Hello! How was your week? It was a busy one for me as I spent it preparing for my Sizzlin’ Summer Reads program at the library, which took place yesterday. We got 40 people – our biggest crowd yet! We had planned for 15 so I had to re-print my handout several times and we ran out of refreshments. It was heartening to have so many library patrons eager to hear about our summer recommendations (which I will share with you later) and to chat about books to each other. It was worth the hard work.

The above photo is of one of the places I visited in England, Biddulph Grange Garden in Stoke. When I was in London in 2014 I stayed up late one night not able to sleep and watched a program called “British Gardens in Time” on TV. Biddulph Grange was the garden featured on the program that evening and I knew that I needed to go someday as it looked so beautiful and peaceful. It wasn’t realistic on that trip, but since Stoke is only about an hour from Manchester I was able to realize my dream when I was there in May.  And it exceeded expectations! It is such a varied, rambling, yet well-planned Victorian garden. There are different areas of the garden: the Italian garden, the Chinese garden, the Pinetum, Lime Walk, Woodland Walk, etc. It is really like seeing several gardens in one. The weather the day we went was cool and refreshing and there weren’t many visitors. It was so calming and restorative. It was the height of tulip season when I was there so I saw lots of different varieties and was also able to see bluebells and wisteria. Absolute heaven!

Here are a few more photos of Biddulph Grange:

 

Books finished this week:

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield – I read this really quickly over the first part of the week as I had to lead a discussion on it in one of the library’s book clubs. At first, I wasn’t enjoying it because it seemed too slow, too whimsical. But as I continued on I really grew to love it. Setterfield keeps the story moving and flowing like the river that is central to the novel and all of the secondary stories end up making sense as a whole. The characters were good-hearted (for the most part) and I loved the contrast of the modern concepts such as photography and evolution against the superstitions surrounding the river. All in all, this is a beautifully told and well-written old-fashioned story.

What did you read this week?