Book Progress Update - November

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 practice, by the end of the year, I was beginning to get a little stressed about buying "too many" books - so I think I'll do something a little different next year...) But I digress.

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; list increased by: 1; pre-2015 reduction: 0; 2015 reduction: 0
In October: books read: 7; list increased by: 4; pre-2015 reduction: 0; 2015 reduction: 0

And now, November: 

• I read one book lent to Geoff by a friend & colleague (Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood)
• I read one book from my list (Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje)
• I received one book for my birthday (La Belle Sauvage by Phillip Pullman) and promptly read it.

November goal progress:

1. books read: 3 of 2 books 
2. books removed from list: 1; books added: 0; 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 45 now, which seems like little progress, but most of them have changed - only 11 books are left on the list 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. Orhan Pamuk. A Strangeness in Mind (Christmas present 2016)
37. Michelle Paver, Dark Matter (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
38. Sara Perry, The Essex Serpent (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
39. Lucy Ribchester, The Hourglass Factory (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
40. Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram (Abe Books, July 2016)
41. Marcus Sedgewick, She is not Invisible (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
42. Jane Smiley, Early Warning (Abe Books, May 2017)
43. Ali Smith, Autumn (Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
44. Sally Vickers, Cousins (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
45. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)

Dinner, 29/11/17: Ginger Beef with Tofu (itsu cookbook)

This was very tasty and easy - next time we might add some bamboo shoots or sugar snap peas or something of a vegetable nature as well. 

Dinner, 28/1/17: One Pan Spicy Rice (Alex cooking)

This is a simple dish of rice, spinach, cashews, raisins and curry paste which we have quite often on weeknights. Tonight Alex was cooking it...

Book 101: La Belle Sauvage, Philip Pullman

This book is the long awaited (by us at least) first book of the Book of Dust trilogy - a companion trilogy to Pullman's original Dark Materials trilogy. I got it for my birthday, and though I did finish the book I was reading, it didn't take long to get stuck into it. I did try to pace myself a little (i.e. not read it all in one sitting), but I admit, it didn't take longer than a few days to make my way through it. I found it very enjoyable, with some interesting new ideas and characters, though I do feel like the Big Ideas of this trilogy (purported to be some discussion on the nature of matter in line with the conversations about Dust in the previous trilogy) are yet to really make much of an appearance. That's not detrimental to the story, or anything, mind you. Of course, now the hard part will be waiting for the next book... Always the way of it. (As though I have nothing else to read, mind you!)

Dinner, 26/11/17: Oriental Chicken Noodle Soup

Dinner, 25/11/17: Chili casserole with courgettes

This was Geoff's creation - a way of using up leftover chili from the freezer - he griddled some courgettes and layered them on top, then added cheese and bits of tortilla chips. It was nice - the courgette texture was a nice addition. It doesn't look like much, but it tasted good!

Dinner, 24/11/17: Red Pork Curry with Green Beans and Hearts of Palm

Sarah recently made this for herself at uni -it's a dish we've had many times in the past - and that inspired me to cook it for us here at home...

Dinner, 22/11/17: Chorizo and Potato Quesadillas (Thomasina Miers)

I added some butternut squash to these as well, as I had a bit leftover in the fridge. We pretty much like quesadillas in any form in our house. What's not to like?

Book 100: Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje

Woo Hoo - hit my goal and it's still November, so I might even get a few more read before the end of the year... This was one I've been meaning to read for a while as I like Michael Ondaatje and a friend mentioned this was her favourite of them. When I saw it on the shelf in the charity shop I knew it was destiny, lol. I enjoyed it, parts of it immensely.  

Dinner (Lunch): 19/11/17: Roast Chicken, etc

Despite the usual birthday tradition of not cooking on my birthday (unless it's the day of my annual feast), I cooked lunch today because we had a friend in from the US - but we kept it simple with a nice roast chicken and potatoes - a lot less effort that way. For dessert we had homemade icecream, which Sarah made yesterday during the big cooking extravaganza...

The Almost Vegan Birthday Feast (18/11/17)

On a weekend near my birthday, it's been my tradition - I think for about 9 or 10 years now - to have a group of girlfriends around for a feast. Many of my friends are vegetarian, plus one of my friends who has been coming in the past few years is also allergic to gluten and dairy, which means that vegan food is a good starting place - and then of course, there's the gluten free addition. She's also allergic to most nuts, so that doesn't help either. These dishes are mostly vegan except for some honey in one salad dressing and the tortilla, which has egg in it. Also, dessert featured egg in a large way. But otherwise, pretty varied despite the restrictions (and yummy...) Sarah was home for the weekend, so helped me with the cooking.

This first dish (above) is titled "Surprisingly Delicious Moroccan Cauliflower Salad" - which made me laugh  - it uses cauliflower "rice", which was useful because the cauliflower steaks, which we've had before several times, generate lots of leftover bits of cauli. The tahini yogurt sauce was made with soya yogurt, so it was dairy free. Tahini has such a strong taste you couldn't tell it was soya yogurt at all... Recipe: BBC Good Food Magazine

This is a lentil and butternut squash salad; I've made it lots of times before. (BBC Good Food)

This is a new one, though - it's a parsnip and brussel sprout bubble and squeak cake. It was gorgeous - and very Christmassy seeming - I'm considering cooking it again for Christmas dinner. (BBC Good Food)

This is a simple tortilla recipe, cooked in the oven and cut into pieces - I've made it before for parties.(BBC Good Food)

Here we have a Caribbean Vegetable Curry (with coconut cream on top) which I'd been planning to make for dinner a couple of weeks ago and never quite got around to - we'll definitely have it again, though as it was really nice. Spicy. (Sainsbury's Magazine)

This was perhaps the star of the evening, despite looking so ordinary -it was a "Burnt Aubergine Vegetable Chili" - and had a really brilliant smoky flavour, due to the aubergine.  I made some rice to go with both of those dishes. (BBC Good Food Magazine)

This was a Spanish Vegetable casserole and was nice, though not nearly as interesting as some of the other things. (Tesco Vegetarian Magazine)

This one you may recognise from other postings - it's Niomi Smart's Cauliflower Steaks with Chimichurri Sauce, which we think is an excellent dish. (Eat Smart by Niomi Smart).

It occurs to me now that I should have cooked Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe "Tamara's Ratatouille", but then again, you can't have everything. Maybe next year.

Dessert was meringues, with lots of fresh fruit and some cream (or soya cream). I put cocoa in some of the meringues, so they had a kind of marble effect. I say "I" - it was actually Sarah who made the meringues - ironic really, as she doesn't even like them...

Dinner, 17/11/17: Pizzas

Homemade pizza night. Tasty!

Dinner, 15/11/17: Red Chili & Broccoli Pasta

The kids and I liked this, Geoff less so. It wasn't my favourite pasta dish ever, but I thought it's simplicity was nice.

Dinner, 12/11/17: Bolognese Stuffed Peppers (Good Food)

Very tasty and warming, served with salad I think (though not pictured with it). Definitely one to have again. I altered the recipe by adding rice into the bolognese mixture - made it lighter, also less meaty.

Dinner, 11/11/17: Celeriac Steaks with Salsa Verde

...and served with a garlicky white bean mash, which was particularly nice on the side. Yum. 

Book 99: Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

Another in the Hogarth Shakespeare Series: I read Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler - a Taming of the Shrew re-imagining this summer and it was ok, but not brilliant - this is much better. Indeed, excellent. This is, perhaps obviously, based on the Tempest, and it's very cleverly constructed as well as being an engaging tale in and of itself. It's also, perhaps surprisingly, as a substantial portion of it is set in a prison, very funny. The other Hogarth authors will have a hard time bettering this.

Dinner, 8/11/17: Mixed bean Goulash (Alex cooking)

And we made cornbread to go with it.  Yum. (The cornbread isn't vegan.)

Dinner, 7/11/17: Creamy Lemon Cabbage Pasta with Garlic Breadcrumbs (Good Food)

We especially like the garlic breadcrumbs with this one - great texture contrast.

Dinner, 6/11/17: Butternut Squash and Bacon Soup

One of the things that's always a mystery to me is how food magazines can photograph soups with a garnish (like crispy bits of bacon) - they always fall to the bottom. The soup still tastes great, but the garnish doesn't float on top (unless it's chopped herbs or something). 

Dinner, 5/11/17: Green Prawn Curry (Olive Magazine)

Dinner, 4/11/17: Jacket Potatoes with Toppings & Bacon

When Geoff was a kid, they always had baked potatoes on Bonfire Night - we think this is an excellent tradition. Of course, we also have jacket potatoes on other nights - it's a nice, easy meal which everyone likes, which is warm and filling in the winter. 

Dinner, 1/11/17: Chili (Geoff cooking)

October Roundup

WHAT WAS FOR DINNER, OCTOBER 2017

• 31st: Courgette & Mushroom Tart
• 30th: Leftover Mac& Cheese
• 29th: Thai style baked fish, potatoes, carrots
• 28th: Macaroni Cheese with spinach & walnuts
• 27th: Dinner out for Liv's birthday
• 26th: Cheeseburger Quesadillas
• 25th: Pork Curry
• 24th: Chicken Laksa
• 23rd: Purple sprouting broc with butter beans, etc
• 22nd: Leftover lamb shanks in tomato sauce
• 21st: Roast Pork, roast potatoes, cabbage
• 20th: Indian takeaway
• 19th: fend for yourself
• 18th: Spag bol (freezer)
• 17th: Spicy Indian Potato Wraps
• 16th: Thai Pork Stir-Fry
• 15th: Fennel & Bacon Risotto
• 14th: Slow Cooked Lamb Shanks with Tomato & Garlic
• 13th: Goat Cheese, Parma ham & Sun-dried tomato pizza
• 12th: Fend for yourself
• 11th: Spaghetti with Pesto, Peas & Soya Beans
• 10th: Mexican Bean & Tortilla Bake
• 9th: Summer White Bean & Tarragon Soup
• 8th: Teriyaki Salmon, New Potatoes, Courgettes
• 7th: Creamy Cider & Mustard Chicken, Mash, Broccoli
• 6th: Pasta with pesto Genovese
• 5th: Fend for yourself
• 4th: Fend for yourself
• 3rd: Chicken Katsu Curry
• 2nd: Out in Wimbledon before Theatre
• 1st: Out with Sarah in Brighton