Exam Hiatus

I'm prone to putting Enactus ahead of my degree, and any committed Enactus student across the world will be sympathetic and admit to doing the same. Why do I do it? Because as much as I love my degree, it doesn't give me anywhere near the same satisfaction I get from doing Enactus. I might only run our commercial project and thus have only an indirect impact on the lives of our beneficiaries, but to me, it doesn't make a difference.

As competition season is making its way across the globe, I'm nothing short of relieved that the UK held its Nationals first, so that I can actually focus on my exams. As much as I lived and breathed the competitions during the three months of preparations and couldn't imagine going back to real work, exam season is upon us and there's no denying it. In two weeks time, I will have sat my first exam with three more to go. I'm normally pretty calm when it comes to exams, essays etc and so it's when I start to get worried that I should be REALLY worried - I'm worried.

Basically, this is a long-winded way of saying: don't expect any new reviews or blog posts etc before 6 June. As much as I need to catch up with my backlog, second year actually counts and I want at least one first amongst my four modules!

Good luck revising to anyone else who has exams!

World Book Night GIVEAWAY!

That's right: I'm giving away one of my copies of The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde that I'm receiving for World Book Night, just because I love y'all so much. See my previous blog post explaining about WBN 2013 here.

About the Book:
Set in 1985, the Crimean War hasn't ended, Wales is a Republic, people can timetravel and everyone has a fascination with literature. Thursday Next is a Special Operative in literary detection and is on the trail of a person who is kidnapping characters from great fictional works. This case could make or break her career ... 

To Enter:
1. Subscribe to my blog by entering your email address into the 'Follow by email' box on the right hand side of the page
2. Then, Leave a comment: if you could be a Giver for WBN 2013, which of the twenty titles would you like to give away?

And that's it!

Terms and Conditions
I am not being compensated for this giveaway.
1. Residents of the UK & N. Ireland only! Sorry, I'm only on a student budget!
2. Entries in before 23:59 on Tuesday 23 April 2013
3. Entrants must be 18 or over
4. Winner shall be announced Wednesday 24 April 2013 and I shall endeavour to have the book out ASAP

What are you reading this weekend?

The Prince by Tiffany Reisz

The Prince (2012)
Tiffany Reisz
Grade: A
Genre: erotica
Sex scenes: This is Tiffany Reisz - nuff said
Source: NetGalley 
The Original Sinners series: (prequel) Seven Day Loan, (1) The Siren, (2) The Angel

If you’re familiar with my blog, then you’re aware of how difficult I find it to write reviews with as few spoilers as possible. When I was given The Prince on the condition that my review was free of spoilers, I found myself faced with a Herculean task. Don’t get me wrong, it makes perfect sense: The Prince is book three of Ms Reisz’s Original Sinners series and any review has to appeal to readers who have already started the series as well as those who are new to it. Considering that The Original Sinners is the quite possibly the most explosive and twist-heavy series that I’ve ever read, I think all reviewers who conform to the brief should be getting a medal or something. Or, even better, a signed ARC of The Mistress – we deserve it.

Back to the story. It’s the day that we never dreamed of happening: Nora has left Søren. For Wesley.

Okay, that’s more dramatic than it actually is. Nora had Søren’s permission to leave, which kinda negates all the drama attached. Søren has a reason for everything he does and infuriatingly, often chooses not to share; he wouldn’t ever let his Eleanor go if he wasn’t 100% certain that she will fly back to him. Nora and Wes are off to visit his home where Nora’s status as Queen of the Underground will mean nothing next to Wes’ title of the Prince of Kentucky …

That’s right: Wes is rich. Super rich, and he’s kept it a secret from Nora for all this time. The Raileys are the Royal Family of the thoroughbred racing circuit and standing to inherit it all, Wes is even richer than Kingsley. Wes may want to introduce Nora to his home, way of life and show her what he can offer her that Søren can’t, but poor Wes has forgotten to mention to his father that they’ll be hosting New York’s Number 1 dominatrix for the next few weeks …

Søren has an ulterior motive for sending Nora away and in her absence, needs to sort out the situation at hand – fast. Someone has managed to slink past Kingsley’s notoriously tight security to steal a file from his records: Nora’s. The intel that Kingsley keeps on all manner of persons would be more than enough to bring down entire companies and probably countries too, and so everyone who’s anyone knows that it’s a bad idea to cross Kingsley Edge. Of all the files that he keeps, Nora’s is easily one of the most dangerous. Added to that, Kingsley codes everything in Haitian Creole that only he and his secretary/lover can decipher, and so a normal theft would have been fruitless. Some serious shit is going down …

As they work together to discover who was bold enough to face their wrath, Søren and Kingsley are placed in closer quarters than Søren has allowed since their teenage years. The appearance of Nora into their lives changed their relationship forever and Kingsley is living proof of how much unrequited love hurts. Now that she’s safely out of the picture, Kingsley allows the fantasies that he locks away come to life, and Søren is finding it increasingly hard to resist …

If Snow Hadn't Fallen by S. J. Bolton

There are a dozen other books I should be reviewing before I do this one, but I can't help myself.

If Snow Hadn't Fallen (2013) (short story) (book 1.5 in the Lacey Flint series)
S. J. Bolton
Grade: A
Genre: gothic thriller horror
Source: own, eBook 
Lacey Flint series: (1) Now You See Me; (2) Dead Scared

Ever wonder what Lacey got up to between the closing of Now You See Me and the opening of Dead Scared? Now is your chance to find out …

It’s like trouble follows DC Lacey Flint’s heel like a loyal Labrador. Off-duty and on her way home, there’s a call for assistance on her radio, just a stone’s throw away from her flat. Instinct and duty prompt her to answer it, but it’s not the teenage scuffle or canoodling couple that she expected to break up and hurry along. Five masked persons surround a burning pyre in the centre of the park. A burning pyre of human flesh that’s still alive. Lacey’s appearance sends the perpetrators running, but with such extensive burns, there’s little she can do to prevent death.

Dr Aamir Chowdhury was from a devout Muslim family and an upstanding citizen. The investigation points to a group of five white, young men who had an encounter with Aamir several months ago, but they have solid, unshakeable alibis and there is no conclusive evidence on which to press charges. Lacey has a niggling feeling that they’re going down the wrong track – she just can’t figure out what’s the right one. That is, until the snow starts to fall and she sees a woman in black at the scene of the crime. With her nature being what it is, Lacey can’t help but get involved and she finds herself drawn into circumstances that go deeper than anyone had ever anticipated …

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 2: On Your Own by Andrew Chambliss / Georges Jeanty / Joss Whedon etc

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 2: On Your Own 
(On Your Own Parts 1 & 2, Apart (Of Me) Parts 1, 2 & 3)
Andrew Chambliss (script), Scot Allie (script), Georges Jeanty (pencils), Cliff Richards (pencils), Karl Story (inks), Andy Owens (inks), Dexter Vines (inks), Jo Chen (cover art), Joss Whedon (creator) etc
Grade: B
Genre: Buffy / graphic novel
Source: NetGalley / own 
(1) Buffy Season 9 Volume 1: Freefall

So, do I reveal the spoiler or not? My initial reaction was ‘yes, of course,’ but that’s my gut reaction to everything: just blurt out whatever’s running through my head. Reviews can get across the message of a book without any spoiler-ing at all, and since that was my frame of mind when I started typing this review, that’s what I’m going with – just to make y’all buy and read the book for yourself. I mean sure, you can probably find the spoiler with the help of our good friend Google without much effort, but I’m just going to be mean and refuse to state it. This is quite possibly my most deliberate spoiler-free review ever.

So at the end of Buffy Season 9 Volume One, Buffy had something of a problem on her hands. It wasn’t something she had ever had a problem with before, or even something she had ever considered. The life of a Slayer is usually too unnaturally short for this to ever become a non-issue, let alone an issue, and so Buffy is completely lost for what to do. Willow is still pissed at her for the whole destroying-magic thing and Dawn is happily settled into life with Xander, and so she turns to her go-to guy when things start getting tough: Spike.

Besides being a little annoyed that he’s the guy that Buffy turns to in situations like this, Spike’s jumping head over heels to give Buffy a helping hand. Once he’s got over his initial shock at the curve ball that life’s thrown her, he’s happy to do whatever Buffy needs him to do and in those respects, I love Spike.

But the story doesn’t stop there. It turns out Buffy has an even bigger problem and even more problematic is that Andrew is involved in the bigger problem and the source of the initial problem itself. Have any problem following all that? There’s a huge underlying message at hand and as Buffy gets a glimpse into life as it could have been had she not destined to be the Chosen One, she’s got a big choice to make …

Snow Day!

I'm quite fond of snow, really. I guess that's in part a result of being a Christmas-time baby, but also just because it's always so pretty and lovely when fresh and untouched. I have this really strange compulsion to just watch the snow fall and standing on the landing in our house last night while the skies were still letting the snow fall in truckloads, there was just something really ethereal and calming about watching nature have its way and wreaking havoc, with us humans powerless to stop it. I ended up having to walk the last 2 miles or so last night having just missed my connecting bus, and while walking with the blizzarding snow pelting down on my face was rather grim, I was at the same time a little in awe at how quiet and peaceful the roads were and how snow seems to be the one thing that grinds everything in this country to a halt.

Angel & Faith Volume 2: Daddy Issues by Christos Gage

Angel & Faith Volume 2: Daddy Issues (2012)

Christos Gage (script), Rebekah Isaacs (art), Dan Jackson (colours), Chris Samnee (art, Women of a Certain Age), Jordie Bellaire (colours, Women of a Certain Age), Steve Morris (cover) etc

Grade: B+

Genre: graphic novel

Source: NetGalley
(1) Angel & Faith Volume 1: Live Through This

It’s been too long since I’ve read anything and since I had just finished my review of Buffy: Freefall but couldn’t manage to find my copy of Buffy: On Your Own from wherever it decided to hide itself on my laptop, I decided on the next best thing: Angel & Faith. One issue, I promised myself. Yeah, right. I finished the whole arc, went to bed at three in the morning and felt like crap when I woke up. But it was worth it and I’m going to tell you why.

Something is making its way across London, making people crazy and lash out at the people around them with devastating consequences. In the course of his bring-Giles-back-to-life mission, Angel has been poring over the Watcher’s journals and thinks he knows who the culprit is. The Lorophage demon feeds on the trauma of others to the point of death, but there have been rare reported cases of the Lorophage being interrupted in its feeding process, with the victim merely becoming insane – Giles was one such victim. There must be something controlling the Lorophage in order for it to be leaving this many victims alive, and whatever it is, it must be pretty damn powerful …

Meanwhile, Faith is still having a hard time controlling one of her girls. All Nadira wants to do is avenge the deaths of her slayer-sisters but her survivor-guilt is eating away at her so that she’s channelling out her rage during patrols and on her fellow slayers. It’s a sure path to self-destruction and Faith recognises the signs all too well: she’s been in exactly the same place before. Her own guilt still eats at her every day, but with Angel’s help, she’s learnt how to deal and try to make amends. If Nadira wasn’t presenting enough of a thorn in her side, Faith’s father is in town …

But what if all that guilt, regret and trauma could be taken away? There’s a new female vampire in town calling herself ‘Mother Superior’. By exerting her influence over the Lorophage, he only extracts the trauma, leaving his ‘patient’ perfectly whole, sane and content with their lives. It may seem like an altruistic thing to do, but there’s the sad fact that some ‘patients’ suffer adverse side-effects and Mother Superior must be stopped … and then A&F discover her true identity: Drusilla. A sane Drusilla.

As might be expected, Drusilla has an ulterior motive for being in town. Angel might have driven her utterly crazy before sentencing her to an eternity of said craziness, but with her now-clear head, she doesn’t blame him one bit. Instead, all she wants to do is help him by taking his own nightmares away. Angel’s not too happy: the horrors he committed as Angelus are what keeps Angel on the surface and spur him on every day to make amends – without the guilt, he’d be nothing and he’s determined to keep his sadistic memories, whatever the cost.

In Women of a Certain Age (issue 5), A&F are graced by a visit from Giles’ great-aunts – and the couple of dozen demons that have come to collect on their debts. Magic runs in the family and they’ve used theirs to keep themselves eternally young; now with the death of magic, grey hairs are starting to crop up aplenty and Sophronia and Lavinia are in hot water. They might have come to London to seek protection, but that’s not all they want …

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 1: Freefall by Joss Whedon / Andrew Chambliss / Georges Jeanty etc

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 9 Volume 1: Freefall
Joss Whedon (script), Andrew Chambliss (script), Georges Jeanty (art), Karl Moline (art), Jo Chen (cover)
Grade: B-/C+
Genre: graphic novel
Source: own

I have to admit to being a little dubious about Season 9 what with the way that Season 8 ended. It’s rather a pain to write this review without having already reviewed any of Season 8, but that’s life. I have exposed myself rather stupidly to some accidental spoilers for Season 9 and I’ve hated myself for it. Besides this, I’m not entirely sure what direction Joss is taking Buffy this season and in my attempts to protect my heart from further break, I’m a little reluctant to actually even venture to start Season 9. But, I saw Volume 2 on NetGalley and had to have it; but before that, I needed to read Volume 1 first. So here I am.

Season 8 ended with Buffy destroying the Seed: the core of all magic. I’m still a little hazy about it all works, but basically magic has been eradicated from the world and it’s all Buffy’s fault. I’m unclear as to why Willow can no longer do magic yet Buffy still has her Chosen One powers, but Willow explained it like this:

“All the Slayers, the vampires, even the demons with magical mojo. You all got to keep your power because it was inside of you. But everyone else got cut off from what made them tick. For me, it was magic.”

Understandably, a lot of people – well, demons – are pissed off and want Buffy’s blood. She’s just trying to survive in San Francisco with a crappy job as a waitress and no one left of her Scooby Gang to rely on: Dawnie has moved in with Xander; Will is still pissed off with her because she still doesn’t understand the consequences of what destroying the Seed really had and Giles … well, if you read my review of Angel& Faith: Live Through This, you’ll know about Giles.

Scores of John and Jane Does are cropping up all over San Fran and the police are turning up clueless. There is not a mark on any of the bodies to indicate how they died and it isn’t until investigators go back to missing person records that they have any luck identifying the bodies. Now that vampires are a matter of common knowledge, the police have an inkling that these bodies they’re finding are of the undead variety, but have nothing to cement their theories. When Buffy is found doing her job of keeping the streets safe, she’s hauled in for questioning. Escape may be the best thing to do in the circumstances, but it has put Buffy back on the most wanted lists and she’s going to have to work quickly to discover the cause of these deaths before she ends up captured again …

Happy (Belated) Anniversary!!!

I first set up RMMR on 4 February 2012, and I completely forgot my one year anniversary! That won't be happening again, let me tell you!

I started RMMR purely as a book-review blog and from there, it's really just taken whichever direction I've felt like. There's been a mix of recipes, television-show reviews by episode, TED talks, rants as well as the odd book review when I feel like it. I started RMMR because I want to work in publishing and I thought that a book review blog would help to add something more to my repertoire. Instead, this blog has really taken a life of its own and it has taken me by surprise more than anyone else. All I can say is: let it continue!

Some stats for y'all, just because I'm really addicted to them and so you should be too:

Banana bread (and some more Coffee and Walnut Loaf)

I've been horribly absent for ages now and the truth is that I just don't have the time to blog, so things have been put on hold for a while. I'll try and get my half-finished reviews done, but no promises.

Sorry for the crappy photos - per usual

A few weekends ago, I made another Coffee and Walnut Loaf because it's so awesome and I had a go at this one for banana bread at the same time, courtesy of Recipe Rifle. Esther Walker has about four different recipes for banana bread on her website, and so feel free to try whichever tickles your fancy. This one looked the easiest and had fewest ingredients.

I scaled all the ingredients down and used about three-quarters because my tin is a funny size and I was scared that it wouldn't all fit in. Definitely the right choice, but I should probably used more banana.

Anyway, this is fabulous and ridiculously quick. Partly because I measured out all the ingredients while I was waiting for my coffee-and-walnut-loaf-butter to warm up, but whatever. The mashing up of the bananas isn't the most glamorous of jobs but it's so worth it once this is done baking because it smells awesome - and tastes even better.

As it says on step two, don't get freaked out when the mixture gets sublimely dry. I still added about a teaspoon's worth more of milk, but don't bother. It all turns out A-okay so just keep going. I didn't bother with the chocolate or walnuts, but will definitely give it a try next time. It did turn out a little burnt in some places, but in my opinion, that just adds to the authenticity. If you have baking paper, then use that instead of greasing your tin: less messy and makes getting your cake out of the tin a dream!

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

Completely my newest obsession. Watch from the start here or here or wherever else they're shown. I've watched all current 84 episodes, as well as the Q&A sessions and Lydia's videoblogs in less than a week. I need more.

What is The LBD? Basically, a modern retelling of Pride & Prejudice. Lizzie is in grad school racking up the debt, there are only three Bennet sisters and Charlotte, Bing Lee and Caroline inject some very welcome Asian-ness into the show (I'm Asian too, if you don't know why I said that) but otherwise the rest of the story is pretty true. Mrs Bennet is still frantically trying to marry off her daughters, Darcy is still as stuck up in Austen's version and Lydia takes off-the-rails into the twenty-first century.

Asher's Invention by Coleen Kwan

Asher's Invention (2012) (novella)
Coleen Kwan
Grade: C-
Genre: historical romance / steampunk
Sex scenes: no actual sex, but a little steamy
Source: NetGalley

Minerva Lambkin’s father has been kidnapped and she has nobody else to turn to but Asher Quigley, the brilliant inventor who had been her father’s apprentice several years ago, and the man she was going to marry. When Asher discovered that Silas had been passing off his apprentice’s inventions as his own, he was convinced that Minerva had been a party to Silas’ transgressions and despite Minerva’s plea of innocence, he didn’t believe her and they haven’t seen each other since.

Kidnapped by Nicola Cornick

Kidnapped (2009)
Nicola Cornick
Grade: C+
Genre: historical romance / ship
Sex scenes: doesn't hit mild
Source: library

The death of eighteen-year-old Catriona Balfour’s father just short months after it took away her mother has left Catriona numb. Her parents never resented the fact that she was a girl and their only child, and her father never thought that her lack of a ‘Y’ chromosome meant that she couldn’t be educated to the highest level in astronomy, mathematics and philosophy. She loves the small Scottish village that is her home but her newly orphaned status and almost-penniless state means that she can stay no longer. Fortunately, her Balfour relatives have taken her in, but as Catriona later discovers, this is a mixed blessing.

Running Wild by Linda Howard & Linda Jones

Running Wild (2012)
Linda Howard & Linda Jones
Grade: A-
Genre: romantic suspense
Sex scenes: mild
Source: own

Carlin Reed is on the run – again. For the past year, she’s been moving from place to place, working cash-in-hand, keeping her head down so she can stay off the radar and out of the hands of Brad Henderson. What was two innocent if slightly boring dates on her part became a fully-fledged obsession on Brad’s as he becomes convinced that Carlin belongs to him. When a friend dies in her place, Carlin knew that no matter where she ran or where she hid, Brad, the cop and computer-expert, would always find her.

Zeke needs a new cook – again. Libby moved out several months ago after years of service and ever since, none of her replacements have been right. He has laundry up to his ears, no clean underwear and the chilling prospect of Spencer’s cooking three times a day – only marginally better than his own, which is the only reason that Spencer has been saddled with that burden. Zeke needs a new cook and housekeeper fast – before they all get food poisoning.

Key of Knowledge by Nora Roberts

Key of Knowledge (2003)
Nora Roberts
Grade: A
Genre: contemporary romance
Sex scenes: mild
Source: own
Key Trilogy: (1) Key of Light

It’s Dana Steele’s turn to step up to the plate. She’s been given 30 days to find the next key that will unlock the box containing the souls of the Daughters of Glass. She’s part of a centuries-old curse that saw the three souls of half-mortal princesses trapped until their modern counterparts can find the keys that will free them. Malory has succeeded with the first – further than any other has gone before – and Kane, the sorcerer who trapped said souls has upped his game in an effort to stop the two remaining keys from being found.

The Last Honest Woman by Nora Roberts

The Last Honest Woman (1988)

Nora Roberts
Grade: B-
Genre: 'contemporary romance'
Sex scenes: mild
Source: own

I really should stop reading books that I own and start cracking on my NetGalley backlog, but when these are NR books, I really can’t help it, especially since Waiting for Nick gave me a tantalising glimpse of the O’Hurley family that I just can’t get out of my mind.

Abby O’Hurley Rockwell has put off offers to write biographies of her late, infamous husband’s life for a long time, but now that a few years have passed and she desperately needs the money, now is the time. She’s letting accredited biographer Dylan Crosby into the farmhouse she shares with her two sons while he gets his interviews with her and she must be careful to not reveal too much of the truth …