Library Loot: March 26

I borrowed yet more cookbooks from the library this week! I actually have quite a few out at the moment. I have them in various rooms where I have looked up a specific recipe or where I have started reading from the beginning and not finished and another where I am on my third read through.

I love borrowing cookbooks from the library because it is a no risk way of determining if you will like the book enough to actually cook from or if it is just pretty to look at. As great as it is to have cookbooks that are pretty to look at, I much prefer the ones that you can refer to time and again and that inspire you to try new things. If a book does that, then I am more likely to actually go and buy it then so that I can use it often!

Here's what I got this week

The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo - I have been watching the TV series over the last few weeks so have requested all the books that the library has by this author. Hopefully the other ones will come soon.

Lorraine Pascale's fresh, fast and easy food : 100 fabulous, easy to make recipes by Lorraine Pascale - This is the book that I am already on my third go through. Expect to hear more about this book and the TV series over the coming weeks.

How the Marquess was Won by Julie-Anne Long - The next book in the Pennyroyal Green series.

The Maiden by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles - The next book in the Morland Dynasty series.

Library Loot is hosted by Clare from The Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief. Clare has the Mr Linky this week so head there to share your loot links.

Sunday Salon: Once Upon a Time

No, I am not continuing my theme of talking about kids books from yesterday, not that there would be anything wrong with that. Rather, it is time for the Once Upon a Time challenge that is hosted each year by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings.  This is one of my favourite challenges to participate in, and I think I have for all but the first one, but I could be wrong there. This is now the 8th year of the challenge!

Once upon a time, I never used to read a lot of fantasy. These days, fantasy is very much a part of my varied reading diet, and I have a few options on my list that I can think of without trying too hard. As such, I will be signing up for Quest the First.

Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time categories. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.

Here are some of my possible reads.

The Lost Lake by Sarah Addison
A Feast for Crows by George R R Martin
A Feast of Fire and Ice: the official companion cookbook by Chelsea Monroe-Cassal
Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta
Jack Fables Vol 2:  Jack of Hearts by Bill Willingham
The Sandman Vol 2: The Dolls House by Neil Gaiman
The Golden Apple by Michelle Diener
The Disappearance of Ember Crow by Ambelin Kwaymullina

Currently Reading

Just One Year by Gayle Forman.

Currently Listening To

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka J K Rowling)

Up Next

A Feast for Crows by George R R Martin

Weekend Cooking: Sandwich anyone? (or food in kids books)

A couple of weekends ago I was visiting family and it came to bed time for my nephews. I was asked to listen to the older nephew's reader for school and then if I could read a chapter of the book that my sister and brother in law are currently reading aloud to him which I was happy to do. At the moment, they are reading through Roald Dahl's books and they are up to Matilda.

The chapter I was asked to read was when Bruce Bogtrotter was accused by Miss Trunchbull and is forced to eat a whole cake before the school assembly as punishment. Since reading this chapter I have been thinking about the role of food in the books that we read as kids. First though, here is the chapter that I read as it was portrayed in the movie adaptation of Matilda.

Roald Dahl was not averse to using food in his books. The most famous example of this would probably be Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but there was also James and the Giant Peach. I am sure if I was to read all of the Roald Dahl books I would find lots of other examples of food in them.

For now though, I thought I would look at some other examples.

For very young children, the book that came instantly to mind was Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar, a book that is definitely standing up well even more than 40 years after it was originally published. I am sure it is a story that you will know, but just in case, here is a video of Eric Carle reading the book.

I have just noticed that this video was created to encourage people to celebrate Hungry Caterpillar Day on the first day of spring. Given that was just a couple of days ago in the Northern Hemisphere, the timing seems very fortuitous!

When I think back to my own childhood favourites, one author comes to mind and that is British author Enid Blyton. I know that she isn't that well known in places like America and Canada, but she was certainly a mainstay of British and Australian childhoods. I even bought new editions of some of my favourite books for my son who is now 15 so those books are still available even now. Blyton wrote a number of different series. There were the Famous Five Books which were a mystery series featuring a group of children who try to solve each mystery. My favourites though were the more magical books, in particular the books set in the Enchanted Wood where there was a magical Faraway Tree where there was new world at the top of the tree every few days.

From a food perspective, the world that Blyton portray was a world of picnics, of cakes, of toffee and lemonade. The first book of the Enchanted Woods series was published in 1939 and Magic Faraway Tree published in 1943. Just flicking through the books to see some of the land names such as Do-As-You-Please land you have to wonder how much of what Blyton was writing was directly influenced by wartime life and providing kids with a make believe world that was far away from the austerity that was reality.

When I was thinking about the food, there were a couple of things that I remembered so I went and grabbed a couple of the books off of my son's bookshelf (not that he has read them or will do so now) and thought I would share a couple of examples with you. Firstly, here are the children's first taste of Pop Cakes.

Silky was pleased. She sat there brushing her beautiful golden hair and ate sandwiches with them. She brought out a tin of Pop cakes, which were lovely. As soon as you bit into them they went pop! an you suddenly found your mouth filled with new honey from the middle of the little cakes. Frannie took seven, one after another, for she was rather greedy.

Beth stopped her. "You'll go pop if you eat any more!"

And the very interesting sounding Toffee Shock

Moon-Face was pleased. He poured lemonade for everyone, then handed round a little box full of what looked like all sorts of toffee.

"I don't feel as if I ever want to see what land is at the top of the Faraway Tree again," said Joe, as he munched a peculiar piece of toffee which seemed to get bigger in his mouth instead of smaller.

"Neither do I," said Beth.

"I certainly never will!" said Frannie. "It seems as if there are never any lands there worth visiting. They are all most uncomfortable.

"Except my little land," said the Saucepan Man, rather mournfully." I was always very comfortable there."

Joe's toffee was now so big that he couldn't say a word. Then it suddenly exploded in his mouth, went to nothing, and left him feeling most astonished.

"Oh dear - did you take a Toffee Shock?" said Moon-Face, noticing Joe's surprised face. "I'm so sorry. Take a different one."

"No, thank you," said Joe, feeling that one Toffee Shock was quite enough.

Then again maybe you don't have to be going without, or even really young, to appreciate the Land of Birthdays or the Land of Tea Parties (which we read about in The Folk of the Faraway Tree) even though some options in the latter land seem a bit odd. Would anyone like dewdrop and honey sandwiches, tunafish and strawberry sandwiches or oranges and lemon sandwiches. Or perhaps pineapple and cucumber sandwiches are more your style? Anyone?

In terms of Australian children stories with foodie aspects go, it is hard to go past The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay. Who wouldn't want a pudding that can be whatever flavour you like (sweet or savoury) and never runs out. Sounds like heaven to me. Of course, this is an anthropomorphic pudding and so you have to put up with a pudding with an attitude. He is very, very cantankerous and that is before he is stolen by the puddin' thieves.

This book was published in 1918, and I think that it is possibly showing it's age in some ways with some racist attitudes and other non PC aspects, which is a shame in some ways. Even though I haven't read it since I was a kid I do have fond memories of it. Some of Enid Blyton's books have been republished over the years taking out the non politically correct parts which I am torn about. Should they be edited to reflect changing attitudes or should they be left as a historical reflection of the time when they were written and published.

Do you have some favourite food related children's stories, or even just particular items that you would love to be able to eat just once, no matter how wild and wacky it may be?

Weekend Cooking 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, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

The Collector of Dying Breaths by M J Rose

Do you believe in the idea of reincarnation and of the ability to reanimate someone using their last breath? You don't need to in order to read this book, but I am sure you would find it even more fascinating if you did. As it is, I need to suspend belief on lots of the things that drive the characters and that happen in the book but, in this case, it didn't hamper my enjoyment of the book. That isn't always the case as I have a bit of an up and down reaction to M J Rose's books. The last book in this series that I reviewed was Seduction (the fifth book) having not read The Book of Lost Fragrances and I really think that I would have enjoyed it more had I read in order.

This book is the sixth book in the Reincarnationist series, but I would argue that there are two linked trilogies that form the series. To get the most out of this book I think it definitely helps to have read at least The Book of Lost Fragrances and Seduction because the modern day storyline tracks through these three books.

Let's start with that modern day story. This book picks up two years after the last book. Jac L'Etoile is in Paris, mourning the loss of an incredibly important person in her life. I don't want to say who because even the death happens right at the beginning of the book, it is a character from the previous two books. I will say that I was quite upset that this character had been killed off, but we did get to witness some additional appearances in ghostly and paranormal forms. Jac is invited to recommence working on a project which has an eccentric but very wealthy woman trying to achieve the seemingly impossible - to reanimate a body after death.

Jac is, in effect, continuing the work of Rene le Florentine who was the master perfumer to one of the more infamous women in history, Catherine de Medici, Queen of France in the 16th century. Rene was a young apprentice in a Florentine monastery when he was accused of murder. He was only saved because of his knowledges of perfumes and poisons when Catherine takes him to Paris as part of her retinue as she marries into the French royal family.

Over the years, Rene continues his search for the secret to reanimation that he first started learning when he was still a young boy. He knows that it starts by capturing the very last breath of the person who you want to bring back, and he knows that the process will require many difficult to obtain ingredients but he is determined that he will get to the point of reanimation in time.

Catherine de Medici has been accused of many things both in her lifetime and since her death. She was accused of witchcraft and of poisoning her rivals, and the author skilfully shows how these things might have come to be and what a master perfumer's whose only loyalty is to the queen who saved his life all those years ago role could have been. Even when he comes to love a lady in waiting from the court, it is Catherine who seems to have the last word on the fate of lovestruck Rene.

As part of her research, Jac is taken to Rene's home. She is immediately drawn to the scents that she finds there, quickly locating secret rooms where she finds the perfumers workshop, pretty much untouched in 500 years. She knows that she needs the expertise that Griffin North, the only man she has ever loved, and with whom she believes she has been linked over many lifetimes, many of them ending in tragedy. Jac knows that she has placed Griffin in danger before and so she is determined not to do so again, but Griffin may have other ideas, especially as he is determined to prove once and for all that they belong together.

This is a thriller, so you do have good guys and bad guys, and sometimes people who are both. There is tension and danger and crime and in that regard it works. The most fascinating aspect though is that around scents, particularly the more unusual ingredients that come from very obscure sources like the ambergris which comes from the digestive systems of sperm whales. I find the discussion about how this particular ingredient would likely react different chemically today than it did 500 years before because of how different the environment is quite interesting, and there were numerous other titbits liek that scattered through the book.

I just wanted to mention something about The Book of Lost Fragrances. As I have mentioned, I read this book after I read the subsequent book. Actually I didn't read it but rather I listened to it on audio where it was narrated by the always excellent Phil Gigante. I think it is a sign of a truly excellent narrator if you can still hear their voices when you read other books in the series months down the track. That was particularly true for Griffin's voice!

To me, the end of this book very much felt like the end of this particular thread of story for Jac, although of course I could be completely wrong. It just felt like a good place to leave here. I will therefore be interested to see what M J Rose does next with this series.

Rating 4/5

About the Tour

Tour Schedule: http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/collectorofdyingbreathstour
Tour Hashtag: #DyingBreathsTour
M J Rose's website.
M J Rose on Facebook
M J Rose on Twitter.

About the Book

Publication Date: April 8, 2014
Atria Books
Hardcover; 384p
ISBN-10: 1451621531

From one of America’s most imaginative storytellers comes a passionate tale of love and treachery, spanning the days of Catherine de Medici’s court to the twenty-first century and starring a woman drawn back, time and again, to the past.

In 1533, an Italian orphan with an uncanny knack for creating fragrance is plucked from poverty to become Catherine de Medici’s perfumer. To repay his debt, over the years René le Florentine is occasionally called upon to put his vast knowledge to a darker purpose: the creation of deadly poisons used to dispatch the Queen’s rivals.

But it’s René’s other passion—a desire to reanimate a human breath, to bring back the lives of the two people whose deaths have devastated him—that incites a dangerous treasure hunt five centuries later. That’s when Jac L’Etoile—suffering from a heartache of her own—becomes obsessed with the possibility of unlocking Rene’s secret to immortality.

Soon Jac’s search reconnects her with Griffin North, a man she’s loved her entire life. Together they confront an eccentric heiress whose art collection rivals many museums and who is determined to keep her treasures close at hand, not just in this life but in her next.

Set in the forest of Fontainebleau, crisscrossing the lines between the past and the present, M.J. Rose has written a mesmerizing tale of passion and obsession. This is a gothic tale perfect for fans of Anne Rice, Deborah Harkness, and Diana Galbadon.

Library Loot: 19 March

A much more reasonable amount of loot this fortnight after the bumper hauls that I had the last couple of weeks. In fact there is really only one new to me book as the other two are books that I have borrowed before (maybe even more than once) but returned unread. Isn't the fact that you can just reborrow the same stuff from the library over and over one of the best things about being a library member.

Here's what I got this week:

Save with Jamie by Jamie Oliver - I have so many cookbooks out from the library at the moment!! Who knows, I might even cook some recipes out of them and expand my repertoire a little!

Broken Harbor by Tana French - I recently saw that there is news of a new Tana French novel later in the year which reminded me that I actually hadn't read this one yet! Whoops.

Children of the Storm by Elizabeth Peters - I can't tell you how many times I have borrowed this book! Maybe this will be the time I actually read it!

Library Loot is hosted by Clare from The Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief. Linda should have the Mr Linky this week so head there to share your loot links.

Weekend Cooking: Roast Chicken with Roasted Potatoes and Tomatoes

I haven't talked very much about the little chef's cooking for some time now. He has gone off cooking as much as he was, but every now and again he will surprise me and want to cook something. I guess I shouldn't really be calling him the little chef any more. He is now at least 6-8 inches taller than I am!

One thing that he does like to cook is Bill Granger's roast chicken. It is a pretty basic recipe but one that always tastes good, is really juicy and is easy in terms of preparation. He doesn't even mind the drying of the inside and outside of the chicken which kind of surprised me the first couple of times. The other thing is that the recipe is easily adaptable. The recipe specifies to use oregano but I tend to use whatever herbs I have available. For example, this week I used sage and previously I have used other herbs. One day I will do the potatoes and tomatoes the way it specifies.

I also tend to buy a bigger chicken than that specified and then we have plenty of leftovers. This week I ended up making an all-in-one quiche, which I think we will probably be eating for a few days yet!

I did have to laugh at the boy though. He did all the preparation and was doing all the checking so I only had to go in to chop up the chicken when it was ready to serve. I kept on asking if the skin was crisping up and he was very pleased that it was. Only problem was that he had the chicken upside down n the so the skin on the back was very crispy but not so much on the top! He had also sprinkled sage around the potatoes. When I asked him why he just said to infuse some flavour into the potatoes. I think we might have been watching too much food TV!

Today I was talking to a friend and she talked about being impressed by the little chef cooking because her son, who is the same age, can't even cook frozen pizza! I volunteered to send the little chef around to cook for them.

Roasted Chicken with Roasted Potatoes and Tomatoes

Chicken

1 lemon, rinsed and dried
1.5 kg (3lb 5oz) free-range chicken, rinsed and dried
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
fresh sprigs of oregano
lemon halves for serving
fresh bay leaves for serving

Preheat the oven to 220C (425F/Gas 7). Roll the lemon over a hard surface, pressing down on it, then prick it all over with a fork or skewer.

Season the chicken inside and out with the salt and pepper. Place the lemon and oregano in the cavity, then truss the chicken using kitchen string. (I actually never do the trussing!)

Place the chicken with the breast side up in a baking dish and roast for 15 minutes. Pop the potatoes in the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 200C (400F/Gas 6) and cook for another hour, or until the juices running from the chicken re clear. Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes before carving. Serve, garnished with bay leave and lemon halves, with the roasted potatoes

Potatoes and Tomatoes

1 kg (2lb 4oz) potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
4 tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 red onion, cut into wedges
50g (1/2 cup) finely grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons olive oil
125ml (1/2 cup) chicken stock or water
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves


Toss everything together, then put in an ovenproof dish and bake at the same time as the chicken for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Weekend Cooking 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, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Library Loot: March 12

I did warn you last week that I was going to have a lot of loot this week and there is!! Note that there are no audio books this time around and no music. Kind of good on the audio front though as I still have all three from last week to get through.

Here's what I got:

Big Cherry Holler by Adriana Trigiani - I read the first book in this series years ago and had meant to read more before this. I just noticed that Trigiani's latest book is the third book in the other series so I want be able to read that for a while.

This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz - I recently read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao so now time to explore some of his short stories.

In the Dark by Deborah Moggach - I read Tulip Fever from this author a few years ago now and liked it without loving it. Recently Danielle reviewed this book and made it sound so good I had to request it straight away.

Nobody but Him by Victoria Purman - I don't know if I have mentioned here yet that I am now doing both the historical fiction and romance round ups over at the Australian Women Writers Challenge each month. This author is one that was recommended highly in posts for that challenge.

Ask Me to Stay by Elise K Ackers - I have read a few stories by Elise K Ackers. This contains three stories that were previously published as ebooks.

Spilt Milk by Amanda Hodgkinson - A few years ago I read 22 Britannia Road. When I saw a review for this book I decided to try this one and see if I liked it a bit more than the previous one.

Season to Taste, or How to Eat Your Husband by Natalie Young - My library publicised this on it's Facebook page and it looked like fun.

Where Women are Kings by Christie Watson - I really liked Christie Watson's first book, Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away and I have been vaguely keeping an eye out for news of her next book. Somehow, I still missed the fact that this book came out at the end of last year.

A Feast of Fire and Ice: the official companion cookbook by Chelsea Monroe-Cassal - I requested this book months ago and had pretty much forgotten about it, but the timing will be pretty much perfect given that season 4 of Game of Thrones is going to be shown in early April

The Great British bake off : how to bake : the perfect Victoria sponge and other baking secrets by Linda Collison - A couple of weeks ago I posted about getting really caught up in watching the Great British Bake Off. I didn't really expect my library to have the book but they did.

The Great Australian bake off: how to achieve baking perfection in your own kitchen by Dan Lepard - Once I saw that the library had the British bake off book I thought I would see if they had the Australian version, and obviously they do.

Library Loot is hosted by Clare from The Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief. Clar has the Mr Linky this week so head there to share your loot links.

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley

Late last year I read Lucy Knisley's travelogue/graphic novel French Milk. Whilst I didn't really love it, mainly because of the precociousness of 22 year old Lucy, I did like the style of the book. When Relish became available on my library catalogue I decided to give her another go and boy am I glad that I did.

This foodie memoir is a delight. Whilst there is still a hint of the precocious Lucy that we met in French Milk, it is much less of an obstacle to enjoyment, or at least it was for me. I think it also helps that rather than focusing on just one place (albeit Paris) for a very short period of only five weeks, this is an exploration of  a life long obsession with good food.

Knisley makes no apologies for the fact that she was introduced to really good food from a young age. Her mother is a chef and her father a foodie from way back and she spent her childhood years in the kitchens of restaurants. She remembers other kids bringing cupcakes to school for their birthdays but her mother would turn up with a blow torch to give the creme brulee a perfect crunchy top.

Lucy lived in New York with her parents until they divorced and Lucy and her mother moved to rural upstate New York - quite the shock to city girl Lucy. It wasn't long before Lucy's mother was involved in food again through farmers markets, catering companies and more, and therefore so was Lucy!

As well as talking about more exotic food and adventures, the author tells of her parents mortification at the fact that she still enjoys junk food like Maccas (McDonalds just in case you didn't get the Aussie vernacular), batches of chocolate chip cookies instead of anything more gourmet, of her shock at finding bits of marshmallows in breakfast cereals (I must confess I find this a bit shocking still!) and more.

We follow Lucy from New York to the country, to Japan, France and Mexico (which was a really fun story), to Chicago and then full circle back to New York. The one thing that stays constant is Lucy's love of good food, of being willing to try new foods, and of trying to recreate those foods. I loved the chapter where Lucy tried to recapture the elusive taste of a croissant that she bought in Venice to the point of being obsessed!

The thing that pleased me most as I was reading was how much it made me smile. In nearly every chapter there was some little quirky addition to the drawing or some tale that just made me happy to read. In one of the chapters, the author talks about going to Japan to visit friend and at the end of that chapter she gives a pictorial demonstration of how to make sushi rolls. In a very small corner, there are three pictures - one of a sushi mat furled, then unfurled and then worn as a hat. They are all tiny pictures, but it is the kind of detail that makes it worth the time to look at all the images closely!

As another example, there is a chapter about why Lucy Knisley doesn't feel guilty about eating foie gras. Let's just say it involves an incident with very aggressive geese. There were echoes of this story in my own family. My sister has a terrible fear of birds which has evolved over the years after being chased up a tree in our backyard by chooks, and then on another occasion being attacked by a black swan!

Here, as an example of what you might expect if you choose to read Relish, is Lucy Knisley's recipe for Pasta Carbonara (click on image to enlarge!)

I am always a bit reluctant to use words like charming when describing a book, but sometimes there is just no better word, and this is one of those occasions. Relish is a charming, delightfully fun foodie memoir and I recommend it highly!


Rating 4.5

Synopsis

Lucy Knisley's mouth-watering graphic memoir will make you hungry.

Whether she's injuring herself - again and again - in pursuit of a perfect croissant or bankrupting herself on fancy cheeses, Lucy Knisley know what she wants: a good meal. The daughter of a chef and a gourmet, she comes by her priorities honestly. In this Technicolor love letter to cooking and eating, Knisley presents her personal history as seen through a kaleidoscope of delicious things.

Defying the idea of eating as a compulsion and food as a consumer product, Relish invites us to celebrate the meals we eat as a connection to our bodies, and to each other. Knisley's intimate and utterly charming graphic memoir offers reflections on cooking, eating and living - as well as some of her favourite recipes.

Weekend Cooking 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, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.

Bookish Quotes: The library as a refuge

This week I read and thoroughly enjoyed Hate is Such a Strong Word by Sarah Ayoub. This is a debut YA novel that looks the experiences of a second generation Australian whose Lebanese parents have very set ideas of how a young lady should behave. It is an excellent book, a fact I hope to show if/when I write a review of it! In the meantime, if you want to know more head over to Bree's blog as it was her review that convinced me to give this book a go!

Today I wanted to share a passage from the book where the author name drops another book, one that I have happened to have read. It is not the only time it happens in the book. One of the other books mentioned is one of my absolute favourites, The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons, although I have to admit I was a bit surprised that it was one of the male characters that was reading it.

However, the passage resonates for more than just the book name dropping. Is there anything better than having your library buy a brand new book that you have requested and you get to be the first person to read it? How mind blowing to have a librarian purchase a book specifically with you in mind!

The quote comes from pages 123-125.

Across the quad, Shehadie is reading a book under the pergola, like he's done every day since he came to CSC. Zayden and a few other boys from our class are playing football, and as usual they don't ask him to join in. Instead, they ignore him, or occasionally throw a snide remark his way. My eyes meet Shehadie's and he smiles. I smile back awkwardly, and look from him to Vanessa's group, like we're all part of some confusing game.

I start to walk over to him, but my fear gets the better of me and I go into the toilets instead. I sit in a cubicle, take out my journal and doodle over some of the pages.

After five minutes, I'm over being pathetic and make my way to the library. Mrs Morton, the librarian, sings out my name as I walk in."

"Back again today?" she says.

I nod, embarrassed.

"Don't worry, we'd rather have thirty of you than half the other kids in here." She gestures to the noisy juniors milling about. "Plus, I bet we're good for you too. You must be making headway on all your assessments."

"Something like that," I say. "Got anything new for me?"

"Actually, I ordered something that I think you'll really love," she says. "If you mind the sign-in book for a moment I'll go find it. Mrs Richards is at the canteen stocking up on chocolate for her 2pm craving so I'm on my own right now."

She returns holding a novel for me and my face lights up. There are definite perks to having a good relationship with the librarian.

"Diane Armstrong's Empire Day," she says. "As soon as I read the blurb I knew it would be perfect for you. It's set in Sydney in 1948 and looks at some of the issues around post war migration. It'll be useful for your Society and Culture assessment, but I thought the themes - identity, ethnicity, belonging - would interest you anyway."

"Wow, Mrs Morton, am I that transparent?"

She smiles. "Let's just say that your borrowing record says a lot about your interests. Now, it's not officially on the system yet, so please take care of it and bring it back as soon as you're done."

"I always do," I say, grinning. "Thanks heaps. I appreciate it."

And just like that, I have even more of an excuse to spend the rest of the week in the library. Books, unlike people, never let me down.

Library Loot: March 5

What's that saying about London buses that you wait for ages for and then three come along at once? That's what it has been like at the library for me over the last week or so.

This week, for example, not one but three audiobooks came in for me at the same time. That is more than 40 hours of listening time to get through in four weeks! Not sure it is going to happen. In next week's loot I am going to be talking about at least eleven books and it could still be more!

Here's what I picked up from the library this week:

Hope Flames by Jaci Burton - I am a big fan of Jaci Burton's sports romances so I thought I would give her new series a go too.

Frantic by Katherine Howell - I saw someone mention that this was one of their favourite Australian crime writers so I thought I would give this book a try.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - It's been years since I read a Maggie Stiefvater book. There's no real reason for this other than it just happened. Time to rectify this.

An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear - It's been a while since I read my last Maisie Dobbs book too. Time to catch up.

Eyrie by Tim Winton - The first of the audiobooks. I listened to another Winton book earlier this year. I didn't love it, but I can't really work out why. Maybe this book will be the book that helps me understand why Tim Winton is such a popular Australian author.

1914 the Year the World Ended by Paul Ham - I went and heard Paul Ham speak at my local library earlier this year. This is the second audiobook. I started listening to it yesterday and so far it is very interesting.

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith - I did have the book out from the library but I didn't get to read it. Because I thought I had a while before the other audiobooks I had on request would come in I requested this one too. Whoops!

The Forever Girl by Alexander McCall Smith - I hadn't heard much about any new books from Alexander McCall Smith until I saw something saying that AMS was coming to Australia soon.

Jack of Fables Vol 2: Jack of Hearts by Bill Willingham - The next Jack of Fables graphic novel.

The Sandman Vol 2: The Doll House by Neil Gaiman  - The next Sandman graphic novel. I didn't love the first one, which was a prelude, so I am hoping that once the story gets going I will enjoy it more.

The Heist by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis - I didn't really think about getting this CD until I saw these artists perform at the Grammys.

Library Loot is hosted by Clare from The Captive Reader and Linda from Silly Little Mischief. Linda should have  the Mr Linky this week so head there to share your loot links.

Joint review: The Debt of Tamar by Nicole Dweck

Today I am pleased to be participating in a discussion style review of The Debt of Tamr by Nicole Dweck with Kelly from The Written World. My thoughts are in black and Kelly's in purple. Don't forget to head on to Kelly's blog to read the second part. Alternatively head over to Historical Tapestry where you can read the whole thing and there is a also a chance to win a copy of the book (open to US residents only).

Enjoy.

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Its been a while since we have done one of these Kelly!

I thought I would start this discussion by talking about the story and hopefully along the way we will be able to touch on how the book is structured and how that helps or hinders the plot.

The book opens in 16th century Spain. Dona Antonio Nissim is friend to royalty, well respected and wealthy but none of that will protect her when she upsets royalty by refusing a match for her beautiful young daughter. And there is especially no protection when it is found that you are actually Jewish, something which comes as something of a surprise to her daughter Reyna and her nephew that she has been raising to become the head of her family, Jose. Forced to flee, the family is accepted into Turkey under the auspices of the sultan Suleiman and the family settles into a new life which is complicated by the fact that Reyna and Jose fall in love.

The action then moves forward a few years as their daughter Tamar is given the great privilege of being educated within the walls of the sultan’s harem, where she meets and falls in love with the heir, Murat. But theirs is a love that crosses culture and faiths and it isn’t long before the young lovers are torn apart but not before he gives her a ruby ring that ends up being passed from generation to generation. Murat goes on to rule the realm, but he and his descendants are forever to be cursed, in effect the debt of Tamar that the title of the book refers to.

I have to admit, I think I was confused about the curse when it was first mentioned in Murat’s part of the book. I think it was only when the book shifted to the Present Day that I fully understood. I guess that’s because I thought if anyone should be cursed, it should be her father because it is him that sends her away.

What did you think of the curse?

I was a bit confused by the curse at first too, almost as though the injured party was cursed rather than the injurer (is that even a word?). It did work itself out by the end of the book though!

But, after Murat’s time has come to an end, the book flashes to the present day. The Sultan’s reign has come to an end and now Selim Osman, the grandson of the last Sultan, is a successful business man. He is still living in the shadow of his ancestors. His father and brother are deceased and his mother left to go live with her aunt. He is essentially an orphan who finds himself diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. When he goes to New York to seek treatment, the stories of his ancestors and Tamar start to intertwine. Then, the time changes again, and we are in WWII-torn Paris, France.

In Paris we meet Davide. His parents were the victims of the Holocaust and he was raised by a kindly baker and his wife. Unfortunately, he can not live that idyllic life forever and his ancestors catch-up with him. He quickly changes his entire life to embrace his heritage and decides to leave Paris behind to visit the land of his ancestors. Then it is back to the future again for the stories to come together. I will leave it there for readers to get a taste of how things are going to come together.

What did you think of the characters? Did you have a favourite?

As we will discuss below, I find that the characters didn’t have a time in the book to really stand out. I thought that Reyna and Jose’s relationship was sweet, but it was so rushed there was no build up or drama. And, I really liked Reyna’s mother, but again, I didn’t really get a chance to get to know who she was. She was a strong and intriguing character that I would love to see an entire book about! Again, Murat and Tamar, sweet relationship, but for having lasting consequences through a curse it was again rushed. I didn’t get the tension because there was no time to get to feel it. Basically, though, the characters are all interesting. I just wish we had got to know them a bit better.

I am probably the same as you. I didn’t feel connected enough to any one story to say I had a favourite character.






Head over to Kelly's blog for the second part of the discussion where we talk more about the structure of the book and out overall reactions to the book.

About the tour

Link to Tour Page: http://hfvirtualbooktours.com/thedebtoftamartour
Tour Hashtag: #DebtofTamarVirtualTour
Nicole Dweck's website
Nicole Dweck on Twitter
Nicole Dweck on Facebook

About the book

Publication Date: February 4, 2013
Devon House Press
Paperback; 332p
ISBN-10: 061558361X

During the second half of the 16th century, a wealthy widow by the name of Doña Antonia Nissim is arrested and charged with being a secret Jew. The punishment? Death by burning. Enter Suleiman the Magnificent, an Ottoman “Schindler,” and the most celebrated sultan in all of Turkish history. With the help of the Sultan, the widow and her children manage their escape to Istanbul. Life is seemingly idyllic for the family in their new home, that is, until the Sultan’s son meets and falls in love with Tamar, Doña Antonia’s beautiful and free-spirited granddaughter. A quiet love affair ensues until one day, the girl vanishes.

Over four centuries later, thirty-two year old Selim Osman, a playboy prince with a thriving real estate empire, is suddenly diagnosed with a life-threatening condition. Abandoning the mother of his unborn child, he vanishes from Istanbul without an explanation. In a Manhattan hospital, he meets Hannah, a talented artist and the daughter of a French Holocaust survivor. As their story intertwines with that of their ancestors, readers are taken back to Nazi-occupied Paris, and to a sea-side village in the Holy Land where a world of secrets is illuminated.

Theirs is a love that has been dormant for centuries, spanning continents, generations, oceans, and religions. Bound by a debt that has lingered through time, they must right the wrongs of the past if they’re ever to break the shackles of their future.

Sunday Salon: February Reading Reflections

From a pure numbers perspective, February was a much better reading month than January! From a quality perspective, it was a mixed bag. There were a few really good reads in there. It may be a good thing that I am now all caught up on Laura Florand's Amour et Chocolat series otherwise I could well end up overdosing on delicious French chef heroes for yet another month!

Here's what I read:

Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey 3/5 (audiobook)
Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett 3.5/5
Jack of Fables, Vol 1: The (Nearly) Great Escape by Bill Willingham 3/5
Anything for You by Jessica Scott 3.5/5
Outback Dreams by Rachael Johns 4.5/5
I Kissed an Earl by Julie Anne Long 3.5/5
The Chocolate Touch by Laura Florand 4/5
The Chocolate Heart by Laura Florand 3/5
Sisters of Mercy by Caroline Overington 4/5
Merle's Country Show Baking by Merle Parrish 4/5
The Sandman Vol 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman 2.5/5
The Book of Lost Threads by Tess Evans 4.5/5
Half Moon Bay by Helene Young 4/5
The Chocolate Temptation by Laura Florand 4/5
For Your Eyes Only by Sandra Antonelli 3/5
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz 4/5

In terms of challenges. the only one that I read for was the Australian Women Writers challenge but I am pretty happy with the fact that I read six books in a month for that challenge. Those books were Outback Dreams, Sisters of Mercy, Merle's Country Show Baking, The Book of Lost Threads, Half Moon Bay and For Your Eyes Only.

Currently Reading

The Debt of Tamar by Nicole Dweck and listening to Floodtide by Judy Nunn.

Up Next

Hate is Such a Strong Word by Sarah Ayoub or Bitter Taste by Annie Hauxwell.

Weekend Cooking: Great British Bake Off (aka how I spent my Saturday)

Every now and again I go through phases where I put the TV on the Food Channel and basically just leave it there. I then tend to gorge on the shows that have caught my attention and then not watch much again until the next time that I need to gorge.

Recently I have been watching My Kitchen Rules with my son which is on one of our commercial challenges, but when I have the TV to myself my viewing has been focused on The Great British Bake Off on our Food Channel. I think it is season 3 and to be honest I am kicking myself that I haven't seen the earlier seasons. Today, I spent most of the day watching season 3 which was a thoroughly enjoyable way to spend a Saturday. In fact, the only down side is the fact that I was left craving something delicious to eat. Need to remember this for future notice. Don't watch while hungry!

I assume that the show is showing on food shows around the world, but just in case I thought I would mention the structure.

The first segment that the contestants participate in is the Signature Bake where they bake what they consider their signature bake is that will meet the criteria set out. The second segment is the Technical Bake where they are asked to create a specific dish that they have been given a partial recipe for and the third segment is the Showstopper. This is where they are asked to produce something that fits within the theme of the episode but shows great skill in both cooking and presentation.

Whilst like so many other shows this is primarily a cooking show, I love that it is more than that as well. I love that they also include some historical information in the show, some instructional information and also segments relating to regional specialities. It makes for a good mix of cooking, personal drama as the contestants stress their way through each episode, entertainment and history!

Here, for example, is a segment on the history of donuts and their place in WWII history which is from one of the episodes that I watched today.

and here is a video of one of the judges, Mary Berry, showing how to make Sachertorte

And finally, here is a Showstopper segments about hidden designs in cakes. I can't imagine making cakes that look anywhere near as externally impressive as these cakes do without having to have a hidden design as well.

One of the things that I enjoy in the British show is the hosts. Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins. Mel and Sue had just started to come to prominence on UK TV back in the late 1990s when I lived there and they have a great chemistry together in terms of the comic timing. They also bring a lightness to the sometimes tense kitchen environment. This isn't the first time that I have mentioned Sue Perkins here on the blog. She is also one of the hosts of Supersizers Go which I posted about a couple of years ago.

They did attempt to make an Australian version of this show last year, but to be honest I don't think it was that successful. I only watched the first episode, and I wasn't overly impressed. I didn't not intend to watch more (if you know what I mean) but I didn't end up seeing any more. In fact, I am not even sure if the whole series was shown or if it was pulled after a few episodes.

I have just noticed that my library has both the Great Australian Bake Off book and The Great British Bake Off book so I have requested both and might do a comparative post at some point in the future. I did also see that at least one of the contestants in the British version has ended up with a book deal out of it, so that might be interesting for future reference.

And now I need to get back to the book that I was planning to be reading today and not watching food on TV!

Weekend Cooking 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, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.