So the ending bummed me out a little bit…
But overall I really enjoyed this book for #FoodAndLit #China

The story is mainly told by 3 ghosts, men who met during the war and made a pact to meet in the same place every year following their deaths. Now that they are all together again, they reflect on the time they knew each other, and the woman who tied them together.

My #BookSpinBingo and #Scarathlon TBR for October.

Some spooky reads, but mainly witchy cosy mysteries!
This is also the last post for my early bird points 👻

#MagicalMonsters

Tonight‘s meal was Mala Chicken for #China #FoodAndLit

This was hot but delicious (you don‘t eat the chillies!)

https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/mala-chicken/

Had a rare day off work and we went up to Alnwick.
Visited the gardens including the poison garden, had some food, and went to barter books for a browse and some icecream!

Picked these 2 up at the garden gift shop ☺️

My watchlist for #Scarathlon
Particularly looking forward to the new Haunted Mansion, and The Fall of the House of Usher!💀

It will also be the last season of UK Ghosts 🥹

#MagicalMonsters

My list for #CastTheDie

I am wanting to stick to move fantasy and cosy mystery type things this year, but at least a couple of spookier things on the list. So this will pick one of the more horror based reads! 🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️

There is still time to sign up for this years #Scarathlon
Come join one of our amazing teams and earn points reading and watching halloween movies/TV!
It is always a fun way to spend October 🎃👻

Sign up using the link below!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdnawYo1IDsBAr2s_LlqzBQlxM8KGwIqDxE1Dm4...

#MagicalMonsters

On quite a thriller streak for #Roll100 🤣
This is Octobers roll, and I will also be making a tbr soon which can be used for the #CastTheDice October special 🎃🦇

@CymbaX13 put this together very quickly, and it has already arrived! Meanwhile I am still stalking my match 😂

Now I have to sit and look at it for a long time before I can open it 😱

#HauntedHollowSwap #HHS #HHS23

I have a love hate relationship with these kinds of “mystery” books. Did I enjoy it? Yes. BUT why are people always so cagey in these things? Poor woman just turns up and no one wants to explain why her family isn‘t welcome or what happened in the past or answer her questions 🙄 Also thought the romance for the MC was a bit naff. She deserved better!

Anyway there was a dog, and the sea, and it was overall a good read!

#DoubleSpin

1) A bat🦇
2) I don‘t often re-read something specific. Though I like to revisit Dracula. Maybe I will revisit Frankenstein this year.
3) I once dressed as a silent hill nurse with a cardboard cut-throat razor… I also did a gothic rag doll which was pretty cool 👌🏻
4) yes I do! Size 5
5) Corpse Bride
6) I like the cute Halloween shaped sweets and crisps 🤣 we don‘t really have specific ones in the UK 🤔

#HHS #HHS23 #HauntedHollowSwap

This was a solid crime novel.
The interactions between the characters was good, you see some of DS McRae‘s backstory (this is the first book), and the search for the killer was interesting.

I do think that trigger warnings are needed for this as the blurb doesn‘t really mention the SA that crops up. It‘s a bold move to start a potential crime series with child murder and abuse… but based on how long it has been going it has paid off!

#Roll100

Most were an easy choice, but I can‘t pick between zombies and vamps 🤭

#HauntedHollowSwap #HHS #HHS23

And the cosy aesthetic.

Basically give me spooky stuff while I am cosy 🤭

#HauntedHollowSwap #HHS #HHS23

Here is my spooky/halloween aesthetic feat books, movies, tv shows, and general spooky vibes.
Cosy aesthetic to follow (they wouldn‘t fit on one image well 😂)

#HauntedHollowSwap #HHS #HHS23

Thank you @DinoMom for the #AThingADay goodies.
I love everything! But the sandwich bags are so cute! They are definitely my fave 🥰

September #BookSpinBingo card

I want it to be autumn already! But we have another warm couple of weeks ahead yet 😩

My #BookSpin is The Other Man
My #DoubleSpin is The Stationmaster‘s Cottage

August wrap up

Closest I have been to a line thanks to finishing all my ongoing books and the lining up of free spaces. But still no luck 😂

• Finished Love in the time of cholera (Jul roll100)
• Finished Wild
• Finished Empire of the Vampire (Jun Bookspin)
• Read Memories of Limon (food and lit)
• Read The doll maker (Aug roll100)
• Read The book eaters (Bookspin)
• Read Jane unlimited (Doublespin)

Overall productive 🤭

This was interesting, and I did enjoy it… but I felt like the endings weren‘t satisfying. I wanted a full resolution somewhere with all the pieces brought together 😂

It was fun though. After the first chapter Jane has to decide who to follow. Each subsequent “chapter” is her choosing to follow a different person/dog and how that plays out, with each being a different genre.

#BookSpin

Devon is from the six families, Book Eaters who feed on the written word and have traditional patriarchal values. As a woman Dev is fed on fairytales and is expected to marry and give up her children twice before returning to her family to live out her days. When Dev‘s child is born a Mind Eater (a subset of Book Eaters that feed on the minds of humans) she learns just what she is capable of in the name of love.

#DoubleSpin

Since I did read number 4 this month, I have gone with number 3 for my September #Roll100
Another thriller as well!

I have had this one for soooooo long. My copy is even signed after I bought it at one of his signing events, and I haven‘t read a single word he has written 😳🫣
Way past time I get this one ticked off! Haha

Tonight we had Casado, seen here with salad, green plantain chips, rice, black beans, beef in red sauce, and green bean and carrot picadillo.

It was all very tasty 🥰

#CostaRica #FoodAndLit

This is the 8th in a detective series, but I haven‘t read the others. This was just picked up some time, probably in a charity shop! However I didn‘t really need to know anything about the previous books apart from the fact that the detectives work together 🤷🏼‍♀️

It was a good story tying in lots of threads. Though there were some bits that didn‘t seem to add up with the killer. I would have liked a bit more about them.

#Roll100

I listened to this on audio, narrated by Laurel Lefkow.

The narration was amazing, and the book itself I found interesting (though maybe not inspiring as I won‘t be walking the PTC anytime soon!).
I don‘t think I really related to Cheryl, but props to her for realising she needed to take a step back from how her life was and go out and do something new and amazing to reset that!

I loved this 🥰

Gabriel, the last silversaint, has been captured and forced to tell his story to the Historian of House Chastain.
An amazing vampire based story. I can‘t wait for the second book!

This was my June #BookSpin and my first read that hits the #ChunksterChallenge2023 challenge this year 😂
#ChunksterMini

This is a graphic novel about the authors family, featuring drawings of lots of family photographs that are the catalyst for his family members talking about their memories of growing up in Limon. It is all tied together by the story of his grandparents.

I thought it was great and quick read, although some of the fonts were quite tricky to read at times.

#FoodAndLit #CostaRica

Signed up for my favourite event of the year, the annual #Scarathlon hosted by @StayCurious and @Clwojick

They are shaking things up a bit this year, but it is still going to be the fun filled spook fest we know and love!

Come join us! 🎃👻

I found this quite hard to get through. The chapters were long, the characters are in my opinion unlikeable, and Florentino should not have spent his whole life pining for someone 🤷🏼‍♀️
BUT
Overall I quite enjoyed how it all came together…

This was my #Roll100 for July ☺️

And my shiny new August #BookSpinBingo card
Hoping the summer vibes make the rain go away 😂

#BookSpin should be Archangel‘s Resurrection, but that‘s already a historical one from this year, so I have gone to number 11 instead - Jane Unlimited

#DoubleSpin is The Book Eaters

My July #BookSpin wrap up

I only got through 3 books (1 on audio) but I have another 3 books on the go and am almost there with them!

• Finished Iza‘s Ballad (Food and Lit)
• Finished Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts (Doublespin)
• Finished Are We Smart Enough To Know How Smart Animals Are (audio)
• Continued with Empire of the Vampire (last months Bookspin)
• Started Wild (audio)
• Started Love in the Time of Cholera (Roll 100)

#JubilantJuly round up: I met my goals!

• Finish Ida‘s Ballad ✔️
• Read Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts ✔️
• Read some more Empire of the Vampire ✔️
• Start another book ✔️ (I swapped Midnight Sun for my Roll100 instead, Love in the Time of Cholera)

I have read a few Lucy Dillon books and have enjoyed all of them. This was no exception!

Rachel is 39 and has just broken up with her partner, quit her job, and inherited a house and kennels from her Aunt Dot. Natalie and Johnny are trying for a baby but struggling, and Zoe is a single mum with 2 boys, whose ex buys them a puppy.

The relationships are all great, and I am a sucker for a romance that also has dogs 🤭

#DoubleSpin

I haven‘t started July‘s yet… but here is my #Roll100 August pick :)

@Chrys the goulash recipe isn‘t online (it was just on some paper with the goulash kit I bought) but I have copied it here :)

#Hungary #FoodAndLit

Made a very tasty goulash tonight for #FoodAndLit #Hungary 🥰

Used celeriac for the first time… lots of veggies in this!

I enjoyed this but it was so sad.

A complex mix of relationships (mother and daughter, ex in laws, ex spouses) and dealing with grief, loss, adapting to modernity.
It was interesting though a tough read.

#FoodAndLit #Hungary #JubilantJuly

For #JubilantJuly I want to:

• Finish Iza‘s Ballad (3/4 through currently)
• Read Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts
• Start Midnight Sun
• and Read some more Empire of the Vampire

I think I have made achievable goals this time… 🧐

I enjoyed this one overall, though I found some bits repetitive (and did not like the narrator much).
It is an interesting look at animal cognition and how it is tested in labs, and debating whether tests are set up for animals to fail, keeping humans on top.

I mostly liked the stories about animals doing unexpected things, like carrying rocks to use as tools, trying to deceive the alphas, and particularly liked the birds!

How cute is this little hamper I got from Best Of Hungary?

It is a goulash kit which comes with:
• Goulash recipe (not pictured)
• Mild goulash paste
• Hot chilli oil
• Hungarian sweet smoked paprika
• and Csipetke (pinched pasta)
All in this pretty basket 🥰

I am going to make the tastiest goulash next weekend with this!

#FoodAndLit #Hungary

Belatedly made Lamingtons for #FoodAndLit #Australia
I did however discover I had misplaced the coconut… so unfortunately had to skip that part 🤣
Usually these would be rolled in desiccated coconut as well

Still tasty though.
It made quite a dense cake, with a rich ganache.
I would probably make these again (with the coconut)

So I definitely read 20 chapters, but didn‘t manage to read 20 min every day during the #20in4 😂
Half a success ☺️

July #BookSpinBingo board :)

My #BookSpin is: Midnight Sun
My #DoubleSpin is: Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts

My June round up:

Finished 4 books
• At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig (Food and Lit from May)
• The Lost Man (Food and Lit)
• Horseman (Roll100 and previous DoubleSpin)
• The Cage King (DoubleSpin)

And started Empire of the Vampire (BookSpin) which I will continue into July. Maybe longer! It is my first book over 500 pages this year. I think it hits the Chunkster Mini Category 🤔

Still need to pick my food and lit book, but otherwise here is my #BookSpinBingo list for July ☺️

For this months #20in4 I am going to aim to:
• Read at least 20 minutes a day
• Read at least 20 chapters

Most of this will be on Empire of the Vampire, but I might start another book over the weekend as well to get started on those July picks 😂

I love it when a book has maps 😍🥰

And also coat of arms 😂

I had read a couple of Jane Harper books, so I looked for the next book when #Australia came up on the #FoodAndLit list

Instead I stumbled upon a deal for this stand alone. The ending did surprise me (though I imagine seasoned mystery readers might guess 😂)

A body is found by the Stockman‘s grave, out in the outback. It looks like an experienced land owner left his fully stocked car and wandered into the desert. But was it really what happened?

#Roll100 for July is Love in the Time of Cholera.
One I keep meaning to read, and then do not 🤣

FINALLY finished this #FoodAndLit #Paraguay read!

Should I have bailed? Absolutely 😂 but I was so far through I persevered, especially since there aren‘t many Paraguay books in English.

Anyway it was okay. I learnt a bit, but I struggled with the narrative and never knew what period I was reading about, who that person was, and so on 😂

I really enjoyed this retelling/sequel to the legend of sleepy hollow. I liked how the original story was present, and underpinned some of the plot.

The main character is the grandchild of Brom and Katrina. A child is killed in the woods where Ben plays, his head and hands missing. Villagers suspect the horseman, but Ben believes that another monster is responsible.

This was my #Roll100 for June ☺️
Edit: this was also my #DoubleSpin for Feb