The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

Yesterday at around this time, I was supposed to post the first half of a joint review of The Doomsday Book which I read with Aarti. Unfortunately it is now a day late because of some internet issues I suddenly had yesterday that required the purchase of a new modem. Sorry again Aarti!

Aarti's thoughts are in purple and mine are in black. You can read the second part (even though it has already been up there for a day) of the discussion over at Aarti's blog.

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Marg: A couple of years ago now we read To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis and we both loved it! It has taken us more than two years to do so, but finally we have gotten around to reading The Doomsday Book which was actually the first book that Willis set in this world!

How did you find coming back to this world after so long? Did you slip straight back in or did it take you a little while to get used to it again.

 Aarti: It took me a little while to get used to it again. I think I was trying to understand the rules of time travel for the first bit and then just gave up. For example, I still have no idea how Kivrin was sent to the wrong year! I think I jumped straight back into the atmosphere, though - I could imagine the snow falling, all those bells tolling, the shoppers hurrying to get home, the university deserted for Christmas vacation, and later on, the terror people had about the possibility of another pandemic.

Marg: Yes, I never quite got my head around how she ended up in the wrong year.

If I was to pick just one word to describe this book it would be frantic. In both the present and the past there was such a feeling of impending disaster as both people at both ends of history tried to work out what was going on and would they be able to figure out how to save their people.

Aarti: Oh, yes! I felt like we just kept getting peeks into a very complicated scenarios and were left in the dark about everything else. It was strange because the “present” in the book was so frantic and stressful, whereas the past seemed so quiet, without much action at all.

I admit I thought that the plague would have showed up a lot earlier in the book. It only really came more than halfway through. I guess I can see why, as Kivrin’s entries became somewhat repetitive at that point, just about the exhausting work of having to care for other people. I didn’t expect so much build-up to the action. What did you think of that?

Marg: I had been warned that this was very much a plague book so I kept on waiting for it to turn up in the pages. I initially thought that Kivrin had caught it very early on so when it finally did show up, I guess I wasn’t surprised. There was a lot of caring for the other characters, and I was moved when some of the characters died but there were others where it was more an afterthought reaction - oh, so and so finally died.

Let‘s talk about the characters. I loved the character of Colin. I couldn’t remember any of the characters from this book appeared in TSNOTD but I do know that they are in BlackOut and All Clear and I can’t wait to see him again.

Aarti: I really had fun with Colin, too! He had such a hilarious vocabulary :-) I don’t know if any of these characters appeared in TSNOTD, either - no memory of them!

I had trouble feeling connected to the characters in the 14th century. It wasn’t that there were too many, it was just that they didn’t seem to have much personality. Kivrin seemed so isolated from everyone except Agnes and the priest. They were all so absorbed in their own problems and I didn’t get to know them at all. In contrast, I thought I knew the people in the present much better. Colin, for example, had a great force of personality. I also understood better the relationships between the characters in the present. They had history together, and interacted much more often than those in the past. Did you have a similar reaction or a very different one?

Marg: Definitely! I think part of the reason that we didn’t feel connected to any of them is that Kivrin was trying to live up to her created persona rather than be herself and therefore she was always on edge trying to ensure that she didn’t say or do the wrong thing and behave in a way that would be inappropriate for a young woman in that time.

Aarti: Very true - that probably had something to do with it. I just got the impression that Kivrin hardly ever TALKED to anyone except Agnes. So even when the plague hit and people started dying, I felt completely distanced from the action and didn’t even really know who was

Now click here to read the second part of the discussion.

Synopsis

Kivrin knows everything about the Middle Ages - she's read all the books. She knows it's dangerous: cutthroats in the woods, witch hunts, cholera, and millions dying in the plague. For a young historian, it's fascinating.

When Kivrin's tutors in Oxford's history lab finally agree to send her on an on-site study trip, she jumps at the chance to observe medieval life first-hand. But a crisis that strangely links the past and future leaves her stranded in the most deadly and terrifying era in human history, face to face with the heart-rending reality behind the statistics. And while she fights for her own life, Kivrin finds she has become and unlikely angel of hope in this dark time.

This book also fulfills the "something you would carry in your purse/handbag" category for the What's in a Name challenge as I always carry at least one doom book around in my handbag!

Animal Magnetism series by Jill Shalvis

When I read my first Jill Shalvis contemporary romance in July 2011, little did I know that she would quickly become one of my go to authors. In the last 15 months I have read seventeen of her books! They are perfect Friday night reads when you just want to read a fun book that will engage the emotions and make you just want to keep reading until you finish the book with a sigh.

I have read several of her series, but today I want to focus on the Animal Magnetism trilogy! As you can probably see from the covers below, the books feature fit men but animals also feature prominently in the books which definitely up the nnnnaaawww factor!

This alpha male is going to bring out her wild side...

Sunshine, Idaho, is a small and sunny town - the perfect home for man and beast. Well, maybe not for man, as pilot-for-hire Brady Miller discovers when his truck is rear-ended by what appears to be Noah's Ark.

As the co-owner of the town's only kennel, Lilah Young has good reason to be distracted behind the wheel - there are puppies, a piglet, and a duck in her Jeep. But she doesn't find it hard to focus on the sexy, gorgeous stranger she's collided with.

Lilah has lived in Sunshine all her life, and though Brady is just passing through, he has her abandoning her instincts and giving in to a primal desire. It's Brady's nature to resist being tied down, but there's something about Lilah and her menagerie - both animal and human - that keeps him coming back for more

.

When Brady Miller returns to Sunshine, Idaho he makes it very clear that he is only in town for a few weeks to help out his foster brothers Adam and Dell. Brady is a freelance helicopter pilot (ex military) and he knows that the one thing he doesn't want is to settle down in a small town. His brothers would really love to see him stick around and so they are trying to tempt him into staying by bringing in a helicopter to help get them to remote sites when their skills as a vet and rescue service are required.

His return to Sunshine does not get off to a great start when Lilah Young backs into his track. Lilah is working at an animal rescue centre while studying to finish her vet degree. She has lived away from Sunshine for a couple of years but now she is glad and back to stay. As soon as they meet sparks fly, but with both parties knowing that this interlude can't last, their emotions will be kept in check. Well, that's the plan anyway.

Before Brady even knows it he is rebonding with his brothers (although he did do his best to push them away), finds himself the temporary owner of a  dog named Twinkles, and yes, he finds it somewhat bemusing that a man's man like him is the owner of a dog with a name like that.

Lilah is working at the local humane society, plus trying to finish vet school.  She knows that Brady is only a temporary distraction but it doesn't take long before it builds into something more than that. Luckily, she has Adam and Dell looking out for her as they both see her as almost like a little sister, but even they can't protect her from losing her heart to Brady and they can't stop her heart from breaking the closer it gets to the time when Brady needs to leave.

I liked Brady ... a lot! He was a gruff, wounded alpha male with a heart of gold and a soft side when it came to animals and Lilah. She was a little harder for me to come around to, simply because she seemed so young in her manner.

Another fun Shalvis read, which then brings us to the second book in the trilogy....

She's tempting his basic instincts...

Sunshine, Idaho, is a quiet ranching town that provides a perfect refuge for injured animals...and sometimes, people. And veterinarian Dell Connelly suspects there's a reason his clinic's uber-efficient receptionist has taken shelter here.

Jade Bennett couldn't be happier to escape her well-meaning but smothering family and their expectations, not to mention the big-city jungle. There's nothing like working with animals, having a forlorn, grumpy stray kitten make its home under her desk...or enjoying the gorgeous views of her ruggedly sexy boss to help her forget her past.

But Dell's seductive, alluring ways have sparked an uncontrollable desire, one Jade hadn't expected to feel again. And though Dell has never had time for love, Jade's strength and sass is the kind of call no red-blooded male can resist....

In the previous books there were a couple of hints that Dell and Jade had definitely sparks between them, but they have both resisted acting on them, mainly because Dell is Jade's boss. He also has most of the single women from Sunshine and the surrounds chasing after him.

Jade found herself in Sunshine pretty much by accident. After a traumatic incident at her previous workplace, she got in the car and drove and ended up in the small town. She is over qualified for her job as office manager but she is happy, and she is good at her job. Thanks to her the office runs smoothly but her time in Sunshine is coming to an end. She has promised her family that she will return back home and pick up her old life again.

While Dell knows that there is a story, he also knows that Jade is not prepared to share it yet, no matter how hard she presses him to open up to him and no matter who is asking the questions. Jade has sort of held herself aloof from the other towns people too, even when people like Lilah reach out to her.

When it becomes clear that Jade is still scared by something that happened in her past, he offers to teach her some self defence techniques - nothing like a bit of body contact to get the adrenalin pumping and upping the ante on the sexual tension.

The dialogue between the two main characters and between Dell and his brothers was fabulous - it's something of a feature of Jill Shalvis' writing. This time though, it would have been good if Dell and Jade could have communicated with each other about their feelings a bit earlier.

After a tragic stint in the National Guards, Adam Connelly returns to Idaho and to Belle Haven, the animal shelter he owns with his brothers. All Adam wants is to be alone. Then he opens the door to the past—the woman whose heart he once broke. Still gorgeous, still tough-as-nails, but this time, unusually vulnerable.

Holly learned the hard way to never depend on a man for anything. Now, of all men, it’s the last one she wants to see, and the only one she needs. Her father has gone missing in the Bitterroot Mountains and she could use someone with tracking skills to help find him.

For Holly and Adam, each with their ghosts, a trek this desperate, this unpredictable, and this intimate, will have its share of risks—including opening their hearts one more time.

As soon as I saw this book on Netgalley, I had to grab it. And then once I had it, I had to read it straight away. There was no way known that I could wait until we got closer to release date before I started it!

Like his brothers, Adam was a bit of a tear away when he was a youngster. One person he was serious about though was Holly, but when he got into serious trouble he knew that he needed to go and find himself. With the encouragement of some people he respected around him, he joined the military and left Sunshine, seemingly never looking back.

Holly was a young woman at the time, and she was heartbroken. It took her time, but she eventually moved on, but she is the first to admit that she may have made some mistakes. Even when both Adam and then Holly both returned to Sunshine they managed to avoid each other. That is until Holly's father has gone missing. Holly knows that Adam is a search and rescue worker and as she gets more and more worried about her father, he is the only person she can turn to. Of course, when Adam agrees to go and search for him, Holly insists that she needs to go along. After a night of passion (I don't know why but the idea of a night of passion in a sleeping bag in a tent on a cold night doesn't do anything for me!) they return to their normal life but Adam is determined that it doesn't change anything, but then he can't stay away.

Holly is caught up with the drama relating to her family, but she is also hiding her own secrets regarding her ex. Now she needs to let Adam in to her life, but also open up to her brother and her father about what is going on. Adam also needs to let other people in. He has a lot of emotional baggage in relation to his family, understandably so, but still it is time to move on.

I really loved seeing the dynamics between the three brothers as they start being more open with each other, and as they all fall one by one for the women in their lives.

I really enjoyed this. Once again it was a perfect Friday night read. Start it and finish it in one sitting and close the book with a sigh!

At the top of this post I mentioned that this was a trilogy, but actually these are the first three books in a series that has a least one more book in it. I am really hoping that the next story will be Holly's brother's story. I do know it is going to be difficult to wait until the second half of next year before we get to read it!

Songs that I need to remember I want to buy

The other Sunday I moved the cable channels off of the normal channels I visit regularly (History Channel and Lifestyle Channel at the moment but usually sport and BBC Knowledge as well) and left the TV on the music channels all day. I got to hear the same songs over a few times but a few of them were new to me and I really liked them so I need to remember to buy them.

One of the new songs was Some Nights. When I looked for the details of the group I realised that I liked We Are Young too so they are on the list!





I don't know much about Birdy other than the fact that she is very young! Love this song though.



I have been a big Mumford and Sons fan ever since Little Lion Man came out and I really like the new song too!


Add to this list Taylor Swift, Pink and more and that should keep me busy for a while.

Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy

Simon Murray loves footy, films and his friends. The order of preference might change, but those are the things at the heart of his life. That doesn’t mean that he isn’t a little lonely given that he has been single for a long time, but it is true that he might be a little afraid of being in a relationship anyway. Given how much Simon likes to be a bit of a smart mouth and talk about anything, he is strangely reluctant to talk about his feelings and often covers up by making sarcastic remarks. He is the director of a small film festival based in Melbourne which features a lot of gay films and he is pretty comfortable with who he is.

Simon has been a lifelong supporter of the Richmond Tigers (an Aussie Rules football team) and he likes nothing better than to go to the footy with his best friend Roger. That doesn’t mean to say that he doesn’t appreciate good footballers from other teams too, especially the highly skilled superstars of the competition.

One Saturday night, Simon is coerced into going to a party with Roger and his wife Fran (who conveniently is one of Simon’s best friends). While he is there he is listening to some people denigrate Declan Tyler, one of those superstars. It’s true that Declan may not have had the best year on field but he’s been injured. When Simon steps up to defend Declan’s reputation to the group, little does he know that he is about to have a panto moment – yes, Declan is behind him!

Declan Tyler was transferred to the Tassie Tigers (not a team in the real competition) as part of the deal to help set up the new franchise. He likes living in Hobart, but he does miss living in his hometown of Melbourne. When he meets Simon, he feels the instant attraction between them, but it is difficult for Declan. He is very firmly in the closet because, well, there just isn’t such a thing as a gay AFL footballer. Only his closest friends know the truth.

Initially Simon is amazed that someone like Declan would want to be with him, but it soon becomes clear that Declan really is interested, but it’s going to be complicated. Declan needs to regain his fitness sooner rather than later, he is both an on field and off field leader for the club and quite often has media commitments as well.

Surprisingly it is Simon who is very self conscious of their growing relationship, especially when they are out in public. Simon knows that the public doesn’t know where Declan’s sexual preferences lie and he doesn’t want to be the one that does something that alerts them and, in particular, the media. In the end, when they are outed as a couple, it is a very private, very emotional moment when their guards were down that betrays them.

This outing sets off a media frenzy and the impacts are immediate, not only for the couple but also for some of their friends, especially Declan’s friend Jess, who has been his date for several years to the football night of nights, the Brownlow Medal (the Aussie Rules equivalent of the Oscars). Suddenly the two are also the most famous gay couple in town which brings it’s own set of pressures. It also brings the questions of how both families react to the relationship between the two men.

I loved the way that the friendship between Simon and his best friends Roger and Fran were portrayed. It was clear that Rog and Fran only wanted the best for Simon but then when he does meet someone, the friendship has to change shape just a little bit to fit the new situation into it. It is often something that I see amongst my friends. Someone will meet a guy and won’t be as accessible for a while as they want to spend every minute with their new partner but gradually, if the friendship was any good in the first place, things settle down into a new routine. Having said that both Rog and Simon were far too stubborn and there could have been permanent damage to their long friendship. Fran, Roger’s wife, was put into a very difficult situation when Roger and Simon were being so stubborn. On one side there was her relationship with her husband and on the other the relationship with her really close friend. In the end though, there was no doubt that the friendship was important to everyone concerned and they were there for Simon when he needed them.

At this point in time, there has been no current or former AFL player come out and declare that they are gay. It’s difficult to believe that there has never been a gay man who has reached that professional level of sport. It is much more likely that they would rather stay in the closet than openly declare their sexuality. I think that the way that the author portrayed the media storm that would accompany such an outing was very well done and felt very much like what will happen if, or perhaps that should be when, it does eventually happen.

The way that the crowds reacted also felt very realistic. When you are in the crowd at a footy game, you can sometimes see or hear things that make you wonder about where people come from. Yes, it may sometimes be said in a jokey manner and so any offence that is taken may be represented as the case of people being too precious but at the heart of it there are still some serious issues that come to light in the behaviour of the crowd and I am sure that there are times when the target of these jokes are hurt. Some recent examples of this include racial vilification, and the abuse of umpires and the opposing teams players is commonplace by this minority of spectators.

This book is so good at portraying what life in Melbourne is like, and the language and sense of the physical setting is strong too. It’s obvious that Kennedy has spent a lot of time in the city, although he now lives elsewhere in Australia. Even if you aren’t a football fan as such, there is no denying the impact that the sport has on this city. Footballers are celebrities in their own right. Even during the off season misdemeanours will make both the front and back pages of the newspapers and a scandal of any sort will have everyone talking about it at length.

This is a really strong contemporary romance where the two main characters are men. It is a sensual novel in that you can feel the chemistry between the two men jump off the pages, but it is very much a bedroom door closed kind of romance.

I had heard a lot of people raving about how good this book is, but it took news of the sequel to prompt me to finally read it. I can’t wait to get hold of the follow up book for myself and I will be encouraging other people to take the chance to read this book as well so don’t be surprised if I mention it again!

Rating 4.5/5

Synopsis

Football, friends, and film are the most important parts of Simon Murray's life, likely in that order. Despite being lonely, Simon is cautious about looking for more, and his best friends despair of him ever finding that special someone to share his life. Against his will, they drag him to a party, where Simon barges into a football conversation and ends up defending the honour of star forward Declan Tyler -- unaware that the athlete is present and listening.

Like his entire family, Simon revels in living in Melbourne, Victoria, the home of Australian Rules football and mecca for serious fans. There, players are deemed gods and treated as such – until they do something to cause them to fall out of public favour. Declan is suffering a horrendous year of injuries, and the public is taking him to task for it, so Simon's support is a bright spot in his struggles. In that first awkward meeting, neither man has any idea they will change each other's lives forever.

As Simon and Declan fumble toward building a relationship together, there is yet another obstacle in their way: keeping Declan's homosexuality a secret amidst the intrusion of well-meaning friends and an increasingly suspicious media. They realise that nothing remains hidden forever… and they know the situation will only become more complicated when Declan's private life is revealed. Declan will be forced to make some tough choices that may result in losing either the career he loves or the man he wants. And Simon has never been known to make things easy – for himself or for others

Library Loot: October 31 to November 5

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!

After a quiet few weeks in terms of loot, this week is a bumper haul in more ways than one.

Here's what I picked up

The Wedding Party by Robyn Carr -  Even though this author's standalone books haven't worked for me as well as the Virgin River books I am still working my way through the backlist that is available from my library.

The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing by Tarquin Hall - The second Vish Puri mystery.

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo - Getting ready for the readalong that we are hosting at Historical Tapestry.

Fables 6 by Bill Willingham - The next Fables graphic novel

Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas - Lisa Kleypas' latest release.

Share your Library Loot by  adding your link to Mr Linky below:

Weekend Cooking: Meet Vish Puri

Today I am going to share a quote with you from The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall. This is the first book in a series featuring Vish Puri, a private detective who lives and works in India. He has some Poirot-like tendencies when it comes to problem solving as well as a strong cast of secondary characters who all have nicknames like Tubelight, Facecream and Handbrake who all help him solve his cases. Oh, and an interfering Mummy as well!

The reason why I started reading this series is because of the title of the third book The Case of the Butter Chicken. Butter Chicken is one of our favourite mild curries in this house, and with a title like that I instantly thought of Weekend Cooking possibilities! I can't knowingly read a series out of order so I had to start at the beginning with this book! Having said that, there were plenty of times when I was reading this book when I found myself salivating at the sound of the Indian food that was being described.

Vish is a man of hearty appetite, with a taste for extremely hot chillis which he grows himself. At one point he acknowledges that "he had turned into a capsicum junkie and occasional dealer" in his quest for hotter and hotter chillis!

Anyway, here is the first glimpse that we get of Vish:

Vish Puri, founder and managing director of Most Private Investigators Ltd. sat alone in a room in a guesthouse in Defence Colony, south Delhi, devouring a dozen green chilli pakoras from a greasy takeaway box.

Puri was supposed to be keeping off the fried foods and Indian desserts he so loved. Dr Mohan had 'intimated' to him at his last check-up that he could no longer afford to indulge himself with the usual Punjabi staples.

"Blood pressure is up, so chance of heart attack and diabetes is there. Don't do obesity," he'd advised.

Puri considered the doctor's stern warning as he sank his teeth into another hot, crispy pakora and his taste buds thrilled to the tang of salty batter, fiery chilli and the tangy, red chutney in which he had drowned the illicit snack. he derived a perverse sense of satisfaction from defying Dr. Mohan's orders.

Still, the fifty-one-year-old detective shuddered to think what his wife would say if she found out he was eating between meals - especially 'outside' food that had not been prepared by her own hands (or at least by one of the servants).

Keeping this in mind, he was careful not to get any incriminating grease spots on his clothes. And once he had finished his snack and disposed of the takeaway box, he washed the chutney off his hands and checked beneath his manicured nails and between his teeth for any tell-tale residue. Finally he popped some sonf into his mouth to freshen his breath.

All the while, Puri kept an eye on the house across the way and the street below.

Expect to hear more about Vish Puri in future Weekend Cooking posts.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.  

Because of You/Until There Was You by Jessica Scott

When it was announced that the Loveswept line was being relaunched last year, they started with a number of rereleases, but there were a couple of debut authors too. One was Ruthie Knox (whose books I have loved so far) but the first was Jessica Scott with this book.

Sergeant First Class Shane Garrison is about to ship out to Iraq again. Shane has been Army for 13 years, a lot longer than he managed to stay married. Smarting from his recent divorce he is looking forward to getting back into the environment he is familiar with - leading from the front, ensuring that his men are looked after with one aim and one aim only - bringing all of his men home alive.

On the last night he is begrudgingly convinced to go out on the town, mainly to look out for his men and make sure they don't get into any trouble before they ship out. He meets Jen St George and they share a scorching kiss. Jen is a nurse in the army hospital and is mainly only involved in life on the base through her friend Laura who is married to Shane’s commanding office, Trent. Jen is also a breast cancer survivor, so she has had to fight her own battles in life but mostly she lives a quiet life. When she looks the other way during a medical examination and passes Shane fit to ship out, they both know that there is a glimmer of a bond between them and for Shane that is enough to provide some emotional sustenance during his time in the battle zones.

It is only when Shane is injured and shipped back to the hospital that the bond between them can grow, albeit in difficult circumstances. Shane is not the best patient to begin with, and that is even more true when he is concerned about the fate of the men under his command who were also repatriated back to the hospital. There is also a slimy lieutenant who is investigating the circumstances behind some missing weapons who seems to be looking to pin the blame on people in Shane’s company. Shane is also suffering from something of a loss of identity. If he is stuck in a hospital bed how can he be the person he knows himself to be – the leader of men, the one that they all look too.

Jen is able to reach slowly to reach Shane and show him that he still has something to give, but the road is a rocky one. Jen also has her own issues. For reasons that aren’t really explored in the book Jen has chosen not to have reconstructive surgery after her mastectomy and she struggles with issues relating to her femininity. They both work together in helping each other and this aspect worked for me, as long as you look away from the ethical issues of a nurse having a sexual relationship with a patient.

While it is not uncommon to have a hero who has returned from war as a hero of a contemporary romance, most of the time we only ever see the after effects of their service - usually in the form of a few scars and some bad dreams. Where this book differs is that we meet Shane just before he is deployed, we spend time with him whilst he is in the war zone and then, yes, we get to see the aftermath as he has to try and put himself back together again. The action feels authentic due in no small part to the fact that the author is a serving soldier herself.

Through the difficulties that Jen’s friend Laura is experiencing the author manages to not only show the perspective of an injured soldier returning home, but also how difficult it is for the families of those who are left behind - the spouses who have to be both parents over extended time while their significant other serves their countries. Whilst this aspect of the background story felt really well done, there were other aspects like the storyline about the missing weapons and fighting against the bureaucracy was just one of the subplots that didn't really feel resolved, or as in one strand resolved so quickly that I found myself having to go back and see what it said again as it was such a part of the story that was just explained away in a sentence or two . I also couldn’t believe that the Laura and Trent story was left where it was but I have heard that these two may get their own story. I really hope so as I definitely was left wondering what the heck was going on with Trent. I guess being left wanting more is a good thing though.

If I had to summarise my reaction to this book I would say that it was a strong debut from an interesting new voice, but the book definitely had some weaker parts.

Rating 4/5

Synopsis

From the war-torn streets of Baghdad to the bittersweet comforts of the home front, two wounded hearts navigate the battlefield of coming home from war in this explosive eBook original from newcomer Jessica Scott.

Keeping his men alive is all that matters to Sergeant First Class Shane Garrison. But meeting Jen St. James the night before his latest deployment makes Shane wonder if there’s more to life than war. He leaves for Iraq remembering a single kiss with a woman he’ll never see again—until a near fatal attack lands him back at home and in her care.

Jen has survived her own brush with death and endured its scars. And yet there’s a fire in Shane that makes Jen forget all about her past. He may be her patient, but when this warrior looks her in the eyes, she feels—for the first time in a long time—like a woman. Shane is too proud to ask for help, but for Jen, caring for him is more than a duty—it’s a need. And as Jen guides Shane through the fires of healing, she finds something she never expected—her deepest desire.

I possibly made a mistake when I started this book. I don’t generally read two books by an author one after another, and reading this one straight after Because of You reiterated why I normally have this rule. I think part of the reason why I was disappointed by this book is that I was expecting the two stories to be linked (especially seeing as they are both being mentioned as being part of the Coming Home series) and I was really hoping to find out more about Laura and Trent. I guess I will have to wait for the next book for that! Given that there really is no link between these two books (that I can see at least) it would appear I could have not worried about reading a series in order in this case.

Once again Jessica Scott gives us real soldiers as main characters. In this case both the hero and heroine are Captains in the Army. Apart from one night years ago when sparks flew between them, Captain Evan Loehr and Captain Claire Montoya have clashed every time that they have been forced to work together. He thinks that she is a little too reckless and she knows that Evan is far too rigid, too worried about ensuring that the rules are followed rather than evaluating what is going on and making decisions from there.

They are both assigned to a training camp where they have to get a bunch of raw recruits ready for combat in a very short time. They need to be prepared for the combat conditions where they are being sent, so they need to be able to recognise hidden dangers, conduct house searches, escort convoys and more. Unfortunately, the commander of the training session has very strong ideas of how the training should be run and he is not going to bend for anyone even if his way means that there is no way that the new soldiers will be prepared for what they are going to be faced with upon deployment.

Whilst Evan and Claire initially clash about training, it is when they begin to spend time together and relations begin to thaw that the emotional growth between them can start. We are given glimpses into both their pasts that help the reader and each other to see why they are the way they are. Evan is terrified of losing control and Claire’s emotional legacy stems from her childhood. The supporting characters, particularly Claire’s friend Reza are used to provide glimpses of the kind of issues that both new and career soldiers face on a regular basis.

The hardest thing about this book is the way that the characters constantly fight their attraction to each other. Of course, it was was inevitable that it would happen between them (this is a romance after all) but the constant stepping away from each other just as they started to get together got a little frustrating.

Once again the military details were a strength of this book and it was interesting to see a mission which was integral to military success but wasn't actually on the battlefield.

It’s funny really. I didn’t think this book worked as well as it could have done while I was reading it, but as I sit here thinking about what to write I find myself wondering if I had of given this book enough space it would have worked better for me or if my state of mind affected my enjoyment. Or maybe it was the book? Who knows.

Rating 3/5

Synopsis

He plays by the rules, she’s not afraid to break them. Now these two strong-willed army captains will prove that opposites attract . . .

A by-the-book captain with a West Point background, Captain Evan Loehr refuses to mix business with pleasure—except for an unguarded instance years ago when he succumbed to the deep sensuality of redheaded beauty Claire Montoya. From that moment on, though, Evan has been at odds with her, through two deployments to Iraq and back again. But when he is asked to train a team prepping for combat alongside Claire, battle-worn Evan is in for the fight of his life.

Strong, gutsy, and loyal, Captain Claire Montoya has worked hard to earn the rank on her chest. In Evan, Claire sees a rigid officer who puts the rules before everything else—including his people. When the mission forces them together, Claire soon discovers that there is more to Evan than meets the eye.

He’s more than the rank on his chest; he’s a man with dark secrets and deep longings. For all their differences, Evan and Claire share two crucial passions: their country and each other

Thanks to the author for the review copy.

The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes

Helen Walsh has taken a long time to find a niche in life that she fits. She knows that she has can be somewhat abrasive personality wise and that she beats to a slightly different drum! Once she became a private detective, she was in a job that suited her perfectly. She was determined enough to do whatever it takes to solve her cases, relying on a mix of modern techniques like accessing bank accounts and phone records but also to use old fashioned gum shoe style techniques like stake outs, no matter how long it took. Life was good.

Or at least it was until the GFC hit the Irish economy hard (much harder than we experienced here in Australia). Suddenly the big firms weren’t hiring, rich spouses weren’t as keen to spend money spying on their most-likely-straying spouses and Helen’s work pretty much dried up. This coincided with a major depressive episode that saw Helen contemplating suicide more than once.

Now her flat and most of her possession have been repossessed by the bank, she owes money to everyone and she finds herself moving back home with her delightfully quirky parents. The only thing that keeps her happy at the moment is her relationship with her boyfriend Artie and even that is not without complications in the form of his children who either love or hate her and a very present, still very friendly ex wife.

When her ex, Jay Parker, turns up and offers her a job Helen knows that this is likely not a good idea to spend time with him but a job is a job and the money is good so she has to take it. Former Irish boy band, The Laddz, are due to get back together for a reunion show very soon but one of the members, Wayne, has disappeared. Without Wayne (the wacky one in the band) there is no way the show can go on but there is very little in the way of clues to give some idea of where he might have gone. Helen must navigate between the various egos within the band who all want the reunion to take place for their own individual reasons, deal with his highly protective family and follow the trail to see where exactly he has disappeared to. If successful, this reunion show could provide them all with lucrative rewards. If it fails, then there are going to be some investors who will lose a lot and they are not happy at that prospect!

As Jay and Helen work together to try and find Wayne, sidetracked along the way by nosy neighbours and Jay’s interest in rekindling their relationship, Helen also has to try and fight the gathering storm of depression that she knows is coming her way again, figure out what is happening with her boyfriend and just generally get her life together again and more.

There was a lot to like about this book. Helen has an unusual point of view on life and that makes for interesting reading. We got to see Helen’s life both as it was currently happening as well has her looking retrospectively at the events that led to her last depressive episode including the breakdown of her friendship with one of her few close friends, Bronagh. At first, I wasn’t sure where the story of this friendship was going. We knew that Helen and Bronagh were no longer friends but it took a long time for the truth to come out about why. When the truth was revealed I was a little bit surprised at the reason, mainly because I guess I didn’t see why the friendship had to end between the two women. As I saw it as more the friendships between the other players that should have imploded but sometimes friendships do seem to end on the flimsiest of pretexts. There were some other things in the book that didn’t work for me too including some repetition and a bit of saggy middle where the search for Wayne got a bit bogged down in the chase. Oh, and the ending was all neatly tied up like a present with a lovely bow on top. I mean, I was happy for Helen, but how likely was that to really happen?

It’s hard to believe that we have been waiting nearly 6 years for the final installment in the Walsh sisters series from Marian Keyes. Given the way that Helen had been portrayed in the previous books, I always thought it was going to be a hard story for Keyes to write even without Keyes’ own not-so-secret battle with depression over the last couple of years where she struggled to write at all. The reason I mention that depression is that Keyes has always been very open about her own demons and has often used some of those battles as subject matter in her books (for example, in the past, she has written about alcoholism). Keyes has always had the ability to talk about difficult topics but doing so with characters that you wished you knew personally so you could sit down and have a good laugh with. She puts them in situations that are funny and touching and poignant, but never in a way that trivializes the particular topic of the book. Depression very much plays a huge part in the lives of Helen and other characters including the effect of that depression on the lives of the family members around them.

Speaking of family members, it was good to see the roles that the other Walsh sisters played in the book. Rachel (from Rachel’s Holiday) and Anna (from Anybody Out There?) both live elsewhere and were barely mentioned but both Clare (Watermelon) and Maggie (Angels) got at least some page time. I have read each of these previous books, but I must confess that I found myself trying really hard to remember what Maggie’s story was….and failing badly.

Now that each of the sisters has had their turn in the limelight, it is easier to look back over all the books a bit more objectively. There are elements from different books that stick in the mind (for example Luke and his friends the Real Men from Rachel’s Holiday) but if I had to pick only one book from the series to name as my favourite it would without doubt be Anybody Out There?.

Keyes has said that there may be more Walsh family books in future, maybe with the next generation. Whatever her next book is I will be keen to pick it up and once again immerse myself in the worlds that she creates that are full of humour and warmth but not afraid to talk about the big issues in life.




Synopsis

I employ this thing called The Shovel List.'

'A shovel . . . ?'

'No. A Shovel List. It's more of a conceptual thing. It's a list of all the people and things I hate so much that I want to hit them in the face with a shovel.'

Meet Helen - youngest of the Walsh sisters and a law unto herself. She's easily bored, has an inability to filter her thoughts and was fired from every job she ever had before she found her true calling as a private investigator. But times are tough for PIs and Helen's had no choice but to take on the search for AWOL boyband has-been Wayne Diffney - The Wacky One.

It's not all bad this game of Where's Wayne. It may have brought her charming crook of an ex Jay Parker back into her life, but it's giving her an excuse to avoid the usual Walsh family dramas and the intense looks from her gorgeous boyfriend Artie that make her heart beat wildly with lust and panic in equal measure. But most of all it's an excellent distraction from the huge swarm of black vultures gathering over her head. If she hides out in her target's empty house on Mercy Close for long enough maybe they'll go away . . .

But as Helen begins to unravel the mysteries secreted on Mercy Close she discovers a kindred spirit in a man unwilling to be found. Could someone be telling her to look a little closer to home . . . ?

Thanks to Lisa from ANZ Litlovers for this book. This review has been cross-posted at ANZ Litlovers

Library Loot: October 24 to 30

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

Another week with only one book being looted from the library! There will be more next week though because I already have several waiting to be picked up!

Clare has Mr Linky this week, so head over there to share your Library Loot link:

Here is the book I did get:

The Fine Colour of Rust by P A O'Reilly - I am not entirely sure why I added this book to my to be borrowed list. Could just have been that Paddy O'Reilly helped do a book launch that I went to a few weeks ago or maybe there was a review that prompted me. Whichever it was I have heard lots of good things about the book so I am looking forward to reading it.

Cracklescape by Margo Lanagan

I am a big fan of the Twelve Planets series that is currently being published by Australian small press Twelve Planets Press. I look forward to each instalment but I must confess that this particularly instalment was one that I was anticipating more than most! And, of course, given that it is Margo Lanagan telling us short stories, I wasn't disappointed!

The collection opens with The Duchess Dresser. A young man picks up a duchess dresser from the side of the road and decides it will be the perfect piece of furniture for his room in the share house he lives in. The only thing wrong with it is that the drawer doesn't open.... oh and that same drawer rattles and shakes all night, and then there is the spectre of a young woman that seems to call it home. What I thought was interesting about this story is that while the story goes in a certain direction the reader is kind of lulled into thinking they know what is going on until suddenly it ends up somewhere differently but it still makes sense! Then again, that is pretty much trademark Lanagan and I should know that by now!

The next story is called Isles of the Sun and very much evokes the feeling of summer life by the beach. The kids are out playing, the beach is nearby and life is pretty relaxed. When a young boy sees some light beings, he feels called to follow them, and he just knows that they will teach him to fly! As he takes various steps to feel lighter, his convinces his friends and their friends to do likewise and suddenly there is a whole town of kids who are determined to follow and learn. The emotional punch of this stories comes from his mother's view of these events, knowing what she has seen but not being able to believe, and knowing that no one else could possibly believe her version of events either.

Lanagan has the reader questioning how they would react to the unusual when Don and his wife are catching the train to a friend's social event in Bajazzle. When a group of Sheelas sit near Don and his wife in a crowded train carriage he is clearly uncomfortable with the overt sexualisation of these young women and even more so when they start to 'sing' their story. When he comments that he doesn't find their performance entertaining, Don's wife suggests that "Maybe that’s ’cause it’s not put on for your entertainment."

Don is a man who is stuck in the past. He misses the woman his wife was now that she has taken to a much more feminist inspired lifestyle. The reader might hope that when he is tempted into a dilapidated house by a beautiful young woman that his good moral strength will shine through, but that is certainly not the only thing that he leaves behind.

With imagery in the story including inspiration from sheel na gig (according to Wikipedia "figurative carvings of naked women displaying an exaggerated vulva") and succubi this story is not only fascinating and challenging but also quite disturbing. There was also a degree of sensuality in this story that I found quite surprising, until it was changed into something completely different in the course of a couple of pages.

The final story.is Significant Dust and takes as it's inspiration the Mundrabilla UFO encounter which happened in the middle of the Nullabor Plain in 1988. Rather than focus directly on this event, we instead meet Vanessa, a young woman, who has come to work in the isolated roadhouse in order to get away from a terrible accident that has basically changed her whole family. With the only interactions being with her misfit co-workers and travellers who pass through, Vanessa looks for ways to assuage her guild about the accident but also the truth about the strange people who sometimes stop in the roadhouse and the odd lights that illuminate her small room late at night.

What makes this collection different from previous short story collections by Lanagan is that there are only four stories, each approximately the same size, and that the setting for these stories is much more clearly Australian in setting than most of her other short stories. For these differences though, there are many similarities. Lanagan's writing is, as usual, pitch perfect and her ability to tell a complete story within such a small landscape is amazing.

I still have a few of Lanagan's stories to read which I must get to. Then again, I could quite easily reread this collection time and again and I am sure I would find something new each time. I think this is particularly true of the final two stories.

Rating 4/5

A presence haunts an old dresser in an inner-city share house. Shining sun-people lure children from their carefree beachside lives. Sheela-na-gigs colonise a middle-aged man’s outer and inner worlds. And a girl with a heavy conscience seeks relief in exile on the Treeless Plain.

These stories from four-time World Fantasy Award winner Margo Lanagan are all set in Australia, a myth-soaked landscape both stubbornly inscrutable and crisscrossed by interlopers’ dreamings. Explore four littoral and liminal worlds, a-crackle with fears and possibilities.

I read this short story collection for the following challenges

PS If you want to find out more about the Twelve Planets series check out my previous reviews which includes details of the collection as a whole.

The Virgin River series (part 2)

About 18 months ago, I did a recap of the first 14 or 15 books in the Virgin River series. Despite my best intentions, I never did get around to reviewing the next books in the series, so I thought I would go through and do the same kind of summary post again for the next few books in the series.

If you haven't read the Virgin River books, you are in for a treat. I credit this series with converting me to a contemporary romance reader. Before I inhaled this series, I never really used to read much contemporary romance, but since then I have gone on to read numerous other fabulous authors like Shannon Stacey, Jill Shalvis, Sarah Mayberry, Kelly Hunter and so many more! Carr has her pet issues which make an appearance in lots of her books which makes these an interesting mix of pure contemporary romance and women's fiction which I think is part of makes this still a really strong series even after this many books.

The thing that I find the most about reading this series is that it is just so comfortable to read and they are of a pretty consistent standard. Of course, some are better than others, but I mainly rate them as either a 3.5 or 4 out of 5 read every time. I can easily start one of these books late at night and just keep reading until I am finished. Even though I might be tired the next morning, I am unlikely to regret that because the reading experience is one that leaves me feeling happy. I have read a few of the author's other books, including the more clearly defined women's fiction titles, and I don't necessarily find myself falling into the writing in the same way I do when it is a VR book.

The other thing that tends to happen is that I find myself wanting to reread the series even though I am not much of a rereader at the best of times. Given how long the series is (there are currently 20 books in the series) I am not sure that is a great idea, but it is seriously tempting.

So I will start with Bring Me Home for Christmas which is the 16th book in the series. If you are interested in finding out about the beginning of the series, check out my original post here.

Bring Me Home for Christmas

When Denny Cutler shipped out for his second tour of duty, he left behind an ex girlfriend that he had broken up with more as a reaction to a number of emotional factors rather than the fact that he didn't love her anymore. Becca Fitzpatrick had tried to move on to a new relationship with a much more socially suitable man (in her mother's eyes at least) but she couldn't get Denny out of her head.

Denny is still friends with Becca's brother Rich, so she invites herself along on a boy's weekend to Virgin River in the hope that she could get some closure in relation to Denny, which obviously doesn't necessarily work! When she injures herself she is forced to spend an extended period of time in the town, and in close proximity to Denny.

I liked this one a lot, but it did take a long time to work through the back story their original relationship (how they met, how in love they were and why exactly they broke up).

Hidden Summit

Connor Danson witnessed a shocking crime and as a result is in a kind  of witness protection program. He has been placed in small town Virgin River where he gets a job with Haggerty Construction. He is happy to work hard, keep a low profile until the trial is over and then he can be reunited with his sister, Katie, and her kids who he misses desperately.

Leslie Petrusco is also new to town having transferred to Virgin River to becomes the office manager at Haggerty Construction's Virgin River branch. She is after a new start too, and a life away from her sleaze ball ex-husband who is now parading his pregnant new wife in their home town.

Connor and Leslie have both been hurt by love in the past, so they are happy to keep things casual, but sometimes life has other plans.

Aside from a few small issues, like the fact that Connor's new identity is to merely change his name around (his real name being Danson Connor), this was another satisfying entry in the series. It was great to see Brie Valenzuela gets some page time too!

Redwood Bend

Katie Malone has a lot to deal with over the years. Her husband was killed in combat, her brother Connor witnessed a violent crime and as a result moved Virgin River and she moved as far away from Sacramento as she could to ensure that both her two boys and herself were safe. But the move to Vermont hadn't quite worked out as planned and after a brief and unfulfilling romance, she is heading to Virgin River to see her big brother and his new love Leslie.

When she breaks down on the mountain side roads, she is at the end of her tether. The kids are tired and hungry, she is tired and hungry and she can't change the flat tire. When a group of bikers stop on the way to help her she is initially scared but then very grateful.

Dylan Childress and his buddies are on the biker holiday of his dreams. Good company, riding their motorbikes and the open road are all he has in mind, but when he meets Katie he is immediately attracted to her, and she to him. It is difficult not be for her. After all, he is a former teenage TV heartthrob but he has been out of the limelight for a while now. Now he runs a charter plane business but the economic downturn is really biting and he is looking at what his next options might be.

Both Katie and Dylan are up for a fling, but for different reasons. For Dylan, his past is a litany of broken relationships. His parents have both been married numerous times and there are half siblings and step siblings, some of whom are only interested in what Dylan can do for them. He also knows what it was like to have various men floating in and out of his life when he was a kid and he is determined not to do that to Katie and her kids.

Sunrise Point

Nora Crane has always had to fight hard just to survive. A tough childhood, a romance with a drug addicted loser who dumps Nora and her two kids in a dump of a house in Virgin River before he skips town. What Nora needs is a chance - a chance to hold down a job and to prove that she can support herself and her children and do a great job of it.

When she applies for a job at Tom Cavanaugh's orchard, he is extremely doubtful at her ability to do the physically taxing work, and really is only convinced to take her on by his grandmother who recognises her situation. Nora is determined to take this chance and prove him wrong even if that means having to work to each day and leave her kids in the hands of her new found friends and neighbours.

Tom is a former serviceman who has returned home to Virgin River after a long time away and has taken over the orchards that his grandmother has capably run for years. He knows that in order to keep a family run business in the family you need ... well... family so he has decided that it is time for him to marry. He has a woman in mind, and it most certainly isn't a single mother with a bad past like Nora Crane. Now if only he could get her out of his head.

Nora was a really good Virgin River heroine. Yes, she had a past, but she was trying her best to put her past behind her and to make a good future for herself and her kids in a town that she is beginning to love. Tom was a bit of an idiot at first, particularly in relation to the woman who he was dating and some of his reactions to Nora  but he came round in the end.

My Kind of Christmas

After some time away from the main families in Virgin River, the focus swings firmly back on them in this book.

Jack Sheridan was the first Virgin River hero and there has not been a book since where he hasn't made an appearance, usually as a pillar of the small community that he is at the heart at. When his niece Angie LeCroix comes to stay for the holidays, she just wants a chance to decide what she wants to do with her life. Everything has always been very clear to her - study hard and become a doctor - but after being involved in a serious car accident which nearly killed her things are not quite as clear cut as they used to be. However her overbearing mother can't accept that just because Angie is less driven than she used to be that it doesn't mean that she is not still suffering mentally from the trauma of the accident.

Patrick Riordan (the last remaining single yummy Riordan brother) is also in Virgin River trying to clear his head. He is on an extended period of leave from the Navy after his best friend Jake was killed in combat and he needs to decide if he is happy to go back to the Navy of if it is time for him to move on. He is also very much conscious of a responsibility to his friend's widow, Marie and her small child. He has promised that he will visit them for Christmas and so he is only in Virgin River for a short time and then, well let's just say he has a very odd idea of what it means to look after his friend's widow.

When Patrick and Angie meet and it becomes obvious that there is something between them, Jack does his best to warn her away from him. He is too rough around the edges, he is too much a warrior, too old for her....too everything really. For Angie though, he is someone who seems to see her for who she is and is accepting of the questions that she is asking of herself. Part of the charm of these books is the humour and depth that Carr manages to inject around serious subjects. For example, at one stage Jack tries to warn Angie away from Patrick by saying he has PTSD and Angie looks at him and basically say 'so do I. Did you think only vets could have it?'  (paraphrasing of course!)

With both the whole Sheridan clan sticking their noses in and the Riordan brothers as well, there are plenty of people to tell Patrick and Angie what they should and shouldn't be doing, but when it comes down to it these two need to decide what it is that they want out of life, and whether they can do that together. And their strong family groups are there to interfere and support them every step of the way.

One thing I did like is that whilst there are definitely patterns of behaviour for her characters throughout the series (like the fact that there are so many ex servicemen, so many people who are just in town for a short time, people only making it so far out of town before they have to come back to declare their true and forever lasting love etc) Carr recognises that and even at one point in this book even has the other characters placing bets on one of these aspects.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have been looking for information to see what is coming next in the Virgin River series in 2013 but I haven't been able to find much at all. I did find an interview which seemed to indicate that the author is starting a spinoff series that will be set along the nearby coast. Close enough so that a few VR characters might drop by but mostly new characters to go with the new location. In some ways I am looking forward to that but in other ways I will miss the old friends that we have come to know and love who now call Virgin River home. I am certainly not tired of visiting with them just yet.


*Sunrise Point and Down by the River were both read for the What's in a Name Challenge for 2012

Currently Reading

The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall and Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh and still listening to A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon (up to disc 14 of 49).

Up Next

Through Splintered Walls by Kaaron Warren and I Shall Not Want by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Weekend Cooking: Pancakes

Not a picture of my pancakes!

Today I am posting a recipes for pancakes. Now you may wonder why I would do so when pancakes is a pretty basic recipe, however I have only started making pancakes from scratch for the last year or so. Previous to that we used to buy the add-water-and-shake type prepared mixes which were fine, but obviously given how easy the pancake mix is to make from scratch it is better to do so.

The second reason for posting is so that on the odd occasion when I do decide to make pancakes, I have to hunt around wondering where the heck the recipe is, so by posting it here, I will only have to look on the blog to find it!

So here's the basic recipe for pancakes that I have been using. I can't remember where I originally found it.

Pancakes


2 cups self-raising flour
2 cups milk
2 eggs, lightly whisked
Dash of milk (extra)

1. Sift the flour into a large bowl.
2. Combine the eggs and milk in a separate bowl.
3. Pour the combined milk and egg mixture into the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
4. If necessary, to make the batter a little smoother, add a dash of milk then using a whisk, beat until smooth and there are no more lumps.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
6. Heat a frying pan on medium heat. Add a small amount of butter or spray the pan with a little cooking spray (we use butter). Using a half cup measure scoop batter and pour into the pan (this helps to ensure that your pancakes are all an even size). When air bubbles form, check the pancake by lifting slightly with a spatula. Turn when golden, and cook the other side. Set aside on a plate sat on a bowl of boiling water to keep warm.



Where I am looking for a little inspiration is in terms of toppings that people use on their pancakes.

When I am organised enough (or it is a special occasion) I really like to have fresh berries mixed with a sprinkling of caster sugar and then served with mascarpone cheese. When I am less organised I might have them with a squeeze of lemon juice and sprinkled with sugar, or even just spread with jam.

What is your favourite pancake topping?

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. For more information, see the welcome post.  

Winner of Falling Together

Congratulations to Laura who has won the giveaway of Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos.

I hope you really enjoy the book Laura!

Thanks again to TLC Booktours for facilitating this giveaway!

Library Loot: October 17 to 23

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

My post this week should be Library Unloot because I have actually done something a little unthinkable this week - I have returned a lot of library books, and unfortunately most of them have been unread! I do feel a bit better though because I don't have so many books clamouring to be read. I still have too many out, but just not as many! In the spirit of that reduction in books, I actually only borrowed one book as well.

Hotel Iris by Yoko Ogawa - Sometimes I still get surprised by the books I can find at my library. I saw a review of this at Sam Still Reading and I thought I might have to request this by interlibrary loan, but no, it was onthe shelf just waiting for me to pick it up!


What loot did you get from the library this week? Share your link below: