Top Ten Tuesday: Best books of 2021

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is best books of 2021. So let's start with my five star reads of the year.

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (review)

The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer

The Dressmakers of Yarrandarah Prison by Meredith Jaffe (review)

The Cartographer's Secret by Tea Cooper

I had 10 books that I graded as being 4.5 star reads. When I looked at those book these were the 6 that were closest to being graded up to a 5 star read.

Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray by Anita Heiss (review)

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber (review)

Midnight in the Snow by Karen Swan

The Clover Girls by Viola Shipman

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker

Have you read any of these books??

This Week....

I'm reading....

Recently at work one of my friends mentioned a book called Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson and suggested that I would like it, so I promptly requested it from the library. I like music and books so it did seem like a book that I would like. It was only when I picked the book up and actually read the blurb that I realised that it was set in two places - Sheffield in the UK and Adelaide in Australia. Coincidentally I lived in Sheffield for 4 years in the late 90s and I lived in Adelaide from the time I was 10 to around 23 and then for another couple of years after I came back to Australia before I moved to Melbourne.

I also started and finished listening to The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. I haven't really listened to much Pratchett, mainly because I wasn't sure how all the footnotes would work. Recently there was a new unabridged version released and I thought I would give it a go, and I really enjoyed it. The narrators were Sian Clifford, Bill Nighy for the footnotes and Peter Serafinowicz as the voice of Death. I can definitely see myself listening to this again in the future. It's a perfect listen for this time of year.

Yesterday, I had to take my mother for a COVID test so she can go back to Adelaide and spent 4 hours in the queue. I started listening to Richard Flanagan's The Living Sea of Waking Dreams while waiting. I've heard a lot about Flanagan but I haven't actually read him before.

This will be one of my first reads for the Aussie Author Challenge hosted at Booklover Book Reviews which I last participated in several years ago.  For years, I have been done the Aussie Women Writers Challenge. That challenge is changing next year to focus on 18th and 19th century writers, which I am not really interested in. I have really enjoyed focussing on women writers, but more particularly on Aussie authors, so I am going to sign up for the Aussie Author Challenge in 2022. I am going to sign up at the Wallaroo level, the definition of which is

Read and review 6 books written by Australian authors, of which at least 2 of those authors are female, at least 2 of those authors are male, and at least 2 of those authors are new to you; Fiction or non-fiction, at least 2 different genre.

The challenge for me, other than reviewing, is finding male authors. The female and Australian part  is easy, but male not so much!!

Speaking of reading challenges, don't forget about the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. The sign up post is here

I'm watching...

It's been out a few weeks but we finally started watching The Great! and it is as good as the first season. I think we will finish it later today.

On the festive front, we watched Christmas on the Farm, an Australian Christmas movie. I actually enjoyed it for the most part. It certainly isn't the worst  Christmas movie I have ever watched.

On the other hand, I was super keen to watch Christmas in Paris because, you know, Christmas and Paris, but it really wasn't that great. We won't talk about the fact that more of the movie was in Montana than in Paris, but the bits that were there were beautiful. I am hoping we might make it to Paris for Christmas next year, but we will see.

On Christmas night we wathed The Abominable Snow Baby which is based on a story by Terry Pratchett. It wasn't really what I thought it might  be but it was a nice way to spend 30 minutes or so.

I also gave myself a treat and watched the final two episodes of The Vicar of Dibley, the ones where she marries Richard Armitage. It's been a couple of years since I have watched it but I do like to watch it at this time of year!! It doesn't matter how many times I watch it, I still laugh.

Life

Well Christmas has been and gone with everything associated with that. My brother, nephew and mother have been here to visit so it was nice to gather together, along with my brother in law's  aunt and cousins.

The week before Christmas I went to the Gabrielle Chanel Fashion Manifesto exhibition which is currently on. I am not really a fashionista so I was done much quicker than my firends but it was still an interesting exhibition. There was also an exhibition called Bark Ladies which featured indigenous artists which I liked too

I now have a few days off so I am looking forward to some chill time.

Festive treats...

Not a lot of time for new festive treats this week.  The only thing I got to watch was Christmas in Rome. I needed to prove that I am not all about Paris. Not all of the time!

Here are the festive treats I have read, listened and watched so far this year:

1. Flora's Travelling Christmas Shop by Rebecca Raisin

2. The Happiest Season 

3. The Christmas Secret by Karen Swan

4. Love Harder 

5. A Castle for Christmas

6. Hawkeye

7.  Christmas Train - Paul Kelly

8. Christmas with my Father

9. Wintertime Dreams: A Parisian Christmas- Tatiana Eva-Marie and the Avalon Jazz Band

10. Single all the Way

11. Christmas in Rome

12. Christmas in Paris

13. The Hogfather

14. Christmas on the Farm

Posts from the last two weeks

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Summer TBR

Christmas Quotes: From the Last Charm

Christmas Quotes: The Christmas Cactus

Weekend Cooking: Baking Kit Crazy

Christmas Quotes: Bringing Hope

Christmas Quotes: What Will the Neighbours Think?

Christmas Quotes: The Christmas Ornament

Weekend Cooking: Merry Christmas

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date

Weekend Cooking: Merry Christmas

 

I am taking this week off to spend time with loved ones

Feel free to your links still though

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

Christmas Quotes: The Christmas Ornament

I have previously shared a passage from the first Viola Shipman book I read, The Heirloom Garden. This passage comes from the latest book I read by the same author, The Secret of Snow.

The downstairs is one massive room: living, dining, kitchen all rolled into one. My mother was open-concept before open-concept was a thing. For years, this space was a playground. I could ride my wheelie bike round and round in circlees without ever having to go outside. I head into the kitchen.


A huge floor-to-celing fireplace made of Michigan lake stones of various shapes, colors and sizees fills the living room. I run my hand over the stones, cool and smooth.


And that's when I smell it before I even see it: a huge Christmas tree stands in the corner, soaring toward heaven. It's a Fraser fir, of course, my father's all-time favorite. We could never have any other kind for a Christmas tree.


"The perfect Christmas tree," my dad used to always say as we decorated. He loved its dark green needles and upturned branches, which showcased our colorful, vintage ornaments. He loved that it didn't drip its needles and that, when lit, the tree had almost frosty underlying glow.


But we all love the way it smelled, a fragrance that filled that house with a perfumed outdoorsy scent that could only be described as "Christmas".


The glass ornaments - so fragile, so pretty - are tucked into every crevice of the tree.


How long did it take her to decorate this? I think. It must've taken days. Who does she do this for anymore?


I crane my neck and look up


The star!


One year, Joncee and I were playing, and we rode our little bikes directly into the tree. It fell with a mighty crash, and my mother was nearly inconsolable as my father swept up broken ornaments that had been passed down by her mother and grandmother. Joncee and I retrieved the big pieces from the trash and made a giant patchwork star. It was like a Frankenstein ornament, but my mother thought it was beautiful.


She wept when we showed it to her, and placed it atop the tree every year since.


"It's like our hearts," she said. "Sometimes they get shattered, and we have to piece them back together and still shine for the world to see.

Christmas Quotes: What Will the Neighbours Think?

One of the things that made this quote interesting to me was that is took place in December of 1915 when anti-German sentiment was rising, and this played a big role in the lives of the characters.

The day before Christmas, Auntie Eveline and her husband, John, arrived, staying at an inn just up the road in Blackheath. In what had been a gloomy year, it was a rare patch of sunlight. Angie noticed how much Freya's mood lightened in the presence of her sister; she seemed younger, sunnier, more carefree. They sat on the cottage veranda with their mugs of tea, laughing at shared memories of their parents, singing snatches of lullabies and songs from their childhoods, telling stories of the grand balls and parties before their mother died. It had been a long time since Angie had seen her mother mile. Her father also seemed happier, less agitated, partly because he, too, could see the change in Freya.

On Christmas Eve, after a light dinner of bockwurst and roast potatoes, Aunty Eveline treated everyone to a concert in the cottage garden. Freddie had hung paper lanterns in the trees and they rocked gently on the breeze. Eveline possessed a bright lyrical soprano voice and delighted her small audience of John, Freya, Freddie and Angie with traditional German carols followed by airs from Mozart's Magic Flute and Lehar's Merry Widow.

"I wonder what the neighbour's will think?" mused Freddie at this unapologetic performance of songs by German and Austro-Hungarian composers whose music, in more civilised days, had been recognised as a gift to the whole world.

"Tonight, my dear Frederick, I don't care what anyone thinks!" laughed Freya, dancing around her husband and kissing him repeatedly.

John and Eveline had come bearing extraordinary news. Eveline was pregnant with their first child. And John was enlisting for the Fifth Division, AIF, which was being formed in Egypt in February next year. Freya's joy at hearing about her sister's pregnancy was quickly overwhelmed by the shock of learning that John was going away. Freya struggled to hide these mixed feelings but Angie saw the clashing emotions in her mother. Angie also noticed how conscientiously Eveline tried to reassure her sister that she had plenty of support from friends in Sydney. "If you visited whenever you could, I would be grateful," she told Freya. The sisters hugged, and cried with happiness, and hugged again.

The following day the family enjoyed a Christmas dinner of roast goose, red cabbage and more roast potatoes, followed by wedges of Dresdner Stollen. Their fruitcake had been made for them by Chef Muntz from his hometown's historic recipe as a discreet gesture of solidarity with this German colleague. They all sat our on the cottage veranda afterwards, digesting. The women sipped cherry brandy while the men downed brown bottles of Resch's from the crate Mr Fox had given Freddie as a gift.






Interesting that the word auntie was spelt two different ways which is how it was in the book.

Christmas Quotes: Bringing Hope

 This passage comes from The Christmas Secret by Karen Swan and comes after a particularly hard event for the characters. This author produces two books a year, one in summer and the other in winter and more than one have a Christmas setting. This one is set in Scotland.

And when the three-metre Christmas tree, which had been ordered a month previously, arrived that afternoon when the embers were still smoking, she had been part of the team hoisting it into position in the nearside corner of the courtyard, just inside the gates.

"Isn't it trivial - disrespectful - to erect something as frivolous as this in the immediate aftermath of what could have been an unspeakable tragedy?" Torquil had asked her in his usual earnest voice.

"People need hope and reassurance during the darkest hours, not the brightest," she'd replied.

And she'd been right. As the tree was being erected, the ladies in the canteen had brewed up some hot toddies and scones, someone put on a playlist of carols and as the sun had set on their first day "back-in" and they had switched on the lights, a cheer had gone up, the tree suddenly totemic of the community's resilience.

Weekend Cooking: Baking Kit Crazy

I had such good intentions this year. I really did. I was going to do so many things. And yet, here we are, the weekend before Christmas and I suddenly realise that I am not going to get many of those things done. Specifically, I am not going to get all any of the baking kits I have bought done. And I have several here to do.

If you recall, I do have a past tendency towards baking kits. I still miss Bake It Box and that finished two years ago. We won't mention the one kit that I still have sitting in the cupboard! I said we won't mention it!

So what kits do I have now that I am not going to make before Christmas?

The first one I bought was a pavlova kit from a restaurant called Mabu Mabu. The chef for this place was on Masterchef a while ago. When I saw that they have a few kits available so I bought one straight away, but now I just have to find time to make it.

Then I bought two kits from a company called Miss Biscuit. I could have gone crazy on their Christmas kits so it probably is a good thing that I didn't given that I can't even find time to make the two that I did buy. The good and bad thing about this kit, compared to the ones that I used to buy, is that these kits mainly consist of the equipment that you need to make the bisucits rather than the actual ingredients so most of it can probably last until next year. The bad thing is that it doesn't contain the ingredients  you need to make the biscuits to decorate.

T

he final one I bought recently was a Persian Love Cake kit. I do have a fair idea of when I might make this (thinking mid January) but we will see. This kit even includes the rose petals for the decorations which is not something I would usually use if I was going to find a recipe and then make the cake.

Do you like buyiing these kinds of kits? And, more importantly, do you actually make them?

Also, apologies for having the Mr Linky up late this week!

Weekly Meals

Saturday - BBQ with friends

Sunday - Butter chicken, rice and broccoli
Monday - Butter chicken kebabs with potato and salad
Tuesday - Beef teriyaki stir fry
Wednesday - Chicken Enchiladas
Thursday -Pressure Cooker Spaghetti Bolognaisee

Friday - Egg and chips

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

Christmas Quotes: The Christmas Cactus

Last year I read and loved this book. It was one of my favourite reads of 2020. This year I have read two more of his books and now look forward to reading his whole backlist.

"You're still coming over for Christmas, right?" Abby asks. "I'm roasting a turkey with all the fixings, and we're going to bake cookies."

"You're decorating," Lily says, pointing at me, "and I'm eating."

I laugh. "That's a good plan."

Everyone leaves with a big hug, and I shut the door.

As soon as they are out the front gate, I return to life. I check my watch and then rush up the stairs and head to the attic, pulling out boxes of heirloom ornaments. I blow dust off the tops of the boxes.

Handle with care! is written in my mom's handwriting.

"You haven't seen the light of day for years," I say. "It's time."

I take box after box down to the tree, make some tea and turn on the TV just as the Charlie Brown Christmas special begins. It is the show I've watched for decades, the only thing that made me feel like I had a family again.

Until this year.

I pull out my grandma's and mom's vintage glass ornaments in bright colors and begin to hang them from the branches, watching Charlie Brown as I go.

"I never thought it was such a bad little tree," Linus is saying. "It's not so bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love."

I stop and look at my tree, and my heart fills with joy. I sit on my couch, sip my tea and stare at my tree, remembering Christmases past. I think of spending Christmas Day with Abby and her family.

"It's not what's under the Christmas tree that matters but who's around it."

"You're right, Charlie Brown," I say, staring at the TV.

I head to the kitchen and set my cup in the sink. The sky has cleared, the wind calmed adn the stars are bright. I can see the moon shimmer off the lake.

I have the best water view in Michigan now, I think.

Moonlight illuminates my Christmas cactus, and I smile.

"You will finally have some company, Pretty Boy," I say.

I move the cactus underneath the tree, lie down on the couch and pull a blanket over my aching body.

I fall asleep on the courch in front of the tree, just like I did as a girl.

When I wake, hours later, I cannot believe my eyes. In fact, I blink - once, twice - rub my eyes with my fingers and then reach for my glasses.

My Christmas cactus is in full bloom, its prickly green arms weighted down with beautiful red blooms.

I jump up and do a little jig around the tree.

"You were right, Grandma! You were right!"

I lean down and touch a bloom on the cactus. "I told you!" I can hear it say in my grandma's voice. "I told you!"

Christmas Quotes: From The Last Charm by Ella Allbright

This isn't the most festive of quotes overall, but it definitely is something I have felt. I am getting better at embracing the festive season, but it is something I have to work at by consciously making decisions to watch Christmas movies and listen to Christmas music. 

It feel very real. I have definitely been in this place mentally!

The Christmas tree is up in the corner, bedecked with turquoise and purple baubles and dripping with tinsel. It twinkles with flashing LED lights, and sits in a large red ceramic pot to hold it steady. A red velvet ribbon is fastened to its top branch rather than the more traditional gold star. I'd have preferred a real tree, but the first year we had Fleur and got one she kept spinning around beneath it rapturously, snuffling and trying to hoover the pine needles up. She obviously didn't realise they're toxic for dogs, and within a day Dad had to donate our gorgeous tree to a family down the road. I really can't see the attraction of putting sharp in your mouth, even if you think it tastes good. Mad beagle.

I look around the lounge from where I'm digging our stockings out of an ancient box. Winterberry-scented candles are dotted around the room, brightening the dark walls and ancient furniture, and covering up the smell of emulsion from upstairs.  I started  redecorating months ago,  but have only managed to do mine and Dad's bedrooms so far, what with work and Craig....I shudder, steering my thoughts away. The point is, it's take far longer than planned to create the new vision I had for our house. Even Dad's getting impatient with me now, and he's usually the most laid back person going. He's at a Saturday job, so I'm all alone. El and Chloe are both busy with their lovely boyfriends, and Edwin has given me a rare weekend off as a reward for increasing sales at the gallery. Although I've got Fleur's waggy company, I can feel the sharp edge of loneliness digging into my skin, so an MTV Christmas channel is playing seasonal songs to create background noise, and the smell of cinnamon and aromatic alcohol wafts from the kitchen where mulled wine's slowly simmering on the hob.

I've done everything I can to create a Christmassy spirit in the house, to make it nice and festive for us. The weather's even joining in, the winter wind rattling the draughty windows, shimmering frost coating the leaves on the trees like they've been breathed on by Jack Frost. A thick carpet of snow coats the ground from where icy flakes fell and settled overnight. I've also been to two Christmas parties, eaten turkey with cranberry sauce and all the trimmings, and gone to a fete with Eloise, surrounded by adorable  children dressed as elves, reindeer, and shepherds, running around high on excitement and sugar in the form of minty striped candy canes.

And then a bit later on...

I've had plenty of opportunity to gear myself up for the season, but I'm not feeling it. At. All. If anything, it's making me feel worse, as if I'm trying too hard. It's forced and faked. I'm starting to hate Christmas and everything that comes with it.

Which reminds me....we really must put the Christmas tree up this week.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my summer 2021 TBR

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is books on my Summer TBR pile.

Midnight in the Snow by Karen Swan - When I started writing this post I hadn't yet started this book, but I am around two thirds of the way through and it is so good.

The Christmas Party by Karen Swan - Given that Midnight in the Snow is so good, I will definitely read more and this is one that my library had sitting on the shelf.

A Granite Springs Christmas by Maggie Christensen - Another Christmas book, this time taking me back to Granite Springs.

The Girl From Paris by Ella Carey - I'll be reading this for a blog tour in early January.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison - I have heard so many things about this book.

Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Smith - I started this a little while ago and need to finish it.

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells = It's been a while since I read a Murderbot book so I must get back to them.

Mix Tape by Jane Sanderson - One of the girls at work mentioned this book so I am going to give it a try

Go Tell the Bees That I am Gone by Diana Gabaldon - In years gone by I would have bought the latest Outlander book the day it came out and probably have read it by now, but I do still intend to read this one. I have been invested in this story for many years.

Midnight Chicken & Other Recipes Worth Living For by Ella Risbriger - The next Cook the Books selection

Do you have any of these books on your TBR pile?

This Week....

I'm Reading

I've stepped out of my comfort zone this week and read Harrow Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. I am not even sure I know how to describe this book. I mean, it's a dark fantasy novel for sure, but itis alwo about necromancers, challenges, life and death and murder, which isn't even a touch on how complicated this story is. I really enjoyed it and will be looking to read the follow up when I can.

A few weeks ago I read a Karen Swan novel which I really enjoyed and so I promptly picked up two more from the library. This week I started reading Midnight in the Snow which has a different feel, but again I am enjoying it so far.

I did finish listening to The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley. This is one of my favourite books ever, and so it was interesting to reread it after all this time via audiobook. There was lots that I had forgotten but it still felt so good to immerse myself in that world again.

I have started my next audiobook. I saw an announcement that there was a new audio version of The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. It features Sian Clifford and Bill Nighy as the main narrators and so far it is lots of fun. And it is the perfect time of year to read it!

I'm Watching

We are continuing to watch a number of shows such as The Books That Made Us, Bake Off: The Professionals, Hawkeye and more but we also watched Dune on Friday night.

Life

Our social calendar is filling up very quickly now. This weekend we spent a very enjoyable Saturday evening at a barbecue with friends. On Sunday we went and looked at things like new TVs, a fridgeand more. We aren't really ready to buy yet, but we are more trying to get ideas of prices for when we are ready to buy in a few months time.

Festive treats...

Not a lot of time for new festive treats this week.  The only thing I got to watch was Christmas in Rome. I needed to prove that I am not all about Paris. Not all of the time!

Here are the festive treats I have read, listened and watched so far this year:

1. Flora's Travelling Christmas Shop by Rebecca Raisin

2. The Happiest Season 

3. The Christmas Secret by Karen Swan

4. Love Harder 

5. A Castle for Christmas

6. Hawkeye

7.  Christmas Train - Paul Kelly

8. Christmas with my Father

9. Wintertime Dreams: A Parisian Christmas- Tatiana Eva-Marie and the Avalon Jazz Band

10. Single all the Way

11. Christmas in Rome

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: Most reviewed books in the Hist Fic challenge 2021

Music A to Z: Numbers

Weekend Cooking: Eating with your Eyes

Christmas Quotes: A War Time Christmas

I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date