This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 21 and the prompt for today is Santa’s Snack – a book that was a ‘light read’ between heavier books
I'd never read Fredrik Backman before and now I find myself wondering why, as I thoroughly enjoyed this one!
The trouble all starts when someone leaves a frying pan next to the recycling bin and the apartment building is determined to find the guilty party. Lucas likes to be left alone. In his mind, people are the root of all stress and disharmony, so he is more than a little unhappy when he suddenly finds himself in charge of the growing pile of rubbish! And then things get really out of hand.
I have never lived in a building where there is a body corporate and the associated committees but I know people who do and I have heard some absolute horror stories of how things can go wrong!
I thought this was a delightful short read and now I am determined to read more from Backman.
I am sharing this mini review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady Book Reviews and Books in Translation Challenge hosted at The Introverted Reader.
Tomorrow's prompt is Reindeers – a book with memorable critters
This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 20 and the prompt for today is Eggnog – a book that was out of your comfort zone
When I was looking through my list of books read this year I was wondering if I read much that was outside my comfort zone and then I got to this book and I was like....on yes, that's right. There was that one!
I decided to read this because it foodie, and it is set in Scotland, and I was travelling in Scotland at the time. What I hadn't taken into consideration is that this was horror, which I don't really read! This was a very dark and twisted tale which I wouldn't want to read again!
Tomorrow's prompt is Santa’s Snack – a book that was a ‘light read’ between heavier books
This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 19 and the prompt for today isChristmas Carols – a book with musicians, song or instruments
I am choosing this book because one of the main characters, Adrian, plays Spanish guitar. The story features quite a lot about the guitar, including it getting misplaced as Adrian and Jo travel across France and Spain, and some history of the Spanish guitar!
This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 18 and the prompt for today is Christmas Cards – a book with a message
So, this is going to be a bit odd, because the book I am choosing definitely has a message, but, as I mentioned in my review in the author's note where she asks people to leave a review if they could, she specifically asks that we not mention one of the themes of the novel. So I won't! But it is definitely there!
And just like that, we are at the end of the 2024 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge.
Whilst there is still another couple of weeks to add your December links (the linky post for December is here), now there is an opportunity for you to add your wrap up post links if you have done one. You don't have to, although it is always interesting to see what people have read throughout the challenge.
I expect that I might read at least one more historical fiction book, but in the meantime, I thought I would share my reads for the year. Please bear in mind that I am a terrible book blogger and don't review anything near all the books I have read. Here, though, are the historical fiction books I read this year, including links where there is a review. I will try to do better next year!
This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 17 and the prompt for today is Glitter – A book that you simply have to have
When I was thinking about this prompt, I ended up thinking about what books I have on pre=order, and that is only one book at the moment - The Bad Bridesmaid by Rachael Johns. Coincidentally, I reviewed the connected book to this one yesterday! This book is out in February!
Tomorrow's prompt is Christmas Cards – a book with a message
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books on My Winter 2024-2025 to-Read List. As I am an Aussie, it is currently way too hot for it be winter, so these are my summer reads!
Midnight in Paris by Gillian Harvey - I am always very excited by the news that there is a new Gillian Harvey book on the way. This one is out in January, and the cover is gorgeous!
The Chimes by Charles Dickens - I read A Christmas Carol a couple of weeks ago, and I am intending to read at least one more of his Christmas stories. Yes, there is more than one!
The Many Futures of Maddy Lawson by Laura Pearson - Spoiler! Laura Pearson is going to be on my list of favourite new authors that I first read in 2024
Venice Hotel by Tess Woods - I have actually already started this one. Now it's a question of finishing it!
Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt by Lucinda Riley and Harry Whittaker - I just finished listening to The Missing Sister. There was a three year gap between the last two books but I am not waiting that long to listen to the final book in the series.
The Mirror by Nora Roberts - This is the second book in The Lost Bride trilogy. I will also listen to this one. The question is will it be before Atlas or after it!
The Last Illusion of Paige White by Vanessa McCausland - I have loved the last two books I have read by Vanessa McCausland so I have high hopes for this one.
The Jam Maker by Mary-Lou Stephenson - This one is out in February and I am very much looking forward to it!
The Secret Paris Garden by Sophie Beaumont - I really liked The Paris Cooking School! My plan is to read this before the end of the year but we will see!
The Bad Bridesmaid by Rachael Johns - I posted my review of The Other Bridesmaid yesterday. The Bad Bridesmaid is about Bridget's best friend Fred and is out in February!
This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 16 and the prompt for today is Turkey Dinner– eye’s too big for your belly? A chunkster.
Once upon a time, I would buy a book precisely because it was a chunkster. The bigger the better. However, these days it is unusual for me to read huge books! In the end I chose The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns. At 490 pages this book probably only just qualifies as a chunkster but it is the second longest book I read this year, so it qualifies in my mind.
Rachael Johns is an autobuy author for me. When I was going through a massive reading slump a few years ago, she was one of only two authors I still read. I have had this book on my shelves for months, and it is even signed, but it was only last week that I picked it up to finally start reading. And then I couldn't put it back down again. I literally read this in a day. I can't remember the last time I did that!
I thought I would use this prompt as an opportunity to share a short review!
Bridget Jones is a librarian, and yes, she was named after THAT Bridget Jones. When the book starts she has just found out that her new boyfriend is a love cheat and so she decides that she is not going to try so hard to meet someone, she is going to let it happen organically. She knows it is definitely not going to be the grumpy man who has just moved in next door, but there is a very nice Italian barista who might be a possibility, and as a bonus he makes great coffee! Luckily she has a close knit group of co-workers who are like family and they will support her no matter what, including her wannabe author best friend Fred.
Of course, life isn't as easy as that, so along the way there is upheaval at work, a couple of heartbreaking storie about the stresses of life, and the ability of books to provide emotional support during times of illness, which Bridget relates to due to her own health struggles during her teen years. But there is also joy, and laughter, a senior's book club full of interesting characters and so much more! I laughed, I cried, and I closed the book with a pretty satisfied smile. There were a couple of small things that didn't quite work for me like the epilogue but they were very small
Give that Bridget is a librarian there are lots of references to books and authors. In fact, there are more than 80 references! It's fun to spot the ones that you are familiar with, and to acquaint yourself with the ones you aren't familiar with.
This book is set in the Perth harbour suburb of Fremantle. Every time I go to Perth to visit family I end up in Freo, and I have added a couple of places that are mentioned to the list of places I must visit next time I am over there including a place called Darling, Darling which is a pirate themed bar!
I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews and Bookish Books Reading Challenge hosted at Bloggin' Bout Books!
Tomorrow's prompt is Glitter – A book that you simply have to have
I'm readingCan you believe that it is so close to the end of the year? We are on holidays from next week so really it feels very close. I am still getting some reading in and have a few books that I want to get read before we get to the start of 2025.
Last week I read Stuck in Second Gear by Carmen Reid which I really enjoyed. I will definitely be reading more from Carmen Reid!
For a complete change of pace, I then read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I had never read the actual book, although obviously I know the fundamentals of the story.
I then did something I haven't done for a long time. I sat and read a book through from beginning to end in one day. The book in question was The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns.
I then started reading The Venice Hotel by Tess Woods. I am only a few chapters in yet, but I am already intrigued. Even though there is nothing to indicate it all on the cover, this is actually set at Christmas time, so this is a good time to be reading it!
I'm watching
I didn't get as much watched this week as I have in previous weeks.
The only Christmas movie I watched was Bringing Home Christmas. An antique store owner finds a WWII uniform and a love letter and sets about trying to find the rightful owner with the help of a military professor. It sounds like a dual timeline novel that I would have read, and it was a nice movie.
I then watched A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter. It's fair to say that I had heard of her, but I couldn't say that I know a lot about her. And I certainly didn't know who a lot of her guests were. Nevertheless, I very much enjoyed the show and I thought she was pretty entertaining! I particularly liked the duet of Last Christmas with Chappell Roan!
Life
It was a busy week activities wise!
On Tuesday night we went to an author talk featuring four chefs who all have new books out. The four chefs were Tony Tan, Alice Zablanski, Emelia Jackson and Ben Shewry. I am hoping to talk more about this night a bit more as a Weekend Cooking post soon. At least that is the plan!
On Saturday I did a cake decorating workshop, where had slice the cake, add the fillings, decorate with buttercream and then pipe the Christmas tree design on the front. It was the first time I have done a cake with this particular shop, and I will definitely do more!
And then on Saturday night, we went to see Hans - A Christmas Hootenanny. Hans is an Australian entertainer who labels himself as a German superstar. Think all the disco hits, accordion, song and dance you can handle, with a Christmas twist! It was a lot of fun.
Afterwards we joined thousands of others walking along the river bank looking at the Christmas decorations and a water, light and sound show.
This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 15 and the prompt for today is Mince pies – a little sweet something
This is the second book in the Kamogawa Food Detectives series, and features a father and daughter team who help recreate dishes for their clients by investigating it's origins and what might have been the factors that influenced the taste and memories. Each story is in effect linked, but individual as there isn't really a through story for the father and the daughter. In a way it reminds me of a pack of mince pies. You get a pack of mince pies, but each one is an individual treat!
Tomorrow's prompt is Turkey Dinner– eye’s too big for your belly? A chunkster
Every month I share some of the statistics related to the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. I try very hard to visit every post which has been linked (time permitting) and I find it interesting to see what are the books that people are reading and reviewing! I often end up adding a couple of books to my never ending TBR list.
In terms of the books read in November, there were 61 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 19 participants. There were 59 individual titles reviewed, written by 57 different authors. There were 3 reviewers who shared 5 or more reviews this month. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 12 or just 1.
So which books were reviewed more than once in November? There were two.
The first was James by Percival Everett which was reviewed by both Deb from Readerbuzz (Goodreads link here) and Laura from Laura's Reviews.
Interestingly James came second to Kirstin Hannah's The Women in the Historical Fiction category of the Goodreads award for 2024. I wonder if we will see something similar reflected in the end of year statistics for the challenge.
I have announced the challenge for next year which is exciting! You can find all the details here. If you love historical fiction and like reading challenges, we would love to have you join us!
If you have any more links to add, then don't forget that the December link post is here.
I'll be back next month with the statistics for both December and for the whole year!
I am sharing this post with Sunday Salon, hosted at Readerbuzz.
This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 14 and the prompt for today is Christmas pudding – if you could squeeze in just one more book for 2024.
I knew which book I was going to choose for this prompt a week ago, but I then started it yesterday so I have to pick a new one. Lucky I have a queue of books waiting for me. I therefore am going to choose A Secret Garden in Paris by Sophie Beaumont. I loved The Paris Cooking School when I read it last year!
Tomorrow's prompt is Mince pies – a little sweet something
A while ago now I bought a book called Advent by Anja Dunk which was an early selection of the Jamie Oliver Cookbook Club . Actually, the full title is Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas. So far, I am really loving this book which is separated into 24 different chapters (one for each day of Advent) with all different types of bakes for each chapter.
The author talks about a Bunter Teller which translates as "colourful plate" and in this context means a colourful plate of Advent biscuits. She talks about how every German household would have a stock of baked goods at this time of year for when visitors arrive, and you then put out a selection of biscuits, and perhaps give some as a gift.
Part of the reason why the book is broken into these 24 different chapters is that there would be a specific order in which you bake the colourful array of biscuits.
The order in which they are baked acts as a calendar; a countdown measured in biscuits. The butter-less biscuits, many of them old-fashioned varieties such as Lebkuchen, which keep the longest, are baked first, followed by nut biscuits, then macaroons and meringues. We bake butter-rich ones such as Vanillekipferl after all of the aforementioned, and finally the last things we make are all the sweets and truffles. The biscuit are usually stored in a towering stack of tins kept at the ready to plate a selection up whenever neighbours and friends pop round.
It's my kind of advent calendar, although not if I have to do ALL the cooking!!
As an idea, here are some of the different chapters. The second chapter is for several different versions of lebkuchen including how to make your own spice mix, lebkuchen hearts (filled and unfilled), old-fashioned honey lebkuchen and more.I have made a soft gingerbread biscuit several times previously which is inspired by lebkuchen. I tend to take them to work to share with my colleagues and they are always a hit! I shared this recipe a few years ago! They are honey and orange-y morsels of goodness! However, in this chapter, you will find the real deal.
Chapter 8 is all about Stollen, from full cakes to Stollen bites. Chapter 10 is full of spiced biscuits, from Spekulatius to the famous Pfeffernusse. Did you know that pferffernusse can actually be either white or brown. The difference is the kind of pepper that you use. I swear I have only ever seen the white version. Chapter 16 is all about meringues, including very sweet meringue mice and chapter 22 is all about marzipan sweets. There was an earlier chapter about marzipan biscuits too.
Throughout the book, the chapter divides are Christmassy lithographs which the author created herself, and all the photos are her own as this book was created during lockdowns. As I flick through the book there are so many things which look utterly delicious. There are cakes, biscuits, desserts and more. It's a lovely book! And the cover is gorgeous too. It has a fabric cover with gilded word and decorations, and a lovely yellow ribbon for a book mark. I do love it when a cookbook one of those!
What I will say, is that, maybe unsurprisingly, there are a lot of nut heavy recipes in this book, so if you have any allergies in your house maybe this might be an issue. The big guy, who used to be referred to as the little chef many years ago on this blog, has a tree nut allergy, but most of the time he won't eat what I bake anyway, so I can get away with it a bit! Just have to make sure he knows not to eat any of them.
I chose to make two recipes out of the chapter that is titled Makronen (macaroons). The first was Schokokusschen, which are chocolate kisses. In effect they are not dissimilar to chocolate meringue kisses although you do add in some flour. The other recipe I have made is Kokosmakronen- coconut macaroons, which are super simple to make! These should both keep for a couple of weeks in an airtight container!
Schcolkusschen (Anja Dunk) Chocolate Kisses
2 egg whites
90g soft light brown sugar
Pinch of fine sea salt
1/2 vanilla extract
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
1 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan forced/350F and line a large baking parchment.
Put the egg whites into the bowl of a free-standing electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or use a mixing bowl and electric hand-held whisk) and whisk for a couple of minutes on high speed until stiff peaks form. Turn the speed down and add the sugar one tablespoon at a time, whisking all the while, until it is all incorporated and you have a glossy meringue. Now add the salt and vanilla extract and whisk for a further couple of seconds before adding the remaining ingredients. Whisk for a final 30 seconds so the flour and spices are incorporated.
Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm/ 3/8 inch star shaped nozzle. Alternatively, use a plastic freezer bag, which you have snipped the corner off to leave the same size opening.
Pipe little peaks of 1.5cm /1/2 inch diameter onto the sheet; they don't spread all that much so you only need a little space between each one.
Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes until firm to the touch but not browned. Cocoa powder does have a tendency to burn easily, so make sure you check them after 15 minutes. The longer you leave them in the oven the crisper they will be.
Allow to cool completely on the sheet before storing in an airtight container, where they will keep well for up to a month.
Weekly meals
Saturday - egg and chips Sunday - Honey Pepper chicken Monday - Sausage mash beans and gravy Tuesday - Out for dinner Wednesday - Nothing Thursday -Baked Tuscan Chicken (new) Friday - Takeaway
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. 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. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page
This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 12 and the prompt for today is Feast – a book that was magnificent
I struggled with this prompt a little bit. What makes a book magnificent? Is it noble characters, is it just a great reading experience. I ended up choosing Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See which has both!
Tomorrow's prompt is Christmas pudding – if you could squeeze in just one more book for 2024.
This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 12 and the prompt for today is Holly and Ivy – a book with great world building
Rightly or wrongly, I associate the term world building with fantasy and sci fi books, so I had a look at my list of books read this year. In the end I chose this one, Hogfather by Terry Pratchett, because I love the world that Pratchett has created in Discworld.
Yesterday, I talked about aural bliss when listening to Richard Armitage narrate Georgette Heyer, but this is pretty good as an audio experience too. It must be. I have listened to every year for the past four. This one is narrated mostly by Sian Clifford, but there are guest appearances by Bill Nighy and Serafinowicz as well!
Tomorrow's prompt is Feast – a book that was magnificent
This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 11 and the prompt for today is Mistletoe – a little bit of romance
Now, I read quite a bit of romance, so the question of whether this means a book with just a touch of romance or a full on one one took a bit of thought. In the end though, at the last minute I decided to go with an old school romance.
I listen to this book, Sylvester by Georgette Heyer, every couple of years because it is narrated by Richard Armitage. It is, to put it mildly, aural bliss. He also narrates Venetia, so maybe next year it will be that books turn for a re-listen.
Tomorrow's prompt is Holly and Ivy – a book with great world building
Even when I am trying to resist the lure of too many blog tours, there is one thing that will call me. Some days I am strong enough to resist, there are some days when I just can't. When I saw the blurb for this book, my resistance was very weak. How could I resist a road trip across France?
Lucie Marshal is flabbergasted when she receives an invite to her ex-husband's wedding to a much younger influencer. How very dare he! How on earth can he even afford such a lavish event, perfectly curated for social media, when she is still paying off the debts from their acrimonious split. There is no way that she is attending this wedding.
When Lucie and Miles split, she didn't just lose a husband, she lost her interior design business, her well to do lifestyle, and there are now very distinct cracks in her relationship with her daughter Zoe. She hasn't even met the man who is the father to her soon to be born grandchild. What did she gain? Well, some debt, life in a new town closer to her ailing dad, a car that is going to cost her a fortune to repair to make it roadworthy and not much more.
When there is a sudden train strike and all the flights are booked, Lucie's dad convinces her that she should take his old Jaguar and drive heavily pregnant Zoe to the wedding, and he will pay the costs. He also suggests to her that maybe she should try and live a little, have some fun along the way. And then her nephew Deva needs a lift too. Can anyone say road trip!
For Lucie, it would be best to just get to the wedding destination, drop Zoe and Deva off, and she can continue on to the little hotel by the sea that she has booked before making the return trip. Deva, however, is absolutely obsessed with all things Coco Chanel, and soon they are making deviations from the easy route, visiting Paris, the Auvergne region and more. I would not want to be driving a Jag into central Paris or some of the country roads in France!
Both Zoe and Deva have their own stories to be told during this road trip. Zoe's partner Rafi doesn't seem to want the same things as she does, and Deva's mother has very particular ideas of how he should live which don't equate with him living his best life!
I loved this book. I have never read Carmen Reid, but now she is on my list of authors that I have to read the backlists of! There was a lot going on in this book, what with all the events that happen as they drive across France, relationships to be repaired, with Deva taking ownership of who he really is, an influencer wedding where there is an unexpected guest and so much more. Carmen Reid does a great job of balancing the sad, the sweet, the funny moments, the joy and all the emotions in between.
I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy.
Rating 4.5/5
About the book
Stuck in Second Gear
Divorced, Re-wedded. Survived....
Lucie Marshal is absolutely furious! How did she go from being a successful wife and mother to divorced, teetering on bankruptcy, and barely speaking to her grown-up daughter? Even worse, she’s just heard that her moronic ex-husband Miles is marrying a much younger woman in an influencer-style wedding in France #blessed #theone
Lucie will absolutely NOT be going. To hell with Miles, his new teeth, new hair and new wife! She’s perfectly fine...In fact, Lucie feels lost and angry almost all of the time. Just what happened to her younger, freer wild child self, who used to live life to the full?
But then pregnant daughter Zoe needs a lift... and eccentric nephew Deva needs a lift too and now Lucie has somehow agreed to drive her Dad’s beloved old Jag all the way across France to take them to her ex-husband’s wedding.
With a pitstop in Paris, a breakdown, unexpected passengers, and miles of open road, all set to Deva’s showtunes soundtrack – could this be the journey Lucie needs to find a way back to herself?
Carmen Reid is the bestselling author of numerous woman’s fiction titles including the Personal Shopper series starring Annie Valentine. After taking a break from writing she is back, introducing her hallmark feisty women characters to a new generation of readers. She lives in Glasgow with her husband and children. Social Media Links
This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 10 and the prompt for today is Under the Tree – a book you forgot you owned
I bought this book when I was visiting Shakespeare and Company in Paris a couple of years ago. I was cleaning off a table the other day when I came across it!
Tomorrow's prompt is Mistletoe – a little bit of romance
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books to Read During a Storm (these can be cozy/comfy reads, books with storms in them, atmospheric reads for dark and stormy nights, light reads to combat the heavy weather, etc.) (Submitted by Astilbe.)
For my first three choices I thought I would share some books that have components of storms in the title. If there is a storm happening around you, there may be wind, there may be thunder and there may be rain. There could be other things, but let's start with those:
He Shall Thunder in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters - As a bonus this cover also has some lightning on it!
Ill Wind by Rachel Caine - Rachel Caine has a whole series of books called Weather Wardens where all the titles are weather related.
The Right Attitude to Rain by Alexander McCall Smith - This is one of the Isabel Dalhousie which is set in Edinburgh, so I imagine you would need to be used to rain!
And now lets move onto books with stormy titles.
Flowers from the Stormby Laura Kinsale - A romance classic from the early 1990s!
Firestorm by Rachel Caine - This is another book in the Weather Wardens series.
Storm Front by Jim Butcher - Apparently I read this in 2008 and again in 2011 - who knew! I certainly didn't remember that!
The Night They Stormed Eureka by Jackie French - I recently started reading another Jackie French book but didn't get very far before I had to return the book to the library!
Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley - Never miss an opportunity to get a Susanne Kearsley book into the a TTT post!
A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin - this is the third book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, more commonly known as the Game of Thrones books.
The Storm Sister by Lucinda Riley - The second book in the Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley. I am currently listening to the seventh book in the series.
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