The Happiest Refugee: A Memoir by Anh Do

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


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


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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

Rating 4/5

Joint Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

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

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

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

Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~

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

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

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

Kelly?

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

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

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

Quote from page 340

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

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


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


"Kiss me," he commanded.


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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Library Loot: August 10 to 16

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Two Teaser Tuesday

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

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

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

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

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

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

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

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


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


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

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

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

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

Dear HR

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

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

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

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

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

Rating 4/5

Thanks to Netgalley for an egalley of this book.

Sunday Salon: What's in a Name?

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

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

www.TheIntrepidReader.com

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

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

Currently reading:

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

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

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

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

Up next:

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

Weekend Cooking: High Tea

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

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

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

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs.

The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rating 4/5

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge completed

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

Walk About by Aaron Fletcher

Anna by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

Queen of Last Hopes by Susan Higginbotham

The Marsh King's Daughter by Elizabeth Chadwick

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

Library Loot: August 3 to 9

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

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

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

Here's my loot for this week:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Teaser Tuesday: City of Promise by Beverly Swerling

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


The teaser comes from page 158:

Read THE TIMES on Wednesday.

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

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

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

Lunch in Paris recipe translations

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

Here are the English translations:


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

Gateua au Yaourt - Yogurt Cake

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

Moulleuz au Chocolate "Kitu" - Individual Molten Chocolate Cakes

Financiers aux Framboises - Mini almond cakes with a raspberry button

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

Don't they all sound so deliciuos!

Sunday Salon: July Reading Reflections

July has been my best reading month in at least 5 years in terms of number of books read and it was also a pretty good blogging month as well. I can't tell you why, what it was that was different, other than the fact that my house looks like a bomb has hit it and I really need to do some housework!

This month I read 31 books! 31! And I managed to also write 10 reviews.  Once upon a time I used to review every book that I read but over the last few years I decided that I was making blogging more pressurised for myself because I always felt like I was behind. These days, I always start a post for each book I read with some basic notes, but if I don't get to write the full review...then that is okay. 10 reviews in a month is definitely good for me!

Of those books that I read, four of them were even books that have been on my bookshelf for more than a year, and another 10 were books that I have acquired this year, with the rest of them being library books. That is probably a more even mix than I usually read which is a good thing.

Here are the books that I read this month:

Exclusively Yours by Shannon Stacey 4.5/5

Undeniably Yours by Shannon Stacey 4/5

Yours to Keep by Shannon Stacey 4.5/5

The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison 3.5/5

Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare 4.5/5

Surrender of a Siren by Tessa Dare 4/5

The Countess Angelique by Sergeanne Golon 3/5

What Happens in London by Julia Quinn 3.5/5

Simply Irresistible by Jill Shalvis 4/5

Practice Makes Perfect by Julie James 3/5

Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins 4.5/5

The Female Man by Joanna Russ 2/5

The Creed Legacy by Linda Lael Miller 4/5

The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis 4/5

A Fountain Filled With Blood by Julia Spencer-Fleming 4.5/5

Murder in the Kitchen by Alice B Toklas 4/5

Ten Ways to be Adored When Landing a Lord by Sarah MacLean 4/5

Meet Grace by Sofie Laguna 4/5

The Girl in a Steel Corset by Kady Cross 3.5/5

Before Versailles by Karleen Koen 4/5

Ten Things I Love About You by Julia Quinn 4/5

To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell 4/5

If I Stay by Gayle Forman 4.5/5

The Perfect Play by Jaci Burton 4/5

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand 4.5/5

A Friend for Grace by Sofie Laguna 4/5

Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard 4.5/5

Sea Witch by Helen Hollick 3.5/5

Charlaine Harris' Grave Sight Vol 1 by Charlaine Harris, Denis Medri and William Harms 3/5

The Last Goodbye by Sarah Mayberry 4/5

One Good Reason Sarah Mayberry by 4.5/5

In terms of challenges, I read three books for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - The Very Thought of You, The Countess Angelique and Before Versailles. I only need to read one more book in order to complete this challenge.

The highlight for me this month was participating in Paris in July, hosted by Karen at Bookbath and Tamara at Thyme for Tea. The following posts were all done as part of this event.

Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard (book review)

Paris Breakfasts (blog spotlight)

Before Versailles by Karleen Koen (book review)

Teaser Tuesday from Before Versailles (meme)

Murder in the Kitchen by Alice B Toklas (book review)

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins (book review)

Cars2 in Paris (just for fun)

Get on a Train to Paris (just for fun)

I am already thinking about what I might be able to do for next year's Paris in July event...assuming that it is being held again.

In closing, I thought I might start just having a section on each week's Sunday Salon post regardless of what topic I have chosen to post about where I talk about what I am reading and what I am expecting to read next.

Currently reading:

The Heir by Grace Burrowes - when this first came out I wasn't all that enticed by the blurb or the cover, but I have now heard quite a few good things about it so decided to give it a go.

Up next:

My next read will be a choice from The Wind Up Girl by Paolo Bacigulupi, Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman or City of Promise by Beverly Swerling.

Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard

′The chocolate centre flows like dark lava onto the whiteness of the plate. The last ounce of stress drains from my body....I have discovered the French version of Death by Chocolate.′


Part love story, part wine-splattered cookbook, LUNCH IN PARIS is a deliciously tart, forthright and funny story of falling in love with a Frenchman and moving to the world′s most romantic city - not the Hollywood version, but the real Paris, a heady mix of blood sausage and irregular verbs.


From gutting her first fish (with a little help from Jane Austen) and battling bad-tempered butchers to discovering heavenly chocolate shops, Elizabeth Bard finds that learning to cook and building a new life as a stranger in an even stranger land have a lot in common. Along the way she learns the true meaning of home - and the real reason French women don′t get fat ...


Peppered with recipes to die for, this mouth-watering love story is the perfect treat for any woman who has ever suspected that lunch in Paris could change her life.

Once upon a time I used to read a lot of books like this. A woman changes her life by moving to a new country, learns to cook and ends up having a fabulous life. It has however been years since I have done so, mainly because I realised that I was torturing myself because I did the moving countries thing, I didn't learn to cook all that well and I am still waiting for the fabulousness to arrive! (well, maybe that is being a bit overly dramatic, but you know what I mean).

I remember reading books like Under the Tuscan Sun by Francis Mayes and literally spending hours trawling the internet imagining exactly what I would do when I got to Tuscany. That was at least 8 or 9 years ago, and I still haven't left Australia again. Really the torturing myself is because I can't see a way where I will be able to go on holidays to somewhere exciting any time soon. This book made me want to spend hours googling pictures of Paris and France and wishing that I could go there now. I was already feeling that way after watching the Tour de France and participating in Paris in July - now the longing is almost palpable.

The full title of this book is Lunch in Paris: A Delicious Love Story, with Recipes and it is exactly as it advertises!

Elizabeth Bard is a young American woman living in London when she meets Gwendal, a Frenchman. Soon she finds herself travelling back and forward between London, New York and Paris until it comes time to make the move to Paris itself.

What follows in the book is a tale of how fantastic it can be to be discovering the Paris behind the tourist trails, but also the small, and some times, large trials that face Elizabeth as she tries to find her place in a very different culture to the one she is used to. The major obvious difference is the language, but there are also major differences in relation to work, ambition, lifestyle, about eating for pleasure rather than function and so much more! Another subject that received a fair amount of page time - how do French women stay thin and glamorous looking!

When I was living overseas I didn't have the issues around language that Elizabeth Bard did, but there were certainly cultural differences that some times were difficult to navigate, and there were definitely times, especially just after I came home again, when I didn't really feel like I belonged in either place anymore.

This book was so much fun to read, and oh my goodness, the food and the recipes had me licking my lips. It all sounded so fantastic!

There are so many recipes I want to try. Just for fun I am going to give the French names of a few of the recipes and you can give your best guesses as to what they are in the comments! I'll add the English names of the recipes after the weekend is over.

Parfaits au Yauort et aux Fruits Rouges

Gateua au Yaourt

Travers de Porc au Miel

Moulleuz au Chocolate "Kitu"

Financiers aux Framboises

Souris d'Agneau a l'Orange et a la Badiane

There are very few books that I read from the library that I wish I owned, but this is definitely one of them. I think I might buy it some time soon. Actually, having just spent a little time going through and looking for recipes I might like to try, I think I am definitely going to have to buy this book as I am up to page 105 and I already have a list more than 10 recipes long. It almost feels like I could possibly do some French cooking! How exciting.

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.


Paris in July is a month long event hosted by Karen from Book Bath and Tamara from Thyme for Tea, which invites the participants to celebrate all things French!

Sea Witch by Helen Hollick

The Time : The Golden Age of Piracy - 1716.

The Place : The Pirate Round - from the South African Coast to the sun drenched Islands of the Caribbean.

Escaping the bullying of his elder half brother, from the age of fifteen Jesamiah Acorne has been a pirate with only two loves - his ship and his freedom. But his life is to change when he and his crewmates unsuccessfully attack a merchant ship off the coast of South Africa.

He is to meet Tiola Oldstagh an insignificant girl, or so he assumes - until she rescues him from a vicious attack, and almost certain death, by pirate hunters. And then he discovers what she reallyis; a healer, a midwife - and a white witch. Her name, an anagram of "all that is good." Tiola and Jesamiah become lovers, but the wealthy Stefan van Overstratten, a Cape Town Dutchman, also wants Tiola as his wife and Jesamiah's jealous brother, Phillipe Mereno, is determined to seek revenge for resentments of the past, a stolen ship and the insult of being cuckolded in his own home.

When the call of the sea and an opportunity to commandeer a beautiful ship - the Sea Witch - is put in Jesamiah's path he must make a choice between his life as a pirate or his love for Tiola. He wants both, but Mereno and van Overstratten want him dead.

In trouble, imprisoned in the darkness and stench that is the lowest part of his brother's ship, can Tiola with her gift of Craft, and the aid of his loyal crew, save him?

Using all her skills Tiola must conjure up a wind to rescue her lover, but first she must brave the darkness of the ocean depths and confront the supernatural being, Tethys, the Spirit of the Sea, an elemental who will stop at nothing to claim Jesamiah Acorne's soul and bones as a trophy.

The Golden Age of Piracy lasted just under 50 years in the late 17th/early 18th century. It is a time that is hard for a modern reader to imagine - the news is months old when you first hear it, if you leave your home country there is every likelihood that you will never see it again, no mobile phones, electricity etc. Luckily, the modern reader can immerse themselves in the imagined world of books to get just a small taste of what life might have been like three hundred years ago.

Captain Jesamiah Acorne started life in a semi-respectable family - his father was a plantation owner in the Carolinas - but when his parents die, he is forced to flee from the sadistic older brother who has hated Jesamiah from the first time he saw him as a young child. Luckily for Jesamiah, he has found a natural home on the bridge of a ship, a pirate ship to be more precise. When we first meet Jesamiah, he and his crew are getting ready to board a ship with a view to clearing it of all of its cargo.

Little does he know that on the ship that he is aiming to plunder is Tiola Oldstagh, a young girl with knowledge much older than her true age because she is a white witch. Tiola is heading for a new life in South Africa, escaping from the legacy of a tragic end to her parent's lives. With her skills in midwifery and medicine, Tiola is bound to find a welcome awaiting her in her new home, accompanied by her companion Jenna. What Tiola knows for sure is that her destiny is bound tightly to that of Jesamiah Acorne even though he has no clue who she is, or even that she exists at their first meeting.

Click on the image to visit more stops on the tour

There are several factors that good pirate stories need - adventure, danger, lots of rum - and this book has it in spades. This book is a heady mix of history, adventure, romance and fantasy.

It is however not all plain sailing. Where the book was strongest was in the imagining of the pirate life. Jesamiah is no Captain Jack Sparrow blithely careening from disaster to disaster and still managing to remain unharmed. Jesamiah faces very real consequences for is actions - injuries, arrest and more. I also enjoyed the flavour of the towns that are visited throughout the course of the book. Places like Nassau and Cape Town and the coast of Madagascar. I also enjoyed a cameo appearance by William Dampier - a man who spent some time exploring the Australian coastline before the continent was properly claimed as an English possessoin.

What didn't work so well for me were the mystical elements - the craft that Tiola uses throughout the book, and most particularly the addition of Tethys to the storytelling. She is the sea and she demands payment from those who dare disturb her.

It feels as though I have been reading Helen Hollick's books for a very long time, but  a quick look at my handy spreadsheet tells me that I first encountered her books only just over two years ago. I thoroughly enjoyed her Arthurian Pendragon's Banner trilogy and also A Hollow Crown about Emma, queen of England in the time before William Conqueror invaded England. Whilst I liked the characters of Jesamiah and will eventually read more of their adventures, I think I prefer the more straight down the line historical fiction that the author does so well.

There are two more books already published in this series, Bring it Close and Pirate Code, and another book on the way soon called Ripples in the Sand.

This review is being cross posted at Historical Tapestry today and tomorrow we have a guest post from Helen as well as the chance to win a copy of a book from this series. Here at my blog though, I thought I might have a little fun with the pirate theme!

The most famous fiction pirate around at the moment would have to be Captain Jack Sparrow - a character who provided inspiration to the author.

An earlier film, Captain Blood, featured Errol Flynn buckling his swash

but I thought I might take you back to the early 80s to a simpler time when Christopher Atkins was a teen heart throb and to a movie that is so bad it is good! There are much better songs from The Pirate Movie, but this one showcases the pirates in all their...erm....glory.

One Saturday morning I stumbled across this being showed on one of the movie channels here and I watched it. I suddenly realised that not only does the movie star quite a few Australian actors, but also parts of it were filmed in the stately home that is about 10 minutes away from where I live!

The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley

When Eva’s filmstar sister Katrina dies, she leaves California and returns to Trelowarth, Cornwall , where they spent their childhood summers, to scatter Katrina’s ashes and in doing so return her to the place where she belongs. But Eva must also confront the ghosts from her own past, as well as those from a time long before her own. For the house where she so often stayed as a child is home not only to her old friends the Halletts, but also to the people who had lived there in the eighteenth century. When Eva finally accepts that she is able to slip between centuries and see and talk to the inhabitants from hundreds of years ago, she soon finds herself falling for Daniel Butler, a man who lived – and died – long before she herself was born. Eva begins to question her place in the present, and in laying her sister to rest, comes to realise that she too must decide where she really belongs, choosing between the life she knows and the past she feels so drawn towards

Today, Kelly from The Written World and I are doing a joint review of The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley! Head over to Kelly's blog to read the first half (be warned it is a bit gushy!)

Kelly's thoughts are in black and mine are in purple.

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Yes, talking about the actual story is probably a good idea. The story starts off on a very negative note when Eva loses her sister, but the book becomes about much more than that. It is obvious why Eva is so connected to Cornwall. It was just the place that she is meant to be. She goes through a lot while she is there. The Hallett son was Katrina’s first love and even though many years have gone by and she married someone else, he is still battling with the emotions that her death evokes. His father has died and he is tending the family gardens, but he hates the public side of things and is resistant to much change. His sister, though, has big ideas and Eva helps her discover them by advertising the tea house that she has built. That tea house is so much more to the story, though... The reason it came to be in the first place was a touching story.

Given that you have read other books by Kearsley what did you think when Eva started hearing voices?

I wasn’t really surprised because I knew there was something of that nature to expect, but it was just a matter of finding out what method she was going to choose. That didn’t mean there were not a lot surprises in store, though!

So, the hearing voices is the first clue that all is not as it seems, which becomes even more obvious when Eva finds herself in the same house, but that it is occupied by different people in a different time. The house is occupied by a widower, Daniel Butler and his friend Fergal. They are men with a secret of their own - secret Jacobite supporters. The local constabulary, especially Constable Creed, is deeply  suspicious of the Butlers and an unexplained woman appearing could make things awkward, especially as she is sometimes there and sometimes isn’t, and she can’t really talk due to her obvious accent and different use of language. Also add into the mix a bit of smuggling and the charismatic and vivid brother Jack and life becomes very complicated all round.

First of all, I loved the characters you mentioned. I know, I am getting off track, but I can’t help pointing out how well written they all were! From the very beginning I loved Daniel. The very first scene was entertaining and I enjoyed watching him develop as a character each time she ‘magically’ appeared. I believe that he really brought the early setting to life by being so realistic. I could picture him and everything that was going on around him. I also love Fergal. Sometimes I think he was simply there to lighten the mood from time to time, but then Jack appeared and took that to a whole different level. Jack is interesting to say the least! In many ways the opposite of his brother, but he grew on me with time. Then, there was the very well-written villain, Constable Creed. I have to admit that I was not there, I was just reading about it, but every time the ‘law’ paid them a visit he creeped me out. It made the story dark just having him there and you never knew what was going to happen, but you felt like it was going to be bad. I cannot applaud Kearsley enough for writing such excellent characterizations. It is why I enjoy her books so much - coupled with the fact she writes fascinating story-lines, captures the time period very well, and has settings that I always want to visit!

Oh yes, the law man was totally, totally creepy!

One other aspect that I did find interesting was the fact that when Eva travelled through time, the treatment of the clothing aspects seemed very logical. I loved that she kept on having to hide the 18th century clothes (including Daniel’s dressing gown) in the future. It also tied in to her worries about changing things in the past.

I appreciated the fashion in general. That was another thing that was explained very well. I can just imagine how hard it is to go from the fashion of today to the fashion of the 18th-century. It was the same in Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. In this book the two men knew that she had no idea what she was doing so they aided her, but I found the description illuminating because it is not something I generally think about. The clothes themselves worked well to tie in other things, as well. One of the dresses that she brings back to the modern world belong to Daniel’s deceased wife, so using this one dress we learn more about Daniel and his past that might not have come up right away.

So wrapping up now, Kearsley has once again done a stellar job of making time slip seem like a completely probable possibility, has delivered a lushly romantic story, and this time also made us both gasp out loud with a fabulous twist in the tale!

I know! I have been writing this review and thinking ‘I want to read this again...’ I also want to reread her other books all of a sudden! It has brought the story back and reminded me just how much I loved this book, which I had not entirely forgotten, of course. I am so happy that you, and a few other people, lead me to read her because for the longest time I didn’t think she was my type of writer. I was wrong!

I could do with rereading as well, but I have lent the book to my non reader sister, who just read her first Kearsley and enjoyed it.

Ever since I first read The Winter Sea I have been encouraging everyone (not just you!) I know to read Susanna Kearsley. This book has reinforced that desire even more! So, if you haven’t read Kearsley, what are you waiting for?