Throwback Thursday: October 2012

Posted on December 8, 2022 by WordsAndPeace

#ThrowbackThursday

Revisiting what I posted 10 years ago
(my blog was born on September 29, 2010)
following the idea I found at The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog
(click on this link or the logo to see where the idea started from,
and to post the link to your own post).

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Today, I’m revisiting October 2012.
I published 20 posts, 9 of which being book reviews.

Of these books, here is the one that received most views then:

Click on the covers to know more

I liked it a lot, as I have liked most of Morton’s books (by the way, she has another one, Homecoming, coming out on April 4, 2022).
I’m actually rather proud of my review of this one, so please have a look ;-).

Two other books read that month stayed with me:

Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal
is a very inspiring book. If I had been younger when I read it, and with no obligation, I may just have left for Nepal right away!

The Housekeeper and the Professor
is a very gentle quiet literary novel.
The author has many genres upher sleeve. The Memory Police is excellent as well, but in a very different genre.

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HAVE YOU READ THESE BOOKS?
PLEASE SHARE YOUR THROWBACK THURSDAY POST
My next post on this meme will be on January 12

Throwback Thursday: April-May 2012

Posted on July 7, 2022 by WordsAndPeace

#ThrowbackThursday

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Today, I’m revisiting April-May 2012.
I took a long trip in France in April 2012, so I only posted once.

In May 2012, I published 20 posts, 6 of these were reviews. Others were book memes, picture memes, and posts on my French trip.

Of these books, here is the one that received most views:

Click on the covers to know more

This was my discovery of Kate Morton, and I ended up reading all her other books after that.
This is one of the rare audiobooks (the only one maybe even) I found so captivating that I ended up just sitting on the couch to finish it. I usually only listen to audiobooks while doing chores around the house.
It’s also the only audiobook I bought a print copy after listening to it!

Two other books were important for me that month:

Check on the covers to know more why I consider them so important.
Briefly here:
The Secret Garden is a magical classic, that inspired The Forgotten Garden, mentioned here above.
As for Italo Calvino‘s book, I discovered with this stunning book he was a major author of the Oulipo movement (which has mostly French authors).
Since then, I have read other books by Calvino, and I have launched into teaching myself Italian, just for the pleasure to read him in Italian!

So I can only conclude that May 2012 was a very important month of discoveries for me.

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HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK?
PLEASE SHARE YOUR THROWBACK THURSDAY POST
My next post on this meme will be on August 4

2018: November wrap-up

Posted on November 30, 2018 by WordsAndPeace

November wrap-up

It’s been now over a month that I have changed the theme of my blog and have chosen a static clean homepage. I really love it. I manually change the icons for last reviews, etc, so it’s a good incentive to have more things going on, review and meme wise.
And November has definitely been a busy month on the blog!
See for instance below under Blog Milestones and events.

Here is what I read in November:

8 books:
6 in print
= with 1,872 pages, an average of 62.4 pages/day
2 in audio
= with 21H35, an average of 43 mn/day

2 in fiction:

Love in lowercase, by Francesc Miralles
Little Culinary Triumphs, by Pascale Pujol – ebook for review

2 in mystery:

Ne lâche pas ma main, by Michel Bussi – audio
Skeleton Key, by Anthony Horowitz

2 in historical fiction:

The Clockmaker’s Daughter, by Kate Morton
The Blue, by Nancy Bilyeau – ebook for review

1 in Nonfiction:

Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles

1 in science-fiction:

Armada, by Ernest Cline – audio
I already read this book in 2015. The note my the audiobook I just listened is at the end of my review, just before the “verdict”

MY FAVORITES IN NOVEMBER

READING CHALLENGES RECAP

Classics Club: 24/50 (until end of 2020) or 36/62!
The 2018 TBR Pile Challenge: 3/12, but none reviewed yet !!
Where Are You Reading?: 21/50 – to be finished in ??
Total of books read in 2018= 63/100
Number of books added to my TBR this past month= 33

MOST POPULAR BOOK REVIEW THIS PAST MONTH

click on the cover to access my review

MOST POPULAR POST THIS PAST MONTH
– NON BOOK REVIEW –

Born a Crime chapter 9-14:
read along at Book Bloggers International

BOOK BLOG THAT BROUGHT ME MOST TRAFFIC THIS PAST MONTH

Sophisticated Dorkiness
please go visit

TOP COMMENTERS OF THE MONTH

Judy at Keep the Wisdom
Karen at Booker Talk
Kristyn at Reading to Unwind

BLOG MILESTONES AND EVENTS

1,862 posts
over 4,590 subscribers
over 165,980 hits

Be sure to check the giveaways posted on my homepage!

November was busy with Nonfiction November
The Classics Spin #19 draw
I managed to do a video on a great French author of thrillers
I got my very first review posted on Criminal Element!
And regular participation in several memes, as you can see on my homepage. I have been enjoying more traffic and comments. It’s really fun to interact with all of you!

Plus, did you notice that ALL the book titles posted this month have already been reviewed? This is almost the first time ever, because I’m getting into the habit of posting short reviews when possible, finally!!

On the other hand, I gave up on weekly NaNoWriMo, where I was planning to list all the articles I translate everyday for Orthodoxie.com/en. I realized I was spending way too much time with those listings, so I only did it once. Maybe next year, I will write a real book??

PLANS FOR DECEMBER

Read the Classic I got with Classics Spin #19
Read the surprise book a staff of my library is picking for me – it’s the 2nd year they’ve been doing this winter challenge, I love it!
Start reading some 2019 releases
Post the couple of Reading Challenges I plan to do in 2019
Do more short reviews for books read this year
Post a couple more giveaways around Christmas