Happy Wednesday!
What is everyone reading this week?
Today’s quote is from The Compleat Gentleman by Henry Peacham.
The book was written as a guide for young men of the period to become well-rounded, couteous members of society. It was full of practical advice on how to travel, what to read and much more.
Lady Book Dragon
As promised I have had a go at making one of the recipes from The Book Lover’s Guide to Tea, which I reviewed here. I let my husband choose which one to make and he chose the Lemon Slices. The Lemon Slices are paired with the book The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde and the tea is Earl Grey.
The plan was to eat a slice with a nice cup of Earl Grey, you will soon see the result.
Firstly, I found the recipe to be a little like The Great British Bake Off technical challenge, as there was no picture to see what they looked liked. It is also the first recipe where I have had to measure everything with cups, thankfully we have some rather cute cat cups.
Here is the recipe:
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup melted butter
4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup all purpose flour
5/8 lemon juice
(Temperature was a guess for us as we have an AGA so adapting the temperature is rather tricky as we have to use a cold shelf to get the AGA to a better temperature. Also I do not have a big enough square tin so it had to be a circular pan.)
2. Stir the 2 cups of flour and confectioners’ sugar together. Blend in melted butter, and press into the bottom of the pan.
(I was guessing I was aiming for a biscuit texture like a cheesecake, hopefully that is correct.)
3. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. In another bowl, beat eggs until light. Combine the sugar, baking powder, and flour, and stir into the eggs. Add the lemon juice, and pour over the prepared crust before returning to the oven.
(The first problem was baking the base and trying to prevent it from burning in the AGA, the edges started to catch slightly so we decided it was time to add the topping and bake for 30 minutes.)
4. Bake for another 30 minutes or until bars are set. Make sure to let cool completely before cutting.
(We had to use two cold shelves to bring the temperature down so the top did not burn but we think it came out rather well.)
It reminds me of a giant custard tart!
As I said at the beginning we planned to eat a slice with a nice cup of Earl Grey, however we were impatient and attempted to cut the Lemon Slice before it was fully cooled, this ended in disaster. Yes, it fell apart, as shown below.
For the Earl Grey I got out the best china cups and side plates, these were my aunts who sadly passed away last year and I inherited her china. My aunt never drank tea out of a mug, it was a china cup and saucer or nothing. My aunt also drank more tea than anyone I have ever met, she was a true tea drinker, oh and a tea bag would never do, always loose leaf! It was really nice to use the china and enjoy our tea and think of my aunt telling me Earl Grey is not real tea, whilst drinking her tea with her little finger delicately pointing out. Sadly there is no teapot with the set so we used our little one that we use for loose leaf tea.
We ate the Lemon Slice and it was delicious. Later when it had fully cooled I cut it up and it all stayed together beautifully and worked brilliantly. A definite hit that I will happily make again and goes perfectly with Earl Grey Tea, just like the book says.
In conclusion, as well as loving the little book, I also so far love the recipes and how they are linked to books and teas!
Lady Book Dragon.
Star Trek Discovery: Drastic Measures by Dayton Ward
About the author
Born in 1967 Dayton Ward is primarily known as a Science fiction author who writes Star Trek novels and short stories. Before Ward became an author he served for eleven years in the United States Marine Corps. He currently lives in Kansas City, Missouri and is a software developer when not writing.
Blurb
It is 2246, ten years prior to the “Battle at the Binary Star,” and an aggressive contagion is ravaging the food supplies of the remote Federation colony Tarsus IV and the eight thousand people who call it home. Distress signals have been sent, but any meaningful assistance is weeks away. Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Lorca and a small team assigned to a Starfleet monitoring outpost are caught up in the escalating crisis, and bear witness as the colony’s governor, Adrian Kodos, employs an unimaginable solution in order to prevent mass starvation.
While awaiting transfer to her next assignment, Commander Philippa Georgiou is tasked with leading to Tarsus IV a small, hastily assembled group of first responders. It’s hoped this advance party can help stabilise the situation until more aid arrives, but Georgiou and her team discover that they’re too late – Governor Kodos has already implemented his heinous strategy for extending the colony’s besieged food stores and safeguarding the community’s long-term survival.
In the midst of their rescue mission, Georgiou and Lorca must now hunt for the architect of this horrific tragedy and the man whom history will one day brand “Kodos the Executioner.”
Review
My reaction to this book is just wow. I’m not even sure if I should even use the word ‘wow’ to describe a book but I am going to. The more I have thought about this book since finishing it the more it has made its mark on my mind.
The storyline of this book is shocking but the way the characters deal with the situations and the horrifying circumstances is fantastic. There are so many intertwining storylines and that just adds to the story and makes it addictive. I also really enjoyed how the book gives you more background information on Lorca and Georgiou, it was really good to see a part of their lives early in their respective careers in Starfleet that will affect them for the rest of their lives.
There are so many emotions in this book and it does not hold back or sugar coat anything which is another element I enjoyed. There is anger, grief, fear, denial, cowardice, love and much more. The amount packed into this book is fantastic and was a real surprise to me. I really enjoyed the first book in the series Desperate Hours but it does not have the edge like this one, mainly due to the pace of this book, there was no dull, dragged out moments where I lost interest and it constantly had my attention hooked. I think this just shows that Dayton Ward is an experienced author of the genre and knows what the reader wants to read.
This story also contained a lot of twists and turns and so you never knew what could happen next and that really kept you on your toes. The characters we know so well from the TV series Lorca and Georgiou were brilliantly portrayed in the book and in my mind perfectly linked in with the TV series. The other character I was intrigued by and I really hope we see more of in future books is Captain Robert April, the eccentric captain who likes to wear cardigans over his uniform seems like a real character and I would love to see him featured in a story.
However, my favourite thing about this book is the very last section called Elsewhere. This section has had me thinking a lot since finishing the book and I absolutely loved the idea it is putting across but I will not say more as I do not want to spoil the surprise for you.
So as you might have guessed I love this book and so I rate it 5 Dragons out of 5 Dragons. For all you Trekkie fans out there it is a must read and even if you are not a Trekkie fan but adore a good Sci-fi set in space or on another planet I can not recommend it enough.
Lady Book Dragon
The Book Lover’s Guide to Tea
This is a tiny review for a tiny book. This book was in the box with the book tea infuser I blogged about here.
Firstly, it is possibly one of the cutest books I have ever read, being only 7.5cm tall and 6.5cm wide, it is tiny but surprisingly it is 47 pages long.
Secondly, it all about tea and I love tea. It has some excellent tea and book related quotes in it and the best part is it has some recipes for the perfect accoutrements to afternoon tea. I plan on trying out the recipe for the cookies and lemon squares as they look easy to make and yummy, and it also tells you which tea will go best with the said recipes.
Thirdly, it also tells you how to make the perfect cup of tea with the book tea infuser and gives you timings for the different types of tea.
A perfect little book that took a matter of minutes to read but was an interesting read to enjoy with a cup of tea. I gave this little book 5 Dragons out of 5 and I hope the recipes turn out to be a success, I will keep you posted.
Happy tea drinking and reading.
Lady Book Dragon
Hello my fellow readers!
I hope you have all had a good week and have a full weekend of reading planned ahead.
I just thought I would tell you about my latest new book. My wonderful husband took me to Waterstones on Valentine’s Day and told me to choose a book and he would treat me. I was very restrained as he had already spoiled me with some other presents and a big bunch of flowers, he is brilliant. My choice in the end was The Stone Circle by Elly Griffiths. I have been looking forward to this book and so grabbed it when I saw it on the shelf, although it was hidden away right at the bottom. Another exciting book to add on to my TBR pile!
I am hoping to read a bit more next week and get down my TBR pile, work has got in the way recently and falling asleep on the sofa but next week is half term so I am hoping for a bit of reading time as I am only working on three days and they are not full days.
What will everyone be reading this weekend?
Lady Book Dragon
So for this friday’s poetry I thought I would share with you all a poem from my childhood. I recently found an old poetry book that I had when I was very young and I have been re reading it. I have chosen a Dragon related poem because Dragons are brilliant!
The Sleepy Dragon
A dragon awake
in his mountain lair
where he’d slept
for a thousand years.
His treasure was rusty
his scales were dusty
his throat was dry
his wings wouldn’t fly
his throat was croaky
his fire was smoky
his eyes weren’t flashing
his tail wasn’t lashing
his claws couldn’t scratch
though he tried.
So he sighed
and stretched himself
over the floor
and went back to sleep
for a thousand years more.
Irene Rawnsley
Lady Book Dragon
Happy St Valentine’s Day Everyone!
I hope you all get some wonderful books off your Valentine’s.
I know it is not Friday but I just had to share this special poem about love with you all. I think Robert Burns sums it up perfectly.
A Red, Red Rose
My love is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June:
My love is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in love am I:
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry.
Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun:
And I will love thee still my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only love,
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my love,
Thou’ it were ten thousand mile.
Robert Burns
Lady Book Dragon
Good Morning!
I hope everyone is having a good week so far and getting lots of reading done. My chosen quote this week is by the great Oscar Wilde. He is a favourite of mine so I thought it was high time I chose one of his wonderful quotes.
Oscar Wilde
Happy reading everyone.
Lady Book Dragon
I finally got to use my new tea infuser that I got for Christmas. My friends know me so well, the two things I absolutely adore are tea and books and my best friend managed to get me something that combines both these things.
So here is the fantastic tea infuser with the little book of tea it came with. The Book tea infuser is called A Tale of Two Ci-Teas one of my favourite books.
I can report the tea infuser works brilliantly and I made the tea in a suitably bookish mug.
I hope my next mug of bookish tea I can accompany it with a good book but sadly this mug of tea had to stay on the AGA to stay warm as I did some jobs.
Do you have any bookish related items? I would love to hear what they are.
Lady Book Dragon.
I mentioned at Christmas that my best friend bought me the 100 Books Scratch Off Bucket List and I decided that I would start reading the books on there that I have not read before. Anyway the list has been sat looking at me since Christmas and I still haven’t made a start on reading some of the books off the list.
So I thought I would make a few lists and enlist you my fellow readers to help me decide on which book to read next.
Here is what the poster looks like
Firstly, the books I have already read:-
Books I have not read (the ones I own are in blue):-
So out of the books on the list that I have not read and own which do you think I should read next? Whichever book is the most popular I will read next. Thank you in advance for your choices.
Happy reading.
Lady Book Dragon.
Lady Book Dragon 