Book Progress Update - October

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
In September: books read: 8; listed increased by: 1; pre-2015 reduction: 0; 2015 reduction: 0

And now, for October: 

• I read two books from my list (A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley)
• I read one book which I bought in Waterstones in Brighton on October 1st, but didn't really get a chance to add to my list (Wonder by R J Palacio)
• I read one book I picked up in a charity shop and started straight away (The Girl Next Door by Ruth Rendell) because I needed a book while waiting for someone
• I read two books which were in the house already (The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness and Disturbance by Jan Burke)
• I read one book which I picked up at the RA earlier in the month, and again, started straight away, so it never made it on my list (Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl, Grayson Perry/ Wendy Jones)
• I bought three books in Waterstones in Brighton (but read one of them almost straight away) and one in a second hand shop there. And then I bought some more books in other places, because I'm like that! I did buy some birthday presents, which don't count, but of course as I was in the bookshop, it seemed rude to go away without buying anything for myself... And then there was the time I was stuck in a coffee shop with no book, so had to get something from the charity shop next door. And I bought a book in the shop in an art gallery, but I did start reading it straight away, so it's not on The List.... Oh well, excuses excuses! And yes, right at the end of the month, I bought some more books in another Waterstones because we were doing some early Christmas shopping.

October goal progress:

1. books read: 7 of 9 books 
2. books removed from list: 2; books added: 6; net result +4
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 47, which seems like a net loss, 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. I really must see if I can stop adding books to the list, at least until I get a few more removed...

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. Alexia Casale, The Bone Dragon (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
9. Becky Chambers, A Closed and Common Orbit (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
10. Tracy Chevalier, At the Edge of the Orchard  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
11. Emma Donohue, The Wonder (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
12. Bi Fieyu, Three Sisters (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
13. 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...) *
14. Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
15. Claire Fuller, Our Endless Numbered Days (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
16. 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...) *
17. Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (2014)*
18. Linda Grant, The Dark Circle (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
19. Hella Haasse, The Tea Lords (Bookhandel von Rossum, Amsterdam, August 2017)
20. Mark Haddon (Introduction), Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
21. Christina Henry, Lost Boy (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
22. Siri Hustvedt, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
23. John Irving, Avenue of Mysteries  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
24. N K Jemisin, The Fifth Season (AbeBooks, Sept 2017)
25. Lynn Knight, The Button Box  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
26. Ernest van der Kwast, The Ice Cream Makers (Amsterdam, August 2017)
27. Neil MacGregor, Germany: Memories of  a Nation (birthday present, Nov 2016)
28. Ben Marcus, The Flame Alphabet (2nd Hand Shop, Brighton, October 2017)
29. Edward Marston, The Railway Detective (Charity shop, Farnham, Sept 2017)
30. Alice Mattison, The Book Borrower (Used Book Depot, Vero Beach, April 2017)
31. Elizabeth McKenzie, The Portable Veblen (Mother's Day, 2017)
32. Magnus Mills, The Restraint of Beasts (Abe Books, May 2017)
33. Alice Munro, Runaway (Waterstones Piccadilly, March 2016)
34. Flannery O'Connor, Complete Stories (charity shop, December 2015)
35. Maggie O'Farrell, This Must be the Place (Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
36. Michael Ondaatje, Divisadero (charity shop , April 2017)
37. Orhan Pamuk. A Strangeness in Mind (Christmas present 2016)
38. Michelle Paver, Dark Matter (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
39. Sara Perry, The Essex Serpent (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
40. Lucy Ribchester, The Hourglass Factory (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
41. Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram (Abe Books, July 2016)
42. Marcus Sedgewick, She is not Invisible (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
43. Jane Smiley, Early Warning (Abe Books, May 2017)
44. Ali Smith, Autumn (Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
45. Sally Vickers, Cousins (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
46. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)

Dinner, 31/10/17: Courgette & Mushroom Tart

An old standby. Puff pastry, red pesto, thinly sliced courgettes and mushrooms, grated mozzarella. And there you have it.

Book 98: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl, Grayson Perry (Wendy Jones)

Picked this up when I was up at the RA a few weeks ago; I've read articles/interviews by/with Perry before and he always struck me as incredibly intelligent and articulate, so despite my general tendencies away from non-fiction I thought this would be really interesting. And it is. Quite an interesting exploration of his formation as an artist and his discovery of his transvestism. A couple of times in bookshops I've been drawn to his book about men and manliness (The Descent of Man) but haven't yet bought it; this memoir makes me think I probably should do so.

Book 97: The Girl Next Door, Ruth Rendell

Picked this up in a charity shop when I was caught out without a book and had to meet someone in a coffee shop; Ruth Rendell is always reliable. This isn't so much a mystery, as we pretty much know whodunnit from near the beginning, but the stories all unfold and unravel and it's well done. 

Dinner, 29/10/17: Thai Style Baked Fish

This was baked in foil - really nice. It's trout, but you could use other fish. Flavourful and moist. 

Book 96: The Ask and the Answer, Patrick Ness

This is the second book in the Chaos Walking trilogy. I thought the first was very good, and this was good as well, though I found that, even more than with the first one, it was just so tiring to read as everything is very tense and fast paced and full on, all the time. It's the nature of the story, and makes sense, but it's not relaxing. I'm not sure I'll read the third one; might wait for one of my kids to read it and then just have them tell me about it. 

Dinner, 28/10/17: Macaroni Cheese with Spinach & Walnuts

Another in the many variations we have on macaroni cheese - a great comfort dish, nice in this autumnal weather. This one had a crunchy topping with bits of bread and walnuts, which was really nice. And the addition of leeks and spinach to the body of the dish was good, too. Plus it makes lots, so there are leftovers for lunches, which is nice as I'm back to work this week...

Dinner, 26/10/17: Cheeseburger Quesadillas (John Whaite)

We love this one - it's so quick and easy and very very yummy. 

Dinner, 25/10/17: Pork Curry (Geoff cooking)

With the leftovers from the roast pork, Geoff made a lovely curry, very spicy (but not too spicy - well, it would have been too spicy for Sarah, but as she's not home at the moment, we don't have to worry about that). 

Dinner, 24/10/17: Chicken Laksa soup

Olivia's birthday; Olivia's choice. Yum. 

Dinner, 23/10/17: Purple sprouting broccoli with butter beans, pine nuts, chili & lemon

We had this with garlic bread and salad. It had a nice taste, but unfortunately, the purple sprouting broccoli was a bit tough - we think if we have it again, we'll definitely use tenderstem broccoli instead.

Book 95: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

Not really sure what I think of this one. Parts of it were interesting and compelling, parts of it were incredibly confusing and parts of it just made me want to slap the characters until they behaved in a rational fashion. But I did carry on until the end, which I suppose is something.

Dinner, 21/10/17: Roast Pork, Roast Potatoes, Cabbage, Gravy

A belated birthday dinner for Geoff - there was blackberry and apple crumble as well, but I forgot to photograph that...

Dinner, 18/10/17: Pasta Bolognese

Even better because it came from the freezer and I didn't have to cook it!

Dinner, 17/10/17: Spicy Indian Potato Wraps

I really enjoyed this, though some of the members of my family who are less keen on sweet potato didn't like it quite so much. No one disliked it, mind you, but some people have rude things to say about sweet potatoes...

Dinner, 16/10/17: Thai Pork Stir-Fry (Itsu Cookbook)

This was really nice - I added some carrots. We really liked the pineapple in it. 

Dinner, 15/10/17: Fennel and Bacon Risotto

Dinner, 14/10/17: Slow cooked lamb shanks with tomato & garlic sauce

Served with saute potatoes & green beans. We have had this before, it's a very nice way to cook lamb shanks - they do really well in the slow cooker.

Dinner, 13/10/17: Pizza with parma ham, semi-dried tomatoes and goat cheese

Love a good pizza - this was very nice.

Dinner, 11/10/17: Spaghetti with pesto, peas & soya beans

Book 94: Disturbance, Jan Kelly

Another in the Irene Kelly series - the last, I think. This is one I never read previous when I've read the series. It seems like a fairly final resolution to the series. I've enjoyed reading these all the way along - they are intelligent and characterful.

Dinner, 10/10/17: Mexican Bean & Tortilla Bake (Alex cooking)

Dinner, 9/10/17: Summer Carrot, Tarragon & White Bean Soup

Dinner, 8/10/17: Teriyaki Salmon, New Potatoes, Courgettes

Book 93: Wonder by R J Palacio

A children's book about being different and not fitting in and about how middle school sucks (it does) and friendship and all that sort of thing, from a somewhat unusual point of view(s). Well done, and touching.

Dinner, 7/10/17: Creamy Cider & Mustard Chicken with Mash & Broccoli

Book 92: The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Becky Chambers

I confess to buying this book almost entirely based on the title (I did read the blurb as well), but it didn't let me down. A bit of a slow-burner, more driven by character than plot, which is fine with me. I enjoyed the author's creativity when it comes to creating sapient beings. I'll read the second for sure.

Dinner, 3/10/17: Chicken Katsu Curry (Itsu cookbook)

This was excellent - we all liked it (or rather, Olivia, Alex & I were the only ones home, but we all liked it).  We also liked the mix of rice and quinoa with it - nice texture.

Books in

Well, why not start the month by buying some books.... I took Sarah shopping in Brighton as a belated birthday treat, so of course we ended up in Waterstones. I did actually buy some books from the YA table as well, but they are technically for her (even though I kept a couple to read and she took a couple), so they aren't couting in this tally of books in. Wonder is a book I've seen before but hadn't got around to reading (it's a children's book), then I was talking about it with a friend as Alex is leading (with other Year 10s) a book club for year 7s, and this is their first book, so I decided to give it a go.

This one came from the second hand shop rather than Waterstones...

September Round Up

WHAT WAS FOR DINNER, SEPTEMBER 2017

• 30th: Steak & Ale Pie
• 29th: Pork & Kimchi stir fry
• 28th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 27th: Sausage & Bean Casserole
• 26th: Five spice chicken & vegetables
• 25th: Ravioli with Leeks & Lemon
• 24th: Thai Red Beef Curry with Green Beans
• 23rd: Devilled Mushrooms, Salad, Bread
• 22nd: Cheesy Bean & Chipotle Quesadillas
• 21st: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 20th: Chinese Garlic & Ginger Pork
• 19th: Broccoli Pesto Pasta
• 18th: Jacket Potatoes with Toppings
• 17th: Salmon Tikka Masala
• 16th: Chicken & Potato Curry (Geoff cooking)
• 15th: Lentil Shepherd's Pie
• 14th: Spaghetti Bolognese (Geoff cooking)
• 13th: Thai Green Vegetable Curry
• 12th: Paneer Stuffed Pancakes
• 11th: Black Bean Tacos
• 10th: Sausages, Spicy Wedges, Baked Swede
• 9th: Ghobeli
• 8th: Chorizo & Chickpea Soup
• 7th: Quick Spinach and Garlic Pasta
• 6th: Pork Escallopes, Potatoes, Carrots
• 5th: Middle Eastern Chicken "Pizzas"
• 4th: Stuffed Courgettes with Feta & Olives
• 3rd: Big Brunch (no dinner)
• 2nd: Pasta with creamy tomato, rosemary and caper sauce
• 1st: Chorizo & Pepper Fritatta