A is for Aaronovich (A-Z Challenge 2026) 1/4/26

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 A authors I've read are:

• Aaronovitch Ben
• Adams Douglas & Milly
• Ahern Cecelia
• Alcott Louis M.
• Alderman Naomi
• Alger Christina
• Ali Monica
• Anderson Celia
• Andrews V C
• Archer Jeffrey
• Arlidge M J
• Arnold Johann Christoph
• Ashe Lucy
• Ashley Tricia
• Ashton Juliet
• Atkins Dani & Lucy
• Atkinson Kate
• Atwood Margaret &
• Austen Jane

The standout author on this list for me is M J Arlidge – I’ve read 10 of his books which all feature Detective Helen Grace and are set in the south of England.  I love a good crime thriller and these haven’t disappointed.

I loved Louisa May Alcott’s books as a child – Little Women etc. and I can also remember reading the Flowers in the Attic series by V C Andrews.  I was a little surprised to find my 13 year old reading Flowers in the Attic from her Catholic school library though.

At the time I started preparing this post (June 25!) I’d only managed to read Pride and Prejudice by Austen despite having the complete works.  I’ve earmarked 2 more to read by the end of the year for the 52 Book Club challenge.

I do like to stretch myself.  Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy is an example of that.  Not my usual choice but it's on the BBC list.  Not my usual genre of crime fiction or chick lit but it was a fairly easy read.

Funny how with some authors you can love one of their books but hate something else.  (Although I very rarely DNF (did not finish) a book.  Both Cecelia Ahern and Monica Ali fall into that category.  I enjoyed Ahern’s PS I love you but almost DNF A Place called here.  Monica Ali’s debut Brick Lane was quite good but her novel Untold Story was another one that was a slog.

I read Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and found it quite chilling.  I haven’t managed to watch much of the TV series though but I would like to read The Testaments at some point. (Although I’d probably need to reread Handmaid’s Tale first to refresh my memory!

So these are my A authors.  Have you read any of their books?  What’s your favourite genre?

PS I’ve now read Sense and Sensibility by Austen and I have Mansfield Park on my “to read” list for this year’s 52 Book Club challenge.

In the News this Week - 31/3/26

is taking a break!

I hadn't taken the time to prepare a post and honestly, the news is just to awful to write about at the moment.  And.... tomorrow the A-Z Challenge starts.

Thankfully I have a few posts done and set to post so that's given me a bit of breathing space. But I do need to get a few more posts prepared so that I'm ahead of myself especially with Easter coming and a visit from our Nottingham family on Sunday for a few days.

We're also away overnight on Thursday for a funeral so time is slipping away.  

Hopefully normal service will be resumed in May when the A-Z challenge is over and maybe there might be better news to relay.  

I'm also trying very hard to beat my Wordle unbroken sequence.  It's getting a bit tense lol.

A bit of Waffle - 30/3/26

Well its nearly time for bed so this will be a short waffle.  I'm feeling quite tired tonight - our clocks went forward this weekend so I lost an hour but I've also had a couple of nights where Hubby's snoring has nearly had me decamping to the spare room.  His CPAP machine came up with an error message on Saturday so he wasn't able to use it on Saturday night or last night.  This morning I suggested he turned it off for a bit - as in completely unplug it and also check the water chamber was installed correctly.  Turns out it works the same as the computer - when in doubt turn it off and on to reboot it and it magically solves the problem.  Hopefully it will still be ok tonight and I might sleep better.

It's been 2 months now since I started taking a collagen supplement and I do think I'm usually sleeping better.  It might be more due to taking the collagen in a milky drink before bed than the actual collagen but it's still a win for me.  I also think my hair has improved and more recently the aches in my lower back and hips have been less.  I think my knees might be beyond redemption but we'll see.

I'm also trying to get more into the habit of reading when I go to bed than reaching for my phone.  I have soooooo many books to read.  I've just finished the one the afternoon book club chose so now I'm moving on to the book the evening group picked. 

Tonight we had a quick visit to wish our Grandson Nathan Happy Birthday for tomorrow - they have plans so we won't see him on the day.  I can still remember every detail of the day he was born and the difficult first few months.  (He was very premature.)  But tomorrow he will be 9!  I'm sure he will have cake tomorrow but there was cake today too!

💖

Weekly Photos 22nd to 28th March 2026

Hmm not the best week for photos!

This was Sunday morning.  The parakeets were waiting for food.

Monday - these were over a week old then but still looking ok.

Tuesday was the day I did some jobs in the garden.  A tidy shed area and fairy lights!

Wednesday - nothing to see here! I forgot to take a picture :(

Thursday - I took this on my way home form the Foodbank.  I just liked the cloud formation in the blue sky.

Friday - progress on the jumper and Mr (or Mrs) Squirrel having a feast just after I had filled the bird feeders up.  He/she just seems to know somehow when there's new food.

Saturday morning v Saturday late evening.

I thought it might have actually gone past midnight but according to my camera I was still on Saturday - just - when I put the last piece in.

I find doing a jigsaw quite relaxing but it's also a bit addictive.

I'm still not quite in the habit of taking a photo every day but I have already taken one today so that's next week started.