Bossypants

Tina Fey's audio book Bossypants is HILARIOUS. In totally thinking about getting my own copy of the book and the audio. I was laughing out loud in my car. There was a bit more name dropping and timeline stuff that I wasn't sure added to the book but it was bearable. I completely recommend this book.

Well Fed

I borrowed this book from the library and now have it on my "to buy" list. It's smaller than Well Fed 2, but the recipes I tried were good. And I didn't have it that long before it was overdue. I had it while people were at my house and they were checking out the photos of things they wanted me to make for them. Unfortunately, it was all the stuff I can't eat (so won't make) due to the whole egg allergy thing.

If for no other reason, I recommend this book for the Sunshine Sauce. Used for Pad Thai, kicking up some mayo, or a veggie dip, it is yummy and easy.

I made the cinnamon beef and my husband and I both really liked it. I've made the chocolate chili before and he didn't love it but I thought it was great. This is a cookbook that is a great resource for how to meal plan, whether Paleo or not. I will be using these Whole30 recipes even when I'm not doing the Whole30.

City of Bones

I found the writing in this book a little juvenile, but it IS a book for young adults so I ignored that.

Overall, I found the story interesting and the storyline, while sometimes predictable, was not always. I found myself ready for the next book in the series when I was done, rather than glad to be done with it. So I'm on to the next...

Monument's Men

From my Goodreads summary:

I'm not great with history, dates, and places, but this is a good read. Even with my limitations, I found the history of the Monuments Men intriguing. Having seen movies like Schindler's List and visited WWII monuments in Italy, I found my stomach turning with some parts of the book, as I was able to visualize the atrocities described occasionally. I think this book is a definite must-read. It has been made into a movie and I'm curious to see how well it "translates" onto the screen.

Books: Canning

I borrowed several canning books from the library in addition to the one I bought with my canning equipment.

I read the purchased book first, Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving, where I learned that canning is not quite what I thought. That big black pot is only for some canning; I need a pressure cooker for a lot of it too. Huh.

Then I read Put 'em Up! This book is nicely arranged as a resource for any type of preserving and using produce. The step by step instructions for processes range from traditional canning to freezing and even making infused alcohols and vinegars. When I saw several pages for an "obscure" item like rhubarb, including how to freeze it, I knew this is likely to be a book I go buy. I did not learn kitchen skills growing up, so this could become a great resource.

I also read/skimmed Canning for a New Generation and Canning and Preserving. They both seem like useful books. I would consider picking up a used copy of either but Put 'Em Up was my favorite, then Canning for a New Generation and then Canning and Preserving.

Update: I decided to order Put 'em Up! on Amazon. I am a little baffled by why I would buy a used version. It appears cheaper but when you add shipping, it costs the same. Wha...?

Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook

I think it has been a while since I posted a book review.

I just returned a book to the library this week since I ran out of renewals. Here is my Goodreads review of The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook by Cybele Pascal.

The information provided in the front was concise and relevant. I tried three recipes before I had to return it to the library. I'm reluctant to rate the book at this time because of a couple things.

I have been eating "allergy-free" for a couple years and have just ventured back into baking. I am not doing well at it. I don't know yet if it is me or the recipes. I think it is extremely difficult to bake without wheat, eggs, AND dairy. I want my recipes to taste like the real deal. I'd generally rather go without than have something subpar.

I prefer recipes that just include measurements for the types of flour but she uses a flour mix in many of the recipes. That isn't a big deal to me but should be noted.

The first recipe, morning glory muffins, were edible but not good. Perhaps I over-baked them. I threw most of them out.

The second recipe, blondies, was not what I expected but I really liked it. They weren't really that brownie-like consistency. They were more like chocolate chunk cookies in bar form. My husband who eats "normal" was not a fan of them. On the one hand, that could mean they are only good to those of us who "have" to eat that way. On the other, more for me!

The third recipe I tried, buckwheat apple muffins, did not use the flour blend. They smelled fantastic and were pretty good out of the oven but the flavor was kind of bland and I found that I didn't really want to finish eating them.

I'm also allergic to yeast and bananas (among other things) so there are a number of recipes I can't try. I would consider this a decent resource for those struggling to bake allergen-free, but know there will be some hits and misses along the way.

I have a stack of books to read, return, give up on...

The Checklist Manifesto

I've been wanting to read The Checklist Manifesto for a while and finally decided to listen to it. I'm tempted to buy the book. I thought it had some very valid points and good examples. There was also some good pointers on restricting the scope of a checklist that I'd like to review in more detail than the audiobook allowed. I definitely recommend this book!

Fish, books, and icicles

My surgery is confirmed--it will be next week. I've notified my work that I'll be out of the office the rest of the year afterwards. I've started notifying other "interested parties" as well.

We went to dinner for a family member's birthday. I was instructed to pick, so I gave them a list of restaurants near my office, and then followed with a suggestion for King's Fish House. If I had known the kids weren't coming out, I would have skipped the list and just said True Food Kitchen!

We sat in a booth in the bar and the waiter and I came to an agreement that he would make a real margarita for me (with lime juice instead of the standard sweet and sour mix). When we had the allergy conversation, he said they clean the grill in the area they will cook my fish, they don't use soybean oil anyway. I had mahi mahi with garlic spinach and grilled zucchini with a ceviche appetizer (I didn't eat the chips). Very good, kind of expensive, everyone liked it.

We got this cute-ish photo in front of these neat LED icicles. And my hair seems to be recovering from these thyroid issues.

Hunger Games - the book

After watching the movie, The Hunger Games, twice, I decided to read the book so I got the audiobook from the library. It was close enough to the movie that I could follow along but far enough from the movie that I noticed. Even after watching the movie, I found the book engaging and the audio was well done.

I have reserved book 2 but I'm 60 on the list. Six. Zero. I didn't even have to wait for the first one! Unbelievable...

A New Earth

What an agonizing book. I can't believe I tried to listen to it again. It has some interesting points but it's really, really hard to listen to. The author should NOT have read it; someone else should have read it. I found tiny tidbits of insight but it was overshadowed by the rambling and the obtuse ideas. I find enough blame with myself without having some guy tell me that when I don't like someone, it's because I am like whatever I don't like about them. That doesn't make any damn sense. I don't like when somone is passive aggressive or manipulative so that makes ME passive aggressive or manipulative? I can't believe people find this book life changing. Unless by life changing, they mean life ending, like O.M.G. I want to end my life rather than listen to any more of this drivel.

The Sun Also Rises

Our book club decided to alternate fiction and non-fiction, so the first fiction selection was "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway.  I have a softcover set of Hemingway books from the Book of the Month Club, in addition to a hardcover edition of his short stories.  A book club member, N, also provided both a pdf version and a Sparknotes link for reference.

I vaguely recall reading this ages ago, probably around the time I went to Spain almost twenty years ago.  I remember being a little disappointed that it wasn't really about the running of the bulls or Spain; that was just kind of a backdrop for part of the book.
 
The book was written during another time, when it was okay to refer to people as nigger; even knowing that, it was still a bit of a shock the first time I ran across it while re-reading the book for the club meeting.

For the two others who had read the book, N had read it multiple times and referred to it as a book that had some influence on his life, and J had just read it for the first time and thoroughly hated it.  I am somewhere in between.  In addition, two others joined us for the book club meeting although they had not read the book.

There is a story, and it is pretty well written, but it's a story about characters that are hard to like.  Our consensus was that they were all a bunch of miserable drunks with no life purpose.  J said he has a mission statement and areas of focus, and we discussed George Kinder's version (five themes summarized here) which are quite or at least somewhat different for each of us.  For example, health is not really on there, but it's a major area of focus for me.

Is the purpose of life to be happy?  Does it matter if someone is a do-er or be-er.  That's not beer; let's try it this way.  Does is matter if someone is doing or being?  When someone suggested that we should help others in finding their purpose, there were some flags on the play.  I find it difficult to agree that I should tell someone that they will be happier if they find their purpose--sometimes, people just don't want to be happy (but they wouldn't say that) or they don't want to do what they need to do to be happy.  I think it's like trying to get someone to lose weight--they have to make their own choices.  Some thought that could invite judging.  I was really surprised that one person felt that she does not judge.  I think most of us can agree that we all make judgments, but maybe her definition just differed from ours too much.

I did not find this book very interesting or engaging.  Nothing much happened in the whole book.  The characters went to Paris and then to Pamplona, but Hemingway seemed to be “name dropping” famous bars and eateries along the way.  Mostly they were just drunk and not happy.  Part of my dissatisfaction with the book was the way the characters did not seem to have any purpose to their existence.  (J's summary, in part)

Several of us have read other Hemingway books.  As was suggested in our group, do you think that "classic" writers get a little bit of a pass on some of their works because their other works were so great?

Next month's book is Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar.

Born To Run

I heard that Born to Run is a really good book about barefoot running.  After listening to it, I agree that it's a very good book, but I would say it is more about running, and a little about barefoot running.  It also was about how modern civilization (and marketing) has changed how we run and how the last running tribes are becoming extinct.  At times, I wondered where the author was going with his history of some particular runner, but it all came back in eventually.

He talked a bit about the modern nutrition of runners versus what the running people eat and drink.  Some of the characters were interesting and kept me engaged in the book.  I would recommend this book.

Allergic Girl

It was time to return Allergic Girl to the library.  I've renewed my loan a few times already and I was only half-way through it.  I think I had trouble getting through it because I felt a little dismissed since I won't die from my allergies.  (I'll just wish I had!)  While I can feel for her life-threatening allergy issues, I had a hard time getting around that information to find what was important to me.

But there is a lot of great information in the book and I did scan through the second half of the book before returning it.

• Have an ally but still be responsible.
• Trust but verify--don't trust blindly.
• Bring safe food to catered events.
• Eat like a (food-allergy) athlete.
• Focus on the focus of the event (not me!)
• Take food allergies seriously, but see lightness while ensuring safety; see the silliness or absurdity in situations.
• Laugh when I get the eye roll or pity; the power of those expressions evaporates.
• It's okay to walk away and not eat.
• Make sure that fear keeps you safe, doesn't take over and paralyze me.
• Note what food can do to me and have the capacity to love what food can do for you.
• Food is not the enemy and is not scary: food is food.
• Allergies are not me, just part of who I am.

She talked about types of friends:

• Always ask you to pick (can be a lot of pressure)
• Try to support you
• Advocates for you: the food allergy deputy
• Goes too far: the food allergy bulldog, puts a lot of pressure on you, makes you feel guilty, puts the focus on you relentlessly

"One cannot have too large a party.  A large party secures its own amusement."  Mr. Weston, Emma, Jane Austen

You can't control everything but should take reasonable measures.  She gives tips for eating out, including pre-contacting a manager, bringing chef cards.  She discusses cross contamination, replacing pots and utensils.  (Which my husband would call paranoid, rather than reasonable measures.)

She talks about early on, having reactions and didn't know that it wasn't normal.  I'm sure I started that way and it got worse over time.  She says that we are passionate about food because we need to be.  It is a little hard to reconcile what I have to do (I don't care if you think I have a choice--I don't think I have a choice to eat stuff that makes me sick) and how I want to live...It seems hard to "Go boldly" when I'm being so careful and always have to be so aware of things that everyone else takes for granted.

Say your weak thing in a strong voice."  Carrie Fisher in Wishful Thinking

Eat that Frog!

We have restarted our book club at work.  Or started a new book club.  Either way, our current book is Eat that Frog!  I knew I was going to be in the car for at least eight hours in two days, so I got it on audiobook CD from the libary.   It was 3 CDs, a very easy and quick "read."  I thought quite a bit of it was review of things other people have said, but it was a good reminder.

Since I listened to it more than a month before our club meeting, I checked out the hard copy from the library for a quick review.  Here are the highlights:

• If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.  (Do the worst thing on the list first.)
• If you have to eat a live frog at all, it doesn't pay to sit and look at it for very long.  (Don't put off the hard task.)
• It is the quality of time at work that counts and the quantity of time at home that matters.

He suggests scheduling blocks of time, using a time planner, and making every minute count.  He also talks about shoulds versus musts and labels tasks: A for must do, B for should do, C for nice to do, D for delegate, and E for eliminate.  That's all nice and good, but nothing new....

Using the quick list method with the rule of three method, he had questions like what are your most important business/career, family/relationship, financial, health, personal/professional development, social/community goals and what are the three biggest problems or concerns.

If you want a review of every similar book out there, this is the synopsis for you.

The last days of Ptolemy Grey

I'm a fan of Walter Mosley writing so I may be biased but I really liked this book. I listened to it almost constantly when I was in my car. Mr. Grey's battle with dementia is described with such vivid detail of his earlier memories and his battle to live life on his terms. It was engaging. The characters are amazing. This is definitely worth reading.

Manic Monday

I was packing for my trip and my husband asked me if I'm suicidal.  I cannot imagine ever killing myself, so this surprised me.  No, I'm not suicidal!  Why would you ask that?  He found my note.  I explained that it was just how I felt at the time, but I wasn't considering harming myself.  Thinking that I should have died does not mean that I will make that happen!  Does depression mean that suicide is inevitable?  I don't think so....

I was packing for my trip and we said our goodbyes before he left for work.  I had a four hour drive to Palm Springs for work.  I took a couple of audiobooks.  The first I listened to was short--Eat That Frog!  This was our newly revived book club selection.  Next I started a fiction book, Walter Mosley's Last Days of Tolemy Gray.  The drive was over in no time!

Surprised by boredom

I returned the audio-book, Surprised by Joy by CS Lewis.  I love, love, love The Chronicles of Narnia.  And I have heard of these other CS Lewis books, essentially "classics" so I thought I should read it.  O. M. G.  That was so terrible.  I listened to the whole thing, thinking it had to get better.  If you are going to listen to it, skip to the last CD.  But even then, I don't recommend it.  But if you want to be surprised by boredom, this is IT.

Breakdown Lane

A book about a family falling apart did not sound promising, but I heard that it was worth a read.  And the lead character had MS.  I got the audio-book from the library right before I drove to San Diego.  I thought it was well-written (well-read) as it kept me engaged and listening, and ready for the next disc.  There were uncomfortable moments, when I thought she was not very likable.  But aren't we all unlikable sometimes?  I know I am!

I was able to relate to some things more than others, but that's the way it is with MS.  We all find a different path through our illness.  I guess that is true for life in general too.  Anyone who reads this book will relate to parts of the story.  Hopefully not Leo's life though....

Earth

I got Earth: the book (audio book) on clearance and just finished.  After I got it, I realized I have the coffee table book already.  The audio book was entertaining and silly, as should be expected when the Daily Show is involved.  Now I'm not sure what to do with it.  I don't think I'll listen to it again.  But who knows....

It's Not All In Your Head

I've been having a hard time with things.  Nothing in particular.  Just things.  All of a sudden, I'm just overwhelmed and I fall to pieces.  I know it will be better, and probably very soon.  But I can't stop falling apart with the smallest provocation.  Things just don't seem to be going smoothly.  At all.

I just returned this book to the library.  I thought it was good although I took quite a while to work my way through it.  I'm not sure there was anything new but it did validate some of the things I've picked up and implemented in my life.  The author spends some time talking about the cognitive and emotional problems we may have with MS, including examples from specific people, touching on blame and moral judgment; unresolved conflicts causing physical symptoms; the triad of depression, anxiety and pain;

Here are some excerpts (from the author and from people with MS):

• It's the power of the possible that counts.
• Maybe I wasn't eating healthy, maybe I wasn't a good person, maybe I didn't pray enough.  I wonder if this is God giving me a message, or what I did I do wrong?  The truth...is that I didn't do anything wrong.
• It's not all in your head; it's in your immune system too.
• Forgetting may be more of a matter of displacement than disappearance.

Then the book gets into how to deal with with all these stuff going on in our heads.  Recommended actions include exercise, meditation, and journaling.  These are things I'm doing but I don't feel like any of it is working right now!  It was a good reminder that I'm not alone, others feel this way, and I am going to have to keep working on my health.

If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? --Ancient philosopher