Teaser Tuesday: The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

I was really torn today as to whether I should share from the book I just finished, or the one I just started. In the end, it was the latter that one, mainly because at the beginning of the year I named this as the book that I was looking forward to most this year. That was a tough call to make because in the last few weeks I have read books by Susanna Kearsley and Elizabeth Chadwick that I thought I would love, and I did! Now it's time to see if this book meets my expectations as well.

The teaser comes from page 28 of The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly:

Seamie smiled sadly."That's the hard thing of it, though, Eddie," he said.

"Everyone understands. Everyone but Willa."

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

Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts

Thousands of years ago, Julia Agrippina wrote the true history of her family, the Caesars. The document was lost, or destroyed, almost immediately.


(It included more monsters than you might think.)


Hundreds of years ago, Fanny and Mary ran away from London with a debauched poet and his sister.


(If it was the poet you are thinking of, the story would have ended far more happily, and with fewer people having their throats bitten out.)


Sometime in the near future, a community will live in a replica Roman city built in the Australian bush. It’s a sight to behold.


(Shame about the manticores.)


Further in the future, the last man who guards the secret history of the world will discover that the past has a way of coming around to bite you.


(He didn’t even know she had a thing for pointy teeth.)


The world is in greater danger than you ever suspected. Women named Julia are stronger than they appear. Don’t let your little brother make out with silver-eyed blondes. Immortal heroes really don’t fancy teenage girls. When love dies, there’s still opera. Family is everything. Monsters are everywhere. Yes, you do have to wear the damned toga.


History is not what you think it is.

Some times when you read a new author, you just know that you are going to enjoy their books because you enjoy their voice! Tansy Rayner Roberts is one of those authors. She is a new author to me this year. I first read her story Relentless Adaptations in the Sprawl anthology, and then she guest posted for me, and finally, on the strength of loving this short story collection I have also now purchased the first book in her Creature Court trilogy, Power and the Glory.

Before I talk any more about this particular collection, I wanted to talk about the series that this is part of.

Love and Romanpunk is the second book in the Twelve Planets series that is being published by a small Australian publisher called Twelfth Planet Press. Here is their description of what this series is all about:

The Twelve Planets are twelve boutique collections by some of Australia’s finest short story writers. Varied across genre and style, each collection will offer four short stories and a unique glimpse into worlds fashioned by some of our favourite storytellers. Each author has taken the brief of 4 stories and up to 40 000 words in their own direction. Some are quartet suites of linked stories. Others are tasters of the range and style of the writer. Each release will bring something unexpected to our subscriber’s mailboxes.

I was going to wait for this book to come out in ebook before ordering but then I saw that the cover was purple and had to have a physical book! And seeing as I was getting this one, I also ordered Nightsiders by Sue Isle (which I have read and enjoyed) and then upcoming release by Lucy Sussex which is titled Thief of Time. Other authors who are going to be included in the series include Margo Lanagan, Rosaleen Love,  Deborah Biancotti, Kaaron Warren, Cat Sparks, Kirstyn McDermott, Narrelle M Harris, Thoraiya Dyer and Stephanie Campisi. The vast majority are new to me authors so not only will I get some good spec fic short stories, but I will also be fulfilling my personal challenge to read more Australian authors.

Anyway, that's enough about the series. What about this book?

I mentioned above that Tansy Rayner Roberts voice really works for me, and that is really embodied in my reaction to this book. Roberts has taken her love of spec fic and of Roman history and combined them with the paranormal to come up with something that is totally unique (or at least I haven't read anything like it) and so much fun! And I must give a huge congrats to whoever wrote the cover blurb because I do think that the humour and fun that is present in the book is very much reflected in the blurb!

Within Love and Romanpunk, there are four connected stories that take us in time from ancient Rome to the future. The first story is Julia Agrippina's Secret Family Bestiary where the title character tells us all about the strange goings on within the Roman imperial family. Julia was the daughter of Agrippina Major, widow of Tiberius Claudius Nero, wife and niece of Emperor Claudius and mother of Emperor Nero, and she gives us a glimpse into a family filled with paranormal strength (which can be a good and a bad thing) and the special powers that have been bestowed on the Julias. And the creatures - they are legion. Well actually they aren't, but there are a lot of them - from werewolves to lamia, to harpies and dragons, and so much more.

The second story is Lamia Victoriana, and is set in the Victorian era. It features two young girls who run off with a debauched poet and his sister. There are elements of forbidden love and passion, and a willingness on the part of the participants as to the type of people the poet and his sister really are. Somewhat fittingly seeing as it is inferred that there is a connection to Mary Wollstonecroft this story is somewhat darker, more gothic in tone than the others that make up the collection.

The third story, The Patrician, was my favourite. I loved this story from the relationship between the two main characters to the concept of having a theme town that is built in country Australia called Nova Ostia, built with some of the original bricks from ancient Rome. If you think about historical villages but instead of showing what life would be like in the old west or frontier life the enactment is of Roman life and you would be close to the concept. It is all very well for the tourists who come and visit but for the people who have to live there and appear as authentic as possible it can be a drag.

When we meet Clea Majora when she is a teenager who is growing up in Nova Ostia. Her life is changed when she meets Julius. I can't tell you too much more about Julius without spoiling too much but I can probably say that over the years he disappears and reappears in Clea's life, their relationship changing and redesigning itself as Clea gets older, but Julius doesn't!

The fourth and final story in the collection is called Last of the Romanpunks and is set further into the future and features as it's main character Clea's grandson Sebastian and a very feisty young waitress. When Sebastian is deceived into attending the launch of a new airship that has been converted into a floating Roman themed taverna, he doesn't realise that for him and for some monsters, it will be a matter of life and death.

Whilst these stories could be read as standalone stories, I think it is a collection that begs to be read in order. Not only does the author manage to take us on a journey through time, we also wend our way through subgenres including historical and urban fantasy, with a touch of the gothic, and a little romanpunk as well (if romanpunk isn't already a subgenre it totally should be).

I thoroughly enjoyed my foray into Love and Romanpunk and can't wait to read more of the Twelve Planets books, and more from Tansy Rayner Roberts.

This post is posted as part of the Short Story Quest for the Once Upon a Time V channel, and because I just had to tell you all about this book!

Rating: 4.5/5

Sunday Salon: May Reading Reflections

I was very nearly tempted to not worry about doing my May wrap up post until the end of June, but I think I am glad that I changed my mind because I looked at this list of the books that I have read and found myself thinking was it really only 6 or so weeks ago that I read some of these books? Feels like much longer!

Here are the books I read in May:

Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay 4.5/5
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie 4.5/5
Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan 4.5/5
Little Paradise by Gabrielle Wang 4/5
Bumped by Megan McCafferty 4/5
Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts 4.5/5
Emily by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles 4.5/5
The Vampire Narcise by Colleen Gleason 4/5
The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon 3/5
Nightsiders by Sue Isle 4/5
Angelique in Love by Sergeanne Golon 4.5/5
The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley 5/5
The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn 4.5/5
The Homecoming by JoAnn Ross 3.5/5

In terms of the challenges that I am participating in Yellowcake, Little Paradise, Nightsiders and Love and Romanpunk are all by Australian authors and I have therefore now completed the Aussie Author Challenge for this year.

Little Paradise, Russian Winter, Emily and The Dark Enquiry all are books that I have read for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. I now have 7 books left to read in order to reach my commitment level for this challenge.

Yellowcake, The Rose Garden, Love and Romanpunk and Nightsiders all qualified for Once Upon a Time V so that challenge is now complete too!

Weekend Cooking: Celebrations

We had reason to be celebrating (or perhaps the word should be commiserating) last weekend which is why I didn't get around to doing a Weekend Cooking post. I've also had house guests for the last couple of weeks which is why it has been a bit quiet post wise!

I thought that this week I would share some of the food that might have been consumed (although there were no photos taken. I meant to, but then I started talking and drinking and it just didn't happen!). A couple of the recipes are ones I have mentioned before, because, for example, there would be a mutiny amongst my friends if there was some kind of get together and these prawns and this cheesecake didn't feature somewhere on the menu.

Along with the prawns, for starters we also served up Thai Chicken Meatballs, which are definitely favourites in our family, and they are really easy to do!


Thai Chicken Balls

• 500g chicken mince
• quarter cup oyster sauce
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 tbsp self raising flour
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
• 2 thirds cup coconut milk

1. Preheat oven to 200C.
2. Combine all ingredients, and then put 1 teaspoon of mixture into mini muffin pans.
3. Cook for 15 mins or until cooked through.
4. Serve with small bowls of sweet chilli sauce and soy sauce.

~~~~~~~~~~~

As it is now well and truly winter here in Melbourne, we decided that we would have different kinds of roast meats (pork, beef, lamb and chicken) with scalloped potatoes and broccoli and cauliflower cheese. Then for desserts there was the aforementioned cheesecake as well as trifle, lemon cheesecake, and strawberry pavlova rolls.

Finally for after dinner snacks there were chocolate brownie pieces and jelly slice, fruit platters and cheese platters. I thought I would share the recipe for Jelly Slice as it is definitely a favourite in our family, although we always, always, always use red jelly on top!

Jelly Slice

Image credit

• 125g Morning Coffee biscuits (semi sweet cookies) processed to fine crumbs
• 80g butter, melted, cooled
• 375g cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 200ml cream
• 2 tablespoons boiling water
• 2 teaspoons powdered gelatine
• 85g packet jelly crystals

1. Line base and sides of a 3.5cm deep, 16cm x 26cm (base) slab pan with baking paper. Combine biscuit crumbs and butter. Press into base of lined pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in cream. Place water into a small bowl. Sprinkle over gelatine. Stir until gelatine dissolves. Set aside to cool slightly. Beat gelatine into filling until combined.
3. Pour filling over base. Refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours or until set.
4. Meanwhile, make jelly, following packet directions. Set aside to cool to room temperature. Pour into a shallow dish. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours or until jelly starts to thicken (like consistency of thickened cream). Pour jelly over cheesecake. Refrigerate for a further 3 hours or until jelly is set. Cut into squares to serve.

And the reason for all these celebrations?

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. 

Library Loot: June 8 to 14

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 feel like I haven't been to the library in weeks, but it was really just one week. I think having birthday celebrations and still having a house guest has thrown me all out of sync!

Here's the new loot I got:

The Female Man by Joanna Ross - When this author died a few weeks ago there was a lot of discussion about her books, especially this one.

Ten Ways to be Adored when Landing a Lord by Sarah MacLean - the next book in the Love by Numbers trilogy.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonsen - In my first book club meeting they asked for suggestions for future reads and I suggested both this book and The Help. We are getting the latter but this one is first. I really hope they like it.
Reloot:

Clare has Mr Linky this week so be sure to go and add your link to share your loot!

Teaser Tuesday: Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick

Ah, a new Chadwick read. Very satisfying and enjoyable! This book was one of my most anticipated releases of this year, and to date I am pleased to say that it is meeting my expectations.

My teaser comes from page 78:

They rode in silence again, and Brian kept his distance because he knew that if he let her in, he would fall apart under the truth of her stare and he could not allow that to happen. She was right. Honour was both a gilded fancy and a stinking corpse, and she had not been the one to murder it in the name of strategy.

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

In Conversation with Geraldine Brooks

Last night a friend and I attended an event run by Readers Feast bookshop which featured author Geraldine Brooks In Conversation.  Whilst there were a few younger readers there, it was an interesting contrast to other events I have been too recently as the crowd was much more mature in terms of the demographic.

I have been a fan of Geraldine Brooks ever since I read Year of Wonders many years ago. I really enjoyed March, and thought People of the Book was okay, so I was very excited to hear that there was a new book on the way, and the subject sounded very interesting.

Here is the blurb:

A richly imagined new novel from the author of the New York Times bestseller, People of the Book.

Once again, Geraldine Brooks takes a remarkable shard of history and brings it to vivid life. In 1665, a young man from Martha's Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Upon this slender factual scaffold, Brooks has created a luminous tale of love and faith, magic and adventure.

The narrator of Caleb's Crossing is Bethia Mayfield, growing up in the tiny settlement of Great Harbor amid a small band of pioneers and Puritans. Restless and curious, she yearns after an education that is closed to her by her sex. As often as she can, she slips away to explore the island's glistening beaches and observe its native Wampanoag inhabitants. At twelve, she encounters Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a tentative secret friendship that draws each into the alien world of the other. Bethia's minister father tries to convert the Wampanoag, awakening the wrath of the tribe's shaman, against whose magic he must test his own beliefs. One of his projects becomes the education of Caleb, and a year later, Caleb is in Cambridge, studying Latin and Greek among the colonial elite. There, Bethia finds herself reluctantly indentured as a housekeeper and can closely observe Caleb's crossing of cultures.

Like Brooks's beloved narrator Anna in Year of Wonders, Bethia proves an emotionally irresistible guide to the wilds of Martha's Vineyard and the intimate spaces of the human heart. Evocative and utterly absorbing, Caleb's Crossing further establishes Brooks's place as one of our most acclaimed novelists.

In the conversation, the author touched on the idea of the actual history of Caleb going to Harvard being the "slender scaffold" that she built her story around, and about how the story that she wrote around this scaffold becoming the structure of the novel. She also talked about how she needed a first person voice as her narrator who tells the reader Caleb's story rather than using his voice. One of the reasons for his was partially out of respect in that she could not necessarily understand what it would have been like for a young native American man who was fluent enough in Latin and Greek to be able to meet the rigorous requirements that had to be met in order to be accepted to Harvard.

It always gave her an opportunity to share a story about how young women would have to snatch whatever learning they could however they could due to the fact that it was generally believed that it was bad for women to have book learning. Brooks talked about how this part of the story was inspired by a young girl from Afghanistan who used to sit on the roof of her house to listen to the school next year after girls were banned from school. (You can hear more about this aspect of Bethia's character in this reading)

It was fascinating to hear the discussion about the Wamponaog people, in particular about how their language was lost and then was bought back to life and about how the tribe forms such an important part of life on Martha's Vineyard today. She also shared with us the story about how it was that she came to live on Martha's Vineyard, and how that journey actually started way back when she was a rabid Star Trek fan as a youth. It was also great to hear exactly how some of the names should be pronounced.

While I enjoyed the whole night, which was held in one of the historical churches in Melbourne*, the highlight for me was really when the audience got to ask questions, and one lady started her question with the statement "I have a problem with you and the ending of Year of Wonders" and proceeded to talk about how she loved the whole of the book until getting to the completely improbably ending. This is completely my experience with Year of Wonders - loved the whole book but then there was that ending! I suspect that Geraldine Brooks might have heard this a few times before, but she took the time to explain that the ending that she gave to that book was actually based on a true story. She then went on to talk about the journeys that some of the more adventurous ladies had taken in the 17th century. Whilst I suspect that she possibly needs to make this clearer in her afterword if that is ever going to be revised, hearing that the ending was something that is based in fact and not just something improbably that she made up may just have changed my perception of that ending!

Luckily we were relatively close to the front of the audience and so it wasn't a long wait to get my copy of Caleb's Crossing signed. Now I just need to find time to read it!

*I always feel like I should clarify when I mention something historical here. The church we were in last night was found in 1843, which was only 5 years after the colony of Melbourne was founded, so that's historical to us!

When I am not reading ....

Whilst it is not a passion, I do have one other hobby - buying scrapbooking equipment! Every now and again I put that equipment to use by actually making cards! I have posted photos of a few of my cards over the years, but the reality is that the gulf between cardmaking and my real passion (reading and talking about reading) is huge!

Every month I go to a card making class and attempt to do a project, but the reality is that I spend most of my time talking and I don't often actually finish the class! I have loads of unfinished projects lying around the house.

One of the things we do each month are card swaps, where you have to come up with a design of your own using a particular theme as inspiration. It's lucky we do this actually as otherwise I would never make anything at all at home by myself!

In March the theme was shapes. I wanted to make some kind of pop up star card, but in the end went with this design, which I like but it is a bit too dark.

The April theme was Ribbon, and I was pretty darned happy with my design until I saw the amazing ones that everyone else came up with! Oh well. It could be said that I may be a little bit harder on myself than other people may be!

For May the theme was embossing which is a technique that I have been doing for a long time, but I still wanted to try something new. I therefore tried to make a flip flop card. While I really like the idea of the card, I am not very happy with the result. . I like the concept of the bird being caged and then free, but if I was to make it again I would construct it a little differently. Other people seemed to like it though

I thought instead of just putting up a photo I would put up a very short video showing why the card is called a flip flop card. It actually wasn't that hard to make, once you got all the measurements down. Don't mind the background stuff.

My standard disclaimer applies when it comes to the photos - one of these days I will get better at taking photos.

Library Loot: June 1 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!

Did you notice the date for this week's loot post? June! How can it possibly be June already?

Tiger Hills by Sarita Mandanna - I heard an interview on NPR with the author, and the comparison to The Thorn Birds and other big juicy sagas but set in India sounded very appealing to me, so I requested it straight away. I had heard of it before.

The Countess Angelique by Sergeanne Golon - the next book in the Angelique series. How fabulously bawdy is this cover! I might have to scan the cover in again at some point to get a clearer picture!


Reloot:

Share the loot that you got this week by adding your link to Mr Linky below:

Teaser Tuesday: In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

My teaser this week comes from In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming, the first book in the Rev. Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series. I have heard lots of good things about the later books in the series, but I can't start a series part of the way through so here I am at the beginning of the series, and so far, it seems like a very good read.

My teaser comes from page 88:

"I thought...I thought she'd finally be safe once she was in Albany. Once she was away.. Why did she come back?" Fresh tears rose in her eyes. "Why did she come back?"

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: May edition

Uh-oh! It's another big acquisition month for me. I originally decided to do this post monthly as I do enough weekly memes and I wanted to leave Monday's free for other things. I am thinking however that maybe I should do it weekly because then I could be more in denial of how many books it is that are coming into my house!


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

Here's what I got this month:


Freebies

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her own Making by Catherynne Valente - This book was available for a free download for a weekend. I have heard however that the illustrations and cover etc make this a book that you want to own the physical copy of! I loved the last book I read by Valente and have heard really good things about this one!

Sealed with a Kiss by Mary Margret Daughtridge - I remember not being interested in this one when it came out because I didn't read contemporary romance but that is changing so this is a chance for me to try this one.


Baby, I'm Yours by Stephanie Bond - Free download for the same reason as I downloaded Mary Margret Daughtridge.



For review

Whispers in the Sand by Barbara Erskine and Midnight on Julia Street by Ciji Ware - For review from the publisher. I didn't like the only Barbara Erskine book I have previously read all that much, but I think she is one that I should like, so I will give her another chance. I have quite liked the other Ciji Ware books I have liked.

The Rose Garden  by Susanna Kearsley - This is one of my most anticipated releases for this year, and I have to say I wasn't disappointed with it at all! Such a fun read. Thanks again Susanna

Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick - Another of my most anticipated releases for this year!

Before Versailles by Karleen Koen - for a blog tour later in the year.


Purchased

Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts and Nightsiders by Sue Isle - Both of these books are part of the Twelve Planets series being published by Twelfth Planet Press, which is a small independent publisher based in Perth.  I have read both of these and enjoyed them, especially Love and Romanpunk which was a lot of fun. I have already preordered the next release!

The Dead Girls Dance, Midnight Alley and Feast of Fools by Rachel Caine - I bought all of these for the author signing event that I went to earlier this month.

Exposed: Misbehaving with the Magnate and Wife for a Week by Kelly Hunter - Kelly Hunter is an Australian romance author who has been nominated for a RITA award this year. I thought it was time I gave her a try.

Sanctuary of Roses, A Whisper of Rosemary, Lavender Vows, Victoria Gardella - Vampire Slayer and The Shop of Shades and Secrets by Colleen Gleason - These are all available from Smashwords. The Gardella book is a short story introduction to the Gardella vampire series which I read I few years ago. Have to say, the covers on the first thee are gorgeous for self published books! I have no idea what the quality of these will be as I suspect they were early writing that is now being published.


City of Fallen Angels  and Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare - I have already read Clockwork Angel but I bought both of these books to get them signed at the author event I went to this week. I ended up deciding that I couldn't queue up for more than an hour to get the books signed!

Graceling and Fire by Kristin Cashore - I have read both of these before but couldn't pass up the chance to get signed copies when Kristin was in town this week.