Top Ten Tuesday: Last 10 Author Events I Have Been To!

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Thanksgiving/Thankful Freebie. It took me a little while to think of something, but I got there in the end.

I am very lucky and yes, thankful, to live in a city with a very active book scene. There are always events on. Some times they are big named authors who attract a crowd of thousands, and sometimes it is a small event at a local library with just a handful of people. Then there are multiple festivals in various country towns and suburban areas. Sometimes I know lots of people in the room and other times not. One thing you do know when you go to an author event is that if nothing else you can talk about books! 

My post this week is the last ten author events I have been too. Usually if I attend an event I will buy the book and get it signed. Sometimes there are goodies, sometimes tasty treats, but the events are always fun!

Holly Brunbauuer - Just last week Bree from All the Books I Can Read went to our local library to hear this author talk about her debut novel, What Did I Miss? It was a very interactive session!

Rachael Johns (twice) - A couple of weeks ago I went to see Rachael Johns talk about The Lucky Sisters (my review) both at my even localler local library and then to a Books in Bars events in a regional city about an hour away from me.

Helen Goh - This was an event in the city where we not only got to listen to the conversation but also got to try some of the recipes from her latest cookbook, Baking and the Meaning of Life.

Steph Vizard - It was standing room only at this event which was the launch of her latest book,  A Smart Girl's Guide to Second Chances. 

January Gilchrist - By contrast, this was a very intimate conversation about January Gilchrist's debut novel,  The Final Chapter, which was held in what is in effect a sales office at a new residential development. This night was so much fun because it was such a small gathering! I took a friend with me who had never been to an author event before.

Madeleine Cleary and Anne Freeman - This was a fun night where these two authors spoke about their two books which both feature sex workers. One was set in 1850s Melbourne, The Butterfly Women (my review) and the other is a modern story about an online sex worker, Me That You See.

Emma Mugglestone - This launch for In the Long Run was held in a bar around half an hour or so away from me. There was even a delicious cocktail!

Alli Sinclair - This was a drive up the highway for an hour or so to an event in Ballarat to hear Alli Sinclair talk about her new book, A Woman's Voice.

Joanne Miller (The Eights), Chloe Adams (The Occupation) and Michelle See-Toh (Jade and Emerald) - This was an event held in a library about half an hour away from me, and featured three debut authors from Penguin. 

Alli Parker - This was a fun launch for Until the Red Leave Fall. It was held in a super cool bar. The mood was set with 1950s music and the crowd was buzzing! And there were these super cute cupcakes

Wow, that has surprised me. That only takes me back to the end of July this year. Oh, and I just realised I missed one too! Sorry Christine Newel! I suspect that there will be only one more event this year which I am going to on Thursday, but bring on next year, when it will start all over again!

In My Kitchen - October

Welcome to the first Saturday of the month where I share everything I have made over the previous month. We were away for 2 weeks in October so didn't have a lot of time for baking. I'll be sharing some of the food highlights of our trip next week

Last month I mentioned that we had bought a chocolate brownies pack from the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie and this month I made it. It was super easy in that you just had to add melted butter and eggs, and the kit comes in the baking tray so easy clean up too. It was nice, although I was surprised when my son came out and said that's not the normal one you make is it, and then said he preferred the normal one. I did take some photos but unfortunately my phone died while we were away so it is currently in getting repaired. I hope that I don't lose all my photos. It was a bit of a pain to not have a phone while we were away but there wasn't much I could do about it. 

We did buy some new things from the Reject Shop. They do have some fun homewares ranges. You have to be quick though as they do change the range quite regularly.  I have bought a few bits and pieces over the last 18 months or so. This time it was a small flamingo plate, an elephant bowl and then two mugs. I love my M mug. I was hoping to find an R one for Robert but no joy so he got an Amsterdam one instead.

 

I did go to an author event last month It was a bit different to my normal author event. I went to hear cookbook author and Ottolenghi co-writer Helen Goh speak. As a bonus there were nibbles which were from several of her recipes. Helen Goh was born in Malaysia but moved to Australia when she was young before moving to London which is where she started working for Yotam Ottolenghi. The conversation was a bit of fun, and she confessed to things like loving the meat pies that you can get at the petrol station and that being one of the things she misses when she was in not in Australia. She was promoting her new baking book, Baking and the Meaning of Life.

Some friends of our went away and came back bearing gifts. In this case it was Croatian wine, Turkish Delight and a super cute Finnish moose corkscrew. In return we are giving them a coconut bowl shell from the Maldives. 

52 Recipes Challenge

We didn't try any new recipes this month. 

Weekend Cooking posts from the last month

The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden (book review)

Dish (podcast)

Making Couscous (foodie quote)

I am sharing this post with In My Kitchen hosted at Sherry's Pickings.

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

This week...

I'm reading

I didn't have a huge amount of reading time or inclination this week.

I did finish A New Life in Amsterdam by Helga Jensen which I reviewed here. And now I am immersed in Christmas on Fifth Avenue by Julie Caplin, but I should finish it today. My review will be up next week but basically if you have ever thought about spending Christmas in New York, this is the book for you. 

I did finish listening to Heidi's Guide to Four Letter Words by Tara Sivec and Andi Arndt  on audiobook. This book was an Audible exclusive book and when I was looking for which book to read next I realised that it was leaving Audible soon so I figured I should probably listen to it. It was a lot of fun and I laughed out loud several times. I do wonder what it says about me that the last two audiobooks have both included a list which consisted of different names for the male appendage. To be fair, the first one was non fiction book about writing sex scenes and also included a shorter list of words for the female equivalent. 

I haven't chosen a book to listen to next. It will be a surprise for all of us!

I did go to an author event last week. It was a bit different to my normal author event. I went to hear cookbook author and Ottolenghi co-writer Helen Goh speak. As a bonus there were nibbles which were several of her recipes. Helen Goh was born in Malaysia but moved to Australia when she was young before moving to London which is where she started working for Yotam Ottolenghi. The conversation was a bit of fun, and she confessed to things like loving the meat pies that you can get at the petrol station and that being one of the things she misses when she was in not in Australia. She was promoting her new baking book, Baking and the Meaning of Life.

It was Love Your Bookshop Day this weekend so I did my duty and visited a bookshop which was a new one to me! I did get this adorable little penguin because I bought two books from Penguin (the publisher). 

We also visited a local farmers market where there was a stall selling lots of book related paraphernalia, mostly 3D printed items. My husband bought me this cute bookshelf pictured above, which you can expect to see popping up in my Bookstagram photos at some point! Also fun to play with all the little books and the blocks!

I'm watching

The only thing that I watched that was not quiz shows or British comedy shows this week was a movie called All of You. It was billed as a sci-fi romance but I am not sure it was really either of those things. The sci-fi element was that you could pay to have a test done that tells you who your soulmate was. The story is about two friends played by Brett Goldstein (of Ted Lasso fame) and Imogen Poots. She does the test and is matched with a man, but they have always circled around each other. It follows them for 12 years or so as they battle their attraction to each other, sometimes with more success than other times. It was interesting, but ultimately didn't truly work for me.

Here's the trailer

Life

We are getting ready to go on holidays later this week. 2 weeks in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Can not wait! 

There will be no This Week post for the next couple of weeks

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Satisfying Series
Blog Tour: A New Life in Amsterdam by Helga Jensen
Weekend Cooking: The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: September Statistics 




I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date, Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and the Good Book and a Cup of Tea link up hosted at Boondock Ramblings