The Travelling Bibliophile

Gemma

Why I Love My JORD Wood Watch

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JORD wood watch Frankie photo by The Travelling Bibliophile

And no, it is not because this is a sponsored post.
Let’s just get that out of the way. I prefer to maintain my integrity as a blogger, thank you very much!

Now if you read this post all the way through, you can get a chance to win USD 100 to use to purchase a JORD wood watch!

I’ve actually been looking into buying a wood watch for a while. If you’re like me, you might have done your research and looked into a lot of the different brands manufacturing wood watches. But let me tell you why I think JORD is one of the best brands to pop your wood watch cherry. …

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Cliveden Literary Festival: History, Politics, and Decadence at Cliveden House

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Cliveden Literary Festival - Cliveden House Hotel facadeCliveden House Hotel (photo from Luxurious Magazine)cliveden literary festival

 
One of my many interests is visiting stately homes and historic residences. There’s a few of them in London, but the remarkably grand ones are outside the capital, far from any form of public transport. Palatial houses come with extensive grounds and beautiful gardens after all.

My husband and I keep a list of houses we want to visit but we’ve never come across Cliveden House. It is jointly owned and looked after by the National Trust and Iconic Luxury Hotels. The former handles the gardens and the grounds while the latter manages the house as a luxury hotel.

Imagine my delight when I was asked to look around the place in anticipation of the Cliveden Literary Festival!

So why hold one at Cliveden House? That would involve some history-telling, so bear with me and I’ll try to keep this as short as possible!…

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Mirror Shoulder Signal: A Thought-Provoking Read

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Mirror Shoulder Signal by Dorthe NorsMirror Shoulder Signal

Mirror Shoulder Signal was written by Danish author Dorthe Nors and translated to English by Misha Hoesktra for Pushkin Press. It was shortlisted for the 2017 ManBooker International Prize.

It tells the story of Sonja, a forty-year-old woman living in Copenhagen, who is single and lives away from her family. Sonja was born in the rural area of Jutland and fled to the capital in an attempt to make something of herself; to be something else other than the typical narrative of girls who were born and grown up in the area and has never left its confines.

I finished the book in two to three days. Granted, I had an off day from work where I did nothing else but read, but it is also a short book. With its bright tones and very relatable topic to most readers, is this a summer read to take with you to the beach?

…

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Yesterday by Felicia Yap: Crime and Science Fiction in One Book

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Yesterday by Felicia YapYesterday by Felicia Yap

Summer 2016:   I hear about a book written by a female author from Southeast Asia with a very interesting concept:

There are two types of people in the world: those who can only remember yesterday (Monos), and those who can also recall the day before (Duos). You have just one lifeline to the past: your diary. Each night, you write down the things that matter. Each morning, your diary tells you where you were, who you loved and what you did.

Today, the police are at your door. They say that the body of your husband’s mistress has been found in the River Cam. They think your husband killed her two days ago.

Can you trust the police? Can you trust your husband? Can you trust yourself?

Felicia Yap grew up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and studied biochemistry at Imperial College London, then earned a doctorate in history at Cambridge University. …

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TBR List Check-Up: Books I Planned To Read From the First Half of 2017

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My TBR Books from the First Half of 2017

My TBR Books from the First Half of 2017

Last week’s Top Ten Tuesday (which is sadly on holiday — how will we survive?!) was about the best books you’ve read during the first half of 2017. Unfortunately, I am unable to recall off the top of my head anything that absolutely stands out (I’m blaming depression and anxiety for this). I had to check my Goodreads shelves, and I don’t have enough to make a full list of ten books!

However, I have enough on my TBR (that’s To Be Read for you non-bookish people) list of books that have been published since January 2017 here in the UK that I have been planning to read but still haven’t gotten to. (Is this a familiar story or what?) …

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