Countdown to 2025: Day 27

This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 27 and the prompt for today is Christmas Crackers – Ended with a bang

It's not that it ended with a bang as far as the story goes, but rather in  my frustration at where it ended! Never mind, I have started the final book so I can finally get the answers after the earlier 7 books.

Tomorrow's prompt is Candlelight – a book that kept you up into the early hours

Countdown to 2025: Day 26

 This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 26 and the prompt for today is Boxing Day – feeling bloated, a palate cleanser

For this prompt I have chosen What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci. I listened to both this book and his previous book on audio and it is just such a joy to listen to him narrate. It often feels like he is only talking to me!

Tomorrow's prompt is Christmas Crackers – Ended with a bang 

Countdown to 2025: Day 25

This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 25 and the prompt for today is Christmas Day – a book you received as a gift

Not only did I get this book, it is also a signed copy!! I see some cookies in my future.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Tomorrow's prompt is Boxing Day – feeling bloated, a palate cleanser

Top Ten Tuesday: Christmas reads!

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books I Hope Santa Brings/Bookish Wishes. I don't tend to ask or receive books as gifts, with the notable exception of cookbooks. So, here are the ten Christmas books I have read so far this year. I am currently reading another two as well!

Actually, I am going to start with a bonus book! Last night I read this book to my nephew. My sister, her husband and my husband were all in the room as well, so it was like a group readalong.

And now on for the actual top ten!

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens - I can't believe I haven't read this until now!

The Silver Haired Sisterhood by Judy Leigh - Christmas on the Isle of Skye sound great. (My review)

A Christmas Surprise in Pelican Crossing by Maggie Christensen - It's so nice to read a Christmas novel set in Australia! (My review)

The Christmas Book Hunt by Jenny Colgan - A fun short story! Must read more Jenny Colgan (My review)

A Skye Full of Stars by Sue Moorcroft - Yes, this is another Christmas novel set on the Isle of Skye. (My review)

Someone Like You by Sandy Barker - This one was set in both London and Seattle, which I loved! (My review)

A Recipe For Christmas by Jo Thomas - This one had it all! Chocolate, grumpy hero, and snow in Switzerland! (My review)

The Village Christmas Party by Sue Roberts - What happens when the village senior Christmas lunch is booked at the same time as a birthday party for a 5 year old. (My review)

One Winter at the French Chalet by Mandy Baggot - When a journalist is sent to a village in the French Alps to cover a story about a pregnant reindeer and a man named Wolf, Christmas magic ensues. (My review)

Christmas at the Little Paris Hotel by Rebecca Raisin - Christmas in Paris! Yes please. (My review)

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Countdown to 2025: Day 24

This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 24 and the prompt for today is Christmas Eve – One of your most anticipated books for 2025

For this prompt I have chosen The Many Futures of Maddy Hart by Laura Pearson which is out in February.  If I had to choose who my favourite new author that I discovered in 2024 was, it would be Laura Pearson. I absolutely loved The Before Life of Eliza Valentine, and I also read The Last List of Mabel Beaumont. And I bought just about all of her other books as well!

Tomorrow's prompt is Christmas Day – a book you received as a gift

Countdown to 2025: Day 23

This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 23 and the prompt for today is Sleigh bells – a series that you want to ring out the praise for

found this prompt a bit of a struggle because there were quite a few options. In the end I decided to choose this  book, Before We Forget Kindness by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, which is the fifth book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series.

The reason I chose this one was because seeing this author at Melbourne Writers Festival earlier this year was one of my bookish highlights for the year!

Tomorrow's prompt is Christmas Eve – One of your most anticipated books for 2025

Sunday Salon: A Very Dickens Christmas

 

If I asked you to name one Charles Dickens book, I am sure that you would easily name A Christmas Carol. You might name others, but that one would be sure to be named. But did you know that Dickens wrote several Christmas novels, and multiple short stories

When we went England and Scotland earlier this year, we were flying home, and I was found some podcast episodes about books. One of the podcasts was talking to one of Charles Dickens descendants Lucinda Hawksley  During the course of the podcast she talked about how there were multiple Christmas books and short stories, and so I was determined that this year I would read some.

A Christmas Carol was the first of Dickens Christmas book, and is the one that still continues to remembered nearly 200 years ago. There have been multiple movies including the one featuring the Muppets, plays, and the idea of being visited by the ghosts of the past, present and future continues to be referenced in modern culture. Recently I watched Sabrina Carpenter's A Nonsense Christmas and there was a skit in that show where they talked about being visited by the ghosted of past, present and future, as in when you are dating someone and they stop returning text, calls etc with no explanation.

I don't know why, but I hadn't read A Christmas Carol before. It seems like an oversight really, but it is what it is. I have rectified it now!

When I was reading it I was surprised at how readable it was, which lead me to wonder if maybe this was because  I was pretty familiar with the story, so my brain was reading what it already know. Or maybe Dickens is really not that hard to read. He does love a run on sentence, and repetition, but for the most part it was an easy read. What that means is that really The Chimes was the story to gauge this accessibility on. After all, I was not familiar with this story at all. And my outcome - well, it is definitely readable.

I don't feel like I need to spend too much time on talking about A Christmas Carol, other than to say that I can see myself reading it again in the Christmas futures, but I did want to talk a little more about The Chimes.

The Chimes, or to give it it's full title The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In, was written one year after the hugely successful A Christmas Carol, and to be honest, it has a lot of similarities in terms of the themes that are being talked about. It was very successful when it was published, but has not stood the test of time in the same way.

In A Christmas Carol, the main character is the rich man Ebenezer Scrooge, but in The Chimes it is a very poor ticket porter by the name of Toby Veck, also known as Trotty. We first meet Trotty in the present, when we learn that his beloved daughter Meg is to marry her fiance Richard on New Years Day. They are poor but they are determined to marry and build their life together. However, a rich man name Alderman Cute plants doubts in their minds about being able to do so given their situation in life. Alderman Cute and Sir Joseph Bowley have very firm ideas about the poor, which basically say that it is their own fault that they are poor, and if they cannot pay their debts or meet their bills then they must be "Put Down", as in sent to jail.

Next we see Trotty in the near future, then much further into the future as he learns what becomes of both he himself and his family and friends, some of whom have spent considerable portions of their lives in and out of jail.All the while, Trotty hears the chimes, the bells in the local church. Sometimes, they call encouragement to him. Other times, the chimes are far more nefarious, but they are ever present.

Dickens was championing the rights of the poor, to say that mercy and charity were of no less importance than justice, that being poor does not make them automatically unable to be valuable members of society, destined for a life of crime. 

Ultimately, then end of the story is quite uplifting but it does get quite dark at times. 

There are another 3 novellas in the book that I have, but I won't get to them this Christmas. I think it is likely that I might re-read  A Christmas Carol and one of the other stories next year but we will see.

This is my contribution to A Very Dickens Christmas hosted at Snapdragon Alcove. I am also sharing it with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz.

In closing, I wish all those that are celebrating a very Merry Christmas, and to all of us a very safe and happy holidays and New Year period.

Countdown to 2025: Day 22

 This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 22 and the prompt for today is Reindeers – a book with memorable critters

The storyline for this one includes a pregnant reindeer! And a main character with the nickname of Wolf. It is also very Christmassy!

Here's the link to my review!

Tomorrow's prompt is Sleigh bells – a series that you want to ring out the praise for

Weekend Cooking: A Christmas Tree cake

Last weekend my friend and I did a cake decorating class. We have been talking about doing one of these classes for a couple of years so it was exciting to finally be there. 

Here's a summary of the process that we went through.

The cakes, which are white chocolate mud cakes, had already been made. This is because it is best for the cakes to be cold when you are decorating them so there wouldn't be time, in what was scheduled to be a 3 hour class, to cook, cool and decorate the cake. As it was, the class went long.

The first thing that we did was to make fondant decorations. Whilst we only needed one for a cake there were a variety of different shapes. They had a special dehydrator in the classroom, but at home you would let them dry out on the bench overnight. 

Next, we needed to slice the cakes  in half using a cake wire cutter. This was one of the first pieces of equipment I ever bought, and yet I never really got the hang of using it, so there were a couple of handy hints about how to measure and then slice to get even sizes and using the wire to level the top of the cake. Normally I would try to do this with a knife.

We could then begin to build the cake, laying with the provided buttercream. We each were given around 900 grams of buttercream, which is a lot! This was then followed by a crumb coat, which is a very thin layer of buttercream which catches any crumbs so that the final finish on the cake is very clean. Once you have done the crumb coat, the cake needs to go in the fridge for around 20 minutes. Because the crumb coat is cold, it will help the final frosting layer.

Then it was time to do the outer layer of frosting.  I like making cakes, but I do get impatient when it comes to decorating, so this was a good lesson for me. When I normally use buttercream, I tend to slap it on the outside and spread it using a spatula, but this time we were encouraged to pipe the icing around the side and then use the cake scraper to smooth it. I will definitely use this technique going forward. 

You can hopefully see that the design was for a ragged top lip rather than a very smooth edge, and then also the swirl design on the top which was created by dragging the spatula as it is digging into the buttercream and you are turning the turntable.

Once again the cake needs to go back in the fridge to set before we add the final decorations. While we waited we got to practice piping the design using some of the leftover buttercream.  Now it is fair to say, I need lots of practice when it comes to piping!

In order to create the variations in colour in the tree, we took two different shades of green and put them on clingwrap and then created a sausage with the two colours merged together.

And finally, it is time to decorate. The first thing we did was add some texture to the side of the cake. This was achieved by using a gloved hand with a little buttercream on it and then gently dab on the side of the cake. 

We can then add some small sprinkles to the top, and then pipe the tree onto the side of the cake, add the sprinkles so that they look like Christmas bauble, add the fondant star and spray with glitter. I can't take the credit for how good the piping looks on my tree. I had some help from the teacher. And then it was done! All that was left to do was to try to transport it home without doing too much damage.

Originally I was thinking that Robert and I would just eat this, but in the end, it looks too good, so it is now going to be part of our family Christmas lunch which is on today. It's been in the fridge, so I just had to take it out this morning so that it comes back to room temperature. If we needed it to last a bit longer, it could be frozen without the fondant decoration. I suspect there might be leftovers, so maybe I will freeze those for when we are back from our trip

This is the first time I have done such a hands-on cake decorating class, but I already know I will be going back at some point in the future. They also do cookie decorating so maybe we will try one of those classes next time.

Have you ever done a decorating class similar to this?

To those of you who are celebrating Merry Christmas! 

Weekly meals

Saturday - Out for dinner
Sunday - Baked tuscan chicken
Monday - Smash burgers
Tuesday - Indian prawn curry
Wednesday - Swedish Meatballs and mash
Thursday - One Pot Pastitsio
Friday - Pizza

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

Countdown to 2025: Day 21

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

Countdown to 2025: Day 20

 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

Countdown to 2025: Day 19

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 is Christmas 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!

You can see my review of this book here!

Tomorrow's prompt is Eggnog – a book that was out of your comfort zone

Countdown to 2025: Day 18

 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!

Here's the link to my review from earlier this year

Tomorrow's prompt is Christmas Carols – a book with musicians, song or instruments

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - 2024 wrap up posts.

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!

The Naturalist of Amsterdam by Melissa Ashley 

The Austrian Bride by Helen Parusel

At the Foot of the Cherry Tree by Alli Parker

The Secrets of Crestwell Hall by Alexandra Walsh

Lady Tan's Secret Circle of Women by Lisa See

Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge

The Secret Daughter of Venice by Juliet Greenwood

An Astronomer in Love by Antoine Laurain

Champagne Widows by Rebecca Rosenberg

Song of the Sun Bird by Shankari Chandran

Daughters of Tuscany by Siobhan Daiko

The Stolen Hours by Karen Swan

The Secret Keeper by Renita D'Silva

Barriers to Entry by Ariel Lawhon

The Forgotten Chapter by Pam Jenoff

The Map Makers Promise by Catherine Law

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Amelia's Shadow by Marie Benedict

The Resistance Bakery by Siobhan Curham

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

The Girl with the Red Ribbon by Carly Schabowski

Casa Paradiso by Francesca Scanacapra

The Last Night in London by Karen White

The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley

Share  your links below:

Countdown to 2025: Day 17

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

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Summer 2024-25 to read list

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!

Are any of these books on your list!

Countdown to 2025: Day 16

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

This Week ....

 

I'm reading

Can 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. 

It was a very big Saturday! 

Posts from the last week


Countdown to 2025: Day 9
Top Ten Tuesday: Stormy!

Countdown to 2025: Day 10

Blog Tour: Stuck in Second Gear by Carmen Reid

Countdown to 2025: Day 11

Countdown to 2025: Day 12

Countdown to 2025: Day 13

Weekend Cooking: Advent by Anja Dunk
Countdown to 2025: Day 14
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge November Statistics
Countdown to 2025: Day 15



I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date and Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz.

Countdown to 2025: Day 15

 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