The Time of my Life by Cecelia Ahern

Currently reading ... more chic lit!!

Easy reading but need to get my teeth into something next book :-)

The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do

http://www.anhdo.com/anh-do-autobiography.php

Started August 2012 - 

This book has been lent to me to read after I commented on a friend's Facebook comment after she had read it.

Really enjoyed this book and would recommend it :-)

How to Kill Your Husband by Kathy Lette

This month at book club the theme is humor and there was a display of humorous authors to choose from.

I thought I would give this one a go ...

Started 8th August 2012 - finished end August 2012

Hhhmm sort of porn chic lit if there is such a thing, although probably nothing like Fifty Shades of Grey!!

It was okay, wouldn't recommend it though.

A Cook's Life by Stephanie Alexander

Currently reading July 2012

Stephanie Alexander

Really enjoying this so far, a surprise gift from my Mum :-)

Finished: early August 2012

I enjoyed this autobiography a great deal, particularly the history of food in Australian restaurants and Stephanie's travels and ups and downs of her life. 

The Festival by the Sea by June Loves

http://www.juneloves.com/festival-by-the-sea/

I have read the previous book in the series, The Shelly Beach Writer's Group.

I remembered as I read this book that I didn't really like the style of writing and so it felt like it took ages to read this book.

Remind me to not buy the next novel!!

The Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas ...

Currently reading June 2012

When I began this book I thought it would take ages to read but then I started really enjoying it. Well written and even though it jumped from one era to another it was easy to follow. Great story and wasn't predictable to me.

Would recommend this one :-)

Love & Hunger by Charlotte Wood

(I love the graphic design of the cover too!!)

I had seen a few write ups on this book in newspaper and magazines and ordered it on line recently.

It came in the mail on Tuesday and I finished it by Wednesday!!

It was a fantastic read if you love food, enjoy cooking and even a bit of facts about food and cooking too.

Each chapter focuses on a different area ... such as food at funerals, comfort food such as soups, dinner parties or having friends for dinner and more. Each chapter has recipes at the end that are written about in the chapter. There are also suggestions for pantry basics.

So many things in this book I could relate to ... like how she grew up with eating chicken only on birthdays and special occasions. We grew up with chooks but only for eggs, not for chopping their heads off to eat them!! Living on the farm now most people around had chooks for eggs and chopping heads off so they ate chicken a lot more often when they were growing up!

I grew up with watching dad kill the sheep ... I can still visualise the "guts spilling out" as he cut and the smell of the meat in the meat house where he cut up the meat after it had hung in the coolroom for a while!

The chapter on having people for dinner was a great reminder of cooking things that are yummy but also simple or easy so that you can enjoy your friends' company too.

The chapter on giving food to people or accepting food gifts was a good reminder too ... sometimes we might not feel we need to accept the food but that could make the giver feel un-appreciated

On Thursday I made the soup called "Pharmacy in a Bowl" ... I don't know why I've never made vegetable soup before but it was very liberating grabbing all those veggies out of the crisper that were not 100% and chopping them up to make soup ... waste not want not!! Then I thew in a cup of red lentils that were grown here on the farm a few years ago!

So if you love food and enjoy cooking I can recommend this book.

Her blog can be found here ... http://howtoshuckanoyster.com/