It's Tuesday again, which means it's time for another Top Ten Tuesday post, courtesy of That Artsy Reader Girl. This week was a freebie in terms of themes, so I decided to write a list of ten Christmas themed books to get into Christmas spirit (for adults), as I wrote about children's books last week.
My picks are;
A Gift From Bob by James Bowen
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie
Not a Creature Was Purring by Krista Davis
Death by Eggnog by Alex Erickson
Christmas in the Snow by Karen Swan
Thread the Halls by Lea Wait
Purring Around the Christmas Tree by Liz Mugavero
Christmas at Rose Hopkins' Sweet Shop by Jenny Colgan
It's time for yet another review and this time it's of Christmas at the Cupcake Café by Jenny Colgan.
Description from Goodreads
Issy Randall, proud owner of The Cupcake Cafe, is in love and couldn't be happier. Her new business is thriving and she is surrounded by close friends, even if her cupcake colleagues Pearl and Caroline don't seem quite as upbeat about the upcoming season of snow and merriment. But when her boyfriend Austin is scouted for a possible move to New York, Issy is forced to face up to the prospect of a long-distance romance. And when the Christmas rush at the cafe - with its increased demand for her delectable creations - begins to take its toll, Issy has to decide what she holds most dear.
This December, Issy will have to rely on all her reserves of courage, good nature and cinnamon, to make sure everyone has a merry Christmas, one way or another...
My Thoughts on the Book
Even though it was an okay and entertaining read, I thought that a few of the characters were a bit one-dimensional at times. I might add that I loved the recipes that were included and Austin's little brother.
Da jeg så at jeg kunne forhåndsbestille Farmor si oppskrift - julemat og tradisjoner av Ingrid Sandvik, var jeg ganske kjapp med å bestille. Hendig nok kunne jeg bestille en bokpakke både med den boka, og den forrige, Farmor si oppskrift. I dag skal jeg skrive omtale av den med julemat og tradisjoner.
Beskrivelse fra forlaget
Julematen vi gleder oss til hvert år stammer ofte fra oppskrifter som har gått i arv gjennom generasjoner. Mange av dem finnes i håndskrevne kokebøker hos våre besteforeldre, men alle hemmelighetene er ikke nedskrevet.
All kjærligheten som ligger bak disse tradisjonsrike oppskriftene er det viktig å videreføre til kommende generasjoner. Derfor har vi tatt på oss å samle inn de kulturskattene som skjuler seg på kjøkkenet hos våre besteforeldre. Og vi hyller menneskene som står bak dem.
Det er nemlig våre besteforeldre vi har å takke for våre juletradisjoner, og det er de denne boka handler om.
Mine tanker om boka
Boka er lett oversiktlig og delt inn etter hver farmor/bestemor. Den er fylt med flere kjente oppskrifter, samt noen mer ukjente. Uansett er det en viss sjanse for å bli noe sulten mens en blar gjennom boka, i tillegg til at den kan være fin inspirasjon og et greit oppslagsverk for julemat. Jeg har mine mistanker om at den kan passe fint som julegave for de som liker å lage mat.
(This post contains one affiliate link to Book Depository.)
I found the Christmas Cracker Book Tag over at The Terror of Knowing. Apparently the original video with the tag has been removed, but I still want to participate as it sounded a bit fun.
Anyway, here's my answers.
Pick a book with a wintry cover
There's so many beautiful covers with a winter-feel to them, but for the sake of nostalgia, I chose The Tomten and the Fox by Astrid Lindgren. I'm one of many who grew up with various books written by that author, so it was kind of a no-brainer for me.
Pick a book you would likely buy as a present
It's honestly hard to pick ONE, as everyone has a different taste in terms of literature and how much they read for that matter. A book that I actually gave a friend for Christmas last year was The Cryptic Lines by Richard Storry and she really enjoyed reading it.
Pick a festive themed book
A festive and heartwarming book that would fit right perfectly for this book tag is probably A Gift From Bob by James Bowen. Yeah, it's the odd couple behind A Street Cat Named Bob. This particular book tells about the last Christmas when James and Bob was selling The Big Issue.
Pick a book you can curl up with by the fireplace
If you're up for some mystery and suspense, Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie is something that you can curl up with by the fireplace for sure. It is after all the Belgian master detective we're talking about.
Pick a book you want to read over the festive period
A cosy mystery that I want to read this month is Purring Around the Christmas Tree by Liz Mugavero
Pick a book that’s so good it gives you chills
There's plenty of books that's so good they give me chills, but keeping up with a slight Christmas theme here, I want to mention Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien is after all a great author and it's something sweet that he wrote this letters to his children while they were growing up.
Pick a book going on your Christmas wishlist
Well, I'm going to be cheeky enough to say the Penguin Christmas Classics 6-Volume Boxed Set. I do already have The Night Before Christmas by Nikolay Gogol and The Nutcracker by E. T. A. Hoffmann in this series, but it would be really nice to have the boxed set nontheless.
It's Friday again and time for a new Book Blogger Hop post, courtesy of Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer. The question of the week was "Do you tend to visit the same blogs each week, but also try to look for new blogs?".
For me it's a bit of a mixture; I visit some of my favourite book blogs, but I'm always on the search for new and interesting blogs to follow. Let's face it - once upon a time our fave blogs were after all a "new to us" blog.
Being
born and raised in the town of Snowflake has its perks for Aneurin
Mackenzie, she’s seen it all; businesses booming and the town
flourishing. Sadly, she’s also seen it torn to shreds by a previous
mayor.
Then,
in comes cocky, arrogant, filthy rich Preston Wolfric III with his
“fresh ideas” to bring business back to this small town. He wants
to turn Snowflake around, bringing it to the 21st century.
However,
Nye will not let her town be changed without a fight.
He’s
a big city alpha male, she’s a small town girl with no desire to
change. She plans to run him out of town but what she doesn’t count
on is that cocky jerk making his way under her skin, seeping into her
veins.
She
didn’t realise how devastatingly handsome he is. He didn’t
realise what he needed was right in front of him.
What
will happen when Preston and Nye’s worlds collide? Will there be
sparks or will it become a fire that lays waste to everything they
thought they knew?
Keren
Hughes lives in the UK and is an avid bookworm. She fondly remembers
the days where she would lie in her bedroom away from distraction and
get lost in the world of make believe. Her first real memory of
reading something she fell in love with was The Hobbit. In her
teenage years, she became addicted to Point Horror books like RL
Stine's The Boyfriend, but she also enjoyed light Summer reads like
What Katy Did and What Katy Did Next.
Over
the years she has come to realise that she is a bit of an OCD freak
about books. They have to be in perfect condition without the
slightest bit of damage.
She
has been a book reviewer for the last few years and a book hoarder
for a LOT longer. You can NEVER have too many books! Her shelves are
bulging and overflowing but she always wants "just one more
book".
Keren
had her first book published by Limitless Publishing in November
2013. It's a YA Paranormal Romance novel called Stolen. Her second
book was published with LP in May 2014. This time, an NA Contemporary
Romance called Nothing Like The First Time.
She
couldn't have been more surprised when NLTFT appeared on the Amazon
Best Seller list. That was a dream come true.
Keren
is currently working on more NA Contemporary Romances for you to fall
in love with.
Lorna
Sanders stepped up to raise her niece, after her sister and
brother-in-law’s tragic deaths. She never allowed herself to dream
that someday she would have a family of her own, but meeting Jonathan
Sawyer changes all of that. He teaches Lorna that age is just a
number and dreams can come true, especially at Christmas.
Jonathan
Sawyer’s job is to keep Lorna’s family safe, he never imagined
that job would also include protecting her heart. He just needs to
convince Lorna that wishing for her heart’s desire and Christmas
miracles are both possible. Can Sawyer’s plan, for a Christmas
wedding be enough to show her that it’s never too late to find
happily ever after?
K.
L. Ramsey was born and raised in Maryland. As a child she struggled
in school, having to attend speech and reading therapy. Her teacher
told her that she would never be a very good reader; that English was
just not her thing. She continued to struggle until eleventh grade,
when she signed up for a Creative Writing class. Her high school
teacher saw her potential and submitted a short story, that K. L. had
written for class, to a local literary publication. The story was not
only published but won an award for best short story. Knowing that
someday she wanted to become a writer, K. L. received her BA in
English from Salisbury State University.
K.
L. Ramsey currently resides in West Virginia (Go Mountaineers!). She
lives with hunky scientist, two now not so little people, and six fur
babies. In her spare time, she likes to read romance novels, attend
WVU football games and drink wine with girlfriends.
Thread the Halls by Lea Wait
Purring Around the Christmas Tree by Liz Mugavero
Christmas at Rose Hopkins' Sweet Shop by Jenny Colgan
The Nutcracker by E. T. A Hoffmann
