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.