I was at a bit of a loss as to what to read after I finished all the Jane Austens I had at home. At first, I thought of reading Death Came to Pemberley but I gave up after a few pages – not because the book was bad (I enjoyed it the first time I read it) but because even though PD James is a good writer, she’s just not Austen and the text feels too different and too similar at the same time.

So I opted to choose a very different sort of book and decided to read The Obsidian Dagger by Catherine Webb. I first read this series in Secondary School and found a copy of this book (the second in the series) at a second hand bookstore. It is so fun and I still enjoy it – it’s a mystery to me why only the first and second books are still in print in Book Depository! The third book seems to be out of stock.

And so my list of books to buy grows a little bit longer.

After I finished The Obsidian Dagger, which was a quick read, I moved onto At the House of the Magician. This is by Mary Hooper, who also wrote At the Sign of the Sugared Plum, which I’ve been meaning to read since the Orangutan Librarian talked about it last November. I’ll probably move the book up my TBR list when I start reading new to me books in June because I really enjoy At the House of the Magician. It’s historical fiction about a girl who escapes from her abusive father to work at the house of Dr John Dee, magician to the Queen. John Dee was a real figure and most of the story is grounded in history, but there’s a tiny hint of magic here that made it even more interesting to me.

And this is a bit random, but the first few pages of the book mentioned Jumbles – a biscuit which has appeared in both Dining with Mr Darcy and Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer! Is this a sign that I need to make it to try?

Today’s Tea: Yume au Lait

I opened my Lupicia package today (and filmed a short video for that) and tried the sample of tea that I got – Yume au Lait. The description of the tea was that of a black tea flavoured with vanilla and fruits and suitable for milk. While I liked the tea plain, I actually didn’t like it milky – I didn’t think the tea stood up to the milk well enough and the flavours of the tea weren’t enhanced by the addition of milk.

But now that I have 30 teabags (plus one tin), I can try a new tea everyday if I choose!