November 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 books 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

In June: books read: 9; books out: 0; books in: 0; books on windowsill: 46
In July: books read: 2; books out: 0; books in: 0; books on windowsill: 46
In August: books read: 16; books out: 0; books in: 2; books on windowsill: 47
In September: books read: 5; books out: 0; books in: 6; books on windowsill: 51
In October: books read 11; books out: 0; books in: 0; books on windowsill: 49

In November: books read 8; books out: 0; books in: 0; books on windowsill: 44

And here's the breakdown for November:

• I re-read several books in a series I enjoy (Thrones, Dominations; A Presumption of Death; The Attenbury Emeralds; The Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh)
• I read the third (final) book in a series I've been reading (The Toll, Neal Shusterman) which I read before it could even be added to my list - been waiting for that to come out
• I read three books from my list (Even the Dogs, Jon McGregor; Last Night in Montreal, Emily St John Mandel; Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng)
• I read a fantasy novel I picked up in the bookstore recently, which I think I've looked at before and not bought, but which I succumbed to this time (Rotherweird, Andrew Caldecott)

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. John Irving, Avenue of Mysteries  (Waterstones Piccadilly, April 2017)
10. Mikhail Bulgokov, The Master and Margarita (charity shop, April 2017)
11. Jane Smiley, Early Warning (Abe Books, May 2017, after finishing the first in the series)
12. Siri Hustvedt, A Woman Looking at Men Looking at Women (Waterstones Wimbledon, July 2017)
13. Lucy Worsley, A Very British Murder (Waterstones Oxford, August 2017)
14. Sebastian Barry, Days without End (Abe Books, January 2018)
15. Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (passed to me by Geoff, Feb 2018)
16. Sebastian Faulkes, A Week in December (Charity Shops, March 2018)
17. Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake (passed on by Geoff, April 2018)
18. Spark, Alice Broadway (Waterstones Wimbledon, April 2018)
19. The Mime Order, Samantha Shannon (Abe Books, May 2018)
20. Salt to the Sea, Ruta Sepetys  (Waterstones Picadilly, July 2018)
21. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (charity shop, July 2018)
22. The Murderer's Ape, Jakob Wegelius (Waterstones Wimbledon, August 2018)
23. Islands in the Stream, Ernest Hemingway (Abebooks, Sept 2018)
24. Throne of Glass, Sarah J Maas (Waterstones Wimbledon, October 2018)
25. The Mistletoe Bride, Kate Mosse (charity shop, November 2018)
26. Hillbilly Elegy, J D Vance (Waterstones Piccadilly, December 2018)
27. Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi (Christmas present, 2018)
28. Theft, Peter Carey (charity shop, January 2019)
29. The Crossing, Cormac McCarthy (charity shop, January 2019)
30. Elinor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman (Waterstones Wimbledon, January 2019)
31. And the Mountains Echo, Khaled Hosseini (charity shop, Harborne, April 2019)
32. Kate Atkinson, Transcription (Waterstones Wimbledon, May 2019)
33. Laini Taylor, Muse of Nightmares  (Waterstones Wimbledon, May 2019)
34. The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro (AbeBooks, June 2019)
35. The Red Queen by Christina Henry (Waterstones online, June 2019)
36. The Venetian Masquerade by Philip Gwynne Jones (Waterstones online, June 2019)
37. The Last Picture Show, Larry McMurtry (used book store, Laurel MD, August 2019)
38. The Reef, Edith Wharton (used book store, Laurel MD, August 2019)
39. Clock Dance, Anne Tyler (Phoenix Airport, Sept 2019)
40. Unsheltered, Barbara Kingsolver (Waterstones Brighton, Sept 2019)
41. The Wedding, Dorothy West  (Waterstones Brighton, Sept 2019)
42. Once Upon a River, Diane Setterfield  (Waterstones Brighton, Sept 2019)
43. Tamar, Mal Peet  (Waterstones Brighton, Sept 2019)
44. Fresh Water, Akwaeke Emezi (Waterstones Brighton, Sept 2019)

Pecan Pie (what passes for Thanksgiving in my life...)

Dinner, 30/11/19: Massaman Curry

Cooked tonight with my friend who was visiting for the weekend - while Alex made a pecan pie on the side. Yum and double yum!

Dinner, 29/11/19: Red Wine Risotto with Bacon and Mushrooms

Dinner, 27/11/19: Creamy White Bean and Kale Pesto Pasta

Lovely - nice use of kale in a different way, and the beans made the pasta sauce really creamy. 

Dinner, 26/11/19: Carrot, Parsnip and Lentil Soup

Dinner, 25/11/19: Tofu & Vegetable Stir Fry

Dinner, 24/11/19: Leek and Potato Curry

Not as good as it promised - a bit bland. 

Year Long Declutter, week 47 (666 items total)

Various bits and pieces here - some reusable carrier bags - the pandas one has a big rip in it (it's ancient), so it will become a bag in which to take things to the charity shop for donation. The others, in the middle picture, just aren't used, so again, they'll become donation bags. an old backpack which is worn out, some books for Alex's school's Christmas fair bookstall, etc.

Book 92: Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng

Sometimes when a book is really well reviewed and hyped, it can fail to live up to expectations - I hate that. Luckily, this book was just as good as all the comments promised. She really hit the characters well, and even though I had a feeling where some of the elements were going, I wasn't sure about the overall arc. Glad I had this over a weekend, so I could read it a lot without putting it down.

Dinner, 23/11/19: Paneer Stuffed Pancakes.

Book 91: Rotherweird, Andrew Caldecott

Really enjoyed this - an interesting idea. Hard to talk about without giving things away, but it will be fun to see where it goes with the next in the series.

Dinner, 20/11/19: Sweet potato and kale hash with baked eggs

This was really nice - the sweet potato is grated, so it cooks quickly and is really soft. There's bacon in it, which adds a nice savoury flavour, and there are also sundried tomatoes - if you were a vegetarian, you could increase the amount of tomatoes and leave out the bacon and it would still be tasty.

Dinner, 19/11/19: Roast Squash, Spicy Roast Cauliflower and Chickpeas

Used a bit of my Vampire Slayer hot sauce (with lots of garlic) on the cauliflower, which worked really well. 

Dinner, 18/11/19: Potato & Leek Soup

With a bit of blue cheese in it. It's hard photographing soup in a way that looks attractive.

Year Long Declutter, Week 46: 654 items total

Cleaned out the hall cupboard recently, so these are some things from there, at least mostly. A couple of torches which no longer work, a lot of paper bags too small to be super useful, a picture frame which doesn't fasten properly, an old modem, a few candles, etc which are no longer used, a door decoration which has seen better days, and a few other bits and pieces. Some bound for the charity shop, some for the bin (or recycling). The cupboard is still full, but at least it's tidier!

Book 90: Last Night in Montreal, Emily St John Mandel

I thought this was great. I had previously read Station Eleven, which I enjoyed, but this one was even tighter, storywise, I thought. Very compelling, and although some aspects of the resolution were as I imagined, not all of them were. Going to see out more of her books!

Dinner, 17/11/19: German Sausages, Sauerkraut, Chips

Originally, I had planned to eat leftovers from last night's feast for dinner, but there weren't any (or at least, only a very little bit left). So the boys picked up some German sausages after they went to the gym, and we had some lovely sauerkraut from the farmers' market, and chips. A bit of a change from yesterday!

Dinner, 16/11/19: The Annual (Nearly) Vegan Birthday Feast

Every year for my birthday I have some friends round - many of them are vegetarian and one is also allergic to dairy and gluten, so I tend to go for vegan food. With perhaps the occsional optional cheese sprinkle. And the salad above has a little honey in the dressing.  This year, we had Lentil and Butternut Salad (a regular feature), 

Herby Braised Carrots, 

Fennel, Chickpea and Aubergine Bake, 

Devilled Mushrooms, 

Giant Butterbean Stew, 

Green Bean and Kidney Bean Curry, 

and Burnt Aubergine Chili (by popular request - everyone loves this!)

Also rice, a loaf of bread and some dessert, which doesn't appear to have been photographed - pears poached in red wine, and Flourless Black Bean Brownies. 

Book 89: Even the Dogs, Jon McGregor

Took me much longer than usual to read this, not because it was difficult or badly written (the opposite, really), but because it was just a bit too bleak and depressing, that I found myself constantly wanting to put it down. He does write like an angel, though.

Dinner, 12/11/19: Frittata with onions and mushrooms

So, what do you do when you have way too many onions in the house (and don't have the time or inclination for onion soup)?  Frittata, with caramelised onions and some mushrooms for good measure.

Dinner, 11/11/19: Moroccan Spiced Cauliflower Soup

A really nice wintery soup, with flaked almonds on top, but also in the soup, before blending. Adds a great taste and texture.  Recipe from Good Food. 

Dinner, 10/11/19: Roast Vegetables with Yorkshire Puddings

A traditional Sunday roast dinner, except without the meat - just a variety of roasted veg, from the veggie box and the farmers' market - cabbage, Romanesco, sweet potato, peppers, onions.  I made Yorkshire Puddings to go with it, and of course there was (veggie) gravy as well. Yum. 

Year Long Declutter, week 45 (640 items total)

Continuing on from my closet declutter, some scarves I don't really wear much, and a pair of shoes I never wear (from the charity shop originally, so I'm not too worried about the fact that they are going back there).  Two pairs of shoes which are for the bin - really worn. And some totebags which don't ever get used. The blue one will get passed along to someone else, and the others, I will use to send stuff to the charity shop. 

Dinner, 9/11/19: Pork Chops, Braised Leeks and Carrots

This was a really lovely way to cook carrots and leeks - really tasty and a great texture (recipe here, though I didn't use the breadcrumbs). The porkchops were from the farmers' market and were fried briefly in a pan before being finished under the grill - again, great texture, very succulent. 

Book 88: The Toll, Neal Shusterman

The third (and final) book in the series - and goodness, what a lot of stuff to resolve. Done well, and with some interesting new characters, as well as developing some of the more minor existing characters into more important players. I enjoyed this, though of course, it's always a shame to see a series come to an end when you enjoy it.

Dinner, 6/11/19: Puy lentils, squash and kale

Another nice way to use squash (and kale for that matter) - very wintery and warming. The hazelnuts on the top added a great crunch.  Recipe here

Books 84-87: The rest of the Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane novels

Finished re-reading this series, which I started in October - always nice to revist a favourite series. These are the books published after Sayers' death, so while they aren't written by her (the first existed in a partial form, the others are just inspired by), they still involve characters I enjoy, and Walsh does a good job with them. 

Dinner, 3/11/19: Stuffed Squash with courgettes

Stuffed with a mixture of quinoa, olives, peppers, grated carrot, pine nuts, feta cheese. Nice!  This wasn't a butternut squash, it was a delicata - yellower flesh, but very tasty. Really nice to be getting such a variety of squashes.  And courgettes on the side. Recipe here (more or less)

Year Long Declutter, week 44 (626 items total)

These items are a little more straightforward - all from a clearout of my wardrobe/dressers. Most of them are things I just don't wear anymore, and are headed to the charity shop.  Two single socks which don't have matches will go in the bin, and the blue scarf with butterflies will be passed on to a friend who I think will get more use out of it than I do.

Dinner, 2/11/19: Jacket Potato with beans, bacon, mushrooms, cheese, etc.

Bonfire night at the scouts - a nice hearty, warming meal before we go...

October Round up

WHAT WAS  FOR DINNER, OCTOBER 2019

• 31st: Macaroni Cheese & Salad
• 30th: Harissa Roast Vegetables with Couscous
• 29th: Lamb Steaks, Cabbage, Potatoes
• 28th: Curried Carrot Fritters
• 27th: Brussels Sprout & Gorgonzola Pizza
• 26th: K out to dinner with a friend
• 25th: A & K out
• 24th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 23rd: Pasta with Roast Tomato Sauce
• 22nd: Cauliflower Steaks with Chimichurri Sauce
• 21st: Chili and Tempeh Stir Fry
• 20th: Steak and Mushroom Pie, Carrots, New Potatoes
• 19th: Chicken, Chorizo & Padron Pepper Wraps
• 18th: Dinner out at Osaka, Geoff's birthday
• 17th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 16th: Broccoli Pesto Pasta
• 15th: Potato & Carrot Tart
• 14th: Leek, parsnip and cavolo nero soup
• 13th: Harissa Roasted Squash & Chickpeas, etc
• 12th: Broccoli, tofu & kimchi stew
• 11th: Chicken Curry (Geoff cooking)
• 10th: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 9th: Green Bean and Kidney Bean Curry
• 8th: New Potato and Rosemary Pizza
• 7th: Prawn and Courgette Curry
• 6th: Chipolatas, Grilled Racchio, potatoes
• 5th: Broccoli, Romanesco & Spinach in Cheese Sauce
• 4th: Yasai Yaki Udon
• 3rd: Fend for yourself Thursday
• 2nd: Pasta with Tapenade
• 1st: Fennel, Spinach & Broc Soup