March 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

And here's the breakdown for this month - for whatever reason(s), it was not a big reading month for me. Probably the month in which I've read the fewest books, for years:

• I read part(s) of a book by an author I've enjoyed before, but I couldn't really get into this one. Not sure why - I liked the premise and the writing was fine, but it just didn't really spark me (Heartless by Marissa Meyer). I'm not counting it as being "read" but I did spend a couple of days with it before giving up.
• I read a couple of children's titles, books from my classroom that I've been meaning to get around to (The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne; A Place Called Perfect by Helena Duggan)
• I read a collection of essays about the Michaela School (Battle Hymn of the Tiger Teachers)
• And I read one of the books from my list (The Ice Cream Makers by Ernest van der Kwast)

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. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
17. Lucy Ribchester, The Hourglass Factory (charity shop, Farnham, September 2017)
18. Sebastian Barry, Days without End (Abe Books, January 2018)
19. Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (passed to me by Geoff, Feb 2018)
20. Bella Pollen, Hunting Unicorns (Kingston Hospital Charity Bookshelf, March 2018)
21. Jojo Moyes, Sheltering Rain (Charity Shops, March 2018)
22. Sebastian Faulkes, A Week in December (Charity Shops, March 2018)
23. Jose Saramago, Blindness (Lisbon, April 2018)
24. Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake (passed on by Geoff, April 2018)
25. Spark, Alice Broadway (Waterstones Wimbledon, April 2018)
26. The Mime Order, Samantha Shannon (Abe Books, May 2018)
27. March, Geraldine Brooks (Abe Books, June 2018)
28. The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (charity shop, June 2018)
29. Anything is Possible, Elizabeth Strout (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2018)
30. The Disappearances, Emily Bain Murphy (Waterstones Picadilly, July 2018)
31. Salt to the Sea, Ruta Sepetys  (Waterstones Picadilly, July 2018)
32. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (charity shop, July 2018)
33. The Murderer's Ape, Jakob Wegelius (Waterstones Wimbledon, August 2018)
34. The Terracotta Dog, Andrea Camelleri (passed to me by Geoff, Sept 2018)
35. The Snack Thief, Andrea Camelleri (passed to me by Geoff, Sept 2018)
36. Even the Dogs, Jon McGregor (Abebooks, Sept 2018)
37. Islands in the Stream, Ernest Hemingway (Abebooks, Sept 2018)
38. Scythe, Neil Schusterman (Waterstones Piccadilly, Sept 2018)
39. Alice, Christina Henry (Waterstone Piccadilly, Sept 2018)
40. Throne of Glass, Sarah J Maas (Waterstones Wimbledon, October 2018)
41. Winter, Ali Smith (Waterstones Wimbledon, October 2018)
42. The Mistletoe Bride, Kate Mosse (charity shop, November 2018)
43. Milkman, Anna Burns (Waterstones online, December 2018)
44. Hillbilly Elegy, J D Vance (Waterstones Piccadilly, December 2018)
45. The Dry, Jane Harper (Christmas present, 2018)
46. Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi (Christmas present, 2018)
47. History of Wolves, Emily Fridlund  (Christmas present, 2018)
48. Theft, Peter Carey (charity shop, January 2019)
49. The Crossing, Cormac McCarthy (charity shop, January 2019)
50. The Music Shop, Rachel Joyce (Waterstones Wimbledon, January 2019)
51. Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman (Waterstones Wimbledon, January 2019)
52. Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng (Waterstones Wimbledon, January 2019)

March Roundup

WHAT WAS FOR DINNER, MARCH 2019

• 31st: Fend for yourself (Gala concert night)
• 30th: Salmon, Baked Potatoes, Broccoli
• 29th: Pork, Hoisin & Spinach Stir Fry
• 28th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 27th: Vegetable Stir Fry with Cashews & Noodles
• 26th: Hot & Sour Soup
• 25th: leftovers
• 24th: Roast chicken & trimmings
• 23rd: German sausages, sauerkraut, potatoes
• 22nd: Fajitas with chicken (or tofu)
• 21st: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 20th: Spicy Cauliflower Omelette
• 19th: Mushroom Quesadillas
• 18th: Spinach and Walnut Pasta
• 17th: Kidney Bean & Green Bean Curry
• 16th: Sausages & Baked Potato (G&A - K out)
• 15th: Fish & Chips (takeaway)
• 14th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 13th: Pasta with broccoli and almonds
• 12th: Roast Veg Soup
• 11th: Minty Lamb Flatbreads
• 10th: Spinach & Cheese Burritos
• 9th: out to dinner (Katzenjammers)
• 8th: Roast Chicken & Root Veg with Herbs de Provence
• 7th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 6th: Pea, Courgette & Feta Fritters
• 5th: Sausage & Rocket Linguine
• 4th: Spicy Indian Potato Wraps
• 3rd: Oven Roasted Roots Frittata
• 2nd: Rarebit Risotto
• 1st: Butternut Squash and Bean Curry

Book 23: The Ice Cream Makers, Ernest Van der Kwast

This book I picked up when I was in Amsterdam a while back - I like to find a book (translated into English) from an author from the country I'm in. I really enjoyed this novel about an Italian family of ice-cream makers (in The Netherlands) - written with a nice tone. It took ages to read, not because of anything about the book, but because I've just been really tired and a bit under the weather in March - I only read four books this month - the least ever, probably!

Year Long Declutter, week 13 (182 items total)

This is actually more than 14 items, but I'm just going to count it as the week's haul.  These are some polymer clay faces (mostly) which I made when I was into that, but which I really won't use for anything. I've kept a small selection of the really flat ones, which I might use on some ATCs, but these are just hanging around doing nothing - haven't even looked at them in years. Gone!

Dinner, 30/3/19: Salmon, Baked Potato, Broccoli

Book 22: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Teachers

This book is a collection of essays about an Independent School in London called The Michaela School, which takes a very didactic and disciplined approach to learning. It was really interesting in many ways, though I'm not sure I'd want to work there. 

Dinner, 29/3/19: Pork, Hoisin & Spinach Stir Fry

This was really good. We loved the flavours.

Dinner, 27/3/19: Vegetable Stir Fry with Cashews and Noodles

Dinner, 26/3/19: Hot & Sour Soup

Geoff and Alex both love this (as do I), but neither of the girls will eat it - Olivia is a vegetarian and it has meat, but more than that, she doesn't like eggy things. And Sarah is not a huge soup fan.  So, while neither are here...

Dinner, 24/3/19: Roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots, stuffing, gravy

A request from Sarah (who was home for the weekend)  for a roast dinner. 

Year Long Declutter, week 12 (168 items total)

More miscellany from various places - some ink for a printer we no longer have (I think it was actually two printers ago - this was lurking in the back of a drawer) - a few badges, some little bags, a plastic "tin" I don't use, and a pair of earrings which I like, but which are broken - decided I really couldn't fix them, and it wasn't worth keeping them around.

Dinner, 23/3/19: German sausages, potatoes, sauerkraut

Dinner, 22/3/19: Fajitas

I had about half a block of tofu - maybe more - leftover from Geoff's dinner last night (on Thursday, we all sort our own meals, due to various committments and conflicts), so I did some fried spiced tofu and some fried spiced chicken chunks for these fajitas - the tofu was great. Which is good to know for future vegetarian fajita meals. I've tagged this vegetarian and vegan, as you could easily adjust by leaving out the chicken and/or cheese & sour cream.

Dinner, 20/3/19: Spicy Cauliflower Omelettes

The idea of cauliflower in an omelette may seem a littler strange, but it was really tasty.

Dinner, 19/3/19: Mushroom Quesadillas (Thomasina Meirs)

Really tasty. We did a few more than in the recipe and they were all nice, but the mushroom ones were awesome. 

Dinner, 18/3/19: Spinach and Walnut Pasta

This is one of those meals that should have been a lot more interesting than it was. It was just sort of blah. Not offensive, but certainly not as tasty as you'd expect given the ingredients (sun dried tomatoes, capers, etc in addition to the title ingredients). 

Dinner, 17/3/19: Kidney Bean and Green Bean Curry

This was really yummy - a Hairy Dieters recipe.  Some left for lunch tomorrow, and probably will taste even better reheated.

Year Long Declutter, week 11 (154 items total)

These are more items from my craft cupboard and my sewing table - the box is going to Sarah - I like it, but don't really use it, so it just clutters up my sewing table. Otherwise, most of the stuff is going in the bin, with a few items to the charity shop. A couple of things are things which were made for me which are either old and a bit damaged or which I don't use any more. 

Dinner, 13/3/19: Pasta with Broccoli and almonds

This is really yummy  - the broccoli is cut really fine and thrown in with the pasta at the end and it works very well. I used whole wheat spaghetti here. 

Dinner, 12/3/19: Roast Vegetable Soup, biscuits

Made with the leftover roast vegetables from the other evening. Easy!

(The biscuits aren't vegan...)

Dinner, 11/3/19: Minty Lamb Flatbreads

Dinner, 10/3/19: Spinach and Cheese Burritos

These are gorgeously yummy - we've had them before, but not in a long time. We should definitely have them more often.

Book 21: A Place Called Perfect, Helena Duggan

Another children's book - this one was in the book corner in our classroom, and I was talking about it to a friend and she suggested I should read it - it was good - another nice story about being different and being "normal". 

Year Long Declutter, week 10 (140 items total)

Most of the stuff this week is from one of the cupboards where I keep craft things - some glues which are mostly dried up, some polymer clay which is also too hard to use. A book (not from that cupboard) which I enjoyed but won't read again, which will go to the charity shop, and a mirror square. 

Dinner, 8/3/19: Roasted Root Vegetables (and Chicken) with Herbs de Provence

I had a lot of veg kicking around - mostly roots, but also a courgette and a leek - chucked them all in the oven with some olive oil and Herbs de Provence (I have a big bag which the kids brought back from their band tour in Provence last summer) and that was that.  Well, to be precise, I did put things in in three separate stages to allow for different roasting times, but still.  Personally, I don't think it needed the chicken, but Geoff wanted something more than just roast veg in it, and we had some chicken in the freezer.  There is lots of veg leftover, so we'll be having roast veg soup some time next week. Result.

Book 20: The Terrible Thing that Happened to Barnaby Brocket, John Boyne

A children's book; I've read a few others by this author (who actually is the author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, though most of his other books aren't at all like that) - this one was a lovely story about being different. Great fun.

Dinner, 6/3/19: Pea, courgette & feta fritters

Really I missed an opportunity here - should have had these yesterday - savoury pancakes for dinner, sweet pancakes for dessert.  But I didn't think about it until too late. Still, they were plenty yummy on a Wednesday...

Dinner, 5/3/19: Sausage and Rocket Linguine

Dinner, 4/3/19: Spicy Indian Potato Wraps

Spicy roasted sweet potatoes, with a quick red onion pickle, some yogurt, coriander - in a wrap or flatbread. Yum. And leftover sweet potatoes for lunch tomorrow...  If you leave off the yogurt or use the right alternative, vegan, as well.

Dinner, 3/3/19: Oven roasted roots frittata

This was very yummy - another one from Hugh Fearnley-Wittingstall's cookbook, Veg. Really nice, and a good way of using small bits of leftover root veg. 

Year long declutter, week 9 (126 items total)

This is what else was in the box of unused dyeing supplies under my bed. It's more than 14 items, but I'm just counting it as a week's worth of stuff. I found someone on a fabric arts group who wanted it, and gave them to her. None of the jars of dye powder is full, but there are lots of them, so hopefully they'll be of some use to her.

Book 19: Uniform Justice, Donna Leon

The latest in my read/re-read through of a series I really like. This was good -maybe not one of my favourites in the series, but it's a long series, so there's lots of competition.

Dinner, 2/3/19: Rarebit Risotto

This was an unusual risotto, with beer in, instead of wine, and cheddar cheese. The broccoli was cooked separately and added at the end, with the little tomatoes, which weren't cooked at all. It was really yummy. We'll definitely have it again.

Dinner, 1/3/19: Squash and Bean Curry

And parsnips too - I bought parsnips for another recipe, and there are always more than one needs, so I threw some in here, too. 

February Round Up

WHAT WAS FOR DINNER, FEBRUARY 2019

• 28th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 27th: Filled pasta with tomato sauce & pine nuts
• 26th: Sweet and Sour Crispy Tofu
• 25th: Smoked Haddock Chowder
• 24th: Cauliflower Cheese Pasta Bake
• 23rd: Fend for yourself (Gang Show)
• 22nd: Mushroom Stroganoff
• 21st: Fend for yourself (Gang Show)
• 20th: Fend for yourself (Gang Show)
• 19th: Fend for yourself (Gang Show)
• 18th: Carrot and Chickpea Tagine
• 17th: Sausages & Baked Potatoes (K, S, O in Brighton)
• 16th: Tofu Katsu Curry
• 15th: Honey & Mustard Chicken with Spring Veg
• 14th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 13th: Orichiette with Walnut Pesto and Broccoli
• 12th: Korean Style Spring Onion and Prawn Pancake
• 11th: Lentil and Vegetable Soup
• 10th: Slow-cooked lamb shanks with rosemary and garlic
• 9th: Courgette, Artichoke, Mushroom & Olive Tart
• 8th: Pizza Night
• 7th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 6th: Saag Paneer
• 5th: Bang Bang Chicken
• 4th: Chunky Potato Chowder
• 3rd: Chili bean cornbread cobbler
• 2nd: Cheesy Courgette Pancakes
• 1st: Out to dinner (Wahaca) for Alex's birthday