Mailbox Monday: October Acquisitions

When I decided that I was going to start participating in Mailbox Monday on a monthly basis, I decided that I would do so on the last Monday of each month. Apparently, I thought that there were 32 days in October because it only just occurred to me on Saturday that today would be the 1st of November not the last day of October. Whoops!

I mentioned yesterday that I had a pretty good reading month, but despite that my TBR got a lot bigger thanks to my acquisitions this month. Here's what I got:

Glory Girl by Peter Yeldham  (purchased) - I have read a couple of Peter Yeldham books and thoroughly enjoyed them. This one is about the pioneering aviators of the 1920s. I will have to make a real effort to actually fit it into my reading schedule seeing as I bought it on impulse one day.

Kiss at Your Own Risk by Stephanie Rowe (review copy) - I have been meaning to read this author since her Immortally Sexy series came out years ago. I think I even have the first book of that series here somewhere, so when I was offered this one, I thought that this might be a good time to actually read her!

The Perfect Love Song by Patti Callahan Henry (review copy) - This was a kind of surprise when it turned up. I don't normally read holiday novels, but this one does look good so I will make an exception I think!

The Silver Blade by Sally Gardner, The Last Vampire by Christopher Pike, Skins: The Novel by Ali Cronin, I'd Tell You I Love You, but then I would have to Kill You by Ally Carter and Ash by Malinda Lo (Won) - I won all five of these books in a giveaway at Persnickety Snark. I am particularly interested in reading Ash and The Silver Blade, although I will have to try and figure out where Ash is as I think my mum was reading it when she came to visit not too long ago.

The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel by Diana Gabaldon, illustrated by Hoang Nguyen (purchased) - This is the graphic novel of the first half (or so) of the first Outlander book. There was no way I was going to wait for this one to come into the library, which is probably a good thing because it seems that the Australian publisher has decided not to publish it here. Thank goodness for The Book Depository.

The Passionate Brood by Margaret Campbell Barnes (review copy) - I read this last week and loved it. I need to write the review for early next week.

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook (purchased) - I had decided that this was going to be my first purchase of an ebook, until I found out that Australians can't purchase this book as an ebook. I wanted it enough to buy the paper version of the book, but I suspect that it won't be the last time that I can't get hold of a book that I really want in the format I want it in.

The Countess and the King by Susan Holloway Scott (from the author) - I recieved what is probaby my strangest format ever for an ARC for this book. The author took pity on me and sent me a signed finished copy! Thanks again Susan!

Virgin River, Shelter Mountain, Whispering Rock  and A Virgin River Christmas by Robyn Carr (purchased ebooks) - I read the first Virgin River book ages ago. My library had all of the rest of the books in the series except books 2 and 3 (I always find it a bit odd when that happens), and so I asked them to purchase those two books. The third book arrived, but no sign of the second, so I asked for an inter library loan, but I was told that they couldn't do that for books on order. After months of waiting for the second book to come in, I saw a bundle that included all four books for a bargain price (about the same amount as we would pay for one book here) so I bought them all. These books have the honour of being the first books I bought for my e-reader.

Wicked Delights of a Bridal Bed by Tracy Anne Warren (won) - I won this book from Historically Obsessed.

Scoundrel's Kiss by Carrie Lofty - I loved Song of Seduction so now I want to read all of Carrie Lofty's books.

The Hell You Say, Death  of a Pirate King, and The Dark Tide by Josh Lanyon (purchased ebooks) - I won the first two books in this series ages ago, but because I don't really like reading on the computer I hadn't read them yet. After getting my e-reader, I finally read them, and then I was sufficiently hooked that I needed to know what happens next.

The Millionaire's Ultimate Catch by Michelle Monkou - I received an email advising that there is a new website called Everyone's Reading, and they have 11 books available as ebooks for free. I chose to download this one, mainly because I don't often have the chance to read African-American romances.

Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray (ebook review copy) - We were sent this at Historical Tapestry for review. At this stage we are planning a conversational style joint review, so I will be reading this in the next couple of weeks.

The Queen of Last Hopes by Susan Higginbotham (review copy) - I have enjoyed the rest of Susan's books, so I am looking forward to this.

Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman (review copy from Netgalley) - This is a book about a young African boy who has just immigrated to London. I thought it sounded very interesting.

Scandal of the Year and Wedding of the Season by Laura Lee Guhrke (review copy Netgalley) - I have been meaning to try Laura Lee Guhrke for ages, and so with these two books I have a chance to get in at the beginning of a new series.

The Darling Strumpet by Gillian Bagwell (review copy) - I love reading books set in the Restoration Court of Charles II, so I can't wait to read this one.

Sweet Son by Heidi Cullinan (won) - I won a copy of this as part of the recent Gay Writes Week over at Dear Author.

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (purchased) - I have been a big fan of Jennifer Donnelly for a long time. I was going to get this from the library but I have heard such good things about it, I decided I couldn't wait!

Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin (won) - I won a copy of this book from Lurv a la Mode. The contest was run after the news broke that the author had passed away.

Phew! I can't remember the last time I had that many books come into my house in one month!

Mailbox Monday was originally hosted at The Printed Page, but now it is going on tour so for November it is being hosted at Knitting and Sundries. Head over there to share your links, or to see what everyone else has posted about this week.

Sunday Salon: October Reading Reflections

I am pretty happy with my October reading! 16 books completed, some good reads, some were ebooks, and a couple were a bit outside my normal reading range. Wait until you see my post tomorrow of the books that I received during the month of October though. Despite a good reading month, my TBR got a lot bigger instead of smaller!

Here are my reads for October:

Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine 3/5
The Exile by Diana Gabaldon and Hoang Nguyen 4.5/5
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett 3/5
Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon 4/5
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by CW Gortner 4.5/5
The Accidental Mistress by Tracy Anne Warren 4/5
Gobsmacked by L B Gregg 4/5
Shelter Mountain by Robyn Carr 4.5/5
Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn 4.5/5
Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie 3.5/5
Ravishing in Red by Madeline Hunter 4/5
Seducing an Angel by Mary Balogh 3.5/5
The Princess Bride by William Goldman 4/5
The Sharing Knife: Horizon by Lois McMaster Bujold 4.5/5
The Passionate Brood by Margaret Campbell Barnes 4.5/5
The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie 4.5/5



I thought I would mention a couple of things. Gosbmacked was a m/m romance, and the Adrien English Mysteries are erotic mysteries featuring gay bookseller/amateur detective Adrien English. It is actually the first two books in the series, and I have the next couple waiting here to be read.

The Exile is the graphic novel version of the first half or so of the Outlander novel by Diana Gabaldon. I liked it a lot, but I do think it is a book for the existing fans, not necessarily for new fans of the series.

I was so pleased that I finished reading The Princess Bride because I decided to read it as part of a readalong hosted by Chrisbookarama. I have done attempted a couple of readalongs before but I tend to get lost along the way. For example, the first book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is still sitting by the side of my bed despite the fact that I started a readalong early this year.

The book that I read for the Year of the Historical was the excellent Confessions of Catherine de Medici by CW Gortner and this book also counts as my final read for the French Historical Challenge as well.

The two books by Pratchett counted for the Terry Pratchett challenge.

As at the end of October, I have read 88 books of the 100 that I was aiming for in the Support Your Local Library challenge, so it looks like I will make that target.

There are still a number of challenges that I am not making a lot of progress on, but that doesn't mean that I won't be starting to think about next years challenges soon.

Weekend Cooking: Jamie Oliver's Baked French Potatoes

For last week's weekend cooking post I mentioned that I was going to a slow cooker dinner party, and that one of the side dishes we were going to be having was Jamie Oliver's Baked French Potatoes. A couple of people mentioned that they would like this recipe so I am obliging this week.

Whilst I don't eat potatoes anywhere near as often as I used to, they are very much comfort food. Growing up, we used to have mashed potatoes practically every night (sausages, mashed potatoes and peas is my mother's idea of a good meal, and we used to have that at least 3 times a week. On the other nights we might have chops, mashed potatoes and peas, or pie, mashed potatoes and peas. I am sure you are getting the general idea). These days I like to find potato recipe ideas, and I do love these layered potato dishes although the creamy ones are a little bit too high fat. I have no idea how this one works out, but there's no added milk or cream so I am going with it being a better option!

Jamie Oliver's Baked French Potatoes

 • 800g potatoes

• 400g medium onions

• 3 cloves of garlic

• a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley

• olive oil

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 chicken or vegetable stock cube, preferably organic

• 2 knobs of butter .
 
 
Preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Peel and finely slice the potatoes. Peel, halve and finely slice the onions and garlic. Pick and finely chop the parsley leaves, discard the stalks

Pour a couple of lugs of olive oil into a large, hot pan with the garlic, parsley and onions. Slowly fry for 10 minutes, or until the onions are soft and lightly golden. Take off the heat and add a good pinch of salt and pepper

Mix the stock cube with 850ml of boiling water

In a large baking dish place a layer of potatoes, a sprinkling of salt and pepper, and a layer of onions. Continue, repeating until you’ve used everything up, but try to finish with a layer of potatoes on top. Pour in the hot stock to just cover the top of the potatoes. Break up the butter and dot over the top

Rub some foil with olive oil, place it, oil-side down, over the dish and seal tightly. Place in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, then remove the foil, push the potatoes down and return to the oven for a further 20 to 40 minutes, or until golden and crisp.

~~~~~~~~~

You can see a step by step version of this recipe with pictures every step of the way at Jamie Oliver's website. I originally found it in Jamie's Ministry of Food cookbook. One of these days I will write more about this cookbook and the accompanying TV series in a Weekend Cooking post.

And just because I can, here we all are, about to tuck into dinner last Saturday night.

I am not entirely sure why, but we spent the whole night exclaiming OMG and bursting into the Usher song! A lot of chatting, a few drinks, good friends, and food. Sounds like a recipe for a good night, and it was!



Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs.

Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine

With a story as mesmerizing as it is chilling, Lady of Hay explores how Jo, a journalist investigating hypnotic regression, plunges into the life of Matilda, Lady of Hay-who lived eight hundred years earlier. As she learns of Matilda's unhappy marriage, her troubled love for Richard de Clare, and the brutal treatment she received from King John, it seems that Jo's past and present are hopelessly entwined. Centuries later, a story of secret passion and unspeakable treachery is about to begin again-and she has no choice but to brave both lives if she wants to shake the iron grip of history.

Some times you start hearing things about an author and you think that you might like to read them. And then you hear more and upgrade to that opinion to definitely would like to read them. A bit later and you know that you HAVE to read them, and you fully expect that you are going to love reading their work.

Barbara Erskine is one of those authors for me. Over the years I have heard a few things about her books, this book in particular, and so when I was offered an ARC from Sourcebooks I jumped at the opportunity. Erskine's books contain so much that I love to read - historical fiction, time travel, a few spooky/gothic elements. The anticipation was huge. And normally when I get this vibe I am right.

But I was wrong this time, because I didn't love it at all, and I really struggled to read it.

The story opens with student Jo Clifford being hypnotised with a view to hypnotic regression. In the room is Sam Franklyn. Jo turns out to be a very good subject - too good in fact, and in the end the hypnotists agree that she should never be hypnotised again because she was just too susceptible to past life regression. So they tell her that the hypnotism didn't work and send her on her way.

Fast forward 15 years. Jo is now a hard hitting investigative journalist, who has been dating Sam's brother Nick for a while now. It is however a very on and off relationship and when the book opens it is off - for the most part anyway. Jo is writing an investigative article about hypnotism, and agrees to undertake hypnosis. Whilst under she starts manifesting the life of Matilda de Braose, a woman who lived in the 1200s, not realising that the turbulent love life of Matilda is being played out to the inevitable ending here in modern times.

What follows is at times interesting as Jo travels around England going to various sites that were important to Matilda, and each time using regression, sometimes accidental, to see more of Matilda's life, some times good, and some times not.

Generally when I read this kind of time slip novel I have a preference for the past life, and while that is true for this book it is only marginal. The fact of the matter, I didn't really like the people that filled either story. Then again, I haven't often heard or read much positive about King John I, so that wasn't necessarily unexpected, and Matilda was pretty much treated as you might expect a medieval woman to be. So whilst I didn't like the historical characters, they didn't exactly behave in ways that were unexpected. Historically, the details didn't feel too bad in terms of accuracy, but there were some relationships (for example, between Matilda and King John I) that were presented in a way that was fictional, and acknowledged as such in the authors notes, but if the reader was completely unfamiliar with this time they may come away with the wrong idea.

I didn't really expect the modern characters to be all pretty much unlikeable though. I am not sure if it was a reflection of the fact that the book was originally written in 1985 and maybe shows the different values of a different time (more the 'greed is good' world), but all the characters seem to be well off, self important, violent, jealous, casual drug users, and quite free in their sexual relationships.

I also felt that the motivations of one of the characters wasn't fully explained, especially seeing as the pretext seemed to be that he was inherently evil, but apparently no one saw it before the events of the book.

So I guess it remains to be seen if it is just this Barbara Erskine novel which I really didn't enjoy that much. I do have another one of her novels here. Not sure when I am going to read it though. I still kind of get the impression that I should like Barbara Erskine's novels, but this definitely wasn't a good one for me to start with.

Rating 3/5

French Historical Challenge completed

I made it to the La Princesse level of the French Historicals Oh La La! Challenge!

What does that mean? It means that I read three books that were set some time in French history.

The three books I read were:

Mistress of the Sun by Sandra Gulland
For the King by Catherine Delors
Confessions of Catherine de Medici by C W Gortner

Library Loot: October 27 to November 2

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

The big library news for me this week is that I just joined two more libraries. In both cases, the reason for joining the library is so that I can borrow ebooks on my e-reader. I have borrowed one book from one library already, but for the second one I have to wait for my card to turn up in the post.

As a result of joining these libraries, I was thinking about how many libraries I have or have had memberships at here in Melbourne, and I was a little surprised to realise that it was up to six! At this rate I will joined all the ones in Melbourne in another 15 years or so!

Claire will have Mr Linky this week, so head on over to share your link.

Anyway, onto my loot for this week.

The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie - This was the one standalone Jennifer Crusie book that I had never read before, so when I saw that this was available on e-book, I really couldn't resist!

 The Jewel of St Petersburg by Kate Furnivall - Reloot. This time I will read it. Hopefully!

A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James - First book in Eloisa James latest series.

The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn - Reloot. After reading Dark Road to Darjeeling and loving it, I was remindered that I still haven't read this standalone novel.

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong - I love all the Kelley Armstrong books that I have read, but I haven't managed to read any of her YA books!

His Favourite Mistress by Tracy Anne Warren  - The next book in the Mistress series.

Boy by U2 - A few weeks ago I borrowed U2's latest album in anticipation of going to their concert soon. I hadn't listened to this album either, so I will give it a go. I only just realised that this was their first album so it should be an interesting contrast to No Line on the Horizon.

Here's a montage of photos from the era set to I Will Follow, one of the songs on the album. They all look so young!

Teaser Tuesday: The Sharing Knife: Horizon by Lois McMaster Bujold

My teaser this week comes from The Sharing Knife: Horizon, which is the fourth book in the very enjoyable Sharing Knife series by Lois McMaster Bujold.

The teaser comes from page 89:

It had been so swift, Dag was barely certain what he'd sensed, but he dutifully positioned the halves on the table in front of him, edged them together the best he could, extended his ghost hand, closed his eyes, and found that strange level of perception, down and in, that he had first discovered while healing Hod. Paper, it seemed, was much like felted cloth, a mass of tiny threads all matted together - torn away from one another, now

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. Head on over to find out all about it, and how to join in!

Princess Bride Readalong - Milestone 4

I am not sure why, but as I sit down to write this post the song that has popped into my head and won't go away is My Way. I know it has been sung by numerous people over the years, but it is hard to go past Old Blues Eyes version, and that is the one that I have on a loop in my head!

Part of the reason for this is that Milestone 4 brings us to the end of the story of The Princess Bride itself. There is one more milestone, which is to read the first chapter of the long lost sequel to the book which is called Buttercup's Baby. Another reason is that it seems applicable to all of the characters and to the author too.

And what an ending, or more precisely, what a lack of an ending. To be honest I was a bit disappointed in some ways. The romantic in me wanted a happy ever after and to be honest, based on everything I had ever heard about the book/movie, that's what I expected. These days if we read the actual last line we would definitely apply the term cliffhanger to the ending! Either that or sequel bait, and yet it fits perfectly with the tone of the book, and I loved the idea of the father doing his own editing of the story as he reads the book to his young son, and that William Goldman believed for so long that was the ending, only realising as he came to do the abridgement that there was another ending.

There was a lot that happened in this part of the book! Fezzik and Inigo working as a team as they make their way through the tunnels that form the Zoo of Death, the dreadful treatment of Westley, a visit to Valerie and Miracle Max, the reunion, the wedding!

I thought that Valerie and Miracle Max were such delightful secondary characters! I loved the back and forth between them, and with the other characters:

"You see," Max explained as he pumped, "there's different kinds of dead: there's sort of dead, mostly dead and all dead."

And...

"Sonny, don't you tell me what's worth while - true love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops. Everybody knows that."

I think it is the secondary characters like Max and Valerie that will be one of the standouts for me from the book. They didn't necessarily get a lot of page time, but these characters, and for example, the Queen, definitely left a big impression. Some of the bad guys were a bit cookie cutter bad guy for me, but I think that was rather the point.

I did like the use of a countdown technique to force the tension to rise for the reader as the reader hoped that Westley would get to the wedding in time, and still be alive enough.

And just because I alluded to it earlier in the post, here is Frank Sinatra singing My Way.

Alphabet in Historical Fiction: U is for Under a Blood Red Sky

I did have a couple of ideas for posts for the letter U in the Alphabet in Historical Fiction meme, but all of them were going to involve reposting! After completely missing the letter T, I wanted to make sure that I didn't miss another letter (until we get to the letter X - I have no idea what I am going to post for that yet!). This review was originally post in January 2009

Davinsky Labour Camp, Siberia, 1933: Sofia Morozova knows she has to escape. All that sustains her through the bitter cold, and hard labour are the stories told by her friend Anna, beguiling tales of a charmed upbringing in Petrograd - and of Anna's fervent love for a passionate revolutionary, Vasily. So when Anna falls gravely ill, Sofia makes a promise to escape the camp and find Vasily. But Russia, gripped by the iron fist of Communism, is no longer the country of her friend's childhood. Sofia's perilous search takes her from industrial factories to remote villages, where she discovers a web of secrecy and lies - and an overwhelming love that threatens her promise to Anna. But time is running out. And time, Sofia knows, is something neither she nor Anna has.

Just over a year ago I read Kate Furnivall's first book, The Russian Concubine, and totally enjoyed it. When I heard that the author had a new book out I was hoping for a sequel to that book. I didn't get it, although it is coming this year, but having now read this book, I am not all that disappointed.

Where The Russian Concubine featured Russian characters who lived in China during the turbulent 1920's, this book is set in Russia itself. Now I love reading anything set in Russia, but this is the first time I remember reading anything set during the Soviet era of the 1930s, where the populace is ruled by fear of being arrested for the slightest misdemeanours or connections, and sent to the prison camps often never to return.

Our main character Sofia has been thrown into the prison camps of Siberia. It is there that she meets Anna, a young woman who has also been imprisoned due to her connections with the aristocracy. Each day the women have to perform back breaking manual labour, getting by any way they can. Sofia realises that her friend cannot take much more of this, so is determined to escape and find Anna's childhood friend Vasily. Whilst Anna is terrified for Sofia's safety, she also believes that Vasily will help her if he can.

Sofia finds her way to the village where they believe Vasily is now living, only to be drawn into the collective farming environment where the state determines that absurdly high quotas must be reached, and that no one, no matter how starving they are, gets to keep anything for themselves. She finds herself drawn both into the town and to the people of the town, but she knows that ultimately her aim must be to get back and save Anna, if she is still alive.

There Sofia meets Mikael, a prominent man, who is raising his son alone. As Sofia must take on a new identity and avoid the attention of the authorities, others within the village wrestle with the distinction between duty to each other and duty to the Motherland, with potentially disastrous consequences for all of them.

There are lots of events in this book that are highly improbable, but such is Furnivall's story telling skill, that it doesn't matter all that much. If you want a book filled with high drama with romantic and some minor paranormal elements , and that will keep you reading until the wee hours of the morning, then this may well be a book that you will enjoy.

If I had to choose between this book and The Russian Concubine for a first time Furnivall reader then the latter would win, but this is still a very enjoyable read, about a time and place that I haven't read much about.


**** Please note that in some countries around the world, this book is published under the title The Red Scarf.****

Rating: 4 out of 5

Cross posted at Historical Tapestry

TSS: Confession Time

The other day on Facebook I was very excited to see that one of my Kiwi friends had posted a link to a newspaper article confirming that there was big news when it comes to the casting of the upcoming Peter Jackson adaptation of The Hobbit.

If you have been reading along with my blog for a while you know that I might be just a little obsessed with Richard Armitage, so when I saw his named mentioned in the article I had to go and take a second look. The role of Bilbo has been filled by Martin Freeman, and more importantly Richard Armitage is going to play the role of Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of the band of dwarves. My first reaction was that Richard Armitage is surely too tall to be a dwarf, and the second was that I think Martin Freeman is an excellent choice to play Bilbo. On further inspection you have to wonder whether that is a good thing for Freeman. I mean, in conjunction with a major role like this is awesome, but to be just told that in random conversation might not be so great.

Anyway, back to the point of my post, in the comments thread, someone was talking about the books of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and I said I had read The Hobbit three times, but I had never actually read Lord of the Rings (earlier this year I did start the LOTR readalong but the book is still sitting beside my bed), and that I had never seen the movies either. Cue the outrage - from comments that suggested we could no longer be friends, to "you call yourself a reader" type comments. When you add to this the fact that I had to admit last week that I had never seen the movie of The Princess Bride, it apparently shows that my cultural education is sadly, sadly lacking.

What if I had also admitted that I had never read Jane Austen, or Charlotte Bronte? Or that as a romance reader I have never read Nicholas Sparks, and have only seen two of the movies that have been adapted from his books.

Or how about the fact that I have never seen any of the Star Wars movies from beginning to end - not one of them. And quite frankly I don't feel the need to watch them given that I pretty much know what happens anyway.

I know that I should read more of the classics, and I will one day, but at this point in time I haven't. Not as convinced that I need to read Sparks, but never say never.

What shocking confession could you make about things you haven't seen or read? Enquiring minds want to know.

And yes, this is a gratuitous picture of Richard Armitage that I am including in the post for my your viewing pleasure.