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Linky Wednesday - the one with the Sri Lanka books

I did a brief holiday report yesterday (here) and today I'm going to report on the books I read while I was away. I haven't reviewed any of these yet, so that's my task for the next few days.

When we left I was reading The Hungry Ghosts  by Shyam Selvadurai, which is a book about a Sri Lankan family, power, and the emigrant experience (available on Kobo plus if you subscribe). 

In my last book post I commented that I had yet to find a Sri Lankan rom com. the day before we left I found and requested The Star of Ceylon by Clare Flynn on NetGalley. I got approved before we left.

It's an historical romance, and was really good. It was very enjoyable being in Kandy and seeing the tennis courts at the lake and then reading about tennis courts at the lake! That's just a minor detail, but it was very evocative. I then took a break from Sri Lanka books, with a review copy of Moonrising by Claire Barner. 

This is a near future ecothriller, with some romance thrown in. I really enjoyed it and really enjoyed lying in a hammock with the sound of the sea, reading about moon travel.

Then, knowing I was nearly coming home I read He Died with a Felafel in His Hand by John Birmingham, which is a tale of house shares in Australia in the late '80s. I originally read this in the mid 1990, before I moved out of home and spent my own 10 years living in house-shares, hostels and the occasional campsite. This was the annotated version, with John's footnotes from the present and it was a nice wander down nostalgia lane.

Which brings us to the present. While I have Kobo plus I'm catching up with some Victoria Goddard novellas (The Sisters Avramapul Series). After that I think I'll get started on my June NetGalley reads - I'm pretty clear until late June and then July is going to be an epic review month, so I'd like to get a headstart. First book will be an historical set in 1920s Shanghai - The Master Jeweler by Weina Dai Randel.

And the crafting? Well, I spent our entire trip knitting a grey oversized 4 ply jumper. 


I'm actually up to the cuff on the second sleeve, but I need to extend the first sleeve, just a bit. I will separately write a full post about the jumper once it's finished, probably on the weekend.

I loved being away and I loved our holiday and having time to read and knit, but I cannot tell you how excited I am to be back where my spinning wheel is. I'm going to sit down tonight and continue the project I was enjoying so much before our break. 

I'm joining in with Kat from As Kat Knits for Unravelled Wednesday and Kat from the Bookdate for It's Monday, What Are You Reading.  This week I'm also linking up with Sam from Taking on a World of Words for WWW Wednesday where we talk about what we are currently reading, what we have just finished and what we are going to read next. 


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Comments

  1. Becky (Aidanvale)08 May, 2025

    I would like to visit Sri Lanka. I have a good friend from Sri Lanka and her photos and stories always sound incredible. I just finished reading Unfinished Business by Shankari Chandran, which is set in Sri Lanka. Have you read it? I enjoyed it, but I'm interested to see what I think about her Miles Franklin winning novel too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sharondoubleknit08 May, 2025

      I haven't read Unfinished business, but am currently reading Chia Time at Cinnamon Gardens, by the same author. Combining Sri Lanka and Australian stories is very strong for me.

      Delete
  2. Marg12 May, 2025

    The cover for Star of Ceylon is gorgeous! I have a couple of Clare Flynn books on my Kindle but not this one!

    Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ClaireLouisa12 May, 2025

    I had the choice of going to Sri Lanka or Morocco a few years ago, unfortunately I chose Morocco, oh well maybe one day... I have added Moon Rising to my TBR list, it sounds really good. Happy reading.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kathy Martin13 May, 2025

    Sounds like a great holiday. It must be sort of surreal to be at a site while reading about it in a book. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

    ReplyDelete

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