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Tag Archives: ShelterBox book club

Good Read, Amaryllis and A Tote Bag

I finished the latest book from the ShelterBox Book Club just in time to see the wonderful Q&A with the author Melissa Lucashenko. What a novel that was – two timelines set in Australia, in 1854 and in 2024, that meet each other towards the end of the novel. The whole story is beautifully crafted and draws the reader in despite much Aboriginal language the meaning of which one just picks up from the context. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

I was given an Amaryllis bulb in a beautiful pot for my birthday and it has grown several inches already. I’m looking forward to seeing its glorious bloom.

Thank you, Sue

Post arrived from family in Atlanta today, a delightful little tote bag with the name of the bookshop, Books Are Magic, and the best answer to a question. I absolutely love it.

The tote comes from an independent bookstore in Brooklyn called Books are Magic, owned by the author Emma Straub.

I find poetry can ofter be of assistance, hence so many on my blog. 🙂

Remembering my lovely Dad today too, on his birthday. If you’d like to know more about him, put ‘David Wiseman’ in my search bar.

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on January 13, 2026 in books, friendship, nature, poetry, Postaday 2026, Words

Tags: ShelterBox book club

A Letter, A Book Club and Threads

15 Oct

I wrote a letter to The Guardian yesterday in answer to someone belonging to a book club but who couldn’t read each book in only four weeks. They published it today, and I discovered this evening that 15 people have joined the ShelterBox book club as a result of reading my letter! I am delighted.

I needed some red thread to mend my red leather wallet so went to my Mum’s cotton collection and found one to match, of course! I have kept the drawers from the sewing cabinet my Grandpa made for her to her design when she was eighteen. That was in 1933 – I’ve never worked that out before. Almost every reel is wooden and one has the price on it, 23p.

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on October 15, 2025 in family, Postaday2025, sewing, Uncategorized

Tags: ShelterBox, ShelterBox book club, The Guardian

Plume Moth and A Good Read

23 Aug

I saw my second Plume Moth today. They are remarkably delicate creatures.

I’ve just finished reading the latest book from the ShelterBox Book Club and loved it. It’s a story of love and tensions within a family, motherhood over generations and the abundance of Gujarati food shared at all the family gatherings. The writer draws you right into the family and their distress when they learn that their mother, the narrator, has a terminal diagnosis and examines their differing reactions as the months go by. The online discussions will be interesting and I really look forward to the Q&A with the author Amit Majmudar who, we are told, “is a diagnostic nuclear radiologist as well as a poet and author. ” As it says on the cover, this story is “heartbreakingly lovely.”

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Posted by mybeautfulthings on August 23, 2025 in Cornwall, environment, garden, nature, Postaday2025, ShelterBox, Uncategorized

Tags: Abundance by Amit Majmudar, Amit Majmudar, ShelterBox book club

Book Club and A Poem

23 Feb

Another hoolie, another day to read! I started ‘Black Butterflies’ by Priscilla Morris, yesterday and was unable to put it down until I finished it this afternoon. My, what a talent this young woman has. This is her first novel and it is stunning. It is set in Sarajevo in 1992 and is deeply moving. It’s a love letter to humanity, to the power of art, to family, to a Sarajevo under siege and to love itself. And, it is beautifully written.

A friend sent me this poem, knowing how I appreciate the small things, the “lovely things” that are all around us if we can take the time to stop and to notice. .