K is for Kabler (A-Z Challenge 2026) 13/4/26

The A-Z home page can be found here.

My theme this year is authors that I've read. More about the books I've read than the authors themselves.

I'm an avid reader. I'm a member of 2 in person reading groups through my local library. I'm gradually working my way through an old BBC reading list of 100 books (I'm about half way through) and I'm taking part in the online 52 Book Club Challenge for the third time this year where the challenge is to read 52 books over the year based on 52 different prompts. You can also find me on Goodreads here.

The K authors I've read are:

• Kabler Jackie
• Kay Adam
• Kelk Lindsey
• Kellerman Faye
• Kelly Cathy
• Kernick Simon
• Keyes Daniel
• Keyes Marian
• Kidd Sue Monk
• King Sophie
• Kingsolver Barbara
• Kinsella Sophie
• Kinsley Erin
• Knapp Florence
• Kondo Marie
• Koomson Dorothy
• Koontz Dean
• Krauss Nicole

A nice selection of K authors here with Marian Keyes taking top place with 8 of her books on my list.  Several of those were about the Walsh family and they featured in a television series recently which I enjoyed.

Barbara Kingsolver is there and I expect you can all guess that means I've read Demon Copperhead which in my opinion lived up to its hype and I gave it 5 starts.  The trouble with that one though was that I had to read David Copperfield by Dickens first to be able to see the comparisons.  That was the first long Dickens I've read and it took me a while.  Demon Copperhead took me over two weeks but it was during the Christmas period.

Another 5 star book from these authors is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.  I really loved this book. The main character Lily's journey of understanding her past is sensitively done and interwoven in the book is a lot of information about bee keeping.  I do like it when there is more to a book than just the story.

Florence Knapp's "The Names" is on here.  I found the premise of this book interesting - how does the choice of a name affect our lives going forward? The name choice isn't what really affects the life of the baby in the book but rather the effect its Mother Cora's decision has on her marriage and the events that follow. It should be noted that the marriage is an abusive one. Overall it's a good debut but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's great so 4 stars from me.

There are no real classics on this list but there is a non-fiction book - "The life-changing magic of tidying up" by Marie Kondo.  I'd seen some TV programmes featuring her and my daughter had a copy of the book to lend me but I was surprised it was just a small paperback.  I'd expected something more glossy and with pictures.  There were some useful tips in there and I'm sure if we ever truly downsized I might revisit it but I'm fortunate to have space and storage option in my house.  Much needed for all the books!

Are there a lot of books in your home?

Weekly photos 5th - 11th April 2026

Firstly a big thank you to everyone who has been commenting on my A-Z posts (and my regular posts).  I do appreciate it.  Unfortunately I haven't been as good at responding as I'd like.  This was a busy week with grandchildren here and now I have a rotten cold.  One that has a tickly cough with it.  I woke up in the early hours this morning doing nothing but cough.  Deciding I needed to be propped up I came downstairs and wrapped myself up on the recliner.  I also took some honey in warm water which helped but not the most restful of nights.

Not all doom and gloom though.  For once I said no to a visit from our granddaughter - didn't want to spread my germs so I've been able to relax all day.  I've managed to get all of this week's A-Z posts finished off and scheduled to post so one less thing to worry about. (Until next weekend at least.)

But as for photos well let's see how I did:

No photo taken on Sunday but this was my reading book:

This was taken on Monday.  Not sure what they were begging for, might have been dessert as we'd just finished dinner.

Tuesday had Noah and Daddy playing draughts

and Miles blowing bubbles.

Nathan & Ella were here all day Wednesday - it was the warmest day so far this year I think.  Warm enough for ice lollies anyway.

Four of them here on Thursday and racing cars kept them amused for ages!

On Friday we spotted that Miles had left some of his Easter treats behind so I packaged them up to be posted.  They were supposed to be collected from the house and although I was in all day I didn't hear the postman.  I suspect he didn't knock very hard let alone ring the doorbell!  Thankfully I rearranged collection on Saturday from the front porch.  Not secure but the parcel wasn't visible from passers by and was successfully collected.  Hopefully Miles will get them early this week.

I didn't take any photos yesterday.  I was busy reading this:

Pretty grim reading but it was written by Peter Apps who was at the same school my boys attended.  He was in the year between them.  I also have a book lined up written by his sister and the two together will fulfil two of the 52 book club challenge prompts.  My review of the book can be found here.       

J is for Jakob (A-Z Challenge 2026) 11/4/26

The A-Z home page can be found here.

My theme this year is authors that I've read. More about the books I've read than the authors themselves.

I'm an avid reader. I'm a member of 2 in person reading groups through my local library. I'm gradually working my way through an old BBC reading list of 100 books (I'm about half way through) and I'm taking part in the online 52 Book Club Challenge for the third time this year where the challenge is to read 52 books over the year based on 52 different prompts. You can also find me on Goodreads here.

The J authors I've read are:

• Jakob Juno
• James P D
• James Peter
• Jane Corry
• Jeffrey Diane
• Jewell Lisa
• Johnson Alan
• Johnson Milly
• Jonasson Jonas
• Jones Christina
• Jones Wendy
• Jonsson Ulrika
• Joyce Rachel

Well a few more authors for J and I had to read the one by my namesake (Juno Jakob) titled Atticus. This book details living with schizophrenia, in particular during hospitalization. It's a hard read in that it's graphic - bad language occurs frequently throughout the book and it's dark. But it feels truthful and although sad at times it is also hopeful. Atticus is a fox that appears in the main characters hallucinations.

The book was recommended to me by one of my DILs as it was quite short and fitted a prompt for the 2025 52 Book Club challenge.

Lisa Jewell is my most read author on that list but despite not having many authors on the list there are a few quirky titles:

The Hundred-year-old man who climbed out of the window and disappeared (Jonas Jonasson)

The thoughts and happenings of Wilfred Price, Purveyor of Superior Funerals (Wendy Jones) and

The Unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry. (Rachel Joyce)

The Harold Fry was a book club read which I enjoyed and it has since been made into a film which I hope to get around to watching at some point.

There's also an autobiography on there (Please, Mr Postman by Alan Johnson a former MP.) which is not my usual genre and I definitely wouldn't recommend this one. It covers a relatively short period of his life when he worked as a postman and was heavily involved in the union. It was soooo boring. A good snapshot of life at the time but it certainly didn't make me want to read about any more of his life!

Do you enjoy autobiographies?

Friday's Fave Five - 10th April 2026

It's Friday again so time to link up with Susanne here to share the things we're grateful for over this past week.

1)  Firstly I'm grateful for Susanne for providing this link up each week, even when things aren't always going smoothly for her, setting us all a good example and making us think.

2)  A meal out with my daughter and her family last Saturday.  

It's nice now they're that bit older and the restaurant is quite child friendly.

3)  Our son and his family were here from Sunday until yesterday so having grandchildren around is definitely a fave.

4)  Automatic machines that make life easier - the dishwasher was on the go a lot this week and I've got through a lot of washing today and I haven't even started on the bedding and towels yet.

5)  A very lazy day today.  I've got some sort of cold virus going on and haven't felt great since yesterday.  Today I've taken advantage of having a quiet house to ourselves and spent most of the day reading this:

I'd started it a couple of days ago and finished it today. I'm going to have an early night and recharge my batteries.

Have a good weekend all.  I'll try and get around to your blogs tomorrow.