February’s Reads

In February, I managed to finish 8 books. Not bad really considering it was a short month and a very busy month for me helping at out home with both parents sick! Let’s have a look at what I finished.
Lemon Meringue Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke

This is book number 4 in the Hannah Swensen series by Joanne Fluke. I had read 2 and 3 in January and continued reading them into the start of February as they are quick and easy books. In this books, local drugstore clerk Rhonda is found dead and Hannah once again finds herself helping to track down the culprit.

 

 

Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke

Book number 5 in the Hannah Swensen series. In the run up to the Sheriff elections, current Sheriff Grant is found dead and the main suspect is the other election candidate, Hannah’s brother-in-law Bill. Hannah must work quick to try and clear his name. Another quick and easy read by Joanne Fluke which I found enjoyable, I do like the characters involved. I decided to take a break though so this entire blog post wouldn’t be about these books!

 

 

Ten Days in a Madhouse by Nellie Bly

The first non-fiction read this month. It’s a short account of Nellie Bly, who has herself institutionalised for 10 days. She recalls the shocking treating of the patients who are also institutionalised and the horrible conditions they live in. Set back in 1887, it’s hard to believe people (and more accurately women) were actually treated like that, it made me gasp in places. Interesting read.

 

 

 

Watermelon by Marian Keyes

This is the second book of my Reading Resolutions list. I picked it up from a charity shop because I knew this was the first Marian Keyes book I wanted to read. It’s book number 1 in the Walsh family series. It starts off with Claire, the oldest Walsh sister, who has just had her first child in hospital when her husband arrives and tells her he’s leaving her for another woman. Claire’s life is turned upside down. So she returns home to the support of her wacky family and tries to get her head around what happened and get her life on track. I did enjoy the book, but I don’t think I clicked with the character of Claire that much. However I liked it enough to read the next book in the series.

Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes

Book number 2 in the Walsh Family series. It deals with middle sister Rachel, who finds her life spiralling out of control in New York. Her flatmate decides enough is enough and when Rachel is found after a suspected suicide attempt which results in her stomach being pumped, she is sent home to enter Ireland’s answer to the Betty Ford Clinic. Even though Rachel does not believe herself to be a drug addict, she agrees to go as she thinks it will be like a holiday, all celebrities, spas and the occasional therapy. I found the story very frank and actually laughed out loud at certain parts!

 

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in Space by Mary Roach

Mary Roach is one of my favourite non-fiction writers, having previously read and enjoyed Bonk and Stiff. Packing for Mars explores all sides of life in space: eating, what zero gravity is like, how do you go to the bathroom, can you have sex in space. While I did find this book interesting, it’s my least favourite of Roach’s books so far, probably because I don’t love the whole idea of space. Don’t get me wrong, it is well worth the read and is interesting. I'm looking forward to reading more of her work.

 

 

Angels by Marian Keyes

Book number 3 in the Walsh Family series. This book deals with sister number 2, Margaret (Maggie), who is the goody-two-shoes of the sisters and about to shock the family. After being fired from her job and discovering her husband is having an affair, Maggie decides to be sponateous and leaves to LA, where she crashes with best friend Emily, a screenwriter who is down on her luck. Her Maggie comes to terms with the end of her marriage, while also learning to let loose to mix with the cool, tanned and beautiful LA people. She also deals with some past demons. Again I found myself laughing out loud at certain parts, these books could be classified as chick lit but I find they are cleverer than that.

Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes

Number 4 in the Walsh Family series and this time the focus is on sister number 4, Anna, the one flaky, hippy sister who is recovering at home in Dublin after some injuries, with only one thing on her mind: to get back to New York to her fabulous job and to her husband, Adrian. This book follows Anna’s emotional and physical recovery in New York. I found it sad in places but again I did laugh out loud other times. Keyes can hit certain things on the head so well, especially with Mammy Walsh, who I find hysterical.

 

February Reading Stats
Number of books read- 8
Ratio fiction to non-fiction read- 6:2
Number of eBooks- 4
Number of books borrowed from library- 4
Number of books from Reading Resolutions- 1 (Watermelon)
So clearly more of a fiction kind of month. Not sure if I’ll be able to read as many books this month, I’ll be in London twice, with one of those visits over a week so I doubt I’ll have much time for reading! But hopefully I’ll squeeze it in when I can, the good thing about having a Kindle app on my phone is that I’m always carrying a book, which is handy for waiting rooms and things like that.
Link to January’s Read

DIY: Teacup Candles

Today’s DIY is something I made for Christmas but would be perfect as a Mother’s Day gift, which is this coming Sunday. After I had my tea party fundraiser back in October, I was left with loads of teacups. And while I love them and think they are pretty, I decided I wanted to give them away as gifts and then this idea came about! It’s very simple.

DIY Teacup Candles

Supplies

Wax (mine was part of a candle making kit, you should be able to find it in craft shops. Though I also melted down some wax tarts a friend passed on to me)

Wick

Scented oils

Lollipop stick

Scissors

Clean teacups

Method

1. Melt the wax as specified with the instructions. I melted mine in a heatproof glass bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Your wax should come in beads or pellets, which make is faster to melt. However when I used the wax tarts (or you could use old bits of candles, probably bees wax too) I had to chop it up before melting so the pieces would be smaller, otherwise I would probably still be there trying to melt it!

2. Once melted, add in a few drops of the essential oil of your choice to give it a nice scent. If you have plain wax and want to colour it, you’re going to need oil based colouring I think, otherwise it won’t work.

3. Measure the amount of wick needed, leaving enough extra attached so that you can tie it around the lollipop stick, then dip the bottom half into the wax, pull out and leave to harden. It will help it stand up better. Tie to the lollipop stick.

4. Pour the wax into the teacup to desired level. Add the bottom part of the wick into the candle and place the lollipop stick across the top of the teacup, so the wick will stay in place will the wax hardens.

5. Once the wax has hardened, cut off the excess wick and voila! You have a lovely new candle!

 

YouTube Pick of the Week

It feels like it’s been ages since I did one of these!

First video is a Breakfast Club/Avenger mash up. I’m a sucker for them and love this one!

I’ll admit, the very first thing that popped into my head when the Pope said he was going to retire was this old Gift Grub Pope Idol sketch!

Here’s VSauce’s defence for Comic Sans. I can’t help, part of me really likes it! (don’t hate me, please!). However I do realise that it’s not completely appropriate for every occasion. I thought this video on the history of Comic Sans was interesting. Now I’m off to watch Helvetica to redeem myself!

This Heineken interview video stuck out to me. It was a very interesting concept. And also reminded me of a story my English teacher always told about interviews, that there was company that used to keep a knocked down brush outside the door of the interview and kept note of how many interview candidates took the time to pick it back up. Not sure if it was true but it’s stuck with me for all these years!

Stumbling around Tumblr one day, I came across a GIF for the scene above and searched for it on YouTube. It’s one of my favourite’s from Toy Story. After watching Toy Story 3 on TV last weekend, I must rewatch the first film again.

Finally, the last video is a piece of old Irish music nostalgia, Sunburst by Picturehouse. So happy and uplifting!

Valentine’s Day Nails

I had fun thinking up nail ideas for Valentine’s Day! I had a few more ideas but didn’t have the time (and I don’t think my nails would have thanked me for it!). So here’s what I came up with.

No flash

With flash

Hand painted hearts. I love the colour combo!

Base colour- Catrice Hollywood’s Fabulous 40s in The Nude Scene

Heart colour- Catrice Ultimate Nail Lacquer in Wrapped Around My Finger

No flash

With flash

Here I tried some nail stamping, it wasn’t the best but again I do love the colour combo, as well as the idea. I just need to practice nail stamping more!

Base- Rimmel 60 Seconds Nail Polish in Rose Libertine

Heart- essence nail art stampy polish in matt black (I applied a top coat to make it shiny but I really liked it matt as well)

No flash

With flash

This time I used electrical tape, cut off a bit, folded in half, cut out the half heart shape, unfolded and stuck on my nails so it could be used as a stencil. Scotch tape would work too, I wouldn’t recommend Sellotape though.

Base- Catrice Ulimate Nail Lacquer in CO2 Reggaeton (Cucuba Limited Edition)

Heart- Models Own in Pink Fizz

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Romantic Chocolate Puddings

I made these chocolate puddings last year for Valentine’s Day and complete forgot to blog about them! They are too delicious to not share though!

Romantic Chocolate Pudding

Adapted from www.nigella.com

Ingredients

50g dark chocolate (or make a mix of dark and milk if you aren’t the biggest fan of dark chocolate)

50g butter, softened

100g caster sugar

50g self raising flour

2 medium eggs

1/8 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

For the sauce

75g dark chocolate (or again a half and half mix of dark and milk)

23g butter

1 Crunchie Bar (optional)

Serves 4

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Chop or break the chocolate into pieces and then melt, along with the butter, either in the microwave or in a heatproof bowl of a pan of boiling water. Once melted, leave to rest and cool on countertop.

2. Beat the eggs and sugar together until thick, pale and airy (best to use an electric beater to do this unless you have strong arms!). Gently fold in flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt.

3. Fold in the melted cooled chocolate mixture, divide equally between 4 ramekin dishes and bake for 25 minutes.

4. To make the chocolate sauce, melt the chocolate and butter the same way you did the first time and then drizzle over the cooked puddings. Crush up some Crunchie (easiest way to do this is in a sandwich bag) and then add to the top of the puddings.

5. Enjoy!

butter London Fiddlesticks

I’ve drooled over butter London polishes several times online and when I came across a few of there Lips & Tips sets in TK Maxx last week, I leapt at the chance of buying one. There were several shades there, a ruby red, a gold, a silver, a pink and a rose gold shade (which I was very tempted to get!) but Fiddlesticks stuck out to me. It’s a beautiful raspberry pink glittery shade and I’m a sucker for raspberry shades so I nabbed the last one there!

Without flash

With flash

It has an almost jelly like consistency, the glitter in it doesn’t feel glittery when on the nail if that makes any sense?! It definitely needs a top coat to make it extra shiny. I’m very impressed by it, I will definitely check out more butter London in the future!

January’s Reads

If I keep up at the speed I was reading at in January, I’ll definitely hit over 100 read mark! In January I managed to read 12 books (almost 13 as I was over 75% finished another book). Here’s a look at my book shelf!

The Science Magpie by Simon Flynn

This is a collection of science related stories, facts, poems, jokes (I love science puns and jokes!) and diagrams. If you’re a little nerdy like me you’ll appreciate this. Nothing too heavy, the facts do not bog you down like other non-fiction books. I got a kick out of reading it and it was the perfect way to kick start the year!

 

 

Dolores Claibourne by Stephen King

The first book read off my Reading Resolutions list! Which means it’s the first time I’ve read a Stephen King Novel. I don’t know why I’ve never read one before, probably because I was put off by the fact he writes a lot of horror books. If this is the same reason you’ve never read one of his books, then this is the perfect introductory book for you, more in the mystery genre than horror.

This one was recommended (and bought) for me by a friend. It’s the story of Dolores Claibourne, a woman in her mid-sixties who has been accused of murdering Vera Donovan, the old lady who has been her long term employer. The entire book is narrated by Dolores while she is being interviewed and while she denies that murder, she does delve into the depths of her past to explain why she murdered her husband years ago. I could barely put it down!

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

I’ve had this book for a long time, I got it for Christmas after reading The Guernsey Litary and Potato Peel Pie Club. I fell in love with books written in the form of letters and Amazon recommended 84 Charing Cross Road. It’s a true story of Helene Hanff, a New Yorker, and her relationship with the staff of Marks and Co., the second hand book shop at 84 Charing Cross Road, where she first writes to order some books. The book shows years of letter correspondence and my copy also included The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, which was the book written after 84 Charing Cross Road and the success of the book and Helene’s eventual visit to London. A quick and charming read!

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

I have had 84 Charing Cross Road for years and never tried to read it until last month. And the next book I’ve had for years but I have tried several times to tackle it and failed. I bought The Elegance of the Hedgehog at the same time as The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Club in 2009 and it’s taken me that long to finally get it finished. The problem with is that for the first 100 pages or so, the build up is slow and I hated the characters. After the introduce of a certain character who becomes the catalyst for change, I warmed to the characters and did enjoy the book. It is however steeped in lots of philosophical musings which frankly bored me (so much so that a skipped some of it shush!). If that sounds like your kind of thing then this book could be for you.

Never Suck a Dead Man's Hand by Dana Kollmann

Back to another non-fiction! Never Suck a Dead Man’s Hand is a true life account of a Crime Scene Investigator. It isn’t all like the CSI TV shows! It was an interesting read but I thought it would grab me more. If you’re curious about this kind of thing, then this could be for you. It is of course pretty graphic in areas, don’t say I didn’t warn you!

 

 

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

I decided to read this book after I saw this article about books people might enjoy if they liked The Hunger Games. In Uglies, once people turn 16 they have an operation that makes them a Pretty. Their only responsibility as a New Pretty is to party and have fun before having to get a job. Tally has been dreaming of becoming a Pretty and then she meets Shay, who decides she doesn’t want to become a Pretty. Tally is given an ultimatum: find Shay and bring her home or never become a Pretty. Suddenly Tally discovers there’s an ugly side to being a Pretty and that it’s not all cracked up to be.

I enjoyed this book and if you liked The Hunger Games, then this Young Adult, dystopian future novel is one you should enjoy too.

Dark Lies the Island by Kevin Barry

Dark Lies the Island is a collection of short stories by Irish author Kevin Barry. Most are set in Ireland. I did enjoy the books, especially the darker stories but there were a handful I didn’t like. But overall it was a good read.

 

 

 

Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster (eBook)

This is the second book by Jen Lancaster (the first being Bitter is the New Black). In this book she writes about the ups and downs of city life, that it’s not all swanky cocktail parties and shopping sprees. I decided to give this book a go as I had warmed to Jen’s character by the end of Bitter is the New Black. I like Jen’s style of writing, so much so that the next book I read was almost on of hers!

 

Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster (eBook)

In Jen Lancaster’s third book, she tackles the pitfalls of diets and losing weight. It’s a refreshing, honest read about what often goes on in a woman’s head when she’s trying to get fit and healthy! Here’s the first page:

Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels- A Weight Watchers axiom

Weight Watchers can kiss the fattest part of my ass- A Jen Lancaster axiom

With a beginning like that you know Jen Lancaster will not hold off in telling you how she feels! A funny and honest memoir.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (eBook)

This is the second book in the Uglies series. I won’t give away too much as it might spoil some things. I did enjoy it and I’m looking forward to reading the next book. The only annoying thing is the Pretty slang, lots of references to being ‘bubbly’, ‘bogus’ or ‘pretty-making’. It does seem to be slightly over used but it is part of the Pretty characters.

 

Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke (eBook)

This is the second book in the Hannah Swensen series. Hannah is the owner of The Cookie Jar, a bakery in the small town of Lake Eden, Minnesota. Hannah has a habit of stumbling upon murders and against detective orders she always decides to investigate! In this story Hannah gets a call from Danielle, the battered wife of Boyd Watson, the basketball coach at the local high school. Danielle has found her husband dead in their garage and rings Hannah to help her. Hannah must find the killer so Danielle is cleared off the suspect list. Was it a contestant in the Hartland Flour company’s Dessert Bake-Off that Hannah and Boyd had judged or are there other secrets in Boyd Watson’s life, secrets that could get him killed? An enjoyable read, I like the characters and the book comes complete with delicious recipes.

Blueberry Muffin Murder by Joanne Fluke (eBook)

In Joanne Fluke’s 3rd book, Hannah Swensen, owner of The Cookie Jar, is tasked with showing America’s ‘Cooking Sweetheart’ Connie Mac around Lake Eden, in preparation for the Winter Carnival. Hannah soon discovers that Connie is not as sweet as she appears on TV. After Connie’s cake is ruined while being delivered, Connnie takes over Hannah’s kitchen to bake a new one. The next day Hannah opens the shop to discover the kitchen in a mess, as well as Connie’s dead body. Hannah rushes to find the killer so she can reopen her shop which has been closed as it is a crime scene. It was an easy fun read but I did have an inkling of who the killer was! These books are like the baking equivalent of Nancy Drew!

January Reading Stats

Number of books read- 12

Number of fiction to non-fiction read- 7:5

Number of eBooks- 5 (mainly because I was stuck in a hospital with my mother all day Monday and Tuesday)

Number of books borrowed from the library- 1 (Uglies)

Number of books from Reading Resolutions- 1 (Dolores Claibourne)

Not a bad start to the year! A long post, I have a feeling the rest of the months won’t be this long though!