Read Watch Play #9

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, and the Sunday Post. Read, Watch, Play is a monthly round-up of bookish and non-bookish entertainment going on in my home this week. Feel free to join in and let me know what fun you have had recently!

What I’m Reading

I have recently been reading more memoirs that I typically do, and this is the first one this year that I am truly enjoying. Although this was published back in 2009, I have found that NOW is exactly the right time for me to be reading The Happiness Project. 

I recently finished both The Mysterious Affair of Styles and The Secret Adversary, the first two books ever published by Agatha Christie. I don’t plan on doing a full review for either of them, and wanted to mention them here!

The Mysterious Affair at Styles is the first Hercule Poirot novel. While it was an enjoyable read, I had forgotten the problematic and subtle racism and anti-Semitism that sometimes pops up in Agatha Christie’s mysteries.

The Secret Adversary is a Tommy and Tuppence mystery. This my first time reading a book about these two fictional detectives, and I look forward to devouring the other Tommy & Tuppence books! It was a fun little tromp into a light espionage story, and very different from most of AC’s other mysteries.

What I’m Watching

Lion. If you see this one, make sure to bring the box of tissues! Since I am currently going through my own personal reunion process as an adult adoptee, the emotional turmoil underlying Dev Patel’s character hit quite close to home. Dev Patel does an incredible job of bringing this true story to life on the big screen. I can’t wait to read the book.

What I’m Playing

In our house, science experiments are so much fun they are considered play! In December, M received a 12-month gift subscription to Little Passports Science Expeditions subscription box. She has received the first two boxes so far, and they have both been fun, educational, and entertaining! Experiments included so far: forensic fingerprint analysis, DNA extraction from fruit, a volcano set, make your own snow, a magnet lab, electromagnets, and a reproduction of the northern lights! Additionally, each box comes with a new mystery to solve with characters Sam and Sofia. I highly recommend it for 8-10 year olds who have an interest in STEAM or STEM.

What are you up to on this lovely Sunday and longer President’s Day weekend?

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Read Watch Play #8

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, and the Sunday Post. Read, Watch, Play is a round-up of bookish and non-bookish entertainment going on in my home this week. Feel free to join in and let me know what fun you have had recently!

It has been ages since I have done a Read, Watch, Play post! Life just gets in the way sometimes. Now that the holidays have passed, the snow days are gone (hopefully for a while), life is starting to get back to normal in our house, and I actually have a little more free time!

What I’m Reading

Hillbilly Elegy is my book club’s pick for February. I have to admit I had misplaced expectations going into this book. I thought it was more of a research-based analysis than a memoir, but it is actually the opposite; a memoir with a tiny bit of research thrown in.

What I’m Watching

I just read The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Agatha Christie’s very first novel. Of course, I then had to watch the corresponding episode from the Poirot TV series!

We also watched Room last night. Usually I don’t like to watch the movie before reading the book, but I have been intrigued by this one ever since Brie Larson won an Oscar last year. Word of advice: don’t watch without a box of tissues nearby!

What I’m Playing

Not quite a game, but I bought this Ultimate Dot-to-Dot book by Gareth Moore last week as a relaxing activity to do with M, once I saw that there was a good chance of snow days in the near future. This is a great dot-to-dot book! The dots are color coded, and I’m using the Staedtler 36 Colors, Triplus Fineliner Pen Set to complete the pages.

What I’m Cooking

We’re doing the Whole 30 this month! In some ways, it hasn’t been as challenging as I thought it would be. In other ways, I am getting thoroughly tired of some of the food that we usually eat that has been cut out this month! And I miss cheese. And wine. And chocolate. And bread products.

If you haven’t heard of the Whole 30 by now (although I am sure most of you have!), it is 30 day “diet” meant to help reset your body on a path back towards healthy eating. We’ve been eating out a lot more than we usually do, and it seemed like a great time to give it a try, as a kick-start back to our normal, healthy way of life.

A month of Whole 30 is similar to Paleo, and means a whole lot of fruits, veggies, meats, eggs, and seafood. What it does not include: alcohol, dairy, grains, legumes, corn, soy, and sugar.

Here’s a sampling of some of the meals I have made over the past 9 days:

Breakfast:

• Breakfast tacos with homemade sausage, butterleaf lettuce, scrambled eggs and hot sauce (pictured)
• Sausage patties with sautéed apples and cinnamon
• Egg casserole with tomatoes, spinach, and Aidell’s Chicken and Apple Sausage
• Scrambled eggs with lox and sautéed butternut squash, seasoned with Ras el Hanout (pictured)

Lunch:

• Israeli Salad, pistachios, melon with prosciutto (pictured)
• “Nachos” – plantain chips, mango, rainbow carrots, leftover pulled pork, and guacamole (pictured)
• Leftovers
• An assortment of salads with smoked turkey, prosciutto, dates, slivered almonds, and vinaigrette dressing.
• Trader Joe’s Lime Chili Chicken Burgers with guacamole, and a side of fruit or veggie.

Dinners: 

• Coconut Curry chicken with riced cauliflower and sautéed kale (pictured)
• Pork Postole with Tostones and roasted potatoes (pictured)
• Turkey curry meatballs with lemongrass coconut cream sauce and roasted veggies
• Hamburger (all of the meat we buy is grassfed) with lettuce bun, guacamole, green beans, and Alexia Smart Classics french fries. And a pickle, once I realized that the dill pickles in our fridge had no sugar! (pictured)

As you can see, we have been busy cooking here! What are you up to this weekend?

Sunday Salon & a November Wrap-Up

Good morning! Today’s post will link up to The Sunday Salon, and the Sunday Post. I am foregoing my weekly Read, Watch, Play post so that I can do a wrap-up for November! 

November was an incredibly busy month, so I was only able to read 5 books. I’m hoping for double that in December! I will be reading quite a few books for the #DiversityDecBingo Challenge. I am also hoping to also polish off one or two more books from my 2016 TBR pile.

TOP TWO BOOKS I READ IN NOVEMBER

• Heartless by Marissa Meyer – Review here.
• Eleanor & Park – Review here.

OTHER BOOKS I READ IN NOVEMBER

• The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad – Review here.
• Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi – Review here.
• The Blazing Star (eARC) – Review here.

YEAR-LONG TBR CHALLENGE

I read one more book on my TBR list, The Bookseller of Kabul. 

Completed: 15/24. I always aim for 12 completed, with anything extra an added bonus!

PRIMARY LIST

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald FINISHED 22 February 2016

2. Roots by Alex Haley – Review here.  FINISHED 21 September 2016

3. Native Son by Richard Wright

4. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier – Review here.  FINISHED 30 August 2016

5. War of the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosa

6. A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes FINISHED 21 April 2016

7. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson – Review here. FINISHED 11 Oct 2016

8. My Antonia by Willa Cather FINISHED 6 June 2016

9. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri FINISHED 27 January 2016

10. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri FINISHED 17 January 2016

11. John Adams by David McCullough

12. Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami FINISHED 16 May 2016

ALTERNATE LIST

1. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan FINISHED 25 April 2016

2. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler FINISHED 13 June 2016

3. Dawn by Octavia Butler

4. Autobiography: Story of My Experiments With Truth by Mahatma Gandhi

5. Istanbul by Orhan Pamuk

6. The Algebra of Infinite Justice by Arundhati Roy

7. A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle FINISHED 7 July 2016

8. The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd

9. Standing Alone by Asra Nomani FINISHED 6 January 2016

10. Cataloochee by Wayne Caldwell FINISHED 15 April 2016

11. The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad – FINISHED 3 November 2016.

12. Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai

How do your reading plans look for December?