Teaser Tuesday: Fleur by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

A couple of months ago I read the first book in this trilogy, Anna, and I teased from it. In my Teaser Tuesday post I mentioned that the book was overdue but there was no way that I wasn't going to finish the book before returning it. Funnily enough, I can say exactly the same thing about this book! Maybe I will get the trifecta when I get around to reading the third book in the trilogy!

This book is set in England and Russia around the time of the Crimean War.

My teaser comes from page 232:

"But Kirov is the Emperor's man, through and through, and you mustn't believe everything he says. Oh, he believe it all right - and I dare say the Emperor even believes it himself. There's an honourable precedent for rulers not to let one half of themselves know what the other half is thinking."

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!

Don't forget to check out my current giveaway of the upcoming Geraldine Brook's release Caleb's Crossing.

Upcoming release: Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (includes giveaway)

I was very excited to wake up the other morning and see an email talking about Geraldine Brooks' new book which is due to be released on May 3.

Following is a Q and A with the author about Caleb's Crossing. This has come directly from the publicist so you might have seen this before on other blogs. (Apologies if you have).

You can win one of 2 galley copies of this novel. If you are interested, please leave  comment with your email address.

Giveaway rules:

- you must leave a comment including your email address
-US and Canada only (sorry, the prize is being sent directly from the publisher
- one entry per household
- entries close on 27 March 2011

Good luck!

Q&A with Geraldine Brooks, author of

CALEB’S CROSSING

Caleb Cheeshahteamauk is an extraordinary figure in Native American history. How did you first discover him? What was involved in learning more about his life?

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head/Aquinnah are proud custodians of their history, and it was in materials prepared by the Tribe that I first learned of its illustrious young scholar.   To find out more about him I talked with tribal members, read translations of early documents in the Wopanaak language, then delved into the archives of Harvard and the Massachusetts Bay Colony, especially the correspondence between colonial leaders and benefactors in England who donated substantial funds for the education and conversion to Christianity of Indians in the 17th century.   There are also writings by members of the Mayhew family, who were prominent missionaries and magistrates on the island, and John Cotton, Jr., who came here as a missionary and kept a detailed journal.

There is little documentation on Caleb’s actual life. What parts of his life did you imagine? Do you feel you know him better after writing this book, or is he still a mystery?

The facts about Caleb are sadly scant.  We know he was the son of a minor sachem from the part of the Vineyard now known as West Chop, and that he left the island to attend prep school, successfully completed the rigorous course of study at Harvard and was living with Thomas Danforth, a noted jurist and colonial leader, when disease claimed his life.  Everything else about him in my novel is imagined.  The real young man—what he thought and felt—remains an enigma.

Bethia Mayfield is truly a woman ahead of her time. If she were alive today, what would she be doing? What would her life be like with no restrictions?

There were more than a few 17th century women like Bethia, who thirsted for education and for a voice in a society that demanded their silence.  You can find some of them being dragged to the meeting house to confess their “sins” or defending their unconventional views in court.   If Bethia was alive today she would probably be president of Harvard or Brown, Princeton or UPenn.

The novel is told through Bethia’s point of view. What is the advantage to telling this story through her eyes? How would the book be different if Caleb were the narrator?

I wanted the novel to be about crossings between cultures.  So as Caleb is drawn into the English world, I wanted to create an English character who would be equally drawn to and compelled by his world.   I prefer to write with a female narrator when I can, and I wanted to explore issues of marginalization in gender as well as race.

Much of the book is set on Martha’s Vineyard, which is also your home. Did you already know about the island’s early history, or did you do additional research?

I was always intrigued by what brought English settlers to the island so early in the colonial period...they settled here in the 1640s.   Living on an island is inconvenient enough even today; what prompted the Mayhews and their followers to put seven miles of treacherous ocean currents between them and the other English—to choose to live in a tiny settlement surrounded by some three thousand Wampanoags?  The answer was unexpected and led me into a deeper exploration of island history

You bring Harvard College to life in vivid, often unpleasant detail. What surprised you most about this prestigious university’s beginnings?

For one thing, I hadn't been aware Harvard was founded so early.  The English had barely landed before they started building a college. And the Indian College—a substantial building—went up not long after, signifying an attitude of mind that alas did not prevail for very long.  It was fun to learn how very different early Harvard was from the well endowed institution of today.  Life was hand to mouth, all conversation was in Latin, the boys (only boys) were often quite young when they matriculated.   But the course of study was surprisingly broad and rigorous—a true exploration of liberal arts, languages, and literature that went far beyond my stereotype of what Puritans might have considered fit subjects for scholarship.

Photo credit

As with your previous books, you’ve managed to capture the voice of the period. You get the idiom, dialect, and cadence of the language of the day on paper. How did you do your research?

I find the best way to get a feel for language and period is to read first person accounts—journals, letters, court transcripts.  Eventually you start to hear voices in your head: patterns of speech, a different manner of thinking.  My son once said, Mom talks to ghosts.  And in a way I do.

May 2011, Tiffany Smalley will follow in Caleb’s footsteps and become only the second Vineyard Wampanoag to graduate from Harvard. Do you know if this will be celebrated?

In May Tiffany Smalley will become the first Vineyard Wampanoag since Caleb to receive an undergrad degree from Harvard College.  (Others have received advanced degrees from the university’s Kennedy school etc.)  I’m not sure what Harvard has decided to do at this year's commencement, but I am hoping they will use the occasion to honor Caleb’s fellow Wampanoag classmate, Joel Iacoomis, who completed the work for his degree but was murdered before he could attended the 1665 commencement ceremony.

Sunday Salon: Inside a Dog relaunch

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside a dog, it's too dark to read"  - Groucho Marx

I had the good fortune last Tuesday night to go to the relaunch of the Inside A Dog website which is a project of the Centre for Youth Literature, part of the State Library of Victoria. The site was originally launched back in 2006 and in the opening remarks, the representative of the State Library pondered the changes that have occurred since then when talking about how the site was looking a bit tired. Some of those changes were huge - the online world has come a long way in just 5 years!

Now, with the relaunch, kids will have an up to the minute website which has social networking elements so they can connect with other readers via targeted and peer recommendations, book clubs and forums, read reviews of books, read blogs each month from a writer in residence, and in addition there will be resources for teachers, librarians and parents with a strong focus on Australian authors. There will also be a strong focus on other reading focused initiatives such as the Victorian Premier's Reading Challenge, an initiative of the Victorian government to encourage reading for school age kids, and the Inkys awards (international awards for teenage literature that are voted for online by the readers of insideadog.com.au.)

That doesn't mean that everything from the old website has been ditched. The best parts have been incorporated into this next generation website. I, for one, was very pleased to see that the Writers in Residence feature is continuing. Over the years there have been many excellent authors featured as the Writer in Residence for a month including Margo Lanagan, Justine Larbalestier and Markus Zusak. This month the resident is Brian Falkner.

In addition to getting a guided tour of the new site by Adele Walsh (who is well known through the YA community thanks to her Persnickety Snark blog) and her trusty assistant, we were also treated to a speech from New Zealand YA author Bernard Beckett who was in Australia for the Perth Writer's Festival and had stopped off in Melbourne as part of his trip. I had only heard Bernard's name for the first time the week before during of Kiwi YA themed #spbkchat, so as soon as I saw that he was a special guest, I was pleased that I at least knew a little something about him.

Bernard Beckett is a teacher as well as an author, and so he was well qualified to speak to a room full of people who were predominantly teachers and librarians, and he was a lively, engaging and entertaining speaker. The main point of his talk was how to engage kids about books. He started with a comparison of how many students are confident if you ask them to discuss film, and will share their opinions freely, but ask them to do the same thing for literature, and the response is completely different. So often books in schools are taught in terms of right and wrong, so that when examination time comes, the students know there is a right answer, but are not confident that they know the right answer.

Bernard talked about instead trying to allow the students to discover answers for themselves using tools like Inside a Dog and other online content, and if a student appears to be heading in a wrong direction with their research, then some gentle redirection is better than a "you are wrong". This inevitably led to a question about getting results given that literature is an examinable subject, but if a young person is passionately interested in literature it will be easier to teach them than those who are disengaged from the very beginning of the subject.

Thanks to CYL we all received a copy of Bernard Beckett's new book, August (published by Text Publishing), and I bought a copy of Genesis thanks to the #spbkchat the week before where there was a lot of praise for his book.

For another recap of the event be sure to check out Literary Life. Megan who runs that site is a passionate Melbourne YA blogger and it was a great pleasure to meet her, and to meet Adele for the first time as well.

I have spent a little time exploring the site over the last few days, and as a parent of a 12 and a half year old boy who is a reluctant reader, I will be more than happy for him to spend time Inside a Dog.

Weekend Cooking: A perfect autumn night

I have been a bit bad lately and really haven't been doing any cooking, let alone trying new recipes or anything like that. As a result, a lot of my recent Weekend Cooking posts have been more about recent experiences rather than recipes or book reviews etc, and this week is no exception.

Last night I had the great pleasure of going to dinner at Movida Aqui here in Melbourne. The original Movida is a very popular tapas bar but it is incredibly hard to get into especially on a Friday or Saturday night. When we were making arrangements to catch up with a couple of friends for dinner, we thought we might try one of the more recent additions to the chain (there are now four different Movida venues) and were not disappointed by our experience.

Last night it was a gorgeous autumn night! Clear skies, warm and the perfect night to sit outside, eat tapas, drink sangria and chat! One of the really fun features of the setting was that we were sitting next to a planter box. It was only after a little while that we realised that the trees in the planter box were young olive trees, and at the base of the trees, a variety of different herbs! The kitchens are very open at this restaurant, so you could see the chefs at work. Very cool! Really the toughest thing was walking through the restaurant looking at what everyone else was eating and thinking either we should have ordered those, or I wonder what that is, because everything looked really good!

Drinking sangria reminds me of a fantastic night I had in Barcelona many years ago, and if I had someone who liked paella, I would definitely go back to Movida Aqui specifically to share a paella pan, and yes, more sangria!

I love the idea of tapas - a selection of little bit sized morsels of tastiness that you share with others at your table. It doesn't end up being a particularly cheap way to eat, but it is a nice way to treat yourself! I didn't take any photos because I only had one battery in my camera for some reason. Not all of the items are showing on the menu on the website so from memory this is what we had last night.

Catalan Potato bomb filled with chorizo (called Bombas)

Mushrooms cooked on the plancha, finished with sherry vinegar (Setas)

Prawns cooked in terracotta with garlic

Potato salad with dill and prawn

Meatballs served with a little tomato and onion based sauce

Pork loin

Smoked salmon served with trout parcels

And for dessert my friend had churros and I had a delicious Crème caramel served with pestinos

As I was sitting here this morning, I was trying to think what my favourite was. I didn't actually have any of the smoked salmon because it's not my favourite taste, but other than that, they were all delicious.  I think the dish I was most surprised by was the potato salad with dill. The prawns that were served with it were chargrilled (I think) but they were still very tender and the perfect accompaniment to the potato salad with dill. 

Having just been for dinner at Movida I was reminded that there are two Movida books out (pictured), and my library has them both, so perhaps a later edition of Weekend Cooking might feature one of these books!

Good weather, good food and wine, good company. What more could you ask for?

 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 Swan Maiden by Jules Watson

Today I was supposed to be reviewing The Raven Queen by Jules Watson as part of a blog tour for that book, but due to the vagaries of the postal system, I haven't actually received the book yet. That left me scratching my head wondering what I should post instead. A quick look at all the half written reviews I have sitting in draft (and yes, there are a lot of them) revealed that I had a review of Jules Watson's previous book that was oh so close to finished, and so I have done the tidying up of what I had written previously and I am posting that instead. I don't know why I didn't finish the review earlier, especially seeing it was one of the few books I rated as 5/5 reads in the year I read it.

It was fair to say though that I already knew I was a fan of Jules Watson after reading her Dalriaida trilogy, which is set in Roman Britain, and features a warrior princess, battles against the Roman invaders, a handsome Irish prince and much more. I have reviewed all three of the books in the trilogy. The first is The White Mare, the second book was called The Dawn Stag and the third book in the trilogy was published in some places as The Boar Stone with an alternative title of Song of the North. Click on the links to read my reviews of the trilogy.

Jules Watson is an Australia author who had been living in Scotland, but has now moved to the US. For more information about Jules, check out this interview we did with her at Historical Tapestry, and also at other stops around her blog tour for The Raven Queen. You can find all the stops here.

I will definitely be reading and reviewing The Raven Queen as soon as I can.

In this lush, romantic retelling of one of the most enduring Irish legends, acclaimed Celtic historical author Jules Watson reignites the tale of Deirdre—the Irish Helen of Troy—in a story that is at once magical, beautiful, and tragic.

She was born with a blessing and a curse: that she would grow into a woman of extraordinary beauty—and bring ruin to the kingdom of Ulster and its ruler, the wily Conor. Ignoring the pleadings of his druid to expel the infant, King Conor secrets the girl child with a poor couple in his province, where no man can covet her. There, under the tutelage of a shamaness, Deirdre comes of age in nature and magic…. And in the season of her awakening, the king is inexorably drawn to her impossible beauty.

But for Deirdre, her fate as a man’s possession is worse than death. And soon the green-eyed girl, at home in waterfall and woods, finds herself at the side of three rebellious young warriors. Among them is the handsome Naisi. His heart charged with bitterness toward the aging king, and growing in love for the defiant girl, Naisi will lead Deirdre far from Ulster—and into a war of wits, swords, and spirit that will take a lifetime to wage.

Brimming with life and its lusts, here is a soaring tale of enchantment and eternal passions—and of a woman who became legend.

I have read and enjoyed Jules Watson's Dalriada trilogy,and so was very much looking forward to reading this book when it came out and I haven't been disappointed!

A retelling of the Celtic tale of Deidre, this tells the story of a young woman who has been separate from society, being specifically raised to be the wife of a king (Conor) and with a strong mystical focus, but she has other ideas and so flees with the assistance and protection of rebel warriors Naisi and his two brothers. As the group struggle to find their place in the world, they can't seem to escape what seems to be their fate especially when it seems it is only a matter of time before Conor finds them.

Where Deidre was not interested at all in Conor, she finds herself attracted to Naisi. I thought the build up in the tension between Deidre and Naisi was great and there was definitely a lot of chemistry between the two of them. The balance between the relationship, the various mystical elements and the story was really well done. These mystical elements were a feature of Watson's earlier books, and I hope that this is something that she continues to explore in her next books.

There are a few signs that make it obvious to me when I am really enjoying a book apart from the feelings it invokes in me as I am reading it. One is when I break my no reading books at lunch time at work, and another is when I am prompted to Google things like locations, or as it was with this book, to find out more about the Irish myths about Deidre which this novel was based on, and both of these things happened with this book,

I was completely immersed in the world that Watson has created, and with the characters. There were a couple of times maybe where the book dragged a little, but by the end of the book I closed the book with a huge sigh of satisfaction.

Look! exhibition at State Library Victoria

I had a very bookish start to the week this week, and as far as I am concerned a bookish week is a good week!

Last Sunday I talked my sister and her husband into going out into the city. It was a gorgeous day weather wise when we caught the train into the city. Our destination was the State Library of Victoria, and in particular the Look:! The Art of Australian Picture Books today exhibition which is on display until 29 May 2011.

My main reason for wanting to go was to be able to go and see a couple of examples of Shaun Tan's art from both The Arrival (have I mentioned lately how much I love that book?) and The Rabbits which was written by John Marsden who also wrote the Tomorrow, When the War Began series. I certainly wasn't disappointed by those pieces of art. The fact that The Arrival has so many images in the book, and yet is completely drawn in pencil astonishes me still three or four years after I first read the book.

Really though the target audience for the exhibition is slightly younger than me so luckily we had my 3 year old nephew and 12 year old son with us! It's always interesting to see what it is that catches the attention of a toddler. My nephew and his dad had put their tent up in the backyard on Saturday night and slept in there. There was one illustration (and this is where I wish I had of kept the list of titles of all the books featured in the display) which featured a family going camping, and he was interested, but the main thing he said was that the tent should be blue, which is the colour that their tent is.

After looking at a lot of the different illustrations, it was storytime and my nephew listened to two stories, one that was something about a pig, and the other was Mr Chicken goes to Paris by Leigh Hobbs. I thought that this was such a fun picture book. Mr Chicken is a 4 metre tall bright yellow chicken who goes on a plane to Paris and takes in all the sights! Such fun, especially if you take the time to notice all the background details!

One thing that I thoroughly enjoyed was seeing all the different mediums that illustrators were using. There were waterpaint drawings, collage, paper sculptures, native inspired art and so much more.

Photo credit

After visiting the display, we took the opportunity to visit the reading room and the fantastic dome that forms such an impressive part of the architecture at the State Library of Victoria. There are other exhibitions in the galleries which surround the dome. I had seen them before but it is always nice to go and look at books that are hundreds of years old. I was talking to one of the staff about how much a couple of the books are worth. One book alone is worth $12 million (cue jokes about reading that book on the trains!).

Follow that up with a chocolate frappe fix and it was a good afternoon all round.

I was planning on talking about my other State Library related event in this post, but I think this is probably long enough so I will do a separate post for that one.

Library Loot: March 9 to 15

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 had a very library focused week this week! I will have a post up tomorrow about my visit to the State Library of Victoria, and the plan is to have another post up in the next couple of days about something else related to that library.

In the meantime, I found time last weekend to visit my local library and pick up some books.

Here's my loot for this week:

His at Night by Sherry Thomas - I am a little surprised that I haven't actually read this one. In fact, I am thinking I will double check my list to be sure that I haven't!

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - I've been hearing a lot of good things about this one, so as soon as I saw that this was in cataloguing at the library I requested it. Love it when you get brand new books! In fact, the next two books are brand new too!

Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan - Margo Lanagan is an Australian author I have heard a lot about, but haven't yet read, so I am excited to give this one a go!

How to Woo a Reluctant Lady by Sabrina Jeffries - The next book in the Hellions of Halstead series.

Ransom by David Malouf - this is my next book club book

What loot did you get this week. Share your links in Mr Linky below so we can all see your loot!




Before finishing off my post this week, I couldn't resist sharing this video from Youtube. Apparently it is Library Week in Ireland and this video was made to encourage people to visit the library

Teaser Tuesday: Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

This week for my Teaser Tuesday post I am going to share a couple of teasers from Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning, the final book in the Fever series that was released recently.

My first teaser comes from page 39:

"Small creatures create small things."

"Large creatures' egos are so big they don't see the small things coming," I murmur. Like traps. I don't say.

And the second comes from page 160. I wouldn't say that I am enjoying this book as much as I wanted to, but I did find lots of teaser worthy sentences.

You lose someone you love more than you love yourself, and you get a crash course in mortality. You lie awake night after night, wondering if you really believe in heaven and hell and finding all kinds of reasons to cling to faith, because you can't bear to believe they aren't out there somewhere, a few whispered words of a prayer away.

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!

Sydney Book Blogger meet up!

Are you a book blogger, tweeter, author or other person associated with the online book community? Are you going to be in Sydney on Thursday March 24?

If yes, then how about joining us for the inaugural Sydney book blogger get together? Doesn't matter what genre you read, or whether you have been blogging for years, or just a little while. This is a chance to get together with some like minded people and talk books! It will be fun and informal and a great chance to meet new people!

Here are the details:

When: Thu, 24 March from 6pm
Where: Arthouse Hotel - http://thearthousehotel.com.au/ - 275 Pitt St, Sydney 2000
Who: Book bloggers, tweeters, Facebookers, Goodreaders -- anyone who
hangs around the book communities online

Dress code (per the website):
All guests are to be neatly attired at all times. Dress regulations
commence at 5:30pm daily. Security and management reserve the right to
refuse entry.

Items of dress not allowed at any time are as follows:
No singlets or sleeveless tops
No shorts & 3/4 pants
No sports wear
No thongs & sandals
No work boots or sneakers

If you are interested in attending, then please click on the link below to RSVP, so that we can get some idea of numbers!

RSVP here

I'll be trying to work out how to get to The Arthouse hotel from the airport, and finding somewhere to stay nearby so hopefully I will see you there!

I am also planning to organise a Melbourne get together, possibly in May. I just need to find a suitable venue!

TSS: The mysterious identity of author Aaron Fletcher

In this era of the internet, it seems that as readers we have unparalleled access to the lives of our favourite authors. If the author so desires, all their readers can know exactly what they had for dinner on Tuesday, or all about their kids, and what they like to do in their spare time.

Obviously every author is different in terms of what they want to share, as are we all online. For example, whilst I don't mention my son often on my blog or on Twitter, when I do I choose not to name him. It wouldn't take a lot of investigation on anyones part to find out his name, but I don't put it out there for every one to see.

It seems to be generally accepted that having a web presence of some sort is crucial for authors. The depth of involvement can vary between authors. Some may choose just to have a website (regularly updated and current is best), or may choose to blog either as an individual or as part of a group blog (if you are going to blog though, please blog. There is no point in having a blog linked to your website that has only been updated once in the last year and which has no mention of the book that has just been released), perhaps a Facebook page,or a Twitter account. Then there may be forums, guest posting and interviews on other people's blogs - the list is endless.

Even for those authors who choose not to have an online presence, it is usually possible to find out basic information about them from publisher's website or profile on other sites.


So when you come across an author that you can find absolutely nothing about, it comes as something as a surprise. And then that reaction morphs into frustration as you read more and more of their books and you still don't know the most basic information like nationality, and are they still alive, and facts like that.

Aaron Fletcher is one of these authors!
.
I started reading Aaron Fletcher's Outback saga last year as part of a group over at Goodreads who enjoy reading big, juicy historical sagas, and since then I have read four books in the series: Outback, Outback Station, Walk About and Wallaby Track. I now have just one more to read and that is Outback Legacy and then I will be done, as far as I know anyway. There are other books out there, but no more that are part of this series.

The Outback Saga books are set in colonial Australia and feature larger than life character who become hugely successful despite the harsh environs of Outback Australia, or maybe in some cases because of them. There's lots of talk about sheep farming in particular. There were certain aspects of the first book that I didn't liked (most particularly the way that Aboriginal communication and family bonds were portrayed) but other than that they are very readable books filled with drama, danger, love and triumph. 

As an Australian, reading a series of books about Australia, I wanted to know what was Aaron Fletcher's background. Is he an Australian because if he is the books count for the Aussie Author Reading Challenge I am participating in, has he worked on a sheep station, how did he do his research. I'm not saying that any of those things need to be true but I wanted to know if that was his background of not.

This series was originally published in the early 90s, but they were all republished only three or four years ago, so I do think it is a bit odd that there is no information about him at all that we have been able to find and believe me there have been a number of us looking for information.

I did wonder if maybe this was an agency author name rather than a writer's actual name, mainly because in some ways the later books did feel as though they were written differently, but I don't have anything to back that up. The only possible piece of information we have been able to find relates to the fact that Aaron Fletcher may have been part of a group of writers who wrote under the name Dana Fuller Ross, and that is a mention on a Facebook fan page so may or may not be true. Other than that - nothing, nada, zilch.

Would it bother you if you couldn't find out anything at all to do with an author. Is there is any such thing as too much information. Do you know something about Aaron Fletcher?

Weekend Cooking: NZ in a Glass

I really wasn't much of a wine drinker until a few years ago, despite the fact that I grew up not far from one of the more famous wine growing districts in Australia - or maybe I should say the world - the Barossa Valley. These days I will drink red or white wine, but if I had to choose it would be white, and usually Sauvignon Blanc.

If I am going to buy wine, I usually stick to a couple of brands that I know, and I don't really take that many chances. I should start going to wineries to find some other brands.

When I was at an age to drink legally, most of my friends were either non drinkers or, probably closer to the truth, drank in secret as a result of the fact that we were affiliated with The Salvation Army, who have no alcohol as one of their rules.  As we got older, and started drifting away from those rules, it was generally beer or spirits that we drank.

The closest I ever got to going on a winery tour was when I was about 15 and we did a bicycle tour of the Barossa Valley. We did stop at a couple of wineries as we peddled our way around the area, but obviously that was all non alcoholic. What a hard slog that was. I was the only person in the group who had a bike without gears, and there were lots of hills!

I remember going to a pub in London and have a discussion with some other people at the bar. I can't have been living in London for all that long because I still sounded like an Aussie at this stage. They asked me where I was from and when I said Adelaide, they were very impressed - lots of lovely wine in the Barossa Valley. I had to somewhat sheepishly admit that even though I lived around 45 minutes away from there I hadn't actually had wine from the Barossa. Even sadder is the fact that my grandparents live just around the corner from one of the more famous wineries in the Swan Valley area near Perth, and I have never been there either or tasted any of their wines!

These days the wine tasting tour still hasn't happened because someone has to be the designated driver and then there is the issue of having the boy with me, but a couple of Mondays ago I got the opportunity to do some wine tasting because the wine came to us here in Melbourne.

The event was called New Zealand in a Glass and featured around 80 wineries in a large room, all trying to tempt us to try their wares, which could include anywhere between 3 and 9 different types of wine to try at each stand. Now, you would have to be a pretty dedicated drinker to try something from every winery there, and it would be pretty pointless because it would be very difficult to remember which ones you liked or didn't like, let alone thinking about the fact that you had to get up and go to work the next day. Someone suggested that you should write notes as you go around, but even that was a bit problematic because I had my handbag, the gift bag we got (which included a very nice Riedel glass that we got to keep and a bottle of water) plus the wine glass. Adding paper and a pen was never really going to work! The fact that there was only one glass in the gift bag means that I have this one really nice glass, but I couldn't see how I was going to fix that issue short of accosting someone outside and taking their glass so that I could at least start a collection. Will just have to be extra careful not to break it!

There was a group of six of us, and our initial strategy was to try and stay out of the crowds by going to the far side of the room, and then from then on you chose which table to go to depending on how pretty their poster looked, or if there was no one else standing at the table at the time. Another factor was how close to the food tables the stand was - there wasn't a lot of variety food wise, but they did have some cheeses, small rolls etc. The camembert that was being served was good, but the highlight was a really strong cheddar which we kept on gravitating towards, which was great served on a cracker with a bit of quince paste.

I thought I would mention a couple of the different brands that were standouts for me. I should note that this is not a paid advertisement in any way. They are just wines that I tried and liked during the evening. I also know nothing really about types of grapes, or body or smelling strawberries and vanilla in the wine, so this is in no way a professional commentary on what I tried!

Giesen Wines - Apparently this is a pretty well established brand here in Australia, but I had never tried it before. I really liked Giesen "The Brothers" Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2009.

Golden Hills Estate - the wines from here were winners with both the red and white wine drinkers in the group, with one of my friends declaring one of the red wines her favourite of the whole night. Available to try were Golden Hills Estates Sauvignon Black Nelson 2010, Golden Hills Estates Pinot Gris Nelson 2009, Golden Hills Estates Pinot Noir Nelson 2009 and Golden Hills Estates Syrah Nelson 2009 (I am pretty sure that this was the red that was really well liked. The only issue with this winery (and it was something that came up a few times during the night) was that there is no Australian distributor for their wines. Earlier in the day there had been a trade show so they are working on that, but it was a bit disappointing to find a wine that you liked but then you would have to go to New Zealand to buy it!

No. 1 Family Estate - this family owned winery specialise in methode traditionelle sparkling wines, and they had three options to choose from Shooting Star Sparking Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough NV), No. 1 Family Estate Cuvee No. 1 Sparkling (Marlborough NV) and No. 1 Family Estate Cuvee No. 8 Sparkling (Marlborough NV). The no. 1 was really nice, but it is more a special celebration wine!

There was also a really nice Blanc de Blanc that I tried, but I can't remember what winery it is from. That was bound to happen.

Not all of the wines were great. There were a couple that were very average, and then there was one exhibitor who was too busy having a conversation with someone to even take a break from talking to her to acknowledge you as he was pouring the sample. That is probably the most memorable winery name from the whole night, but for all the wrong reasons.

 One thing that was kind of amusing was that there was a water company sponsoring the event (water that comes in very groovy bottles), but at various times in the night the salesman was there telling a crowd around him about how the water had a smooth palate and had come to the surface through the minerals etc etc. Amused me to see a water salesman trying to do the same kind of sales pitch as we were getting from the winery sales people.

I've just realised that two of my last three Weekend Cooking posts have been about alcohol! I really don't drink that much! Whenever I buy more wine to put in the fridge my son tells me off because there are already 7 or 8 bottles in the fridge. I keep on telling him that it isn't an issue because the number of bottles in the fridge doesn't ever go down, so I buy them but never actually drink any of them!

So, how about you? Are you a red or white wine drinker? Sparkling or still wine? Do you have a favourite wine, or a favourite wine region, you would like to recommend to us? Or are you strictly a beer or spirits drinker?

 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.

Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson

'Everything changed after Mama found Father lying on top of another woman.'

Blessing and her brother Ezikiel adore their larger-than-life father, their glamorous mother and their comfortable life in Lagos. But all that changes when their father leaves them for another woman.

Their mother is fired from her job at the Royal Imperial Hotel - only married women can work there - and soon they have to quit their air-conditioned apartment to go and live with their grandparents in a compound in the Niger Delta. Adapting to life with a poor countryside family is a shock beyond measure after their privileged upbringing in Lagos.

Told in Blessing's own beguiling voice, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away shows how some families can survive almost anything. At times hilarious, always poignant, occasionally tragic, it is peopled with characters you will never forget.

As soon as I saw this listed on Netgalley the title and cover caught my eye, but it was really once I realised that the book is set in Nigeria I was sold on it and I had to have it! While I don't get around to reading a lot of books based in Nigeria,and thoroughly enjoy reading about other countries in Africa as well,  when I do, I find myself feeling connected in a way I don't think happens with any of those other countries.

From the outset I have to say that this book is unlike any other book I have read set in Nigeria. It is far more political than I expected it to be when I read the blurb, a much denser read touching on some incredibly deep subjects including the exploitation of the oil industry by some Western multinational companies, armed resistance fighters, tribal differences, domestic violence, interracial relationships and possibly most surprisingly to me there was a strong focus within the narrative on female circumcision and the resulting complications later in life for women who have been circumcised..

Two paragraphs in and I haven't even started to talk about the characters! Let me rectify that.

The main character in the novel is a young girl whose  name is Blessing. When the book opens Blessing is living a comfortable life in Lagos with her parents, and her older brother Ezikiel. Ezikiel has asthma and food allergies but these aren't really an issue because there is always adequate money for medication and for good care should anything goes wrong.

Blessing's life is turned upside down when her parents separate due to her father's infidelities, and it soon becomes apparent that her mother will not be able to support the family. They all therefore move to her grandparents compound in the Niger Delta region, where there is a strong oil company presence and problems with armed conflict between freedom fighter and the authorities. Blessing and Ezikiel go from air conditioned comfort and a fancy school in Lagos to a compound where even paying the electricity bill brings no guarantee that the power will be working, where the nearby river is polluted, and for Ezikiel comes food issues as there is no money to buy vegetable oil instead of the groundnut oil that causes him to have allergic reactions. And yet, there is still enough money for the grandfather, known as Alhaji, to go and have business meetings and consume Remy Martin whenever he wants too. Alhaji also has very strong belief in the power of Marmite to help in almost any situation (a la the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding and his bottle of Windex). I am not sure that pop culture reference was necessarily the one that the author was trying for but I couldn't help but think of it each time the Marmite was used in the story

For Blessing, this strange new life brings danger and turmoil as she struggles to adapt to her new life, but it also means that she gains family connections that in the past were part of her life but only with a degree of distance. Now she gets to spend time with her grandmother, who starts to teach Blessing the skills associated with being a traditional midwife.

When Ezikiel is injured his dreams are also shattered, and the consequences are far greater than anyone could ever have foreseen. Life is further complicated when Blessing's mother meets a new man, one that both her grandparents have reservations about and Ezikiel is vehemently opposed to.

When I read that all too brief summary back, I am conscious that these topics sound very heavy, but one of the great strengths of this book is that the author manages to balance the heaviness with a memorable narrator that is sensitive and who is gradually learning the truths associated with both her previous life and her new life. Through her eyes we see the beauty of the land, the strength of the relationships, in addition to the topics I have mentioned above.

Part of the charm of the novel is that interspersed through the narrative there are many colloquialisms/traditional sayings (a bird does not change its feathers because the weather is bad.) and humour. For example, there is a wedding scene where there are both Nigerian and white men as guests. Blessing notes the following in relation to the white men:

Their stomachs were soft, like women's stomachs, hanging over their trousers. Since working with Grandma, I had grown used to being able to tell, just by looking at the softness of a woman's stomach, how many children she had borne. Some of the men were up to five births - full term.

The writing is also beautiful, and often quite lyrical. I found myself rereading sentences like the one below and taking moment to ponder the mental images that were conjured up by the writing on the page.

The sun had lowered and given the sky wedding jewelry, the river birds had begun their afternoon song

One of my favourite passages was when Grandma was talking to Celestine (her husbands second wife) about her new born babies

"Don't speak like that," said Grandma. "Even small ears can hear you. These sons are pieces of your own soul that have broken off. You are split into three now, Celestine. If you are hurting them, then you will hurt yourself.

One thing that should have come with this novel was a warning not to read the last 75 to 100 pages in public. I read them on the train on my morning commute and I found myself having to try unsuccessfully to stop myself from crying several times. Oh, and I loved some of the reveals in the epilogue too!

Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away is Christie Watson's first novel. On her website she mentions that she is working on her next novel which will have similar themes but very different characters, and I for one will be looking forward to reading it.

I love telling the stories. It is what us Ijaw women have always done. More and more is being written down. But the best stories are told. And the very best stories are told to a daughter. Saying them out loud keeps people alive.

Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away is due to be published in the UK on 6 March, and in the US on 10 May by Other Press.

**Please note that all quotes are taken from an e-galley and there may be some changes in the final publication.
Rating 4/5

Dusting off the craft equipment

If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you might recall that once upon a time I used to post about the cards that I have been making. After spending a lot of money buying lots of equipment, and lots of supplies, last year my card making came to a sudden stop. I had only done one project outside of card making classes for a very long time. I should probably mention that I actually haven't finished any of the projects at class for ages either, generally because I am too busy talking, or cuddling my nephew!

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine was getting married, and the pressure was on - was I going to make a card for her or not? In the end I did using colours that mimicked those in the wedding invitation (silver and black. The silver isn't showing up particularly well, but the heart on the interior of the card is silver). Then, at the last card making class, they decided to reinstate the card swap where we all have to make a set of cards and they are distributed to each of the participants. The theme was red and white, and so I decided to make the same design, but just in a different colours.

One thing you might notice is that my photography skills haven't improved.

So here are the two designs:

Library Loot: March 2 to 8

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!

Claire has the Mr Linky this week, so once you have checked out my loot, head over there to share your Library Loot link.

Here's my loot for this week:

The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson - again. Dorothy Koomson has just released a new book, which reminded me that I still haven't read this one, despite borrowing it a few times! Must rectify this!

Faithful Place by Tana French - another reloot. Carrie from Books and Movies is hosting a readalong of this book as part of the Ireland Reading Challenge so I thought I should probably reborrow the book to try and participate.

Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris - yet another reloot! Recently it was suggested that there are only another couple of books to come in this series, so I should make an effort not to get too far behind.

Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon - not reloot! Hah, bet you thought it was going to be! This is the next book in the Dark Hunter series. I remember the excitement when the book first came out, but it has taken me this long to catch up to that point in the series.

Need You Now by Lady Antebellum -My plan for April is to go and see Keith Urban in concert, although that is looking a bit less likely to happen due to unexpected expenses. Ever the optimist though I thought I should acquaint myself with Lady Antebellum's music as they are the support act. Here is American Honey.

Teaser Tuesday: Wallaby Track by Aaron Fletcher

Wallaby Track is the fourth book in the Outback Saga by Aaron Fletcher. The saga is set in early Australian history and features strong characters working in the harsh Outback of Australia.

This teaser, from page 77 of Wallaby Track, reflects the setting.

The vast, illimitable expanse of the outback was different from other places, not only in what the senses could detect. Alexandra had both experienced in herself and observed in others that it exerted subtle, ineffable forces upon those who lived in it. Those influences were nourishing for some, but a virulent poison that affected the minds of others.

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!

Mailbox Monday: February edition

After a bumper month in January, the number of books that I own that I have read this month has outstripped the number of books that I acquired which in theory means that my TBR pile is going down! Here are the books that I got during February:





Mailbox Monday is on tour and for February it is being hosted at Library of Clean Reads. Head over there to share your links, or to see what everyone else has posted about this week.

Love at First Flight by Marie Force  - Got this as an ebook freebie

The Vampire Dimitri by Colleen Gleason - Last month I got the first book in this new series from Colleen Gleason, so when I saw the second book on offer at Netgalley I had to request it.

By Fire, By Water by Mitchell J Kaplan - Received from the author for review

The Princess and the Penis and The Ballerina, The Gymnast and The Yoga Master both by R J Silver - I saw a review of Princess and the Penis over at Babbling About Books. It was free from Smashwords so I thought I would give it a go. I ended up reading it a couple of times and thought it was a really fun read, and then I downloaded the other RJ Silver book that was available too.

Going All In by Jess Dee - A couple of years ago at the first Australian Romance Readers Convention I shared a table with Jess Dee and Lexie Couper on the Saturday night. I am not really sure why but I decided I needed something a little erotic the other day to read and so I decided to try one of Jess's books. It's my first menage a trois erotica read and I am not 100% sure how I feel about what I have read so far.

Shaun Tan at the Oscars

This morning on the news there is a lot of talk about the Oscars that are starting in a few hours. Lots of of talk about The King's Speech (amazing movie), about the chances of the Australian nominations in the big categories and what their chances are of winning (Nicole Kidman, Geoffrey Rush and Jackie Weaver), but so far there hasn't been a lot of talk about the category that I really have my finger's crossed for.

I have been a big fan of Shaun Tan for a few years now, so when it was announced that his adaptation of his book, The Lost Thing, had been nominated for an Oscar, it was a very exciting moment! While I am interested in those categories I will cheer very loudly if the names that are called out for the Short Film (Animated) Oscar are Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann.


**UPDATE**

Woo-hoo! Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann won their category! So exciting!

Here's the trailer for The Lost Thing. 

Sunday Salon: January/February Reads

I was very slack last month and never actually got around to doing my reading round up for January! There is still another day in February but I don't think I will be finishing either of the two books that I am currently reading at the moment.

Here are the books that I have read over the last two months

January

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton 4/5
Promise Canyon by Robyn Carr 3.5/5
Wild Man Creek by Robyn Carr 4/5
Gunshot Road by Adrian Hyland 4.5/5
Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts 4.5/5
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson 4.5/5
Tangled Up in Love by Heidi Betts 4/5
Anna by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles 4/5
Walk About by Aaron Fletcher 4/5
The Reunion by L J Smith 4/5
The Mischief of the Mistletoe by Lauren Willig 4.5/5
Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik 2.5/5
Inside Out by Maria V Snyder 4/5
The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness 4.5/5
A Little Friendy Advcie by Siobhan Vivian 4/5
The Search by Nora Roberts 4/5
A Hellion in her Bed by Sabrina Jeffries 4/5
Troublemaker - Book 1 by Janet Evanovich and Alex Evanovich 2.5/5
A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner 4/5

February

Queen of Last Hopes by Susan Higginbotham 3.5/5
The Marsh King's Daughter by Elizabeth Chadwick 4/5
Outside In by Maria V Snyder 4.5/5
His Favorite Mistress by Tracy Anne Warren 4/5
The Measure of the Man by Sidney Poitier 3.5/5
The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett 4/5
The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong 4/5
The Jewel of St Petersburg by Kate Furnivall 4/5
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett 4/5
Provocative in Pearls by Madeline Hunter 4/5
Staying at Daisy's by Jill Mansell 4/5
Brown Skin Blue by Belinda Jeffrey 4.5/5
The Princess and the Penis by R J Silver 4/5
A Creed in Stone Creek by Linda Lael Miller 3.5/5
Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away  by Christie Watson 4/5

It's been a pretty good start to the reading challenge year as well. Here's my progress in the challenges that I am participating in:

What's in a Name Challenge - 3 out of 6 books read.

So far I have read three categories - Provocative in Pearls has Jewelery or Gem in the title, A Little Friendly Advice has Size in the Title and Walk About features Travel or Movement in the title. The categories that I still need to read are Number in the Title, Evil in the Title and Life Stage.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - 5 out of 20 books read.

A quarter of the way through the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge already! The books that I have read so far that qualify for this challenge are Walk About, Anna, Queen of Last Hopes, The Marsh King's Daughter and The Jewel of St Petersburg.

Aussie Author Challenge - 3 out of 10 books read.

Kate Morton who wrote Distant Hours, Adrian Hyland (Gunshot Road) and Belinda Jeffrey (Brown Skin Blue) are all Australian authors.