For 2025 I have decided to have a go at Spell the Month in Books which is hosted at Reviews From the Stacks. The link party opens on the first Saturday of the month, but I won't be posting until after that as I already have other things scheduled every Saturday and for the first two Sundays of the month. I will be sharing this post with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz.
The idea is that you use the titles of books to spell the month name. The theme for November is Nostalgia so I am going to use books that I read more than 10 years ago. Quite a few of them have brought back memories for me. Let's get started!
N - Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - I don't read much fantasy these days, but I adored this book when I first read it! And then I was super eager for the second book which I liked, and super eager for the third book.....which has never arrived and I don't think it ever will.
O - One for the Money by Janet Evanovich - I thought the early books of the Stephanie Plum series were absolutely hilarious. I remember laughing until I cried in the middle of the night at the antics. Then, as the serious went on, they were less hilarious and more silly. I finally gave up reading them at book 19.
V - Virgin River by Robyn Carr - I loved the series so much I read the series, which at the time was 18 books long, and then reread half the series again. I can't think of another author I have done that with. Despite that, I still haven't read the last book in the series which came out 8 years later. (My post about the series)
E - Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell - I loved this book so much!(My review)
M - Me Before You by Jojo Moyes - I used to cry a lot at books, but this is one that I remember ugly, ugly crying at it. It was so good! There's supposed to be a movie coming out of the follow up book soon too! (My joint review)
B - Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant - I used to read a lot more Medieval and Renaissance books than I do these days. This was a good one!
E - Emma (Vol 1) by Kaoru Mori - Influenced by other bloggers at the time, I was reading two graphic novels series, although I guess this one is more technically manga. One was the Fables series by Bill Willingham and this was the other series. (My review)
R - The Red Tent by Anita Diamant - My review of this book was one of the first I ever wrote.
The current selection for Cook the Books is Maame by Jessica George. I don't recall hearing too much about this book before it was announced and in all probability wouldn't have read it if it hadn't been selected for the group.
Maddie is a young woman in her early 20s living in London. She works in a low paid job she doesn't love, she is responsible for looking after her father who is living with Parkinson's disease while her mother spends a lot of time in Ghana and her brother lives his own life, never having much time or care for his family. Maddie, who is also known as Maame which means Woman, is left to arrange her father's medical affairs, is responsible for all the bills, and is often asked to send her mother money as well.
As a result, Maddie's social life is pretty much limited to work and home, with occasional visits to church. She does have two very good friends, but other than that, she is something of an enforced loner. Despite her responsibilities, her mother is constantly asking her why she hasn't met someone, preferably a nice African man.
When her mother announces she is coming back to London for a year, Maddie is told that she must move out, so she finds a house to share. The only problem is that just as she is moving out, she loses her job and so she needs to find another one and quickly. She finds herself working at a small publishing company.
Soon, Maddie is finally getting the opportunity to do the things that everyone else did in their late teens. She buys new clothes, she goes out drinking, meets a couple of men. Life seems like it is on the up, until it all goes wrong.
On the day before his birthday, Maddie is making her father a birthday cake when her housemates talk her into going out, promising that they will help her decorate the cake the next day. It turns into a big night. When Maddie wakes up very late, it is to the news that her father has passed away. Maddie is devastated. She feels incredibly guilty that she wasn't there, and it soon becomes clear that in addition her mother expects Maddie to make all the funeral arrangements and pay for everything, but everything still needs to be done her way!
This is a book that tackles big topics. Whilst Maddie is British, her family expects her to still be Ghanain so it is looking at the idea of identity. It also tackles race issues, grief, and almost is a coming of age novel, albeit with our main character being in her mid twenties. There are times when it is difficult to read but in the end it was ultimately hopeful, and I enjoyed it very much. I have added the author's next book to my list to read next year. It's out in February and is called Love by the Book.
If I had of just been reading this book I am not sure I would have noticed the food references but because we were reading this for Cook the Books I was looking for them and there were lots of references to food. Some was western food but as soon as I saw the words jollof rice, I knew exactly what we were going to cook. However, first I had to check with Robert to make sure he would be happy to eat it. He spent two years living and working in Lagos in Nigeria and travelling all throughout sub-Saharan Africa and there are definitely some things that he would rather not eat again.
So what is jollof rice and why did I want to make it? Jollof rice is a dish that is prepared in many West African countries, consisting of a spicy tomato based sauce. According to Wikipedia, it originates in Senegal, but there are various theories as to how it spread across the region and there are many variations.
It does seem like jollof rice is a bit like several food items in that different countries claim ownershp and superiority. This is similar to Australians and New Zealanders both claiming ownership to foods like pavlova, lamingtons and Anzac biscuits. In the 2010s there was some lighthearted social media debates known as the jollof wars, mainly between Nigeria and Ghana, and these days there is even a jollof festival.
I probably should have found a Ghanian version but my son's father is half-Nigerian, and he grew up there, so I thought this was an opportunity to revisit the Nigerian version. When we were together, I was responsible for most of the cooking, although on occasion he would cook himself food. It ranged from the very hot and spicy pepper soup (which Robert was absolutely not interested in making), to goat stew, but the one that I liked the most was jollof rice. We often had it with boiled eggs but you can have it with chicken or other meats as well.
I have posted about Jollof rice before for Weekend Cooking, and shared a very enthusiastic video which you can find here but I haven't actually eaten a home made version of it since I split from the ex, which was in 2002.
When I was looking for a recipe I came across this one at Zena's Kitchen, where she explains the reasons why she does the various steps in the recipe that might seem a little unusual to us. We love a one pot rice dish so this is the one that we choose to make, although we adapted it a little bit to use thigh fillets and a few other small changes. The last line of the recipe made me laugh. I can assure you that there was never any salad served when I used to eat this dish. On occasion it used to get made with boiled eggs which was quite nice. We did have fried plantain but I don't recall it being served with this dish. Plantain wasn't my favourite.
We had leftovers of this. I have to say the flavours developed very nicely the next day.
I didn't think I was going to be able to participate in the next selection for Cook the Books which is Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil but I have managed to get a copy so I will be looking forward to reading it and choosing something to cook.
1 large red bell pepper, roughly chopped 2 medium vine tomatoes, roughly chopped 1 red onion, roughly chopped 2 red scotch bonnet chillies, quartered (use less for milder heat) 25g fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped 100ml water 1 tsp fine sea salt
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook the chicken skin-side down until browned, 3 to 5 minutes, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes, or until browned on the other side. Transfer to a plate, leaving the oil in the pan.
Turn the heat down to medium. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes.
Stir in the curry powder, dried thyme, stock pot, bay leaves and water. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then cover and bring to a boil.
Meanwhile, rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs clear, then drain well
Add the rice to the sauce, stir in any resting chicken juices, then arrange the browned chicken thighs over the top. As soon as everything comes to a simmer, cover, transfer to the oven and bake for 45 minutes.
Remove the pot from the oven and leave covered for 10 minutes to finish steaming the rice.
Optional but worth it: Heat your grill to high. Transfer the chicken to a baking tray, brushing off any rice. Brush lightly with oil and grill for 5 to 10 minutes, or until browned and crisping at the edges. To serve, spoon the rice onto a large platter and top with the chicken. Fried plantain and salad on the side make it a proper feast.
The next selection for Cook the Books is Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. I am not sure if I am going to be able to join in or not. This book isn't available in our state's library system and it is about $35 to buy on Kindle which is very, very expensive. I will hopefully join in for the selection after that!
Weekly meals
Saturday - Out for dinner Sunday - Jollof Chicken and Rice Monday - Swedish Meatballs and mash potato Tuesday - Scrambled Eggs on toast Wednesday - Beef and Broccoli noodles Thursday - Out for dinner Friday - Honey Pepper Chicken
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page
Over the last few years I have seen reviews of the books in the Emmy Lake series by people I trust, and my attention has been piqued. Finally, I got around to reading the first book in the series and now I get it. I get why people love the series so much!
Emmy is working as a secretary in a solicitor's office as well as working in a fire station answering the many phone calls reporting bombs and fires. However, Emmy wants to be a serious journalist, and she would love to become a Lady War Correspondent. When she sees an advertisement for a Junior at Launceston Press Ltd, she knows that this is her job!
In addition, Emmy has been engaged to childhood sweetheart Edmund for some time and is shar a ing with her best friend forever Bunty. All three of them come from a rural village but now are living in big city London.
After successfully getting the job, Emmy is looking forward to her new role, but it soon becomes clear that perhaps she should have asked more questions in her interview. Rather than an exciting role in a newspaper, she finds herself working for Mrs Bird, erstwhile agony aunt, in the failing Woman's Friend magazine. Mrs Bird has a very long list of what are un acceptable topics. Mrs Bird will not respond to questions about any kind of marital relations (pre, extra etc)any kind of sexual relations, religion, politics, the war. The list is very long. She is also Very Busy with many Good Causes, leaving Emmy to keep herself busy a lot of the time.
One of Emmy's job is to search through the dwindling number of letters arriving at the magazine for the few letters that she can give to Mrs Bird, and the rest are supposed to be destroyed. However, Emmy is nothing if not curious and she finds herself reading the unacceptable letters, and it isn't too long before she is tempted to start responding to the letters.
Emmy's cheerful can do tone starts from the very first line and continues throughout the book. Here's an early example.
I knew that as a Junior I was starting at the bottom, but I didn't mind in the least. I pictured myself becoming friends with Lively Types, discussing the news of the day in between admirable amounts of hard work, typing like billy-o, or taking down impossibly fast dictation. Perhaps - given time - suggesting an idea for a news feature, or, should someone very unfortunately be taken ill, stepping up to the mark and filling in for them at the scene of a terrible crime or during a raid in the middle of the night.
While the book does have this cheery tone that helps make it a delightful read, there are some terrible events covered. This is after all WWII London. Every day Emmy and co-workers, especially those at the fire station, take risks. War brings high emotions of every kind, from grief to betrayal, to despair, to hope, new beginnings and Emmy faces it all, especially when the unimaginable happens in one of her most valued friendships.
And what will happen when Mrs Bird inevitably finds out what Emmy has been up to?
I try to avoid words like charming and delightful too often when describing books, but in this case these really are the right words to describe this book. I can't wait to read more about Emmy and the people she surrounds herself with! The fourth and final book in this series was released earlier this year. It really is going to be a question of just how quickly I can read them all between my other reading commitments!
I am sharing this review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host here.
Identical twins Nora and Stevie Lucky were adopted at birth and they are as close as they could be, despite having very different personalities and traits. Stevie is more happy go lucky and lets life happen whereas Nora is very controlled and plans everything. Stevie is single parent to the now adult Cherry, whilst Nora runs a successful restaurant with her husband Santi, with Nora being the pastry chef.
Another way that they differ is that Nora has always wanted to find out about their birth parents, whereas Stevie has no interest whatsoever in finding out. She has always had a bad feeling about the whole thing. They both adored their adoptive parents. Years ago they agreed that they would put off searching for their origins until after their adoptive parents had passed.
The book opens at the funeral of their adoptive mother. Stevie is shocked when at the wake Nora declares that maybe now they can finally find out about their birth parents. I probably would have been shocked at the timing of such a declaration too. As the two women grieve, they have moments which appear like they are growing apart instead of together. As the story progresses, we also find out that they have kept secrets, big secrets, from each other over the years.
This book is a bit hard to discuss without too many spoilers, but the blurb for the book opens with the question What would you do if you thought each day on earth might just be your last? When the girls (I should say women really as they are nearly 50 years old) do find out about their birth parents they find something out that shakes them to their core.
They each truly look at their lives and wonder if they are really happy and so begin to make some changes. For Stevie, that might mean letting widower Felix into her life more, but how can she let herself get closer to him and his boys when there is this big shadow hanging over her. For Nora, it means wondering about whether the restaurant and Santi are enough for her anymore. And whether all those plans and hours in the gym have been worth it. The two characters almost begin to take on some of their sister's characteristics.
There are so many layers to this book. There is the sister's relationship. There are the questions about what it is like to be adopted and to either want or not want to find out where you come from and there are questions about genetics and how they can influence how you live. While there are some big themes, this is a Rachael Johns book, so along the way you also get great relationships, humour, pop culture references and more. This one does take an unusual turn for part of the book, but I think that is exciting for Rachael as a writer that she feels like stretching herself and her readers.
Butterflies play an important part in the story and I love the way that this motif goes all the way through the book, including on this stunning cover.
I will say though....that ending! I had to read it twice to go ....wait....what. It certainly fits the book but I was a bit surprised by it. It's a bit enigmatic.
This book is set in Perth, which is where I am originally from, and I still have a lot of family living there. There were lots of very familiar places mentioned in the book. One scene was set at a restaurant that has been around for years that is maybe 2 kilometres away from my grandparents house and two of my cousins even worked there for a while. And yet, I have never been. Maybe I will make it happen one day. Maybe not.
I chose this as one of my book club selections this month when our theme was free choice. I mentioned how when I had my very long reading slump a few years ago Rachael was one of the few authors I still read and someone in the group asked me why I kept on coming back to her books. I had to think about it, but I think that it is that despite writing rural romance, rom-coms and commercial women's fiction, I always know that I am going to get an enjoyable read, filled with humour and emotion and relatable characters. It doesn't hurt that I feel like I know Rachael. I sometimes listen to her podcasts and I have met her many times now, going to lots of author events and attending all three of her book club readers retreats. I guess what it comes down to is that I can trust her as an author!
I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews.
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Modern Books You Think Will Be Classics In The Future (submitted by Veros @ Dark Shelf of Wonders). I was having a look at some lists of classics and it seems I am not great at even recognising what a classic classic is let alone looking at modern books and thinking it will become a classic in the future. So I am turning the theme on it's head and instead sharing 10 classics I haven't yet read.
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque - Not too long ago we watched the recent German adaptation of the movie and then an older English version. Remarque was clearly something of a celebrity in his day as he was involved with Marlene Dietrich and married to actress Paulette Goddard
My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin -- Mile Franklin, real name Stella has given her name to not one but two of the major awards in Australian literature (Miles Franklin award and Stella Prize) but I haven't read anything by her. The book was published in 2001.
The Tree of Man by Patrick White - Patrick White is the only Australian winner of the Nobel Prize for literature.
The Fortunes of Richard Mahony by Henry Handel Richardson - I had this book on my shelves for a long time but at some point it didn't survive a cull. Like Miles Franklin, Richardson is using a male name but is actually a female writer.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë - I haven't actually read any of the books by the Bronte sisters.
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank - You would think I would have managed to read this given how much I read about WWII.
Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien - It's not like I haven't tried! I have read and loved The Hobbit at least 3 times. I have started the first book int he Lord of the Rings trilogy several times but I have never made it through to the end.
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - I did get this on audio a few years ago, mainy because Richard Armitage was one of the narrators. I didn't get very far though.
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne - I read Around the World in Eighty Days a couple of years ago and really loved it but haven't read anything else by him yet. According to Goodreads there are apparently 6726 different editions of this book! Made choosing a cover a bit of a challenge.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle - I have known lot of people over the years who name this as a childhood favourite but I never read it!
I am contemplating using this as the basis to maybe join in on the Classics Spin next year, but we will see. I would have to find another 10 classics to add to make a full list. What's your favourite classic?
I'm readingI finished a couple of books this week. I finished reading Maame by Jessica George which is the current Cook the Books selection. On Sunday night we cooked the recipe that I was inspired to get my husband to cook, so my review will be up on Saturday.
I also finished The Midwive's Christmas Miracle by Fiona McArthur. I mentioned last week that I realised that I hadn't read all the books in the previous connected series. I am not sure why but it really bothered me!
I then started reading Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop by Kenji Ueda, which is another Japanese book and I started Good Spirits by BK Borison. After reading the first chapter of that book I am pretty sure I am going to love it!
This weekend was our read on a theme book club meeting. It was a free choice theme this time and above are some of the choices that people read. My choices were Maame and The Lucky Sisters by Rachael Johns. The first theme for 2026 is Childhood Favourites, and I have a few different ideas of what I might read but I haven't decided yet.
I'm watching
Nothing in particular
Life
On Saturday night we went to see the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra playing the music of Billy Joel which was a lot of fun. You forget how many amazing songs Billy Joel has had over the years! It was a great night!
It was a momentous blogging occasion for me this week! It is 20 years since I started my blog! Can you believe it, because I am not sure I can! Here's my post about it!
On the 12 November 2005, I posted a very imaginatively titled post called "First Post" on my shiny new blog which at the time was called Reading Adventures. I never expected it to last very long. After all, I had started diaries several times and never got beyond writing Dear Diary for more than a few weeks at a time. But....here we are.
I did have a gap of a year or so back in 2019 which coincided with a major reading slump, but other than I have been posting about books, baking and life in general over that time.
If I look back to see what prompted me to start a blog it was really because I read a book that I absolutely had to talk about. I was involved in various forums, and I read The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, and I absolutely had to talk about it, so I wrote a review and thought well, I could put that in a blog and so Reading Adventures was born.
My life has changed a lot over the period as you would expect. When I started, my son was 7, and we followed his cooking adventures as the little chef. Now he's the man who cooks on occasion. He spent time in America playing basketball, and has played quite a bit of 3x3 in Japan, China and Malaysia. When I started the blog I had been a single parent for 5 years. I had no idea that I would have to wait another 12 years to meet someone amazing but I did. Since then we renovated one house, built two more, been on numerous holidays, got married in 2019 and so much more.
Like life, blogging has changed a lot over the years. I have a few different templates, had a blogspot address and have had a .com address for years now. I used to also blog over at Historical Tapestry, have hosted and continue to host numerous events and challenges. These range from Library Loot which I co-hosted for years to Weekend Cooking and the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I still host now.
Over the years, people have come and gone from the blogging world, but there are still a few of us who have been going for similar lengths of time. Some people, I still miss. Others have become friends in real life. Some of the bloggers I have met have inspired me to try new things, and I hope that I have done the same thing in return. I have met many authors, gone to book festivals and retreats and so much more.
It's easy to look back and think that things were better in the past, but I think it is probably more that they are different. It does feel like there used to be more blogger events and a more cohesive community. For example, back in 2010 someone came up with the idea of Armchair BEA. When some people were actually heading to New York to go to Book Expo America, the rest of us joined in. I did whole weeks of posts where I would say if I was in New York today where I would think about which author I would be tracking down or this is what I would be doing. Or there was the Great North and South Crusade where KristieJ convinced us all that we absolutely had to watch the BBC adaptation of North and South starring Richard Armitage. I was obsessed with that show for years as a result. The book community of Twitter thrived and it was easy to get caught up in the excitement.
While it is nostalgic to look back, you can still find those events which bring people together. I think of Paris in July (probably my favourite current event) or Twenty Books of Summer/Winter which I only participated in for the first time this year even though it has been going for years. I still find new to me bloggers who have been around a long time through those events. I don't know that I am particular good at connecting with new bloggers, but I try!
There are things that have changed. Back in the day I predominantly read paper books and borrowed a lot of books through my local library. At the time I could have up to 60 books out from the library at one time and I was often juggling returning books so I could borrow the next ones. These days I predominantly read e-books. I remember I was so excited when I got my first e-reader (it was red and a thing of beauty) but it is really only in the last few years that I really moved over to e-books for the majority of my reading. I used to receive a LOT of book mail from publishers, but now it is very rare for me to receive a physical review book and it is even getting a bit harder on Netgalley.
What I read has changed too. Back in the day I read very little contemporary romance and mostly historical romance. Now, it is absolutely the opposite. I can't remember the last time I read a historical romance. I also read my fair share of vampire, werewolf and other paranormal romance. I read a bit more crime and a bit more fantasy than I do now. Now, I read a lot more books set in Europe (France in particular) and I read quite a bit of Asian fiction. Things that haven't changed...I still love reading Aussie authors and historical fiction, although I read a lot more WWII fiction and less medieval than I used to.
For whatever reason, what I do and how I do it isn't particularly appealing to publishers, maybe because I am no good at aesthetics on Bookstagram and it often feels like a competition. Even after all this time, I still haven't worked out how engagement works. Sometimes I put a lot of time into a post and get nothing in terms of responses, and other times I post something easy, like a quote from a book about a particular subject and boom, more responses than I have had in weeks. You'd think I would be better at all of this by now! And I still don't have the secret to getting a large and active following. I think I am interesting but I don't seem to hold people's interest.
You know I love a statistic, so I thought I would pull a few together!
This is post number 4304, and according to my stats there have been something like just under 6 million site visitors in that time. It's fair to say not all of them are actual people! There have been approximately 50000 comments.
I've read 2578 books in that time (or at least that's what my spreadsheet tells me!)
Of those I have reread 47 books, with The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta being the book I have read/listened to the most times, closely followed by The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley and Hogfather by Terry Pratchett.
Beyond anything, I am grateful to blogging for giving me a community, especially during all those lonely years when I was a single parent where often blogging was my company. I have spent hours and hours creating blog posts, reading other peoples posts and more, and I don't regret any of them. When I look back through my archives I often find posts I had forgotten about that entertain me, bring back great memories or that I am just really proud of!
I still love talking about books, food and travel in this corner of the internet and I don't see that changing any time soon.
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