Book Review: The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

My favourite book from 2012 was The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling.

I know I like a book when I can't sleep. I either stay up way too late reading page after page, or I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about a part of the story. With this book I did both of those things.

The plot surrounds a small town council, an empty council seat, and all those involved in vying for power. The plot initially reminded me of Game of Thrones, but instead of seeking the Iron Throne, these characters are fighting to be elected to local government. Not all the characters are likeable, and there are a lot of bad things happen, but I couldn't put the book down.

I think this book works because Rowling is such an excellent storyteller. Each page made me want to know more about these people and made me anxious for what could happen to them. She even made me care about characters I didn't like, which I find amazing.  There are some heavy themes in the book, including domestic violence, child abuse, drug addition, mental health issues, poverty, and classism, but these themes didn't make it any less enjoyable to read. Rowling writes in such a way that despite the tragic elements, I was still enthralled by the story and desperate to know how it would play out.

The Casual Vacancy had the potential to be a complete disaster, and I'm filled with "Team Rowling" pride that it wasn't. Writing anything after of the success of Harry Potter had to be a gamble, especially in a different genre, and the pressure for it to be 'good' had to be great. Not everyone liked the book, but I really enjoyed it and I applaud Rowling for having the guts to go for it and try something new. It find that very inspiring.

This book review was part of the Author Appreciation Day Blog Hop, happening over at Book Reviews by Sus.

 

Author Appreciation Day Blog Hop

Book Reviews with Sus is hosting an Author Appreciation Blog Hop tomorrow.

The goal of the blog hop is to promote doing book reviews and rating books for authors.

I have been reading a lot of books lately and even joined Goodreads in January to encourage myself to read more. I am pretty good at rating a book when I finish it (you just have to click which star you like!), but I haven't actually reviewed a book yet. So tomorrow's blog hop is going to challenge me to do just that! Do you have a book you feel like rating or reviewing? 

If you are up for reviewing/rating a book tomorrow, hop over to Book Reviews by Sus and join up so everyone can read your review! 

Signs of Spring

Only a week and a half ago it was below zero, and yesterday it got up to 26. A quick change that gave me a headache at first, but now that The Weather Network is showing consistent temperatures, I am feeling good and happy! It looks like it is going to be a beautiful weekend!

With such a beautiful day yesterday, I spent most of it outside reading a book. The sun was hot and there was a lovely cool breeze. It was just perfect. It was also just perfect for getting my first sunburn of the year. I will be more cautious when I am out there today. Shade and sunscreen!

Here are some of the signs of spring I found in the backyard:

Some Dandelions were out!

The Narcissus are well on their way.

Also saw this Robin - a sure sign of spring!

Hope the weather is amazing where you are!

Meal Planning Update - II

After three successful months of meal planning and eating at home for most meals, we fell off the wagon in April. But don't worry, we didn't fall too hard.

At the start of April we failed to make a written meal plan. Basically we thought we were meal planning pros who could just wing it. And actually, we mostly did. We have gotten into the habit of having food on hand and we (mostly) had enough ingredients for the meals we like to eat. The problem came with making meals that involved day-before planning (thawing and cubing meat, making sure we bought eggs, etc.). We didn't plan for certain meals so certain meals were skipped. It turns out we eat a lot of shake and bake chicken if we don't plan for variety. 

Also, despite having food at home, we were feeling super lazy in April. I think the way winter just

dragged on really affected our motivation. We also learned about the King Deals menu at Burger King, which only encouraged our laziness. They have a daily combo deal for only $5.30. Super deal! I happened upon it accidentally early in April and we ended up going four times in one week! We are silly like that.

April wasn't entirely without planning, as we decided to add home made sushi to the weekly schedule. It is one of my favourite meals, but I normally leave it for special occasions because I tend to make ALL the sushi. It takes me hours and I have to purchase and assemble numerous ingredients. I always make too much and eat too much, but I'm always soooo pleased with myself. John suggested I make smaller, human sized portions for us to eat. What a fantastic idea! I have made it twice since he suggested it and I couldn't be happier to be eating it weekly. I only make spicy California rolls (no hand rolls or smoked salmon rolls), but it is still extremely satisfying.

Now that April is over and the sun is back, we have written down our meal plan and are getting back on track. I've also expanded the meal plan to include a daily walk. Thankfully the weather has cooperated and I'm getting my walks in. Speaking of which, it is about time I get myself outside.

Marshmallow Buttercream

I am pretty obsessed with cupcakes right now. Actually, I'm obsessed with icing cupcakes. Ever since I got my 1M star tip I've been happily making up any excuse to bake some cupcakes so I can pipe delicious icing onto them. Are we meeting friends later? Cupcakes. Is it Friday? Cupcakes. Have we gone a whole day without cupcakes? Cupcakes! I have made peanut butter buttercream twice now (I think it is my all time favourite icing ever). And this week for gaming night, I was eager to try a new icing recipe: Marshmallow Buttercream.

I'm new to buttercream and piping, so it wasn't until about a month ago that I had ever even heard of Marshmallow Buttercream. I saw a post on Annie's City Kitchen that included a recipe for Marshmallow Buttercream, and the idea blew my mind. Icing with Marshmallow taste? I had to try making it. 

I had a cherry chip cake mix on hand, so I decided to pair it with the Marshmallow Buttercream and the flavour combination turned out to be pretty stellar. Here are some actual quotes from friends at gaming night:

"Don't forget this recipe."
"He normally doesn't like icing, but he likes this icing!"
"It's so light!"

I made the cherry chip cupcakes as per package directions and set them aside to cool. The real event was the Marshmallow Buttercream, made using the recipe found at Annie's City Kitchen.

Cream 1/2 cup of room temperature butter.

Add 2 cups of icing sugar in 1/2 cup intervals until blended.

It's time to add the Marshmallow Creme!

Fold in 1 jar of marshmallow creme until blended. Look at that shine!

I added some pink food colouring to match my cherry chip cupcakes.

My new favourite thing is to pipe icing onto cupcakes. Such fun!

Marshmallow Buttercream cherry chip cupcake