My Sunday love this week is dedicated to the very awesome Moonrise Book Blog who are celebrating their 1 year anniversary with all sorts of good things going on! One huge reason that Kristal and I started this blog was to chat and interact with like minded people about books, reading and randomness. So being asked to join in with events like these is so awesome for us.
Please take a moment and pop over and visit Moonrise and check out her posts and enter her competition… It’s very worth it!
Ah, I’m just writing randomness for Sunday Loves this week. Think of it as a miniature collection of entertainment type loves from the past week….
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22 JUMP STREET – I don’t think I was a mega Channing Tatum fan…however after seeing 22 Jump Street I feel like maybe I am ONLY a Channing Tatum fan?!!! Oh and Jonah Hill! Those two are just absolutely EVERYTHING together on screen. Seriously, if you haven’t checked it out and you need to laugh for 120 minutes then go and see this movie!
AMAZING READING THIS WEEK – Neanderthal Marries Human is still whizzing around in my mind. I LOVED this book! So nice to read something that just makes you smile… And luckily for me it seems to have just been the start of hopefully a very long amazing book run because I’m currently 1/3 of the way through Shadow of Night (All Souls 2) and am loving it, just as I loved the first. These are long books so I may be MIA for a few nights but I’ll definitely be filling you all in…
TRUE BLOOD – My BBH already re-capped the first episode so I wont repeat that. I’m just excited it’s finally started up! So I’ll quickly and efficiently note down my important points…
So last week I finally had a reason to make a brownie recipe that I’ve had written down for literally years. But have never made. And HOLY MOLY I can still taste the goodness. So I’m sharing my recipe for my Sunday Loves this week. It’s the first episode of TB in a couple of sleeps so maybe you might want to cook this bad boy up and have it on hand juuuuust in case Eric doesn’t make an appearance… pretty sure that’s my/our plan!
Oh and btw this recipe does come with a warning: It is extremely extremely decadent. So when it says cut into small squares you literally want tiny small squares. I know this from experience since last week I decided to taste test the brownie before Kindy pickup… It wasn’t a good look me showing up with a chocolate hangover! Totally worth it though.
Pure indulgent deliciousness…
150g butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/2 cup cocoa
3 eggs, room temperature
11/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup dark chocolate chipes
250g cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
Preheat the oven to 170C. Line an 18cmX28cm tin with baking paper.
To make the topping, beat the cream cheese, egg and sugar together until fluffy. Add the vanilla essence and beat again until combined. Set aside.
To make the brownie, pour the melted butter into a large bowl and sift over the cocoa. Whisk together until combined. Add the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence. Whisk vigorously for about 30 seconds until the mixture becomes creamy and slightly paler in colour.
Sift over the flour and baking powder. Use a spatula to combine gently. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Spoon half the brownie mixture into the base of the prepared tin, smoothing it out with the back of a spoon. Place dollops of the topping over the brownie, then fill in the gaps with the remaining brownie mixture.
Use the point of a knife or a chopstick to zigzag through the brownie and swirl the two mixtures together.
Bake for about 45 minutes until the brownie is pulling away from the sides of the pan and is not wobbly in the centre. Cool in the pan and cut into small squares to serve. KEEP REFRIGERATED.
It’s Sunday already! This week I’m just going to do a quick round up of our book lives/lives! We’ve had a busy week here at OUBB, my BBH is still without internet and my family and I are mostly recovered from illness and slowly catching up on sleep (thank goodness!) My husband is currently at the movies (no Tom Cruise for me thank you very much!) and I’m already in bed, about to try and finish my scary ghost book (Eeep! Kristal will be hearing about this tonight I can tell) so I can get going on my new author obsession Penny Reid’s newest book: Neanderthal Marries Human. Beyond excited for this one.
I have a review to put up for The Girl with all the Gifts…ZOMBIE book. I kid you not, we all know how I feel about zombies… I finished it over a week ago but I’ve been too freaked out to write a review for it yet! Actually, I really have had the worst luck with books that are too scary for me lately, I think I need to pull back into my comfort zone for a bit to calm down! If anyone has any really great lighter reads please send suggestions my way. My TBR list is out of control, but I like mixing it up with spur of the moment choices so feel free to help me out!
I know that Kristal has some great reviews to put up once she is reunited with the internet (!!!) She’s been reading a story with a different take on Alice in Wonderland, from what she’s told me I’m so intrigued I can’t wait to read her review! And since she reads roughly 5 million books a week no doubt she has many more reviews to come as well. So no rest for the wicked here, I better get back to my Kindle, he’s starting to look like he’s missing me…
Yes, I know… MORE True Blood posts. But it’s June now which means we are on the countdown to the first episode of the LAST season! So in a few short weeks my BBH and I will be settling in to start watching/eating…
Kristal and I…
So Last week Trailer #2 was released for the upcoming season, many of you guys have probably already seen it but in case you haven’t….
My only issue, (apart from the vampire zombie thing, we all know how I feel about that…Ahem…) is once again where the EFF is ERIC!!! True Blood you better not mess with us, he better be coming back!
Eric Northman AKA Future Ex Husband #2
Swoooonnnnnn…….
So take this as a warning… there will be much more TB discussion here at OUBB… It’s just that time of year!
So here’s a fan-girl moment for you all… Jack White and I have a long history together… He makes music and I listen to/love his music. I have all of his albums from all of his bands which of course include the very amazing White Stripes. He has a new solo album due out June 10th. WHICH IS 10 DAYS TIME PEOPLE!!! I cannot tell you how much I am dying for Lazaretto to be released. I’ve heard bits and pieces of songs over the last couple of months and it’s sounding good. Like really good.
My amazing photography skills Sydney 2012
His last album was Blunderbuss, released in 2012. I made my husband venture to Sydney, Australia to catch him in concert. I was deathly sick with a seriously horrendous throat infection (which upon landing back in NZ I ended up in A&E for) that hit as soon as we landed in AUS, but no way was I missing that concert. So after spending all day dying in our hotel room I dosed myself full of painkillers and went to one of the best concerts of my life. This man knows how to pull every ounce of life out of his music, and even more so when you watch him live. It was one of those concerts you go to and you just want to relive it and relive it. Amazing.
So you can be guaranteed that if he ventures even close to us here in NZ for his current tour I will be going (and I will be posting about it!) For now though, here is the latest released track from the album…
BUT SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHERE IS ERIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just need some reassurance that he’ll be showing up,,, I’ll even make a bargain, if they bring back Eric then I wont whinge so much about the fact that I’m pretty sure I see zombie-vampires…. Ahem….
More Eric. Less zombies. That is all.
I’ve just seriously sat here for nearly 2 hours wandering through Amazon and Goodreads. Oops! But once I started I couldn’t stop! From this (very well spent) couple of hours of browsing I’ve made a little list of a few books that are being released this coming week that I personally wish I had the spare time to read! A few have actually made it onto my wish list so I’ll keep you posted!
Everyone in Bell Harbor thinks career-minded plastic surgeon Evelyn Rhoades needs a husband. Everyone, that is, except for Evelyn…sort of. Even if she did want a husband (which she doesn’t…most of the time), she’d never let something as intangible as fate determine who she marries. No, if she’s going to find someone to spend her life with, she’ll do it scientifically: with a carefully crafted list of criteria and an Internet dating site.
But when intoxicated, law-breaking Tyler Connelly crashes into her life by way of a stolen Jet Ski, unruly emotions defy common sense. Sure, he’s sexy, charming, and determined to win Evelyn’s affection, but all evidence points to him being the worst possible choice. He’s too young for her. Too irresponsible. Too underemployed. And, oh yeah, he’s her patient.
But Tyler knows firsthand how the best-laid plans can crumble under the weight of destiny. Now all he needs to do is to teach Evelyn that, in matters of the heart, love often supersedes logic.
Reporter Stacy Justice has finally stopped resisting who she really is?a powerfully gifted witch. And now that the Council has appointed her Seeker of Justice, she feels stronger and more attuned to her magic than ever before.
But Samhain?the night when the veil between the worlds thins?is approaching and something strange is brewing. First, a fairy with a sweet tooth appears in town unexpectedly. Then, a mysterious stranger shows up at Stacy’s newspaper, seeking info for a true crime expos? he claims to be writing. But most disturbing of all, a bloodthirsty, sexy demon has escaped the Otherworld, determined to invoke a curse that has plagued Stacy’s family for generations. Fulfilling her role as Seeker and finding out how all these pieces fit together may tear her relationship with her boyfriend apart. But if she doesn’t find answers soon, her love life won’t be the only thing in danger.
This fifth book in the Stacy Justice series offers more of the dazzling magic and heart-stopping thrills that have left listeners spellbound.
A high school music festival goes awry when a young prodigy disappears from a hotel room that was the site of a famous crime, in a whip-smart novel sparkling with the dark and giddy pop culture pleasures of The Shining, Agatha Christie, and Glee
Fifteen years ago, a murder/suicide in room 712 rocked the grand old Bellweather Hotel and the young bridesmaid who witnessed it. Now hundreds of high school musicians, including quiet bassoonist Rabbit Hatmaker and his brassy diva twin, Alice, have gathered in its cavernous, crumbling halls for the annual Statewide festival; the grown-up bridesmaid has returned to face her demons; and a snowstorm is forecast that will trap everyone on the grounds. Then one of the orchestra’s stars disappears—from room 712. Is it a prank, or has murder struck the Bellweather once again?
The search for answers entwines a hilariously eccentric cast of characters—conductors and caretakers, failures and stars, teenagers on the verge and adults trapped in memories. For everyone has come to the Bellweather with a secret, and everyone is haunted.
Guns N’ Roses fans know the Use Your Illusion tour went on nonstop from 1991 to 1993. They know that concerts sold out in minutes all over the world so fans could hear chart-topping singles Welcome to the Jungle, Sweet Child of Mine, Paradise City, and November Rain live. They know the Use Your Illusion tour was the last for the band with Slash and Duff. But they’ve only heard rumors of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans.
Fortunately for fans, Craig Duswalt hasn’t just heard rumors—he knows what went on backstage on one of the longest and most popular music events because he lived it.
As Axl Rose’s personal manager during the ridiculously long world tour, Duswalt experienced things that would make most people run the other way and never look back. And in Welcome to My Jungle, he shares the sometimes hilarious, sometimes just plain reckless, and always insane actual happenings on the tour.
A true must-read for Guns N’ Roses fans, Welcome to My Jungle delights readers with hilarious and entertaining exclusive firsthand stories like:
•The day Axl Rose, Kurt Cobain, and Courtney Love got into a “huge war” backstage at the MTV Awards
•Why Guns N’ Roses are forever linked to Charles Manson
•The night Liz Taylor walked in on a very nude Slash—and stayed a while
Featuring little-known facts for the ultimate GN’R fan, Welcome To My Jungle gives an inside look at what it’s really like to live and work with a hugely popular band, from the middle of a rock and roll hurricane.
In a world where an industrial revolution is powered by magic, Tyen, a student of archaeology, discovers a sentient book in an ancient tomb. Vella was once a young sorcerer-maker, until she was transformed into a useful tool by one of the greatest sorcerers of history. Since then she has been gathering information, including a vital clue to the disaster Tyen’s world faces.
Elsewhere, in a land ruled by the priests since a terrible war depleted all but a little magic, Rielle the dyer’s daughter has been taught that to use magic is to steal from the Angels. Yet she knows from her ability to sense the stain it leaves behind that she has a talent for it, and that there are people willing to teach her how to use it, should she ever need to risks the Angels’ wrath.
Further away, a people called the Travelers live their entire lives on the move, trading goods from one world to another. They know that each world has its own store of magic, reducing or increasing a sorcerer’s abilities, so that if one entered a weak world they may be unable to leave it again. Each family maintains a safe trading route passed down through countless generations and modified whenever local strife makes visiting dangerous. But this is not the only knowledge the Travelers store within their stories and songs, collected over millennia spent roaming the universe. They know a great change is due, and that change brings both loss and opportunity.
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This is what I like to call reading atmosphere porn! All of the amazing places that I wish I could be (instead of my lounge) sitting/laying while reading my book… I’ve compiled a few places that I think my BBH and I would both be VERY happy to be stranded with our Kindles…. Enjoy.
The Beach! Preferably an isolated tropical beach with white dusty sand and warm blue waters… Also I think cocktails and some type of amazing food platter would be needed to go along with that lounger…and maybe an umbrella so I don’t crisp up!
photo credit: muha… via photopin cc
This cozy looking fireplace looks AMAZING. Here in New Zealand we are heading towards winter and there’s nothing that would be cozier than curling up in front of this fire with a cup of tea on a comfy couch… Bliss
photo credit: kern.justin via photopin cc
Hmmmm…. We’re back at the beach! But this time I’d be relaxing on the very comfortable looking daybed. At sunset! Listening to the waves and enjoying the last of the warm sun… No one interrupting me or hassling me unless they were offering food, booze or a massage.
photo credit:ShutterRunner via photopin cc
This reminds me of Barrons Books and Baubles, from The Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning. I would LOVE to cozy up and read in this mysterious Dublin store. I would actually possibly never leave (Due to being terrified of shades, and being in lust with Barrons!) He would have to evict me… although I’d like to see him try.
photo credit: Stuck in Customs via photopin cc
Eric Northman from True Blood / Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. If you don’t know who Eric is you need to research. If you do then I’m sure you know where I’m coming from. Just insert me in there next to him in that spacious bed…Not sure how much reading I’d actually get done though… Enough said.
photo credit: BattieQ via photopin cc
I’ve decided that after Eric I need to cool off! This looks like my kind of luxurious pool to laze back next to and relax/read. The only way that this picture could be any better is if I could bring Eric with me… Please?
“Being a family means you are part of something wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life”
I’m sure a lot of us have spent a bit of time with friends and family this long weekend. In the spirit of that, I’ve found a nice little quote for us all to end our holiday on…
onceuponabookblog.com 