takes them across the outback from Sydney to Alice Springs. It’s a bit raunchy at times but very funny. It won an Oscar for Best Costume Design and the cinematography is amazing.

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

@@Barbara-db7jh I remember hearing about that from when I was younger, but have never seen it. I didn't realize those actors were in it!

I’m British! My understanding is the following: swimming pool- indoor tiled pool with changing facilities etc. Lido is an outdoor pool, usually with changing facilities etc. Swimming ponds are more natural outdoor, where there is not a tiled purpose built pool or treated water. Usually don’t have any facilities- often just a pond where open air swimming is permitted. That’s my understanding anyway xx

@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366

Ай бұрын

Thanks. Amanda! We call a swimming pool a swimming pool whether it’s inside or outside. We just change between “inside “ or “outside“. Or “indoor “ or “outdoor.” ☺️

@amandalavelle2638

Ай бұрын

@@areadersalmanacwithceleste1366 interesting! Just to add to the confusion we also have paddling pools which are very shallow outdoor pools for kids. Near me we have a splash pad as well, which is not a pool so there’s no standing water but there are loads of sprinklers, taps and a slide so kids can run through them and play. My kids absolutely love that and beg to go as soon as the weather gets warm enough (not now it has to be said- we’re having the coldest June so far in UK) xx

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT: My review of A Town Like Alice contains a few mild, ambiguous, generic spoilers. I don't think it's anything earth-shattering, but if you'd like to avoid those, skip from 19:00 to 22:00.