December Book Update

So, in 2018, I'm taking a slightly different approach to blogging about my reading - I'm not really worrying about the in/out balance or how many books I read each month versus how many have been removed from the list. My only goal in 2018 is to read at least 100 books (as usual), so I'll be counting towards that, and noting books I read, acquire, get rid of, etc, but only for interest. I'm tired of feeling guilty if I acquire new books!

In January:  books read: 7; books otherwise removed: 3; books in: 7; books on windowsill: 62
In February: books read: 6; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 3;  books on windowsill: 61
In March: books read: 8; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 5;  books on windowsill: 60
In April: books read: 13; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 6; books on windowsill: 61
In May: books read: 10 ; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 2; books on windowsill: 58
In June: books read: 10; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 3; books on windowsill: 58
In July: books read: 8; books otherwise removed: 0; books in: 5; books on windowsill: 62
In August: books read: 6; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 3; books on windowsill: 63
In September: books read: 9; books otherwise removed: 0; books in: 4; books on windowsill: 67
In October: books read: 9; books otherwise removed: 1; books in: 3; books on windowsill: 62
In November: books read: 9; books otherwise removed: 0; books in: 2; books on windowsill: 58
In December: books read: 7; books otherwise removed: 0; books in: 5; books on windowsill: 60

And here's the breakdown for this month: 

• I picked up one book in the RA bookshop because, I confess, it was set in Venice. I love books set in Venice. (Vengeance in Venice, Philip Gwynne Jones)
• I read one book from my windowsill (Reader, I Married Him; edited by Tracy Chevalier)
• and a couple of books which I was auditioning for my classroom, one of which was on my tbr shelf (Sky Song by Abi Elphinstone; Moon over Manifest by Claire Vanderpool)
• While moving stuff around on my shelves to make space for books read, I came across a copy of The Princess Bride and decided to re-read that, as it's been a while, and in honour of William Goldman's recent passing.
• And speaking of re-reading, the Jane Eyre based story collected above prompted a re-reading of Jane Eyre - haven't read that in absolute years...
• I bought one book in order to hit the free shipping mark on an online order (Milkman by Anna Burns)
• I picked up a book when we visited the big Waterstones in Piccadilly in our Christmas day up town (Hillbilly Elegy by J D Vance)
• And I got three books for Christmas (The Dry by Jane Harper, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund)
• I read the latest Robert Galbraith thriller (Lethal White), which I got for my birthday
• and then picked up another book from my shelf (The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead)

Here's the updated list of Books to Read in 2018. These are the books hanging out on my windowsill upstairs, waiting to be read. Or discarded. But hopefully, read. I started the year with 60 books on this list - you can see how long the books have been knocking around by the dates in brackets.

1. 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...)
2. Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (2014)
3. 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...) 
4. Daphne du Maurier, Frenchman's Creek (Waterstones Piccadilly - 2016? bought in principle for the girls, but thought I might read it again as it's been ages)
5. Daphne du Maurier, Jamaica Inn (Waterstones Piccadilly - 2016? bought in principle for the girls, but thought I might read it again as it's been ages)
6. Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram (Abe Books, July 2016)
7. Susan Barker, The Incarnations (charity shop, July 2016)
8. Neil MacGregor, Germany: Memories of  a Nation (birthday present, Nov 2016) (This book isn't technically on my windowsill, it's downstairs because I keep thinking I might have a go at reading it, but haven't really got around to it yet...)
9. Orhan Pamuk. A Strangeness in Mind (Christmas present 2016)
10. Andrew Taylor, The Ashes of London (passed to me by Geoff after he read it, April 2017)
11. Mark Haddon (Introduction), States of Mind: Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
12. John Irving, Avenue of Mysteries  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
13. Mikhail Bulgokov, The Master and Margarita (charity shop, April 2017)
14. Rachel Ward, Numbers 2: The Chaos (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
15. Rachel Ward, Numbers 3: Infinity (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
16. Jane Smiley, Early Warning (Abe Books, May 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
17. Siri Hustvedt, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
18. Ernest van der Kwast, The Ice Cream Makers (Amsterdam, August 2017)
19. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
20. Lucy Ribchester, The Hourglass Factory (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
21. Alexia Casale, The Bone Dragon (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
22. Sebastian Barry, Days without End (Abe Books, January 2018)
23. Ursula K LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)
24. Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (passed to me by Geoff, Feb 2018)
25. Bella Pollen, Hunting Unicorns (Kingston Hospital Charity Bookshelf, March 2018)
26. Diana Rosie, Alberto's Lost Birthday (Kingston Hospital Charity Bookshelf, March 2018)
27. Jojo Moyes, The Last Letter from your Lover (Charity Shops, March 2018)
28. Jojo Moyes, Sheltering Rain (Charity Shops, March 2018)
29. Sebastian Faulkes, A Week in December (Charity Shops, March 2018)
30. Marcus Zusak, I am the Messenger (Charity Shops, March 2018)
31. Jose Saramago, Blindness (Lisbon, April 2018)
32. Margaret Atwodd, Oryx and Crake (passed on by Geoff, April 2018)
33. The Killing Moon, N K Jemisin (Waterstones online, April 2018)
34. If we were Villains, M L Rio (Waterstones Wimbledon, April 2018)
35. Spark, Alice Broadway (Waterstones Wimbledon, April 2018)
36. The Mime Order, Samantha Shannon (Abe Books, May 2018)
37. March, Geraldine Brooks (Abe Books, June 2018)
38. The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (charity shop, June 2018)
39. Anything is Possible, Elizabeth Strout (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2018)
40. The Disappearances, Emily Bain Murphy (Waterstones Picadilly, July 2018)
41. Salt to the Sea, Ruta Sepetys  (Waterstones Picadilly, July 2018)
42. Cassandra at the Wedding, Dorothy Baker (Waterstones Picadilly, July 2018)
43. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (charity shop, July 2018)
44. The Same Sky, Amanda Eyre Ward (discount shop in US, August 2018)
45. The Murderer's Ape, Jakob Wegelius (Waterstones Wimbledon, August 2018)
46. The Terracotta Dog, Andrea Camelleri (passed to me by Geoff, Sept 2018)
47. The Snack Thief, Andrea Camelleri (passed to me by Geoff, Sept 2018)
48. Even the Dogs, Jon McGregor (Abebooks, Sept 2018)
49. Islands in the Stream, Ernest Hemingway (Abebooks, Sept 2018)
50. Scythe, Neil Schusterman (Waterstones Piccadilly, Sept 2018)
51. Alice, Christina Henry (Waterstone Piccadilly, Sept 2018)
52. Throne of Glass, Sarah J Maas (Waterstones Wimbledon, October 2018)
53. Winter, Ali Smith (Waterstones Wimbledon, October 2018)
54. The Mistletoe Bride, Kate Mosse (charity shop, November 2018)
55. Vengeance in Venice, Philip Gwynne Jones (RA shop, December 2018)
56. Milkman, Anna Burns (Waterstones online, December 2018)
57. Hillbilly Elegy, J D Vance (Waterstones Piccadilly, December 2018)
58. The Dry, Jane Harper (Christmas present, 2018)
59. Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi (Christmas present, 2018)
60. History of Wolves, Emily Fridlund  (Christmas present, 2018)

Dinner, 31/12/18: Stuffed & Baked Ricotta Shells

The filling here is mostly courgette, with some spinach and ricotta. Mmm. 

Dinner, 30/12/18: Sausages, Yorkshire Puddings, Green Beans

Book 101: Lethal White, Robert Galbraith

The latest in the series, which I received for my birthday. I enjoy these - find them well constructed and compelling. Looking forward to seeing what happens next!

Dinner, 28/12/18: Make-your-own Fajitas

Black beans, spiced tofu, slow cooked peppers and onions, and a host of other things you can put on (or not) makes this a very versatile meal...  Not to mention, tasty.

Dinner, 27/12/18: Christmas Curry

On Boxing Day, we always eat leftovers -usually frying up the leftover veg and potatoes and having some cold meat. On the 27th (or whenever) Geoff then makes a curry with the leftover meat. Every scrap gets used, which is the way it should be... This year, it worked out well because Olivia was out for dinner with friends on the 27th anyway (she's a vegetarian, so the leftover meat curry wouldn't work so well for her...).

Book 100: Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (re-read)

After recently reading the collection of short stories based on the line "Reader, I married him," I realised it had been many many years since I read the actual novel, and decided to revisit it. Do I still have a few bones to pick with some of the ideas in it? Yes. Do I still think it's a remarkable piece of literature, the more so for having been conceived and written in the circumstances it was conceived and written in? Absolutely. (Perhaps in 2019 I will revisit a few others I haven't read in many years, such as Wuthering Heights or Frankenstein....)

Dinner, 25/12/18: Christmas Feast

 Christmas Dinner!  As usual, we have celebrated with our friends and neighbours, the Fairweathers. We have done this for years - it's a nice tradition and it allows us two ovens to cook in, so we can have lots of things with less of the stress of planning how to get it all cooked. We usually have a turkey and some other meat (sometimes beeef, sometimes pork); this year we also had a non-meat main dish - cranberry and lentil bake - as Olivia is a vegetarian now (she's never been much of a meat eater). Then the side dishes, which (except for the chipolatas wrapped in bacon) are all veggie friendly: bread & sage stuffing, Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, carrots, brussels sprouts with cream (and a bacon crumble, if one eats bacon), cranberry sauce, and two types of gravy. Seriously, yum.  We were, of course, all stuffed afterwards, and had to take a break before eating dessert, which I managed NOT to photograph, but it was cheesecake and pumpkin pie. And leftovers for Boxing Day - what more could we want?

Books in

Happy Christmas to me - wouldn't be Christmas without a few books as presents...

Dinner, 23/12/18: Spicy Parsnip Bubble & Squeak Cake with Indian Spiced Greens

Book in

Bought in Waterstones in Piccadilly Circus when we went up to town yesterday for our Christmas lights, etc trip. I've read about this book and am curious to see a perspective on a different part of America than my experience - maybe it will help me have some sympathy for some of the people who I feel are making incomprehensible political choices...

Dinner, 19/12/18: Swede Laska

Noodley soup with roast swede and roast shallots. Spicy and gorgeous.

Book 99: Moon over Manifest, Clare Vanderpool

I seem to have been reading this book for weeks now - it's so busy this time of year, and I'm so tired that not much reading is happening. Plus now the girls are home, so there's a lot of chatting and whatnot as well in the evenings, rather than just reading. Still, I'll definitely make it to my year's reading goal and maybe even a few books over. Cutting it fine, though!

This is one for my classroom book corner - very much outside the experience of most of the kids in my class, but that might just be a good thing!

Dinner, 18/12/18: Stir Fried Tofu with Chili and Basil

...and carrots and green beans. The original recipe uses asparagus and peppers, but it's not really asparagus season and I didn't have a pepper in the house, so it ended up with other veg...  Another one of those accidentally vegan meals. It always surprises me how hard people find it to cope with cooking for a vegetarian or vegan.  If you were doing it 24/7, there are other challenges, of course, especially with vegan baking, but for just a meal here and there, it's so simple!

Book in

Ordered some books for Alex for Christmas, so I had to top up the order enough to get free shipping. It was an obligation, really...

Dinner, 17/12/18: Mixed Bean Goulash (Sarah cooking)

Again, one we've had before a few times, and I've changed up over the years - both to make enough for 5 of us, but also, just to jazz it up a bit - we all like the added sweetcorn, for example, even those of us who don't like tinned sweetcorn. This is also very nice with a little sour cream drizzled on, for those who eat sour cream (which is everyone in our family)... But without it, it's vegan, too. Liv (who is vegetarian, not vegan) says she's going to do "Veganuary" this year, so this would be a nice option... We also had some garlic bread which was in the fridge from when they forgot to cook it Friday, so that was a nice addition. It's also nice with bread or American style biscuits.

Dinner, 16/12/18: Carrot and Chickpea Tagine

We've had this before; it looks quite simple but actually it's very tasty - the spiciness of the spices goes well with the sweetness of the carrots. 

Dinner, 15/12/18: New potato, spinach and mince curry

Liv's home tomorrow, so it will be mostly vegetarian cuisine, until she's back at uni - just easier to cook the same for everyone, and we eat a lot of veggie stuff anyway, so it's not particularly difficult. The one meal we'll make different things for is Christmas - but then again, there's always all kinds of food at Christmas and people can take what they like and leave the rest...

Dinner, 12/12/18: Sausages, New Potatoes, Peas (Geoff cooking)

Dinner, 11/12/18: Vegetable Jalfrezi

Cauliflower, squash, peppers, chickpease, and a few leftover mushrooms thrown in. Yum. 

Dinner, 101218: Spaghetti Puttanesca (more or less)

Didn't have an olives, having used them all in the paella. So it's spaghetti with tomatoes, anchovies and capers. 

Dinner, 9/12/18: Baked Frittata

This was very tasty, with lots of herbs in it (the recipe just said "mixed fresh herbs" so I chopped up a bit of everything I had, except the coriander, which didn't really seem to go with the parsley, sage, rosemary and basil...).  And the mushrooms - yum!

Dinner, 8/12/18: Chicken & Artichoke paella

It's not technically paella, I guess - it's like a shortcut paella, but it's certainly yummy.

Book 98: The Princess Bride, William Goldman (re-read)

Been thinking of this recently, since William Goldman's recent death and decided it was time for a re-read. As good as ever.   Went swimming this morning with Alex, ran a few errands, and then spent the rest of a dreary, rainy day reading. Bliss! (This is the same cover as the copy I have, and I love it, hence this choice, rather than something more modern looking.)

Dinner, 7/12/18: Pasta Bake with Pine Nuts

An easy weeknight pasta bake which uses filled pasta - you don't even have to cook it first. Garlic bread and salad to finish.

Book 97: Reader I Married Him (collection)

This is a collection of short stories, all inspired by Jane Eyre, and in particular, the line "Reader, I Married Him" - it was part of a project celebrating a Bronte Anniversary. I think I may be coming around to short stories in my old age; I always used to find them too short - wanting to know more about the characters, etc. But actually, I really enjoyed these - some more than others, of course - and their very shortness was part of the appeal. I've always felt I should enjoy short stories more than I do, so maybe that time has finally come!

Dinner, 5/12/18: Bacon, sweet potato and potato pasta

A fairly common dinner in our house, especially when there are a couple of sweet potatoes or part of a butternut squash which needs using.

Dinner, 4/12/18: Potato Chowder

This doesn't look like much, but it was very yummy - basically just tomatoes, potatoes, onion and vegetable stock, but it was really good. You can choose to grate cheese on the top, or not, depending on your inclination...

Dinner, 3/12/18: Cheeseburger Quesadillas

We love this. It's like a cheeseburger in a quesadilla. What more could you want?

Book 96: Sky Song by Abi Elphinstone

A children's book I was auditioning for my class. I enjoyed this tale of children (of course) overcoming an evil sorceress and setting the world to rights. Nice setting, especially.

Dinner, 2/12/18: Tikka Salmon

Curry. Yum.  With salmon. 

Dinner, 1/12/18: Spinach and Potato Pies

We all really like these. I don't make them too often because they are a little fiddly (but not super-fiddly). Yum. 

Book in

Funny thing happened today: I bought a book in an Art Museum (above) and then, when I went into a bookshop, I didn't! (Well, I bought a kids' puzzle book, which is what I went in for, but I didn't buy another book for myself...)

November Round Up

WHAT WAS FOR DINNER, NOVEMBER 2018

• 30th: Leftover chili (G only, K & A only)
• 29th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 28th: Spaghetti with ricotta and pine nuts
• 27th: Tofu stir fry (G only, K & A out caroling)
• 26th: Leftovers (G only, K & A out)
• 25th: Roast Chicken, etc
• 24th: Sticky Citrus Chicken (G&A)
• 23rd: Pizza Night
• 22nd: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 21st: Mushroom Omelettes (G & A only - K out)
• 20th: Thai green chicken curry
• 19th: Tomato & Chickpea Soup
• 18th: Chili (Geoff cooking)
• 17th: Birthday Feast
• 16th: Leek & Ham Canneloni
• 15th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 14th: Linguine with creamy rosemary and caper sauce
• 13th: Chickpea and spinach curry
• 12th: misc leftovers, etc
• 11th: Meat & potato pie, mashed root veg
• 10th: Butternut, Cauliflower and Lentil Korma
• 9th: Out to dinner, Korean
• 8th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 7th: Fend for yourself Wednesday
• 6ht: Piri Piri Prawns
• 5th: Artichoke & Lemon Pasta
• 4th: Tomato & Dolcelatte Calzone
• 3rd: Scouts Fireworks (get your own dinner here or there)
• 2nd: Pork Mince and Tofu Stir Fry (K& G)
• 1st: Fend for yourself Thursday