Goals - 2025

It's time again for a massive goal post. A lot of things happened in 2024. I finished Grad School and have my Master's now. Awesome as that is as an achievement, it's also why I only managed about 60 books for 2024. I guess that's still an impressive reading feat all things considered, but it seems piddly next to my usual 100 or so per year. 

Grad School was a good experience over all. I really felt like my brain woke up a bit and I appreciated the challenge of it all. However, a number of other goals got pushed aside. This year, I'd like to refocus on other parts of my life, namely health and family.

1. 200 books - I probably won't make 200 books, but gosh darn it I'm getting over 60 in 2025. Honestly, I'll be happy with 120 which is 10 books a month, but I believe strongly that a good goal isn't necessarily a slam dunk. It needs to be a stretch and 200 is definitely a stretch. 17 books (on average) in a month isn't impossible, but it is a lot. 
2. 20 nonfiction - because 200 books in a year isn't enough of a challenge (clearly), I've decided to complicate things by saying that 20 of the 200 need to be non-fiction. Really, my goal is more that 10% of my reading will be nonfiction - it's more the proportion than the ultimate number. I like nonfiction, but it reads slower so I often deprioritize it during my breakneck reading goals. This year, I'm going to make it more of a priority to keep up with the proportion of it. 
3. Grandma's Recipe Boxes - (1 recipe per week) When my mother's mother passed, she left behind 10 very full recipe boxes. I claimed them, because of course I was always going to and I've looked through them from time to time but I haven't really done much with them because when I inherited them, I'm afraid I was a bit of a recipe snob. My grandmother was a bit of a recipe magpie. She exchanged recipe cards with friends, but she also clipped them from magazines, advertisements, and newspapers. I've also found folded up sections of airbase newsletters, church circulars, and other such things. She really gathered recipes from everywhere, yet I don't remember her being much of a cook. It's kind of an interesting contradiction for me. She certainly could cook, and cook well. I just don't remember really her focusing on it. I'd like to try one of her stored up recipes a week. Honestly, 52 recipes will barely scratch the surface of what's there, but it's a start and will allow me to start organizing it all. 
4. Hikes/Walks - This is really a 2 part goal. Ryan and I need to get moving more. When Covid hit we got super sedentary in a way that we didn't use to be. It has had an effect on our health and our waistlines. (Also we are getting older... that's a thing too.) It's time to turn it around, so this year I want to get in 8000 steps minimum every day. I'd also like to do an active activity or hike twice a month. I honestly think this is the goal that will be the hardest simply because it represents the largest habit shift.  
5. Board Games (at least 2 per week) - Thomas likes board games. Ryan and I like board games. We also spend too much time with screens on. Ideally many of these goals would reduce screen time, but this one I think could do so the most. It takes time spent in passive entertainment and makes it active family time. As an added bonus we can start looking at the massive back log of games and decide if we really need to keep them all. (hint - probably not)
6. Crochet - I have a stupid number of partially completed crochet projects boxed and bagged up in the basement. I'd like to finish 6 of them this year which feels reasonable since none of them will be starting from scratch. Of course, once I finish them, I need to figure out what to do with them.
7. Writing - I got out of the habit of writing which is understandable, but kind of sad. I've had a hard time getting back into the groove and trying to do so during grad school was pretty silly. However, this year I want to get back into the habit and I'm going to leverage routine to do so. I'm going to focus primarily one two types of writing tasks to build back in the time and stamina.
1. The blog - there are a lot of goals here. Every Saturday, I'm going to post on my progress towards my goals. I'm not sure what it will look like but I'll use the space to keep running totals and talk about experiences. I will also post my reviews for all the books I've read and the recipes from my Grandma's boxes that we try. Ultimately, I will try to have four posts per week. 
2. A Journal - my secret pal got me a journal for the holidays. I want to write one page a day... on anything I like. Just 1 page. Every day.

This is a lot, but I think it's all doable (except maybe the 200 books - pretty sure I can get up over 100 though). At least in the broad strokes, it's all doable. I'm sure there will be times that it will be hard to get out and walk and times when we miss a board game, but in general it's not too much of an over commitment on time and meeting these goals will naturally reduce screen time for the family, which is a win too. As always, goals are for the striving. Achieving the goals would be awesome, but it's not really the point. 

Happy New Year Everyone.

December List

 December is here. December is notable this year because I've finished my Grad School work. I don't know what that means for my future really, but I will definitely have more to read in the immediate future. Hopefully, I will have more time for a lot of things. 

I reset the order of the reads and added a few extras just in case I go nuts.

1. Quasar, Quasar, Buring Bright by Isaac Asimov - NF 2
2. Enlightenment Is an Accident by Tim Burkett - NF 5
3. The Pandominion by M.R. Carey
1. Infinity Gate (Library) - 9
2. Echo of Worlds (Library) -10
4. A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall (Library) - 13
5. Atlas of AI by Kate Crawford (professional Reading) - NF 4
6. Red Team Blues by Cory Doctorow (Finished 12/4/2024)
7. The French Girl by Lexie Elliott - 17
8. I am Not Okay With This  by Charles Forsman - 20
9. Burning Chrome by William Gibson  - 12
10. Lady Janes series by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows
1. My Lady Jane (Finished 11/4/2024) 
2. My Calamity Jane - 22
11. YouSpace Series by Tom Holt (Fantasy)
1. Doughnut (Finished 3/5/2024)
2. When It's A Jar (Finished 7/6/2024)
3. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice (Finished 1/15/2024)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Smug - 5
5. An Orc on the Wild Side  -6 
12. A View From the Stars by Cixin Liu (Library) - 7
13. Spider Gwen, Ghost Spider (Marvel Universe - Graphic Novel - 8
14. The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monae - 11
15. Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor - 18
16. A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett (Finished 12/9/2024)
17. The Discworld Graphic Novels by Terry Pratchett -19 
18. The Story Behind by Emily Prokop - NF 3
19. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (previous TBR)  - 21
20. The Algorithm by Hilke Schellmann - NF 1
21. The Night Ends With Fire by K.X. Song (Library) - 14
22. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein -4  
23. Artemis by Andy Weir (finished 12/13/2024)
24. The Devil's Only Friend by Dan Wells (Library) - 15
25. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu (Science Fiction) - 16

Assigned or otherwise pre-scheduled Reading:

1. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (class novel) 
2. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan (12/15/2024)

Her Night With the Duke by Diana Quincy

 Ok. So. Yes, I like the occasional romance novel.  I do. I'll even admit to appreciating the occasional R+ rated scene. However, I don't generally go for reading smut just for the sake of smut. I want a good story. I want the ... ahem... physical exertians... to mean something more than just physical gratification. One of the romance series where that has always been true is the "Bridgerton" series. It's a historical romance series and there is more going on there then just a wrapper for smut. I like both the books and the Netflix adaptations. However, when my TBR.co recommender sites Bridgerton as a reference for recommending something that looks entirely like a regency romance series, I worry a bit. 

In all honesty, this was a little too far off in the romance novel angle for me. My reviewer recommended this to me saying that it was remniscent of the relationship between Anthony and Kate (Netflix version). The Bridgerton novel is really just an adaptation off of "Taming of the Shrew" which makes it a lot of fun. However, that's not really what Her Night with the Duke was really doing. It's a much different narrative. 

Taming of the Shrew is really about gender relations within a marriage and it was really just the same lesson as Chaucer had in "A Knight's Tale." The central idea for both of these stories is that women want control over their own destinies. They want choice. (Remarkable that they got it in Medieval England but somehow Trump misses the point...isn't it) 

Her Night with the Duke actually goes a step futher and suggests that women want the ability to shift for themselves in society. Delilah, the main character, is a writer and a business person in her own right. Romance is nothing but a distraction. 

Delilah is also only half caucasian which adds an element to be sure. However, I really think the stronger point has to do with the idea of woman been the intellectual and commercial equals to men. 

Ultimately, this was a good read. Not my cup of tea, maybe, but ultimately a good story. The first 30 pages are entirely blush worthy, but if you get past them, there's some excellent character development and a good story. It's a good story but it could do with a little less sex. 

November List

In all reality I only read 4 books last month, yet somehow it ended up feeling like a very successful month which I suppose is the importan thing. The point of the pre-randomized order is to get through the list even if it means I'm dropping something, but I haven't really figured out what to do with the new books each month. One kind of logic suggets that I should just tack them on at the end of the list. It makes sense but it's not a lot of fun. This month I decided to move everything on the old list up and then insert the new books into the list by rolling for their positions. I don't know if I love it, but it's what we are doing this time. 

Last month's reading had no bad reads. Everything was good... or at least fun. My favorite was A Market of Dreams and Destiny but the other three were all good. I'm also proud of myself for getting more book reviews on the blog. I'm going to try hard this month to keep it all going. 

1. Quasar, Quasar, Buring Bright by Isaac Asimov 4
2. Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi - Dropped it, seems like a good book but more dense than I can really do right now.
3. Atlas of AI by Kate Crawford (professional Reading) - NF 2
4. Red Team Blues by Cory Doctorow (Library Book) - 9
5. I am Not Okay With This  by Charles Forsman 14
6. Burning Chrome by William Gibson  12
7. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (class novel) - 18
8. Lady Jaines series by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows
1. My Lady Jane (Finished 11/4/2024) 
2. My Calamity Jane - 11
9. YouSpace Series by Tom Holt (Fantasy)
1. Doughnut (Finished 3/5/2024)
2. When It's A Jar (Finished 7/6/2024)
3. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice (Finished 1/15/2024)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Smug - 16
5. An Orc on the Wild Side - 17
10. Spider Gwen, Ghost Spider (Marvel Universe - Graphic Novel) - 10
11. Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor - 8
12. A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett - 13
13. The Discworld Graphic Novels by Terry Pratchett - 15 
14. You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo (Finished 11/25/2024)
15. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (previous TBR) - 20 
16. The Algorithm by Hilke Schellmann - NF 1
17. The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma (Finished 11/27/2024)
18. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein - 19
19. Artemis by Andy Weir 6
20. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu (Science Fiction) -5

Assigned or otherwise pre-scheduled Reading:

1. Strategic Communications for School Leaders by Vicki Gunther, James McGowan, and Kate Donegan (Grad School) - Finished 11/26/2024
2. The Principal's Guide to School Budgeting by Richard D. Sorenson & Lloyd M. Goldsmith (Grad School) - Finished 11/25/2024
3. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan (Thomas Book)

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu

 Marie Lu is one of those authors that I can't quite decide what I think of. She made a big splash in 2011 with Legend which is the beginning of trilogy. It's yet another entry in the long list of YA dystopian series that were published around that time. My perception of the series was probably negatively impacted by the glut of dystopian fiction however I was impressed by the structure she used for those novels. I found it interesting. 

The Kingdom of Back I found in a used bookstore and picked up on a whim. It is completely unlike Legend. This is a cross between a fairytale and historical fiction. Apparently Lu played piano when she was younger. Like many youngsters who were devoted to classical music she started reading biographies of her heroes. She happened to read a bio about the Mozart siblings who did tell stories to each other about a fairy tale land called the Kingdom of Back.

Nannerl Mozart was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's older sister and every bit as much of a prodigy as her brother. However as a girl, she was never going to have a career as a musician as an adult. Even though she was known to compose, none of her compositions survived the passage of time. 

In this novel, Lu has imagined a rich and complicated imaginative life for Nannerl. One in which she struggled with the idea of fading into obscurity. This struggle is told through an adventure in the fairy tale Kingdom of Back. Nannerl meets a mysterious princeling named Hyacinth who asks her help in regaining his kingdom. In return he will ensure that she is never forgotten. 

From the beginning, it is unclear whether this fairy tale land is meant to be real or just a game she invented with her brother as she struggles with her probable future. It makes for some interesting reading and I'd like to track down the biography that Lu mentions in the author's note.

This isn't my favorite YA read of the year. However, it is a thoughtful and intriguing read that I would happily recommend to any teen with a love of history or classic music. 

Those Pink Mountain Nights by Jen Ferguson

 First one of the new TBR batch. My recommender chose this book because of my frustration with literary fiction. I went through a year wishing I could find more good literary fiction. I knew what I meant by that. . . vaguely. . . but what my recommenders handed me was mostly a parade of dreary stories featuring female protagonists who were miserable at the beginning of the novel and either were still miserable at the end or somehow made peace with their misery. Nothing fundamentally changed and it was just depressing. The most depressing of them had such promise at the beginning, wonderful set-ups. There was the occasional winner in there, but for the most part, I began to question what people were calling 'literary'. In the end, I told TBR not to give me anymore lit fic among a rant about the difference between existentialism and 'literary'. 

Turns out I don't enjoy existentialist navel gazing in my reading.

This book, Those Pink Mountain Nights, is a YA novel that my recommender felt accomplished what lit fic aims to achieve but with a more meaningful ending. Three teens in a small Canadian (I'm pretty sure) town work in a local pizza parlor. It's a town situated next to a series of ski slopes and that relies on the tourist trade. It also has a high percentage of Native peoples. Two of our teens in fact are Native and at the beginning of the book they are both still mourning the disappearance of a third Native teen named Kiki. 

 This is an issue driven narrative. Despite the large number of stories in various shows and articles in newspapers, many people are unaware of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) issue. Indigenous women are going missing or getting murdered at a rate 6 times the national average for women in North America. The action of Pink Mountain centers around the disappearance of Kiki which is actually resolved at the end of the novel. Other themes have to do with the survival of small business and the way secrets affect friendships.

It's a pretty good book, but I don't think many people would agree with her that this is lit fic. It has a certain coming of age angle, but really this is a slow played mystery. It is also is a slow starter. I really struggled to focus for the first 100 pages, however at that point it picked up and I ended racing through the last 200 pages over about two days. All in all, it's a good read. 

The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow

 Somehow this keeps happening to me this year. The Bezzle is book two in a series and I have not read book one. In this case, I don't think it matters so much. It rather seems like the main character goes on adventures that are mostly self contained. This book snuck into September's reading because my son needed to get a library card for school. While we were there I renewed my card and snooped around in the new books. Before I knew it, I was walking out of the library with a handful of books. I think I'm doomed to be eternally awash in books but at least these eventually have to go back.

I picked up The Bezzle because I'm toying with being a Cory Doctorow fan. I really loved some of his earlier novels such as Little Brother and For the Win. These days, when I see one of his books, I tend to pick it up but many of them are sitting in stacks at home. Because it was a library book, I just dove into this one. I read it over the course of a lazy Saturday.

The main character, Marin Hench, is a forensic accountant with an aversion to a steady job. Instead, he takes contract work to find misappropriated money and he gets a percentage of whatever he locates. He takes the jobs he wants to only from the clients he wants to. Occasionally, he takes a job pro bono because he wants to help. It's not hard to imagine that Marty has seriously annoyed some powerful people over the course of his career and that some of those people are willing to take retribution. 

In this story, Marty takes a pro bono case to help the residents of an island resort break up a ponzi scheme that had involved most of the islands full time residents. Doing so earned Marty and his friend the enimity of the local businessman/crime boss. 

This reads a little like a crime caper and reminded me strongly of Douglas Coupland and Matt Ruff. Over all, I highly recommend the book. I'm going to back up and find the first book in the trilogy next.

October List

So this presetting the random order, is a fun twist. Problematically, I'm still not getting through books very fast. I have come to realize that I need to have my non-fiction and my fiction on separate lists. As much as I really do like non fiction, they are always slow reads and I do best if I intersperse chapters with fiction. As a general rule, it's good for me to have multiple books going at a time.

In other news: The family has all renewed their library cards. Thomas's school librarian started an inititive. It's a good thing though, it's like guilt free shopping with a time limit. I managed to find all my TBR books for this cycle at the library and a couple of interesting books off of the new book shelves. Obviously these books have a time limit, so I made sure they were in the first 10 books on the list and reassigned the rest of them new numbers. It's a silliness but also a lot of fun. 

1. Poppy by Avi - (Dropped - yet another second book in a series that I haven't read the first of)
2. Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi (Library Book) - 7
3. Atlas of AI by Kate Crawford (professional Reading) - NF 2
4. Those Pink Mountain Nights by Jen Ferguson (Finished 10/9/24)
5. A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey (Finished 10/29/2024)
6. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (class novel) - 17
7. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows - 6 
8. YouSpace Series by Tom Holt (Fantasy)
1. Doughnut (Finished 3/5/2024)
2. When It's A Jar (Finished 7/6/2024)
3. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice (Finished 1/15/2024)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Smug - 15
5. An Orc on the Wild Side - 16
9. The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu (Finished 10/18/2024)
10. Spider Gwen, Ghost Spider (Marvel Universe - Graphic Novel) - 12
11. Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor -11
12. A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett - 13
13. The Discworld Graphic Novels by Terry Pratchett - 14 
14. Her Night with the Duke: A Novel by Diana Quincy (Finished 10/20/24)
15. You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo (New TBR) -10
16. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (previous TBR) - 19 
17. The Algorithm by Hilke Schellmann - NF 1
18. The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma -8 
19. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein - 18
20. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu (Science Fiction) -9

Assigned or otherwise pre-scheduled Reading:

1. Strategic Communications for School Leaders by Vicki Gunther, James McGowan, and Kate Donegan (Grad School)
2. The Principal's Guide to School Budgeting by Richard D. Sorenson & Lloyd M. Goldsmith (Grad School)
3. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan (Thomas Book)

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

 I may have found a new favorite YA author. (Need to try a couple of her books before I'm sure, but it's looking likely) I really have no idea where or when I got this book. Usually I remember picking things up, but this one just appeared in a stack. Maybe we have book gnomes.

I'm not usually much of a fan of zombie stories. They can be fun, diverting anyway, but there's not usually much to them plot-wise. Zombies just aren't that interesting. Ultimately, they are a kind of metaphor for an implacable natural force like disease. The rotting human corpse angle just makes it more horrifying. However, there's something tedious about a mindless hoard of rotting corpses. In less time than one would expect, the zombies just becomes part of the scenery and it's just a survival story. 

However, a zombie story where there's something else going on can be fun. The Bone Houses is one of those. The actual bone houses are really just zombies animated by a curse, but they aren't mindless. Inscrutable, maybe. They can't talk and they sometimes attack, but that isn't quite the same thing as being mindless. From the beginning, it's clear that there's more to them than just mindless attacking corpses. The main character, Ryn, treats them with compassion even as she dismembers them with her ax which makes for a different kind of zombie story. 

The whole world of the novel is deeply reminiscent of Welsh and Celtic story traditions complete with an immortal race that packed up their castles and left the world taking their magic with them. Just like so many of the traditional stories, some things got left behind and they cause problems which is how Ryn, who makes her living as a gravedigger, gets pulled into an adventure which a somewhat mysterious mapmaker named Ellis.  They are also accompanied by an undead zombie goat. Their goal is to find the broken cauldron of rebirth and end the curse. 

I think what makes this so much better than the typical zombie story is the layered stories. There's the mythological level of the other king and his people. Followed by the story of the breaking of the cauldron. Mixed in with that level is the story of Ellis being found as a child and the story of the disappearance of Ryn's father. The final layer is the story of Ryn and Ellis meeting. Each layer is woven together in the narrative which makes for some interesting reading. 

Generally, a good read. Not too scary, and the love story bits are all solidly PG. 

Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes

 Queen Charlotte is a prequel to the overall Bridgerton series. One of the interesting things that happened to the series when it was adapted for TV was that a fairly standard (albeit quite fun) historical romance series was cast with a great deal more diversity than was in the original books. Doing this added an interesting complexity to the stories and turned it from historical romance to alternate history.  My understanding was that it was all done with the author's blessing which is cool. 

One of the many changes made was that Queen Charlotte was cast as black. There's apparently some historical basis for this, yet she would have been considered Caucasian at the time. It's a definite change that sets the series apart. The change made the somewhat domineering queen of the Bridgerton series quite the intriguing figure. It's not surprising that the author and producer decided to put together a prequel. 

The prequel is definitely written after the launch of the show as it reflects the more diverse cast. If you've seen the prequel series, the book follows pretty close. In fact, it's unclear which was written first. There are a few details that are better explained or more clear. There's also a few additional scenes included. My absolute favorite aspect of the novel is getting to hear Brimsley's voice. Somehow as much as I love the story of Charlotte and tragic mad George, Charlotte's manservant is my favorite character.                                    

September List

August was a wash reading-wise. I barely read anything at all, but that's ok. I felt like I got a lot of other things done. The year started will with my students and my last semester of grad school is well under away. Because I can't resist fiddling with things, I'm going to assign a random order and go from 1 to 20 in order (with the exception of my textbooks and the book I read with Thomas which will get done when they get done.)

1. Atlas of AI by Kate Crawford (professional Reading) - 12
2. Choice Theory by William Glasser (Professional Reading) - 4
3. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (class novel) - 11
4. Strategic Communications for School Leaders by Vicki Gunther, James McGowan, and Kate Donegan (Grad School)
5. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows - 16
6. A Really Big Lunch by Jim Harrison - 15
7. YouSpace Series by Tom Holt (Fantasy)
1. Doughnut (Finished 3/5/2024)
2. When It's A Jar (Finished 7/6/2024)
3. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice (Finished 1/15/2024)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Smug - 5
8. The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones (Finished 9/22/2024)
9. Spider Gwen, Ghost Spider (Marvel Universe - Graphic Novel) - 6
10. Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor - 10
11. A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett - 13
12. The Discworld Graphic Novels by Terry Pratchett - 17
13. Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn & Shonda Rhimes (Finished 9/4/2024) 
14. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (previous TBR) - 14
15. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan (Thomas Book)
16. The Algorithm by Hilke Schellmann - 2
17. The Principal's Guide to School Budgeting by Richard D. Sorenson & Lloyd M. Goldsmith (Grad School)
18. The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma - 7
19. Reimagining Writing Assessment by Maja Wilson (Professional Reading) - 9
20. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu (Science Fiction) - 8

Added in at the last minute:

1. Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi (Library Book)
2. The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow (Library Book) - Finished 9/29/2024
3. Those Pink Mountain Nights by Jen Ferguson (New TBR)
4. Her Night with the Duke: A Novel by Diana Quincy (New TBR)
5. You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo (New TBR)

August List

All in all, July was a pretty successful month despite some intense projects due at the end of my semester. I managed to finish of 15 books. A hefty number of graphic novels in there but I also managed to polish off the entire batch of new tbr.co recommendations. I didn't really fall in love with any of my reads this month but all of them were good in their own way. Of the group The Sol Majestic by Ferrett Steinmetz was probably my favorite. 

This month, I'm shaking up the list. Over half of the titles are fresh picks and there's a hefty dose of professional reading and nonfiction. Once the new semester starts I'll have to add in some titles for class.

 TBR List:

1. Even As We Breathe: A Novel by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (previous TBR)
2. Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (previous TBR)
3. Every Drop is a Man's Nightmare by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto (previous TBR)
4. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (previous TBR)
5. Swan Light by Phoebe Rowe (previous TBR)

Everything Else:

1. The Best American Food Writing 2023 edited by Mark Bittman (nonfiction)
2. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
3. The Alignment Problem by Brian Christian
4. The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina by Zoraida Cordova
5. Atlas of AI by Kate Crawford (professional Reading)
6. Radicalized by Cory Doctorow
7. I Am Not Okay With This by Charles Forsman
8. Choice Theory by William Glasser (Professional Reading)
9. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (class novel)
10. A Really Big Lunch by Jim Harrison
11. YouSpace Series by Tom Holt (Fantasy)
1. Doughnut (Finished 3/5/2024)
2. When It's A Jar (Finished 7/6/2024)
3. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice (Finished 1/15/2024)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Smug
12. The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones
13. Spider Gwen, Ghost Spider (Marvel Universe - Graphic Novel)
14. Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans by Melanie Mitchell
15. The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monae
16. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
17. Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
18. A Stroke of the Pen by Terry Pratchett
19. The Discworld Graphic Novels by Terry Pratchett
20. Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes
21. Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
22. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan (Thomas Book)
23. The Algorithm by Hilke Schellmann
24. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (Fantasy)
25. Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart
26. Introduction to Rubrics by Dannelle D. Stevens and Antonia J. Levi (Professional Reading)
27. The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
28. Artemis by Andy Weir
29. Reimagining Writing Assessment by Maja Wilson (Professional Reading)
30. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu (Science Fiction)

July List

Ok, my list is out of control. It really is, but in my meager defense it is the summer. With the crush of grad school and my son's swim team, I've been having a hard time getting through books. I'm looking to right the ship here and I'll build a brand new list for August. 

Part of the reason my reading was so slow in June and May is that I'm gravitating a little more to nonfiction. Nonfiction just takes longer for me to read and of course I'm reading a lot of nonfiction for my classes. Most of this list is that same as the last list except that I added in my new TBR books, some nonfiction professional reading, and Thomas's new bedtime book. I'm hoping to get myself back on track with bot the reading and the blogging but we'll have to see how it goes. 

TBR List:

1. Even As We Breathe: A Novel by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (previous TBR)
2. Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (previous TBR)
3. Every Drop is a Man's Nightmare by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto (previous TBR)
4. That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming (Finished 7/7/2024)
5. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (previous TBR)
6. Swan Light by Phoebe Rowe (previous TBR)
7. The Sol Majestic: A Novel by Ferrett Steinmetz (Finished 7/15/2024)
8. Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling (Finished 7/26/2024)
9. Check, Please! Book 1 #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu (Finished 7/9/2024)

Everything Else:

1. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews (YA)
2. Hungry as Hell by Bad Manners (Cookbook)
3. A Bone to Pick by Mark Bittman (nonfiction)
4. The Best American Food Writing 2023 edited by Mark Bittman (nonfiction)
5. Quiet by Susan Cain (gift from secret pal)
6. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (nonfiction novel)
7. The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie (mystery)
8. The Dead Boy Detectives Omnibus (Finished 7/1/2024)
9. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow (YA)
10. The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass (YA)
11. The French Girl by Lexie Elliott (Borrowed from Dad)
12. Comprehensive Literacy For All by Karen A Erickson and David A. Koppenhaver (Professional Reading)
13. Haikyu! by Haruichi Furudate (Manga)
1. vol 5 (Finished 7/1/2024)
2. vol 6 (Finished 7/1/2024)
3. vol 7 (Finished 7/2/2024)
4. vol 8 (Finished 7/2/2024)
5. vol 9 (Finished 7/4/2024)
6. vol 10 (Finished 7/4/2024)
7. vol 11 (Finished 7/4/2024)
8. vol 12
14. Choice Theory by William Glasser (Professional Reading)
15. SuperVision and Instructional Leadership by Carl Glickman et al (Grad School Textbook)
16. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (class novel)
17. The Greek Myths by Robert Graves (mythology)
18. YouSpace Series by Tom Holt (Fantasy)
1. Doughnut (Finished 3/5/2024)
2. When It's A Jar (Finished 7/6/2024)
3. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice (Finished 1/15/2024)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Smug
19. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (Science Fiction)
20. Fairy Tale by Stephen King (Fantasy)
21. Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo (YA)
22. Spider Gwen, Ghost Spider (Marvel Universe - Graphic Novel)
23. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (Fantasy - Reread)
24. The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler (Science Fiction)
25. Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario (Finished 7/10/2024)
26. Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan (Finished 7/20/2024)
27. I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi (YA)
28. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (Fantasy)
29. Troublemakers by Carla Shalaby (Prof)
30. Fermented Vegetables by KirstenK and Christopher Shockey (cookbook)
31. Better Than Carrots or Sticks by Dominique Smith, Douglas Fisher, and Nancy Frey (Professional Reading)
32. Human Resources Administration: A School -Based Perspective by Richard E. Smith (Grad School Textbook)
33. Introduction to Rubrics by Dannelle D. Stevens and Antonia J. Levi (Professional Reading)
34. Battle Royal by Koushun Takami (Science Fiction/Horror)
35. Reimagining Writing Assessment by Maja Wilson (Professional Reading)
36. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu (Science Fiction)

The Museum of Human History by Rebekah Bergman

 Let me start off by saying, I did not like this book but I'm not sure that's the book's fault. There seems to be a whole segment of 'literary fiction' that involves narratives where nothing really happens. That's not fair, things happen, but there's little to no character growth. It seems like the point of these stories is that the characters prove to be exactly as they were presented. The events of the story are just a way for the characters to double down on whatever their flaws are. If that's the point of a story like this, than this was an excellent example of the genre. 

The Museum of Human History is billed by the back blurb as being about a young girl, Maeve, who enters a coma after a near drowning. Soon afterwards it becomes apparent that she is no longer aging. She might be in a coma but physically it's like she's frozen at 8 years old. There is also a miracle drug that doesn't prolong life, but does prolong youth. There's an obvious connection there, right? Most of the story is theoretically about connecting the dots between the two using a host of interesting and well developed characters. 

Bergman has a real knack for character creation. They are well rounded with fully fleshed back stories. Each character is heart-breakingly human. There are no archetypes here. However, much like most people, these characters don't really change. They behave exactly the way you'd expect from their descriptions. There's no mystery here, just the tragedy of normal human existance with a somewhat speculative-fiction backdrop.

However, that's my issue. I want characters to grow and changed. I like them to develop into something more than what they started as. And that is a personal preference. This could be a very good read for someone who likes the detail character study narratives. That person just isn't me.

The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun

 This was a TBR.co read. My recommendations have been getting a little odd lately, probably because I am so far behind and haven't been giving my recommenders much to work with. In any case, this is a book in translation and that always presents its own challenges. Whether we realize it or not, stories tend to follow specific patterns when they come from the same culture. Writers and lit people call those patterns archetypes or sometimes 'master plots'. So, when you pick up a book, even if you've never read it or the author before, you still have certain expectations about how the story will flow. We don't notice it much unless a story moves out of pattern. These patterns, however, vary across different cultures. The farther away a culture hails from geographically, the wider the variation can be. That's why it's so important to read books in translation. Break the mold, get out of the rut, and maybe even gain insight to a different culture's expectations of the world.

In any case The Disaster Tourist is Korean natively. I find that I usually like Asian Lit. I particularly like Japanese stories but I've enjoyed Korean stories in the past as well. A satisfying doesn't need to have a happy ending. I firmly believe that. Sometimes a good ending is where unpleasant people get what's coming to them and that's really what this book is aiming at. The protagonist, Yona Ko, isn't really unpleasant; she's just weak or possibly even aimless. At the beginning of the novel she works for a travel agency that specializes in package tours to the sites of disasters. On the surface, its a distasteful idea, but it also is presented in a way that makes sense. Yona has worked there for years, but something never quite explained happens that puts her on the outs with the company and she ends up on one of the company's tours to evaluate whether or not it should be cut. 

Eventually, and after a bizarre series of events, she ends up stranded on the island of Mui and involved with a conspiracy to create a new disaster. Thinks fall apart from there. It's an interesting read, but I didn't much like how it finished. It wasn't the end per se; I actually predicted how the conspiracy would wrap up. It more felt like there was some missing connection between the last 50 pages or so and the rest of the narrative. Rather like the author had a clear vision of the beginning and the end but wasn't quite sure how to connect them.  Aside from that, it was pretty good.

May and June List

April was pretty much a wash in terms of reading. It was so bad in fact that I completely missed that is was May and I'm only just getting my head screwed back on. So, to compensate and celebrate the end of the school year, I've kicked off all the books that aren't TBR or something that I'm actually in the middle of. I'm going to reseed the thing with an extra long list of books for the rest of May and also June. The theme of the summer is reading what I want and enjoying it all. 

I really do need to catch up on my TBR.co books, so I've got them up top, but the rest of the list is a quirky mix of books that I've been wanting to read.

TBR List:

1. The Museum of Human History by Rebekah Bergman (Finished 5/27/2024)
2. Even As We Breathe: A Novel by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (previous TBR)
3. Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (previous TBR)
4. Every Drop is a Man's Nightmare by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto (previous TBR)
5. The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun (Finished 5/10/2024)
6. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (previous TBR)
7. Swan Light by Phoebe Rowe (previous TBR)
8. Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling (previous TBR)
9. The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe (Finished 5/30/2024)

Everything Else:

1. Hungry as Hell by Bad Manners
2. A Bone to Pick by Mark Bittman
3. The Best American Food Writing 2023 edited by Mark Bittman
4. Quiet by Susan Cain
5. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
6. The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie
7. The Dead Boy Detectives Omnibus (DC Black Label)
8. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
9. The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass
10. The French Girl by Lexie Elliott (Borrowed from Dad)
11. Haikyu! by Haruichi Furudate
1. vol 5
2. vol 6
3. vol 7
4. vol 8
5. vol 9
6. vol 10
7. vol 11
8. vol 12
12. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (Finished 6/18/2024)
13. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (class novel)
14. The Greek Myths by Robert Graves
15. YouSpace Series by Tom Holt
1. Doughnut (Finished 3/5/2024)
2. When It's A Jar
3. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice (Finished 1/15/2024)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Smug
16. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
17. Fairy Tale by Stephen King
18. The Final Battle by C.S. Lewis (Finished 5/30/2024)
19. Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
20. Spider Gwen, Ghost Spider (Marvel Universe)
21. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
22. The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
23. Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario (Nonfiction)
24. One by Jamie Oliver (Cookbook) (Finished 5/1/2024)
25. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
26. Troublemakers by Carla Shalaby
27. Battle Royal by Koushun Takami
28. Reimagining Writing Assessment by Maja Wilson (Professional Reading)
29. How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

April List

 

I've hit the churn. I actually am feeling so stressed out that I can't fathom reading. However, this is also the first day of Spring break. Give me a couple days and a couple things crossed off my to do list and I will probably feel better. Last month wasn't a wash but most of my reading was for class and in article format. This month I'm going to try to read all my TBR books that are sitting in back log. I actually feel bad for my recommenders... it's like I don't care, but of course I do.... I'm just insanely busy.

1. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews (content check)
2. The Museum of Human History by Rebekah Bergman (TBR)
3. Even As We Breathe: A Novel by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (previous TBR)
4. Walkaway: A Novel by Cory Doctorow
5. The French Girl by Lexie Elliott (Borrowed from Dad)
6. The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime by Judith Flanders (nonfiction)
7. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (Professional Reading)
8. Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (previous TBR)
9. YouSpace Series by Tom Holt
1. Doughnut (Finished 3/5/2024)
2. When It's A Jar
3. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice (Finished 1/15/2024)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Smug
10. Every Drop is a Man's Nightmare by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto (previous TBR)
11. Infinite Dendrogram by Sakon Kaidou 
1. Volume 1: The Beginning of Possibility
12. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune (Finished 4/3/2024)
13. The Impact Cycle by Jim Knight (Textbook)
14. The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun (TBR)
15. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (classic)
16. The Final Battle by C.S. Lewis (Thomas Book)
17. The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by  Ken Liu
18. The Forest of Ghosts and Bones by Lisa Lueddecke
19. Kill Shakespeare by McCreery and Del Col
1. Vol 1
2. Vol 2
20. The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday (Borrowed from Bruce)
21. Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
22. David Mogo Godhunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
23. One by Jamie Oliver (Cookbook)
24. The Story Behind: The extraordinary History Behind Ordinary Objects by Emily Prokop (borrowed from Bruce)
25. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (previous TBR)
26. I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi
27. Swan Light by Phoebe Rowe (TBR)
28. Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling (TBR)
29. Introduction to Rubrics by by Dannelle Stevens and Antonia Levi (Professional Reading)
30. The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe (TBR)
31. Fairest by Bill Willingham
1. Vol 1 Wide Awake
2. Vol 2 The Hidden Kingdom
3. Vol 3 The Return of the Maharaja
4. Vol 4 Of Men and Mice
5. Vol 5 The Clamour for Glamour

March List

 February hit like a tone of bricks. I managed to keep up ok with the reading, but my blog posts fell off entirely. I'm going to work to do better with that in March. All in all, it feels like I'm doing a better job balancing life, work, and school. It's making for a very busy life but it's rewarding too. I really need to spend the first half of the month trying to catch up on the latest batch of TBR. So at least for the first 12 days of the month, my random selection process is on hold. 

While we haven't been eating out much, I've really done a good job at trying new recipes, so that's going well also. 

1. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews (content check)
2. Even As We Breathe: A Novel by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (previous TBR)
3. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (Finished 3/26/2024)
4. Walkaway: A Novel by Cory Doctorow
5. The French Girl by Lexie Elliott (Borrowed from Dad)
6. The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime by Judith Flanders (nonfiction)
7. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (Professional Reading)
8. Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (previous TBR)
9. YouSpace Series by Tom Holt
1. Doughnut (Finished 3/5/2024)
2. When It's A Jar
3. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice (Finished 1/15/2024)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Smug
10. Every Drop is a Man's Nightmare by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto (previous TBR)
11. Infinite Dendrogram by Sakon Kaidou 
1. Volume 1: The Beginning of Possibility
12. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
13. The Impact Cycle by Jim Knight (Textbook)
14. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (classic)
15. Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis (Finished 3/27/2024)
16. The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by  Ken Liu
17. The Forest of Ghosts and Bones by Lisa Lueddecke
18. Kill Shakespeare by McCreery and Del Col
1. Vol 1
2. Vol 2
19. The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday (Borrowed from Bruce)
20. Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
21. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North (Finished 5/28/2024)
22. David Mogo Godhunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
23. One by Jamie Oliver (Cookbook)
24. The Story Behind: The extraordinary History Behind Ordinary Objects by Emily Prokop (borrowed from Bruce)
25. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (previous TBR)
26. I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi
27. Swan Light by Phoebe Rowe (TBR)
28. Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling (TBR)
29. Introduction to Rubrics by by Dannelle Stevens and Antonia Levi (Professional Reading)
30. Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town by Toshio Satou
1. Volume 1 (Finished 3/27/2024)
31. Fairest by Bill Willingham
1. Vol 1 Wide Awake
2. Vol 2 The Hidden Kingdom
3. Vol 3 The Return of the Maharaja
4. Vol 4 Of Men and Mice
5. Vol 5 The Clamour for Glamour

February List

January went well. Despite all the school and classwork I managed to read 11 books in the month. I don't want to discuss how many where graphic novels, but still 11. Feburary is much the same excepet I'm going to work on reading the TBR books first.  

1. Even As We Breathe: A Novel by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (previous TBR)
2. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (borrowed from Samantha)
3. Walkaway: A Novel by Cory Doctorow
4. The French Girl by Lexie Elliott (Borrowed from Dad)
5. The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime by Judith Flanders (nonfiction)
6. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (Professional Reading)
7. We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds (Finished 2/3/2024)
8. Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (previous TBR)
9. YouSpace Series by Tom Holt
1. Doughnut
2. When It's A Jar
3. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice (Finished 1/15/2024)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Smug
10. Every Drop is a Man's Nightmare by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto (previous TBR)
11. Infinite Dendrogram by Sakon Kaidou 
1. Volume 1: The Beginning of PossibilityThe House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
12. The Impact Cycle by Jim Knight (Textbook)
13. Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (Finished 2/1/2024)
14. The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by  Ken Liu
15. The Forest of Ghosts and Bones by Lisa Lueddecke
16. Kill Shakespeare by McCreery and Del Col
1. Vol 1
2. Vol 2
17. The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday (Borrowed from Bruce)
18. Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
19. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North
20. David Mogo Godhunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
21. Is it Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon? by  fugino Omori
1. Vol 1 (Light Novel) - Ditched couldn't get into the first person stream of conciousness
2. Vol 1 (Manga) - (Finished 2/6/2024)
22. The Story Behind: The extraordinary History Behind Ordinary Objects by Emily Prokop (borrowed from Bruce)
23. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (previous TBR)
24. I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi
25. Swan Light by Phoebe Rowe (TBR)
26. Anatomy by Dana Schwartz (Finished 2/10/2024)
27. Rethinking Leadership: A Collection of Articles by Thomas J. Sergiovanni (Finished 2/20/2024)
28. Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling (TBR)
29. Introduction to Rubrics by by Dannelle Stevens and Antonia Levi (Professional Reading)
30. Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town by Toshio Satou
1. Volume 1
31. Orange by Ichicgo Takano (borrowing from a student)
1. vol 4 (Finished 2/7/2024)
2. vol 5 (Finished 2/7/2024)
3. vol 6 (Finished 2/8/2024
4. vol 7 (Finished 2/8/2024)
32. Fairest by Bill Willingham
1. Vol 1 Wide Awake
2. Vol 2 The Hidden Kingdom
3. Vol 3 The Return of the Maharaja
4. Vol 4 Of Men and Mice
5. Vol 5 The Clamour for Glamour

Sausage Gnocchi Soup

 Another Lydia original... I'm really rather partial to soups it turns out.

Sausage Gnocchi Soup (Serves 10)

• 2 Tbs. olive oil
• 1 pound bulk hot italian sausage
• 3 leeks, washed and trimmed (white and light green parts) or a chopped onion
• 3 medium carrots peeled, trimmed, and sliced
• 2 cups green beans, trimmed and snapped into bite sized pieces
• 1 28oz can diced tomates
• 64 oz bottle Spicy V8
• 16 oz Gia Russa Potato Gnocchi (I like the minis, but traditional while work)

1. Heat the oil in a large pot. When fragrant add the sausage and brown over medium heat. Break up as it cooks. 
2. When sausage is browned, add leeks (or onion), carrots and green beans. Cook stirring frequently until the vegetables soften.
3. Add tomatoes and V8. Add enough water to cover and reach the desired consistency. Usually 2-4 cups. Raise the heat to high, bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes. 
4. Add the gnocchi and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
5. Add salt to taste and serve.

The Outsorcerer's Apprentice by Tom Holt

 This was an impulse buy I made during Christmas shopping. I was rather stymied by trying to figure out some sort of gift for my brother-in-law. Now, I love Vincent, but he's one of those people who generally tends to buy what he really wants so gift giving ideas either come from a list that he quite helpfully supplies (really, it is very helpful) but isn't very satisfying or is an expedition in trying to find something he doesn't know he wants which is thrilling when it works. Since Vince hadn't gotten around to supplying a list this year, I found myself browsing the novels and tripped across this book.

I'm not sure if it's a British thing per se, but there's a certain humorous tone I associate with fantasy novels that come from British authors. Not all of them of course, but enough so that I've started actively looking for these fantasy novels that are high on satire, full of fun characters, and crammed with dry wit. Think like a less grumpy Douglas Adams. It turns out Tom Holt fits the bill and has been writing since the 80's. He's got a ton of books out and I'd never even heard of him until now. 

This particular novel posits that in a multiverse there are realities that can be leveraged to provide cheap labor and goods for our reality. Sure their are issues, but a properly motivated businessman can make the tough decisions to work it out. And all of this works for thousands of years from the perspective of the fantasy realm being exploited by the businessman calling himself "the wizard". It works until a hapless physics student decides to pop over to the fantasy as a break in preparing for his dissertation defence. 

He spends sometime knocking around as a somewhat idiotic prince little realizing how much he's being contaminated by the physical laws of the reality. Additionally, his presence is changing the local inhabitants who begin to notice how things around them don't quite seem to make sense. It's hilarious and I love it.

Unfortunately? Fortunately? (I don't know which) It turns out that this is the third book in a four book series. Clearly, I need to read the  rest of the series although I honestly had no inkling that it was part of a series until Ryan looked it up.

Chicken & Corn Chowder

 Part of getting out of my food rut is being more creative with my cooking. I think I envisioned this originally as trying different recipies in my backlog of cookbooks. However, when I'm feeling creative in the kitchen, I sometimes create a dish ad hoc that's excellent. I always think I should write it down and I almost never do. I then usually forget how I made it. I think in the spirit of experimentation and exploration, that when I manage something cool - it should probably count toward my goal. So here's the first of my original recipes.

Chicken and Corn Chowder (serves 6)

• 2 pounds bone-in and skin-on chicken pieces
• 2 carrots, scrubbed and ends trimmed - cut into chunks
• 1 onion, wasted and cut into quarters
• 2 ribs celery, scrubbed and cut into chunks
• 2 pound bag frozen corn (or equal corn on cob, kernels stripped and cobs reserved)
• 2 green chilies, trimmed and minced (I like serrano's but there's nothing wrong with jalapeno)
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced fine
• chicken boullion granules (optional)
• Salt to taste

For serving:

• sour cream or greek yogurt
• green onion
• shredded cheese
• hot sauce
• chicken-skin chitlins (recipe after)

1. make the broth: put the chicken, carrots, onion, celery, and corn cobs (if using squeeze before discarding) in a pot cover with water and salt. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer until chicken is ready to come off the bone - 45 minutes to an hour. Strain. Reserve the broth and the chicken - toss spent vegetables. 

2. Return broth to pot. Add corn kernels and chilies. Bring to a simmer for at least 10 minutes before step 4.

3. Strip the meat from the bones and chop. (reserve the skin if you are making chitlins)

4. Remove the broth from the heat. Let cool a few minute and blitz a few times with a stick blender. The point is to break up the corn and release the natural starches. You could puree part or all of it in a blender if you like a puree'd soup but I suggest letting it cool to warm before you do. (blenders tend to spurt - the hot liquid creates a lot of pressure within the canister)

5. Return broth and corn mixture to the heat. Add red bell pepper and chicken meat. Simmer until bell pepper is cooked through. Taste. If thin tasting at boullion granules if you like. You could also try oregano, cream, or even dill. Adjust salt to taste and serve with preferred toppings.

Chicken Skin Chitlins

• oil with a high smoke point (I like peanut or canola)
• Chicken skin (reserved from recipe above and cut into strips
• Salt

1. heat oil in a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. When water drops sizzle on contact, add chicken skin. Try to get it in piece by piece without touching in one layer... makes things easier. Sprinkle liberally with salt.

2. let sizzle until the edges brown and curl. (3 or 4 minutes) Flip over and cook until the bottom browns (2-5 minutes) Remove and drain on paper towls.

Romantic Killer by Wataru Momose (vols 1-4)

 With TV and movies, I've spent most of my life trying to read the book first. The theory is that the book is always better so read that first. It's kind of backwards actually. If you accept the premise that the book is always better (which I don't necessarily) then all you are doing by ensuring that you read the book first is setting up the film version as a disappointment.  Wouldn't it be better to watch the movie first and then read the book? The only real downside is that you'd already have an idea how it ends although that seems to be one of the things that gets messed with the most on the journey to visual media. 

In any case, I've started not caring so much about which happens first, partly because of anime and manga. Manga's so expensive that I don't tend take a risk on it unless I can find it used which is tricky. Anime, on the other hand, I have many avenues for viewing economically and a ton of solid recommendations from my students. I often fall in love with an anime series only to find out that it's based on a manga which Ryan later tracks down for me.  After a few cycles of this watching then reading, I realized that I've come to enjoy noticing the differences as I read. I don't find it annoying at all.

Romantic Killer was one that I found on Netflix first. It's a short 8 episode series that I fell in love with. It's one of those series that I ended up watching on a loop. For a while there it was so ubiquitous as my background noise that my husband, son, and students all had the intro music stuck in their heads. I had no idea that it had been based off a manga until the entire 4 volume set came to me as a Christmas gift. (Thanks Ryan)

Romantic Killer is fun because it's satirizing the shojo archetypes. Shojo manga is aimed at girls in middle and high school and tends to feature romance story lines where a sweet and kind girl finds love. Often she has more than one suitor and is more often than not totally oblivious to this. Technically Shojo deliniates a target audience and not any kind of genre expectations so there's quite a bit of range in the group. 

Instead of the usual shojo thing, Anzu Hoshino has no interest in romance and no interest in boys excepting as opponents in video games. All she wants is her video games, chocolate, and cat. Apparently, this is part of a general trend nation-wide away from romance which is of concern to the local fairies who need children around to generate magic. So Riri is assigned to force Anzu into a romantic relationship which Anzu actively resists. Riri surrounds her with potential romantic interests who Anzu systematically turns into friends. 

Despite the rediculous set up, this ends up being a surprisingly touching story about friendship. Anzu is revealed to be a fierce, protective, and loyal friend. Because she isn't interested in romance, she treats her ridiculously attractive friends as people with intrinsic value beyond just their looks. So of course, all the boys are in love with her, but she just remains a very good friend to them.

It's probably a lot of fun even you aren't familiar with Shojo's common tropes, but if you've experienced other shojo material, this is absolutely hilarious. I love it. 

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

I have mixed feelings about this one and I, frankly, I'm going to have to sit with them a little longer before I am ready to say what I think. I will say that it's a challanging book and thought provoking. Where-ever I end up ultimately, I can recommend it for that alone. Any book that makes a reader really think and evaluate their response is worth reading. 

This is a story about two black students, Devon and Chiamaka, in an otherwise entirely white high-powered and exclusive private academy. They are in their senior year and they are both on track to graduate when things start to go wrong. A mysterious figure calling themselves Aces is spreading malicious texts and rumors about them. It comes out of nowhere and is social and emotional bullying taken to an extreme. 

Both students struggle and fight back as best they can as the massive conspiracy becomes more and more clear. 

So, while this is absolutely a high school drama, it's not they same as the run of mill high school dramas. It has more in common with a good spy thriller.

Taqueria El Vecino - Decatur, GA

 One of my goals this year is to get out of the food rut I've been in. I want to be trying something new each week whether that's a new restaurant we've spotted or a new recipe from one of my many, many cookbooks. This last week we tried a restaurant I spotted in the Oak Grove area a while back: Taqueria El Vecino. 

I used to live in the Oak Grove area so I'm always interested to see how things change in the area. I'm not sure how long Taqueria El Vecino has been there (at least since 2015) but I remember noticing it when the restaurant converted some of the parking out front into an outdoor seating area. It had to have been a while back because I was full of opinions about that. 

We finally remembered to give it a try this last Tuesday which happened to be Taco Tuesday! 

It's a relatively small location with a little more than a dozen tables inside. The walls are covered with murals of Mexican street scenes peopled with Dia de los Muertos style skeletons. There's a bakery case filled with a variety of baked goods many of which were latin inspired. There is also a bar stocked with craft beer and a truely impressive selection of taquilas. The atmosphere is homey and unfussy while still having a touch of edge. 

The food was excellent. While all the taco standards are present, the real stars of the menu are the fusion tacos and their BBQ. We tried a variety of tacos and my son had the BBQ brisket plate. The Birria Queso Taco, which is a peppy lamb taco spiked with adobo and lime, was quite good. The Carnitas taco was excellent and exactly what one should expect.  The only minor disappointment was the Smoked Pork Belly Taco which was quite tasty but didn't quite live up to its description.  The tequila cantaloupe glaze was lost among the flavors of the pork belly itself and the slaw topping. Still, if I hadn't been looking for it, I wouldn't have missed it. It was still quite tasty.

The smoked brisket however. . . was almost transendental. My son had the plate and I accidently had a taco made with the stuff. This might just be the best brisket in the Decatur/Tucker area since The Greater Good shut down. It was tender and smoky while still being juicy. They nailed the balance of spice and smoke. Someone there knows what they are doing with a smoker.

The service was friendly but a little slow. In all honesty, I suspect that someone on waitstaff didn't show up for their shift and the bulk of the time we were there we watched one unfortunate sever scurrying around and trying to cover the entire room. The worst I can say about her is that I don't think she prioritized the tasks well, but that's a tough position to be stuck in. She was friendly and accommodating, when there was a mix up on my order, she took care of it right away. Over all, it was a great experience and I look forward to going back at some point.

How High We Go In the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

 This book was recommended to me through tbr.co back in June. It has been a very turbulent year and I got behind. Very behind. I actually tried to start it at least three time before it took. That's not the book's fault. Sometimes it is just not the right time to read a story and you have to try again later. So, when things quieted down a little and I had a little more brain space, I tried again.

How High We Go In the Dark is a stand-alone novel that looks at first like a set of loosely connected short stories. It's a near future narrative where climate change is in full swing. The glaciers up around the Arctic Circle are melting and revealing long-buried remains. The story starts with a grieving archeologist who arrives at the Batagaika crater to finish his deceased adopted daughter's find - a preserved neandertal corpse of a young girl with some very unusal features. They also discover an ancient and deadly virus.

The rest of the stories are about the world after the virus gets out and infects the world population. Each chapter is a complete story on it's own and covers a large span of time dipping into different places with different sets of characters. What is masterful about this book is how the stories tie together. A side character from one story might be the primary character in a later one, or they might be the mother or friend of a main character. Honestly, it took me way too long to realize what Nagamatsu was doing and I have an impulse to start the book over again so that I can chart all the characters in all of the stories. 

The sheer variety of stories in this book make this an eclectic read and gives the narrative an unusal breadth of scope. There's space exploration, climate change, bio-agent terror, sociatal dystopian elements, mutation, and even possible aliens. There's a little bit of everything in there and somehow it all works together. Really, I am in awe. 

My recommender chose this for me because I liked Arkady Martine's books and the "Expanse" series. Both works are gritty drop you in the middle of a puzzle kind of stories.  They are on the more literary end of genre literature. How High We Go In the Dark fits nicely into the group.

January List

 Aside from wanting to read more professional reading books, I haven't placed any content goals on my reading this year. I just want to hit 100 books by the end of the year which is only 8 or 9 books a week. I'm going to keep with the lists because I find that the mass of books I have squirreled away for reading is rather intimidating. Picking from a smaller list makes the whole thing more aproachable. 

However, there are times that something new comes in and I'm excited about it. So, I reserve the right to add things randomely to the list whenever I want to. 

1. Ace of Spades by Faridah Abike-Iyimide (Finished 1/4/2024)
2. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
1. Vol 1: The Crucible (Finished 1/17/2024)
3. Even As We Breathe: A Novel by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (previous TBR)
4. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins (borrowed from Samantha)
5. Descendants Series by Melissa de la Cruz (borrowed from Samantha)
1. Rise of the Isle of the Lost (Finished 1/16/2024)
6. The French Girl by Lexie Elliott (Borrowed from Dad)
7. Trees by Warren Ellis
1. Vol 1: In Shadow (Finished 1/30/2024)
8. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande (Professional Reading)
9. We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds (previous TBR)
10. Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett (previous TBR)
11. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice by Tom Holt (Finished 1/15/2024)
12. The Tale of Shikanoko by Lian Hearn
1. Book 1: Emperor of the Eight Islands (Finished 1/29/2024)
13. Every Drop is a Man's Nightmare by Megan Kamalei Kakimoto (previous TBR)
14. The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
15. The Impact Cycle by Jim Knight (next semester's text book)
16. Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (The new Thomas Bedtime book)
17. Kill Shakespeare by McCreery and Del Col
1. Vol 1
2. Vol 2
18. The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday (Borrowed from Bruce)
19. Romantic Killer by Wataru Momose
1. Vol 1 (Finished 1/4/2024)
2. Vol 2 (Finished 1/4/2024)
3. Vol 3 (Finished 1/4/2024)
4. Vol 4 (Finished 1/5/2024)
20. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North
21. David Mogo Godhunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa
22. Is it Wrong to Try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon? by  fugino Omori
23. The Story Behind: The extraordinary History Behind Ordinary Objects by Emily Prokop (borrowed from Bruce)
24. Cover Story by Susan Rigetti (previous TBR)
25. I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi
26. Swan Light by Phoebe Rowe (TBR)
27. Anatomy by Dana Schwartz (TBR)
28. Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling (TBR)
29. Orange by Ichigo Takano
1. Vol 1 (Finished 1/20/2024)
30. Introduction to Rubrics by by Dannelle Stevens and Antonia Levi (Professional Reading)
31. Fairest by Bill Willingham
1. Vol 1 Wide Awake
2. Vol 2 The Hidden Kingdom
3. Vol 3 The Return of the Maharaja
4. Vol 4 Of Men and Mice
5. Vol 5 The Clamour for Glamour