Book progress update - September

At the start of the year, I set a few reading goals, with the overall aim of trying to make my way through books I've had for a while and haven't read, and trying not to acquire too many new books. The goals were:

1. Read at least 100 books in 2017 (approximately 2 per week; hopefully I can accomplish this)
2. Buy/acquire fewer books each month than I remove from my TBR shelf/list
3. Read or otherwise get rid of at least 1 of the books I've had since before 2015 (there were 4 on the list at the start of the year) and at least three of the books I  bought during 2015 (12 on the list)

They are (fairly) reasonable goals, which shouldn't stress me too much. In theory.

In January:  books read: 8; list reduced by: 2; pre-2015 reduction: 0; 2015 reduction: 1
In February: books read: 12; list reduced by: 11; pre-2015 reduction: 0; 2015 reduction: 1
In March: books read: 8; list increased by: 1;  pre-2015 reduction: 0; 2015 reduction: 0
In April: books read: 10; list increased by: 8; pre-2015 reduction: 1; 2015 reduction: 3
In May: books read, 14; list reduced by: 1; pre-2015 reduction: 0; 2015 reduction: 3
In June: books read, 9; list reduced by: 3; pre-2015 reduction: 0; 2015 reduction: 0
In July: books read: 7; list increased by: 5; pre-2015 reduction: 0; 2015 reduction: 1
in August: books read: 15; list reduced by: 1; pre-2015 reduction: 0; 2015 reduction: 1

And now, September: 

• I read five books from my list (More Than This, Patrick Ness, My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout, The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millweed Hargrave, All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, Little Gods by Anna Richards )
• I read one library book - the second book about his experiences with autism by Naoki Higashida (Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight)
• I read one more of the books my class will be using as texts this school year (Treason by Berlie Docherty)
• I re-read one book, which I'd picked up for 40p from the Friends' table at the local library (Case Histories by Kate Atkinson). It wasn't on my list. 
• Starting September off with a bang, I bought 5 books in charity shops on the 1st of Sept! And ordered one book in the post from AbeBooks, as several friends had reviewed it well.

September goal progress:

1. books read: 8 of 17 books 
2. books removed from list: 5; books added:6; net result +1
3. books read/removed from list from before 2015: 0 of 3;  from 2015: 0 of 2

Here's the updated list of Books to Read in 2017.  There were 46 books at the beginning of January, and there are now 42, which seems like only a few less, but most of them have changed - only 11 books are left on the year from last year or before  - books acquired in 2017 are underlined. 

1. Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor (charity shop, April 2017)
2. Elizabeth Aston, Mr Darcy's Daughters (from Taffy's house in Florida, April 2017)
3. Susan Barker, The Incarnations (charity shop, July 2016)
4. Philip Baruth, The Brothers Boswell (Waterstones Canterbury bargain bin, July 2015)
5. Mikhail Bulgokov, The Master and Margarita (charity shop, April 2017)
6. Jessie Burton, The Muse (Waitrose, January 2017)
7. Joanna Cannon, The Trouble with Goats and Sheep (Mother's Day 2017)
8. Becky Chambers, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (Book People, May 2017)
9. Tracy Chevalier, At the Edge of the Orchard  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
10. Emma Donohue, The Wonder (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
11. Bi Fieyu, Three Sisters (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
12. Ford Maddox Ford, Parade's End (Nov 2012 - birthday present - bought after the BBC adaptation - but I knew I wouldn't read it straight away as I wanted to let time pass from the adaptation.  Enough time has probably passed now...) *
13. Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
14. Claire Fuller, Our Endless Numbered Days (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
15. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (would be a re-read, bought shortly after his death - spring 2014 - as I was reminded how much I enjoyed it and I didn't seem to own a copy - think my old one fell apart, probably...) *
16. Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (2014)*
17. Linda Grant, The Dark Circle (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
18. Hella Haasse, The Tea Lords (Bookhandel von Rossum, Amsterdam, August 2017)
19. Mark Haddon (Introduction), Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
20. Siri Hustvedt, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
21. John Irving, Avenue of Mysteries  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
22. N K Jemisin, The Fifth Season (AbeBooks, Sept 2017)
23. Lynn Knight, The Button Box  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
24. Ernest van der Kwast, The Ice Cream Makers (Amsterdam, August 2017)
25. Neil MacGregor, Germany: Memories of  a Nation (birthday present, Nov 2016)
26. Edward Marston, The Railway Detective (Charity shop, Farnham, Sept 2017)
27. Alice Mattison, The Book Borrower (Used Book Depot, Vero Beach, April 2017)
28. Elizabeth McKenzie, The Portable Veblen (Mother's Day, 2017)
29. Magnus Mills, The Restraint of Beasts (Abe Books, May 2017)
30. Alice Munro, Runaway (Waterstones Piccadilly, March 2016)
31. Flannery O'Connor, Complete Stories (charity shop, December 2015)
32. Michael Ondaatje, Divisadero (charity shop , April 2017)
33. Orhan Pamuk. A Strangeness in Mind (Christmas present 2016)
34. Michelle Paver, Dark Matter (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
35. Sara Perry, The Essex Serpent (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
36. Natasha Pulley, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (Waterstones Wimbledon, December 2016)
37. Lucy Ribchester, The Hourglass Factory (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
38. Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram (Abe Books, July 2016)
39. Marcus Sedgewick, She is not Invisible (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
40. Jane Smiley, Early Warning (Abe Books, May 2017)
41. Sally Vickers, Cousins (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
42. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)

Dinner, 30/9/17: Steak and Ale Pie (Hairy Bikers)

Book 91: Little Gods by Anna Richards

I picked this up in the pound shop ages ago, and finally got around to reading it. I feel somewhat ambivalent about it, having finished - parts of it I really liked, but at the same time, it didn't quite grab hold of me the way the best books do. But it was an interesting idea, and I certainly don't regret having spent time with it.

Dinner, 27/9/17: "Cheat's Sausage Cassoulet" (Sainsbury's Magazine)

Really, this would more sensibly just be called sausage and bean casserole, but it's tasty. I used Toulouse style sausages this time; next time I wouldn't, I'd just go back to the ones we usually use...

Dinner, 26/9/17: Five Spice Chicken with Vegetables (Ken Hom)

Again, no veg in the recipe, but I added some because we like veg with our stir fries and I don't like to cook two different dishes on a quick weeknight dinner...

Dinner, 25/9/17: Ravioli with artichokes, leeks & lemon

A quick midweek supper, using bought raviolis...

Dinner, 24/9/17: Thai red beef curry with green beans (Ainsley Harriott)

A simple red Thai curry with coconut milk. I added the beans (not in the recipe), just cooking them for a few minutes at the end.

Dinner, 23/9/17: Devilled mushrooms, salad, bread

This particular recipe has Worcestershire sauce in it, but you could easily substitute that for soy sauce or tamari to make a vegetarian/vegan version...  We used to eat this quite often, too, before we had a house full of kids who don't like mushrooms. Most of them weren't here today.

Book 90: Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8, Naoki Higashida

This was an interesting followup to the previous book, written by a young main with severe non-verbal autism. I do find both books somewhat repetitive, but there are also interesting insights into what it might be like inside the head of someone with extreme, non-verbal autism. 

Dinner, 22/9/17: Cheesy Bean & Chipotle Quesadillas

We're a big fan of most Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes, as long as they aren't too stodgy. Quesadillas, with a wide variety of fillings, are a favourite.

Dinner, 20/9/17: Chinese Ginger and Garlic Pork

We used to have this dish quite a lot and it sort of got forgotten about, not sure why. I might bring it back to have more often!

Dinner, 19/9/17: Broccoli Pesto Pasta

A very simple dish,where you cook the broccoli, then mash it into a rough paste, with garlic and a few other things. Easy, tasty, quick.

Dinner, 18/9/17: Jacket Potatoes with Beans, Cheese, Bacon

This is one we often have on nights I'm not around; decided it was time we had it when I was here. Gotta love a good baked potato...

Book 89: All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

I really enjoyed this kind of wacky SF novel; it was pretty different from just about anything I'd read before, but not in a bad way. Extremely difficult to summarise, especially without giving away important stuff, but it was good fun.

Dinner, 17/9/17: Salmon Tikka Masala

Salmon curry with courgettes, onions, tomatoes. Yum. 

Dinner, 15/9/17: Lentil Shepherd's Pie

Probably shouldn't be called a shepherd's pie if there's no meat in it, but I have to call it something. Tasty!

Dinner, 13/9/17: Thai Green Vegetable Curry

Book 88: Girl of Ink & Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

A young adult title, fantasy.  I thought the beginning and build up to this story were superb; it somehow didn't quite maintain that level for me towards the end, though the finish was very nice. Lovely writing, though. I'd definitely read another by the same author.

Dinner, 12/9/17: Paneer Stuffed Pancakes (source unknown)

This was a magazine recipe, but not sure which magazine, possibly Vegetarian Living. Anyway, it was extremely yummy,so we were all happy - the filling for the pancakes was chickpeas, spinach and paneer cheese, with curry paste & passata - really tasty. Again, the recipe suggested coconut yogurt (i.e. yogurt made with coconut milk) as a topping, and it was very nice with this - just the right contrast. Alex pointed out that we'd had two very different "things in wraps" meals in a row - hadn't even noticed before - but then, "things in wraps" is a very versatile kind of meal...

Dinner, 11/9/17: Black Bean Tacos (Good Food magazine)

This is a terrible picture of what was actually a very nice dinner - soft tacos with a black bean filling. There was a guacamole sauce and a salsa with pomegranate seeds in it, which I really liked, especially the texture.  We had both corn and wheat tortillas, though I liked the wheat better in this instance. And it was a bit too spicy for Sarah, though not for the rest of us.  It used coconut yogurt as a topping, which Geoff found a little sweet (you could use regular yogurt or sour cream if you wanted to, but this was a good alternative for vegans). 

Book 87: My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

I picked this up a while back because I had read Olive Kitteridge  by the same author and thought it excellent; this was also excellent. Strout is a great writer, and the characters are so real, true and earnest you almost ache reading it. Must check out the rest of her books (I think I've read another, a long time ago, though I have no recollection of anything beyond the name - Amy and Isabelle.)

Dinner, 10/9/17: Sausages, Spicy Wedges, Baked Swede

Nope, it's not two different sets of chips, it's roasted/baked swede (rutabaga) a vegetable I tend to only use in stews, and always forget how nice it is in other ways...

Book 86: Treason by Berlie Doherty

This is another of the books my class will be reading this year; I enjoyed it. It's a strong story about family and loyalty and set in an interesting, if perhaps overused, time (court of Henry VIII) - but for nearly all, if not all, of the kids in my class, it will no doubt be the first book set in that period they've read, so that won't matter for them. I found it well written and compelling and not suffering from the tendency to dumb things down for children - yes, it's simplified, but still intelligent. A good choice - and exciting enough to hold the kids' attention, I'm sure.

Dinner, 9/9/17: Ghobeli (Rice with Lamb and Carrots)

This is an old standby - we particularly like the pistachio and dried cranberries on top, adds something really nice to the dish.

Dinner, 8/9/17: Chorizo and Chickpea Soup

Dinner, 7/9/17: Quick Spinach and Garlic Pasta (Sainsbury's Magazine)

With garlic bread and salad. 

Dinner, 6/9/17: Pork Escallopes, Potatoes, Carrots

Book 85: Case Histories by Kate Atkinson (re-read)

I read this quite some time ago, but chanced across another copy somewhere for free or very little money, so decided to read it again - although I remembered elements of it, some of the detail was gone, so it worked well as a re-read, despite the mystery nature (in part).  She's such a good writer - must go back and fill in the other gaps of things I haven't read by her...

Dinner, 5/9/17: Chicken "pizzas", salad

This is from a Middle Eastern cookbook, and is basically a spiced chicken, onion and nut mix on top of flatbreads, toasted. It's not hard, and it's really tasty and quick. My pre-requisite for a weeknight supper...

Dinner, 4/9/17: Stuffed Courgettes with Feta & Olives

Everyone likes this one - the stuffing is very tasty with feta, olives, sundried tomatoes, lemon zest and capers (not in the original recipe, but we always add them). 

Book 84: More Than This by Patrick Ness

This was great. Without saying too much about it, and thereby spoiling all the lovely twists and turns and whatnots, Seth dies. He drowns. Only then, he wakes up. In a different country. Completely alone. Sort of. Or maybe not. Excellent plotting, great characters, very compelling. Not that I'm surprised: it's Patrick Ness. Who cares that it's a Young Adult title - why should they get all the good stuff?

Brunch, 3/9/17: Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Toast, Pancakes

Decided to have a big brunch day, to make the most of the fact that it's my last day before going back to work. There will be no cooked dinner,  unless people want to do it for themselves, of course. And yes, there are leftover pancakes to heat up for breakfast tomorrow...

Dinner, 2/9/17: Pasta with creamy tomato, rosemary & caper sauce

Very nice pasta dish - not too strong a flavour of rosemary, which is always a potential issue (especially for Geoff).

Book 83: Love Letters to the Dead by Eva Dellaira

Another YA title which Sarah passed to me; I thought this was a well-constructed epistolary novel with an interesting slant. It was slightly on the teenagey side of YA fiction, but still a good read. Counting it as an August read, even though it's September!

Dinner, 1/9/17: Chorizo Fritatta

This tortilla/fritatta has chorizo, peppers, chunks of bread and olives - very nice combination. Served with a salad.

Book in

Ironically, when I arrived home from my trip to Farnham (the main purpose of which was NOT buying books in charity shops, however it may seem), this had arrived in the post - I'd seen it reviewed well by several friends, and I'm always on the lookout for good fantasy, so I thought I'd try it out...

Books in

I have a hard time resisting charity shops; I have an even harder time resisting those Oxfam Book & Music only charity shops. When I happen to be in a town I'm not usually in (this time, Farnham), resistance really is futile.   So I picked up a couple of books in a charity shop and a couple more in the Oxfam bookshop. Gotta do my bit for charity, right?

August Round Up

WHAT  WAS FOR DINNER, AUGUST 2017

• 31st: Mushroom Risotto
• 30th: Pesto PIzza with Artichokes & Prosciutto
• 29th: Stir Fried Tofu & Vegetables
• 28th: Spicy Enchiladas
• 27th: Prawn & Courgette Curry
• 26th: Sausage & Fennel Pasta
• 25th: Chicken, Olive & New Potato Salad
• 24th: Spinach, Chickpea & New Potato Curry
• 23rd; Soba Noodle & Cucumber Salad, Dumplings
• 22nd: Wholemeal spinach & potato pies
• 21st: K, S, O, A out at Harry Potter Studioes
• 20th: Papardelle with broad beans and pancetta
• 19th: Sausages, mash, cabbage
• 18th: Pizzas
• 17th: Asian Chicken Dumplings with Spiralized vegetables
• 16th: Lunch out in Oxford with John & Angela
• 15th: Thai sticky chicken & ribs, corn, potatoes
• 14th: Stuffed Marrow
• 13th: Picnic Lunch out with friends
• 12th: Pasta Bake
• 11th: Cauliflower Cheese, Sauteed Potatoes
• 10th: Corn on the Cob, Chicken Soup
• 9th: Spaghetti Pomodoro
• 8th: Spanakopita
• 7th: Pork & Veg Stir Fry
• 6th: Roast Belly Pork, roast Potatoes, Pak Choi
• 5th: Pea & New Potato Curry
• 4th: Salmon, Broccoli, New Potatoes
• 3rd: Fajitas
• 2nd: K&O away in Amsterdam
• 1st: K & O away in Amsterdam