Kiwillow Reads and Crafts

I am so blessed to have an ever increasing collection of cookbooks and in 2020 I am challenging myself to start actually coking from these books on a more regular basis This week I have already cooked two recipes from Ching He Heungs books  which are firm favourites in my household, Chili Chicken and Sweet and Sour Duck, and today I cooked these absolutely scrummy Butternet Squash, Feta and Chilli Rolls from the fabulous Sabrina Ghayours Bazaar Cookbook. These were stunning and fairly simple to make.  Mr A loved them and is definitely a hit and I will be cooking again soon. How is your January going? Love Lesley

As a new decade and new year begins, it is a time for reflection and hopes for the future. The last decade has been a mixed bag of emotions, experiences, challenges and hardship. I've travelled to some fantastic places, Florida, Spain, Croatia, Corfu, Albania, Rhodes, Slovenia, Malta, Budapest, the Phillipines, Lithuania, Devon, Montenegro, Venice, Austria, London, Windsor, Liverpool. I was made redundant from a job that I had for thirteen years and loved.  I got another job that I hated and which made me ill and which I am still recovering from. And I now have another job which is OK but in which I am unfulfilled. I have made friends but also lost contact with a few.  Also I have had to say goodbye to family members (both mine and Mr A's)who have sadly passed away. I have adjusted to my brother no longer living a quarter mile away to him being 60 miles away and only seeing him every couple of months.  Although we speak to each other every day either by ...

I have set my target of 60 books for the year so that averages out at 5 books a month so for each month I will set my TBR to that and anything else read in the month will be a bonus. My selection for this month is as follows: Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone by JK Rowling The Glassblowers by Daphne Du Maurier.  This is the Laurenandthebooks Patreon book club book. A Winters Promise by Christelle Dabos The triumphs of Grace Atherton by Anstey Harris How to be Happy of Eva Woods I hope you have a good reading month in January Love Lesley xx

As previously posted on this blog, I like to set some goals in September which is my birthday month and nothing has really changed since then. I am setting my Goodreads goal to 60 again, but I am not putting any pressure on myself to hit 90 books like I did last year. I would like to read all the Harry Potter books I would like to read the Dark Materials trilogy and then the rest of the Book of Dust series by Philip Pullman. I would like to read more "classics" Continue participating in Laurenandthebooks Patreon Book Club Continue using my local library Continue reading my vast library on my Kindle Create my own physical reading room in my spare room.  I am totally envious of Simons from Savidge Reads.  He's is gorgeous. Wishing you happy readings in this new year and new decade Love Lesley xx

I can't believe that 2019 is gone and we are now in 2020.  The year has just flown by. 2019 has been a great reading year for me.  I set my Goodreads challenge to 60 books but I am pleased to say I read 90 books which to me is pretty amazing. the books I read are as follows in monthly order  January * Americanah by Chimamanda Ngosi Adiche I started reading at the end of 2018 but completed at the beginning of January. 4 stars * The Cactus by Sarah Haywood This was Laurenandthebooks Patreon book club choice I gave 5 stars * The Restless Girls by Jessie Burton and illustrated by Angela Barrett 4 stars * A keeper by Graham Norton 5 Stars *  Names of the Sea by Sarah Moss First non fiction of the year 4 stars * The Seven deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton This was much hyped in 2019 and it really had me gripped 5 stars *. Wonder by R J Palacio I watched the film before I read the book. I enjoyed both 4 stars * Feminists don't w...

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year 2020. I hope your year is full of love and happiness and lots of reading of course Love Lesley xxxxx