Music Monday (91): Charli XCX, Sky Ferreria

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: I’m currently listening to Charli XCX’s new album, Charli. One of my favorite songs from it is Cross You Out featuring Sky Ferreria.

The Friday 56 (160) & Book Beginnings: Tithe by Holly Black

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Welcome to the realm of very scary faeries! 

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms - a struggle that could very well mean her death...

Beginning: "Kaye spun down the worn, gray planks of the boardwalk."

56: "A few hours later they were sitting on the curb outside the Wiz divvying up their loot."

Comments: I'm not currently reading anything, so I thought I would share a few quotes from one of my favorite books by Holly Black: Tithe. Its been a long time since I read Tithe. It might be time for a reread. The beginning comes from chapter 1 instead of the prologue. What are you reading this week?

Review: The Unkindest Tide by Seanan McGuire

Title: The Unkindest Tide
Series: October Daye #13
Author: Seanan McGuire
Source/Format: Publisher; Bound ARC
More Details: Urban Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: DAW Books; September 3, 2019

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Hundreds of years ago, the Selkies made a deal with the sea witch: they would have the sea for as long as she allowed it, and when the time came, she would call in all their debts at once. Many people assumed that day would never come. Those people were wrong. When the Luidaeg—October "Toby" Daye's oldest and most dangerous ally—tells her the time has come for the Selkies to fulfill their side of the bargain, and that Toby must be a part of the process, Toby can't refuse. Literally. The Selkies aren't the only ones in debt to the Luidaeg, and Toby has to pay what she owes like anyone else. They will travel to the fabled Duchy of Ships and call a convocation of the Selkies, telling them to come and meet the Luidaeg's price...or face the consequences. Of course, nothing is that simple. When Dianda Lorden's brother appears to arrest Dianda for treason against the Undersea, when a Selkie woman is stripped of her skin and then murdered, when everything is falling apart, that's when Toby will have to answer the real question of the hour. Is she going to sink? Or is she going to swim?

I took The Unkindest Tides with me while I had jury duty, and suffice it to say, the story kept me thoroughly entertained during breaks. It’s not the first book I’ve read by Seanan McGuire, but it is the only one I’ve gotten around to reading from the October Daye series. Even though it was the 13th book, I read it anyway—partially because I had no time to get to the other 12 novels in the series before the start of my jury duty. Regardless, I had no trouble following the story, getting invested in the characters, or interested in the world. I loved the story, and it’s probably my favorite book I’ve read by McGuire to date.

The synopsis tells a lot about the book, and the story pretty much delivered on every front. The story starts calmly, but it takes off when the Luidaeg arrived and announced that she intended to collect on debts owed to her. There was mystery, action, and a cast of wonderful characters. The world McGuire has created is probably one of my favorite urban fantasy takes on the fae. It was often a strange and interesting world, particularly with how the everyday side you and I would know met with the magical side. One location that was of interest to me was the Duchy of Ships, which is where the book primarily took place. It was such a creative place to set a story, and I thoroughly like all the details about it from the politics to the architecture, and even some of what local life was like for the people who lived there. Also, I like that there were unique characteristics to each kind of fae and the magic present in the story.

Generally speaking, I liked all of the main characters. October Daye was interesting enough, and I liked the relationship she had with Tybalt. They clashed over certain subjects, but I was a fan of the way they talked it out with one another. The Luidaeg was another one of my favorite characters from the story. Her history and that of her children was long and tragic, and I understood why she would want to be “Cousin Annie” as an escape.

I don’t know everything there is to know about the series, and I probably missed a few references to previous books, but overall The Unkindest Tide was a great story. I enjoyed reading it and look forward to diving into the previous books in the series and other novels by Seanan McGuire. Have you read any books from the October Daye series? If so, are you planning to read The Unkindest Tide?

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher for this review, thank you!

Music Monday (90): Lil Nas X, Pharrell Williams,

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: One of the songs I’ve been listening to lately is Panini by Lil Nas X. It’s one of my favorite songs, and I like the music video for it.

Adri: I'm not sure if this counts, but my pick this Monday is CC The World by Pharrell Williams featuring Cara Delevingne. It was made for the Chanel short film, Reincarnation, by the late Karl Langerfeld. At first I wasn't into the song, but it really grew on me.

• Here's  the link to the video: CLICK HERE

What are some of the songs you've recently listened to? Do you have any new favorites?

Favorite Recipes... Waffle Cones/Bowls

After checking , I realized that our last favorite recipe post was in December... of 2017! And, I thought it would be a perfect time to do another one since we recently got a Koji Waffle Cone Maker.

The first recipe I made was the Waffle Cone Recipe from William Sonoma. For some reason, I thought that my first try was going to turn out horrible, but they were relatively easy. Just a little trial and error. The first four bowls I made came out thick. I wanted thinner batter and decided to add more milk. I did read on different recipe (from Barbara Bakes) that adding more butter is a way to thin it out. Unfortunately, I found this out after I made them.

 

Eventually, Breana suggested we should try chocolate ones, and I am glad I did. The second recipe I partially used was Homemade Chocolate Waffle Cones from Our Best Bites. I didn’t actually use the full recipe this time. The only thing I did was add the amount of chocolate to the first recipe. The bowls came out absolutely delicious. I did think about adding more chocolate; however, after having ice cream I found that the flavor was perfect, and that it would over power the ice cream.

And finally, I really wanted to try the recipe from Our Best Bites on its own. I found that the cones from Our Best Bites were more light and crispy than the other ones I made.

During the process of making cones/bowls three times, I discovered that the order of ingredients is important in terms of texture. Particularly in terms of mixing the egg and sugar.The first time around I kind of threw everything in at once. I felt like this resulted in a fluffy texture. It still tasted good, but that wasn't what I was going for. Additionally, when trying to roll cones I found that it was important to have something under it. I tried rolling it on a plate, but it made it cool too fast. In a lot of videos I watched, people used towels; I found it slightly easier with a paper towel.

Thanks for Reading.

Have you made waffle cones/bowls before?

*FTC: All products mentioned in this post were purchased.*