I'm back!!

I'm back!! Time flew by and I suddenly realised that I spent a month and a half away from the computer. Now I am back behind my desk and writing again. I had every intention of coming back sooner but sometimes real life presents us with some surprises. Mine has been a bit surprising and very challenging these past few weeks and I am not sure I'll be such a regular blogger in the future...

Still...  I managed to read quite a few books and I'll post the reviews in the next few days. I revisited some of my Agatha Christie books and once again I really enjoyed them, I have to say Christie is definitely one of my comfort authors. Another one is Mary Balogh, especially her older traditional regencies. I also finished one of the challenges I was involved in and I'll post my wrap up soon.

Other than that we spent a few days relaxing by the pool and enjoying the nature at Unhais da Serra. Highly recommended if you want to get away from the stress of civilization! Some of our photos below:

Going Away and other stuff

September is once again time to go on vacation. It's also a time to relax and spend some time away from the computer. I have reading plans, crafting plans, travelling plans and I do need to devote more time to myself so I'll be back to blogging only at the end of the month. 

I hadn't realised it before but this means I'll miss the 7 year anniversary of one of my groups. 7 years ago I founded a group devoted to the discussion and exchange of books. I had started reading in english only recently and had some problems finding cheap books here. I knew of many such groups but, due to high postal rates, they were only available if you lived in the US. That's how I came up with the idea of creating one just for european members.

There weren't many europeans lurking in forums and groups devoted to book exchange then. Nowadays there are many, and since Bookmooch and Bookcrossing helped making more books available the focus of the European Romance Trading Group has changed from mainly trading books to mainly discussing books. We have members of different european countries such as Spain, Italy, France, UK, Germany, Austria, Romania, Greece not to mention Portugal. And, although in the beginning it was mostly romance, we also discuss mysteries and thrillers, classic literature and whatever else comes to our mind.

So if you like books and would like to talk about them with other like minded people, all located in Europe, you are hereby invited to join us at the ERTG. I promise I'll greet everyone when I get back!

See you in October!

Coming back!

Zambujeira do Mar

Albufeira

Yep, it was pool, beach and countryside for almost two weeks. Perfect to forget your worries and relax before getting back to work.

Going Away!!

We're off to two weeks at the beach and I'll come back to blogging at the end of June. Till then!

And... This blog is Back!!

I'm back from vacation! Ready to start working again and to start reading and reviewing at good rythm too. I actually read quite a few good books these past few weeks, I especially enjoyed the much talked about The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society which was even better, and more surprising, than I expected. But I read others too so expect lots of reviews in the next few days.

I must confess that I had been feeling a bit tired and with little wish to blog lately. I do love all the blogs I participate in besides my own but I must confess that sometimes the pressure of wanting to post reviews so I can chat about the books I read (or movies I watch) gets to me. It's highly addictive yes, but it's also stressful when you start to think that you need to read more and faster. Is it just me or does it happen to you too?

Fortunately that bad feeling only comes once or twice a year and at the moment I'm quite ready to take on the TBR pile and start blogging regularly again. Being away these past two weeks made me miss all the buzz of the BBAW Awards. It seems there are some interesting memes around so I'll go catch up on those and see which ones I can still participate in.

I received quite a few books while away (I'll post a picture of the pile in the next few days)however, the fact that the mentioned TBR pile is getting bigger, and that I'm having trouble with space available for all the books I read, I decided that besides trading my extra copies and read books at Bookmooch I'll now sell them at Bibliofeira too. This is a portuguese site so this is mainly a heads up for my portuguese readers. :-) But... I'm also planning a couple of giveaways here at the blog so stay tuned for more info!

I guess that's it for now, I got a bit carried away and this seems like an overly long post... sorry! Tomorrow we resume the regular schedule. ;-)

This Blog is Going on Vacation

I'm off to the beach, hopefully for two weeks of much needed rest and relaxation. I'll be back on Sep 21st. Since there are no good holidays without books this is what I'm taking with me:

Travel Map

1. London, UK
2. Prague, Czech Republic

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