The Lanvin Murders by Angela M Sanders

 The Lanvin Murders was my S in my list, and is first in the Vintage Clothing Mysteries

It follows Joanna, the owner of an independent vintage clothing store.  She is doing her best to eke out an existence, and has a few regular customers and sellers that she builds a relationship up with.  One of these characters sells Joanna an authentic Lanvin coat, and ends up dead in the store after asking for it back.  Seeing the police decide that it's not a suspicious death, Joanna takes it upon herself to find out about her customer's friends and family, to find out why her friend was murdered.

The blurb says:

All Portland vintage clothing store owner Joanna Hayworth wants to do is turn her back on the modern world and retreat into a carefully curated life of satin cocktail gowns, icy martinis, and old movies.

But when Joanna finds a key in a 1930s Lanvin coat cast off by an ex-showgirl, everything changes. The elderly woman turns up dead, and Joanna is pulled into a long-ago drama of back room deals, blackmail, and lost love. She must find a very real—and present day—killer before she becomes his next victim.

This was an enjoyable read.  There were a few absurdities (but I don't know the life of a show-girl, so maybe they are realistic), and there were some characters that I would have wanted to find out more about and be investigated earlier, but overall that didn't detract from the story too much.  As far as amateur sleuthing goes, this was interesting and at times you felt compassion and other times you were on the edge of your seat.  An easy summer read.

Weekly Update Y2w32

As I mentioned the other day, my weight has been going up and down a fair bit recently.  The book that I'm reading with my friend talks about self-discipline, and I feel like I am lacking that. So, I have made a decision that I want to be below 90kg by September.  They say it is possible to lose 2lbs a week, and for me to achieve this, I need to lose 4lbs in 3 weeks, so it should be doable.  

I almost go down to that weight a couple of weeks ago, but it didn't stick.  To make things different, and try to establish good habits, I am not intending to do a crazy 3-week crash diet, get below 90kilos, and then pile all the weight back on.  Instead, I am trying to control small actions, and become more self disciplined over small things.

I am getting quite good at eating veggies most, and not eating carbs in the evening.  To help with this I have bought a couple of meal prep books, and once or twice a week, I am batch cooking, then portioning the meals off to put in the fridge.  That way, I know each meal is 300-400kcals, and even DD1 has been helping herself to some of the food, which is great, as she can be fussy at times!  Unfortunately, I haven't been taking photographs, and because I've been eating straight from the container, I haven't taken photos then either.  Next time (if I remember!) I'll take some decent photos.  I'll also do a review of the books and the containers I bought, in case they are of use to you.

You can see from the graph that though I have had some high and some low points recently, that the yellow line is starting to trend upwards, which isn't good.  I think partly because I'm looking at the whole year-so-far, I'm congratulating myself at no longer being 96kilos, whilst not making any progress to reduce my weight.  In order to own the gain, I'm going to truncate the graph again, and start from 1st of July.  From there you can see my recent highs and lows and hopefully it will be better encouragement/motivation for me to keep going.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.  I am 91.3kg this morning, and I'd like to lose 2kilos in the next 3-ish weeks.  I am going to keep meal prepping, keep eating veggies most, and will try to do a short walk every day.  This afternoon a friend is coming to my house so we can walk together for a few kilometers.

I have also identified where I need more help.  I am getting better at choosing healthy foods.  I am much much less good at saying no to food.  For example, on Saturday I ate a healthy lunch and my husband came home and offered my a cookie so I ate it.  I don't want to deny myself foods, as I doubt I can maintain that long term, however, what I want to try to do going forwards is postpone it.  I don't have to have a cookie because it is offered to me there and then.  I know I like something sweet in the evening, so if I save my cookie until then, I can enjoy it more knowing that I have been healthy all day.  I started trying to do this yesterday, and I said no to an ice cream - even when my daughter offered to make it for me!  Small steps, but it's a start.

Rise of the Dragons by Morgan Rice

Rise of the Dragons is the first in the Kings and Sorcerers series.  

It primarily follows Kyra, a 15 year old girl, daughter of a famed warrior, who wishes to become a warrior herself.  She trains alone, perfecting her skills with a bow and a staff, with occasional help from some of her father's friends who encourage her to reach her goals, despite the fact that women are not to fight.  
Her adventure begins when the local evil lord wants to make her his wife, and her father's alternative (to marry a local boy first) is not what she wants either, so she runs away with her wolf Leo by her side.

The blurb says:

Kyra, 15, dreams of becoming a famed warrior, like her father, even though she is the only girl in a fort of boys. As she struggles to understand her special skills, her mysterious inner power, she realizes she is different than the others. But a secret is being kept from her about her birth and the prophecy surrounding her, leaving her to wonder who she really is.

Just as Kyra is coming of age, the local lord comes to take her away. Her father wants to wed her off to save her. Kyra, though, refuses, and she quests on her own, into a dangerous wood, where she encounters a wounded dragon—and ignites a series of events that will change the kingdom forever.

15 year old Alec, meanwhile, sacrifices for his brother, taking his place in the draft, and is carted off to The Flames, a wall of flames a hundred feet high that wards off the army of Trolls to the east. On the far side of the kingdom, Merk, a mercenary striving to leave behind his dark past, quests through the wood to become a Watcher of the Towers and help guard the Sword of Fire, the paranormal source of the kingdom’s power. But the Trolls want the Sword, too—and they prepare for a massive invasion that could destroy the kingdoms forever.

With its strong atmosphere and complex characters, RISE OF THE DRAGONS is a sweeping, romantic saga of knights and warriors, of kings and lords, of honor and valor, of magic, action, adventure, destiny, sorcery, monsters and dragons. It is a story of love and broken hearts, of deception, of ambition and betrayal. It is fantasy at its finest, inviting us into a world that will live with us forever, one that will appeal to all ages and genders.

I enjoyed this book.  Though I haven't yet bought the rest of the series (I really am trying to finish my challenge of reading the alphabet - this being my R book) I have added it to my wishlist, as I would like to know how it progresses and finishes.

This book is a book about girl power and the fact that women, even in a fantasy world, don't have to be restrained to living a life that society considers feminine, but are able to forge their own pathways through the world for life.  Added to that, there are the usual fantasy staples that we love - battles, dragons, trolls, magic, loyalty and treachery.  

The blurb says it will appeal to all ages and genders, I would say this really is aimed at teens and young adults, as it is probably too simplistic and easy for more mature fans of this genre of literature.

Enjoying Life

I've been missing in action for a few days.  10 days ago we decided last minute to drive all the way to Scotland to see my mum and husband in her new house.  She moved last year, and it's too far and too expensive to go normally.  However, with lockdown easing somewhat, but still being unable to go on holiday, my husband took some time off work and we went for a mini break.

It was really good to see her.  Her house is lovely; it's in the middle of nowhere with a large garden and views of the countryside all around.  They are undergoing building work atm so her mother-in-law can move in, but even with that, the house was plenty big enough for my tribe to be housed for  few days.

On the way back down, we spend the night with my dad.  Again, it was great to see him as I hadn't seen him and his wife since before Christmas!  Living far away from family (and not being a fan of phones, beyond texting) it is good to be able to have time to catch up with family properly.

This past Thursday was my 15th Wedding Anniversary.  The girls went to the effort of making us a card each, and they brought us coffee and breakfast in bed.  For lunch, I had pre-bought an Afternoon Tea from Jasmine & Honey Bakery.  It was delicious! And you know how fussy my girls are with eating, and they enjoyed the children's version too.  I bought a cake/afternoon tea stand so we could dish it all out properly, and we drank champagne with lunch.  

Photos from Jasmine&Honey Bakery

Unfortunately, Thursday was also the day that both my parents spoke to their consultants.  To cut a long story short, as my dad often says, they both have cancer.  My mum was expecting it, as her body was feeling like it does when the cancer returns, and it is now due.  She has ovarian cancer in the lymph nodes in her pelvis.  My dad, otoh, was shocked.  He was expecting to be told he had prostate cancer, as his dad had it for many years.  However, unlike my grandad, my dad's cancer has been termed "significant".  He has to undergo more investigations before determining how it will be treated. My dad's consultant also refused to test him for the BRCA2 gene mutation, which I can understand somewhat, however, if my dad does have it, and I have inherited it (in addition the the BRCA1 gene I know about), I should not be on oestrogen HRT, especially not before I have a mastectomy.  So that's a little bit of disappointment, on top of a lot of shit.

In better news, yesterday, I finally got my hair redyed.  I went to Sharon Rewston again and she didn't disappoint.  We went with the same colour scheme as last time, but used some of the teal that was in my hair from being lightened, and it's now ribbonned from dark blue into other colours (purple, pink and teal) as you come down the strands.

Now we're all back home, I need to get back in the habit of eating well (yes I put on weight this past week), moving more, blogging more, and working more.  I am enjoying life for what it is, as nobody knows what the future holds.

The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D. A. Carson

My Growth Group at church has, for this year, been going through Cedarville University's Old Testament Literature course by Dr. Chris Miller.  I've really enjoyed going through these lectures each week, and despite having read the Bible many times, there is plenty that I have missed.  I recommend this for everybody interested in learning more about the Old Testament.  I wish I had seen it when I was a knew Christian, but I equally recommend it for those long in the faith, as there is always more to learn!

Anyway, during one of the lectures, Dr. Miller recommended a book: The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D. A. Carson. 

The Blurb says:

The theme of the love of God is inexhaustible, both in our experience and our theology. We will reflect on it and adore him for eternity. In today's world, however, it is a theme that has been taken for granted and treated as easily understood. Many see God in sentimental ways: he is a kind old man in the sky who wouldn't harm a fly, or an easy-going friend who gives them presents and helps them out of every difficult spot. 'God loves me,' cries one person, 'so surely he won't punish me.' 'God loves the whole world,' cries another, 'so we needn't worry about who will be saved.'
But is it really that easy? What does the Bible teach about God's love? What does it have to say about the wrath of the loving God, or about the loving God who is also sovereign Lord?
In this book, Don Carson turns his attention to these vital questions. He wants us to get a new perspective - one that sees God as awesome and glorious as well as loving. He wants us to take seriously the need for justice to be done and for God to be Lord. But most of all, he wants us to understand that these things are included in God's love, not opposed to it, and so to reach an even greater, richer, more 'truth-full' picture of the wonderful love of God.

I was  pleasantly surprised by this book.  I was expecting it to be very heavy and difficult reading, but it was interesting to a layman like me.  It goes through all the different facets of God's love, and why if you reduce His love to either "God loves everybody regardless" or "God only loves His own" you miss important understanding of who God is, you miss His mercy and judgement, you miss facets of His personality and indeed His enduring love, and reduce Him to a caricature or cliche, neither of which does Him justice.

The Royals of Dharia, books 2 and 3: Second Daughter and First Daughter

The other day I reviewed the first book in this series, I have since read the other two books.

Given the titles of the subsequent books, I was pleasantly surprised to see they are both still written from the perspective of Amiri, the Third Daughter.  In the first book, you fall in love with this independent young woman, so I am glad to see how the story develops through her eyes.

At the start of the second book we discover that Seledri, the Second Daughter of Dharia, has been poisoned, so Amiri postpones her wedding to go care for her sister.  This is complicated by the fact that Seledri, is is also married to the man in line for the Samir throne, but all is not at peace there, and it looks as if all is heading towards war.

The third book looks at Nahali, the First Daughter of Dharia, who has to take over from her mother who is injured, to be acting Queen of Dharia in this time of war.  In the role that she was born for can she work with her younger sister Amiri to achieve peace, or is she more concerned with her reputation and rule?

I read these books in a few days, I really enjoyed them.  

I hadn't realised that they were written in "Bollywood style" until I read the reviews after writing my own a few days ago.  Having chosen the book based on title and author's name (Q in my list, if you're following), I had no idea.  Yet, in my mind's eye, I did place the story in the kind of Indoasian landscape, whether it's 'realistic' or not, totally bypassed me as I'm used to reading fantasy.
Similarly I hadn't come across Steampunk as a specific literary genre - I just think of it as a fantasy / SciFi crossover - but that really fits, and I will be looking out for more books along these lines.

There are twists and turns in these books, romance, politics, and advancing technology.  If only there were dragons, it would be my perfect book!

Five Bean soup

Last week, my friend and fellow blogger Dottie Hines, aka Five Bean Soup, did a post about this blog and it's the very least I can do to return the favour.  

The Five Bean Soup blog is a mix of good wholesome recipes, lifestyle blogs and crafts.  I am in awe of that, as the only craft that I am any good at is MosaiCraft, and that's because it's a fancy colour-by-numbers!  For me, though, it is her recipes that I am most interested in and will be trying out.

Dottie is following a Whole Foods Plant Based diet, which is fairly compatible with the 2B Mindset.  The main difference seems to be what you can eat when (for example fruit and other Fibre-Filled Carbohydrates are not recommended at dinner time on the 2B Mindset) and whereas Dottie avoids all butter and oil, on the 2B Mindset it is considered an accessory. ie. If you eat a massive bowl of peas with a spoonful of butter on top, then it's better the have the butter than avoiding the peas.  Having said that, if Dottie could find an alternative to oil in Treat Recipes, such as my Vegan Chocolate Hummus recipe, I'd be all for that alternative!

I particularly liked her post What I Eat In A Day as it reminded me of recipes that I have on this blog that I had forgotten about. I used to have green smoothies for breakfast, and seem to have fallen out of the habit, but smoothies are certainly compatible with the 2B Mindset.  Other breakfast ideas that I had forgotten about include my Overnight Oats recipe as Five Bean Soup has a recipe for Chia and Hemp Porridge.  Similarly, I had forgotten about some of my quick lunch ideas, which may not be as useful to Dottie (for example Egg Fried Cauli Rice contains eggs!), but as I've been looking for some quick Veggie Most lunches, the reminder has been good for me.

So, have a look at Five Bean Soup, and the accompanying Facebook Page.  Give it a like, a follow and a share. Though not all her recipes are low carb, they are filling and satisfying, with a good range of vegan, veggie and omni options.