Tag: BookTube

Reading Vlog Elaine Howlin BookTube
BookTube, Vlogs

May Reading Vlog | Making Seitan & Updating my Reading Journal

In this months vlog I attempt to make seitan following recipes from The Happy Pear and Avante-Garde Vegan, I do some updating in my reading journal and I read Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare.

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Seitan - vegan meat substitute
I follow recipes from The Happy Pear & Avant Garde Vegan to make this seitan

I really thought this would be a disaster but I was very surprised with how it turned out.

Reading Journal 2019
I update my reading journal with my recent reads

I have a full post about making my reading journal for 2019 here. I’m so happy I decided to make one this year and I’m really looking forward to making one for next year. I want to start it right now 🤣

Reading Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
My book for this vlog is Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices #2) by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, #2)

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, but her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

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Chatting about the books in The Folio Society catalogue

The Folio Society has such beautiful editions of some of the best books out there. I would love them all but they are pretty expensive. Maybe if I win the lotto….

Synopsis and book cover from Goodreads. Photos from my Instagram @elainehowlin_

Reading Wrap Up Elaine Howlin Book Blog
Wrap Ups

April Wrap Up

“You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged; but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever.”

– Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
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Tempting the Best Man by Jennifer L Armentraut Elaine Howlin Literary Blog

Tempting the Best Man (Gamble Brothers #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout ★★★☆☆

This is a short romance about Madison Daniels who has been in love with her brother’s best friend Chase her whole life. Circumstances at her brother’s wedding put them in very close quarters blurring the line between friendship and love. It’s a nice quick story but nothing fantastic.

No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole Immortals After Dark Elaine Howlin Book Blog

No Rest for the Wicked (Immortals After Dark #3) by Kresley Cole ★★★★★

This is one of my favourites from the series. I’d nearly say my favourite but it’s very hard to choose between the books (there are 18 so far). I love the supernatural Amazing Race in the story and I love Sebastian and Kaderin’s characters.

Kaderin is a valkyrie dispatched to kill vampire Sebastian but that doesn’t quite go as planned. She runs from him when he chases her through a supernatural version of the Amazing Race for a prize that would grant both of their deepest wishes.

White Trash Zombie Apocalypse by Diana Rowland Elaine Howlin Book Blog

White Trash Zombie Apocalypse (White Trash Zombie #3) by Diana Rowland ★★★★★

Such a fun urban fantasy series!! The audiobook narrator is one of the best I’ve heard. It’s easy to get a shitty narrator that ruins the book but here she really adds another dimension to the story. She brings Angel to life I think.

White Trash Zombie follows Angel Crawford who is basically white trash. She’s a high school dropout with a drug problem and a shitty boyfriend when she’s turned into a zombie and things start looking up.

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Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6) by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★

What to say about this book…. Harry Potter must be the most discussed series in the book community so there’s no need to talk about it anymore really. All I’ll say is I love this one for all of the character growth and the development of Voldermort’s character.

Clockwork Angel The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare Elaine Howlin Book Blog

Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices #1) by Cassandra Clare ★★★★☆

I had really high expectations for this one and it didn’t exactly fall short of them I just found it to be very predictable. I picked up on all the hints of what was coming so reading the ending felt like just going through the motions but it was still a very enjoyable book.

The Infernal Devices is set in the same world as The Mortal Instruments but in 18th century London. There are one or two familiar characters but we mainly follow Tessa Gray who has arrived from New York to join her brother. Tessa soon discoveries she is something more than human and her life is irrevocably changed.

Alpha and Omega (Alpha & Omega #1) by Patricia Briggs ★★★★★

I spotted the audiobook of this novella on Scribd and since I’m about 4 books behind my reading goal I decided to give it a listen. I read this a few years ago and loved it and I loved it again listening to the audiobook. It’s much more paranormal romance than urban fantasy like Briggs’ other series Mercy Thompson is but it is connected to that series.

In this novella we are introduced to Anna who believes herself to be a submissive werewolf that has been abused by her pack. Charles (from the mercy Thompson series) is sent by the marrock to investigate her pack and reveals her true nature to her.

OWLs magical readathon tbr 2019
Readathons, Wrap Ups

O.W.L.’s Magical Readathon Wrap Up

The O.W.L.’s Magical Readathon is hosted by Book Roast on YouTube. It’s based on the exams the students take in Hogwarts from the Harry Potter books.

Basically, you choose a career path and complete the tasks assigned to it in the booklet. I chose Journalist because there was only 3 tasks assigned and I figured I could manage that with everything else I had going on.

My subjects were History of Magic, Muggle Studies and one more of my choosing which was Potions.

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🦉 History of Magic – Published at least 10 Years Ago

For this one I read No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole which was released in 2006. I LOVE this book! This was actually a reread which I’m not sure is allowed but I’ve done it now anyway 😊

No Rest for the Wicked (Immortals After Dark #3) by Kresley Cole

No Rest for the Wicked (Immortals After Dark, #3)

In this next installment in the Immortals After Dark Series, USA Today Bestselling author Kresley Cole delivers a scorching tale about a forbidding vampire who lives in the shadows and the beautiful assassin who hunts him there. 

A vampire soldier weary of life…

Centuries ago, Sebastian Wroth was turned into a vampire—a nightmare in his mind—against his will. Burdened with hatred and alone for ages, he sees little reason to live. Until an exquisite, fey creature comes to kill him, inadvertently saving him instead.

A valkyrie assassin dispatched to destroy him…

When Kaderin the Cold Hearted lost her two beloved sisters to a vampire attack long ago, a benevolent force deadened her sorrow—accidentally extinguishing all of her emotions. Yet whenever she encounters Sebastian, her feelings—particularly lust—emerge multiplied. For the first time, she’s unable to complete a kill.

Competitors in a legendary hunt…

The prize of the month-long contest is powerful enough to change history, and Kaderin will do anything to win it for her sisters. Wanting only to win her, forever, Sebastian competes as well, taking every opportunity—as they travel to ancient tombs and through catacombs, seeking relics around the world—to use her new feelings to seduce her. But when forced to choose between the vampire she’s falling for and reuniting her family, how can Kaderin live without either?

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🦉 Muggle Studies – Contemporary

Again I’m not sure if urban fantasy is acceptable for this but White Trash Zombie has a contemporary setting so I’m going with it. This series is so good!! Even if you hate zombies you should check this series out. If you enjoy the iZombie TV show you will probably like this. I listened to the audiobook which I highly recommend as well.

White Trash Zombie Apocalypse (White Trash Zombie #3) by Diana Rowland

White Trash Zombie Apocalypse (White Trash Zombie, #3)

Our favorite white trash zombie, Angel Crawford, has enough problems of her own, what with dealing with her alcoholic, deadbeat dad, issues with her not-quite boyfriend, the zombie mafia, industrial espionage, and evil corporations. Oh, and it’s raining, and won’t let up.

But things get even crazier when a zombie movie starts filming in town, and Angel begins to suspect that it’s not just the plot of the movie that’s rotten. Soon she’s fighting her way through mud, blood, bullets, and intrigue, even as zombies, both real and fake, prowl the streets.

Angel’s been through more than her share of crap, but this time she’s in way over her head. She’ll need plenty of brainpower to fit all the pieces – and body parts – together in order to save herself, her town, and quite possibly the human race.

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🦉 Potions – Next Ingredient: Sequel

I had no book in mind for this one because I read mostly series anyway so I was going to read whatever was next for me. I went with Harry Potter cause it worked for another reading challenge I’m doing on Goodreads.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Harry Potter #6) by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)

It is the middle of the summer, but there is an unseasonal mist pressing against the windowpanes. Harry Potter is waiting nervously in his bedroom at the Durselys’ house in Privet Drive for a visit from Professor Dumbledore himself. One of the last times he saw the Headmaster was in a fierce one-to-one duel with Lord Voldemort, and Harry can’t quite believe that Professor Dumbledore will actually appear at the Dursleys’ of all places. Why is the Professor coming to visit him now? What is it that cannot wait until Harry returns to Hogwarts in a few weeks’ time? Harry’s sixth year at Hogwarts has already got off to an unusual start, as the worlds of Muggle and magic start to intertwine…

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Did you take part in the O.W.L.’s Magical Readathon?

Books and Charms unboxing march 2019
books, BookTube, Hauls

Unboxing | Books & Charms March Box


This months box is probably my favourite so far. I can’t wait to try out the bath salts and have a relaxing cup of tea with my book after.

ELAINE10 for 10% discount on your order

Books & Charms https://www.booksandcharms.ie/

The Moher Soap Co. https://www.themohersoapco.com/

Three Little Birds Illustration https://www.threelittlebirds.ie/

Books and Charms March Box

The Heather Blazing by Colm Toibin

The Heather Blazing

The sea is slowly eating into the land and the hill with the old watchtower has completely disappeared. The nearest house has crumbled and fallen into the sea. It is Ireland in the late twentieth century. Eamon Redmond is a judge in the Irish High Court. Obsessed all his life by the letter and spirit of the law, he is just beginning to discover how painfully unconnected he is from other human beings. With effortless fluency, Colm Toibin reconstructs the history of Eamon’s relationships – with his father, his first “girl, ” his wife, and the children who barely know him. He gives us a family as minutely realized as any of John McGahern’s, and he writes about Eamon’s affection for the landscape of his childhood on the east coast of Ireland with such skill that the land itself becomes a character. The result is a novel that ensnares us with its emotional intensity and dazzles with its crystalline prose. In The Heather Blazing, Colm Toibin displays once again the gifts that illuminated The South, a book described by Don DeLillo as “a grand achievement, ” and by John Banville as “a daring imaginative feat…a splendid first novel.”

The Muse by Jessie Burton

The Muse

A picture hides a thousand words . . .

On a hot July day in 1967, Odelle Bastien climbs the stone steps of the Skelton gallery in London, knowing that her life is about to change forever. Having struggled to find her place in the city since she arrived from Trinidad five years ago, she has been offered a job as a typist under the tutelage of the glamorous and enigmatic Marjorie Quick. But though Quick takes Odelle into her confidence, and unlocks a potential she didn’t know she had, she remains a mystery – no more so than when a lost masterpiece with a secret history is delivered to the gallery.

The truth about the painting lies in 1936 and a large house in rural Spain, where Olive Schloss, the daughter of a renowned art dealer, is harbouring ambitions of her own. Into this fragile paradise come artist and revolutionary Isaac Robles and his half-sister Teresa, who immediately insinuate themselves into the Schloss family, with explosive and devastating consequences . . .

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Synopsis and book cover from Goodreads. Photos from my Instagram @elainehowlin_