May Book Update

I liked the way I kept track of my book reading last year, so I'm going to do something similar this year - just monitor books in and out, without any pressure to declutter or read things in order, etc. I'm once again setting a goal to read 100 book in the year - I read 102 in 2018. Otherwise, my only goal is to keep reading and keep enjoying books!

In January: books read: 9; books out: 2; books in: 5; books on windowsill: 59
In February: books read: 10; books out: 0; books in: 0; books on windowsill: 54
In March: books read: 4; books out: 0; books in: 0; books on windowsill: 52
In April: books read: 6; books out: 4; books in: 2; books on windowsill: 48
In May: books read: 10; books out: 0; books in: 3; books on windowsill: 48

And here's the breakdown for this month:

• I finished a book which I've been reading slowly, for quite a while (To Obama) - not because there's anything wrong with the book, but more because it lends itself to being read in small sections. Also, it's quite emotional in places, so it's nice to interleave it with something else.
• I read several books from my list (Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout, The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy, The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman, The Dry by Jane Harper)
• I re-read another Alice Hoffman title after reading the one above (Practical Magic; they are connected)
• I read a couple of books for my classroom (The Wolf Princess by Cathryn Constable, The Dogs of Winter by Bobbie Pyron)
• And a book which we are going to read next term in school (Boy by Roald Dahl)
• Bought a few books in Waterstones in Wimbledon when I popped in to pick up some gift cards for school (Kate Atkinson, Transcription; Laini Taylor, Muse of Nightmares; Emily St John Mandel, Last Night in Montreal)
• And finally, read a book from a charity shop, which is going back to the shop before I even add it to the list (Falling by Jane Green)

Here's the updated list of Books to Read in 2019. 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
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. Susan Barker, The Incarnations (charity shop, July 2016)
7. Orhan Pamuk. A Strangeness in Mind (Christmas present 2016)
8. Andrew Taylor, The Ashes of London (passed to me by Geoff after he read it, April 2017)
9. Mark Haddon (Introduction), States of Mind: Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
10. John Irving, Avenue of Mysteries  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
11. Mikhail Bulgokov, The Master and Margarita (charity shop, April 2017)
12. Jane Smiley, Early Warning (Abe Books, May 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
13. Siri Hustvedt, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
14. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
15. Sebastian Barry, Days without End (Abe Books, January 2018)
16. Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (passed to me by Geoff, Feb 2018)
17. Bella Pollen, Hunting Unicorns (Kingston Hospital Charity Bookshelf, March 2018)
18. Sebastian Faulkes, A Week in December (Charity Shops, March 2018)
19. Jose Saramago, Blindness (Lisbon, April 2018)
20. Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake (passed on by Geoff, April 2018)
21. Spark, Alice Broadway (Waterstones Wimbledon, April 2018)
22. The Mime Order, Samantha Shannon (Abe Books, May 2018)
23. March, Geraldine Brooks (Abe Books, June 2018)
24. Salt to the Sea, Ruta Sepetys  (Waterstones Picadilly, July 2018)
25. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (charity shop, July 2018)
26. The Murderer's Ape, Jakob Wegelius (Waterstones Wimbledon, August 2018)
27. The Snack Thief, Andrea Camelleri (passed to me by Geoff, Sept 2018)
28. Even the Dogs, Jon McGregor (Abebooks, Sept 2018)
29. Islands in the Stream, Ernest Hemingway (Abebooks, Sept 2018)
30. Scythe, Neil Schusterman (Waterstones Piccadilly, Sept 2018)
31. Alice, Christina Henry (Waterstone Piccadilly, Sept 2018)
32. Throne of Glass, Sarah J Maas (Waterstones Wimbledon, October 2018)
33. Winter, Ali Smith (Waterstones Wimbledon, October 2018)
34. The Mistletoe Bride, Kate Mosse (charity shop, November 2018)
35. Milkman, Anna Burns (Waterstones online, December 2018)
36. Hillbilly Elegy, J D Vance (Waterstones Piccadilly, December 2018)
37. Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi (Christmas present, 2018)
38. History of Wolves, Emily Fridlund  (Christmas present, 2018)
39. Theft, Peter Carey (charity shop, January 2019)
40. The Crossing, Cormac McCarthy (charity shop, January 2019)
41. The Music Shop, Rachel Joyce (Waterstones Wimbledon, January 2019)
42. Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman (Waterstones Wimbledon, January 2019)
43. Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng (Waterstones Wimbledon, January 2019)
44. And the Mountains Echo, Khaled Hosseini (charity shop, Harborne, April 2019)
45. The Drowned Detective, Neil Jordan (charity shop, Harborne, April 2019)
46. Kate Atkinson, Transcription (Waterstones Wimbledon, May 2019)
47. Laini Taylor, Muse of Nightmares  (Waterstones Wimbledon, May 2019)
48. Emily St John Mandel, Last Night in Montreal  (Waterstones Wimbledon, May 2019)

Dinner, 31/5/19: Sausages, Potatoes, Roast Kohlrabi

A kohlrabi arrived in our veggie box - I think I've eaten it before, but only raw, sliced thinly (which is nice). A friend recommended roasting, and that was excellent. Will definitely eat more of this vegetable in future!

Book 39: Falling, Jane Green

A quick read I picked up in a charity shop. I didn't like this as much as some other Jane Green I've read - the style of storytelling was a little odd. But it passed the time in a half-term holiday where I was very tired and not reading anything challenging.

Dinner, 29/5/19: Kidney Bean and Green Bean Curry

I've made this before, but this time I used two kinds of green beans - flat ones from my veggie box and the regular kind, so there's a higher green bean to kidney bean ratio.  It's really tasty.

Dinner, 28/5/19: Caramelised Onion and Cheshire Cheese Tart

I had a lot of onions in the house, so I decided to make this onion tart. It was good, but there was a lot of effort in peeling and slicing so many onions, and I'm not sure it was good enough to bother with again.  I'd happily eat it if someone else made it,  but probably won't make it again.

Dinner, 27/5/19: Burnt Aubergine Veggie Chili

Yum. Rich & smoky flavour (due to the burnt aubergine - you char the skin, then remove it, but the smoky flavour stays). Tasty!  Served with tortilla chips to crumble on, and optional cheese for those who wished it.

Dinner, 26/5/19: Stuffed Courgettes

Stuffed with a mixture of feta, capers, olives, sundried tomatoes, lemon zest.  Stuffed after they've been griddled/barbecued...

Year Long Declutter, week 21 (294 items total)

More stuff from Alex's room.

Dinner, 25/5/19: Pea & Basil Macaroni, Salad

(with a bacon sprinkle for those of us who aren't vegetarians, and made with gluten free pasta to accomodate Olivia, who is having problems with gluten...)

Dinner, 22/5/19: Jacket Potatoes, Bacon, etc

A quick supper before people going out in different directions. Jacket potatoes having the virtue of being able to more or less cook themselves with little intervention...

Dinner, 21/5/19: Fish, Jersey Royals, Asparagus, Carrots

Dinner, 19/5/19: Goat Cheese & Pesto Canneloni

The pesto used here was made from carrot top, following (more or less) a recipe in the veggie box.  It worked pretty well, though I won't run out and replace all my pesto with carrot top pesto. Still, it's a good way to use up the carrot tops, rather than throw them away. Otherwise, the recipe is one we've made a number of times before, and will no doubt make again.

Year Long Declutter, week 20 (280 items total)

And we're still working on things in Alex's room - some little toys, some larger items. Again, some for the bin, some for the prize box at school, some for the charity shop.

Book 38: Boy, Roald Dahl

Hadn't read this before - it's a sort of autobiography/memoirs (but aimed at children), and written in characteristic Dahl style. My class is reading it next half term, so I wanted to get ahead of the game. I think they'll enjoy it, and it will be the first time many of them have encountered this particular kind of non-fiction.

Dinner, 18/5/19: Korean Style Prawn & Spring Onion Pancake

We had this a little while back and really enjoyed it, so decided to have it again. Perhaps not surprisingly, we still really liked it.

Dinner, 17/5/19: Stir fry with tofu, cashews & pak choi

Book 37: The Dry, Jane Harper

Read this in one day - had some time in the afternoon to sit in the sun reading, which I took full advantage of, and then finished it up in the evening. Excellent crime novel - highly readable and a good plot & characters. Will look out for more by this author in future.

Dinner, 15/5/19: Pasta with peas, asparagus, tarragon & cream

The end of a bag of garden peas, a small bit of asaparagus, some cream, and so on...

Book 36: The Dogs of Winter, Bobbie Pyron

A children's book based on a true story of a child found living with wild dogs in the streets of a Russian city. I really enjoyed this; it was quite different from other children's books I've read recently.

Book 35: Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman

After finishing The Rules of Magic, which is the prequel (sort of) to this, I wanted to go back and revisit the characters in this one.  Still enjoyable (and still a lot better than the film, which wasn't terrible, but wasn't great, either).

Dinner, 14/5/19: Frittata with mushrooms, chard & tomatoes, etc

Pretty much everything in this meal came from our Riverford Organic veggie box. Even the eggs (which I appreciate aren't a veggie, but they do lots of other stuff besides veg...).  The only thing which didn't were some of the new potatoes, which were already in the house and the cheese on top of the frittata. Great flavour to all the veggies (and the eggs) - we are really pleased with our veggie box both in terms of packaging (very little) and taste (excellent). 

Dinner, 13/5/19: Jacket Potato with Cheese & Beans

I went out to a Body Balance class this evening, because I'm just like that, so the boys had dinner earlier - they had sausages with their potatoes. I just had them throw a potato in the oven for me once they'd finished, and hey presto - I didn't have to cook when I got home. Yay!

Dinner, 12/5/19: Ras-el-hanout chickpeas with Broccoli and Halloumi

What would we do without chickpeas?  At least in this house, they are a serious staple food. (And one of the primary ingredients of one of the things on My List of Ways I Can Use Less Plastic - I'm going to start making my own hummous all the time instead of buying it in plastic tubs. I've made it sometimes, but don't usually bother. But honestly, it's not that hard.  So, it's on the list. But I digress...) This was a recipe in the newspaper (website) which Geoff pointed me & Olivia (Queen of Chickpeas) towards, and as I had several heads of broc which wanted using, it seemed ideal. Granted, it's the other type of broccoli from that used in the recipe, but it worked fine - really yummy. A keeper.

Year Long Declutter, week 19 (266 items total)

Carrying on clearing out things in Alex's room - lots of clutter that he doesn't really even look at any more. Some of it going in the bin, some in the recycle (as it's paper) and some to charity shop.

Book 34: The Rules of Magic, Alice Hoffman

Had this one hanging around for a while - I've liked Alice Hoffman for a long time, though I probably haven't read all of hers.  This is a prequel to Practical Magic, which I read when it came out back in the 90s, and which they've made a film of, with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. The film wasn't bad, though it wasn't great, but the book was better, if I recall.  However, I think this prequel is better still.  It's very Alice Hoffman, but that's not a bad thing.

Dinner, 11/5/19: Salmon, Swiss Chard, Oven Potatoes

Really great tasting Swiss chard  and potatoes (both from our veggie box delivery). The fish was good as well, but we are definitely noticing a taste difference in the veggies in our box.  That and the lack of packaging are really making it all worthwhile.

Book 33: The Disappearances, Emily Bain Murphy

This one is a young adult book which I picked up a while back because it sounded interesting, and I really enjoyed it. An unusual premise, and though I found the characters acted perhaps a bit too modern for the time in which it was set, it wasn't a deal breaker for me. 

Dinner, 8/5/19: Asparagus & New Potato Soup

Used the stems from last time's asparagus in the stock as well & blended before adding the potatoes and new asparagus.  This particular time of year (asparagus season) tends to mean we eat a LOT of asparagus. We love it, and it's such a short season!

Dinner, 7/5/19: Courgette & Rice Filo Pie

This was from Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall's book Veg, which I generally like. We did like the idea of this, and the taste, but it took a lot longer for the rice to cook than in the recipe, which was annoying & frustrating. 

Book 32: The Wolf Princess by Cathryn Constable

This is a children's book from the stack I always have waiting to test out for my class. I enjoyed it - it was a good story, well written. And yes, as an adult reading it I had a pretty good idea where it was going to go, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. 

Book 31: Anything is Possible, Elizabeth Strout

What better on a rainy bank holiday than to curl up with a good book?  I have read a number of this author's books before and really enjoyed them; this one is sort of a follow-up to My Name is Lucy Barton, and it's a story cycle (connected short stories).  Her writing is just amazing. It's not surprising she won the Pullitzer Prize. 

Dinner, 6/5/19: Fennel, Aubergine, Shallot and Chickpea Bake

This is a dish that Geoff and I really like, but which we don't have very often because none of my kids will eat aubergine (without complaining a lot).  Once in a while, I force it on them anyway.

Dinner, 5/5/19: Duck Breast, New Potatoes, Carrots, Caramelised Turnips

The star of this meal was really the caramelised turnips (though it was all good) - never cooked turnips this way before (never cooked them much at all, mind you). This was from the Riverford Veg Company's own cookbook and it was a lovely way to show off the turnip flavour. Definitely would do it again!

Book 30: To Obama, with love, joy, anger and hope by Jeanne Marie Laskas

Finally finished reading this - took ages not because it was difficult to read but partly because it lent itself to being read in small bits and partly because it was quite emotional in places, so too much at once was a bit overwhelming. A really interesting look at the way that mail to the president was handled during the Obama administration. And some really interesting personal stories as well. 

Year Long Declutter, week 18 (252 items total)

Alex decided it was time to clear out his room a bit - he had loads of small figures and collectibles on top of his dresser, so he thinned them out a lot. This is a selection of wind up toys - which will make great additions to my raffle prize box at school, so that's where they are going.

Dinner, 4/5/19: Cauliflower Cheese, etc

The cauliflower cheese being an exercise in using up some ends of cheese still hanging about from a picnic a few weeks back (we get through a lot of a cheddar and a fair amount of other cheese, but sometimes you just have lots of bits and pieces of odd cheeses...). Saute potatoes because my husband is incapable of eating cauliflower cheese (or indeed, most things) without potatoes, roasted cauliflower stems and greens and a cucumber and tomato salad. Yum.

Dinner, 3/5/19: Sea Bass, Asparagus, Jersey Royals

Springtime dinner of kings.  Yum (the sea bass was on sale in Waitrose). 

Dinner, 1/5/19: Frittata with Swiss Chard and Cheese; Salad

April Round Up

WHAT  WAS FOR DINNER, APRIL 2019

not so much cooking this month, as I was away in the US on lots of the days - the people at home cooked, but didn't record it, so I can't share...

• 30th: Homity Pie (Potato, Leek & Spinach)
• 29th: Spinach, Pancetta & Blue Cheese Penne (K out)
• 28th: Roast pork, Yorkshire puddings, cabbage
• 27th: K, O, S in Brum, Alex in Bournemouth
• 26th: Courgette & Butter Bean Curry
• 25th: Leek, asparagus & potato soup
• 24th: Spiced Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie, Kale
• 23rd: Broccoli Pesto Pasta
• 22nd: Potato & Carrot Tart; Crunchy Bean Salad with Seeds
• 21st: Picnic on Juniper Top
• 20th: Sausages, Potato & Cardoon Gratin, Spring Greens
• 19th: BBQ at Friends' House
• 18th: Cheesy Leek Pithivier, Salad
• 17th: Roasted Aloo Gobi
• 16th: K away in US
• 15th: K away in US
• 14th: K away in US
• 13th: K away in US
• 12th: K away in US
• 11th: K away in US
• 10th: K away in US
• 9th: K away in US
• 8th: K away in US
• 7th: Roast Vegetables & Chickpeas with Harissa and Couscous
• 6th: Lunch out at Riverside Vegetaria
• 5th: Homemade Pizzas
• 4th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 3rd: Cheesy Bean & Chipotle Quesadillas
• 2nd: Courgette & Lemon Linguine
• 1st: Potato & Rocket Soup