Greetings you guys! Where did March go? When I searched for my Library Card now, I’ve realized we never did a Library Card for March. Good grief! Our last one was for February. No idea how this happened. I am at least very proud to report back that we have completed our February Library Card with only one book that ended up being a DNF.
April has quite a few public holidays coming up and we have quite a few books to get through so we are very grateful for the upcoming public holidays.
My Mommy had Book Club on Wednesday night and she brought the follow books back for this month’s reading:
Book Club
- The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper is actually still my Mommy’s book and it should go out of Book Club in July. She hasn’t read it yet though and we don’t want it to just disappear onto the shelf again.
- The Maid by Nita Prose is a brand new addition to the Club and yes, my Mommy called first deps. Very excited for this one due to all the brilliant reviews.
- The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak finally came home with her. I do hope that the book is as beautiful as the cover.
ARC / For Review
Audio Books
I don’t think we’ll get to anything else this month!
Readalong
We’ve been invited to take part in an Instagram Readalong and we couldn’t be more excited! We are scheduled to start on Monday, but I think we might be delayed with a few days as many of us haven’t received our books yet. You can follow me on Instagram for more on this book and the readalong.
Seeing that it’s the weekend and we have all these wonderful books to read, let’s join our Weekend Book Friends to see what everyone is reading this weekend.
Our choice for this weekend is a book that’s actually not on our list as it is a last minute addition. Next week marks the 110 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. We try to read a Titanic-theme book every year in honor of the tragic events in early April 1912. This year we are reading:
Kaspar, Prince of Cats by Michael Morpurgo Published by Harper Collins on January 7th, 2010
Genres: Childrens, Historical Fiction
Pages: 207
Format: Paperback
Source: VCS
Goodreads
A heart-warming, colour-illustrated novel about Kaspar the Savoy cat, from the award-winning author of Born to Run and The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips.
Kaspar the cat first came to the Savoy Hotel in a basket - Johnny Trott knows, because he was the one who carried him in. Johnny was a bell-boy, you see, and he carried all of Countess Kandinsky's things to her room.
But Johnny didn't expect to end up with Kaspar on his hands forever, and nor did he count on making friends with Lizziebeth, a spirited American heiress. Pretty soon, events are set in motion that will take Johnny - and Kaspar - all around the world, surviving theft, shipwreck and rooftop rescues along the way. Because everything changes with a cat like Kaspar around. After all, he's Prince Kaspar Kandinsky, Prince of Cats, a Muscovite, a Londoner and a New Yorker, and as far as anyone knows, the only cat to survive the sinking of the Titanic…
For our first stop, we will pay a visit to @ Reading is my Super Power for First Line Friday and to Gilion @ Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings. Every Friday you can link up and share the first sentence of your current read (or the one you plan to devour over the weekend), as well as your initial thoughts and impressions.
This beautiful book opens with the following lines:
Prince Kaspar Kandinsky first came to the Savoy Hotel in a basket. I know because I was the one who carried him in. I carried all the Countess’ luggage that morning, and I can tell you, she had an awful lot of it. But I was a bell-boy so that was my job: to carry luggage, to open doors, to say good morning to every guest I met, to see to their every need, from polishing their boots to bringing them their telegrams.
For our next stop, we will pay a visit to Freda’s Voice who hosts the Friday 56. Don’t show up empty handed though!
Grab a book (Yes, any book. But it might get you to your other Friday activities a bit quicker if you just grab the book you are currently reading)- Turn to page 56 or 56% on your e-reader
- Find a sentence or two (your other Friday activities might determine this)
- Post it!
- Remember to post your link on Freda’s Voice and to visit the other guys in the linky.
- And last but not least, don’t forget to list the title of the book and the author as well.
A passage from page 56:
He didn’t yowl but he didn’t eat either. He just lay there curled up on my bed sleeping, and hardly moved. When I left him to go on duty downstairs in the lobby he took very little notice of me. And he took very little notice of me when I came back either. Mary O’Connell tried to feed him, tried to talk him into it, but he wasn’t interested. Almost everyone on the corridor had a go. We tried chicken, salmon, even caviar once – anything Mary could filch from the kitchen without being noticed.
I wonder what made Kaspar so sad that he didn’t even want to eat salmon. I have never been that sad.
What are you reading this weekend? Have you read any of our library picks for this month?
Have a wonderful weekend!
Oh I love this post idea! Though I haven’t read any of these I’m glad you liked them.
Ash @ Essentially Ash
Thanks Ash! I always find it easier if I can link a few memes/link-ups together. The idea of my Library Card is just to keep track of what needs to happen in my reading life. I never post it before we haven’t had Book Club, because those books sometimes determine a lot of what I plan for the month.
Thanks for stopping by!
What a cool book idea for a historical children’s book.
Hi Danielle!
It was a brilliant story and based on a true legend in the Savoy Hotel, London. A wonderful read for young and old.
Cool!! I’ll have to see if it’s at my library for my boys.
Michael Morpurgo is a huge favorite here with us, I hope it is with you guys too!
Thank you!!
Sounds like a delightful story!! Happy weekend!
Hi Freda! It was delightful yes! Will review it towards the end of the week.
I think I’ve read this one but I’ve also read The Housemaid and the Housekeeper, I think, and I can’t keep them straight!
My mother in law had a very similar comment! LOL!!
How does your Book Club work that you come home with three books to read? Super curious! I am hoping to read quite a bit this weekend too, but looks like most of my reading will be tomorrow (if I get to it).
Hi Cindy! Oh we have the best Book Club! We don’t pick a book to read for the month, but rather everyone pays a monthly fee and then we a have a host every month. If you are the host, you get all the money and can go and buy books of your choice. The only “rule” is that the books that you’ve bought remain in the book club for a year. After a year, you can take your books home. It works very well and we read a very diverse selection of books that way!
Elza, that is very unique. I have never heard of one doing it this way. Do you mind me asking how much is the fee? How many are in your book club?
Hi Cindy!
I’ve started our Book Club 5 years ago and we are between 10 and 12 members. One for every month of the year. I used to keep it at 10 members, but I actually had a waiting list…!! LOL!! And decided to bump it to 12.
R100 per person is less than 10$…. I think the exchange rate is about R15 to 1$ at the moment. Most book shops also give discount to Book Clubs if you are registered and of course we are! So we always have a wonderful selection of books, About 80% of us are Afrikaans first language as well, so we support local a lot.
Yes! I’m intrigued by Kaspar, Prince of Cats! It sounds like a heartwarming adventure book.
Hi Wendy! It is a beautiful story and based on a legend in the Savoy Hotel in London. I loved the story and the background was lovely. It’s a quick read as well and it just took me an hour or two to finish.
I hope you are having a good weekend!
Happy Friday!
I’m just starting The Valet’s Secret by Josi S. Kilpack, so I’ll share the first line from there.
“If Kenneth Bartholomew Winterton had learned anything in his life, it was that there were things a man could live without and there were things that were entirely essential.”
Hope you have a great weekend! 😀❤📚
That sounds like a good opening indeed.
In the days of valets and ladies maids, I believe the most secrets were kept in all of history.
Kaspar looks like my kind of book.
Hope you have a great weekend!
Hi Yvonne!
I’ve just finished it and it was wonderful! Yes!! You would love it for sure.
I bet Project Hail Mary would be awesome on Goodreads!
I’m not very far in with Project Hail Mary, there wasn’t much time for audio books this week. But so far I am enjoying it a lot and think it will remain a hit for me.
Wow, I didn’t realize it’ll be 110 years since the Titanic sunk. Kaspar, Prince of Cats sounds really good. Thanks for sharing! Hope you have a wonderful weekend! 🙂
Hi Ashley!
Yes, can’t believe it’s been so many years and still so relevant and “current”.
It’s cold and rainy weather here with us, perfect for some reading and relaxing.