Rosy's scrawled book recommendation: Flitterwig by Edrei Cullen

Flitterwig
Edrei Cullen

Blurb
Ella has felt different all her life, with her pale, almost translucent skin, wild hair, pointed ears and gangly limbs. Her father has wanted nothing to do with her since her mother's death, and her grandparents hide her away from the world. Then Ella discovers that she really is different. She is a Flitterwig: a human with fairy blood. With the help of some special spectacles, Ella can suddenly see the Magicals-pixies, fairies, troggles, imps and other magic creatures-and learns that it is her destiny to help restore the kingdom of Magus.

Publisher
Scholastic

ISBN
9781741690866

Rosy's scrawlings on Flitterwig
This book is for those a little more advanced from early readers, with those likely to enjoy it the most falling between the ages of 6-12. That said, this is a delightful book and likely one to entertain an adult who is reading with or to their child. The main character is a little girl but she's active and brave and a skateboarder too so I see no problem with boys of similar ages enjoying the story, although by age 12 they might not be so interested.
I picked up this book after seeing the blurb for it in a book store catalogue (an excellent one no longer being produced, unfortunately). I'm not usually drawn to children's stories but there was something charming about the blurb and the matching cover illustration that had me wanting to know more about Ella. Maybe it was the fly away hair and the curve to her nose but whatever it was I bought the book and stacked it in my overflowing to-be-read pile. I expected to get to it later, later but life became so busy that reading something easy and sweet seemed a good idea. And if you're an adult in just such a situation I highly advise you to try this book as a lovely fallback to a busy, scattered life. It works rather well to bring a smile to the face and a light to the heart.
And as a child reader, I imagine Flitterwig would be an engrossing tale of elves, goblins, troggles and flitterwigs that involves a young girl becoming the somewhat unwilling (at first) saviour of the elves who are locked in our deadly human world. There are some subtle and not so subtle messages about the consequences of eating too much sugar and of pollution to us and other creatures, which serve to elevate the story from a simple fantasy story to a didactic fantasy story. On this note and for the inclusion of little illustrations by Gregory Rogers like the below, the book has an air of Roald Dahl's style to it (and I say that with the intention of praise as Roald Dahl was and is a favourite author of mine).

The writing style of Flitterwig is smooth and easy to read although not too easy. There's no dumbing down to the language and in fact there are many new words and names to learn the meaning of. Flitterwig serves well as an introduction or bridge to adult fantasy stories by including many of the creatures and themes one can expect with further fantasy reading. It offers high adventure, relationship and personal growth issues, environmental concerns, the clashes between cultures and objectives as well as the inclusion or a heroine and hero who'll save the day through a series of trials focused on personal enlightenment. Overall, between the playfulness of the story, the inclusion of little pictures throughout, the didactic and advanced qualities of the plot there's much to bother reading the Flitterwig for. And all that aside, Ella and Dixon and just a funny fantasy duo worth reading about for their playful antics.

I'd recommend this book to: early readers advancing into more complex stories, fans of fantasy creatures, adults searching for a charming didactic book to read to or with their child and those who simply want a lighthearted and easy mental getaway.

Rosy's scrawled manga recommendation: Uzumaki by Junji Ito

Uzumaki
Junji Ito

Blurb
Kurozu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. According to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person or being but by a pattern: uzumaki, the spiral, the hypnotic secret shape of the world. It manifests itself in small ways: seashells, ferns, whirlpools in water, whirlwinds in air. And in large ways: the spiral marks on peoples bodies, the insane obsessions of Shuichi s father, the voice from the cochlea in your inner ear. As the madness spreads, the inhabitants of Kurôzu-cho are pulled ever deeper, as if into a whirlpool from which there is no return...

Alternative names
The Spiral

Status
Completed

Manga reader sites (free)
Manga Reader, Manga Here

Rosy's scrawlings on Uzumaki
I was made aware of this manga when a friend posted this along with the title:

How could I say no? This was just about as disturbing a hit you could get without any introduction to what it was all about. So, curiosity piqued, off I went to find and read the manga Uzumaki with high expectations of insanity. And I found just what I was looking for: one of the strangest mangas about, even for a horror manga.
Uzumaki reads like literature does to your average fiction. There's a quality to the story telling and the suspense that just buries you in a world made utterly weird. No promises as to an explanation for the spiral obsession are made and any conclusions you come up with are, by and large, your own interpretation of events. There's a mystery to the horror that remains, leaving you feeling creeped out and disturbed as much as you'd expect to be after reading Poe at his darkest. All this is the result of an inexplicable and isolating plot, an ever tightening suspense, the darkly appealing artwork and the repellent body dysmorphia and mental degradation.
The horror starts slowly, with the town of Kurozu-cho witnessing just one person becoming obsessed with the most random thing: the spiral pattern. It seems to be a case of mental instability only. He collects anything that has a spiral pattern within it, filling up an entire room with objects. When his wife throws them away, in an attempt to bring him back to reality, the man only breaks down further. Soon his obsession makes him shape his body into spirals. His eyes roll in different directions and he learns how to twist his tongue into a spiral. And this is just the beginning. The spiral obsession turns out to be not only contagious but deadly in ways thoroughly unpredictable. All that is human and ordinary about Kurozu-cho slowly, then faster and faster, becomes something other.
The art of Uzumaki is darkly brilliant, with more attention given per panel than is ordinarily seen in mangas. Shapes are smoothly created yet there's a starkness about the final images due to most shades and gradations being absent. Dark or light, sketchy or slick, spirals are woven in wherever you look, making them not only the haunting theme of the story but the a repeated image that sticks in your mind. The expressions of the townspeople add to the disturbing atmosphere, as they almost invariably emphasis the stresses the characters are under. Fear, despair, haunted melancholy, madness, jealousy, obsession, worry, terror, the range of expressions wide yet convey only the horror of the character's situation.

I'd recommend this manga to: fans of horror fiction, the inexplicable and highly disturbing art.

Notes on manga reader sites
The quality of manga readers can vary. The uploads are often done cheaply or as a serious hobby by a collective. Be aware that sometimes licence hasn't been given but the sites noted above, Manga Fox in particular, are extremely careful about adding and pulling mangas according to license agreements. So you shouldn't have to worry too much about the material being pirated. There are also translated works and non-translated. Amongst the translated works you will find that the quality of translation may vary according to the skills of the translators. Usually the works are perfectly readable anyway, with only a few added or dropped words or a word in the incorrect tense or with/out plurals. But sometimes the text becomes gobbledygook. In which case, either seek another version or give up and buy an official copy once a printed translation comes out. The other issue of note is you may need to expand the screen to read the text easily as sometimes the scans are minimised a little.
I find that if a page doesn't download properly or some other issue occurs (too slow or someone ordered the pages incorrectly etc.) with one reader then skipping across to another reader and picking up where I was is quite easy and rarely annoying.
Otherwise, enjoy and watch out you don't get too addicted you forget about the necessary things in life.

10 mythical male warriors to watch out for

Thor

Jason

Beowulf

King Arthur

Robin Hood

Gilgamesh

Odysseus

Minamoto Yoshitsune 

Achilles

Perseus

And a modern mythological warrior in the making

Conan The Barbarian

Allergy free Malaysian chicken curry recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tbsps olive oil
• 1 onion, cut into wedges
• 800g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 3cm pieces
• 2 large potatoes, peeled, cut into 3cm pieces
  
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 star anise
• 400ml coconut milk
• ½ cup chicken stock made from a Massel vegetarian chicken ultracube
• 2 tsps palm sugar, grated or 2 tsps brown sugar
• 2 tbsps fish sauce

Curry paste

• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 long fresh red chillies, seeded, finely chopped
• 2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
• 4 purple Asian shallots, finely chopped
• 1½ tsps turmeric
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

• Place all the curry paste ingredients in a food processor and process until a smooth paste forms.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Heat the oil in a wok over medium-low heat.
• Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens.
• Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, until aromatic.
• Add the chicken, potato, lime leaves, cinnamon, star anise, coconut milk and stock.
• Bring the curry to a simmer.
• Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered and stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
• Uncover the wok and simmer for another 15 minutes or until the sauce thickens and the chicken is tender.
• Remove the wok from heat.
• Add the sugar and fish sauce, stirring to combine.
• Taste and season with sugar and fish sauce.

Allergy free sweet potato and pear pie recipe

Ingredients

Pastry

• 1 cup Orgran all purpose flour
• ½ cup Orgran self-raising flour
• ½ cup cornflour
• ⅓ cup Orgran gluten free gluten
• 125g Nuttlex
• ¼ cup caster sugar (optional)
• 1 tsp Orgran No Egg whisked with 40mls water until thick
• ¼ cup cold water

Filling

• 1 extra large or 2 sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed or processed
• 3-4 pears, peeled, cored and sliced
• ½ cup goat’s milk
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp coconut essence
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 6 tsp Orgran No Egg whisked with 120mls goat’s milk until thick

Method

• Grease a large pie dish.
• Prepare the sweet potato and set aside to cool.
• Combine the flours, gluten free gluten, Nuttlex and ¼ cup sugar in a large bowl and rub the Nuttlex through until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
• Add the No egg mixture and ¼ cup cold water.
• Combine until the pastry just comes together.
• Roll and press the pastry together until smooth.
• Wrap in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.
• Place remaining pastry between 2 sheets of cling wrap or baking paper.
• Roll out until large enough to fit the pie dish.
• Peel away one piece of cling wrap, flip the pastry into the pie dish, shape and cut away any excess.
• Set aside to rest.
• Place the pears and 1 cup cold water in a baking classics saucepan.
• Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to medium-low.
• Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes or until the pears are tender.
• Drain, return to the saucepan and set aside.
• In a separate large bowl, combine the sweet potato mash, sugar, coconut essence, cinnamon and nutmeg.
• Fold in the cooked pear.
• Once evenly combined, gently fold in the No Egg mixture until just combined.
• Pour the mixture into the pie pastry and gently smooth the top, pushing down any pear where needed.
• Cook until the top begins to crack. This may take approx. ¾-1 hour at 180°C.

The fictional dads boy's often choose

Whether or not the fictional Dad is actually a dad is not what's important. Here, what is important is how real little boys see or saw the male fictional character. Unbeknownst to many an actual Dad, their little boy actually chooses another (or several) role model or wish fulfilment father amongst the long list of adult male fictional characters available. Listed here are but a few of the more popular. It should also be noted that there are even more characters being chosen by the current young generations, both as heroes to try to be and as secondary fathers. Only time will tell who will be the most popular.

Homer Simpson

Dr Who

Charlie Chaplin

Cliff Huxtable

Philip Banks a.k.a "Uncle Phil"

Geoffrey Barbara or "G"

Al Bundy

Darth Vadar

Sherlock Holmes

Gomez Addams

Spock

Gandalf

Batman

James Bond

Han Solo

Arnold Schwarzenegger, usually as Terminator or Dutch from Predator

Dr Jones

Indiana Jones

Allergy free chicken, leek and carrot stew recipe

Ingredients

• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped thickly
• 1 large leek, halved and sliced
• 700g chicken breast or thighs, cut into 2-inch cubes
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsps Orgran all purpose flour
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, leaves stripped
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tbsps olive oil
• ½ cup dry white wine
• ½ cup chicken stock made from a Massel vegetarian chicken ultracube
• ¼ cup goat’s milk (optional)
• 1 tbsp yellow mustard powder
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• ¼ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• Thyme sprigs, to garnish

Method

• Cook the carrots in a large saucepan of boiling salted water 3 minutes.
• Add the sliced leek to the saucepan and cook until carrots are tender, about 3 minutes longer.
• Drain the carrots and leek and set aside.
• Sprinkle the chicken with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Whisk the flour, thyme and paprika in a medium bowl.
• Toss the chicken pieces in the flour mixture.
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok over a medium- high heat.
• Cook the chicken and until browned, about 2 minutes per side.
• Add the wine and allow it to boil until reduced by half, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Scatter the carrot and leek over the chicken.
• Add the stock, cover, and simmer on low until the chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes.
• Add the goat’s milk, vinegar and mustard powder.
• Stir until the sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes.
• Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
• Transfer to a large shallow bowl.
• Scatter parsley over and garnish with thyme sprigs.

Allergy free carrot and raisin cake recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup Orgran self-raising flour
• ½ cup Orgran all purpose flour
• 1 tsp bicarb soda
• ½ cup sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp allspice
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 tsp Orgran No Egg whisked with 80mls water until thick
• 2 carrots, finely grated
• ½ cup raisins
• 1-2 tbsps shelled sunflower seeds

Method

• Preheat oven to 170°C.
• Grease a cake tin with Nuttlex or olive oil spray.
• In a bowl, mix the flours, sugar, bicarb soda, salt, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg.
• In a separate large bowl, combine the apple sauce, oil and No Egg then fold in the carrot and raisins.
• Slowly add the flour mixture to the carrot mixture, stirring until evenly moistened. Do not over stir.
• Spoon the batter into the cake tin and level with the back of a spoon.
• Sprinkle the batter with sunflower seeds and gently pat them in place.
• Bake for 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cook time may vary according to the amount of carrot used.
• Cool the cake in the pan for five minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

Rosy's scrawled book recommendation: Don of the Dead by Casey Daniels

Don of the Dead
Casey Daniels

Blurb
She sees dead people
Beautiful, smart, and chic, Pepper Martin never had to work a day in her life -- until her surgeon daddy was convicted of fraud, her wealthy fiance took a powder, and the family fortune ran bone dry.
Suddenly desperate, the inexperienced ex-rich girl was forced to take the only job she could get: as a tour guide in a cemetery. But a grave situation took a turn for the worse when a head-on collision with a headstone left her with an unwanted ability to communicate with the disgruntled deceased . . . and now Pepper has a whacked Mafia don demanding that she hunt down his killers -- and threatening to haunt her until she does.

Publisher
Avon

ISBN
9780060821463

Rosy's scrawlings on Don of the Dead

This book is the first of many in a series called the Pepper Martin series. Pepper Martin is an unlikely heroine, at least as was prior to hitting her head. She's spoilt and expects much in life to go her way without issue and when her life begins to crumble around her she doesn't react well, except for having the gumption to go get a job. Unfortunately and fortunately, depending on your perspective, she takes a job in a cemetery and during the first tour she trips and smacks her head against a headstone. Afterwards she begins to see things, which, as has happened to many a fictional character besides her, turns out to be ghosts. Well, the Don Gus Scarpetti, to be specific. You're probably thinking that here goes another "I see dead people" story for which even The Sixth Sense was a the latest of far too many. But you'd be discounting the more entertaining aspects of Don Of The Dead. This book isn't one to read for the "I see dead people" mystery but rather the "who killed dead person mystery and revenge plot".

Pepper Martin doesn't become your average clairvoyant. Instead she sets out to investigate the ghost who haunts her and even tries to help him solve his murder. She starts out doing this solely to get rid of the pesky ghost and rejects her interest in the case all the way but soon finds herself rather capable, in a clumsy way, at all things investigations. Using the information she can obtain through cemetery records she starts out uncovering the twisted life and times of the Family. Pepper remains spoilt, self-absorbed and expectant throughout, only beginning to see beyond her own concerns at the end of the story. But if this turns you off reading further you will have thrown away you chance at seeing Pepper grow into a far more interesting character.

Don Of The Dead is mostly about change, growth and coming to terms with that which has been taken by force. Sometimes this means revenge and sometimes showing up the one who left you. Either way, to move on both Gus and Pepper have to come to terms with all that's happened to them, their own faults and flaws and to discover just what they really want. It is for this road of discovery and growth that Pepper is an interesting heroine and worth reading.

I'd recommend this book to: women mostly but otherwise those who love investigations, ghost stories and characters with a lot of flaws.

Allergy free spicy pineapple and coconut muffins recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups Orgran self-raising flour
• ½ cup toasted shredded coconut
• 1 cup sultanas
• ½ cup caster sugar
• 1 tbsp mixed spice
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tsps Orgran No Egg whisked with 80mls water until thick
• 100g Nuttlex, melted
• 440g crushed pineapple pieces
• ¾ cup pineapple juice

Method

• Preheat oven to 200°C.
• Line a large muffin pan with patties.
• Combine the flour, coconut, sultanas, sugar, mixed spice and salt in a large bowl.
• In a separate bowl, combine the No Egg, Nuttlex, crushed pineapple pieces and pineapple juice.
• Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and fold to combine.
• Spoon the batter evenly among the patties.
• If desired, smooth down the tops with damp fingers.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.
• Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Rosy's scrawled manga recommendation: Jiraishin by Tsutomu Takahashi

Jiraishin
Tsutomu Takahashi

Blurb
Kyoya Ida is a hard-nosed detective from the Shinjuku Police precinct. He is known in the force as an unreasonable type who would use lethal force to solve cases, making him unpopular with the enlisted and high-ranking officers in the National Police Agency. Despite this fact, there are some in the force that admire Ida for his bravery and cleverness in using lethal force to solve criminal cases whenever legal means are met in a dead end.

Alternative names
Ice Blade
地雷震

Status

Completed

Manga reader sites (free)

Manga Reader, Manga Fox

Rosy's scrawlings on Jiraishin

This manga is definitely one for those who love detective stories with an edge. There's much in this that makes it for adults only, but it mainly falls into the categories of violence and random nudity (often connected with attempted rape). So if you're young or young at heart then this is probably not for you. Now, while I don't like to see rape thrown it willy nilly, I have to say that it is at least treated properly here, with none of the "she really wanted it after all" or the weird romantic overtones and with all of the violence and horror. While it doesn't make pleasant reading, these situations it at least sit well in the story and aren't sugar coated or distorted. As for the violence, it not only appears in the actions of characters but also in their attitudes and words. There's much a twisted character can do to others without actually physically harming them and such situations are often explored in Jiraishin.

Jiraishin is structured as a series of short stories revolving around a case and detective Kyoya Ida. As expected from a hard boiled detective story, while the criminals are insane, violent, misguided and/or self-involved the detective just has to be that one set further along the line of hard core than they. Ida seems to walk calmly through the blood and gore of other people's lives but inside he's personality and thoughts are just more distorted than anything he faces, meaning he can easily act calmly. As a result he manipulates his way through cases and often ends up killing the criminals, possibly for the hell of it. He's a hard character to understand, as much of his reasoning is kept from the reader, but as the crimes continue readers are afforded enough glimpses to pieces together just who and what Ida is.

There's something cold, reserved and yet brutal about Jiraishin that makes it a addition to the hard boiled detective genre that's well worth reading. The mood of the stories is just right and the art highlights the mood by the use of darkness, sheer lines and a focus on cold or mad eyes. The focus is on the people more than the landscape but both are treated with enough grittiness to build an enclosed world that is wrapped around Ida's viewpoint. The art is, while not always unique in style, stunning and engrossing. The art and the story match perfectly in their style and darkness, which makes Jiraishin a rather engrossing tale to read.

I'd recommend this manga to: fans of hard boiled detective stories.

Notes on manga reader sites
The quality of manga readers can vary. The uploads are often done cheaply or as a serious hobby by a collective. Be aware that sometimes licence hasn't been given but the sites noted above, Manga Fox in particular, are extremely careful about adding and pulling mangas according to license agreements. So you shouldn't have to worry too much about the material being pirated. There are also translated works and non-translated. Amongst the translated works you will find that the quality of translation may vary according to the skills of the translators. Usually the works are perfectly readable anyway, with only a few added or dropped words or a word in the incorrect tense or with/out plurals. But sometimes the text becomes gobbledygook. In which case, either seek another version or give up and buy an official copy once a printed translation comes out. The other issue of note is you may need to expand the screen to read the text easily as sometimes the scans are minimised a little.
I find that if a page doesn't download properly or some other issue occurs (too slow or someone ordered the pages incorrectly etc.) with one reader then skipping across to another reader and picking up where I was is quite easy and rarely annoying.
Otherwise, enjoy and watch out you don't get too addicted you forget about the necessary things in life.

Rosy's nerd raising early tv shows list

This list is a starter list for raising my little boy as a nerd. Or at least giving him every opportunity to join the nerd ranks along with the rest of us (I won't hold it against him if he turns to sportsball and forgets all else). While searching through tv shows I did find myself rather disappointed by the lack of female leads let alone female characters. It isn't only good for girls to see other girls getting out there fighting dragons and saving the day. Boys need to see and accept girls of such nature too. Especially the nerdy little boys who, more often than not, end up searching for their lady dragon slayer later on in life. So this list is only a starter and includes a cry for more female heroines who'll say "Pooh pooh!" to the lions. And if you don't understand that reference, moving along is something you shouldn't do. Instead, go watch or read Madeline. 

Monkey

Dr Who

Worzel Gummidge

Addams Family

Chocky

The Trap Door

Dennis The Menace

CatDog

Garfield and Friends

Goosebumps

Invader Zim

Pinky And The Brain

Madeline

Star Trek series

Tintin

Asterix

Round The Twist

Grim Tales

Tripods

The Goodies

Danger Mouse

Wallace And Gromit

Footrot Flats

Count Duckula

Inspector Gadget

Astro Boy

Looney Tunes