April 15 to 21 -- Reading

[Stacia]

Welcome back after boardpocalypse! We are sort-of up & running, but some things are still strange re: settings, access, etc. Please remember that though this is a social group/club, for now we are not on a private setting. (I have requested it more than once but haven't heard back yet.)

So, what have you been reading lately?

For me, not much. Life is intervening too much. I've also had a bit of a hard time settling on a book -- keep looking at many, but nothing much is appealing right now.

I guess one thing I could say that I'm reading is recipes. Am trying to cook more this year & have had fun searching for new recipes to try. At the beginning of the week, I found Golden Coconut Lentil Soup &, boy, is it delicious! I've already made it twice this week because we're all loving it so much.

[Ali in OR]

I don't think I have any new update since yesterday. Still reading Lake Silence, The Economists' Diet, and still somewhere in book 4 of Middlemarch. Spent today at a track meet in the Portland area, then home for a soccer game at 7 pm--for same kid. Long day. Off to bed.

[Loesje22000]

Since the board went down I finished:

Underground (adventure book about speleology)

Sekte (about a scientology church type of group on a island)

In vredesnaam (about the peace of Utrecht and a consparicy in current times against men)

The mirror maker (pretty boring for a thriller)

Toevluchtsoord (about a Flemish Beguine ‘hof’ with a lot of clerics who don’t behave as they should)

Daring to drive ( good book, and push in my back to dare to drive myself)

The eye of the mirror (about a Lebenon civil war in 1975)

 

I almost finished 2 rows of the Lit Hub Bingo, still thinking about which author I would like to meet IRL...

[Jane in NC]

Stacia, I see that the recipe you linked comes from Budget Bytes.  I first found the site when I was looking for ideas for my son--good recipes, clear instructions, interesting flavors.  I have since become a huge fan myself.  There are a number of good to great recipes there.  I highly recommend a walk through Budget Byte when looking for something new that won't be overly complicated.

I'm caught up in Middlemarch and need to post more in those threads.

Has anyone read anything by Stephen O'Shea before? I am reading The Alps:  A Human History from Hannibal to Heidi and Beyond which is quite the exhilarating entertainment as he drives along the hairpin turns of the mountains. There are many references to the Shelleys and other Romantics who traveled to the Alps back in the day. A fun escape...

[Onceuponatime]

I've been reading fluffy  escapist mysteries. I finished The Weekend Was Murder by Joan Lowry Nixon and am now reading the Vintage Caper by Peter Mayle. I hope to finish book three of Middlemarch today. 

[Chrysalis Academy]

Ooh, Stacia, that looks delicious. And I have all those ingredients, so guess what we're having for dinner?!

I finished listening to Akata Witch yesterday. As is often the case with books set in Africa, the excellent reader who did all the different accents - American, Nigerian, Francophone African, etc. - so well really added to my enjoyment of the book. It's YA, the protagonists are 12-14, but it's a little violent and there are several deaths, so it's not for a sensitive reader, but Harry Potter fans would really enjoy this, I think. The violence/deaths are about on par with the later HP books, I'd say. it's about a group with magical powers living "behind the scenes" in the real world. But the magic is distinctly west African and the protagonist is an albino American/Nigerian girl, and it's set in Nigeria, so it has quite a different flavor. Of the four main characters two are boys and two are girls. It grapples with the role/perception of girls in the culture, and has powerful grown women as well as the girls. I quite liked it and will read the sequel. I think both of my girls would like it. 

I also listened to The Mother of All Questions, Rebecca Solnit's followup to her Men Explain Things To Me. It came out just before #metoo exploded onto the stage, and provides some really important reminders about the context in which that movement took off. I'm glad I listened to it. I'm now listening to Hope in the Dark.

Currently I'm reading The Salt Line, Christian Nation, Black Flags, and Dirty Genes. Back down to four at once, that's about right for me, although I'm reading a bunch of other things with the girls, and the next Wheel of Time book at bedtime. (I like how easy it is to insert links!)

[Butter]

I woke up with a stomach bug.  Ugh.  But I made myself much happier (though no less nauseated) by shopping on Amazon for swing dresses and leggings.  Three new outfits coming soon.

I'm reading the book I got from the book exchange.  It's about schoolboys who defied Hitler in Denmark during WW2.  Their bravery, and possibly idiocy, astounds me.  I kind of feel like only teenagers would've done what they did.

I'm also reading a book that I'm just not sure about.  I kind of feel like it's saying adultery is perfectly okay if you aren't happy in your marriage.  I'm not sure where this is going to go and I'm more than halfway done.  It's so slow moving.  It's the last book from spelling out birthstones last year for December.

[JennW in SoCal]

Last night I finished a wonderful Chilean noir mystery, Dark Echoes of the Past by Ramon Diaz Eterovic. It is the only novel of his translated into English, though his books are very popular in Chile. I'd definitely read more of them and think several of you would enjoy this one, though it isn't for the squeamish as there are a few brutal descriptions of the torture tactics used during the Pinochet regime.  But the detective, Heredia is a great character. He writes book reviews when he doesn't have a case, his office/apartment is packed with books and he reads everything from poetry to Dashiell Hammet, and he has a cat.  You also get some wonderful noir atmosphere:

Quote

I opened one of the windows of my apartment and observed the night time city that, in the light of the moon, had the apparent calm of a lake. The sneaky old lady didn't fool me, though. I knew about the misery and the secrets crouching in the corners, the pain nesting beneath the bridges, the humidity of the tenements, the drunk resignation of those who slept on the sidewalks, the sadness of the streetwalkers by the gates, and the cry of the brat who panhandled on the last bus to nowhere. 

 

I loved it, but decided a "palate cleanser" was in order, so I started reading Three Men in a Boat!

Am still somewhere in book 7 of Middlemarch, and am finding it hard to discuss what I was thinking earlier in the book, knowing what I know now, and having stumbled upon spoilers when following rabbit trails on the internets. 

[Penguin]

14 hours ago, Stacia said:

I guess one thing I could say that I'm reading is recipes. Am trying to cook more this year & have had fun searching for new recipes to try. At the beginning of the week, I found Golden Coconut Lentil Soup &, boy, is it delicious! I've already made it twice this week because we're all loving it so much.

Yumm. That is my kind of food.

Most of my reading time this week has gone to Valente's The Glass Town Game. It is long for a children's book (500+ pages). The first 50 pages were straightforward. Pages 50-100 left me scratching my head, but I would expect that from Valente. It did take me to about page 100 to decide that I like this book. It is very Alice-In-Wonderland-Like and filled with references (Easter Eggs, as my sons would call them!) to the Brontes. The structure is complex and so is the word play. But again, that is what I would expect from Valente. I don't know what types of kids would like it, though. I think I am too far removed from what actual kids like to know. I simply love to read children's books for my own pleasure. Although I do look at them with an eye toward their ESL usefulness. This one would be a poor choice for an ESL student below the advanced level!

[Penguin]

1 hour ago, Butter said:

 

I'm reading the book I got from the book exchange.  It's about schoolboys who defied Hitler in Denmark during WW2.  Their bravery, and possibly idiocy, astounds me.  I kind of feel like only teenagers would've done what they did.

Flame and Citron (starring Mads Mikkelson) is an excellent movie about the Danish resistance. Not at all YA - very adult. 

[Loesje22000]

1 hour ago, Penguin said:

Yumm. That is my kind of food.

Most of my reading time this week has gone to Valente's The Glass Town Game. It is long for a children's book (500+ pages). The first 50 pages were straightforward. Pages 50-100 left me scratching my head, but I would expect that from Valente. It did take me to about page 100 to decide that I like this book. It is very Alice-In-Wonderland-Like and filled with references (Easter Eggs, as my sons would call them!) to the Brontes. The structure is complex and so is the word play. But again, that is what I would expect from Valente. I don't know what types of kids would like it, though. I think I am too far removed from what actual kids like to know. I simply love to read children's books for my own pleasure. Although I do look at them with an eye toward their ESL usefulness. This one would be a poor choice for an ESL student! 

I saw the book on your Goodreads. Do you think I could read it in English? I read a lot about the brontes last years, but I don’t know how good I am in wordplay. Obviously it has not been translated (yet).

[Penguin]

30 minutes ago, loesje22000 said:

I saw the book on your Goodreads. Do you think I could read it in English? I read a lot about the brontes last years, but I don’t know how good I am in wordplay. Obviously it has not been translated (yet).

Yes, I think you would be fine :) Your level of English is much higher than the ESL students I was thinking about when I wrote that. And you also know a lot about British lit/culture. ETA: I went back and edited my post a bit to clarify. 

[Penguin]

I went back and edited my post a bit to clarify. Most of the ESL students that I have worked with would not benefit from this book at this moment in their language journey, but obviously the book is a fine choice for plenty of people who speak English as a second language. For an advanced learner, it would be loads of fun and possibly a great choice.

[Loesje22000]

40 minutes ago, Penguin said:

Yes, I think you would be fine :) Your level of English is much higher than the ESL students I was thinking about when I wrote that. And you also know a lot about British lit/culture. ETA: I went back and edited my post a bit to clarify. 

 

21 minutes ago, Penguin said:

I went back and edited my post a bit to clarify. Most of the ESL students that I have worked with would not benefit from this book at this moment in their language journey, but obviously the book is a fine choice for plenty of people who speak English as a second language. For an advanced learner, it would be loads of fun and possibly a great choice.

Thank you for the clarifications!

The book looked so much fun to me :)

Are you familiair with the biographies written by Catherine Reef?

DD has read several of them, and I wondered of her Bronte Sisters would be a better fit for your ESL students. 

[Penguin]

13 minutes ago, loesje22000 said:

 

Thank you for the clarifications!

The book looked so much fun to me :)

Are you familiair with the biographies written by Catherine Reef?

DD has read several of them, and I wondered of her Bronte Sisters would be a better fit for your ESL students. 

Thanks for the Catherine Reef recommendation. I used Amazon's look-inside to look at the Bronte Sisters biography and you are right - that is a good level. Actually, that biography would really set someone up well for reading The Glasstown Game. 

I am a little bit hesitant to say this out loud yet, but why not... I have finally started learning Dutch! 

I have a textbook and some apps but mostly I am watching Nijntje on Youtube :)

[fastweedpuller]

Hi people.  Stacia, that recipe looks delightful.  It's similar to a stew I make, ingredients-wise, with sweet potatoes and cauliflower.  Shh don't tell the family but we eat vegan more than they think we do.

So after saying I wasn't going to read it, I ended up listening to Educated by Tara Westover.  What can I say.  I can say 2.5-3 stars maybe.  There are so many better books about sh*tty childhoods and adult redemption IMHO, and even better off-the-bubble-of-normal Mormon tales, like The Sound of Gravel. I think what left me fairly cold was she hasn't fully "gotten over" her childhood and is still creating, learning about, her actual self, undefined by others.  I could've done with much more of her actual, what she calls, education (college/grad/Ph.D.) and how she could've tied her dissertation back to her life story because there were so many more parallels.  As it was I felt like I needed to hurry and turn it off when my daughter came in the room...it was like crisis porn.  Harrumph.

I also finished Winter by Ali Smith this week.  It's the second of a proposed 4 books broadly using the leadup to, and slamming doors of, Brexit and the larger event of the unwinding of the UK (and US) global supremacy, through the related stories of a few people.  The first book, Autumn, has honestly nothing to do with Winter except its setting...and the fact that every sentence, every phrase, kind of demands your attention because it will illuminate what happens later.  That it's in that quotation-less style makes you stand further on your toes, which I like.

Having had the hardest time choosing the next book to read as most of those in my stack and in my airplane-moded Kindle are just really depressing (How Democracies Die, A Problem from Hell, White Rage, The Retreat of Western Liberalism, Dream Hoarders), I picked up a book Jane finished last week, Sofi Oksanen's When the Doves Disappeared as my best worst option, hah.  Jane, I am enjoying it very much!  Or as much as I can :) No, really, it's good/plus it's good to read about resistance.

[Loesje22000]

41 minutes ago, Penguin said:

Thanks for the Catherine Reef recommendation. I used Amazon's look-inside to look at the Bronte Sisters biography and you are right - that is a good level. Actually, that biography would really set someone up well for reading The Glasstown Game. 

I am a little bit hesitant to say this out loud yet, but why not... I have finally started learning Dutch! 

I have a textbook and some apps but mostly I am watching Nijntje on Youtube :)

We adore Nijntje! (Lief klein konijntje as the song says)

Is www.uitzendinggemist.nl available where you are now? 

Or schooltv? Schooltv could be a nice step after nijntje, and so does jeugdjournaal.

I am impressed, learning Dutch as foreigner doesn’t seem easy to me...

[Lady Florida.]

Stacia, I really like the Budget Bytes site. We've liked nearly every recipe I tried from there.

My post below is a copy and paste of what I wrote on the other thread (with the exception of one paragraph that's specific to this week's thread over there). I usually try and mix it up so I'm not writing the exact same thing, but I want to get off the computer and read. :)

The thread on the chat board asking for book club book ideas sent me to my library's Overdrive to look for Isaac''s Storm, which they had and I promptly checked out. Dh and I saw a documentary years ago that covered much of what's in this book, including the arrogance of American weather forecasters, but the opening pages grabbed me even though I know the story.

Other currently reading titles -

Fiction-

The Cider House Rules - audio book. I've never seen the movie so the story is completely new to me.

Middlemarch - I'm in Book 5 and still loving it. 

Emma - still rereading

Non-fiction -  All of the following I find interesting but not riveting so I'm working through them slowly

A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

Flies in the Ointment: Essays on Supplements, Complimentary and Alternative Medicine (SCAM)

Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors

 

We've got some heavy thunderstorms heading our way and the rain just started. I think I'm going to open Emma and enjoy some comfort reading to the sound of rain and thunder. It might be more appropriate to read the book about the hurricane, but I'd rather read fiction when it's stormy. 

[Penguin]

20 minutes ago, loesje22000 said:

We adore Nijntje! (Lief klein konijntje as the song says)

Is www.uitzendinggemist.nl available where you are now? 

Or schooltv? Schooltv could be a nice step after nijntje, and so does jeugdjournaal.

I am impressed, learning Dutch as foreigner doesn’t seem easy to me...

Some of Schooltv is availible and some is blocked. The other sites look way too hard right now, lol.

Danish word order is similar to Dutch word order, and that helps. There are some similar words, too although I imagine that there are also false friends to watch out for.

One of the highlights of last year's trip to the Netherlands:

 

[Stacia]

Nijntje! My dc (esp. dd) had quite a bit of nijntje stuff (books, stuffed animal) when she was little. They are such adorable books.

Dd & I went to the library book sale today. It's when they have "fill a box" for a set price. (With our box full of stuff, we ended up getting each book for 50 cents.) I knew dd would get quite a few books & I ended up tucking in more than I planned. Maybe this will get my reading mojo back again. Some of these I knew of & have been wanting to read, others were "finds" that I stumbled across. I have read Zeroville but couldn't pass up the pristine copy they were getting rid of (I was probably the only person who ever checked it out of the library & that was years ago) -- it's wonderfully odd & was my introduction to Europa Editions.

Because I know everyone loves good book pictures, here you go:

 

[Jane in NC]

51 minutes ago, fastweedpuller said:

Having had the hardest time choosing the next book to read as most of those in my stack and in my airplane-moded Kindle are just really depressing (How Democracies Die, A Problem from Hell, White Rage, The Retreat of Western Liberalism, Dream Hoarders), I picked up a book Jane finished last week, Sofi Oksanen's When the Doves Disappeared as my best worst option, hah.  Jane, I am enjoying it very much!  Or as much as I can :) No, really, it's good/plus it's good to read about resistance.

Yeah, I'm known for my cozy reading choices. Snort. If you ever find the fortitude,  I recommend Purge. A very difficult book but OhMyWord.

And oh how I love Miffy....

13 minutes ago, Penguin said:

Some of Schooltv is availible and some is blocked. The other sites look way too hard right now, lol.

Danish word order is similar to Dutch word order, and that helps. There are some similar words, too although I imagine that there are also false friends to watch out for.

One of the highlights of last year's trip to the Netherlands:

 

 

[Stacia]

On GR, I currently have two books listed that I'm reading. However, I've kind of stalled out on both:

Stephen Florida by Gabe Habash is good, but also intense & kind of dark. May need to revisit this at another time in my life. It has been ages since I've read The Catcher in the Rye, but I do get those vibes somewhat from this book.

Quote

Foxcatcher meets The Art of Fielding, Stephen Florida follows a college wrestler in his senior season, when every practice, every match, is a step closer to greatness and a step further from sanity. Profane, manic, and tipping into the uncanny, it's a story of loneliness, obsession, and the drive to leave a mark.

Killing Mister Watson by Peter Matthiessen is one I started many weeks ago. It seems better suited to longer periods of reading than I've had lately. So, it was quite riveting when I started it (& had time to sit down & read for a stretch), but I haven't picked it up again because reading in snippets won't do for this one. There's a lot of cadence in this one. At this point, I might need to restart the whole thing to get back into the rhythm of the tale & the storytelling itself.

Quote

Drawn from fragments of historical fact, Matthiessen's masterpiece brilliantly depicts the fortunes and misfortunes of Edgar J. Watson, a real-life entrepreneur and outlaw who appeared in the lawless Florida Everglades around the turn of the century.

Guessing I just need to move these off my reading shelf for now & start something new.

I can't remember all the ones I picked up & rejected during boardpocalypse, but one was the Swedish Death Cleaning book. With real life, it was hitting a little too close to home in re: to family members, age, & health. While I normally read decluttering books for fun & relaxation, this one stressed me out. (Instead, I got up & decluttered stuff.) I didn't read a lot of it, but it seems that her decluttering stuff is similar to what is out there already; I didn't get the feeling that there were any new or "wow" insights that I would glean.

[Violet Crown]

Feeling a little guilty at not having really noticed the Great Board Change. Holy Week and the Easter Octave were super-busy, and Lent and Easter have been terribly overshadowed by our city's domestic terror bombings and the trial of the man who killed a person who was important to me, which just ended with a mistrial. The latter is not something btw that I'm in any place to discuss right now. I have been reading and running as physical/mental alternatives to crying. 

... and so let's push that all out of the way to make room for books. I don't remember what I had read last time I posted to the LH, but my recent finished books were

Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy

St. Aelred of Rievaulx, Spiritual Friendship

Philip Roth, Goodbye, Columbus

William Faulkner, The Wild Palms

Geraldine Jewsbury, The Half Sisters

James M. Cain, The Postman Always Rings Twice

[Anonymous], Life of St Cuthbert

Bede, Life of St Cuthbert

Horace McCoy, They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Robert Fergusson, Selected Poems

John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids

Currently reading: Oliver Twist and Baudelaire's Journaux Intimes (translated by Christopher Isherwood!)

(Anybody know how to make lists single-spaced?)

[Jane in NC]

Hugs to you, VC. I know these have been challenging times...

[Stacia]

Heather, hope you feel better quickly.

Hugs, VC.

And, hugs to all of those who are having health or other issues, whether themselves or with family members. I know many have had challenging times of late....

[Stacia]

VC, I think you can make a single-spaced list by holding down "Shift" while also pressing the return/enter key at the same time.

I will try it now.

David Sedaris
William Faulkner
Margaret Atwood
Gore Vidal
Helen Oyeyemi

ETA: Looks like it worked.

[Kareni]

6 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

 Isaac''s Storm

...

A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century

Isaac's Storm is a book my sister highly recommends.  And A Distant Mirror was a favorite of my father's.  Two family connections in one post!

21 hours ago, Stacia said:

At the beginning of the week, I found Golden Coconut Lentil Soup &, boy, is it delicious! I've already made it twice this week because we're all loving it so much.

This does look delicious.

21 hours ago, Ali in OR said:

Still reading Lake Silence,

I'll be interested in hearing your thoughts.

13 hours ago, Jane in NC said:

I see that the recipe you linked comes from Budget Bytes. ....  There are a number of good to great recipes there. 

I'd appreciate it if you would suggest a few favorites, Jane.

6 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

We've liked nearly every recipe I tried from there

Knowing your favorites would also be welcome, Kathy.

5 hours ago, Stacia said:

Dd & I went to the library book sale today.

I went to mine yesterday.  I bought a book I read years ago that I thought I enjoy re-reading ~ C.L. Wilson's Lord of the Fading Lands (The Tairen Soul Book 1); it's a fantasy.  I bought several DVDs for my husband,  I also found a 1950s era book on Korean etiquette that I'm putting away for an opportune occasion; my husband is currently reading a modern book on the topic and might find any changes of interest.

Regards,
Kareni

[Kareni]

42 minutes ago, Stacia said:

Heather, hope you feel better quickly.

Hugs, VC.

And, hugs to all of those who are having health or other issues, whether themselves or with family members. I know many have had challenging times of late....

A hearty second to this.

Regards,
Kareni

[Kareni]

I think some here will enjoy this post ~

Book Groups as Imagined by Great Authors  by Sam Burt

The article begins:

"Many authors visit book groups to meet their readers. A great author, though, will of course set up her own group, and then use it to impose her unique artistic vision upon her readers...."

Here's a sample from the article:  "Haruki Murakami

Humans and cats are equally welcome and unwelcome. We mostly discuss what we thought of the shadow cast by the book while we were reading it. Sometimes we choose random words from randomly selected pages and discuss what these might reveal to us about obscure historical battles."

and another: "Ernest Hemingway

Part drinking society, part book club. Drinking is mandatory, in fact. Discussion tends to focus on how we each injured ourselves while reading that month’s book. Lacerating paper cuts to both eyes is common, as is walking absent-mindedly off piers into shark-infested waters. In accordance with the iceberg theory, please limit any comments to bursts of five words or less. Arm-wrestling contest to choose the next book."

Regards,
Kareni

[Stacia]

1 hour ago, Kareni said:

I think some here will enjoy this post ~

Book Groups as Imagined by Great Authors  by Sam Burt

The article begins:

"Many authors visit book groups to meet their readers. A great author, though, will of course set up her own group, and then use it to impose her unique artistic vision upon her readers...."

Here's a sample from the article:  "Haruki Murakami

Humans and cats are equally welcome and unwelcome. We mostly discuss what we thought of the shadow cast by the book while we were reading it. Sometimes we choose random words from randomly selected pages and discuss what these might reveal to us about obscure historical battles."

and another: "Ernest Hemingway

Part drinking society, part book club. Drinking is mandatory, in fact. Discussion tends to focus on how we each injured ourselves while reading that month’s book. Lacerating paper cuts to both eyes is common, as is walking absent-mindedly off piers into shark-infested waters. In accordance with the iceberg theory, please limit any comments to bursts of five words or less. Arm-wrestling contest to choose the next book."

Regards,
Kareni

That's awesome.

I think I'm going to introduce arm wresting to choose the next book into my book club!

[Stacia]

I picked up the smallest book from my library purchase stack & read it tonight.

The Yellow Arrow by Victor Pelevin

Quote

The main character, Andrei, is a passenger aboard the Yellow Arrow, who begins to despair over the train's ultimate destination and looks for a way out as the chapters count down. Indifferent to their fate, the other passengers carry on as usual — trading in nickel melted down from the carriage doors, attending the Upper Bunk avant-garde theatre, and leafing through Pasternak's Early Trains. Pelevin's art lies in the ease with which he shifts from precisely imagined science fiction to lyrical meditations on past and future. And, because he is a natural storyteller with a wonderfully absurd imagination. The Yellow Arrow is full of the ridiculous and the sublime. It is a reflective story, chilling and gripping.

It's an existential novella from 1993 Russia that seems apropos today. I think a longer piece could have done more justice to the author's topics & thoughts, but this was still a decently thoughtful little work. I did like the nice touch of the backward countdown of chapters. I would be interested in finding longer works by this author to try.

[Stacia]

And, finishing Pelevin's novella puts me at 20 books so far this year....

01. The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti, pub. by The Dial Press. 3 stars. North America: USA. Alternating chapters tell the story of Samuel Hawley/his criminal life/his twelve gunshot wounds, alongside the story of his daughter Loo as he raises her.
02. Darktown by Thomas Mullen, pub. by Atria/37 Ink. 4 stars. North America: USA. Murder mystery set in 1948 with lots of historical detail about Atlanta’s first eight black police officers & racial tension/unrest at the time. Timely. Recommended.
03. Astragal by Albertine Sarrazin, trans. from the French by Patsy Southgate, pub. by New Directions. 3 stars. Europe: France. Semi-autobiographical, “Anne” leaps three stories to escape prison, shatters her ankle, & is picked up by Julien, who becomes her erstwhile savior & lover. Free but yet not really. Fresh & fascinating look at life on the lam in ‘60s Paris.
04. Lightning Men by Thomas Mullen, pub. by Atria/37 Ink. 4 stars. North America: USA. Continuing saga of first black police officers as racism & neighborhood tensions rise in 1950s Atlanta. Multi-layered & complex characters with intersecting storylines. Recommended.
05. The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln’s Ghost by Peter Manseau, pub. by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 3 stars. North America: USA. A mess organizationally, but an interesting topic on the early days of photography in the US & William Mumler, of spirit photography fame, his career, & his trial for fraud.
06. Revulsion: Thomas Bernhard in San Salvador by Horacio Castellanos Moya, trans. from the Spanish by Lee Klein, pub. by New Directions. 4 stars. Latin/North America: El Salvador. Brilliant novella that is one long, rant-y paragraph skewering everything & everyone in El Salvador, mimicking Thomas Bernhard’s writing style. Resulted in death threats for the author.
07. The Godfather of Kathmandu by John Burdett, pub. by Alfred A. Knopf. 4 stars. Asia: Thailand. Fourth in the Sonchai Jitpleecheep series & a fun mix of American & Thai mores, modes, & mentalities. Murder mystery w/ a second storyline of drug trafficking, along with nods for movie buffs. Recommended for fans of international mysteries.
08. Murder at Broad RiverBridge: The Slaying of Lemuel Penn by the Ku Klux Klan by Bill Shipp, pub. by The University of Georgia Press. 4 stars. North America: USA. Short book that covers the killing of Lemuel Penn & the following trials. Sadly feels like a relevant morality tale for today.
09. Augustown by Kei Miller, pub. by Pantheon. 5 stars. Caribbean: Jamaica. Six-year old Kaia has his dreadlocks cut off at school; an autoclaps is coming. Lyrical & powerful. Highly recommended.
10. Fire in a Canebrake: The Last Mass Lynching in America by Laura Wexler, pub. by Scribner. 4 stars. North America: USA. Unsolved lynching of four African-Americans in 1946 GA. Covers the investigation, contrasting stories, silence of the area’s residents, voting rights & issues, politics, & Truman being the first president to bring civil rights to the national agenda. Recommended.

11. Taduno’s Song by Odafe Atogun, pub. by Pantheon. 4 stars. Africa: Nigeria. Mix of allegory, morality tale, & fable. Explores life & love under a military dictatorship in Nigeria. How do you find your voice as an individual? As a group? Do you choose to act for one person or for the betterment of the whole? Simple, yet thoughtful & deep. Weighed heavily on my heart & mind. Recommended.
12. The Illustrious House of Ramires by José Maria de Eça de Queirós, trans. from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa, pub. by New Directions. 5 stars. Europe: Portugal. A wonderful classic from 1900 in Portugal with a sometimes infuriating, always loveable Gonçalo Ramires muddling his way through his aristocratic life. Highly recommended.
13. The Story Within Us: Women Prisoners Reflect on Reading, edited by Megan Sweeney, pub. by the University of Illinois Press. 4 stars. North America: USA. Thought-provoking interviews as female prisoners tell of their backgrounds – almost all universally marred by violence, assault, & drugs, as well as the reading they do in prison, how it affects them, what they hope to learn from it. Sobering & needed.
14. The Convalescent by Jessica Anthony, pub. by McSweeney’s. 3 stars. North America: USA. Story of an almost-midget, mute meat salesman who lives & works in his broken-down bus while noticing the mundane things in life, interwoven with centuries of Hungarian history & folklore. Somewhat predicted the ending with its shades of Kafka & bizarro fiction.
15. It Chooses You by Miranda July with photographs by Brigitte Sire, pub. by McSweeney’s. 2 stars. North America: USA. Writer’s block forced the author to begin obsessively reading the weekly PennySaver. Then she started contacting & interviewing sellers of random items. Idea was neat but the execution just didn’t pull it all together; it’s like a piece of performance art that just didn’t work. Meh.
16. Morning in Serra Mattu: A Nubian Ode by Arif Gamal, pub. by McSweeney’s. 5 stars. Africa: Sudan/Nubia. Wonderful poetry collection that dazzles with beauty & heartbreak -- family, the environment & land, intellect, old & honored traditions & ways, colonialism, politics, diaspora, & the Aswan Dam. Love (of his homeland; of his people) shines through every line. Highly recommended.
17. A Different Drummer by William Melvin Kelley, pub. by Anchor Books. 4 stars. North America: USA. An imagining of 1950s Louisiana as there is a mass exodus of every single black person in the state, told from the viewpoints of various white narrators. A “lost classic”. Worthwhile.
18. The Winter Station by Jody Shields, pub. by Little, Brown and Company. 4 stars. Asia: China & Russia. An artistic, atmospheric look at a city under siege by the plague. Explores clashings & meldings of cultures, traditions, & faiths during a time of crisis.
19. Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, pub. by Spiegel & Grau. 4 stars. Africa: South Africa. Noah’s sometimes amusing, sometimes sobering look at his life during childhood & his teen years growing up in South Africa. Recommended.
20. The Yellow Arrow by Victor Pelevin, trans. from the Russian by Andrew Bromfield, pub. by New Directions. 3 stars. Europe: Russia. An existential novella from 1993 Russia that seems apropos today; a longer piece might have worked better, but this was still decently thoughtful. Liked the nice touch of the backward countdown of chapters.

[shukriyya]

Hi Friends,

It's been a long while since I posted but something inspired me to return to TWT boards only to find it in the middle of a massive changeover. But here I am after chatting a little with some of my BaW friends who directed me to this thread. It's encouraging to see so many familiar names posting.

I'm in a non-fiction mode right now, immersed in several at once. Witches and Pagans :: Women in European Folk Religion 700-1100 by Max Dashu.  

Lady of the Beasts :: The Goddess and Her Sacred Animals by Buffie Johnson

The Runes Revealed :: An (Un) Familiar Journey by Ingrid Kincaid

I've got a couple of audiobooks on the go as well, Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Move Your DNA by Katy Bowman.

My most recent fiction read was the fab Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey and she has a newish book out called To the Bright Edge of the World that looks promising.

I hope to post more regularly than once a year ? and it's good to 'see' you all.

 

[Violet Crown]

Welcome back, Shukriyya. It's good to see you here.

[Jane in NC]

9 hours ago, Kareni said:

I'd appreciate it if you would suggest a few favorites, Jane.

 

Regards,
Kareni

Beth at Budget Bytes has gone all into "meal prep" these days, i.e. making five "grab and go" lunches or breakfasts at a time.  A search through the archives will lead to lots of different things though.

Some of our favorites:

Vegetable Tamale Pie (note: I have never made this with the canned enchilada sauce; instead I use a can of diced tomatoes with jalapeno)

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal (I add pecans and raisins)

I love Budget Bytes Coconut Rice!  It is fine on its own but it makes the best fried rice (I add shrimp, fresh ginger and garlic, whatever veg is on hand)

My son is a fan of meatloaf. One of his favorite's is Budget Bytes Thai Turkey Meatloaf (which I make with either jasmine or brown rice).  He did one of his long distance car trips with this meatloaf in the cooler, reporting that it was excellent "road food".  I don't make the glaze though...

One of the Budget Bytes "tricks" is the use of smoked paprika for flavor.  Kareni, I know that you have tried to reduce salt intake.  Smoked paprika adds loads of flavor without salt.  I am a huge fan, especially on roasted veg.

[Jane in NC]

May I suggest a fabulous morning read, The Ingenious Cyclewear Victorian Women Invented to Navigate Social Mores.

"Fluted or vertical frilled trowsers", anyone?

[Lady Florida.]

11 hours ago, Kareni said:

I

Knowing your favorites would also be welcome, Kathy.

 

As I went looking I realized it's mostly pasta recipes. I went overboard on a Barilla buy one get one free sale one time, and went looking for a variety of ways to use it. I"m not sure how I stumbled on budgetbytes. I haven't tried any of the one pot pasta dishes but I'm always a bit leery of those (no matter where the recipe comes from). I like my pasta very firm and I worry a one pot dish would make it to soft for my liking. If you eat low carb or gluten free these aren't the dishes for you. :)

https://www.budgetbytes.com/2016/10/creamy-mushroom-herb-pasta/

https://www.budgetbytes.com/2013/10/garlic-parmesan-kale-pasta/ - We've tried repeatedly to like kale in a variety of ways and it just doesn't work for us. I usually replace kale in recipes with either spinach or escarole.

https://www.budgetbytes.com/2011/05/tuna-red-pepper-pasta/

https://www.budgetbytes.com/2009/09/lemon-parsley-pasta/

I made the Poor Man's Burrito Bowl one time when I didn't feel like going to the store but was in the mood for that kind of dish. I've since made them with chicken added. There are a ton of cilantro lime rice recipes around the internet and hers is as good as any.

I tried this once because the idea sounded good but we didn't care for it. I think it's the only thing I haven't liked from there. I can usually look at a recipe and know if we'll like it. Sometimes it just takes a bit of adjustment, sometimes it's not worth trying. https://www.budgetbytes.com/2012/10/curry-beef-with-peas/

[Chrysalis Academy]

Yesterday I finished listening to Hope in the Dark, Rebecca Solnit's essays on activism and, well, keeping hope alive when all seems dark. I bought the book in January 2016, but just couldn't face it at the time - wasn't really feeling ready to admit that hope was an option. The fact that I read it and really, really appreciated it now is a good sign - I hope?

I finished reading The Salt Line, a dystopian/post-apocalyptic novel published in 2017. Yep, my year of dystopias is almost done! Just a few more left to read from my list, though of course I'll keep my eyes open for future offerings in the genre. This one was interesting, because the "apocalypse" was indirectly ecological: a tick-borne disease mutates into a deadly plague, not communicable between humans, but tick bites become deadly, so (most) humans retreat into urban enclaves and wilderness becomes wild again. I loved this premise, really loved it, and loved one of the later reveals that was related directly to it. I didn't love what she did with the plot. The characters were great, a bunch of flat ones for context but the main ones were robust and believable. But the plot was disappointing, kind of a waste of a great premise, IMO.

Started listening to The House of Tomorrow, I can't remember why it's on my list, maybe a movie is coming out this summer? I'm liking it so far.  And started reading The Orphan Master's Son - figured I'd stay in Korea for awhile after finishing Pachinko.

[Kareni]

4 hours ago, Jane in NC said:

One of the Budget Bytes "tricks" is the use of smoked paprika for flavor.  Kareni, I know that you have tried to reduce salt intake.  Smoked paprika adds loads of flavor without salt.  I am a huge fan, especially on roasted veg.

Thanks for linking to your favorite recipes, Jane, and for the tip above.  Does the smoked paprika add heat or does it simply add to the overall savory experience?

3 hours ago, Lady Florida. said:

If you eat low carb or gluten free these aren't the dishes for you. :)

And thank you, Kathy, for your Budget Bytes links.  We eat neither low carb nor gluten free so that is not an issue for us; as Jane mentioned above, we're all about lowering our sodium consumption.  My husband loves pasta so pasta recipes are always given a second or third look! 

I'll be taking a closer look at the links later today to see if these can be added to our rotation.

Regards,
Kareni

[shukriyya]

8 hours ago, Violet Crown said:

Welcome back, Shukriyya. It's good to see you here.

Thank you, VC :)

And since we're talking food I'll expound on the lowly shallot. More refined cousin to the onion, small but more vocal than the leek or chive, the oft-passed over shallot is rocking my culinary world these days. I know it's a fave of cooks but as the past few years have seen my cooking go from innovative to pedestrian to keep up with the demands of a very active homeschool schedule involving lots of commutes so such refinements have been missing. Things have eased up a tiny bit in the commute/hs regard and I'm refinding my cooking chops. Latest fave is lacinato kale chopped into very fine ribbons and sautéed with shallots and garlic. The lads love it and served with some roasted kabocha squash it makes for a nice vegetable combo.

Latte and choc in hand as I write this... ☕️ ?

 

[Jane in NC]

1 hour ago, Kareni said:

Thanks for linking to your favorite recipes, Jane, and for the tip above.  Does the smoked paprika add heat or does it simply add to the overall savory experience?

And thank you, Kathy, for your Budget Bytes links.  We eat neither low carb nor gluten free so that is not an issue for us; as Jane mentioned above, we're all about lowering our sodium consumption.  My husband loves pasta so pasta recipes are always given a second or third look! 

I'll be taking a closer look at the links later today to see if these can be added to our rotation.

Regards,
Kareni

Smoked paprika definitely adds a sense of umami. One of the reasons that people add bits of bacon  to a mixture is for smokiness.  Smoked paprika contributes to a pleasant smoky taste without the salt and preservatives of bacon.

But concerning heat...I have three forms of paprika in my spice cupboard:  sweet, hot and smoked.  Our smoked paprika is not a "hot" spice but apparently there are versions that are smoked and hot.  More here.

 

1 hour ago, shukriyya said:

Thank you, VC :)

And since we're talking food I'll expound on the lowly shallot. More refined cousin to the onion, small but more vocal than the leek or chive, the oft-passed over shallot is rocking my culinary world these days. I know it's a fave of cooks but as the past few years have seen my cooking go from innovative to pedestrian to keep up with the demands of a very active homeschool schedule involving lots of commutes so such refinements have been missing. Things have eased up a tiny bit in the commute/hs regard and I'm refinding my cooking chops. Latest fave is lacinato kale chopped into very fine ribbons and sautéed with shallots and garlic. The lads love it and served with some roasted kabocha squash it makes for a nice vegetable combo.

Latte and choc in hand as I write this... ☕️ ?

 

Another fan of the shallot!  We had hakurei turnips (the little Japanese ones) last night.  I like to slice the roots, sauté them in olive oil with garlic and shallots.  About the time they are soft, I add the coursely chopped turnip greens.

Ah...latte and chocolate.  For those who were unaware, Shukriyya and I met last summer in Golden Gate Park where she provided chai and chocolate. Seeing your lovely post here inspired me to write a snail mail letter to my elderly aunt and uncle who live at Lake Tahoe.  Thank you friend.

 

 

[Butter]

9 minutes ago, Eliana said:

@Butter  Wishing you a speedy recovery from the queasies. 

Re: the kids engaged in resistance work: I am amazed at how the very qualities that cause challenges for teens are the ones that enable them to dream and dare...and make changes, in themselves and the world around them.

What is the title of the (potentially) pro-adultery book?  That's a slant I try to avoid.  I am generally a follow your heart, find joy in your life kind of person, but I have significant buttons around betrayal and dishonesty in close relationships and authors who try to romanticize or justify deceit and betrayal bother me greatly.  (Ones that show more complexity and/or the fallout are different for me, it's the oversimplification combined with the narcissism of tromping over other people's needs and feelings to fulfill one's own desires and seeing nothing wrong with that.)

 

Thanks!  I am feeling a lot better today.  Of course now Ani has it and Cameron has been running a fever since last night but not nausea/vomiting/diarrhea for him.

Out of the Blue by Gretta Mulrooney.  Adultery has definitely happened now (2/3 through).  There has been some minor feeling bad about having sex while both are married to other people, but they were high school sweethearts and parted ways because they were immature so that makes it somehow okay?  He asked her to marry him.  She replied they were both still married.  He said they could get married whenever the time was right.  It really feels like the book is saying since they used to be in love and one is married to an alcoholic and the other just isn't happy with his wife, it means what they are doing is just fine.

7 minutes ago, Jane in NC said:

Another fan of the shallot!

 

I love shallots.  I am allergic to red onions (which I also love, sadly), but I can eat shallots no problem.  So I often will have shallots in things in place of red onions.

[Lady Florida.]

Welcome back Shukriyya! It's good to see you here.

I'm a fan of shallots but confess that too often I forget about them unless specifically called for in a recipe. I always have onions on hand but don't always have shallots. While it's fine to substitute onions for shallots, shallots are just different enough to give a dish a refined flavor.

[Stacia]

2 hours ago, Eliana said:

Stacia: congratulations on your book finds!   (and I've added The Yellow Arrow to my TBR list)

Eliana, I will send my copy to you if you want it. (Can't promise I'll get to the post office in a speedy manner, but I will send it on, lol.)

Heather, glad you are feeling a bit better today. Sorry that your dc are now coming down with it.

Shukriyya, so glad to see you back here.

Thanks for all the fun food talk & links to more recipes to try. I, too, love shallots but like Kathy, tend to use them more when specifically called for. Should remember to have them on hand more often....

[fastweedpuller]

Rose!  look what is coming out soon!  The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America by Timothy Snyder.  He's the author of Bloodlands, which a few of you have read, and On Tyranny:  Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.  (I am a fan.  He's a frequent contributor to NYRB.)

[Chrysalis Academy]

57 minutes ago, fastweedpuller said:

Rose!  look what is coming out soon!  The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America by Timothy Snyder.  He's the author of Bloodlands, which a few of you have read, and On Tyranny:  Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.  (I am a fan.  He's a frequent contributor to NYRB.)

Already got it on hold!!

[Stacia]

Started a new book tonight, one from the library sale: Colomba and Carmen by Prosper Mérimée. (Colomba and Carmen are two separate stories by him.) I'm reading Colomba & am finding it quite delightful. It was first published in 1840 & the copy I picked up has a copyright of 1901.

Quote

Prosper Mérimée (1803-1870) was an author by hobby, not necessity, being the son of two talented and highly successful artists. He was also a lawyer, a public official, a senator, a painter, an authority on Russian literature and a member of the French Academy. As a public official, Mérimée travelled through France and Europe, from which he drew inspiration for his stories and novels. His first popular novella, "Colomba," was published in 1840. It is set in Corsica, and tells the story of the della Rebbia family, whose father has been murdered in an ambush, believed by his daughter to have been perpetrated by the town's mayor, Lawyer Barricini. She implores her brother, Lieutenant Orso della Rebbia, to avenge their father's death, but Orso does not share her passionate ancestral pride. His heart is torn between personal vendetta and a propensity to abide by the law.

Carmen is apparently the source/inspiration for Bizet's opera.

VC, have you read these?

ETA: Here is the copy I am reading.

The title page:

[fastweedpuller]

Hah, this made me LOL this morning.  I still am giggling about the last cat

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/cat-profiles-from-haruki-murakami-animal-shelter

[Ravin]

Can I join? I do most of my reading these days through audiobooks. Currently I'm wrapping up A Storm of Swords (third book in Song of Ice and Fire, from which Game of Thrones was extracted). It's different enough from the TV show to be engaging despite having seen the show first. I'm debating whether to go straight into Book 4, or take a break, but my nonfiction audiobook list is a bunch of holds right now, so I'll probably just stay with it.

In print, I'm almost done with The Complete Idiot's Guide to Celtic Wisdom.

[Onceuponatime]

 

Speaking of kitties! I don't know if anyone remembers the kitten we rescued last August. Here he is napping on me while I read. This is a daily ritual. He is between nine and ten months old now. This new format lets me upload pictures from my ipad!