Oreo Caramel Brownies

I did some baking today, using a stupidly simple recipe that my sister gave me a year or so ago. I try not to make these too often, because I hate to think about the number of calories there are in each one, or how much closer I am to diabetes with each bite. But they are absolutely delicious!

The basic premise is this: an Oreo, topped with a dollop of caramel, topped with brownie mix and then baked for around 20 minutes. (I definitely cheat and use a packet brownie mix. Thanks, Betty Crocker!)

I made some last weekend for my birthday party, and they disappeared in about five minutes. This batch will hopefully last a little longer, but they'll be great sustaining snacks for my climbing trip tomorrow.

 

They work best in silicone muffin cases - so easy to just pop them out! But I have made them in paper cases in the past with not-terrible results. An alternative is to use peanut butter instead of caramel - still yummy, and significantly healthier!

Favourite Books of 2014

It's been far too long since I last wrote a blog post; my intentions of updating once or twice a week disappeared out the window while I was doing NaNoWriMo (I won, though God only knows how!) and also trying to keep on top of deadlines for my PhD (I failed. Thankfully no one seems to care just yet).

So, to get back into things, I have selected my Top 5 books out of the 71 that I finished reading last year. I had intended to read 100 (or approximately 300,000 pages because the A Song of Ice and Fire books are just ridiculously long). My final page count for finished books stands at 27,476, so I'd say that isn't too bad. I may post a separate list of everything I read, with asterisks next to ones I would recommend, but we'll see. I think I read a fair amount of crap last year so it may not be worth it.*

So, in no particular order, here we go...

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
You may have read my ramblings on this book already. It was excellent, and if you haven't started The Raven Boys cycle, which rock have you been living under? (Sinner, her companion novel to the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy would probably also have made this list, but I thought I should probably choose between the two.)

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
It's hard for me to decide which of the first three novels was my favourite... But I'm going with the first one. Certainly not the third one - I mean, the Red Wedding, anyone? So unfair. I'm still holding a grudge.

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
Another one that is hardly surprising. I read all three of these last year, and could have picked any of them, but Isla's story won by just a slight margin because of the three boys I'd definitely choose Josh for myself.

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan
(I'd put all three of the Lynburn Legacy books into my top 5 if I had room.) I laughed and loved and just generally raced through these. The characters are brilliant, and there were plenty of one-liners that had me cackling to myself - no doubt my family think I'm nuts, but it was so worth it!

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore
I've had this book on my shelf for ages and just kept forgetting about it. I read Graceling when it first came out after winning a copy on a blog competition, and bought Fire as soon as I saw it was out, but real life caught up around the time that Bitterblue was due to be released (and, if I remember correctly, the release was delayed at one point) so it took me a while to read this. I think I had forgotten how much I adored Graceling, but now that I've been reminded what an amazing trilogy this is, I've been recommending it to everyone! Seriously, if you haven't read it yet, go! Do it! Now.

Honourable mentions:
Under the Never Sky trilogy by Veronica Rossi
Angelfall by Susan Ee
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
The Glimpse by Claire Merle

Let me know if you agree / disagree with any of these, or if you have any recommendations for me to read in 2015!


*Update: it's not worth it!

My Kindle TBRs

My last post was photos of books I physically own, but have not yet read; this post is books I have downloaded for my kindle and not yet read.

In total there are 48, so I won't list them all - here are some that I am most looking forward to reading (hopefully in the near future):

A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin
The fifth book (in two volumes) of the A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) series. Initially I wanted to finish all of the currently-released books in this series by Christmas, as I started them last Christmas so that seemed reasonable. But now I'm waiting until I have a little more time available to get into these, because the writing is so dense that I need to set aside a good two hours at a time to really keep up with the story. Also, I think I skimmed a lot of A Feast for Crows (book 4) because I just can't possibly care about all of the characters, and a lot of my favourites weren't in it. Which I know means they'll be in A Dance with Dragons because the two books happen in parallel (strange concept, by the way), but there are just SO MANY PAGES! We'll see when I get around to this. Perhaps it'll be next week, you never know, but it'll take me at least a month to finish it!

Not a Drop to Drink, Mindy McGinnis

I think I bought this because it was a kindle daily deal not too long ago, and it looks interesting. The main character lives by a pond, which - I believe - is one of very few sources of fresh water left. Other people want her water, and so she has to protect it at all costs. From what I've heard, it's a well-written, exciting debut novel and I'm excited to get into it.

 

 

Just One Day, Gayle Forman

I read If I Stay and Where She Went, and loved them. So I figured I should read some of Gayle's other work, too. Just One Day was another kindle daily deal, I think so I couldn't pass it up.

The Selection, The Elite, The One, Kiera Cass

I bought the entire series (the first two were on offer) so that I could marathon it, but haven't got around to it yet. I've heard great things though so I am looking forward to it.

Solitaire, Alice Oseman

A book about British teenagers, written by a British teenager - not one I was likely to pass up. I really like UKYA (even if I don't read enough of it), so this one went straight on my list when I heard about it.

Before We Met, Lucie Whitehouse

Another kindle daily deal (let's be honest, most of them are; what's the point in paying almost as much for a kindle book as I would for a physical copy?!). I know loads of people who have read and loved this. I bought it instead of Gone Girl because I've heard it's actually the better of the two books. But in general I don't really like thrillers, so we'll see how I get on with this one.

My TBR pile

Over the summer, I got back into reading in a BIG way. I bought way more books than I had time to read and although I'm trying not to buy so many books now, I still have a lot of catching up to do. So today I thought I would tally up all of the books on my shelves that I have yet to read. (These are only the shelves actually in my bedroom. Various others (including my old English Lit books) are probably dotted around the family bookshelves downstairs. No doubt there are plenty there that I haven't read, but I probably never will and this list is already huge, so I'm ignoring those.) I tried to put all of the unread books onto one shelf, but they didn't quite fit... In total, there are 33:

I don't really want to write an entire list (and I doubt anyone would want to read that, either!), so here are a few close up photos in case you would like to know exactly which books are on my TBR list:

  

 I have plans to read a few of them -- City of Heavenly Fire will be started on Saturday while I'm on my way to Texas (!!), I'll read Afterworlds as soon as I get back, and My True Love Gave to Me I plan to read one story per day in the run up to Christmas -- but for the most part, they are just there for when I get around to them. I have a TBR jar with most of these titles in, but usually I'm in the mood for a particular kind of book, so the jar tends to just sit on my shelf looking pretty:

Tomorrow, I might make a list of the books on my kindle that haven't been looked at yet, so come back if you're interested in seeing that!

Bye for now,
Amanda :)

Thoughts on Blue Lily, Lily Blue

First off, I just want to say how gorgeous this cover image is. Teal is my favourite colour, and I love the combination of other blues and pinks. I would like enough wall space to be able to put up a poster-sized version of it, but alas, I live in the loft so my room is mostly ceiling. Not that I can tell which character it’s meant to be – I was thinking maybe Adam because of all the plants, because maybe it’s a visual of his link to Cabeswater. Are we meant to know? Have we already been told who it is? If anyone is actually reading this, let me know in the comments who you think/know it is.

Okay, now, onto the story part of the book…

I know the book has only been out a few days (I got mine last Saturday, I guess Waterstones released them early), but it’s kind of hard to talk about the things I noticed and liked or whatever without possibly accidentally giving away spoilers. So consider this your probable spoiler warning. This ‘review’ is mainly just my thoughts about the characters and their development and relationships with each other, because it’s long enough already (if anyone actually reads this: sorry in advance) without me adding my thoughts about other aspects. Plus I don’t have time to re-read the novel right now and pick up on the finer details.

So I might just go alphabetically…

Adam. Finally, finally, he is growing up a bit and I guess generally being more sensible. I struggled to like Adam, especially in Book 2 (The Dream Thieves), but he seems to be starting to understand that his poverty does not define him, and that he does not need to constantly argue with his friends to make them see him as their equal. I suppose that being away from his dad for a while has put his friendships into perspective and he seems happier to just let them love him. Plus, he is learning how to listen to what Cabeswater is asking him to do, and I suppose that must help in quite a significant way because it means he isn’t crazy/angry all the time.

Blue. I can’t even imagine how much Blue must miss her mother, but she is still herself, eating yoghurt constantly and getting fired up by a man who tells her she has nice legs (love her response, by the way!). It was good to find out that she is planning a future for herself though, that she is not entirely wrapped up in the Raven Boys and their quest; plus I like the topics she is looking to study, so possibly I am biased. I’m glad that Blue has finally found out (with a little help) what kind of powers she has, and that she doesn’t just provide extra energy for everyone else. It seemed in previous books like she resented not actually being psychic in a house full of psychics, so although she has very different abilities than they do, at least she can do something that should make her feel more helpful now (not that she wasn’t before, but she can do this by herself, and I think that’s important to her). I am also grateful that she has the Gray Man as well, with whom she seems to get along so well, and who also loves her mother. The other ladies of 300 Fox Way love Maura too, but I think Blue and Mr Gray love her very differently, and are both outsiders compared to the rest of the household, so they are automatically drawn together. For a hit man, he makes a pretty good substitute father, I think.

Gansey is still a very strange character to me, even with Malory filling in some of his backstory. I like him, don’t get me wrong, but I think he feels more like a concept than a real person. Maybe it’s because of his family and the political exposure he’s had, but he seems so much older than the others, almost like a father-figure to Adam and Ronan. And no one seems to question his authority, ever. He is king of their school, and the leader of the gang, but most of the time I can’t quite get a grasp on who he actually is. Maybe that’s the point.

Jesse, with all his height and his all-caps speech, seems like such a kind, gentle, good man. And I really love his conversation with Blue about ants, and how he calls her ‘little ant’ forever afterwards.

Noah is, I think, one of the most amazing characters in this book. I always kind of forget he exists except when he’s right there, and I think that’s maybe a little bit how he is to the other Raven Boys and Blue. It must be difficult to write a character who is so integral to this group of boys (and Blue) and yet so easily forgotten. His interactions with Blue, though, are some of my favourite parts of this book. Also, “I’m dead, not stupid.” [p169]

Piper is a total badass, and I kind of love her in spite of who her husband is (I love her less after the end of the book, but never mind that just now). The fact that she can buy tiny dogs and join book club and go to yoga and get various body parts waxed – all seemingly stereotypical ‘stay at home wife’ activities – and still manage to be awesome just makes it all the more impressive.

Ronan. Not only does he have some of the best lines in the book (e.g. “No wonder she’s mad as a cow’s tit” [p224] and “I like the way you losers thought Instagram before first aid. Fuck off.” [p288]), it makes me so happy to see some of Ronan’s softer side. Even when he’s being a complete shit (and I really love how often he swears, especially when that swearing includes blasphemy (e.g. “Jesus shit Mary fuck” [p217]); it’s so easy to forget that Ronan is supposedly religious), he manages to do good things for the people he cares about (like giving Adam lotion for his hands whilst also terrifying the shit out of him (and then taking the piss out of him for being terrified), and putting dreamt epi-pens and cures for Gansey’s allergy everywhere just in case, and staying in the darkness so that Blue can take the light with her). I totally agree with Adam that Ronan should get on better with Blue, based on their personalities and how similar they really are. And I really want to hear the Squash song that he seems to love so much!

In terms of romantic relationships, the obvious one here is Blue/Gansey. Developments occurred, they seem to be going somewhere, but ultimately Blue still has a curse and has still seen that Gansey will die, so I’m not 100% invested in this. I don’t want Blue to get hurt, especially not if she kisses Gansey and that is what kills him. Part of me ships Blue with Ronan (I know, I know), but I think I will forget about that fairly quickly once the next book is out.

But I’m definitely starting to want Adam/Ronan to be a thing as well. And I know that if I’m feeling this, it’s because Maggie wants me to. She has said plenty of times on her Twitter that she carefully considers every word she writes, so if she has written this: “Adam felt Ronan’s eyes glance off him and away, his disinterest practiced but incomplete. Adam wondered if anyone else noticed. Part of him wished they did and immediately felt bad.” [p158] It’s probably because Adam/Ronan will soon become a real thing. And that makes me happy.

Basically, I loved Blue Lily, Lily Blue. Can I just hibernate until the final book is out, please? I’m not good at waiting…

Hello!

Welcome to my shiny new blog!

This post will just be a short introduction. I haven't fully decided what I want this blog to be about, but I'll probably use it as an escape from studying. It's likely to contain book reviews and recommendations, photos of my baking achievements (though probably not any of my own recipes - I'm not that good at baking, I just like cake!), occasional anecdotes, and perhaps even photos from my field site if anything interesting happens. Or when the view is as gorgeous as this, for example:

So, to begin: my name is Amanda, and I'm 22. I like to nap, a lot. My life is relatively sane and boring (not complaining... much!) so I tend to live in the worlds of books, TV shows and sometimes films. In my mind, I'm still 18, which is why I both read and write mostly YA fiction. Adulthood is scary and seems a long way off at the moment! I'm one year into my PhD, so there are at least two more years to go before I'll have to get a real job...

I like the beach (I kayak, SUP (stand-up-paddleboard) and very occasionally surf), though studying it can be difficult, boring and sometimes just plain miserable. Other days, though, I love my PhD. It's funded, so I don't have to work part-time (though I do, because otherwise I think I'd go insane), and I have more or less complete control over when I do (or don't do) my work. Which can be awful, because without real deadlines nothing ever seems 'finished', but at the same time means I don't have to work 9-5 or even Monday-Friday. Plus I'm meant to get 8 weeks off per year. 8 weeks!

I have a book-buying addiction, with at least 50 books on my shelves / kindle (yes, I own a kindle. I like it for travelling and saving space on my shelves) that I have not yet read. I have told myself that I'm not allowed to buy any more books until after Christmas and my birthday, which is in January. We'll see how that goes.

I'm considering taking part in NaNoWriMo this year, both for my PhD and my current YA fiction work-in-progress. I'm away in Texas for the first week of November though, so my goal wordcount won't be 50,000 - it'll probably be 10,000 for my PhD and 20-30,000 for my novel (fiction is way easier than academic writing, even when I spend four times as long on the academic stuff).

That seems like enough for the moment. I'd better get back to writing this chapter of my thesis and panicking about my phone meeting with my supervisor tomorrow (I always, always worry that she will tell me I'm not working hard enough or that I've done everything wrong!).

Bye for now!
Amanda