Dark Enquiry cover

Last year I was very excited to read Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn. What I didn't expect was that this book would become my favourite book in the series. And now, on her blog today, Deanna Raybourn has shared the cover for the next book in the series - The Dark Enquiry. There's no blurb yet, but the cover suggests that there may be another exotic locale!

I can only hope that we get this cover here in Australia, as I really did not like the Australian cover for Dark Road to Darjeeling especially in comparison to the overseas cover:

TSS: 2011 Reading Resolutions

For last week's Sunday Salon post , I looked back at my year in 2010. Now it is time to look forward.

When I started thinking about my reading goals for this year, they look a lot like my goals in previous years! They generally involve reading a certain number of books, reading more Australian authors, and that at least some of the books I read should be books that I already own but haven't read yet.

Read 150 books -  Last year I was aiming for 125 books because I had changed jobs and therefore my commuting and reading time reduced, but I still managed to read 166 books, so I am thinking aiming for 150 should be a doable figure. I could try for more than I read this year, but I don't want to be forcing myself to read just to reach a hard to achieve goal.

Read 10 books that I owned as at 31 December 2010 - Every year I read less books that I own than come into my house. This is my attempt to try to make sure that I read at least a few that have been on my shelves for a while.

Reading Australian authors - Every year I look at my list of reads and think, gosh, I don't read enough Australian authors. This year I am aiming to read at least 12 books by Australian authors. I also rejoined the Aussie Authors Challenge to try and help me meet this goal.

Read some Jane Austen - A few years ago I aimed to read Dorothy Dunnett, and didn't manage to even crack open a book, and still haven't in fact. Last year I said "I intend to rectify what I feel is a major gap in my reading. I have never read anything by Jane Austen. I have watched a couple of the adaptations that are around and liked them, so we will see how we go with reading some of her books." Didn't happen. So now I have the books loaded on the ereader, and I have joined the Sense and Sensibility challenge, so maybe that will be the impetus that I require.

Perpetual Challenges - Last year, one thing that I didn't do very well at all is read for the perpetual challenges that I am signed up for like The Pulitzer Project, the Orange Prize Project, and the Complete Booker. This year I would like to read at least one book for each of these, if not more. I have cut back on a lot of my other reading challenges to try and do better with the perpetuals.

Finish War and Peace - Last year I started, and was really enjoyed War and Peace, but then I got distracted by other books. I want to pick it up again, and I know there are a couple of readalongs happening so I might hook up with one of those to assist me with that.

Review more - This is what I wrote last year "Over the last couple of years I have allowed myself to get very lazy about writing reviews of the books I read. I still start a blog post for every book, but not enough of them see light of day! This year, I am going to try to write at least one review a week, preferably more. Need to get back into the habit. I know that that really isn't many, but I do also want to be a no guilt blogger as well, because at the end of the day blogging is supposed to enrich our lives and be fun and not something that we are slave to." All of that is still relevant for this year!

Weekend Cooking: The Kitchen Child by Angela Carter

Shortly before Christmas the Guardian website had a series of short story podcasts where relatively famous authors read short stories from relatively famous authors and then share a few thoughts as to why they liked the story and why they chose it to read. I have used the words relatively because I hadn't actually heard of all the authors who were doing the reading, or all of the ones who were being read!

The podcasts were, in order:

Philip Pullman reading The Beauties by Anton Chekhov
Julian Barnes reading Homage to Switzerland by Ernest Hemingway
William Boyd reading My Dream of Flying to Wake Island by J G Ballard
Anne Enright reading Fat by Raymond Carver
Colm Toibin reading Music at Annahullian by Eugene McCabe
Margaret Drabble reading The Doll's House by Katherine Mansfield
Jeanette Winterson reading The Night Driver by Italo Calvino
Rose Tremain reading Extra by Yiyun Li
Tessa Hadley reading The Jungle by Elizabeth Bowen
Helen Dunmore reading My Oedipus Complex by Frank O'Connor
Ali Smith reading A Conversation with my Father by Grace Paley
Helen Simpson reading The Kitchen Child by Angela Carter

It is the final story in this list, and my favourite of the 12,  that I want to concentrate on for my Weekend Cooking post this week.

When I mentioned that I hadn't heard of all of the authors, both Helen Simpson and Angela Carter were in this category. From what I can tell by what I have read online Helen Simpson is a short story writer herself, and Angela Carter was known for her fairytale retelling. From what is said it seemed that Carter's fairytale retellings can be somewhat dark and gothic, featuring werewolves and other magical creatures and wikipedia mentions that her works include feminism, magical realism and science fiction.

From the little I knew this short story was not anything like I expected. It is light and frothy, but still with substance, sunny, charming and funny, and well worth spending a few minutes to listen to.

The story is about a young boy whose mother is a cook in a large house. He doesn't know who his father was. All he knows is that he was conceived whilst the lobster souffle his mother was cooking rose ("25 minutes in a medium oven") but the identity of his father remains a mystery. Each year at the time of the grouse shoot, his mother once again cooks the souffle although she doens't overseason it with cayenne as she did that first time due to the shock of being accosted in her kitchen. The boy ("conceived upon the kitchen table, born upon the kitchen floor") is desperate to know who his father was. In this short story we shares his childhood in the kitchen from his birth, his first crib (the copper salmon kettle), the baths in the soup tureen that normally carries turtle soup. The child is precocious, learning the skills of the cook with ease at the foot of his mother. He learns his letters (A for Asparagus through to Z is for Zabligione), invents shortcrust at the age of three, and so on.

Also alluded to in the course of the story are the different levels of the household servants within the big house and the masters who don't seem to have terribly good taste when it comes to food. There is the housekeeper who seems to take her rum with a splash of tea, and who would love to replace the Yorkshire woman who is the cook with a continental chef , with the birth of the cook's baby appearing to be the perfect opportunity, but it doesn't work out that way at all.

I have now listened to this particular short story a number of times now, it doesn't lose it's charm with familiarity. If you have a few minutes spare, I would encourage you to click on link above and lose yourself for just a few minutes in the kitchen of the great house.

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.

The Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge

When I did my 2011 challenge post, I mentioned that it was likely that I would find another challenge the next day, and that is exactly what happened!

One of my goals last year was to finally read some Jane Austen. That didn't actually happen, and it is going to be among my reading goals for this year. I've bought the ebooks, now I just have to actually read some. So, as an added incentive, I am signing up for The Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge which is being hosted by Austenprose. My plan is to read the book and watch one film.

Challenge Details

Time-line: The Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011 runs January 1, through December 31, 2011.
Levels of participation: Neophyte: 1 – 4 selections, Disciple: 5 – 8 selections, Aficionada: 9 – 12 selections.
Enrollment: Sign up’s are open until March 1, 2011. First, select your level of participation.  Second, copy the Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011 graphic and include it in your blog post detailing the novels or movies that you commit to reading and watching in 2011. Third, leave a comment linking back to your blog post in the comments of this announcement post. If you do not have a blog you can still participate. Just leave your commitment to the challenge in the comments below.
Check Back Monthly: The Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011 officially begins on Wednesday, January 26, 2010 with my review of the novel The Three Weismanns of Westport. Check back on the 4th Wednesday of each month for my next review in the challenge.

Smashed.....

Sigh....

I guess it has been more than 2 years since it last happened, but I still feel like this stuff (car break ins, house break ins) happens to me more than it does to other people and I don't know why. Last night I got back to the car park at the train station my car had been broken into.

They had tried to steal the car too, but in the end they gave up but not before they damaged the casing underneath where the key goes.

One of the reasons that they didn't steal the car is that it is a bit temperamental to start at the moment. I was just waiting for my mechanic to get back from holidays before I got him to have a look at why the key won't even turn in the ignition some times.

So now I have to figure out what to do today. If I take it to get the window fixed today the tradesman probably won't be able to get it started, but if I wait to get the problem fixed before I get the window fixed, that will mean that I won't have a car for a few days at least.

Either way, it's going to cost lots of dollars for me in the very near future.

Library Loot: January 5 to 11

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!

This week you can share your Library Loot by adding your link into Mr Linky over at Claire's blog.

I am just doing a quick Library Loot post myself today because I have about 4 more blog posts rattling around in my head at the moment, and I need to take advantage of the inspiration and write most of them now. I will polish them later, but I need to strike while the iron is hot, so to speak. need to go and sleep.

Here's my loot for this week:

Named of the Dragon by Susanna Kearsley - This is the only other Kearsley book that my library has. I am going to have to work a lot harder to get hold of her other titles, because I have no doubt that I am going to want to read more having loved so many of her books so far.

The Last Letter from your Lover by Jojo Moyes - I read Ship of Brides from this author a few years ago and really liked it. I have been meaning to read more from her, so when I saw something about this book I had to request it straight away.

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear - What a horrible cover this is. The green is metallic and I really wouldn't ever pick it up if I saw it in a cover. Lucky I have had numerous recommendations for the series. I have been meaning to read this first book in the series for ages, but was going to wait until I finished the Phryne Fisher series by Kerry Greenwood, but I am going too slowly through that series for now.

The Hogfather

Having recently watched Going Postal, another adaptation from a Terry Pratchett book, I thought I would go back and revisit this one. I try to watch it when it showed on TV here a couple of years ago, but I fell asleep within 10 minutes, and then the same on the second night. I think that was more an indication of my fatigue rather than about the show itself. Guess I will find out soon enough.

Teaser Tuesday: Gunshot Road by Adrian Hyland

I read and thoroughly enjoyed the first novel featuring Emily Tempest (which was called Diamond Dove*) a couple of years ago. I have been meaning to read this book ever since it first came out. Now, finally, I am actually reading it, and I have a feeling it is going to be one of those books that I need to ask myself what was I waiting for!

I have it on good authority that Hyland manages to capture remote outback life very well, which can sometimes be a bit hit and miss in literature.

My teaser comes from page 150:

Cockburn's new toy: I shivered, examined the Cruiser nervously. A bush bash through the toughest terrain in the world was perhaps not what he'd had in mind when he gave me the keys.

*Depending on where you live Diamond Dove might have been published under the title Moonlight Downs.

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!

2011 challenges

This year it was my plan to do challenges a little differently. There have been some challenges over the years that I have participated in that I thoroughly enjoyed doing, but that weren't really .... challenging. For example, the 100+ Reading Challenge - I liked joining up for it, but it meant maintaining a blog post showing all my reads even though I knew that I would get past 100 books easily. Another example is that Pub10 Challenge - to read 10 books that were published in 2010. Thoroughly enjoyed it, but it would have been a very nasty shock to me if I didn't finish it with months to spare.

So this year I decided that I was going to do challenges that were challenging. The only problem I have just realised that I have only signed up for five challenges so far which doesn't seem like a lot, even to me. Having said that, I am hoping to actually do some reading for my perpetual challenges this year as well, because they have been sadly neglected over the last couple of years.

I will sign up for more during the year I am sure (who knows, maybe even tomorrow) but this is what I am starting off with for this year:

2011 Aussie Author Challenge hosted at Book Lover Book Reviews

Every year I lament the fact that I don't read enough Australian authors, so this challenge helps me to meet that goal. I've signed up for the True Blue level. Here are the rules:

Challenge period:  1 January 2011 -  31 December 2011

Objective: Read and review books written by Australian Authors - physical books, ebooks and audiobooks, fiction and non-fiction!

Challenge Levels: TOURIST or TRUE BLUE!

TOURIST - Read and review 3 books by 3 different Aussie Authors
TRUE BLUE - Read and review 12 books by Australian authors (at least 9 different authors)

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2011 hosted at Historical Tapestry

This is going to be my one can do this easily challenge that I am signing up for early this year, mainly because it is being hosted at Historical Tapestry. I am signing up for the Severe Bookaholism level of 20 books

The rules:

• everyone can participate, even those who don't have a blog (you can add your book title and thoughts in the comment section if you wish)

•  add the link(s) of your review(s) including your name and book title to the Mister Linky we’ll be adding to our monthly post (please, do not add your blog link, but the correct address that will guide us directly to your review)

• any kind of historical fiction is accepted (HF fantasy, HF young adult,...)

• you can overlap this challenge with others kind of challenges

• During these following 12 months you can choose one of the different reading levels:

1. Severe Bookaholism: 20 books
2. Undoubtedly Obsessed: 15 books
3. Struggling the Addiction: 10 books
4. Daring & Curious: 5 books
5. Out of My Comfort Zone: 2 books

The challenge will run from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011.

What's in a Name 4 hosted by Beth Fish Reads

This is a new to me challenge this year. The idea is that you have to read books whose titles fit the criteria below:

Here's How It Works

Between January 1 and December 31, 2011, read one book in each of the following categories:

1. A book with a number in the title: First to Die, Seven Up, Thirteen Reasons Why
2. A book with jewelry or a gem in the title: Diamond Ruby, Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Opal Deception
3. A book with a size in the title: Wide Sargasso Sea, Small Wars, Little Bee
4. A book with travel or movement in the title: Dead Witch Walking, Crawling with Zombies, Time Traveler's Wife
5. A book with evil in the title: Bad Marie, Fallen, Wicked Lovely
6. A book with a life stage in the title: No Country for Old Men, Brideshead Revisited, Bog Child

The book titles are just suggestions, you can read whatever book you want to fit the category.

Other Things to Know

• Books may be any form (audio, print, e-book).
• Books may overlap other challenges.
• Books may not overlap categories; you need a different book for each category.
• Creativity for matching the categories is not only allowed but encouraged.
• You do not have to make a list of books before hand.
• You do not have to read through the categories in any particular order.

War Through the Generations

This was one of my favourite challenges from a couple of years ago, but I didn't participate last year. This year the theme is US Civil War, and I am back in again! I am just Dipping my toes into the challenge this year.

This year you have options when reading your fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, etc. with the U.S. Civil War as the primary or secondary theme.

Books can take place before, during, or after the war.  Books from other challenges count so long as they meet the above criteria.

Dip: Read 3-5 books in any genre with the U.S. Civil War as a primary or secondary theme.

Ireland Reading Challenge 2011

Even though I didn't manage to successfully complete this challenge last year, I am back for it again this year!

~ The challenge runs from January 1, 2011 to November 30, 2011.
~ Any books read for this challenge can also apply to other challenges you are working on.
~ Re-reads are allowed.
~ Any book written by an Irish author, set in Ireland, or involving Irish history or Irish characters, counts for the challenge – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, audiobooks, children’s books – all of these apply.
~ Choose your commitment level:
Shamrock level: 2 books
Luck o’ the Irish level: 4 books
Kiss the Blarney Stone level: 6 books
~ Write up a post indicating that you are participating (feel free to copy the lovely graphic at the top of this post), and then add your challenge post’s link to the Mr. Linky on the main challenge page.
~ You don’t have to list your books ahead of time – just have fun reading throughout the year.
~ I will put up a page for the challenge in my left sidebar, and add a Mr. Linky for reviews and wrap-up posts.
~ Everyone who fulfills their challenge level and writes at least one review is eligible for the giveaway prize at the end of the challenge: a copy of Tipperary by Frank Delaney. Wrap-up post and giveaway details will go up at the beginning of December, which is why the challenge ends on November 30th.
~ Thanks to Serena, who had a wonderful idea, we will be adding a new element this year. In the month of March, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we will do a read-along for any challenge participants or other bloggers who are interested. I have no idea which book we should read for the read-along, though, so please leave your suggestions in the comments. I will compile a list and post a poll in which you can vote for your pick.

Books I can't wait for in 2011

Okay, so there are a lot more than five, but these are five books that have me VERY excited about reading this year:

The Wild Rose Jennifer Donnelly

There's no synopsis yet, and it appears only a provisional cover (which I really hope they redo) so that it fits better with the other two books in the trilogy, but this is a book I have been waiting for for years, and no, that isn't an exaggeration!

Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

My name is Kvothe.

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

So begins the tale of a hero told from his own point of view — a story unequaled in fantasy literature. Now in THE WISE MAN’S FEAR, Day Two of The Kingkiller Chronicle, an escalating rivalry with a powerful member of the nobility forces Kvothe to leave the University and seek his fortune abroad. Adrift, penniless, and alone, he travels to Vintas, where he quickly becomes entangled in the politics of courtly society. While attempting to curry favor with a powerful noble, Kvothe uncovers an assassination attempt, comes into conflict with a rival arcanist, and leads a group of mercenaries into the wild, in an attempt to solve the mystery of who (or what) is waylaying travelers on the King's Road.

All the while, Kvothe searches for answers, attempting to uncover the truth about the mysterious Amyr, the Chandrian, and the death of his parents. Along the way, Kvothe is put on trial by the legendary Adem mercenaries, is forced to reclaim the honor of the Edema Ruh, and travels into the Fae realm. There he meets Felurian, the faerie woman no man can resist, and who no man has ever survived...until Kvothe.

In THE WISE MAN’S FEAR, Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time.

Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick

Two very different women are linked by destiny and the struggle for the English crown. Matilda, daughter of Henry I, is determined to win back her crown from Stephen, the usurper king. Adeliza, Henry's widowed queen and Matilda's stepmother, is now married to William D'Albini, a warrior of the opposition. Both women are strong and prepared to stand firm for what they know is right. But in a world where a man's word is law, how can Adeliza obey her husband while supporting Matilda, the rightful queen? And for Matilda pride comes before a fall ...What price for a crown? What does it cost to be 'Lady of the English'?

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Chased the Moon welcomes you to her newest locale: Walls of Water, North Carolina, where the secrets are thicker than the fog from the town’s famous waterfalls, and the stuff of superstition is just as real as you want it to be.

It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water’s heyday, and once the town’s grandest home—has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries of the haves and have-nots.

But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood—of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it.

For the bones—those of charismatic traveling salesman Tucker Devlin, who worked his dark charms on Walls of Water seventy-five years ago—are not all that lay hidden out of sight and mind. Long-kept secrets surrounding the troubling remains have also come to light, seemingly heralded by a spate of sudden strange occurrences throughout the town.

Now, thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the dangerous passions and tragic betrayals that once bound their families—and uncover truths of the long-dead that have transcended time and defied the grave to touch the hearts and souls of the living.

Resonant with insight into the deep and lasting power of friendship, love, and tradition, The Peach Keeper is a portrait of the unshakable bonds that—in good times and bad, from one generation to the next—endure forever.

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

When Eva's film star sister Catrina dies, she leaves California and returns to Trelowarth, Cornwall, where they spent their childhood summers, to scatter Catrina's ashes and thus return her to the place where she belongs.
But in doing so Eva must confront ghosts from her own past, as well as those from a time long before her own. For the house where she so often stayed as a child is home not only to her old friends the Hallets, but also to the people who had lived there in the eighteenth century. Eva finds herself able to see and talk to these people, and she falls for Daniel Butler, a man who lived and died long before she herself was born.
Eva begins to question her place in the present, and in laying her sister to rest, comes to realise that she too must decide where she really belongs, choosing between the life she knows and the past she feels so drawn towards.

TSS: Top 10 reads of 2010... and some stats!

One of the hard things at the end of the year is to narrow down your list of reads into those books that you absolutely loved. I have to say though that 2010 was a really good reading year. Normally I might grade three or four books as 5/5 reads but this year I actually had 11! If I have another reading year like that in 2011 then I will be one happy reader/blogger this year. Before I do my list of favourites, here are a few stats about my reading year in 2010 including comments about how I did in terms of my reading resolutions for 2010.

Books Read - 166 (14 more than last year). My goal was 125 so I reached that easily.

Library Books -  (70% of all books read). This is less percentage wise than last year, which I would probably attribute to the ereader I bought late in the year.

Books I Own Read - 49 (of which 11 were books I owned at the start of the year). This means that I read more of my own books than last year, but more of those were new. My goal was 10, so I just managed that!

Books Acquired during 2010 - 125 (TBR pile continues to grow rapidly, and this really, really is getting to be an issue. I really need to read more books that I acquire!)

Books by Australian Authors - 10 which was my goal for the year(this is one stat that I have gone back on this year)

New to me authors - 47 (slightly less than the 50 that I tried for the first time last year)

Best reading months - January and December, when I read 18 books in each month

Worst reading month - April and May when I read only 9 books.

No. of rereads - 4 (very surprised at that one. It's quite unusual for me to reread)

Average Grade - 4.06 which is very slightly down on last year

No. of pages read - 61436

Challenges participated in - 23

My other reading resolutions included reading some Jane Austen, read for my perpetual challenges and reviewing more. I still haven't done any of those, so they might make it onto my list of reading resolutions for this year when I finally get around to writing them!

In terms of genre read, I found it a bit more difficult than usual to collate how many of each type I read because cross genre reads are so much more prevalent in my reading. The one result that did surprise me a little is the amount of romance that I read, because I could have sworn that my romance reading was dropping off at the moment, but apparently not!

Crime - 18 (5 of which could have counted as historical fiction)
Fantasy - 27
Historical Fiction - 37
Romance - 51 (18 contemporary (thank you Robyn Carr again), 3 erotic, 24 historical, 8 paranormal)
Young Adult - 21
Graphic - 5
Non Fiction - 1


Here are the books that I loved so much I gave them 5/5 in the order I read them in. I highly recommend them all:

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss - Patrick Rothfuss takes some familiar tropes of the fantasy genre, but manages to make them fresh and exciting, and I can't wait to read the next book, The Wise Man's Fear which is due out in March 2011.

Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer - I have been reading Heyer in the last couple of years and I have liked them, but this is the first one that I have loved!

The Endless Forest by Sara Donati - This year saw the end of one of my favourite series, and what a conclusion! I loved it! I also read the first book in this series again, Into the Wilderness, as well and absolutely loved it again!)

To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick - This was my most anticipated historical fiction read for this year, and it didn't disappoint! Click here to read a conversation about this book from three of the contributors at Historical Tapestry.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett - This appeared on many must read lists for 2009. I can totally see why!

Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos - Some times you read a book at exactly the right time, and this was one of those books for me. I laughed, I cried, and I closed the book at the end with a huge sigh, a good sigh. This is the second book from this author. I liked the first one a lot, but loved this one. I know the author is working on the third book, but I don't know any more than that. I will be looking out for it.

The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley - After reading The Winter Sea last year (and still gushing about that book to anyone that will listen) it was going to be a requirement to read more from this author. In the end, I read three more books from her this year. I liked the others a lot, but loved this one!

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden - This book was apparently part of the curriculum for people who are a bit younger than me. I only had the pleasure of discovering the book in 2010. I am glad that I read the book before I saw the movie.

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis - This book was recommended to me years ago. I bought it, and it looked so pretty on the shelf, but it took a readalong with Aarti from Booklust for me to actually read it! I wish I had of read it earlier. This year I intend to read The Doomsday Book.

Mr Rosenblum's List by Natasha Solomons - What a wonderful charming book this was!

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly - For the last two years I have been waiting for the third book in the Rose trilogy to come out. When I heard that Jennifer Donnelly was working on a YA novel before working on that book I was a little disappointed. I mean how much longer did we have to wait! And then the buzz started just before BEA, and then the reviews started. I picked this book up to to read during take off on a flight home with the intention of just reading for the 15 minutes and then swapping to my e-reader. I didn't swap back! What a wonderful book!

There are a few books that I want to give an honorary mention to as being books that I really, really liked, and if I was to regrade right now, I might have given them a slightly higher grade than I did at the time.

Virgin River by Robyn Carr (if only because it started a reading glom like I haven't done in ages on this author)
Roses by Leila Meacham (love a big juicy saga, and this was definitely one of those)
The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen (I do love this author's books. Perfect escapism)
The Passage by Justin Cronin (a bit outside my comfort zone but a very good read)
The Countess and the King by Susan Holloway Scott
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett (my first witches book but not my last and my favourite read for the Terry Pratchett Challenge that I hosted this year)
Song of Seduction by Carrie Lofty (my first e read!)
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici by CW Gortner

Dark Road to Darjeeling by Deanna Raybourn (it's not often that the fourth book in a series becomes your favourite!)


For some other highlights of this year:

January - apparently not a lot that was exciting or interesting happened in January! Or at least nothing that I blogged about!

February - Went to see Rob Thomas in concert, and had the added bonus of seeing INXS perform a couple of songs away. The atmosphere as INXS performed was amazing!

March - Alex did an amazing job of making over my blog and also Historical Tapestry! I still like to just sit and look at it some days! I also went on vacation to Phillip Island with my friend and her son.

April - I was all set for a big readathon weekend, when I had to make an emergency dash to the other side of the country because my grandmother was ill. It was also Read Our Own Books month - it was so nice to read some of the books that I wanted enough to actually buy!

May - I started participating in Weekend Cooking, which is now one of my favourite blogging events each week. May was also the month of Armchair BEA. I thoroughly enjoyed pretending to be in New York for the week!

June - It was Anya Seton season at Historical Tapestry and I started the Australian Book Blogger Directory. I am hoping to do a lot more with the directory this year.

July - My blog went French for July thanks to the Paris in July event, and I had a total blast!

August - Out of a conversation on Twitter #spbkchat was born!

September - Powderfinger in concert - Awesome! Another awesome thing - I bought my e-reader, and I still love it!

October - Went to see Australian/Irish author Monica McInerney speak.

November - It was my fifth blogiversary, and I had a really great giveaway, even if I do say so myself! Another trip to Perth, this time for my grandmother's 90th birthday.

December - U2 in concert! I hit the blogging wall a little bit in December, but I am sure that I will recover in due course!

So that was the year that was! Over the next few days I will talk about some of the things I want to achieve during 2011.

2011Reading Challenges

2011 Aussie Author Challenge

Ends December 31

Once Upon a Time V Challenge






Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Ends December 31

Sense & Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge

Ends 31 December 2011

What's in a Name 4 challenge

Ends 31 December 2011

War Through the Generations  (Not completed)

Ends 31 December 2011

Ireland Reading Challenge

Ends 31 December 2011 (Not completed)

Current Challenges

War Through the Generations

Ends 31 December 2011

Ireland Reading Challenge

Ends 31 December 2011

Weekend Cooking: Cake: A Global History by Nicola Humble

Let them eat cake! What birthday, wedding, bar mitzvah or children's party would be complete without it? It is the ultimate food of celebration in many cultures around the world, but how did it come to be so?

Cake: A Global History explores the origin of modern cakes and its development from sweet bread to architectural flight of fancy, together with the meanings, legends and rituals attached to cake through the ages.

Nicola Humble reviews the many national differences in cake-making techniques, customs - the French, for example, have the gâteau Paris-Brest, named after the cycle race and designed to imitate the form of a bicycle wheel; in America there is New England's Election Day cake or the Southern favourite, Lady Baltimore cake - and what they reveal about the nations that make them. From Proust's madeleine to Miss Havisham’s decaying wedding cake, the symbol of her betrayal in Dicken's Great Expectations, Humble also relates food's place in literature, art and film, and what it can symbolize and illustrate: indulgence, feminity, motherhood and guilt. 

With a large selection of mouthwatering images, Cake will appeal to the many readers with an interest in food history, social, cultural, literary and art history - or, indeed, just in cake.

I don't know why, but I really don't read much non-fiction. This book is the first, and only, non fiction book that I read in 2010. There's no real reason, because when I connect to the subject matter I do enjoy reading non fiction! And let's face it, it's not that difficult to connect with the subject when it is cake!

I hadn't heard about this book, or the series it is part of, until Stephanie from Read in a Single Sitting mentioned an interview that she had heard with the author on ABC's The Book Show. I listened to the podcast and straight away ordered the book through Inter Library Loan.

I mentioned above that the book is part of a series called The Edible Series which is being published by Reaktion Books. The series is "a revolutionary new series of books on food and drink which explores the rich history of man’s consumption. Each book provides an outline for one type of food or drink, revealing its history and culture on a global scale. 50 striking illustrations, with approximately 25 in colour, accompany these engaging and accessible texts, and offer intriguing new insights into their subject. Key recipes as well as reference material will also accompany each title." (source). Other books in the series that I might be interested in reading include Cheese, Chocolate, Pancake, Soup and oh so many more!

The books aren't long, or at least Cake wasn't, but it was a really fun read. The books looks at the origins of cake and the way it has evolved over the years, the different cultural emphasis placed on cake over the years, the role of cake in literature (with one of the most obvious cakes to my mind being the decaying wedding cake that was so symbolic in Dicken's Great Expectations), and the changing face of cakes given the current popularity of cupcakes and modern structural cakes like those that you can see on shows like Ace of Cakes and The Cake Boss!

When I saw this section, I knew that when I posted about the book for Weekend Cooking, there was one thing that I wanted to concentrate on. This particular section about an Australian icon caught my attention for obvious reasons. This quote comes from page 54 and 55:

And then there is the Lamington, which is virtually the patron cake of Australia. A small square single-portion sponge cake (baked in a sheet like petit fours and then sliced up), a Lamington is dipped in chocolate icing and then rolled in coconut. The cakes are believed to be named after Baron Lamington, the governor of Queensland from 1896 to 1901. Different sources assign the connection either to his kitchens (claiming the cake was invented there, perhaps, prosaically, as a way to use up stale or burnt sponge cake), or to his wife (said to have a keen interest in household matters), or to a homburg hat the governor was given to wearing which alleged resembled the cakes. Lor Lamington was said to loath his namesakes and to refer to them as 'those bloody poofy woolly biscuits'. For reasons I have been entirely unable to ascertain, Lamingtons  attained the status of an institution in both Australia and New Zealand. The earliest published recipe so far known dates from 1902, when the Queenslander weekly newspaper published a recipe contributed by 'A Subscriber'. Fund raising cake sales are often referred to as Lamington Drives - a nomenclature which may be evidence of the popularity of the cake or may in part contribute to it.

Reading that, what else could I do for this week's Weekend Cooking post but share a recipe for lamingtons. I have to say, I am not generally all that fond of these. When they are done well they are very yummy, but I have had some very average versions in my time.

This version of lamingtons looks a little different than most mainly because usually the coconut that is used is dessicated coconut but this recipe calls for shredded coconut.

Once again the recipe comes from my trusty favourite recipe website - Taste.com.au.

Photography by Chris Chen

Lamingtons

Makes 16
Prep time 45 mins
Cooking Time 15 mins


Ingredients

4 eggs

125g caster sugar

125g plain flour

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

50g unsalted butter, melted

200g shredded coconut



Chocolate icing

25g unsalted butter

160ml (2/3 cup) milk

500g icing sugar

50g (1/2 cup) Dutch cocoa (see note)


Method

1. Preheat oven to 190C. Grease and line the base and sides of a 20cm square cake pan with baking paper. Fill a sink one-third full with water. Place eggs and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Place bowl in sink and whisk for 2 minutes or until mixture is runny and slightly foamy. Remove from sink.
2. Using an electric mixer, whisk on high speed for 4 minutes or until mixture is pale and triples in volume. Using a sieve, sift just enough flour to cover the top of the egg mixture. Using a large metal spoon, fold in flour in one light motion. Repeat sifting and folding with remaining flour until just combined.
3. Combine vanilla and butter in a bowl, then add a large spoonful of batter and stir to combine. Gently fold the butter mixture into batter until just combined, then spoon into the prepared pan.
4. On a work surface, spin the pan to level, then bake for 25 minutes or until centre springs back when pressed with your fingertip. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Freeze for 20 minutes; this will make the sponge easier to cut.
5. To make icing, stir butter and milk in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water until butter is melted. Sift over sugar and cocoa, then stir until smooth. Turn off heat.
6. Using a large serrated knife, trim sides of sponge, then cut into 16 cubes. Scatter coconut over a tray. Insert a skewer into the crust side of a piece of sponge (don’t go all the way through). Holding skewer over icing, and, holding a spoon in the other hand, spoon icing over the sponge, rotating the skewer to coat evenly. Shake off excess, then slide sponge off the skewer onto the tray of coconut. Scatter coconut over the top and sides of sponge, then transfer to a tray lined with baking paper. Repeat with remaining sponge cubes, icing and coconut. If the icing starts to thicken, stir in a little water to thin.

Notes

• Dutch cocoa is treated with an alkali, which gives it a darker, redder brown colour than regular cocoa, as well as a more intense chocolate taste. It is available from delis. Alternatively, substitute regular cocoa.

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.

November and December Reading Reflections

It is that time of year (ie the end) where I need to share the stats for my reading year in 2010 or I will never actually get around to doing it!

Before I do that however, I didn't get around to sharing my books read for November, and then I should share December's reads and then I can start reflecting on the year that was, and the upcoming year!

Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich 3/5
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare 4.5/5
Wicked Intentions by Elizabeth Hoyt 4/5
The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier 4/5
Outback by Aaron Fletcher 4/5
Mr Rosenblum's List by Natasha Solomons 5/5
Hot Under Pressure by Kathleen O'Reilly 4/5
The Third Day, the Frost by John Marsden 4/5
The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong 4/5
A Kiss At Midnight by Eloisa James 4/5
The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith 4/5
Wedding of the Season by Laura Lee Guhrke 4/5
Scandal of the Year by Laura Lee Guhrke 4/5
Christmas with her Boss by Marion Lennox  4/5
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly 5/5
Dream Chaser by Sherrilyn Kenyon 4/5


Wicked Intentions was my read for the Year of the Historical Reading Challenge

By reading the third book in John Marsden's Tomorrow series I have also completed the Aussie Authors Challenge for 2010. This is one challenge that I am definitely signing up for again next year!

For December (or perhaps I should call it Robyn Carr month), my reads were:

Whispering Rock by Robyn Carr 4/5
A Virgin River Christmas by Robyn Carr 4/5
The Memorist by M J Rose 4/5
Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane 3.5/5
Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas 4/5
The Perfect Love Song by Patti Callahan Henry 2.5/5
Second Chance Pass by Robyn Carr 3.5/5
Outback Station by Aaron Fletcher 4/5
Temptation Ridge by Robyn Carr 4/5
Pigeon English by Stephan Kelman 3.5/5
Paradise Valley by Robyn Carr 4/5
Forbidden Falls by Robyn Carr 4/5
Angelique in Revolt by Sergeanne Golon 4/5
Angel's Peak by Robyn Carr 4/5
Cake: A Global History by Nicola Humble 4/5
Moonlight Road by Robyn Carr 4/5
Sheltering Hearts Robyn Carr 3/5
Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan 4.5/5
Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley 4/5

Outback Station was my Year of the Historical reading challenge for December. Thanks to Kmont from Lurv a la Mode for hosting this challenge!

When I signed up for the Support Your Local Library Challenge, I said I would attempt 100 library books for this year. There was no way I thought I would make that target, but I did! Here's the list of books that I read for this challenge during 2010.

As for the challenges I didn't meet. I didn't manage to read any books for the Tudor Book Challenge, which I must confess kind of surprised me. Maybe I am a bit Tudor'd out?

One challenge that I knew I wouldn't meet (because it was one book every month) was In Death Reading Challenge. I did however expect to read more than one book in the series this year.  At this stage J D Robb is writing the books in the series quicker than I am reading them, and that is before we talk about her books under the name Nora Roberts!

For the second year running I managed to not complete the Art History Reading Challenge. I did read two books, when the minimum requirement was three books.

The final challenge I didn't finish was the Ireland Reading Challenge. I read one book, and I had several here to read that would have qualified but I didn't quite make it. I think I have already signed up for the 2011 version of the challenge.