Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"His velvety brown eyes weren't softening because he was overcome with tenderness for the me sitting in front of him right now. 
No. Looking at me, he saw twelve year old e. And the absolute suck that was my world-my past."
pg 39 Foreplay by Sophie Jordan 

Smothered Chicken With Mushrooms and Bacon

One of my unofficial goals of 2014 is to find ways to cook chicken that will make me want to eat chicken. To me chicken is boring and tastes gross. I'd be happy to take chicken out of my diet but I suspect my family would grow tired of beef after a while.

So when I spied this chicken recipe (recipe link), I decided to give a shot. I'd seen similar chicken recipes but they used canned soups. Not this recipe. Takes a little time but still doable on a weeknight. Definitely will make again.

Everything is better with bacon :)

Do you have a must try chicken recipe for me?

Ten Ways To Be Adored When Landing A Lord by Sarah MacLean

I read Nine Rules To Break When Romancing A Rake last year. I found it utterly delightful. I knew I had to continue with the series so I read Ten Ways To Be Adored When Landing A Lord. While Ten Ways wasn't as charming as Nine Rules, it was still a lovely romance. 

Lady Isabel lives in Yorkshire, far removed from London. Isabel is doing her best to keep a house running, rear her 10 year old brother, the earl, and look after a group of women she has taken in. Lady Isabel is known through England as the place where girls in trouble can go. Isabel accepts them, gives them a home, and in return they act as butler, stable workers, or cooks. When Isabel's father dies and it's clear that he gambled away what little they have left, Isabel decides to start selling her possessions, starting with her marble statues.

In London, the leading ladies magazine has just named St. John as one of London's Lords to Land. Eager ladies are turning up at every turn, trying to catch St. John's attention. Desperate to be left alone, St. John offers to help a friend whose sister has gone missing. Using his tracking skills, St. John tracks his friend's sister to Yorkshire. After rescuing Isabel from peril. Isabel decides that her chance meeting with St. John is a sign since in addition to being London's Lord to Land, he's also an expert on marble statues.

While I found Nine Rules to be a more entertaining read, I did like Ten Ways. Isabel is prideful. She has been caring for everyone for a long time. At twenty-four, she assumed she would not find love and instead be the spinster sister to an earl. Isabel had grown accustom to being the one everyone turned to. St. John wasn't looking to fall in love. Although he does have a way of being there to rescue damsels in distress. I did like both St. John and Isabel. I thought their romance was sweet. Their banter wasn't as witty as Callie and Ralston's in Nine Rules but it still had me smiling. 

I'm looking forward to Eleven Scandals to Start to Win A Duke's Heart. Others who shared their thoughts on Ten Ways To Be Adored When Landing A Lord: On A Book Bender, Book Whore, Smitten With Books, and The Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell.

This was my first read for the What's In A Name Challenge. This satisfies the Number written In Letters category. 

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Awkward:

• Had to take the car in again for repairs. The joys of owning an older car.
• Tai's been sick lately. Some sort of cold/ear infection grossness.
• I couldn't get into Possession and had to bail on the read along. Sad face.

Awesome:

• I made prime rib at home twice. So yummy. I want to make it all the time.

• We have plans with friends this weekend. I'm hoping for dinner and game night.

• Naturebox's Dark Cocoa Almonds. I'm glad 2 bags come in each box. That way Tai and I each get a bag. 

• Seahawks game this weekend! Go Hawks!!

What's been awesome and awkward for you this week?

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

I'm so excited to be the new co-host of Library Loot. I found Library Loot back in 2009 and have been participating ever since.

It's a new year which means new challenges and a new reading goal. Let's get started.

Wild Heart

I'm doing the Historical Reading Challenge again this year and the Romance Reading Challenge. This one will count for both.

War Brides

I spotted this one on Jenna's blog. It sounded good and another read for the Historical Reading Challenge.

Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing A Lord

I enjoyed reading Nine Rules To Break When Romancing A Rake. I'm excited to continue the series. Plus I could count this for a category on the What's In A Name challenge.

Foreplay

This one looks really steamy. And it would also work for the Romance challenge. Actually I think all of them will. Is this going to be the year of Romance books?

What did you get this week? Please share using Mr Linky below.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The True Book Addict is hosting a Possession read along. I'm normally rubbish at read alongs but since Trish asked if people wanted to join, I decided to try it. I'm actually reading it which is a great start!

"When she was either very cheerful or very angry, she cooked. She stood at the sink, chopping courgettes and aubergines, when he came in, and did not look up, so he surmised that the mood was bad." 
page 18 Possession by A.S Byatt

Cornerstone by Kelly Walker

Cornerstone was one of those free Kindle books I picked up. It had good reviews so I decided to check it out. Overall I enjoyed it and will continue with the series.

Emariya (Riya) and her brother, Reeve are the "royalty" of her country, Eltar. Their parents had been on the Council and her father had led the Council for many years, until his disappearance. Now Eltar is threatened by its neighbors. Eltar has little defenses and alliances need to be made. Riya and Reeve are looking toward another neighboring country, Thalmas, to help them fight the evading Sheas. When Thalmas offers assistance, Eltar is eager to accept it but the prince of Thalmas wants Riya's hand in exchange. Will Riya be willing to marry a stranger for the safety of her country?

At first I was a little confused. I think Cornerstone had come up under a search for historical fiction but it was YA fantasy. But once I realized that it was fantasy, it was all good. At first I wasn't sure what to make of Riya. She wanted to help her country but she wanted to live her own life. She's not the princess but she's the closest thing to it in Eltar. I really liked the relationships she had with friends, Jessa and Garith.  Jessa is technically her maid but since they have grown up together, they are good friends. Jessa helps Riya figure out what she wants and helps her listen to herself. Garith has also been Riya's friend since childhood. But Garith loves Riya and Riya doesn't love him in that way. I liked the unrequited love bit. It felt genuine to me. The story was interesting, a little slow at the beginning but picked up significantly toward the end.

OverallI enjoyed Cornerstone. It took me a little bit to get into it but once I did it was an enjoyable read. I look forward to continuing the series. Others who shared their thoughts on Cornerstone: The Passionate Bookworms, Books for A Delicate Eternity, and Never Too Fond of Books.

Weekend Cooking: Sausage and Potato Soup

I love a good soup. When I spied this one Bacon, Butter, Cheese & Garlic, I made it immediately. I was a little skeptical of the Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage but I always try to make recipes the way they are written at least the first time. My doubts were quickly erased when I tasted the soup and just melted. 

This soup (recipe link) was a huge hit with my family. Everyone wanted seconds. I did double the amount of spinach in the soup and reduced the potatoes a little but kept everything else the same. As my coworker says everything is better with half and half!

It reminded me a little of the soup my friend, Jen, makes for Easter only a little spicier. I can't wait to make this one again. 

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. 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. For more information, see the welcome post.

December Book Tally and 2014 Bookish Goals

December Book Tally

Two Mrs Gibsons by Toyomi Igus (32)
Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld (485)
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan (260)
Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie (283)
Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares (349)
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (369)
Ex-Heroes by Peter Clines (274)
Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (368)
Cartwheel by Jennifer duBois (384)
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean (436)
The Strange Case of Finley Jayne by Kady Cross (78)

Eleven books this month. I thought I would read more when I was off from work but I slept a lot and read very little. Actually once I met my 40,000 pages goal, my reading drastically dropped off. I think I do better when I have a goal.

Stats:

Fill In The Gaps YTD: 0 (None this month) 

Historical Reading Challenge YTD: 15 (Nine Rules To Break When Romancing A Rake) 

Mammoth Book Challenge YTD: 12 (Behemoth) 

Let Me Count The Ways Book Challenge: Pages read this month (3318), Pages read this year (40673) Total books to date: 132

How did I do on my 2013 goals?

-I set out to read 5 books for the Historical Reading Challenge. I read 15. Goal Accomplished.

-I set out to read 9 books for the Mammoth book challenge. I read 12. Goal Accomplished.

-I said I would read 40,000 pages. I read 40,673 (Goodreads says I read 41,023). Either way, goal accomplished.

-I set out to read 100 books. I read 132. Goal Accomplished. 

2014 Reading Goals

-Participate in the What's In A Name Challenge.

-Read 10 books for the Historical Reading Challenge.

-Participate in the Book Bingo Challenge.

-Read 12 books for the Romance Reading Challenge.

-Read 150 books!

What's In A Name Challenge 2014

This is my first time joining the What's In A Name challenge. It's got a new host, The Worm Hole. I'm pretty excited that she's keeping up the challenge.

If you'd like to join too, check out the details at this post.

2014 Historical Reading Challenge

I'm joining the Historical Reading Challenge again this year. I had a great time with it last year so I'm looking forward to another great time in 2014.

I'm going for the Renaissance Reader with 10 books.

If you'd like to join head over to this post at Historical Tapestry.

2014 Book Bingo Reading Challenge

 Last year, Christine did the Book Bingo Challenge and it looked like loads of fun. I decided to try it out this year!

They mixed up a bit so it looks like I only have to reread one book. I usually struggle with rereads so maybe I should tackle that first. 

If you want to join too check out this post on Kristilyn's blog.

Here's the board! I can't wait to fill it in!

Romance Reading Challenge 2014

Right now I'm really enjoying reading Romance novels so I'm joining the Romance Reading Challenge. It doesn't look like there are levels but I want to try to read 12 romance novels this year.

If you'd like to join, head over to the bookworm for more info!

2013 End Of The Year Book Survey

 It's time for Jamie's Annual Book Survey. If you'd like to join the fun, check out this post. I stole the graphic at the top from Jamie!

The Books

Best Book You Read In 2013? (If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist)

Graphic Novel- The Arrival by Shaun Tan. A great Readathon read.

YA-My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick. I could NOT put this one down. 

Contemporary Fiction- Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. My first Rainbow book. Not my last.

Historical Romance- Forever A Lord by Delilah Marvelle. The third in the Rumor series and my favorite.

 Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

White Jacket Required by Jenna Weber. I'm a big fan of Jenna's blog, Eat, Run, Live but her book fell flat for me.

Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2013? 

For years, I have been anti-romance. I wouldn't read a Harlequin Romance or any book that was close to that genre. But I've been reading more historical romances from Harlequin and Avon mostly and been really enjoying them. I see more romance in  my future!

Book you read in 2013 that you recommended to people most in 2013?

Attachments, Eleanor and Park, The Kitchen Counter Cooking School, My Life Next Door, and Love Minus Eighty.

 Best series you discovered in 2013?

The Rumor Series, The Iron Druid Series, and the Leviathan series.

 Favorite new author you discovered in 2013?

Rainbow Rowell! 

Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2013?

My Life Next Door. I started it before work one day. Big mistake. I was sneaking reads in all day.

 Book You Read In 2013 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Attachments or My Life Next Door.

 Favorite cover of a book you read in 2013?

 Most memorable character in 2013? 

Lily Hayes from Cartwheel. Levi from Fangirl. Will Traynor from Me Before You.

 Most beautifully written book read in 2013?

Code Name Verity and Two Boys Kissing. The writing in both broke my heart.

Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2013? 

Probably Me Before You. I thought about Will's choices a lot after I was done reading it.

 Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2013 to finally read? 

I finished both the Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants series and the Scott Pilgrim Series. Both had been on my tbr list for a while. 

 15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2013?

“There are moments when you can't believe something wonderful is happening. And there are moments when your entire consciousness is filled with knowing absolutely that something wonderful is happening.” 

― Rainbow Rowell, Attachments

“You can only actually help someone who wants to be helped.” 

― Jojo Moyes, Me Before You 

“They say you never know what you would do in a hypothetical situation. We’d all like to think we’d be one of the people who gave up their lifejackets and waved a stoic good-bye from the slanting deck of the titanic, someone who jumped in front of a bullet for a stranger, or turned and raced back up the stairs of one of the towers, in search of someone who needed help rather than our own security. But you just don’t know for sure if, when things fall apart, you’ll think safety first, or if safety will be the last thing on your mind.” 
― Huntley Fitzpatrick, My Life Next Door

“We gather the things we learned, and they don't nearly add up to fill the space of a life.
You will miss the taste of Froot Loops.
You will miss the sound of traffic.
You will miss your back against his.
You will miss him stealing the sheets.
Do not ignore these things.” 
― David Levithan, Two Boys Kissing

Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2013?

The Shortest: Two Mrs. Gibsons by Toyomi Igus at 32 pages
The Longest: The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly at 675 pages

 Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

I wanted someone else to read Attachments so we could talk about. I convinced my coworker to read it but she took a month to finish it. I probably pestered her once a day about it. I doubt she'll ever read another book I recommend!

Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2013 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).

 Friendship: Beth and Jennifer from Attachments

Romantic: Jamie and Claire from Outlander, Nina and Alex from Anyone But You, Atwood and Imogene from Forever A Lord.

Favorite Book You Read in 2013 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

Chimes at Midnight by Seanan McGuire. I really enjoy her October Daye series.

 Best Book You Read In 2013 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:

After reading Paranormal Indulgences rave review of Attachments, I immediately put it on my library queue. I'm so glad I listened to her!

 Genre You Read The Most From in 2013?

Here's a pie chart of my most popular genres:

YA and Graphic Novels continue to be the two genres I read the most. 

Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2013?

Jase from My Life Next Door and Sutter Keely from The Spectacular Now.

Most vivid world/imagery in a book you read in 2013?

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. He builds the best worlds.

 Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2013?

I usually don't cry at books but I teared up at the end of Nine Rules To Break While Romancing A Rake by Sarah McLean. I feel silly saying that but I was really wrapped up in the story.

Book You Read in 2013 That You Think Got Overlooked This Year Or When It Came Out?

The Spectacular Now and My Life Next Door. I think everyone needs to read both immediately. 

Weekend Cooking: Triple Mushroom Soup

I recently checked out Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever. While leafing through the soups I discovered this mushroom soup recipe. My family loves mushrooms and I thought it would be a nice accompaniment to some steaks I was planning on cooking up. I was not wrong. This mushroom soup (recipe link) was creamy and full of flavor. I will be making this one again and again.

In my mind you can never go wrong with a recipe that starts with bacon. The dried porcini mushrooms were a little difficult to find. The first grocery store I went to had never heard of dried mushrooms but I found them at Whole Foods with no problem. A friend suggest that I try the wild mushroom mix at Costco next time. 

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. 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. For more information, see the welcome post.

Cartwheel by Jennifer duBois

I added Cartwheel to my library hold list because someone said it was the next Gone Girl. I liked Gone Girl so I figured I'd check out Cartwheel. Maybe it was that comparison or the fact that Cartwheel is about the Amanda Knox case that caused me not to love it.

If I would have known that Cartwheel was a fictionalized version of the Amanda Knox trial I wouldn't have read it. I don't really like court room dramas. And since Ms Knox is from the Seattle area too, I've heard a lot about the case and Ms Knox. I also don't like thinly veiled fiction because I'm constantly trying to decide what's real and what's fiction.

Lily is studying abroad in Buenos Aires. Lily is an odd sort of girl. She's not like her study aboard roommate, Katy. Katy seems perfect. She doesn't cause the woman that they are living with to get upset. Katy is quiet and seems to always be studying. Lily hardly studies, seems to upset the the host family they are living with daily, and feel awkward all the time. Lily meets Sebastian, the boy next door, who is also odd. They fall into a relationship. Lily isn't sure how she feels about Sebastien.

Once Lily is charged with murder, Lily's divorced parents and her sister come to Buenos Aires. Lily's family was odd too. I had a hard time figuring them out. Sebastian was also strange and hard to figure out. duBois created some interesting characters but I felt they like they stayed at arm's length the entire book. I wouldn't compare Cartwheel to Gone Girl because the characters aren't fooling you, they are fooling themselves. There was a little twist and I did fall for it but I didn't feel anything for any of the characters. I didn't hate them or like them. They never jumped off the page for me. It could have been just me and my expectations though.

Cartwheel would be great for those who like court room dramas. I liked how some chapters were about now, the trial, and some talked about the days leading up to the murder. Others who shared their thoughts about Cartwheel: Literate Housewife, S.Krishna's Books, Like An Open Book, BermudaOnion, Booking Mama, and Never Enough To Read.

Ex-heroes by Peter Clines

I added Ex-Heroes to my library queue because it sounded like something I would want to read. Zombie? Check. Superheroes? Check. A ringing endorsement from a couple of my favorite authors? Check. Ex-heroes was all those things I wanted but didn't push past typical stereotypes.

Somewhere in the future an illness mutates and causes the dead to rise. The Government acts too slowly and the nation is lost. A group of superheroes saves part of Los Angeles and creates a community for superheroes and civilians to live in relative safety.  Superheroes patrol the streets of Los Angeles, killing exs (or zombies). A gang who also has some territory in Los Angeles and causes trouble for our superheroes. The superheroes decide to squash this threat and mount their assault.

There was plenty of action in Ex-Heroes. The story moved fast and it felt kind of like a movie. But the superheroes back stories were so tired. A beautiful woman who wants people to look past her beauty so she hides behind a mask. An aging superhero who feels guilty for those he couldn't save. A beast who's hell bent on revenge. This is the first in a series so hopefully the characters dig deeper and give me more to care about in the next book.

Great action read. A lot of fun and very little substance. I'll pick up the second in series (Ex-Patriots). Others who shared their thoughts on Ex-Heroes: Mom Read It, A Bitter Draft, My Shelf Confessions, and What Mark Read.

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Awkward:

-I've been sick since Saturday. No bueno.

-Again I was late buying and packaging our Christmas presents. I'm crossing my fingers that everyone gets their presents by Christmas. 

-I want more skinny pants so I can wear my boots more often.

Awesome:

-In a few short hours I'll be starting my vacation. I'm looking forward to a week of relaxing. 

-I'm cohosting Library Loot with Claire now. I've been participating in Library Loot for a while now. I'm very excited to be the co-host.

-I'm 300 pages shy of my 40,000 pages read goal. So looking forward to completing that goal!

What's been awkward and awesome in your week?

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and me that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Did you see Claire's news? I'm super excited!!

You Have Killed Me

The film noir feel to this one made me pick it up off the shelf. 

The Girl Who Chased The Moon

I've wanting to read more of Sarah Addison Allen's books.

Enchanting The Lady

Linda recently reviewed a book later in the Relics of Merlin series. It sounded good so I checked the first book in the series out.

What did you get this week?

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Flight was sort of the last straw., in a good way. Maybe I'd read too many comic books as a kid or watched too many superhero movies as an adult. I don't know. Could be I was just stupid enough to think this had happened to someone like me, in a city like this, for a reason. That one man could change things."
pg 7 Ex-heroes by Peter Clines