Booktagger Blog

Skinny Bitch: Bun in the Oven

2010-02-03T21:31:00.007+11:00

This book has been sitting about for awhile with the last couple of chapters unread. So today I finished them (it was still quite relevant, as the latter portion deals with post-pregnancy issues) and posted the following review:

Contrary to the title, this book is not about getting skinny when pregnant. As the authors state, they just have inappropriate sense of humour and wanted to gain attention by appealing to our vanity.

This is the another book by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, who wrote the #1 New York Times bestseller Skinny Bitch, which gained such status after Victoria Beckham was photographed clutching a copy. Written in the same no nonsense style, Bun in the Oven is similarly able to describe a lot more of "horrors" of the food industry than would normally hold the interest of a reader, although I doubt many pregnant women who are feeling more maternal and tearful than usual would be able to stomach the chapter on the cruelty than occurs in slaughterhouses.

Read the whole review.

For those that have embraced the skinny bitch philosophy (vegetarian, if not vegan with minimal refined and processed foods) and can't get up to cook as you don't quite know what is left to survive on, Skinny Bitch in the Kitch contains recipes and an assurance that the skinny girls know "Life without lasagna isn’t a life worth living" and "chocolate cake is vital to our survival". And for the men out there, last year Skinny Bastard was released, presumably to address man boobs and other male issues. Although I'm thinking this is one their female partners will buy them as I'm not sure the title appeals to the Y chromosome, maybe it need a male celebrity to put a copy under his arm?

Doubling

2010-02-02T17:19:00.004+11:00

This is a snapshot from my "I have read" bookshelf on Booktagger showing everything I finished this year. At the end of 2008 I posted that I had only read twelve books that year and listed some ways to read more. By trying to follow my own tips I aimed to double this and get through 24 books in 2009 and I did - almost. Three I didn't finish until the first week of January, but I'll count it as achieved as I also have a lot of unfinished books that, if consolidated, would raise the count even higher.

F0r 2010, I want to read over 30 - and those first three don't count. Et tu?

Basking bookworms

2010-02-01T15:04:00.003+11:00

Yesterday, Australia's famous Bondi Beach hosted an outdoor library containing 6000 books and 30 shelves. The event marked the 30th anniversary of the Ikea Billy bookcase. Interestingly, a survey by Ikea found 25% or Australian have greater than 20 unread books in their home. I have many more, both that I plan to read and that I don't (although I am progressively boxing these up for sale and donation).

Publishers donated the books for the public to swap or buy with a donation to the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation.

One week old and loving books already

2010-01-29T09:15:00.000+11:00

My new baby being read to by her older brother. She's just one week old and loving books already.

A novel MacBook cover

2010-01-28T21:02:00.004+11:00

The hard covers for MacBooks are individually created to appear like distressed books. Not only are they a practical accessory for bibliophiles, they are more secure than most computer covers as they disguise what is inside. The hardcovers are available from Bookbook.

Thanks to @hyggehouse for tweeting the link!

Scandinavian houses to perch on your pages

2010-01-14T11:36:00.002+11:00

I bought these cute Vastkust metal page markers for Jeremy's Christmas stocking this year from Kikki.k. Hopefully, this will stop him grabbing the nearest piece of paper to keep his place instead, and he is half Scandinavian too. There are six in the packet, perfect for when you have multiple books on the go.

Four trees planted

2009-12-21T15:33:00.004+11:00

Previously I have posted on how to Turn your read books green. Today I stuck some of the stickers I purchased from Eco-Libris onto the new books I purchased for reading over the Christmas and New Year holidays.

The stickers serve as a reminder that books do have an environmental cost; more than 30 million trees are being cut down every year to produce the books sold in the United States alone. Each sticker represents one tree that was purchased and planted in the interests of sustainability.

December = consolidation

2009-12-15T17:33:00.004+11:00

Below is a photo of all the books I have started and want to finally finish in December:

And these are the ones I have just purchased to start reading in the new year:

What about you?

Questions for a bookwork: Jeremy

2009-12-07T07:49:00.000+11:00

Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snack? No.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read them, or does the idea of writing on your books horrify you? I generally don't mark them, but I have been thinking about doing it more often.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog ears? Leaving the book open flat? I grab anything that is around.

Fiction, Non-Fiction or both? Both.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point? I don't like breaking storylines, which may or may not end with the chapter.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away? Sometimes.

What are you currently reading? A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan.

What is the last book you bought? A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan.

Are you the type of person who can only read one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time? I can read more than one, but I used to only read one at a time.

Do you prefer series or stand alone books? No preference.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over? No, not really.

How do you organize your books (by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.)? I like Rebecca's way of organising them at the moment by colour.

A false ceiling of books

2009-12-01T22:34:00.002+11:00

I love this installation by Richard Wentworth titled "False Ceiling". I always find collections of the same thing, organised orderly, aesthetically pleasing and of course being a collection of books is even better.

Questions for a bookworm: Rebecca

2009-11-30T07:18:00.001+11:00

A series of questions relating to books has been circulating around blogs lately. Here are the questions and my responses:

Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snack? Often, yes, unless reading on the train. Usually fruit or dark chocolate, but currently Christmas fruit mince pies.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read them, or does the idea of writing on your books horrify you? Almost never. Once I bought a book that was edited extremely badly and I had to make corrections as I went, like an assignment or else I felt I was condoning all the mistakes. I never even wrote in my textbooks at university, which I encourage all my students to do now.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog ears? Leaving the book open flat? I never turn over the page. I want to use book marks, but it never seems to work out. I just always memorise the page number.

Fiction, Non-Fiction or both? Both.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point? I always seem to finish a chapter just as I reach my train station. Maybe I subconsciously pace myself? However, it wouldn't bother me if I didn't, I can put a book down and pick one up at any place.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away? This is uncommon, but if I can't determine it from the context, there is always a dictionary online. I went to school with a girl that always carried a dictionary with her when she was reading and I was very impressed.

What are you currently reading? Stillwater Creek by Alison Booth

What is the last book you bought? Four books from The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith.

Are you the type of person who can only read one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time? More than one, but usually only 2-4. At least a paper-bound and an e-book.

Do you prefer series or stand alone books? Typically stand alone. I will often read subsequent books by the same author if I really enjoyed something. Lately, I have decided to finish The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and The Sunday Philosophy Club series by Alexander McCall Smith though.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over? No.

How do you organize your books (by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.)? Colour.

books. love. reading.

2009-11-29T17:54:00.002+11:00

I just created this cloud image based on all the tweets made by @booktagger. It's good to see Booktagger has kept focused on books, love and reading.

Books to stick your neck out for

2009-11-26T22:10:00.005+11:00

These beautiful little books are are handmade and used to form necklaces. They are available from The Black Spot Books store on etsy along with larger hand-bound books and other treasures.

White, minimalist and more besides.

2009-11-24T22:21:00.007+11:00

If you search online you can find bookends of every conceivable style. However, these ones from Klein Reid I think deserve a special mention for three reasons:

+ I love that they are shaped like books themselves
+ They are porcelain, white and have a simple design
+ They double as vases!

white porcelain bookends are can also be used as vases.

Philosophy club swap

2009-11-06T19:32:00.004+11:00

I took this book on holiday and took only a day or so to finish it. I have been a fan of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series for a while (although I haven't yet completed them) and found this first book from another of Alexander McCall Smith's series just as enjoyable. Perhaps, even more so given I no longer needed to struggle over the characters names. The rest of my review can be seen here.

Now, I'm ready to read the second in the series, Friends, lovers, chocolate, but thought I would give Booktagger readers the chance to be involved in a book swap. If you can send me the next in the series, I'll send you an uncorrected proof of The President's Wife by Thea Welsh (due for release by Harper Collins in March 2010). Just post in the comments or via Twitter (Australians only sorry, otherwise with the postage I may as well buy a new copy).

Thea Welsh is the author of the memoir The Cat Who Looked At The Sky (Flamingo 2003), and the novels Welcome Back (Random House 1999) and The Story Of The Year Of 1912 In The Village Of Elza Darzins, which won the 1990 National Book Council ‘Banjo’ Award.

Tick tick

2009-11-04T21:39:00.001+11:00

Simple book-themed clocks in classic black and white our bright primary colours from Karlsson.

Flick to flick

2009-10-14T22:18:00.003+11:00

This book seat is part of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) collection (details). I love the black and white, and that you can flick the cushions like pages of a book to get a comfortable position to... flick through the pages of a book.

Photo

One third missing

2009-10-11T22:34:00.005+11:00

I recently attended a local book bazaar that Jeremy, Oskar and I have previously come home laden with books from. Unfortunately, this time I must have arrived late as there was nothing of interest on the trestle tables and no children's books left at all. So, I stopped at two second-hand book stores on the way home, still in search of a bargain, but only back with The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella. Sydney, it appears, is currently very hungry for second-hand books.

Although I have confessed to being a Sophie Kinsella fan, The Undomestic Goddess, was a book that even my couple of gold coins seemed wasted on. It appeared to me, that in producing this novel, a critical one third of Sophie's chick lit. formula was missing.

Read my review here.

Can you be a full-bellied skinny bitch?

2009-09-09T22:26:00.005+10:00

My reading list wasn't updated on Booktagger for a couple of months as it included a couple of books that would have given a secret away. One was a book a recently won via a blog competition, Full Belly by Jodie Benveniste and the another Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven (I loved Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin's first book, it was too funny in places, even though extreme in other and did turn me vegetarian again for a significant number of months).

Last time I was pregnant there were only two related books I read and would recommend: Up the Duff (funnily enough, the only one my specialist recommended too) and Running and Pregnancy.

Vintage centrepieces

2009-08-31T21:55:00.003+10:00

These vintage books have been used to display table numbers for a wedding setting. The romantic titles in bright colours have the striped numbers placed on them in tape. A great DIY project for any booklover wanting to number tables for a themed event, and placed on a stack of similar volumes they make a great alternative as a centrepiece to flowers.

Instructions and more images can be found at Once Wed.

Space fuels imagination

2009-08-05T07:12:00.002+10:00

Oskar was looking through his I Spy Fantasy book that I have posted about finding before and wanted to build a scene like this one.

It is a space scene, made of kitchen items. So, I took a range of stainless steel saucepans and utensils out from the cupboards and he started to recreate it. I love how books fuel imagination.

Sculpted book jewellery

2009-08-04T14:24:00.006+10:00

Images

These rings, made from books, are by artist Betty Pepper. I love how the rings fit back into the pages of the book. She has other, more intricate works in her series called book keeping, but these sculpture-like ones are my favourite.

In a previous post I also featured jewellery made from books, by artist Liz Hamman, and I have since found another beautiful image of one of her pieces, somewhat similar in simplicity to the rings above.

Images

As you probably know from a range of posts, I am a fan of Ladybird books, so the fact that this bangle is from the Ladybird book "Goldilock and the three bears" is a bonus.

Masterchef madness

2009-07-22T23:20:00.012+10:00

I became a fan of the Australian television phenomena Masterchef late in the series, but still found the final tense, have been more inventive in the kitchen lately and can't resist another food-themed post.

Winner of the series, Julie Goodwin, will have a recipe book published in April 2010 by Random House. It is sure to be a great seller, as there has already been a myriad of posts online from viewers speculating she only won because her cookbook idea for home-style recipes, presented to Donna Hay during an episode, was sure to be a hit among the demographic that predominantly purchases recipe books.

I am not a prolific buyer of recipe books, unlike most Australians given how many are published each year. However, I do have many of Donna Hay's and love getting Jeremy to bake items from the chocolate section in Flavours, and own a relatively small stack of others.

The two favourite recipe books I own are:

The Edmonds Cookery Book, a staple in all New Zealand kitchens that my mother gave me. First published in 1907, it is still popular and remains New Zealand's fastest selling book. Inside are a range of seemingly fail-safe recipes, including all the basics like scrambled eggs, along with a great conversion table for when you are stuck with recipes requiring a certain number of grams of butter and only have measuring cups and spoons. Tonight I made roasted potatoes in their skins with a mayonnaise, garlic and lemon rind dressing from this.

The Tra Vigne Cookbook is a favourite as Jeremy worked in the restaurant around the time I met him and we had our wedding reception there. The Italian-themed recipes from American celebrity chef Michael Chiarello follow the seasons of the Napa Valley, where the restaurant is located. Jeremy makes the lemon-baked fish with spinach salad, cooked and presented in brown paper bags, so well that I would never attempt it. In addition to the recipes and beautifully worded introductions to each section are photographs reminding me of the restaurant and cantinetta where I would sit outside sipping expresso and reading while waiting for Jeremy to finish his shift.

There are two recipe books on the horizon in Australia I find interesting. Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, probably as I am a Sophie Dahl fan (I loved the whimsical The Man with the Dancing Eyes with its delightfully matched illustrations) and it looks gorgeously decatent.

Cook in Boots by Ravinder Bhogal contains the odd combination of food and fabulous shoes, that will actually appeal to types like me. A peek inside shows quirky titled chapters that are actually pretty relevant and recipes that are manageable while still being different from all the rest out there.

What are your favourite recipe books (and why?) and which do you this you'll try next?

Recipes in books that aren't recipe books

2009-07-14T21:00:00.007+10:00

The colder days in Sydney have had me cooking porridge for breakfast. Not the one minute instant oats in the microwave kind, a chic french kind. Using Grandma Louise's oatmeal with grated apple recipe that only takes a couple of minutes longer and includes only a few more ingredients, but tastes a thousand times more delicious. Although, since my last name is LeBard, it may appear that this is a family recipe passed down to me, it simply came from a book, French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano.

A number of books I have read contain recipes, even though they are not recipe books. I recently posted a review on Family Life by food writer Elisabeth Luard, whose autobiography of her children's upbringing included a couple of recommendable recipes I have tried (one I included in the review).

More recently, I finished The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs (also reviewed), which contained a recipe for muffins at the end that I am still to try.

Have you ever used a recipe from a book that isn't a recipe book?

Recession reading

2009-07-05T22:38:00.004+10:00

Part of my bookshelf.

One library in Sydney, Stanton Library, was recently reported in the local council news to have increased in popularity this year, possibly due to the economic climate:

"In the first three months of this year, there were 13% more visitors to Stanton Library and 6500 more books borrowed than in the same period last year. Another 1460 new members have joined the library."

Have you altered you book buying habits due to the economic climate? How?

So far this year I have:
+ purchased second-hand books for the first time
+ swapped and borrowed books much more than usual
+ used discount offers emailed to me from bookstores
+ cleaned out the bookshelves and boxed fifty books to sell