January 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

And here's the breakdown for this month: 

• I read one book which my class is using for homework this term (The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas by David Almond)
• I removed two books from my windowsill which I won't ever get around to reading
• I read a crime novel I picked up recently in the RA bookshop (Vengeance in Venice, Philip Gwynne Jones)
• and the latest Inspector Gamache book (Glass Houses, Louise Penny)
• I bought two books in the charity shop and three in Waterstones on a trip to Wimbledon at the end of the Christmas break
• I re-read Matilda by Roald Dahl, in light of having just seen the musical - I was curious how much it differed from the book
• I read three books from my list (Alberto's Lost Birthday by Diana Rosie, Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker, The Same Sky by Amanda Eyre Ward )
• I read a book which came from school, which was the sequel to one I read last year (Moonlocket by Peter Bunzl)
• I re-read a book we own (Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman) as I have come across references to it a couple of times recently and it sparked me to want to revisit it.

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 (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. Jane Smiley, Early Warning (Abe Books, May 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
15. Siri Hustvedt, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
16. Ernest van der Kwast, The Ice Cream Makers (Amsterdam, August 2017)
17. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
18. Lucy Ribchester, The Hourglass Factory (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
19. Alexia Casale, The Bone Dragon (Waterstones Piccadilly, October 2017)
20. Sebastian Barry, Days without End (Abe Books, January 2018)
21. Ursula K LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness (Watersones Piccadilly, January 2018)
22. Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (passed to me by Geoff, Feb 2018)
23. Bella Pollen, Hunting Unicorns (Kingston Hospital Charity Bookshelf, March 2018)
24. Jojo Moyes, The Last Letter from your Lover (Charity Shops, March 2018)
25. Jojo Moyes, Sheltering Rain (Charity Shops, March 2018)
26. Sebastian Faulkes, A Week in December (Charity Shops, March 2018)
27. Marcus Zusak, I am the Messenger (Charity Shops, March 2018)
28. Jose Saramago, Blindness (Lisbon, April 2018)
29. Margaret Atwodd, Oryx and Crake (passed on by Geoff, April 2018)
30. The Killing Moon, N K Jemisin (Waterstones online, April 2018)
31. If we were Villains, M L Rio (Waterstones Wimbledon, April 2018)
32. Spark, Alice Broadway (Waterstones Wimbledon, April 2018)
33. The Mime Order, Samantha Shannon (Abe Books, May 2018)
34. March, Geraldine Brooks (Abe Books, June 2018)
35. The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (charity shop, June 2018)
36. Anything is Possible, Elizabeth Strout (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2018)
37. The Disappearances, Emily Bain Murphy (Waterstones Picadilly, July 2018)
38. Salt to the Sea, Ruta Sepetys  (Waterstones Picadilly, July 2018)
39. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (charity shop, July 2018)
40. The Murderer's Ape, Jakob Wegelius (Waterstones Wimbledon, August 2018)
41. The Terracotta Dog, Andrea Camelleri (passed to me by Geoff, Sept 2018)
42. The Snack Thief, Andrea Camelleri (passed to me by Geoff, Sept 2018)
43. Even the Dogs, Jon McGregor (Abebooks, Sept 2018)
44. Islands in the Stream, Ernest Hemingway (Abebooks, Sept 2018)
45. Scythe, Neil Schusterman (Waterstones Piccadilly, Sept 2018)
46. Alice, Christina Henry (Waterstone Piccadilly, Sept 2018)
47. Throne of Glass, Sarah J Maas (Waterstones Wimbledon, October 2018)
48. Winter, Ali Smith (Waterstones Wimbledon, October 2018)
49. The Mistletoe Bride, Kate Mosse (charity shop, November 2018)
50. Milkman, Anna Burns (Waterstones online, December 2018)
51. Hillbilly Elegy, J D Vance (Waterstones Piccadilly, December 2018)
52. The Dry, Jane Harper (Christmas present, 2018)
53. Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi (Christmas present, 2018)
54. History of Wolves, Emily Fridlund  (Christmas present, 2018)
55. Theft, Peter Carey (charity shop, January 2019)
56. The Crossing, Cormac McCarthy (charity shop, January 2019)
57. The Music Shop, Rachel Joyce (Waterstones Wimbledon, January 2019)
58. Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman (Waterstones Wimbledon, January 2019)
59. Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng (Waterstones Wimbledon, January 2019)

Dinner, 30/1/19: Pasta with Brussels sprouts and pancetta

I usually make this recipe with orechiette, but my bag of orechiette got covered in face cleanser, when the face cleanser spilled in the shopping delivery and had to be thrown entirely in the bin. (It was nasty.) So, luckily, I had backup pasta, and we used farfalle instead. Tastes just as nice.  The brussels sprouts are sliced really thin and the bacon and cream with this are great. We really like this dish and highly recommend using sprouts this way if you are one of those people who isn't really sure about sprouts.

Dinner, 29/1/19: Vegan Oven Fajitas

This is from my Roasting Tray Cookbook, which I really like -easy recipes which you just stick in the oven and let cook on their own. This one is sweet potato, peppers and beans. I added an extra tin of beans (black-eyed peas) to bulk it up a bit, as we always eat a lot, plus I thought the leftovers would be nice. But it was great - some of us added grated cheese and some yogurt drizzled on; I didn't, and it was still excellent. I did add lettuce for a bit of crunch in there.

Book 9: The Same Sky, Amanda Eyre Ward

This was two parallel stories - a couple going through the heartbreak surrounding a failed adoption and a young girl trying to make her way from abject poverty in Honduras across the US border to join her mother, an illegal immigrant working in Texas. Eventually, the two stories intertwine (though not much); the contrasts and similarities are well done and intersting and the book is a strong portrait of the characters, and well written.

Dinner, 28/1/19: Courgette and Onion Quinoa

This is anothe recipe from the River Cottage Veg cookbook; the texture combination of this was fantastic and we liked the flavour, but felt it wasn't quite a complete supper (even with bread) and either needed another dish on the side or something else in it. One to experiment with, I think.

Dinner, 27/1/19: Squash and Fennel Lasagne

A recipe from a new (to me) cookbook: River Cottage Veg, a gift from my friend Kirsten. It was really lovely. Geoff thought it had a little too much squash and would have preferred more fennel, but I thought it was a good ratio (as did Alex. Sarah doesn't like fennel, so although she agreed, I didn't really count her opinion).  Would definitely make this again. We used parmesan in the meal, but you could use any hard, flavourful cheese if you wanted to be sure it was vegetarian.

Book 8: Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman (re-read)

Having recently come across several references to this book, or things which brought it to mind for other reasons, I decided it was time to visit it again - a sign from the cosmos.  As good as ever. 

Year Long Declutter, week 4 (56 items total)

So, this was mostly clearing out the bathroom medicine cabinet. Clearly I am the only person who ever does this.  Here are some very dried up coughdrops, an empty bottle, three empty tubes of hydrocortisone cream, and a couple of other misc things.

And this one has some more medicine cabinet stuff, my old fitbit wristband which has stretched loose quite a bit (and has now been replaced) and a misc. kitchen item.

Dinner, 26/1/19: Mini toads in the hole, green beans

Book 7: Moonlocket by Peter Bunzl

The second in a kids steampunk adventure series, which I read the first of recently. Our library at school had the second, so I couldn't resist borrowing it to read. It was cute.

Dinner, 25/1/19: Spanakopita (Spinach Pie)

Dinner, 23/1/19: Spaghetti with lemon and olives

Dinner, 22/1/19: Borlotti Bean, Pancetta & Pasta Soup

A nice, hearty, wintery soup. Yum.

Dinner, 21/1/19: Mushroom and Chard Frittata

The mushrooms in this frittata were planned, but the chard was a fortuitous leftover, which worked really well. One of the advantages of the girls not being home most of the time is that we can eat things like omelettes for supper - the three of us all like them, and there's enough to feed three without making much of anything else, maybe some bread and/or salad on the side.

Dinner, 20/1/19: Greek Beef & Onion Stew

A nice slow cooker stew, which allows me to have a leisurely afternoon and evening, because it's been cooking all day... Makes the house smell good as well.

Year Long Declutter, week 3 (42 items total)

A number of notebooks (mostly given to the girls over the years, I think) which are going to school for the prize box, etc. A set of coasters which I never use because I have been given coasters I like better. Some photo paper which I never ever use because it's A4 - I did keep one packet of glossy and one of matte, but I don't need 2 or 3 of each as I almost never use it (my printer prints on 4x6 size very easily).

Some empty boxes, the old battery and charger cable for my laptop (I replaced both a while back, one a time and was keeping the old ones in case - in case of what? who knows.); some batteries which had exploded a bit in the drawer, and so on.

Dinner, 19/1/19: Leek, Potato & Gorgonzola Tart

Yum.  And apparently, I can still win a game of Carcasonne while cooking dinner. (I think Gorgonzola is not technically vegetarian, but you could sub in a veggie blue cheese really easily.)

Dinner, 18/1/19: Prawns with Ginger

Excellent taste to this, as well as good contrasts between textures. I added the green peppers; they weren't in the recipe. There's a reason dishes like sweet & sour involve both peppers and pineapple - the bitterness of the pepper plays nicely off the sweetness of the pineapple. Definitely a keeper.

Book 6: Cassandra at the Wedding, Dorothy Baker

This is a "modern classic", from the 60s, and though I feel I ought to have heard of the author, I'm fairly sure she's new to me. I admit that this was a book which I was entirely drawn to by the cover - though of course, if the blurb hadn't sounded promising, I wouldn't have bought it. I thought it very good, though I did find myself thinking how you can sometimes really tell when a book was written by its style - even quite modern books. This one felt very much 50s/60s to me. 

Dinner, 16/1/19: Penne with Bolognese ragu (Geoff cooking)

Tasty, as always. Geoff used some of the Herbs de Provence which the kids brought back from France this summer, which added a very nice flavour.

Dinner, 15/1/19: Roasted fine beans with chickpeas and tamarind

Despite the look of it, this is not vegan, or even vegetarian, as it contains fish sauce as one of its five ingredients. I reckon you could find a substitute for it (perhaps vegetarian Worcestershire sauce) which would create a similar effect, but I haven't tried that. This was excellent, though, really enjoyable. It's from John Whaite's book "Perfect Plates in Five Ingredients", which I like a lot.

Dinner, 14/1/19: Salmon teriyaki with courgette and sesame noodles

This one is from my spiralizer cookbook -the spiralized courgette is only cooked a tiny bit at the end, with some edamame beans. Very tasty, and nice and healthy and light.

Year Long Declutter, week 2 (26 items total)

Second week - still stuff from the junk drawer. All going in the bin except the very large paperclip, which is going to school to go in the raffle prize box. I think it came from a Christmas cracker.

Most of this is also to be discarded, except the ball pump, which is also going to school. Clippers which don't cut well any more, a rubber covered in ink, and so on. No one needs this stuff!

Book 5: Alberto's Lost Birthday, Diana Rosie

Picked this up a while back at the Kingston Hospital Donation Book Shelf and finally got around to reading it. It was a cute story, I enjoyed it.

Book 4: Glass Houses by Louise Penny

The latest in the Gamache series. Another fairly dark one, though of course, well written and gripping as always.

Dinner, 9/1/19: Chat' Patay

This was a really tasty chickpea and potato dish - we liked it a lot. It's not really enough for a meal on its own, so I'd cook something else - a vegetable dish, like spinach or something - with it.  We had a substantial salad and a big plate of fruit along side.

Dinner, 8/1/19: Spaghetti "Puttanesca"

Not strictly puttanesca, as no anchovies, but really yummy, and really liked the addition of the broccoli into this. We did have a good laugh at the recipe, though, which asked for 10 kalamata olives, in a recipe which supposedly serves 6 people.  I put the whole jar in!

Book 3: Matilda, Roald Dahl (re-read)

Having recently seen the stage production (and having seen the excellent 1996 film many times) I was curious as to how they compare to the original, so decided to go back and re-read it. Plus my current book, while excellent,  is kinda depressing (crime novel, lots of stuff about the "war on drugs") and I needed some light relief.

Dinner, 7/1/19: Stir Fry with black beans, tofu & cashews

Year Long Declutter, week 1 (12 items)

Those of you who have seen my house know that while I am by no means a minimalist, I am also pretty tidy and don't like to have a lot of unnecessary clutter around - necessary clutter is fine, of course!  Seriously, though. While I like to have decorative items and I could never go the Marie Kondo route and have fewer than 30 books (I mean, what drug is she on?) I also don't like to have lots of stuff I don't need.  I've always been good about getting rid of clothes which don't fit the kids (or which, these days, they don't wear, as they are no longer growing in quite the same way they used to); books which I won't read again/won't save to lend to friends; items we never use, and so on.  Of course, in the course of daily life, things accumulate, so I usually take the opportunity a few times a year to declutter a bit. I've always done a New Year's Day clean and declutter (which is mainly aimed at decorative items) and lately, I've done the May Declutter with an increasing number of items each day for a month (one on the 1st, 2 on the 2nd and so on). 

Last year, I saw another blogger do a daily declutter - one item per day - but she blogged it weekly (because blogging ite daily would be quite a palaver and frankly, who would keep up?) and I thought that would be a good idea for 2019. I then promptly forgot about it until lately, when I've been watching a lot of declutter programmes on Netflix and got itching to do some tidying. Ironically, I had the girls help me do the kitchen cupboards between Christmas and New Year's, but of course I didn't take photos of all the stuff we got rid of... Typical.

Anyway, I decided that one item a day wouldn't give me quite the satisfaction of my May declutter, which racks up over 450 items, so I'm going to try two items a day and see how I get on with that. The word declutter isn't perhaps quite right, as a lot of my stuff isn't that cluttered to begin with, but it will do for the purposes of this exercise.

I'm going to blog weekly on Sunday, though I forgot to start at the start of January, so am going to cheekily backdate this to catch up.  Here are this week's items (only 6 days this week, so six items - looks like seven in the photo, but I realised after photographing that there is still a screen protector in the screen guard envelope, so it's actually staying). 

I have a number of semi-disposable tape dispensers, even after getting rid of these. Sometimes the only tape available isn't a refill... The light blue one is a sturdier dispenser, but the cutting blade isn't very sharp any more, so it's hard to break the tape. All of this is going in the bin.  This stuff was from the desk drawers. 

This stuff is from the junk drawer in the kitchen. A citronella candle whose wick is burned down so far you can't use the candle, a couple of small locks & keys, a bicycle bell, a stand for displaying a decorative egg (I used to have one someone had made for me, but it broke. I could put it in the Easter box, but actually, I'm going to get rid of most of that stuff later on this year anyway.) A refill for a bin air freshener thingy we no longer have. It's called the junk drawer for a reason!

Dinner, 6/1/19: Giant butter bean stew

Another hearty, warming winter meal. We love butter beans and this vegetable and butter bean stew was really tasty. 

Dinner, 5/1/19: Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas & Harissa with couscous

Very tasty and easy. Cauliflower is an underrated vegetable, I think. We also roasted the leaves and outside stems to have with it.

Books in

Sarah and I spent some time browsing through the charity shops this afternoon - fun for us: we always enjoy that. I picked up a couple of books in charity shops, and a few in the Waterstones as well (on the Buy One Get One Half Price table). 

Book 2: Vengeance in Venice, Philip Gwynne Jones

While this book isn't up there with my favourite Venetian crime novels (Donna Leon), it was a respectable story, with a decent feel for Venice (the protagonist being a non-native meant his Venice was a little different than Brunetti's, though still felt authentic to me - but what do I know? I've only visited...) A good holiday read.

Dinner, 3/1/19: Santorini Style Spaghetti

This sauce has fresh tomatoes, capers, parsley, lemon juice, garlic. Can't really go wrong with that.

Book 1: The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas, David Almond

First book of 2019 - this is a children's book, and we are going to use it as our homework book for my class for this half term, so I needed to make sure I'd read it. It was a cute story, I enjoyed it.

Dinner, 2/1/18: Butternut Squash Soup

With a few other things thrown in, like one sweet potato which was lurking in the cuboard, plus a couple of parsnips (as well as the onion & celery in the recipe) - but without the carrot in the recipe as we were out of carrots. Soup is soup.  I liked the toasted pumpkin seed garnish and the swirl of sesame oil - nice touches.  We also had some leftover pakoras, heated up, but no photo of them. That was a bonus as they weren't even OUR leftovers - our friends who had the New Year's Eve party had lots leftover and offered them to us (I think our family has a reputation for eating...).

Dinner, 1/1/19: Vegan Lancashire Hotpot

We love this - the flavours are deep and intense and yummy. As Olivia and a friend are trying to do Veganuary this year (eating a vegan diet during January, for those who have no idea what I mean), our dinners until she goes back to uni will be vegan or flexible (e.g. optional cheese sprinkle, etc) - this is a great one to start as we already know we love it and it's nice and warming on a chilly winter's day...

Book 102: The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead

My final read of 2018, technically finished in 2019, but only just, so I'm counting it for 2018. I enjoyed this (if enjoyed is quite the word, as parts of it are pretty horrific), though I found the embodiment of the underground railroad as an actual railroad a somewhat peculiar device and wonder at the choice to do it that way. Didn't interfere with my interest in the characters, just a curiosity.

2018 Reading Review

At the beginning of 2018, I set myself the usual goal of reading 100 books over the course of the year, and I have hit that pretty much on the nose - a couple of books over is all. I'll set the same goal for 2019 - in the past few years, it's about what I have time for. Lately, an increasing number of these books are children's books, as I like to find things I think my class (who are Year 6, which is 10-11 years old) would find interesting - part of an ongoing project to broaden the reading horizons of children who think that Harry Potter (which don't get me wrong, I love) and Diary of a Wimpy Kid (no comment) are all there are to the world of children's books.

Anyway, what did I read this year, and among those reads, what really stood out? Below is the list of books I've read this year (in reverse order, because it's easier to grab it from the sideline of my blog that way).  I've underlined the ones I thought were really outstanding - and by this I mean literally that: the ones which stood out for me, for whatever reason. Not counting re-reads in those outstanding books (after some dithering), though I was tempted with a couple.

• 102: The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead
• 101: Lethal White, Robert Galbraith
• 100: Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (re-read)
• 99: Moon over Manifest, Clare Vanderpool (chn)
• 98: The Princess Bride, William Goldman (re-read)
• 97: Reader, I Married Him (collection) (ss)
• 96: Sky Song, Abi Elphinstone (chn)
• 95: A Place Called Winter, Patrick Gale
• 94: If We Were Villains, M L Rio
• 93: Flood Child, Emily Diamand (chn)
• 92: The Last of August, Brittany Cavallaro (YA)
• 91: Exit West, Mohsin Hamid
• 90: Magpie Murders, Anthony Horowitz
• 89: The Murder of Mary Russell, Laurie R King
• 88: A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle
• 87: The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden (YA)
• 86: How to Stop Time, Matt Haig
• 85: The End We Start From, Megan Hunter
• 84: Strange the Dreamer, Laini Taylor (YA)
• 83: The Descent of Man, Grayson Perry (NF)
• 82: Court of Mist and Fury, Sarah J Maas (YA)
• 81: The Song of Seven, Tonke Dragt (chn)
• 80: Hero at the Fall, Alwyn Hamilton (YA)
• 79: A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J Maas (YA)
• 78: The Shape of Water, Andrea Camilleri
• 77: Wilful Behaviour, Donna Leon
• 76: Everless, Sara Holland (YA)
• 75: So Many Ways to Begin, Jon McGregor
• 74; The Undrowned Child, Michelle Louvric (chn)
• 73: Midwinter Break, Bernard MacLaverty
• 72: The Tea Lords, Hella Haasse
• 71: The Storm Keeper's Island, Catherine Doyle (chn)
• 70: The Middle of Nowhere, Geraldine McCaughrean (chn)
• 69: Cogheart, Peter Bunzl (chn)
• 68: The House with Chicken Legs, Sophie Anderson (chn)
• 67: The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, Claire North
• 66: Caleb's Crossing, Geraldine Brooks
• 65: Ella Minnow Pea, Mark Dunn (re-read)
• 64: Open Road Summer, Emery Lord (YA)
• 63: The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje
• 62: How to Look for a Lost Dog, Ann Martin (chn)
• 61: Cousins, Sally Vickers
• 60: Counting by 7s, Holly Goldberg Sloan (chn)
• 59: A Boy Called Hope, Lara Williamson (chn)
• 58: A Sea of Troubles, Donna Leon
• 57: I am Malala, Malala Yousafzai (chn edition)
• 56: Chasing Augustus, Kimberly Newton Fusco (chn)
• 55: Release, Patrick Ness (YA)
• 54: Runaway, Alice Munro (short stories)
• 53: I was born for this, Alice Oseman (YA)
• 52: A Closed and Common Orbit, Becky Chambers
• 51: Wolf Brother, Michelle Paver (chn)
• 50: The Silver Boy, Kristina Ohlsson (chn)
• 49: Autumn, Ali Smith
• 48: What the Moon Saw, Laura Resau (chn)
• 47: A House without Mirrors, Marten Sanden (chn)
• 46: New Boy, Tracy Chevalier
• 45: The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater (YA)
• 44: The Button Box, Lynn Knight (non-fiction)
• 43: Hens Dancing, Raffaella Barker (re-read)
• 42: A Great Reckoning, Louise Penny (crime)
• 41: A Room Full of Chocolate, Jane Elson (chn)
• 40: Ghostwritten, David Mitchell (re-read)
• 39: The Girl Savage, Katherine Rundell (chn)
• 38: Holes, Louis Sachar (chn)
• 37: The Bone Season, Samantha Shannon (Fantasy)
• 36: Boy 87, Ele Fountain (chn)
• 35: Noah Barleywater Runs Away, John Boyne (chn)
• 34: Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank (re-read)
• 33: Pax, Sara Pennypacker (chn)
• 32: Friends in High Places, Donna Leon (crime)
• 31: Tales of Terror from the Black Ship, Chris Priestly (chn)
• 30: The Dark Circle, Linda Grant
• 29: At the Water's Edge, Sara Gruen
• 28:Our Endless Numbered Days, Claire Fuller
• 27: Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror, Chris Preistly (chn)
• 26: Dark Matter, Michelle Paver
• 25: The Muse, Jessie Burton
• 24: This Must be the Place, Maggie O'Farrell
• 23: The Stone Sky, N K Jemisin (Fantasy)
• 22: The One and Only Ivan, Katherine Applegate (chn)
• 21: The Secret Chord, Geraldine Brooks
• 20: Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli (chn)
• 19: When we Collided, Emery Lord (YA)
• 18: Ready Player One, Ernest Cline (Fantasy)
• 17: The Start of Me and You, Emery Lord (YA)
• 16: Lost Boy, Christina Henry (YA, Fantasy)
• 15: The Obelisk Gate, N K Jemisin (Fantasy)
• 14: Fatal Remedies, Donna Leon (crime)
• 13: The Wonder, Emma Donohue
• 12: Three Things About Elsie, Joanna Cannon
• 11: Reservoir 13: Jon McGregor
• 10: The Girl in the Blue Coat, Monica Hesse (YA)
• 9: The Fifth Season, N K Jemison (Fantasy)
• 8: The Book Borrower, Alice Mattison
• 7: The House at Pooh Corner, A A Milne (re-read, chn)
• 6: The Girl Who Could Fly, Victoria Forester (chn)
• 5: Winnie the Pooh, A A Milne (re-read, chn)
• 4: Rooftoppers, Katherine Rundell (chn)
• 3: Daughter of the Burning City, Amanda Foody (YA, Fantasy)
• 2: The Garbage King, Elizabeth Laird (chn)
• 1: The Essex Serpent, Sarah Perry

December Round Up

WHAT WAS  FOR DINNER, DECEMBER 2018

• 31st: Stuffed Pasta Shells
• 30th: Sausages, Yorkies, Green Beans
• 29th: Lunch out at Thai Pot
• 28th: Black Bean & Tofu Fajitas
• 27th: Christmas Curry
• 26th: Leftovers
• 25th: Christmas Feast
• 24th: Christmas Eve Party at Friends'
• 23rd: Spicy Parsnip Bubble & Squeak Cake
• 22nd: Christmas Uptown Pret Sandwich Traditional Meal
• 21st: Fish & Chips (etc) at Friends' House
• 20th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 19th: Swede Laksa
• 18th: Stir Fried Tofu with Chili and Basil
• 17th: Mixed Bean Goulash
• 16th: Carrot & Chickpea Tagine with Couscous
• 15th: New Potato and Mince Curry
• 14th: Spaghetti with capers and pancetta (Alex cooking, K out)
• 13th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 12th: Sausages, Peas, New Potatoes
• 11th: Vegetable Jalfrezi
• 10th: Spaghetti Puttanesca
• 9th: Baked Mushroom Frittata
• 8th: Chicken and Artichoke Paella
• 7th: Pasta Bake with Pine Nuts
• 6th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 5th: Bacon, sweet potato & potato penne
• 4th: Potato Chowder
• 3rd: Cheeseburger Quesadillas
• 2nd: Tikka Salmon
• 1st: Spinach and Potato Pies