23/01/2010

Book List 2009

At the end of 2008 someone posted on their blog all the books they had read that year. I really enjoyed looking at the list and even read some of the books mentioned and I wanted to keep a list of the books I had read all year too, so here it is. I can't remember whose blog I originally saw this on so if it's yours give me a shout. Most of these are good reads, some are rubbish and were read out of desperation at having nothing else to read but the books marked with an asterisk I highly recommend.
The Eden Express - Mark Vonnegut Five Quarters of the Orange - Joanne Harris* Maybe Baby - Ben Elton Holy Fools - Joanne Harris The Buddha of Suburbia - Hanif Kureishi* Cries in the Night - Rodney Stone Black Dogs - Ian McEwan Sleeping Cruelty - Linda LaPlante To Be Someone - Louise Voss Life of a Slummy Mummy - Fiona Neill A Long and Lonely Road - Katie Flynn Winter in Madrid - CJ Sansom* Bookends - Jane Green To Hell in a Handcart - Richard Littlejohn The Van - Roddy Doyle Ecstasy - Irvine Welsh A Short History of Tractors in Ukrania - Marina Lewycka When Will There be Good News - Kate Atkinson* The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath* The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne The House at Riverton - Kate Morton* Goodbye Johnny Thunder - Tania Kindersley The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul - Douglas Adams The Northern Clemency - Philip Hensher* White Teeth - Zadie Smith* Under the Greenwood Tree - Thomas Hardy Dead Famous - Ben Elton Popcorn - Ben Elton Brick Lane - Monica Ali The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood* Afghanistan, Where God Only Comes to Weep - Siba Shakib* Lady Oracle - Margaret Atwood* Abel's Daughter - Meg Hutchinson Larry's Party - Carol Shields* The Buddha in you Mirror - Woody Hochswender, Greg Martin, Ted Morino Angels in my Hair - Lorna Byrne* Melted into Air - Sandi Toksvig Scar Tissue - Anthony Kiedis* The Mystery of Men - Guy Bellamy The First Casualty - Ben Elton* Mary, Called Magdalene - Margaret George Stand by, Stand by - Chris Ryan* Snow Falling on Cedars - David Gutherson Inconceivable - Ben Elton A Cat Affair - Derek Tangye Dead Air - Iain Banks Cue the Easter Bunny - Liz Evans Wicked - Gregory Maguire McCarthy's Bar - Pete McCarthy

20/01/2010

Vitalite Dairy Free - suitable for Vegans!!!

Spotted this at my local British produce supermarket today and was so excited I wanted to share with the rest of you. Buying a vegan butter/margarine substitute that isn't made from olive oil and doesn't cost the best part of a fiver for a measly tub has proven a real pain in the butt for me here in Spain. So I was delighted to see this and was dancing up the aisles of the frozen peas with much joy! And at €1.62 for this whopping great tub - yours truly shall lather on an extra dollop on her crumpets this fine morn. Good times!
GO VEGAN!

16/01/2010

Happy New Year! WooooHooo!

Yes I know, I am but a mere 16 days late on the greets but it has taken me as long to sift through the backlog of work that accumulated whilst yours truly was rocking her jollys for the hollys in the merry old land of Blight. I have been trying to catch up on all your awesome blogs and am slowly making my way through them but I will apologise in advance if you get a Happy New Year greeting in mid March! I spent 19 days in the UK for the festivities and was very lucky to have escaped all the snow that many of my fellow brethren and sistren had, in fact, me and Mr.treehugger were very lucky to have escaped the country full stop as the evening of our flight was the last flight out of the South for a good few days. But get home we did and boy isn't it always nice to get home after being away. I was super happy to see my fur babies and the feeling was mutual. Although they had been well cared for and looked after by Uncle Wayne and Aunty Sonya, they were all deliriously happy to have us back home so as things could get back to normal. Another super happy sight that greeted me when I got home was a parcel that had been delivered whilst I'd been away. It was pretty obvious who it was from and I excitedly (but carefully) ripped open the package to behold the wondrous sight within.
This AWESOME bundle came courtesy of Michelle Cavigliano from My Zoetrope . Her blog can be found here and her Etsy store here. I was lucky enough to be the chosen commenter when, back in November, Michelle blogged about this awesome give-away. To say I was thrilled to be chosen is a serious understatement. I LOVE LOVE LOVE all Michelle's work, it thrills and delights me no end. As well as a cute card and four gorgeous little gift tags; I now have 12 awesomelly cute little pictures to hang on my wall too. The tough decision is whether I put them in frames now or wait 'til January 2011! Tough call.
GO VEGAN!