Love For Books

Willie’s Chocolate Factory Cookbook by Willie Harcourt-Cooze

Willie Harcourt-Cooze, who was the star of the Channel 4 hit TV series WILLIE’S WONKY CHOCOLATE FACTORY, shows us in his book how to use this luxury ingredient in a collection of over 60 wonderful recipes. Willie’s Chocolate Factory Cookbook is a book with two halves .The first half of the book is Willie telling us the amazing story behind his dream to make and produce the best chocolate in the world. He and his wife Tania sold everything they had, twelve years ago to purchase a cacao farm in the Cloud Mountains of Venezuela. They are very Passionate about growing, harvesting and processing their very own cacao beans. This dream of chocolate almost made the family bankrupt .Willie learnt how to be a cacao farmer in Venezuela; he now has a chocolate factory in Devon where he makes his 100% cacao bars. Most people think that chocolate is a confectionary, when really it is the most, versatile ingredient, whether you use it for sweet or savoury In the book Willie shares recipes with us from Tiramisu and Venezuelan Hot Chocolate to Chicken Mole and Porcini and Chocolate Risotto.

An excellent book, I really enjoyed the TV show so I had to buy the book and try the recipes.

How to store books

If you are a book fan and want to keep your book collection in tip top condition here are some rules that you should follow;

You shouldn’t keep books in damp or dry conditions as insufficient moisture can causes a book’s natural materials to become dry and brittle meaning the pages will weaken and be easily torn. With old books, bindings tend to deteriorate and crumble when the conditions are a bit too dry. Paper in books will also deteriorate quickly in extreme conditions of heat or moisture. Keeping them in a damp environment will encourage the paper to cockle and this will opens books up to attack especially from mould.

It is important that books are kept in stable conditions, this is as important as the level of temperature and humidity. A temperature of between 16ºC and 18ºC, and a relative humidity of around 50-60% are best recommended. So the next time you find yourself shivering and cold in the library you should remember that these conditions are for the good of the books.

Bright light will fade inks and dyes and will generally accelerate the decomposition of printing materials. Ultraviolet (UV) light is the source of this damage. Books should be stored away from windows and bright lights

JK Rowling

Joanne “Jo” Rowling OBE, better known as JK Rowling was born on 31 July 1965. J. K. Rowling is a British author, who is best known as being creator of the much loved Harry Potter series. JK says she came up with the idea for of Harry Potter when she was on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. Harry Potter books are famous worldwide  and have won multiple awards the book have sold more than 400 million copies worldwide and has been made into box office favourite movies, both the books and the films are loved by both adults and children.

Awell as writing the Harry Potter books, JK is also famous for her “rags to riches” life story, in which she changed from living on benefits to being a multi-millionaire within five years. The 2008 Sunday Times Rich List estimated JK is worth £560 million ($1.1 billion), meaning she is the twelfth richest woman in Britain. Forbes ranked JK as the forty eighth most powerful celebrities of 2007.

JK was born to Peter James and Anne Rowling in Yate, Gloucestershire, England, she has a sister, Dianne (Di) who was born at their home on 28 June 1967] when Rowling was 23 months old.

Lipstick and powder by Sally Worboyes

This book is set in East End London; it’s a wonderful book which I could not put down. Anna has everything which she should need to make her happy – two lovely twin baby boys, a husband, a lovely little house in Bethnal Green. But recently Anna has noticed that her husband Frank has been acting a little differently. He started coming home later and drinking more.  Anna is sure that she has smelt women’s   perfume on his shirt.  When she confronts him, Frank brushes Anna’s questions aside, but Anna has a feeling deep down inside that something isn’t right in their marriage. Anna’s sisters have an upmarket escort agency in a Victorian house close by. It is a very risky business, but when Anna watches the carefree, laughter of the women who work there, she begins to think about the girl she once was and longs for her to come back. She wonders if being a wife and mother means that her dancing days are gone. An Old family friend called Rob, who is a policeman wants to show Anna a good time if her husband wont.

A beautifully written book which was sometimes funny and often brought a tear to my eye.

How to be a domestic goddess by Nigela Lawson

This is a very valuable book which has been written with love and passion from a wonderful sensual person. It’s a book about baking but not being tied to the kitchen sink, you don’t need to be a professional cook to follow the recipes, and most ingredients and equipment can be found at home in your own kitchen. The book includes simple old fashioned recipes to exciting mouth-watering desserts. The instructions are very easy to follow and there is also a little story telling along the way.

Some of the recipes in the book include; Pizza, chocolate cakes, steamed syrup sponge, scones, gooseberry-cream crumble, bagels, brownies,   double apple pie, pistachio macaroons, muffins, cheesecakes. The recipes also include children’s cooking and Christmas baking and other festive family treats.

The editor of the book describes it as ‘This gorgeous, deliciously reassuring book is not about being a goddess, but about feeling like one. It taps straight into every woman’s cooking fantasy and demonstrates that it’s not pie-in-the-sky but a real mouth-watering cake in the oven.’

An excellent cookbook that I would highly recommend to anyone wanting to become a domestic goddess! Or just have a little fun cooking up some gorgeous treats.

Daddys Little Earner

Maria’s dad was violent, abusive and a pimp.  He hung around with drunks and prostitutes often bringing them home to meet his children.  Her mother was forced by him to work the streets.  She got tired of the lifestyle she was living and walked out leaving Maria and her siblings in his violent hands.  By the age of nine Maria’s father was abusing her, by the time she was fourteen he was selling her on the streets of Norwich’s red-light district. Maria’s life turns from bad to worse, robbed of her childhood and forced to grow up in a world of evil.
This book is the shocking true story of Maria Landans childhood. It leaves you feeling angry as to why anyone could do such a thing to their child and how the people who are suppose to protect children can let things like this go on right under their nose. Maria Landon tells her story in a very graceful manner. She is abused and forced into selling her body at a very early age, while her father drinks away her profits in the pub, and throws punches at anyone who tries to help. An excellent book, if your into true life reads.

Accident by Danielle Steel

This book is about an accident that changed the lives of many families. Page is the perfect mother to Allyson who is 15 and Andy who is 7. They live the normal family life with Page taking her son to his baseball games and Allyson growing up fast. Pages husband Brad is away on business a lot but Page still feels happy with her life. Until one day all this changes. Allyson tells page that she is going out with her best friend Chloe and her dad Trygve when really she is going out with Chloe and 2 older boys in a car they’ve borrowed. They end up in a terrible accident in which Allyson is seriously injured and may not survive. Brad is away on the night of the accident and Page starts to lean on Trygve to help her through. Page faces hours of waiting and has to confront the fact that her daughter may not survive and if Allyson does make it she might not ever be the same again

 
I really loved this book. I was hooked from the start. Danielle Steel is one of my favourite authors and this is one of my favourite books that she’s written.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

This is the story of Susie Salmon; a 14-year-old girl who on her way home from school on snowy, cold day in December is raped and murdered by a neighbour. He lures her into a den underground and brutally rapes and murders the young girl. When Susie is murdered she goes to heaven. From heaven she can see her friends and family and even her murderer who was a serial killer. In heaven she meets some of his other victims and even her Grandfather who she has never seen before.

She is able to watch over her friends and family as they grieve for her. She can also watch the man that did this to her and her family. And watch while they try to catch the man that did this to Susie.

She doesn’t seem unhappy when she goes to heaven. Just unhappy for what her family and friends are going through. We see heaven through Susie’s eyes as she says everyone’s heaven is different.

I absolutely loved this book. I found it easy to read and couldn’t put it down. It brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. I would definitely recommend this book.

Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl was born in 1916 in Llandaff Cardiff, Wales , his parents were  Norwegian , Harald Dahl and Sofie Magdalene Dahl (née Hesselberg). Hiss family moved from Norway to Cardiff in the 1880s. He was named after the polar explorer Roald Amundsen, who was a national hero in Norway around that time. He spoke Norwegian at home with his parents and sisters. Dahl and his sisters were christened at the Norwegian Church, Cardiff, where their parents worshipped.

In 1920, when he was just four, his seven year old sister, Astri, died suddenly from appendicitis.  A month later, his dad, Harald died of pneumonia aged of 57, following the grieving from his daughter Astri’s death. Dahl’s mother,Sofie, decided she wouldnt return to Norway to live with relatives, instead she chose remain in Wales since it had been her late husband’s wish to have their children educated in British schools.

Roald first attended The Cathedral School, Llandaff. At the age of eight, he and four of his friends were caned by the headmaster after putting a dead mouse in a jar of sweets at the local sweet shop, which was owned by a “mean and loathsome” old woman called Mrs. Pratchett (wife of blacksmith David Pratchett). This was known amongst the five boys as the “Great Mouse Plot of 1924″. This was Roald’s own idea.

The ambassadors by Henry James

Middle aged, Lambert Strether, agrees to go to Paris for his wealthy fiancée Mrs Newsome to attempt to rescue son Chad from a wicked woman. En route, Strether stops off in England meeting American Maria Gostrey, whoMiddle aged, Lambert Strether, agrees to go to Paris for his wealthy fiancée Mrs Newsome to attempt to rescue son Chad from a wicked woman. En route, Strether stops off in England meeting American Maria Gostrey, who’s resided in Paris for a number of years. Her cynical viewpoint and opinions start to change Stretcher’s views.

Strether meets Chad in Paris being impressed by how sophisticated he has become. Strether goes to a garden party, meeting Marie de Vionnet, really lovely woman, separated from her ghastly husband, who was with her attractive daughter, Jeanne. Strether is confused and can’t decide if Chad is attracted to Jeanne or Marie.

Strether starts falls for Paris and stops Chad from going back to America. In the meantime, Chad’s mother, Mrs. Newsome, impatiently waiting back in America, seeks more “ambassadors” to persuade Chad to return to America with haste.
Chad’s has a sister, Sarah Pocock, who dismisses Lambert’s impression that Chad is much improved, condemning Marie as indecent, demanding that Chad return immediately to America.

Strether takes to the French countryside, escaping the troubles, but bumps into Chad and Marie at an inn. Realizing the pair’s romance, he returns to Paris and pleads with Chad to stay with Marie. Strether finds that Europe is no longer so attractive to him. Declining a proposal from Maria Gostrey, Strether returns to the States