Credits for image: Blackboard image by gfordham
from Stock Exchange, Fonts: Viper Nora & Vaguely repulsive

For the second instalment of my German(y) for the bookish traveller series I am listing a few terms that you might encounter when you walk around a bookshop.

I’m sure there are many more, therefore don’t consider this list to be comprehensive. If you want to know a specific term not covered yet, just ask!

German (kids’ and adult edition)

I like the way the cover focuses on the chess match. The adult cover doesn’t say much at all about the book. And even though I don’t see the reason for an adult cover (by now everybody who sees you reading this book knows you are reading a kids’  – or is it YA?- book).

UK (kids’ and adult edition)

Hogwarts Express is quite nice, too. I like the adult cover, even though I still don’t see the point).

US (regular, anniversary and collectors’ edition)

I don’t like the covers at all, too flashy for my taste. The collector’s edition is probably supposed to be reminding us of old, leather bound books, but does it achieve it? Not really.

If I was an American reader I would be thoroughly pissed off about the change of title and would boycott the US editions for that reason. Why they felt the need to change the title for the American market is beyond me. The thing has been called the Philosopher’s Stone (or "Stein der Weisen”) within living memory, so why change it? Even IF there are people who have not heard about it they can google it, for Christ’s sake or – as a last resort – use a dictionary.

Which cover do you like best?

Do you think there is a need for adult covers?

What do you think about the change of the American title?

Let me know!

Detective Mark Benemonti is still getting over his last relationship when he meets Sterling Steele – a Greek God in sweat pants – in his local park, and is instantly smitten. Mark knows that Sterling would never lie to him like his ex-boyfriend did. He’s just too sweet and innocent. Right? But while Sterling adores Mark, he’s dealing with an unhappy past of his own. He’s been hurt too many times to trust Mark straight away.
When Sterling’s secret – the fact that he works as a female impersonator at a club called Ruby Slippers – is unexpectedly and explosively revealed, Mark and Sterling’s relationship falls apart. By the time Mark realizes he’s made a mistake, Sterling isn’t in a listening mood. Mark is really going to have to go the extra mile in order to get his boyfriend back… the question is, can he handle his very own pair of Ruby Slippers

My thoughts: 

The first thing that came to my mind while reading this story is that it is the wrong format. It is way too short to cover this topic adequately. I wonder whether authors are required by publishers to deliver in novella or shorter format to meet the readers’ taste but it seems that often the chosen format and the plot do not fit together. Men preferring to dress as  a woman and the resulting problems with potential partners and people in general can’t be resolved in not even a hundred pages, in my opinion.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked the story and the main and side characters. I was totally smitten with Sterling and would have liked to know more about him. But it all felt rushed and resolved too easily and too quickly.

Mark, who obviously got his views from a seven year long brainwashing by a homophobe gay "boyfriend", got over his issues in a manner that was totally unbelievable to me. Self-reflecting is all nice and good and the support of well-meaning friends is certainly helpful, but his going from one attitude to the opposite happened in such a short time and to such an extreme that it was hardly realistic. On the other hand, Sterling who had been hurt before and was hurt again by Mark forgave him so quickly that it didn’t make me happy either. I wanted to see Mark suffer for a longer time. Nobody can tell me that after two weeks of self-contemplation next time Sterling picks up Mark from his job dressed up Mark will be ok to introduce Sterling to his colleagues as his partner. I just am not buying it.

"Ruby Slippers" is a fun read with some angst, but it could be so much more if it was another, longer format. 

Today I’m sharing a recipe from the book “Muffins”, which I am afraid is only available in German. The book is inexpensive and absolutely brilliant. There are lots of muffin recipes in it, sweet or savoury, as well as an introduction to ingredients and step-by-step instructions for general tasks. The photos are so enticing, you want to start baking right away.

The muffins I’m telling you about today is from the “Hits for Kids” section. I made these for the birthday party of my younger son in kindergarten and they WERE a hit.

Bear Muffins with almonds and marzipan

Ingredients:

• 100g butter
• 80g sugar
• 1 pack vanilla sugar
• 2 eggs
• 100g marzipan paste
• 5 tbsp orange juice
• bitter almond flavour
• 120g flour
• 60g ground almonds
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• salt
• 100g icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
• gummi bears

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Put muffin paper moulds in baking pan. Melt butter in a small pot and then put in a mixing bowl.

2. First mix sugar and vanilla sugar, then mix the eggs with the butter. Grind the marzipan paste together with 1 drop of the bitter almond flavour and the orange juice in a mixer and stir into the butter mixture. In a second bowl mix flour, almonds, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. Add marzipan mix to flour mix and stir either with a spoon or a whisk until all ingredients are moist. Add a little orange juice if necessary. The dough should be slightly goopy.

4. Fill dough into muffin moulds and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown. Take out of the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Take them out of the pan and let cool down.

5. Mix icing sugar with lemon juice and cover muffins with it. Put gummi bears on top of each muffin and press down slightly. Let the icing dry.

Enjoy!

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads

Cory isn’t too happy to have to close his brother’s bakery, until a particular customer shows up. Cory would love to cheer ER doctor Kyle up with a little extra special service, but he’s not sure the man is interested. When Cory makes his move, will it be a disaster — or will his night at the bakery turn out to be better than he could have hoped for?

My thoughts: 

This is a so called Torquere sip, a very short story that just gives us a glimpse into the lives of people. It goes medias in res and stops pretty much the same way. However, it is cute and lovely, the perfect little story for a super short break when you don’t want to continue or start something longer.

I always find it amazing how sometimes you get to know a lot about the characters and come to like them even though  the story in total is only 14 pages – and there is some hot scene squeezed into it as well. Pretty nifty!

I want to give you a short outlook to what giveaways to expect here at The Bookkeeper. I am planning four giveaways, each with a different theme. There will be a romance, a thriller and a horror giveaway (all open to Europe) and a fourth giveaway open to everybody. If you are a Vampire Slayer fan you want to have a look at the last one.

Come back Friday and check out some new blogs and enter as many giveaways as you like.

For the read ‘n’ review challenge that started in January I had projected 60 books. Well, I’m finished already.

The same with the m-m romance challenge. I have read 31 books, so I’m done with that one as well. I will continue to read, obviously, but won’t continue updating the challenges.

Right in time the RIP V challenge has started and then there is the book buying ban that is a challenge in itself. No rest for the wicked…

When Trent agrees to move to Los Angeles with Lucas, he knows things aren’t going to be easy. Between a lawsuit, Lucas’ closeted status, difficulty finding work, and a few other things, ‘not easy’ turns out to be an understatement.
Lucas can’t regret bringing his lover to L.A., but he also can’t live openly with Trent the way he wants to. When an unexpected film role makes Lucas even more high-profile than he already was and an unknown enemy steps in to complicate things even further, Lucas has some hard choices to make. Trent’s happiness, and Lucas’, depend upon making the right ones.

My thoughts: 

Trent and Lucas are living together now, but keep up the appearance that Lucas is merely helping out Trent who is down on his luck. Trent is not altogether happy with this situation but knows that Lucas will never come out of the closet. However, something unexpected happens and things change considerably.

It seems that some people were unhappy about the novel format for the conclusion of this series, since the two prequels were novellas and much shorter. I liked the longer format though. There were several issues to resolve, the lawsuit against Trent, the nature of Trent’s and Lucas’ future relationship and others that only turned up in "Unconventional". A shorter format would not have been long enough to give a satisfactory conclusion.

I still think that the two guys were too sex-focused. More often than not they turned to sex instead of talking first. Yes, eventually they came around to the talking but all in all the physical side of their relationship was a major plot point. I know it often is, but with all those problems that arose I would have liked them to talk them trough a little more. Another point that I still don’t get (but this is maybe only me being blue-eyed to the extreme) is why Lucas was so afraid to come out. Would the career of the actor in a syndicated show be ruined if the public found out he was gay? Why would the public care? Am I too naive to think that for a fan of a show the sexual orientation of the star is irrelevant? It would be to me.

All those little nagging things aside I enjoyed reading Trent’s and Lucas’ story a lot. They were both likeable characters and complemented each other perfectly. Another great character is the "other woman". I am one of those readers who strongly dislike women in the story. I can accept a colleague who shows up once in a while and minds her own business, but as soon as the woman is a best friend, confidante, partner or whatever I lose interest quickly. TC Blue, however, managed to portray Katie in such a way that I not only tolerated her, but actually liked her. She is funny, understanding, down to earth and has her own plans that work well with Lucas’ at the time.

If you like hot men and a solid plot with more than one strand you should go and read this series (I recommend you read the books in the proper order, you won’t enjoy them as much otherwise).

I updated my TBR pile on Goodreads and the actual number of books to read I have right here at my fingertips (not only on a virtual wish list) amounts to a whopping 37. Not too bad at all!

Another thing is my reading list. I know. September has only started and I already have to revise it.

I think I have to make the following changes to the list…

• “The Gargoyle” is still on. It IS the September read at the Unputdownables Book Club at Goodreads.
• I will read “The Jane Austen Book Club” simply because I will have to return it soon and I already started reading it.
• I don’t want to lament again about “The Shipping News” but this book really is not for me. I’ll hang on though.
• Then I need to put “The Black Dragon” on the back burner. I managed to get “Fugitive” by Cheryl Brooks at my swap site. The Cat Star chronicles are just such fun to read. Fluff, yes, but oh so nice. I’m allergic to cats, but I certainly wouldn’t mind having one of them at home, .
• Dreamspinner just released “The Outlaw”, a steampunk  m/m romance by Rebecca Leigh. I can’t resist this. I have heard so much about Steampunk, but never read anything, so this opportunity is just too good to pass.

Depending on how quick I am (not too quick I’m afraid, since I also started working again after my vacation) I will read one more of my original list, but this is about it.

Right, so book buying ban. Carin from A little Bookish has put together a list of hints to help us through the month. Hop over to her blog and get a few ideas!