Even though work is absolutely crazy and I am exhausted at the end of every day, I am still managing to get some reading time in. Being so tired does impact my enjoyment of books. Last year I had many, many more 5 star reads by this point in the year. However, I did have one 5 star read this week which was exciting.
I finished reading A Venice Summer by Lynne Shelby. I had previously borrowed a Lynne Shelby book from the library so I went back on to request it again given that I enjoyed this book so much. It seems a bit weird to me, but the book is no longer availabe which is a bit sad. I guess I will have to buy it if I want to read it!
Last weekend we went to see the movie The Sheep Detectives which is based on the book Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann. I was a bit concerned about reading the book now having seen the movie so recently but I am going to say that the movie is more inspired by the book than based on it. A lot of the story is different to the movie, and it needed to be so that the movie could get a family friendly rating. I am half way through the book right now so will be interested to do a full comparison of the two versions once I get to the end.
My 5 star read this week was In the Paris Fashion by Sophie Beaumont. I had read and enjoyed Beaumont's two previous books set in Paris so I knew I would like it. It felt like the right book at the right time for me as I read it in a day, and I closed it with a very contented sigh. Does the book have some flaws. Absolutely. Will everyone love it like I did. Probably not. Did it leave me smiling long after I finished the book. Yes. And that's what makes it a 5 star read for me!
I did also start reading The Little War Time Library by Kate Thompson this week. I am finding it hard to put it down! It is due back at the library already so I need to hurry up and finish it
I shared my Classics Spin list last week, and the spin landed on number 9, so I am going to be reading the Australian Classic, Careful, He Might Here You. I am looking forward to getting started on it once I pick it up from the library.
I'm watching
We had a date night on Saturday night which consisted of going to a Turkish restaurant for dinner and then watching The Mandalorian and Grogu at the cinema. The dinner was good, and we would totally go again. The movie was fine. The story could easily have been done as a TV series. My husband is a big Star Wars fan so we were likely always going to go and see it.
Life
See last week's comment about work being frantic. It's true again this week with weekend work and late nights. Not sure it is going to calm down yet.
When her grandmother dies, Yeon-hwa inherits a debt-ridden bakery shop called Hwawodlang (which translates as the Flower Moon Temple Pastry Shop. It is not, however, a normal bakery. The will specifies that the shop can only open until 10pm until midnight, and it also specifies that Yeon-hwa must run the shop for at least a month. A month seems doable!
It turns out though that this bakery is different in other ways. The customers are spirits, making their final stop before passing on into the afterlife. There is also a black cat who watched Yeon-hwa with very knowing eyes and shaman named Sa-wol who are helping Yeon-hwa to understand the true nature of the bakery, the connection with a temple and ultimately to understand her grandmother.
Yeon-hwa has always felt a distance from her grandmother even though she stepped in to care for Yeon-hwa when she was a young girl and her parents were killed in a car crash. Now, Yeon-hwa wishes their relationship could have been different, and they could have had conversations about life, about her parents and about the bakery, but it is too late.
The various chapters feature a different sweet being made and we learn the reason why the spirits are requesting this particular item. It always have some meaning to the spirit and to the person it is intended for. The other thing is that obviously ghosts don't usually carry cash, so they in effect pay for their pastry by leaving an item that means something to them behind.
Chocolate Jeonbyeong Crackers - A woman asks Yeon-hwa to make these for her daughter and leaves behind something precious.
Plum-Blossom Manju Buns - A shy man who had only just summoned up the courage to ask a girl out asks for manju buns to be made for her, to help her move on.
Green Tea Dango - A woman asks for this to be delivered to her fellow artist colleague and friend
Strawberry Chapssal-tteok - A young boy wants to give Strawberry Chapssal-tteok to his older step sister who blames herself for his death.
Chestnut Yanggaeng of Goodbye - We learn more about Sa-Wol and Yeon-hwa learns more about her parents and grandmother.
Along the way, we also learn some of the rules of the afterlife which includes the fact that a spirit has 3 years to pass into the after life, otherwise they will be stuck forever.
While there are plenty of Asian books which people returning from the past/future/afterlife to have one final conversation with their loved ones, that is not the case here. Yeon-hwa is the one who has the interactions, including seeing details of their lives and then she and Sa-Wol act as conduits to the loved ones. It does have that familiar episodic structure that we see in so many of these types of books
I enjoyed reading this book but I didn't feel as connected with it as I might have expected to be. I don't think we particularly go to know Yeon-hwa as well as we could have. It was almost like we were kept at arms length which is a bit like Yeon-hwa's own relationship with her grandmother. However, it does have the same feel as a lot of those books so it is feel good and affirming without being excitable.
I was wondering how I was going to be able to describe all the different pastries which are mentioned in this book while writing this post, so I was very pleased to find a link to this video which shows what all the different desserts look like
Doesn't it all look so pretty!
This book was nice to read without being compelling, so I have to ask myself would I read more books set here and the answer is probably. It doesn't look like the author has written any more books yet, but she might!
I chose to read this book as it fit the AAPI Heritage category on the Spring Goodreads challenge. I am sharing this review with Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story, with the Books in Translation Challenge hosted at The Introverted Reader and the Speccy Fiction Challenge hosted at Book'd Out.
Rating 3.5/5
Weekly meals
Saturday - Out for dinner Sunday - Beef Rendang (new) Monday - Sausage and Broccoli pasta (new0 Tuesday - Mexican Chicken and Rice Wednesday - Pork chops, mash and cauliflower Thursday - Tomato and Paneer Curry 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
A couple of months ago I borrowed a book by Lynne Shelby from the library but I had to return it unread because that's just what happens with library books right? I had initially heard about the author who as author of the day in an online group I am in and I thought I liked the sound of her books. They feature fun locations like Venice in this book.
When this book came up for a blog tour, I jumped at the chance to read it, and I am really glad I did! I feel like I got a fun reading experience, a visit to Venice, some art history and a whole lot more!
Rose Bennet is down on her luck but thanks to a friend she gets the chance of a lifetime. She goes to Venice to work on a restoration of a 16th century painting. No one knows who the subject of the painting is or who painted it. After years of neglect, it is up to Rose to restore it and bring it back to life!
The painting, which is called Portrait of a Young Woman in a Blue Dress, is part of a significant art collection owned by Luca Casserini. Luca is the head of one of the historically important families in Venetian history and owner of the Ca’ D’Ambra, a six hundred year old palazzo that he is in the process of turning into an art gallery. Like many old homes, the Ca’ D’Ambra takes a lot of money to upkeep and the hope is that by turning it into a gallery with a private living quarters he can save the beautiful home from becoming a luxury hotel or something similar. Luca is head of the family in more ways than one. He is also responsible for caring for his much younger sister, a task he takes very seriously. Like many old homes, the Ca’ D’Ambra takes a lot of money to upkeep and the hope is that by
As Rose works on restoring the painting, she begins to reveal previously hidden details such as the young woman's hair colour and features, what she is holding in her hand, and she begins to wonder who this young woman really was. She also begins to wonder about the broody Luca who likes to play the guitar in the garden when he is thinking things through. When Luca offers to show Rose the sights of Veniice, is he just being polite as her boss or is there something more. If it is something more, Rose has to be careful. After all, she is only in Venice for the summer.
The Venice that the reader is introduced to in these pages is a combination of touristy Venice but also the Venice that only Venetians know. Short walks down laneways take us to unexpected areas of the city, or a water taxi takes us to other locations. We also get to see glamourous Venice with art, music, and yes, even a masked ball colliding on the pages.
One of the things that I enjoyed was a surprise dual timeline where, as Rose wondered about the girl, the reader meets the young woman in question and we learn her history. There is nothing in the blurb to indicate this so it was a lovely surprise to me. Whilst as far as I can tell the art history was based on real people but imagined for the purpose of the story, I was fascinated by all the art, and history, that was mentioned throughout the book.
Now that I know that I enjoy Lynne Shelby's work, it might be time for me to reborrow that book and see where her next books takes me!
I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted at The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews. Thanks to the publisher and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour below too!
Rating 4/5
About the book
A Venice Summer
Art conservator Rose Bennet is still reeling from a bad break-up when she is offered a dream job in Venice, restoring an art collection in the Ca’ D’Ambra, a six-hundred-year-old Venetian palazzo. Despite her fears about travelling to a foreign country on her own, Rose is soon heading to Italy for the summer.
While she is awestruck by the breathtaking beauty of Venice, Rose finds the owner of the palazzo, the arrogant and short-tempered Luca Casserini, insufferable. When he questions her ability to do her work, she almost heads straight back to London, but decides that she won’t let herself be intimidated or driven away before she’s even had a chance to ride in a gondola.
Losing her way in Venice’s picturesque maze of canals and alleyways, the last person Rose wants to see is her employer, but when they meet by chance and, to her surprise, he offers to show her around the city, she feels it would be churlish to refuse.
Spending sunlit summer days exploring Venice with Luca, Rose discovers a passionate side to him, very different to her first impression, and her feelings towards him begin to change …
Rose knows she can restore a damaged painting, but can she mend Luca’s damaged heart?
Lynne Shelby writes contemporary and dual-timeline women’s fiction/romance. Her debut novel, ‘Meet Me In Paris,' (originally titled French Kissing), won the Accent Press and Woman magazine Writing Competition, and her fifth novel, Love On Location, was shortlisted for a Romantic Novelists' Award. When not writing or reading, Lynne can usually be found at the theatre or exploring a foreign city, writer's notebook and sketchbook in hand. She lives in London with her husband, and has three adult children who live nearby.
Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is Favorite Secondary/Minor Characters. However, I am following on from last week's post and giving you the second part of my 20 Books of Winter list.
Here are the second group of ten books that I am intending to read before the end of August.
The Little Porto Book Club by Rebecca Raisin - I really enjoy this author's books. I already had it on my list as a review book but now I am going to be on the blog tour for it in July.
The Palace of Lost Virtue by Anthea Hodgson - I am attending the Rachel John's Bookclub Readers Retreat in June and this is one of the two book club reads.
The Couples Retreat by Mercedes Mercier - This is the second book club read
The Secret Dressmaker by Jenny O'Brien - This is a blog tour read for July
The Nile Cruise by Caroline James - Another July blog tour read
The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak - This is a library book that I have borrowed a couple of times now. Hopefully I will read it this time!
First Time Caller by B K Borison - I have really enjoyed the two B K Borisin books I have read so I am looking forward to this one!
Seascraper by Benjamin Wood - This is a historical fiction novel that has had good reviews since it's been released
Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson - This will be a book I read for the Goodreads challenge
Careful, He Might Hear You by Sumner Locke Elliott - This is my Classics Spin selection
Last week I finished reading The Call of the Camino by Suzanne Redfearn. This is the current Cook the Books selection. Now I am just trying to figure out what to cook to accompany my review. I am not sure exactly what yet but I will come up with something this week
After that I read the recently released The Seaside Book Club by Helen Rolfe which I enjoyed.
Next up I started The Venice Summer by Lynne Shelby which I am on a blog tour for later this week!
Finally, I started Poppy Kuroki's Gate to Kagoshima which is a time travel where a modern woman ends up living in 19th century Samurai Japan. In the end I finished this one as well on the train today. I have to say that there are some pretty scathing reviews on Goodreads but I really enjoyed this one!
I'm watching
It has been a good viewing week. We watched what is being called the third season of Good Omens but it was more a movie to finish off the story which started in seasons 1 and 2. I did enjoy the ending but it did feel like there was a story that was cut short.
It was my husband's birthday on Saturday and we chose to have a fairly quiet day. We did however go to the movies to see The Sheep Detectives. I can't remember the last time I went to the movies to see a family movie. It was a really lovely movie and I am so glad we saw i! It's funny, charming, deep and features some very big names! Go see it if you can! Here's the trailer
We also started watching Welcome to Wrexham season 5. Both of the first two episodes have been very emotional! Such good TV!
I was excited to see that the new season of Tucci in Italy is out so we watched the first couple of episodes as well! So far we have watched the episodes on Naples and Sicily
Life
Work is frantic and I can't see it changing any time soon!
Last Classics Spin was my first time participating and really enjoyed my experience of reading The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa so I am excited to see what the spin throws up for me this time!
The idea is that you put up a list of Classics you want to read numbered 1 to 20, the spin will happen and that is the number book that you have to read. You can find a much better explanation of the rules at the Classics Club itself, but I am sure you get the idea.
The lucky spin number will be announced next Sunday so not too long to wait to see what book the fates have selected for me. The big challenge will be to see if I can complete the read and share a review by July 5!
Last week I shared a post about a foodie walking tour that we did in Istanbul. Today, I am going to talk about some of the food highlights from the rest of our trip.
It seem a bit strange but I am going to talk about Chinese food first. It does make sense I promise. When we first booked our flights we were going to be flying via Dubai, including a stopover on the way back. However, with everything going on in the world, we had to decide if we were going to cancel our trip or if we were still going to proceed. In the end, we decided to rebook our flights via China. That meant an 11 hour layover in Guangzhou. What to do in a very boring airport for that length of time!
It turns out that the good people at Guangzhou have a solution. If the times work, and your layover is more than 6 hours there is a free city tour that you can do. This includes stops at Huacheng Park where there is a really great view of Canton Tower, Archaeological Site Museum of Nanyue Palace (ruins of a 2000 year old palace), and the shopping streets of Beijing Road. And, most importantly, it included a free yum cha lunch in a local restaurant. The dishes included noodles, dumplings and spring rolls.
The most surprising thing we tried was a cheese and pumpkin pancake which is not something I have had before and it was so good! It almost tasted a bit cheesecakey which was a surprise. I would totally order this if I saw it on the menu somewhere.
One thing that was interesting is that the guide shared with us a particularly Cantonese tradition of using the first pour of your tea to in effect wash your chopsticks. Again, haven't seen that before.
I do have to mention we found a really lovely Chinese cake. It was light and fluffy with what was like a custard flavoured layer. We had one cake before we went on our day tour, and then we bought two more before we got on our flight. We then bought another one on our way home. You could say it was a hit.
Now, onto Turkiye! We had some really, really great food during our time in the country, and I learned some things about myself.
As an aside, if this is how much I have written about the first day, this is going to be a very long post, so I am going to sort of skip over a few things even though they were highlights. On our first full day in Istanbul, we did a lot of walking, but we also had our first of many baklava and we went on a dinner cruise on the Bosphorus which featured a 3 course dinner and cultural dancing. It was a really fun night and the food was fine. The next night we had a lovely dinner with our daughter and her partner who had come to spend the weekend with us. They live in London and we hadn't met her partner before. We were at a rooftop restaurant with an amazing view!
After doing the walking tour we knew that we wanted more Turkish breakfasts, and we had a couple of really delicious ones over the first few days. The first one in this photo was up near Taksim Square, after which we walked down İstiklal Avenue. And yes, we had kunefe for as our second course for breakfast!
However, if you want to talk about the total experience, probably my favourite Turkish breakfast was the one that we had at Dolmabahce Palace, which was literally a 5 minute walk from where we were staying. We sat right on the waterfront and watched the ships go buy. It was a beautiful morning and the typical Turkish breakfast was really good! Even our travel companion Ellie enjoyed it!
Of course we had to get ice cream from one of these guys. Have you ever tried Turkish ice cream, which is called Dondurma. The dondurma is delicious, so creamy, but it has a very different texture to our ice cream, to the point that it is possible to eat it with a knife and fork. Because of the ingredients it doesn't melt in the same way and it has a kind of chewy texture.
One of the more unusual things that we tried was jug kebab. The idea is that all the ingredients are put inside a clay jug, and it is then cooked. It is bought to the table and then they break it open while you watch! So fun!
One thing that surprised me was the Turkish Delight. In Australia if you buy proper Turkish Delight it is in the traditional cube shapes but in Istanbul in particular there were many, many shops where your could buy different flavours and the big piles just look so gorgeous in the displays. Among the flavours we tried were banana and walnut, rose, kanefe inspired flavour and more.
Once we on the tour, obviously there was a lot of time on a bus. When we visit new countries we like to try some of the snacks and along the way we tried a number of different types of biscuits. We particularly like the cheesecake flavoured biscuit
One of the reasons why we went to Turkiye was to attend the Dawn Service at Gallipoli on Anzac Day. The town that we stayed in was called Cannakale. One of the regional specialities is a baked polenta dessert which was delicious. Another specialty that we tried on a different day was a yoghurt dish that is apparently only made at one specific roadside stop. It features yoghurt which is then topped with honey and sesame seeds. It is not dissimilar to the clotted cream and honey that featured at most breakfasts. It was so good.
I mentioned that I learnt a couple of things about myself. One of the things is that generally I don't enjoy nuts or honey. It turns out that when it comes in baklava or kunefe format I am more than happy to eat it. Maybe it's only shop bought Australian honey that I don't love. Or maybe I just need to try it again here to see how I feel about it now. And as for nuts, I think it is mainly only peanuts that I don't lvoe.
I haven't even touched on all the kebabs we ate, or the great pide I had in a city called Konya, home to Sufi sect and the whirling dervishes, the various flavours of tea that we had in copious amounts or the lunch that we had at a restaurant in Cappadocia.
Speaking of Cappadocia I have to mention our balloon trip there. Whilst this cake and drink would not necessarily be that special in any other circumstance, it was served up after we had done our dawn balloon flight which was an experience of a lifetime!
As you can hopefully tell, we had an amazing time in Turkiye. We loved Istanbul including visitng the mosque, the Basilica Cistern, Topkapi Palace, experienced a Turkish bath, cruising the Bosphorus and more. The experience of visiting the Gallipoli Peninsula and attending the Dawn Service was inspiring. Visiting places like Ephesus, Pammukale and Cappadocia was awe inspiring. We would love to be able to go back!
Weekly meals
Saturday - Sunday - Chips, cheese and gravy Monday - Pressure Cooker Spag Bol Tuesday - Spanish Tuna Pasta Bake Wednesday - Pie and chips Thursday - Korean Chicken Burger Friday - Egg Curry
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
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