Library Loot: August 24 to 30

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!

My loot this week:

Warriors 1 edited by George R R Martin and Gardner Dozois - I requested this book because I thought it was the book that contained a short story by Diana Gabaldon. Turns out that the hardcover contained the story, but the book has been split into 3 parts and published as Warriors 1, Warriors 2 and Warriors 3. Of course, the story that I really want to read is in Warriors 3 which my library doesn't have yet! There are a couple of authors in this collection that I wouldn't mind trying, but I think that I am going to return the book to the library unread at this stage.

Meet Rose by Sherryl Clark - this is the first book in the final girl's story as part of the Our Australian Girl series. This one is set in 1901 which is the year of Australian Federation (where we became a nation in our own right).

A Courtesan's Guide to Getting Your Man by Celeste Bradley and Susan Donovan - I used to read Celeste Bradley a lot, but haven't read one of her books for years. This one, which is a combination of historical and contemporary romance sounds like fun, so I thought I would give it a go.

Catch of the Day by Kristan Higgins - my trek through Kristan Higgins' backlist continues.

The Devil's Queen by Jeanne Kalogridis - I have had this book on request for the best part of 18 months. I finally deleted my request so I would have room for something else and two weeks later it arrived!

Poison Study by Maria V Snyder - I mentioned in my Sunday Salon post that I was inspired to read the third book in the Study trilogy by this author after meeting her last week until I realised that it has been more than 5 years since I read the second book! I therefore thought I might start back at the beginning.

Kings of Pastry (DVD) - This has been mentioned on a couple of Weekend Cooking posts, and it sounded interesting! It could well feature on yet another Weekend Cooking post soon!

What loot did you get this week? Share you link in Mr Linky below so that we can all have a look at the loot that you picked up this week!

Teaser Tuesday: Empire Day by Diane Armstrong

This week my teaser comes from Empire Day by Diane Armstrong - a new to me Australian author. The book is set just after the end of World War II when many of the people immigrating to Australia came from European backgrounds rather then primarily British background that was previously the norm.

The story so far seems to follow the inhabitants of a Bondi street - there are the Australian families, the new arrived immigrants, all with secrets to hide from prying eyes. So far we have also got to see a few events from Sydney's history as well.

The teaser comes from page 172:

He opened the novel he'd bought with him, but the weak electric bulb in the bedside table gave very little light and he put the book aside. His mind kept wandering back to what he'd seen and heard at Bonegilla. As he turned off the lamp, it struck him that the lives of perpetrators and victims were closely intertwined in their new country.

Please note that this teaser comes from an ARC version and so may be different in the final version.

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!

And just because reading the book has reminded me of my own visit to Bondi earlier this year....

What's in a Name Challenge complete

Another challenge down! This time it was the What's in a Name challenge hosted by BethfishReads!

In order to complete the challenge you have to read books that fit certain criteria. Here are the books that I read for the challenge:

A book with a number in the title: 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson
A book with jewelry or a gem in the title: Provocative in Pearls by Madeline Hunter
A book with a size in the title: A Little Friendly Advice by Siobhan Vivian
A book with travel or movement in the title: Walk About by Aaron Fletcher
A book with evil in the title: Sylvester or the Wicked Uncle by Georgette Heyer
A book with a life stage in the title: The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith

The criteria that I had the most trouble with was the one with evil in the title. I have read a number of books that had witch in the title earlier this year but none of those witches were evil so I was loathe to use those to fit this category. If, however, I hadn't found something else to use then I might have resorted to that!

Thanks to Beth for hosting this challenge!

Sunday Salon: Two author events!

Over the couple of weeks I have been lucky enough to go to two author events, both featuring well known international authors. The first one was Maria V Snyder who appeared at our local library (organised by our local bookstore) and the second was Kelley Armstrong who appeared at an event in a city bookstore!

In order to get to the Maria V Snyder event I had to leave work early (I know, such a hardship) but I just made it along with about 25 others. It was a very cold and rainy night, and after a couple of disparaging remarks about Melbourne weather (which she had obviously been fed by Sydney people *wink*) it was on to the talk. Most of Maria's talk was about where her ideas come from. She talking about her background as a meteorologist and her husband's job which indirectly led to ideas for the Study series, about learning to fence and blow glass so that she could be confident that she knew what she was talking about when she was writing and more! There was quite a lengthy question and answer session, including one question that had everyone in the room gasping "spoiler, spoiler, spoiler"...whoops!

This year I have read both Inside Out and Outside In in ebook form, but I already owned Fire Study and Storm Glass so I took them to get signed. Because I wanted to support the bookstore I also bought the other two books in the Glass trilogy to get signed. I loved that when the author signed them, she obviously has set greetings that she used for each different book that was relevant to the book. For example, in Fire Study her greeting was "The danger heats up".

Attending this signing made me really want to finally read Fire Study, which is the third book in the Study trilogy. I can't tell you how shocked I was when I realised that it is has been sitting on my bookshelf unread for 3 years and that it has been 4 and a half years since I read the second book! Whilst I still remember the basics, I think I am going to try and reread the first two books just to refresh my memory a little!

I really like the fact that the local library and bookstore are working together to bring these kinds of events to our local area. It actually works really well for a couple of reasons. From the bookstore's point of view it means that they have a room which can fit a number of people in without it being cluttered or crowded and I think it really looks good from the library perspective as well. I was glad to hear from the librarians that they are working hard at embracing modern technologies and trying new things!

A fun thing that the library does that I haven't seen done before is that they provide a small selection of drinks and snacks at the end of the event. This time they had some biscuits that I hadn't tried before and they were so delicious both Bree from All the Books I Can Read and I have been chatting about them on Twitter ever since, and we may have both bought more than one packet since! After the talk it was great to have dinner with Bree, Jacqui from Collins Werribee and Bookworm Rebel from Bookaliciousness! Lots of enthusiastic book talk ensued!

Another cold night saw about 30 people attending a talk and signing by Canadian author, Kelley Armstrong at Dymocks bookstore in Melbourne itself. With the demise of Borders, I think Dymocks is probably one of the biggest stores we have left.

Kelley started by telling us how we weren't really having winter - something along the lines of if there isn't 5 foot of snow to trudge through, it isn't really winter! All of us shivering Aussies would probably have to agree to disagree. I guess it is all about what you are used to!

This talk was once again strong on the question and answer component, but the author started with a run down on where each of her current series is going. Not too long ago it was announced that The Otherworld series is going on hiatus after the next book, which will be the thirteenth book in the series, and will be titled Thirteen. The spin off young adult series set in the same world will be continuing. I am a big fan of the Otherworld series, so I was really surprised to hear that Kelley didn't achieve New York Times bestseller status with any of those books, but rather it was the young adult books which achieved that level of success. I  also really liked the Nadia Stafford books that she wrote which are not paranormal, but rather feature a female hit woman, so it was interesting to hear her plans for a third e-book only release in that series. She also talked about plans to continue to publish collections of short stories that she has written about characters in the Otherworld series that have been previously published in various anthologies around the world.

There were lots of questions about various characters, and about writing. I was really struck by how many projects Armstrong was juggling. She talked about just doing copy edits, and just finishing writing, and writing the Nadia Stafford book during her time off, and that is on top of a trip to Australia and more! She talked about not being discouraged if you see your idea that you think is unique being written because even if someone else does have a similar idea it will likely still be a very different book to the one that you write. When asked what the best advice is for a struggling writer - just write!

I have to tell you two stories though. As with the Snyder signing, I like to support the stores that are hosting these events so I knew that I was going to buy a couple of books to get signed but I wasn't sure which one, not least because with the exception of the last couple of books this is one series that I have read only from the library. When I get ready for work every day I do the checklist - have I got the keys, my purse, train ticket. Check, check, check. Unfortunately after I had done my checks, the boy took some money out of my purse and left it on the cupboard instead of putting it back in my bag and I didn't realise until later in the day. I really need to say thanks to the staff at Dymocks who let me get my books signed and then put them on hold and I went and picked them up yesterday!

The last two books in the Otherworld series are ARCs that I had received, so I was a little worried about taking those for signing, but in the end it was all good! So now I have signed copies of the first two and the last two books in the series!

The second story relates to my always deplorable photography! I have learnt lessons from my previous attempts and so this time I chose to sit somewhere quite close to the stage (not that the room was huge, it was actually very intimate in terms of space) so that I could get some better photos than normal.

Before Kelley Armstrong got up to speak, the organiser asked everyone if they could please turn the flashes on their cameras off. I was very surprised that I actually knew how to do this. The only problem is, I actually have no idea how to turn it all back on again, and I wasn't the only one who tried! I have also changed one of the other settings so everything is a bit out of focus. Might need to let the boy play with the camera and try to get all the settings right again before I go to any other events. So here is a very blurry photo of Kelley and I (for posterity's sake only!)

With the Melbourne Writer's Festival kicking off next week, I am going to quite a few events over the next couple of weeks. Need to sort out the camera situation asap!

Feeling sorry for myself

When the ex left 9 years ago today, I guess I was kind of hoping for this



or maybe even this (not the wedding, more the sentiment)



but instead in the intervening 9 years I am not only sat here by myself again on a Friday night, but there has not been one single person who has looked at me in that time and thought "hey, there's the person who I could look forward to seeing at the end of every day." That's 9 years without adult companionship of any description, and when I say any description, I mean nothing not even a single promising conversation that might lead to something new, let alone anything physical.

And yes, I know the right answer is that a woman is supposed to be able to be happy without having someone in their life, but now it just hurts that no one can look beyond the admittedly terrible exterior and see someone worth even having a conversation with.

So is it all bad? No. I didn't cry when he left because I was so relieved it was over.  My son seems to be pretty happy. I am managing to get him the best education I can, which in this case is in a private school, and I am doing that without any financial or emotional input from the ex of any kind. Since he left I have bought my own house, but the fact is that it is a total mess both inside and out, my money situation has deteriorated and I live in fear of the phone call or letter regarding money.

When we were together, home was a place where I was constantly denigrated about everything, especially about how bad a mother I was, so work was the one place where I could seem to be confident and good at something. I am not even sure that is true anymore.

I live on the periphery of other people's lives and that is as true online as it is in real life, no matter what I do  to try and change that. It just doesn't seem that I have the type of personality that makes me essential to anyone.

And when it comes down to it, this stuff is just stuff that we just don't talk about at all like the proverbial elephant in the room. And the worst thing is, I just can't see this changing any time in the near future.

Now I am going to regret posting this as it shows what my thinking is like behind the mask that I have firmly in place most of the time.

The Private World of Georgette Heyer by Jane Aiken Hodge

An international bestselling phenomenon and queen of the Regency romance, Georgette Heyer is one of the most beloved historical novelists of our time. She wrote more than fifty novels, yet her private life was inaccessible to any but her nearest friends and relatives.

Lavishly illustrated and with access to private papers, correspondence and family archives, this classic biography opens a window into Georgette Heyer's world and that of her most memorable characters, revealing a formidable, energetic woman with an impeccable sense of style and, beyond everything, a love for all things Regency.

The name Georgette Heyer is synonymous with a whole genre - Regency romance - and she has had legions of fans, both when her first book was published and in the years following her last book being published.

In addition to the Regency romance that she helped to define through her works, so much so that there have been plenty of plagiarists over the years, Heyer also wrote straight historical fiction and mysteries. In fact, Heyer was somewhat dismissive of the books which made her such a successful author, and of many of the fans who faithfully waited for the release of each new book. The book of her heart was a straight historical novel set not in the Regency but in medieval times. The book remained unfinished when she died, although was subsequently published under the title Lord John.

What about Georgette Heyer the person? She was intensely private shunning all attempts by her publishers to publicise her own books. Even though Georgette Heyer was her real name, she used it like a pseudonym and was much happier in her role as Mrs Ronald Rougier - wife, mother, opinionated and pragmatic. In this account, we get to hear about the author as she was writing about her own books, about her many battles with her publishers, and most notably with the tax man. We get to see her own thoughts in her letters to friends and publishers, but even then the woman who emerges remains somewhat enigmatic.

We do get glimpses of her humour, usually self deprecating, but also are continually reminded of her insecurities and her attitude regarding her own work. For example, she talks in a letter about going to an informal lunch at Buckingham Palace. She deems Prince Philip as being "far more aware of his "charm" than I am", but in the same letter to her friend said "Neither Queen nor Duke made any mention of Georgette Heyer's books for which - since I hate talking about my books - I was thankful. But they certainly ought to have done so, don't you think?"

This book was published originally in 1984, which was 10 years after the death of Georgette Heyer from lung cancer, and therefore the author was able to talk to many of Georgette Heyer's contemporaries and to access the few letters which were available to the public record.

Whilst it was interesting, there were times as I read this that I got a bit distracted by the view out the window. What this book did do is make me want to read lots more Heyer, and I can see myself picking this book up again and again to read Heyer's thoughts on many of her own books.

My intentions are to read Sylvester which I started a few days ago, and then in the not too distant future to read Venetia (the first Heyer I ever bought but still haven't read), then A Civil Contract, Frederica and The Unknown Ajax, not necessarily in that order.

As far as I can tell, being inspired to read more Heyer can only be a good thing, right?

Rating 3.5/5

Thanks to Sourcebooks for the review copy.

Library Loot: August 17 to 23

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!

I haven't been reading or blogging much at all this week - so much so that this post is going up a day late. I think this is only the second time since I started doing Library Loot that I haven't had the post up on Wednesday!

The reason I haven't been around much? My sister fell over and broke her kneecap in half just over a week ago. This is the second time she had done that to herself. The first time was about 5 or 6 years ago. This time though it is a bit harder because my two nephews both need to be looked after as well. One is nearly 4 and the other is 10 months old which is harder because she can't even bend over to pick up the baby!

I have spent time over the weekend and then the last two days with them, trying my best to help out. As a consequence, I got to go the library yesterday for story time, which I haven't done before (as my son is a bit too old for story time) - toddlers everywhere! They all had a fabulous time though, and then after that I got to participate in the routine that my sister and the older nephew have which includes storytime and then pizza!

The books I borrowed from the library this week were:

Meet Poppy by Gabrielle Wang - this is the first book in the third part of the Our Australian Girl series. They are kids books, but I intend to post about them before too long so I am reading them through.

Where She Went by Gayle Forman - the follow up book to If I Stay.

Awakened by PC and Kristin Cast - The next House of Night novel.

Smokin' Eighteen by Janet Evanovich- The next book in the Stephanie Plum series. I am not sure why I still read this series. I think it is in the hope that one of these next books will recapture the magic of the early books.

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett - The next book in my read through of the Discworld series from beginning to end.

Claire has Mr Linky this week so head on over to share your link and your loot!

Teaser Tuesday: Sylvester by Georgette Heyer

Today it would have been author Georgette Heyer's 109th birthday, and there are lots of ways to celebrate! For example, Sourcebooks currently have all the ebooks on special for $1.99. As for me, I am celebrating by sharing a teaser from Sylvester or the Wicked Uncle!

The teaser comes from page 26:

Seriously, Mama, although I have seen some love-matches that have prospered, I have seen a great many that most certainly have not! Oh! No doubt some husbands and wives of my acquaintance would stare to hear me say I thought them anything but happy! Perhaps they enjoy jealousies, tantrums, quarrels, and stupid misunderstandings: I should not! The well-bred woman who marries me because she has a fancy to be a duchess will suit me very well, and will probably fill her position admirably.

Famous last words I think!

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!

The Happiest Refugee: A Memoir by Anh Do

Anh Do nearly didn't make it to Australia. His entire family came close to losing their lives on the sea as they escaped from war-torn Vietnam in an overcrowded boat. But nothing -- not murderous pirates, nor the imminent threat of death by hunger, disease or dehydration as they drifted for days -- could quench their desire to make a better life in the country they had dreamed about.


Life in Australia was hard, an endless succession of back-breaking work, crowded rooms, ruthless landlords and make-do everything. But there was a loving extended family, and always friends and play and something to laugh about for Anh, his brother Khoa and their sister Tram. Things got harder when their father left home when Anh was thirteen -- they felt his loss very deeply and their mother struggled to support the family on her own. His mother's sacrifice was an inspiration to Anh and he worked hard during his teenage years to help her make ends meet, also managing to graduate high school and then university.


Another inspiration was the comedian Anh met when he was about to sign on for a 60-hour a week corporate job. Anh asked how many hours he worked. 'Four,' the answer came back, and that was it. He was going to be a comedian! The Happiest Refugee tells the incredible, uplifting and inspiring life story of one of our favourite personalities. Tragedy, humour, heartache and unswerving determination -- a big life with big dreams. Anh's story will move and amuse all who read it.

The subtitle of this book is "the extraordinary true story of a boy's journey from starvation at sea to becoming one of Australia's best-loved comedians" and that pretty much covers this book!

I was familiar with the comedy of Anh Do after watching him perform on late night TV shows for several years but it was only earlier this year that I recall having heard about the story of how he and his family came to live in Australia. The first time I heard any of the story was during a History Channel documentary about the history of Australia hosted by Tony Robinson (who is probably either best known as Baldrick from Black Adder or as the host of Time Team) where the focus of the episode was multiculturalism, particularly against the current political climate in relation to refugees here in Australia.

Fast forward a short period of time, and I watched the SBS series Go Back to Where You Came From (which I posted about here), and the timing seemed to be just right for reading an immigrant story, talking about the contribution that so many refugee have made to Australian life. And what a story Anh has to tell. His family were boat people, escaping from Vietnam in the late 1970s on a very leaky boat, surviving near starvation and much more. Instead of me recapping, I thought I would let Anh tell you some parts of his story:



I don't read a lot of autobiographies but I do think that a sign of a good one is when you can hear the voice of the person clearly in the pages, and this was a book where that really happened for me.

Particularly poignant for me were the sections which dealt with his school life, with his single mum struggling to make enough money to raise her three children and still send them to good schools, and then his eventual reunion with his dad. One thing that was conveyed very clearly through the book was the importance of family to Anh. If you want to make me cry, then mention children's relationships with their father, particularly if they are reunited after a period of separation! As an aside, the other time I am guaranteed to cry is about fathers at weddings...every damned time.

Anh tells about starting out as a comedian and as an actor, touching on his time on Dancing with the Stars and more, about studying to be a lawyer, meeting his now wife and more. His positive attitude shines through hardship, through hard work, through trial and through triumph.

If you need a book to touch you, to make you laugh and cry, this one might be just what you are looking for.

This book recently won Book of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and was joint winner of Biography of the Year at the Australian Book Industry Awards.

Rating 4/5

Joint Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Deep in the heart of Oxford's Bodleian Library, scholar Diana Bishop requests a manuscript called Ashmole 782 in the course of her research. Coming from an old and distinguished lineage of witches, Diana senses that the ancient book might be bound up with magic - but she herself wants nothing to do with sorcery; and after making a few notes on its curious images, she banishes it quickly back to the stacks. But what she doesn't know is that the old alchemical text has been lost for centuries, and its sudden appearance has set a fantastical underworld stirring. Soon, a distracting horde of daemons, witches, and vampires descends upon the Bodleian's reading rooms. One of these creatures is Matthew Clairmont, an enigmatic ad eminent geneticist, practitioner of yoga, and wine connoisseur - and also a vampire with a keen interest in Ashmole 782.

Equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense, A Discovery of Witches is a novel of epic scope, traveling from the cobbled streets of Oxford to the chateaus and mountains of the Auvergne to a small town in upstate New York. It also takes us into a rich fifteen-hundred year history that spans Clovis and the Crusades, the Knights Templar, and the American Revolution. As Matthew and Diana's alliance deepens into intimacy, Diana must come to terms with age-old taboos and her own family's conflicted history - and she must learn where the modern woman she is meets the source of ancient power that is her legacy. With a scholar's depth and the touch of a great storyteller, Deborah Harkness has woven a tale of passion and obsession; the collision of magic, alchemy, and science; and the closely guarded secrets of an enchanted world.

Today I bring you a three way conversational review between Kelly from The Written World, Heather from Capricious Reader and myself! Kelly has the first part of the post, Heather the second part, and this is the third and final part of the conversation! Heather's thoughts are in black, Kelly's in light blue and mine in dark blue.

Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~

Marg: Let’s talk about the main characters, Matthew and Diana. I’ve already mentioned that I found Matthew to be a droolworthy. He is portrayed as handsome (of course), extremely intelligent, rich, urbane and more. Was he too good to be true (ignoring the whole vampire thing of course)? How about Diana? Was she too naive at the beginning?

Heather: Matthew had to grow on me. At first there was that whole “what are his intentions here” and all. He was so secretive and standoffish and mysterious! And yet, he was mysterious. And as you say, obviously handsome. And the more we the reader got to know him, the more, well, too good to be true he became (and partly why I constantly compare him to Edward) (sorry!). He may be a smidge “too good to be true,” but I think that’s part of his charm. Plus, he’s just so damn well read. I would kill for his library. What isn’t there to like about a gorgeous man who will live forever and has a library like that? I mean really.

As for Diana. Her naivety was part of my problem with her. She was so I AM NOT A WITCH in the beginning, but then it didn’t take her long to embrace it. At least it didn’t feel like it to me. And then she got kinda Bella on me with all the neediness. HOWEVER. I do think she has the potential to become very un-Bella like in the next book. I’m dying to read what happens after she truly comes into her powers!

Kelly?

Kelly: Yes, I can totally see how Diana was a lot like Bella. She seemed to change rather drastically in personality. I was not very impressed when she started to like Matthew just a bit too much for my liking. I am very sick of the obsessed romance plot-line at the moment. It turned out to be a minor problem for me, though. Diana had other characteristics that made up for it and I think she will really grow in the second book. I am looking forward to seeing more from her! I don’t really think she accepted her ‘witch’ abilities that easily, though. She had them her entire life and tried to ignore them, but we learn that there is a lot more to that than she was aware of, so it is hard to say what would have happened if she had been allowed to grow-up normally.

As to Matthew, I was just jealous of his library. Actually, the houses that he lived in sounded pretty amazing, too! He might have written a bit too ‘perfectly’, but he has had many years to develop his persona. If she had written him like most men then it might not have seemed as believable that he was very old and worldly. That’s my thought anyway.

Marg: I really wanted to say how much I loved Matthew and Diana together as well though. He knew her strength before she did, but even then was surprised and impressed by her. She drew him out of himself, making him realise that he held himself apart from the people in his life, and I loved the connection between them. This was one of my favourite moments between them.

Quote from page 340

"There you are," he said. "I thought I was going to have to fish you out of the water."

Desire shot through me, and my knees went weak. The feelings were exacerbated by the knowledge that what I was about to say would wipe the smile clean off his face.


Please let this be right, I whispered to myself, resting my hands on his shoulders. Matthew titled his head back against my chest and smiled up at me.


"Kiss me," he commanded.


I complied without a second thought, amazed at the comfort between us. This was so different from books and movies, where love was made into something tense and difficult. Loving Matthew was much more like coming into port than heading out into a storm.


"How do you manage it?" I asked him, holding his face in my hands. "I feel like I've known you forever."

Kelly: I just have to say that I read this quote and was left thinking if I hadn’t read this book all ready, this quote would not have lead me to it. I just thought that illustrates well the different tastes of readers that would love this book.

Marg: For me it is really that idea of coming into port that I really loved, but needed the rest of the quote for context!

One thing I loved about the book was all the description of food and wine. You could tell that the author loves her food and wine, and even a couple of the trailers show her talking about food and wine.

Heather: You KNOW I loved the descriptions of the food and wine. I have yet to find a wine I like (I’m not much of a drinker) but this book made me want to run out and buy until I find one I love as much as Matthew obviously relishes his wines.

Kelly: I went through a moment earlier in the year where I was going to understand the whole attraction to wine, but I never did go through with it. I live in an area where there are several vineyards, but even though I have gone to tastings I have never been able to find a wine I like. I think when I read books that wine features in a great deal, I always want to know what the big deal is. I suppose it is like people trying to understand my obsession with reading. They can try it, but they can not necessarily have the same connection.

Marg: So in closing, would the summary be that Marg loved it from beginning to end, Kelly loved it after a bit of a slow start and Heather really enjoyed it with a couple of reservations?

Kelly: That sounds about right to me! I am really looking forward to the sequel next year. And, now it is being said it is going to be a movie. That can be both a good and bad thing. I suppose we will have to wait and see!

Library Loot: August 10 to 16

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!

I have mentioned before how lucky we are to have a growing library service. Something that they have started doing more recently is presenting author events that are being run in conjunction with a local bookstore! Tonight, I was lucky enough to go to an event featuring American author Maria V Snyder! They even have nibblies! I didn't actually borrow any books tonight (mainly because my son had my library card) but this is what I borrowed earlier in the week:

French Lessons by Ellen Sussman - A bit too late for Paris in July, but this sounds like a fun read for me!

Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart by Sarah Maclean - the third book in the numbers trilogy!

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown - there was a lot of positive buzz around this book when it first came out a few months ago. I requested it as soon as I saw it on the catalogue, but it has taken a while to come in.

Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming - the next book in the Clair Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mysteries.

To Sin with a Stranger by Kathryn Caskie - I read an excerpt of this somewhere and thought it sounded like a fun read. I haven't read this author before.

What did you borrow from your library this week? Share your link in Mr Linky below:

Two Teaser Tuesday

Today it is Census day here in Australia, so instead of spending the best part of an hour filling out the census form, I decided to use my time finding not one but two teasers from the books that I am reading. Only problem is, now that I have spent my time doing this, I don't have many more excuses not to answer the Census questions.

The first comes from The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (pages 53)

Sex and hypocrisy. They go together like coffee and cream.

The second teaser is a little longer and comes from page 165 of Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani:

I learned three things about myself after the Deep Sleep. I learned who my true friends are; I learned that I bury my problems until they overcome me in a full-blown crisis; and the biggest thing of all, I learned that I wasn't happy. It's a terrifying thing to admit.

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!

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

Tom Violet always thought that by the time he turned thirty-five, he’d have everything going for him. Fame. Fortune. A beautiful wife. A satisfying career as a successful novelist. A happy dog to greet him at the end of the day.


The reality, though, is far different. He’s got a wife, but their problems are bigger than he can even imagine. And he’s written a novel, but the manuscript he’s slaved over for years is currently hidden in his desk drawer while his father, an actual famous writer, just won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His career, such that it is, involves mind-numbing corporate buzzwords, his pretentious arch nemesis Gregory, and a hopeless, completely inappropriate crush on his favorite coworker. Oh . . . and his dog, according to the vet, is suffering from acute anxiety.


Tom’s life is crushing his soul, but he’s decided to do something about it. (Really.) Domestic Violets is the brilliant and beguiling story of a man finally taking control of his own happiness—even if it means making a complete idiot of himself along the way.

I don't think you would call this my normal fare. I certainly didn't think so when I read the first chapter which is all about the erectile dysfunction of the main character, Tom Violet. Once I got used to this as the opening of the novel and the focus changed a little, I enjoyed the voice and humour of Tom Violet.

Tom is in his mid-thirties and quite frankly his life is falling apart. He hates his job, he and his wife are supposedly trying for another child (but that can't really happen when you can't get it up), he has a bit of a crush on a young coworker and he is riddled with self doubt over the book that he has just finished which may be a bit understandable given that his famous novelist father, Curtis Violet, has just won a Pulitzer Prize.

One of the things that was quite interesting to me about this book is that this seemed a little bit like a coming of age novel, or more precisely a coming of maturity. Tom cruises through his normal work day, doing as little work as possible, but taking every opportunity he got to irritate his arch enemy Greg (who prefers to be called Gregory). One of the highlights of this book were the series of notes that are sent to HR about Tom. They initially start with Gregory but eventually other people in his life are writing to HR to complain about Tom as well.. As someone who works in a HR department, I can't say that I have seen complaints quite like those in the book, but I have seen some pretty odd ones over the years. Here's an example of one of the notes to HR from page 39.

Dear HR

Tom Violet insists on smiling and saying hello to me every time he sees me, even in the men's room. However, I know that these sentiments are not sincere, and only succeed in undermining me in front of my team and fellow employees.

Despite the Global Financial Crisis casting its long shadow and causing anxiety for all of his coworkers, Tom performs a stunt which basically guarantees his career in copy writing is over. Tom is left to put together the pieces of his life - relationships, future and more. He needs to figure out what he wants to do for a living, whether he wants to save his marriage, what to do with the novel he has written, and how to finally face up to living in the shadow of his charismatic and successful father. Ultimately, he has to decide what is important to him.

I really enjoyed the portrayal of the Violet family. Anna knows that everything is not as it should be but doesn't know how to reach her husband. Both of Tom's parents are having marital issues with their respective partners, and I loved the way that the two fathers in Tom's life came together. Both have their own issues to deal with but the bond with Tom was definitely important and strong.

With a full and varied cast of supporting characters that each are on their own emotional journeys but together  form a strong narrative on modern life, Domestic Violets is in turns funny and serious, showing the strengths and weaknesses of the characters in such a way that will have you both laughing at them and giving the reader something to ponder as well.

This was a different read for me, but one I enjoyed. I will be keeping my eye out for more from Matthew Norman in the future.

Rating 4/5

Thanks to Netgalley for an egalley of this book.

Sunday Salon: What's in a Name?

One of the things that I have often heard is that as a blogger it is important to own your own domain name. It is something that I have heard a lot, and I have been thinking about actually doing something about it for a couple of years now! After all, given that I have now been blogging for nearly 6 years I probably am going to be sticking with this blogging thing for a while longer at least.

Today, I finally sat down and did what needed to be done and so my new blog address is:

www.TheIntrepidReader.com

The changes are in the process of going through, and as far as I am aware you don't need to necessarily update your blog feed subscriptions as it should all take care of itself, however I would suggest that it is probably a good idea to so if you want to. If you come across any issues I would be very grateful if you could let me know. It will probably be a couple of days before everything is finalised so your patience would be appreciated if there are any glitches over the next couple of days.

The other thing that I have been thinking about doing for a while now is getting some bloggy business cards, but I didn't do that because I knew that I was going to eventually change the URL. Give me another 18 months and I might actually get around to doing those now too! You can't rush these things.

Currently reading:

After such a good reading month last month, I am finding it a bit difficult to settle into which book I want to read next. I am therefore kind of flitting from one book to another at the moment. I am currently therefore reading:

Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani - Adriana Trigiani is an author who I have been meaning to try for a long time but never quite managed to do so before now.

Fools Rush In by Kristan Higgins - there are a couple of things about this book that are really annoying me right from the beginning. I have been told that I should just stop now if I am already annoyed, but I had to get this by interlibrary loan so I think I would feel a little guilty if I ended up returning it unread.

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi - read the first chapter of this one, but I don't think it quite fits the criteria that I was looking for - a book I could get lost in. I think this is one that you have to concentrate on a bit more than that.

Up next:

My next read will be a choice from Accidents of Providence by Stacia Brown, The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do or The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obrecht.

Weekend Cooking: High Tea

Do you all have a friend amongst your circle of friends who knows the best places to go? You know, the cool bar for Friday night drinks or the one that is hidden in a little alleyway that has the perfect late night ambience. She is also the person who you call if you are looking for a restuarant to eat at, and of course, every year when we go out to celebrate for her birthday, you know it is going to not only be somewhere you didn't even know existed, but it going to be totally fabulous! For the purposes of this post we will call her Annie.

It was Annie's birthday last week, and she didn't disappoint. Whilst I had heard of the place where we went, it was only due to the fact that they sell some scrapbooking type supplies. I had no idea that they did high tea as well, and I hadn't actually been there before!

Eight of us indulged in Sweet High Tea at Christina Re, all of us having been informed that we had to turn up in party clothes - no Melbourne black allowed! The tag line for the store is "Where a Girl Goes", and it is a very girly place, which suits Annie to a tea. We shared macaroons, tiny gorgeous cupcakes, and hidden on the stand below there were also some Belgian style chocolates. Delicious. Also on the menu, a variety of different flavours of tea. My choice was French Earl Grey, infused with a delicious bouquet of Rose petals and summer flowers. I don't normally go for flavoured teas as such, but this one was delicious!

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 Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

The Wild Rose is a part of the sweeping, multi-generational saga that began with The Tea Rose and continued with The Winter Rose. It is London, 1914. World War I looms on the horizon, women are fighting for the right to vote, and explorers are pushing the limits of endurance in the most forbidding corners of the earth. Into this volatile time, Jennifer Donnelly places her vivid and memorable characters:

•Willa Alden, a passionate mountain climber who lost her leg while summiting Kilimanjaro with Seamus Finnegan, and who will never forgive him for saving her life;

•Seamus Finnegan, a polar explorer who tries to forget Willa as he marries a beautiful young schoolteacher back home in England;

•Max von Brandt, a handsome German sophisticate who courts high society women, but has a secret agenda in wartime London.

Many other beloved characters from The Winter Rose continue their adventures in The Wild Rose as well. With myriad twists and turns, thrilling cliffhangers, and fabulous period detail and atmosphere, The Wild Rose provides a highly satisfying conclusion to an unforgettable trilogy.

Back in 2006 I read and adored the second book in the Rose trilogy by Jennifer Donnelly, The Winter Rose. Little did I imagine that it was going to be another five years before I finally go to read the conclusion to the trilogy. After all, at one stage there was a release date of May 2008 up at Amazon UK, and then it was changed to May 2009. When that date passed, I forced myself to only get excited when there was a definitely publishing date, and finally, finally that day has come.

The big danger of wanting a book so badly for a period of five years or more is that it will be very difficult for any book, no matter how much you like it, to live up to those expectations and that is what has happened with this book. While I liked it, it didn't quite live up to the label that I had given the book of the most anticipated release of 2011.

All the characters that we have come to know and love have returned in this final part of the Rose trilogy, along with some new ones. Fiona and Joe Bristow are back along with their children, especially their politically active daughter Katie. India and Sid drift in and out of the story particularly in the early part of the book (although I must say that for me Sid stole the scenes that he was in most of the time), but the main couple that is the focus of this particular episode of the saga are Seamie Finnegan and Willa Alden.

As individuals, Seamie and Willa are both somewhat daredevil. Seamie has been on polar expeditions and returned to London with great public acclaim, Willa lives an isolated life in the shadows of Mt Everest trying to put her life back together after the closing events that were covered in The Winter Rose. Seamie and Willa share a great passion for adventure, and for each other, but it seems that circumstances are destined to keep them apart.

If you are to take only one thing from this review, it should probably be that Jennifer Donnelly loves to absolutely torture her characters whether it be physically or emotionally and that is definitely true in this book. There are traitors and spies, betrayal, infidelity, physical danger, political and social upheaval, not to mention the involvement of characters in World War I.

One thing that Donnelly does do well is to involve many of the foremost figures of the day. Through the family's various connections the reader gets to "meet" characters such as Ernest Shackleton, Lawrence of Arabia, sometimes in overly coincidental situations, and be involved in events and issues like the suffragette movement.

I was going to try and do some kind of plot summary, but I am not sure that I could do it justice - there is just so much going on. Beyond that busyness of the plot though, the biggest flaw with this book is actually the two main characters. I struggled with Seamie and Willa, both with the twists and turns of their relationship, and also with them as individuals. Willa spends a lot of time in a drug induced haze, mostly to deal with managing pain due to losing a leg (I guess it isn't a spoiler if it is in the book description right?), and Seamie is meant to be the returning adventure hero, but many of his actions were far from heroic.

I do have to make a comment about the cover of this book. The thing that initially attracted me to The Tea Rose was the gorgeous cover, and that was true of The Winter Rose as well. This cover does not sit all that well against those two. I am not saying it isn't an attractive cover but if it is meant to represent Willa it doesn't do it for me, and it is just kind of generic to me. Of course, there might be plenty of people out there who disagree with me on that, and that's fine!

I am glad that we are no longer waiting for this book to come out. I assume though that means that we have quite a wait for the next Jennifer Donnelly book. Whilst this book didn't quite meet my unrealistically high expectations (particularly against my memories of The Winter Rose), it is still a fun, juicy saga of the best kind, and I can't wait to see what she bring us next.

Rating 4/5

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge completed

Today I completed this year's Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, hosted by Historical Tapestry! I think I probably have read a half a dozen other books that really count for the challenge as well, but these are the books that I have said I read in order to eat my target of 20 books.

Walk About by Aaron Fletcher

Anna by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Queen of Last Hopes by Susan Higginbotham

The Marsh King's Daughter by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Jewel of St Petersburg by Kate Furnivall
Wallaby Track by Aaron Fletcher
Fleur by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
India Black by Carol K Carr
The Betrayal by Helen Dunmore
Little Paradise by Gabrielle Wang
Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay
Emily by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn
Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick
The Empress of Ice Cream by Anthony Capella
22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson
The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison
The Countess Angelique by Sergeanne Golon
Before Versailles by Karleen Koen 
City of Promise by Beverly Swerling

Library Loot: August 3 to 9

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!

I am lucky in that I very rarely get any fines on my library card, or more precisely, I keep a pretty close eye on due dates etc so that I don't get many. I don't however seem to be able to manage to remember to check my son's library card, and as a consequence, I am currently paying off quite a large fine on his card. I can't explain it either.

Clare has Mr Linky this week, so head on over to share your loot.

Here's my loot for this week:

Notorious Pleasure by Elizabeth Hoyt - It's been too long since I have read an Elizabeth Hoyt book.

Soulless by Gail Carriger - From what I can, this book is kind of divisive. Lot of people love it, but there's some who, well, don't.

Creed's Honour by Linda Lael Miller - I have read the first and third books in this trilogy, so given my completist tendencies, I had to get this to read it. Normally I don't like to read out of order, but I made an exception this time.

The Last Goodbye by Sarah Mayberry - So bearing in mind that last statement, I had to borrow this one from the library once I realised that the egalley I had was for a second book.

Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich - I just can't seem to help myself. Even though I have been disappointed in the last few Plum books I still keep on putting my name down to get them from the library.

The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar - My next book club book! The last two books have been books that I suggested, and everyone has enjoyed them. This is one I haven't heard a lot about so it will be interesting to see what it is like.

Teaser Tuesday: City of Promise by Beverly Swerling

My teaser this week comes from City of Promise by Beverly Swerling, the fourth book in the City series which follows the history of New York from the very early days when it was still a Dutch colony through to the years after the end of the Civil War. You can find out more about the earlier books in the series by clicking on this link.


The teaser comes from page 158:

Read THE TIMES on Wednesday.

Five words. In block letters written in black ink. On a sheet of tissue-thin paper without any identification. It was nothing. But it was all she had.

Please note that this teaser comes from an ARC version and so may be different in the final version.

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!

Lunch in Paris recipe translations

On my Weekend Cooking post this weekend about Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard, I had some French recipe names that I asked you to guess the translation for!

Here are the English translations:


Parfaits au Yauort et aux Fruits Rouges - Instant yogurt and summer berry parfaits

Gateua au Yaourt - Yogurt Cake

Travers de Porc au Miel - Oven Roasted Pork Ribs with Honey

Moulleuz au Chocolate "Kitu" - Individual Molten Chocolate Cakes

Financiers aux Framboises - Mini almond cakes with a raspberry button

Souris d'Agneau a l'Orange et a la Badiane - Lamb shanks with orange and star anise

Don't they all sound so deliciuos!