Audrey Jane’s Comments (group member since May 27, 2014)

Audrey Jane’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

I love My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn ! It's one of my favourite movies. Hepburn was such a classy lady. My mom was a huge fan of the actress (hence my name).

And that's my last read for this round ! Unfortunately I've read a bit less than I hoped but the books I've been able to finish have decent number of pages so overall I'm happy with this round :)
My mother is currently visiting for two weeks and has been requiring my undivided attention so far which makes my reading slow. It's not that she doesn't want me to read, it's just that she really likes to talk, a lot haha, and talking makes me tired hence the slow reading 😅

Completion post


Book: Unruly: A History of England's Kings and Queens by David Mitchell
Date Read: July 16, 2025
Pages: 448
Rating: ★★★★

Task: spell-it-out
Mini 4

U - title
D/M - author

Completion post


Book: The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick
Date Read: July 8, 2025
Pages: 562
Rating: ★★★★

Task:
Mini 3 or Mini 4 - letters:

T/G - title
E/C - Elizabeth Chadwick (author)
W/M - William Marshall (ch)
I - Isabelle de Clare (ch)
A - Ancel Marshall (ch)
H - King Henry II (ch)
R - Rhys ap Madoc (ch)
Y - Adam Yqueboeuf (ch)
B - Baldwin of Béthune (ch)
P - Peter de Preaux (ch)
N - Harry Norreis (ch)
F - Ralph Farci (ch)

Charlotte wrote: "I've never tried it, but it looks delish!! I like most cheeses, but not the ones with weird textures (soft, gushy etc.), so this seems like one I would love!"

It is ! It doesn't have a weird texture nor strong smell. I think you might like it. I buy the block of cheese and then grate it myself. I think my taste in cheese is pretty tame, it's usually either gouda, cheddar, parmigiano, emmental, burrata di bufala or camembert (though that last one does smell a bit after a couple of days in the fridge haha but I love to eat it with jam :)). What's your go-to cheese ?

My favourite cheese ! I eat Parmigiano with spaghetti and not the other way around. I put layers on it :D

Keely wrote: "Great job team! I'm now in Copenhagen. All set to get married tomorrow! I'm still a bit sick and have slept very little the past few days as a result, but I think I'm over the worst of it now! We'r..."

Enjoy your day tomorrow, Keely ! The Tivoli amusement park seems like a lot of fun :)

Eldarwen wrote: "I'll be glad when it's over for this round at least, since it looks like another wave might be coming. Though I'm hoping that might yet change hehe."

Nooo, no 2nd round, please tell me it isn't true ! Should've moved to northern Ireland instead 😅
Yesterday in the grocery store I saw an announcement that all their "fans and aircoolers have been sold out, new arrival next week" haha. Today it was finally bearable though :)

Hopefully the heatwave is almost over🤞I feel mostly bad for my dog who suffers a bit. Old houses in France don't have airco. On a positive note I've been unboxing all my books and found that arranging books is quite a peaceful activity :)

Completion post


Book: The Book of Witching by C.J. Cooke
Date Read: June 30, 2025
Pages: 382
Rating: ★★★

Task:
Mini 3 - Greece - vacation on an island: hiking trip to the Orkney Islands

------------------

Spell-it-out options:
T/B - title
C - C.J. Cooke (author)
A - Alison (ch)
W - Clementine Woodbury (ch)
D/M - David Moncrief
E - Erin
Q - Quinn

Completion post


Book: Green Darkness by Anya Seton
Date Read: June 28, 2025
Pages: 628
Rating: ★★★ (one of my favourite authors however the plot progressed too slowly and too much discussion around religion. Although partly set in the '60s and the rest during Tudor England, the story read quite like a Gothic fiction. Anya Seton is definitely great at creating an eerie & mysterious atmosphere)

Task:
Mini 2 - tagged "time travel" at least 10x

------------------

Spell-it-out options:
G - Title
A/S - Anya Seton (author)
C/B - Celia de Bohun (ch)
S/M - Stephen Marsdon
U - Ursula Southwell (ch)
E/A - Emma Allen
J/R - Julian Ridolfi
W/F - Wat Farrier
D - Leonard Dacre (ch)
L/T - Lily Taylor

The book I'm reading mentions 'vinegar' 3 times, 'candelabra' and 'toil'. It's a past word hunt treasure trove. Will have to file the book in my brain for possible later use :)

Yep, that's near :) We say the same in Belgium, nothing is far. In France though it's a little different, when drivers miss their exits they go nuts (my mother included 😅) but I'm used to it now. Btw Lux is a beautiful country, I've only visited Vianden so far and loved it !

Eldarwen wrote: "A hiking trip totally counts - just like a day trip would also be a vacation. It isn't why most people travel to an island, then again when you say island vacation, most people automatically think about roasting on a beach ;-)"

Glad my book works ! Indeed, my brain went immediately to the 'roasting on a beach' bit :) For some people I know a hiking trip would be absolute torture😅 Are you by chance living near the Müllerthal trail ;) ?

Just reading Janine's post. I better leave it to her :)

Regarding the 'vacation on a island' task, I'm currently reading a book where a character takes a hiking trip to the Orkney Islands. Other characters visit the Orkney islands as well but not for vacationing reason. I did not add my book to the sheet because I was on the fence with the definition of the task. Any thoughts?

Completion post


Book: The Winter Mantle by Elizabeth Chadwick
Date Read: June 20, 2025
Pages: 512
Rating: ★★★★ (recommended for historical fiction readers, if you enjoy Ken Follet, you will most likely appreciate Elizabeth Chadwick's writings as well. Amazing family epics with flawed characters and real historical setting.)

Tasks:
Mini 3 - Germany - castle on the cover

------------------

Spell-it-out options:
T or W - Title
E / C - Elizabeth Chadwick
S - Simon de Senlis (ch)
J - Judith (ch)
R - Ralf de Gael (ch)
P - Picot de Saye (ch)
U - Ulfcytel (ch)
M - Matilda (ch)
H - Helisende (ch)

Nistha wrote: "
Granny Dan by Danielle Steel
Pages: 304
Finished: 18 Jun
Rating: ⭐️⭐️
(streak is broken - it wasn't a bad book but I always deduct a star..."

Nice find for that task, Nistha !

Keely wrote: "32°c where I am on Saturday apparently. I don't do well in the heat 😭"

Same, Keely ! I sometimes wonder why I keep on moving south 😅, however I hereby pledge to never move again. Central France is my limit.

A little heatwave apparently. 37° on Saturday over here.