The prefect explanation of book reading and reviewing – I think I paint my reviews with my own delight or lack of. How do you read/review your reads?
Image courtesy of Aerogramme Writers’ Studio
Guest Review: The Wrong Callahan – Karly Lane
The Wrong Callahan
Karly Lane
Allen & Unwin AU
ISBN: 9781760632656
Description:
It had been two long years since Lincoln Callahan had found himself in front of the gates to Stringybark Creek. He was in the army then – a lifetime ago. Linc had always been the unsettled Callahan, looking for danger, the one who couldn’t wait to leave the family farm.
This time he was back for his little sister, Hadley’s, wedding. From far and wide, the Callahan relatives were streaming toward Stringybark Creek.
Linc’s little brother, Griffin, was the steady son, the one who stayed at home, the one who did the right things. And now, the one who had feelings for city-girl, Cash Sullivan.
For Cash, the offer to manage her best friend’s luxury beauty spa tucked away in the country had come at the right time. She knew she needed to make smarter choices in her life, starting with the men she dated, and an enforced break in the country seemed the right way to consider her options.
When Linc sets eyes on Cash at a family dinner, their swift attraction floors him. But Cash is his brother’s girlfriend…what was he thinking?
As Linc, Griff and Cash form an uneasy triangle, each of them have personal demons to face before they can open their hearts.
Brenda’s Review:
It was the first time in two years since Linc Callahan had returned home to Stringybark Creek – he’d since left the army after his final tour of Afghanistan and the business he and two mates had started was doing well. But the peace he knew he would find at home with his mother Lavinia and father Bob, plus his siblings was something he was looking forward to. Christmas was only a few weeks away, then it would be his sister, Hadley’s wedding. Much would be happening, hence his earlier arrival.
Cash Sullivan had arrived to take over the operation of her best friend, Savannah’s health and wellness centre, while she and her husband were travelling. It included such treatments as massages and spas, and she would be helping prepare bridesmaids and bride for the upcoming wedding. Linc’s younger brother, Griff was on Cash’s radar – he was a gentle man and seemed shy. But she liked him. That was until she caught sight of Linc across the room at a Callahan family dinner. Sparks flew – but Cash was determined to stay right away from him. Apart from anything else, she couldn’t cause trouble between the brothers…
The Wrong Callahan is the first in a new series by Aussie author Karly Lane and is set in the rural countryside not far from Griffith in NSW. A familiar setting for me, and I could easily visualize the farm and the surrounding bushland. The Callahan family, especially Lavinia and Bob, were delightful; while there is mystery surrounding a couple of the others. An enjoyable rural romance which I have no trouble recommending. 4 stars.
With thanks to Allen & Unwin for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.
Just Desserts: Raspberry and Chocolate Tart – Fruit – Bernadette Worndl,
Edited extract from Fruit by Bernadette Worndl, published by Smith Street Books, $55. Photography © Gunda Dittrich. Out November 2018
RASPBERRY AND CHOCOLATE TART
Chocolate and raspberries really, really like each other!
Pastry
100 g (3½ oz) cold butter
200 g (7 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tablespoon icing (confectioners’) sugar
pinch of salt
1 egg
splash of milk, as needed
Chocolate filling
300 g (10½ oz) bitter dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)
pinch of salt
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of finely grated orange zest
125 g (4½ oz) thickened (whipping) cream
½ teaspoon orange-flavoured liqueur
Topping
1–2 tablespoons raspberry jam (jelly)
250 g (9 oz) raspberries
1–2 teaspoons honey
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) (conventional). For the pastry, chop the butter into cubes. Place the butter in a large bowl, along with the flour, icing sugar and salt. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients. Add the egg and knead into a smooth dough, adding milk if the dough is too dry. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to 3 mm (⅛ in) thick. Line a large pie dish or 4–6 small flan (tart) tins with the pastry and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Cover the pastry with baking paper, fill with dried beans or baking beads and blind bake on the lowest shelf of the oven for 10–15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake the pastry for a further 10–12 minutes, until the edge begins to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
For the chocolate filling, chop the chocolate and place in a bowl with the salt, cinnamon and orange zest. Heat the cream in a small saucepan, then pour it over the chocolate mixture and allow everything to melt together for 2–3 minutes. Stir until smooth, then stir through the liqueur.
Spread the jam over the pie base. Pour over the chocolate cream and leave at room temperature until set. Top with the raspberries and serve drizzled with the honey.
Review: In A House of Lies – Ian Rankin
In A House of Lies
(Inspector Rebus #22)
Ian Rankin
Hachette Australia
Orion
ISBN: 9781409176893
RRP $32.99
Description:
Everyone has something to hide. A missing private investigator is found, locked in a car hidden deep in the woods. Worse still – both for his family and the police – is that his body was in an area that had already been searched.
Everyone has secrets. Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke is part of a new inquiry, combing through the mistakes of the original case. There were always suspicions over how the investigation was handled and now – after a decade without answers – it’s time for the truth.
Nobody is innocent. Every officer involved must be questioned, and it seems everyone on the case has something to hide, and everything to lose. But there is one man who knows where the trail may lead – and that it could be the end of him: John Rebus
My View:
By the twenty second book in a series I would have expected my engagement to have waned, I have read a few series over the past many years and rarely does an author still manage to capture my attention, still keep me up late reading, still make me question “can this writer get any better?” at this stage of the series. Ian Rankin and his Rebus series shines on.
This is stand out crime fiction with the characters you know and love.
Personally I think this series is getting better and better. I can’t wait for next year’s instalment.
Review: The Stranger Diaries – Elly Griffiths
The Stranger Diaries
Elly Griffiths
Hachette Australia
Quercus
ISBN: 9781786487407
RRP $29.99
Description:
A dark story has been brought to terrifying life. Can the ending be rewritten in time?
A gripping contemporary Gothic thriller from the bestselling author of the Dr Ruth Galloway mysteries: Wilkie Collins and MR James meet Gone Girl and Disclaimer.
Clare Cassidy is no stranger to murder. As a literature teacher specialising in the Gothic writer RM Holland, she teaches a short course on it every year. Then Clare’s life and work collide tragically when one of her colleagues is found dead, a line from an RM Holland story by her body. The investigating police detective is convinced the writer’s works somehow hold the key to the case.
Not knowing who to trust, and afraid that the killer is someone she knows, Clare confides her darkest suspicions and fears about the case to her journal. Then one day she notices some other writing in the diary. Writing that isn’t hers…
My View:
Why is it when I read this my brain keeps shouting Agatha Christie? Is it because of the emphasis on great writing skills rather than gratuitous violence? Is it because like Christie, Elly Griffiths sprinkles little gems of hidden clues throughout the narrative yet at the end you still don’t know who did it? (Well I didn’t J ) Intelligently and succinctly written, I am again reminded of “Golden Age” type mysteries.
This is a great read that will keep you guessing to the very end – once you know the ending, maybe like me, you will look back and discover the clues that are gently hidden in plain sight. I hope you enjoy working out this puzzle – I did.
#MeatFreeMonday – Watermelon Salad
Edited extract from Fruit by Bernadette Worndl, published by Smith Street Books, $55. Photography © Gunda Dittrich. Out November 2018
WATERMELON SALAD WITH FETA, TOMATO, MINT AND CUCUMBER
” On hot summer days, I can eat this salad constantly. The sweet, juicy watermelon in combination with the fleshy oxheart tomatoes could not go better with the crisp, thickly sliced cucumbers and salty feta.” p. 136
1 small seedless watermelon
1 Lebanese (short) cucumber
3–4 oxheart tomatoes
3–4 mint sprigs
200 g (7 oz) feta
**fleur de sel, to taste
olive oil, for drizzling
juice of ½ lemon
Halve the watermelon, remove pieces of the flesh using a spoon and arrange on a large plate. Peel the cucumber and cut into thick slices. Cut the tomatoes into chunks and arrange on the watermelon, along with the cucumber. Pick the mint leaves and tear into smaller pieces.
Crumble the feta over the salad, scatter over the mint and fleur de sel, and drizzle with olive oil and the lemon juice.
Fleur de sel – is a finishing salt to flavor and garnish food. It is added just before serving to boost the flavor of eggs, fish, meat, vegetables, chocolate, and caramel.
Sunday Roast: Pork Cutlets with Caramelised Pear and Sage
Edited extract from Fruit by Bernadette Worndl, published by Smith Street Books, $55. Photography © Gunda Dittrich. Out November 2018
PORK CUTLETS WITH CARAMELISED PEARS AND SAGE
“Roast and caramel flavours combine here with smoky wooden-barrel notes of Cognac and creamy, sour crème fraîche.” p. 157
4 pork cutlets
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch sage
2 tablespoons clarified butter
4 small pears
6 French shallots
1 garlic clove
5 juniper berries
5 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
40 ml (1¼ fl oz) Cognac
100 g (3½ oz) crème fraiche
Preheat the oven to 120°C (250°F) (conventional). Season the cutlets with salt and pepper. Pick the sage leaves. Heat half the clarified butter in a frying pan over high heat. Add the sage leaves and cutlets, and quickly sear the meat on both sides. Transfer the cutlets and sage to an ovenproof dish and cook in the oven for 15 minutes.
Halve or quarters the pears. Peel and halve the shallots, and bruise the garlic clove. Heat the remaining clarified butter in the same pan and cook the pear, shallot and garlic until golden brown. Add the juniper berries, peppercorns, bay leaf and cognac, and very carefully set alight to burn off the alcohol. Stir in the crème fraîche. Remove the cutlets from the oven and transfer them to the sauce. Spoon the sauce over the cutlets for the flavours to combine, then season with salt and pepper and serve.
This goes well with creamy polenta or fresh white bread.
The Best Way to Start the Day – Bircher Muesli
Edited extract from Fruit by Bernadette Worndl, published by Smith Street Books, $55. Photography © Gunda Dittrich. Out November 2018
“My favourite breakfast. It easily lends itself to seasonal combinations using different grains, seeds and nuts or fruits. A grated apple always makes an appearance, though.” p. 17
BIRCHER MUESLI WITH GRATED APPLE, PEPITAS, YOGHURT AND FRESH GRAPES
2 apples
1 handful walnuts
100 g (3½ oz/1 cup) rolled (porridge) oats
2 tablespoons linseeds (flax seeds), roughly crushed
2 teaspoons wheat bran
2 tablespoons pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
150 ml (5 fl oz) milk
300 g (10½ oz) yoghurt
pinch of salt
small handful shelled pistachios
small handful grapes
honey, for drizzling
Coarsely grate one of the apples and roughly chop the walnuts. Place in a bowl and add the oats, linseeds, wheat bran, pepitas, milk, 200 g (7 oz) of the yoghurt and the salt. Stir well to combine, then cover and refrigerate overnight to soak.
The next day, roughly chop the pistachios and coarsely grate the second apple. Finely slice two grapes. Serve the muesli in shallow bowls and top with the apple, remaining yoghurt, grapes, pistachios and a drizzle of honey.
