January Book Summary

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 in: 7, books out: 5; books on windowsill at end of month: 62

And here's the breakdown for this month: 

• I read 2 books from my list (The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry, Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody)
• I read one book which my class at school is reading (The Garbage King by Elizabeth Laird) and one book which another class is reading (Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell) because I work on writing with a lot of children in that year, and it helps to know the model text
• I removed two books from my list after reading a chapter or two and deciding I wasn't really interested in them (The Railway Detective by Edward Marston; The Restraint of Beasts by Magnus Mills)
• I removed one book from my list which I know I'm just never going to read (The Complete Stories, Flannery O'Connor)
• I re-read two books we already own after visiting the Winnie the Pooh exhibit at the V& A Museum (Winnie the Pooh; The House at Pooh Corner - A A Milne)
• I read one book which was on Alex's TBR shelf which looked good (we were having a clear out of his shelf) (The Girl Who Could Fly, Victoria Forester)
• I bought one book from AbeBooks after a discussion with my sister-in-law
• I bought three books in W H Smith 
• I bought three books in Waterstones in Piccadilly, when I went in with Alex so he could spend some vouchers

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. Philip Baruth, The Brothers Boswell (Waterstones Canterbury bargain bin, July 2015)
5. 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)
6. 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)
7. Alice Munro, Runaway (Waterstones Piccadilly, March 2016)
8. Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram (Abe Books, July 2016)
9. Susan Barker, The Incarnations (charity shop, July 2016)
10. 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...)
11. Orhan Pamuk. A Strangeness in Mind (Christmas present 2016)
12. Jessie Burton, The Muse (Waitrose, January 2017)
13. Elizabeth McKenzie, The Portable Veblen (Mother's Day, 2017)
14. Andrew Taylor, The Ashes of London (passed to me by Geoff after he read it, April 2017)
15. Mark Haddon (Introduction), States of Mind: Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
16. Lynn Knight, The Button Box  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017) (This book is actually not on the windowsill either, as I've started reading it, but as it's non-fiction, it may take me a while to get through it; I'm reading it in little bits...)
17. John Irving, Avenue of Mysteries  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
18. Alice Mattison, The Book Borrower (Used Book Depot, Vero Beach, April 2017)
19. Mikhail Bulgokov, The Master and Margarita (charity shop, April 2017)
20. Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor (charity shop, April 2017)
21. Rachel Ward, Numbers 2: The Chaos (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
22. Rachel Ward, Numbers 3: Infinity (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
23. Jane Smiley, Early Warning (Abe Books, May 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
24. Linda Grant, The Dark Circle (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
25. Emma Donohue, The Wonder (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
26. Siri Hustvedt, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
27. Sally Vickers, Cousins (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
28. Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017, bought with my trip to Amsterdam in mind, though not necessarily to read before or during the trip)
29. Hella Haasse, The Tea Lords (Bookhandel von Rossum, Amsterdam, August 2017)
30. Ernest van der Kwast, The Ice Cream Makers (Amsterdam, August 2017)
31. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
32. Monica Hesse, The Girl in the Blue Coat (Oxfam Bookshop, Kingston, August 2017)
33. Lucy Ribchester, The Hourglass Factory (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
34. Bi Fieyu, Three Sisters (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
35. Claire Fuller, Our Endless Numbered Days (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
36. Michelle Paver, Dark Matter (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
37. N K Jemisin, The Fifth Season (AbeBooks, Sept 2017)
38. Ali Smith, Autumn (Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
39. Maggie O'Farrell, This Must be the Place (Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
40. Greg Fowler, T is for Tree (bought for Sarah, Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
41. Ben Marcus, The Flame Alphabet (2nd Hand Shop, Brighton, October 2017)
42. Becky Chambers, A Closed and Common Orbit (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
43. Christina Henry, Lost Boy (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
44. Alexia Casale, The Bone Dragon (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
45. Sarah Pennypacker, Pax (Waterstones Kingston, October 2017)
46. Samantha Shannon, The Bone Season  (Waterstones Kingston, October 2017)
47. Ernest Cline, Ready Player One  (Waterstones Kingston, October 2017)
48. Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient (November 2017, book was in the house already, added after I read Divisadero and realised I'd never actually read this one.)
49. Grayson Perry, The Descent of Man (December 2017, RA Gift Shop)
50. Sara Guen, At the Water's Edge (Christmas present, 2017)
51. Geraldine Brooks, The Secret Chord (Christmas present, 2017)
52. Sarah J Maas, Court of Thorns and Roses (Christmas present, 2017)
53. Katherine Arden, The Bear and the Nightingale (Christmas present, 2017)
54. Emery Lord, The Start of Me and You (passed to me by Sarah, December 2017)
55. Patrick Gale, A Place Called Winter (charity shop, December 2017)
56. Sebastian Barry, Days without End (Abe Books, January 2018)
57. Anthony Horowitz, Magpie Murders (W H Smith, January 2018)
58. Laline Paull, The Ice (W H Smith, January 2018)
59. Matt Haig, How to Stop Time (W H Smith, January 2018)
60. Bernie MacLaverty, Midwinter Break (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)
61. Ursula K LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)
62. Jon MacGregor, Reservoir 13 (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)

Book 7: The House at Pooh Corner, A A Milne (re-read)

...and here we go - the second of them. Awesome.

Dinner, 31/1/8: Pasta with lemon & olives

We put a bit of parmesan in this dish, but you could easily leave it out - it's still very tasty with lemon, olives and pine nuts... So I've tagged it vegan & vegetarian, on the understanding that the parmesan is optional!

Book 6: The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester

This one was on Alex's shelf and it tempted me, so I read it. One of the cover blurbs calls it a mix of Little House on the Prairie and the X-Men - I kinda get that. It was a nice story.

Dinner, 29/1/18: Bang bang chicken

This is sort of Alex's birthday choice (though not entirely, as his birthday is next week) - we decided to have it this week as Sarah is back between exams and start of new teaching, and she loves it, too.

Dinner, 28/1/18: Cauliflower and Spinach Dhansak

This is a curry which is always enjoyed in our house, though it doesn't handle leftovers well, as it gets too mushy (especially the cauliflower), so I must really remember to cut back on the recipe a little so there's not quite so much leftover...

Book 5: Winnie the Pooh, A A Milne (re-read)

Went to the Winnie the Pooh exhibit at the V&A and realised just how long it's been since I've read the two books - since my kids were small, I'm sure. So I thought I'd have a quick re-read. So funny!  Serious children's classics of the best sort - good for adults, too.  I'll re-read the second one shortly...

Dinner, 27/1/18: Bengali mustard fish with courgettes & rice

The sauce on the fish was very nice - probably would have been even better with a little more cooking (the mustard sauce, not the fish). I reckon it would go nicely with tofu or chicken, too. 

Books in

Went up to Waterstones in Piccadilly Circus while Alex and I were up in town, as he had some vouchers to spend from his school prizes. He also has a birthday coming up next week, so he wanted to hit Forbidden Planet in Covent Garden, which has a manga section the size of my house, but Waterstones first (they have a reasonable sized manga section for a regular bookshop) for the vouchers. I can resist buying books in specialty shops, but in regular bookshops, not so much. I've been waiting for the Jon McGregor as I've heard good things about it. The Ursula LeGuin tempted me as I've been thinking about her (and the fact that I've read very little) since her recent death, and the other book, the guy at the counter said was their book of the month, and it sounded appealing (I'm an easy sell, I confess. But he loved Reservoir 13, so I reckon his judgement is ok...)

Dinner, 26/1/18: Goat's Cheese & New Potato Tart

Lots of herbs - parsely, tarragon, chives - make a nice, flavourful addition to this.

Book 4: Rooftoppers, Katherine Rundell

I brought this one home from school to read after I tried supporting writing with a number of pupils for whom it's the current class book - always helps to know the story when you are trying to help them with assignments like "Write a diary entry to show how Sophie feels after she reads the letter from Mr Elliot."  It's a lovely, imaginative story, with some really beautiful bits of writing in it. Wish we were doing it in Year 6! (Not that I don't like our books, mind you.)

Dinner, 24/1/18: Beef & Tofu Stir Fry (itsu cookbook)

We had this a little while back, and everyone really liked it, so I had a request for it again. It's very tasty and quick. Served with rice.

Dinner, 23/1/18: Chunky Potato Chowder (Alex cooking)

A nice, simple, potato and tomato & onion soup, with cheese garnish, or not, as you prefer. 

Dinner, 22/1/18: Pasta with Chicken, Artichokes & Lemon

Using the leftover chicken from yesterday's roast, plus most of a jar of artichokes and some lemon - that was all in the recipe. I also threw in some pieces of sun-dried tomato which were hanging around, as well as a small bit of broccoli which wanted using. It was tasty, for a dish composed entirely of leftovers (except the pasta)

Dinner, 21/1/18: Roast Chicken, roast chicken, cabbage

Dinner, 20/1/18: Enchiladas

Book 3: Daughter of the Burning City, Amanda Foody

Another young adult, fantasy title. This one was a little harder to get into than some - perhaps because I think too hard about the magic and how it works in books with magic - and a little darker than some, but I found it an interesting, gripping story once I settled to it. Creative and touching, too. 

Books in

...yeah, so, I was passing W H Smith...

Dinner, 19/1/18: Parsnip, Potato and Goat Cheese Rosti

Inspired by a recipe by Nigel Slater, which uses parsnip and beetroot. 

Book in

Picked this one up because my sister in law was talking about it when we got together the other weekend. I've read another book by Barry (The Secret Scripture) which I enjoyed, and this one sounded quite good.

Dinner, 17/1/18: Penne alla Amatriciana

Alex cooked this one - it was really nice, a good, rich, flavourful sauce. I do like a bit of bacon & red wine...

Dinner, 16/1/18: Curried Potato Patries

These are tasty - the inside is peas, onions  & potatoes with curry flavourings; the outside is just puff pastry. My puff pastry has butter in it, but it you were vegan, you might be able to get puff pastry made with margarine & make these vegan. You'd have to leave off the eggwash, too, of course...

Dinner, 15/1/18: Courgette & Tarragon Soup

Made by Alex and Sarah for a quick supper before we headed uptown to see The Book of Mormon...

Dinner, 14/1/18: Cottage Pie

Tasty meal tonight - I like cottage pie anyway, and in this case, it was made by Geoff , so that made it even nicer...

Book 2: The Garbage King, Elizabeth Laird

This is a childrens' book - it's the one my class is currently reading. There are a few bits of it which are probably a bit beyond their age, but the basic idea - the contrast (and interaction) between the two main characters in Addis Ababa,  one incredibly poor, living in the slums and then sold into slavery and one very wealthy - is provoking a lot of discussion among the kids - most of whom have no real concept of poverty, even those who are pretty poorly off by London standards. I thought it very compelling read, with well-drawn characters, none of whom was black or white in their behaviour and choices, and would definitely recommend it for mature tweens and younger teens (and older, too). 

Dinner, 12/1/18: Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

Once again, I forgot to take a photo of my dinner until it was nearly gone, so the crusty crunchy pastry on top isn't as attractive as it usually is, but still, you get the general idea...

Book 1: The Essex Serpent, Sarah Perry

A very enjoyable historical novel; a good start to the reading year, even if it has taken me a while to finish it (it's been busy here, but also, I have several books going at the same time at the moment for various reasons...)

Dinner, 10/1/18: Tofu & Vegetable Stir Fry with Cashews

We have some variation on this a lot - it's quick, simple, tasty, healthy.  This one had bamboo shoots and water chestnuts in it, as the online supermarket was out of sugar snap peas, which I really like in a stir fry.

Dinner, 9/1/18: Lemon & Herb Chicken with Orzo & Courgettes

Sarah cooked this one tonight - it's not complicated, it's just a traybake, and then the cooked orzo is mixed in with the pan juices, which gives a lovely, rich flavour.  We threw the courgettes in towards the end of the chicken cooking time. Easy!

Dinner, 8/1/18: Chorizo & Bean One Pot

An easy assembly dinner, similar to another one we have, except that this one has bits of chorizo in it, too (instead of just beans & tomatoes & corn).  I made American style biscuits with it, as well. Tasty!

Dinner, 5/1/18: Pasta with pancetta, chili & lemon

A quick supper, with garlic bread, before a trip out to the Panto. Very tasty.

Dinner, 4/1/18: Grilled Halloumi with Lentil and Chickpea Salad

We've had this before and enjoyed it, so it seemed a nice option again - something a bit lighter than all the heavy holiday food we've been eating. With a couple of pieces of halloumi each (ok, three), the rest is just lentils, chickpeas, etc, so nice and refreshing.

Dinner, 3/1/18; Cheeseburger Quesadillas (John Whaite)

A family favourite, and fairly quick and easy to rustle up after a day back at work, when I really still want to be on holiday... At least none of our evening activities have started up yet, so we can still do a fair bit of lazing around in the evening!

December Round Up

What was for  DINNER, DECEMBER 2017

• 31st: New Year's Eve Party
• 30th: Pesto Pizza with Artichokes and Parma Ham
• 29th: Vegetable Jalfrezi
• 28th: Leek fritters
• 27th: Leftovers
• 26th: Leftovers
• 25th: Christmas Feast
• 24th: Christmas Eve Party
• 23rd: Macaroni Cheese, Salad
• 22nd: Out in town to see the Lights
• 21st: Vegtable and Tofu Stir Fry
• 20th: New Potato and Rosemary Pizza
• 19th: fend for yourself
• 18th: Pasta with sausage, fennel and garlic (Sarah cooking)
• 17th: Beef Stew
• 16th: leftovers (G&O; A, K, S out & Grandma)
• 15th: Mozzarella, Ham & Pesto Pizzas
• 14th: Chicken & Veg tray bake
• 13th: Celery Soup with Biscuits
• 12th: Omelettes (G&A; K out, O out)
• 11th: Orichiette with Brussels Sprouts and Pancetta
• 10th: Massaman Beef & Potato Curry
• 9th: Chicken Kievs, Potatoes, Veg
• 8th: Fish and Chips
• 7th: Fend for yourself
• 6th: Tofu and Veg Stir Fry
• 5th: Courgette and Cheddar Soup
• 4th: Spag Bol
• 3rd: Salmon, Pak Choi, New Potatoes
• 2nd: Omelettes (G&A; K&O out)
• 1st: Roasted Cauliflower Pizza

Dinner, 1/1/18: Roast Duck with roast potatoes and carrots

Happy New Year!

Books & Reading in 2018

For the past few years, I've been keeping track of my reading, both in terms of number of books read and in terms of reading books I've had on my Reading List for a long time, trying to work through the list, etc. And while this is in some ways a good thing, I noticed last year in particular that one effect it has had recently is to make me feel really guilty about bringing new books into the house. Some people might think that's not a bad thing, but I don't like it. I do get rid of books (by reading them and passing them to others or to the charity shop) quite regularly, so it's not really a problem that I have a nice shelf of books waiting for me to choose from them when I fancy a new book to read. 

So, this year, I'm going to take a modified approach. I will set a goal for number of books to read this year (it's going to be 100 - same as usual).  I'm going to continue to blog when I read a book, and when I buy/otherwise acquire new books, but I'm not going to worry too much about the in/out balance. And I'm going to re-order my list on my blog to reflect the way my actual TBR shelf is organised (see pictures!) - by when the book was acquired (new books get stuck at the end). And I'm going to incorporate all the books that are in there which weren't on The List of the previous years (these are mainly books I intend to re-read or books that other members of the family have handed me to read). 

And yes, I'll still do a monthly round up of how many books I've read, but as I said, I won't worry about the balance of the in/out, as why should I add stressors to something which I find really enjoyable?

It will still be interesting (to me, if no one else) to see how long books hang around, so I'll still make a note of when they were acquired (or added to the shelf, as the case may be). And I may track how many books are on the shelf from month to month - it's sort of self-limiting by the length of my windowsill anyway... But I'm not going to stress about it. 

So, here it is - The Books on my Windowsill (to-be-read), as of 1 January 2018:

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. Philip Baruth, The Brothers Boswell (Waterstones Canterbury bargain bin, July 2015)
5. Flannery O'Connor, Complete Stories (charity shop, December 2015)
6. 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)
7. 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)
8. Alice Munro, Runaway (Waterstones Piccadilly, March 2016)
9. Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram (Abe Books, July 2016)
10. Susan Barker, The Incarnations (charity shop, July 2016)
11. 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...)
12. Orhan Pamuk. A Strangeness in Mind (Christmas present 2016)
13. Jessie Burton, The Muse (Waitrose, January 2017)
14. Elizabeth McKenzie, The Portable Veblen (Mother's Day, 2017)
15. Andrew Taylor, The Ashes of London (passed to me by Geoff after he read it, April 2017)
16. Mark Haddon (Introduction), States of Mind: Experiences at the Edge of Consciousness (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
17. Lynn Knight, The Button Box  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
18. John Irving, Avenue of Mysteries  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
19. Alice Mattison, The Book Borrower (Used Book Depot, Vero Beach, April 2017)
20. Mikhail Bulgokov, The Master and Margarita (charity shop, April 2017)
21. Peter Ackroyd, Hawksmoor (charity shop, April 2017)
22. Rachel Ward, Numbers 2: The Chaos (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
23. Rachel Ward, Numbers 3: Infinity (Sarah's - added to my shelf after I read the first one, April 2017)
24. Magnus Mills, The Restraint of Beasts (Abe Books, May 2017, on recommendation of my cousin after my trip to Florida)
25. Jane Smiley, Early Warning (Abe Books, May 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
26. Sara Perry, The Essex Serpent (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
27. Linda Grant, The Dark Circle (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
28. Emma Donohue, The Wonder (Waterstones Nottingham, July 2017)
29. Siri Hustvedt, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
30. Sally Vickers, Cousins (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
31. Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017, bought with my trip to Amsterdam in mind, though not necessarily to read before or during the trip)
32. Hella Haasse, The Tea Lords (Bookhandel von Rossum, Amsterdam, August 2017)
33. Ernest van der Kwast, The Ice Cream Makers (Amsterdam, August 2017)
34. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
35. Monica Hesse, The Girl in the Blue Coat (Oxfam Bookshop, Kingston, August 2017)
36. Edward Marston, The Railway Detective (charity shop, Farnham, Sept 2017)
37. Lucy Ribchester, The Hourglass Factory (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
38. Bi Fieyu, Three Sisters (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
39. Claire Fuller, Our Endless Numbered Days (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
40. Michelle Paver, Dark Matter (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
41. N K Jemisin, The Fifth Season (AbeBooks, Sept 2017)
42. Ali Smith, Autumn (Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
43. Maggie O'Farrell, This Must be the Place (Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
44. Amanda Foody, Daughter of the Burning City (bought for Sarah, Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
45. Greg Fowler, T is for Tree (bought for Sarah, Waterstones Brighton, October 2017)
46. Ben Marcus, The Flame Alphabet (2nd Hand Shop, Brighton, October 2017)
47. Becky Chambers, A Closed and Common Orbit (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
48. Christina Henry, Lost Boy (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
49. Alexia Casale, The Bone Dragon (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
50. Sarah Pennypacker, Pax (Waterstones Kingston, October 2017)
51. Samantha Shannon, The Bone Season  (Waterstones Kingston, October 2017)
52. Ernest Cline, Ready Player One  (Waterstones Kingston, October 2017)
53. Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient (November 2017, book was in the house already, added after I read Divisadero and realised I'd never actually read this one.)
54. Grayson Perry, The Descent of Man (December 2017, RA Gift Shop)
55. Sara Guen, At the Water's Edge (Christmas present, 2017)
56. Geraldine Brooks, The Secret Chord (Christmas present, 2017)
57. Sarah J Maas, Court of Thorns and Roses (Christmas present, 2017)
58. Katherine Arden, The Bear and the Nightingale (Christmas present, 2017)
59. Emery Lord, The Start of Me and You (passed to me by Sarah, December 2017)
60. Patrick Gale, A Place Called Winter (charity shop, December 2017)