Coming Attractions

 I always have a list of books I really want to get ahold of. I think that's true of most bookworms. Don't we all keep track of our favorite authors and their upcoming works? Today, I thought I'd make a short list of all the books I can't wait to read. 

First up on the list, we have the next book by Abby Jimenez, Life's Too Short. I've been waiting eagerly for this one. Ever since the second I finished reading her last book for the first time. Luckily, it is expected to be released on April 6th, so I won't have to wait too much longer. It'll just seem like it.

Next up, Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire. I stumbled across a mention of it on Twitter earlier that reminded me IT'S ALMOST HERE! YAY! To be released on February 23rd, it's the next installment in the InCryptid series that I adore so much. Gimme!

Our next book on the list is disappointingly far in the future. June 15th, to be exact. How will I ever make it? Mercedes Lackey's newest Valdemar book, Beyond, is supposed to finally give us the story of the founding. I've been waiting on that for years. (Also the true story of Sun and Shadow, if she wants suggestions...) I'm excited for this one, for sure.

Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells. More Murderbot. 'Nough said. Oh, except this: April 27th. Ugh! That's forever from now! I need it.

So, that's my short list. (looks back over the list) Turns out it's very short. Hmmm... There has to be some more around here somewhere. I have to go make some more notes, apparently...

You Should Be Reading...

 Rick Riordan

(author of the Percy Jackson books, the Kane Chronicles, the Trials of Apollo books, and more)

I first stumbled on Rick Riordan years before my kids were even close to old enough to read them. I read the first set of Percy Jackson books because everyone online seemed to be talking about them. And they were good. I very much enjoyed them. But then, I stuck them in a corner and moved on to other stories.

Fast forward several years. 

I went to enroll my kids into their new schools after our move. The school was giving away books. It was late in the day and they made the mistake of telling me to take as many books as my kids would want. (Pro tip: NEVER say anything like that to a bookworm who's trying to raise bookworms. We will wipe you out! You will have NO books left!) I was kind to them, since they had no clue what they had just done and I only chose a few books for each of my girls. Among them, the first three (or was it four?) of the second set of Percy Jackson books.

Because, here's the thing. I have somehow accidentally gotten a child that adores mythology. I'm not quite sure how that happened. I didn't do it on purpose. But one book led to another series led to...  She started off with Greek mythology- and I suppose a little Roman thrown in, since Athena was not wrong when she called them copycats*- and then moved on into Norse myths, forcing me to try and catch up with her. (I had never read any Norse mythology until then.) But, the point is, I knew she'd love Percy Jackson once she met him. 

I was not wrong. She has now raced through every Rick Riordan book that I have managed to get my hands on. And she wants to see the musical (how I'll manage that, I have no idea. There doesn't seem to be a recorded version anywhere). She even wants to watch the movie(s?) that were made from the first set of books. (So, I guess I'll be searching for that soon, too...)

She just finished the Trials of Apollo series this week. (I have NOT finished yet, because stupid work and chores and what do you mean I have to feed you people again?? Stuff like that. But, I'm in book 4, so I'm not too far behind.)

And I suppose that's the whole reason you should be reading Rick Riordan. Because while, technically, he writes these books for the upper-range middle grade audience (or the lower ages of the young adult audience, take your pick), they are just as entertaining for adults. These are books that you can read with your kids, or alongside of them, and all of you will enjoy the experience. And you might accidentally learn some cool mythology in the process. Several different types of mythology. So far I've encountered Greek, Roman, Norse, and Egyptian (which I am completely unfamiliar with, so that was a new adventure.)

I have always firmly believed that you can never be too old for a truly good story, no matter what age it was intended for. These books prove my point. Give them a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

*The Mark of Athena, chapter 17, I believe. Athena calls them "horrible, dishonorable, copycat Romans." I've always had a preference for the Greek names and stories, so I found her copycat accusation to be very fitting. I may have even giggled.

The American Presidents series

 So, approximately a million years ago, I decided that I should read more American history. I was reading quite a bit of English history at the time, mostly the Tudors, and I felt that I needed to learn more about the United States. So I went down to the bookstore and got a biography of George Washington. Seemed like the way to get a good overview of the country was to start at the beginning and follow through all the presidencies. And then, after about 75 pages of reading, I got distracted by some other book and Georgie went onto the bookshelf. And sat there for years. (Seriously, the receipt is still in the book, marking the point where I wandered off. It's from Borders Books and Music and it is dated 2006. So, like I said, forever ago.)

It wasn't until I started packing up all my books for the move that I stumbled across old George again and remembered this little project. So, I started it up again. 

At first, I just read whichever biographies I could find, with no real system. But as I read on, I found that several of the better books seemed to come from the same series. So, I decided to go back and start over, reading that series straight through. It also doesn't hurt that they have done a biography of every president (except the last couple, which I guess are too recent) in this series. Some of these dudes seem to not be popular enough to have many other biographies to choose from. 

So, last year I decided to reboot the project. And this time, I've been taking some notes. Please understand that I don't mean they're meaningful notes, just little facts I found interesting as I was reading. My current goal is to read one biography a month. And then blog about it. 

I have no idea what I'll find to say about these guys. Expect the blogs to be pretty short. More just a record that I've read them as I promised myself I would than any great font of information. But, hey, maybe someone else out there will find it helpful or interesting. It could happen, right?

I have a page I'm setting up to help me keep track of all these presidents. Once I finish typing it out, it will go live and I'll keep it updated as I get blog posts about each one. Just in case anyone wants to follow along.

The First Annual Queenie Awards

 It's a silly idea, I know, but right now it's the idea I have. 

I've had a chance to look over last year's list of books that I read, and I thought it might be fun to have a fake little awards ceremony for my favorites. Every award needs a cute name, right? There's the Oscars, the Tonies, the Emmies... Now there's the Queenies. (A very brief Google search has led me to believe that no other awards of this name exist, so I'm stealing it for this silliness.) My currrent plan is to present the Queenie awards every year from now on.

The rules for the Queenies are simple. Out of all the books I read last year (for the first time, not re-reads), these are the books in each category that I, personally, enjoyed most. For whatever reason. As such, all of these awards are nothing more than my personal opinion and if you happen to disagree, that's perfectly okay with me. Also, these are just chosen from the books I read in 2020. There is no official list of greatness that I was working from or anything. A lot of deserving and award winning books were not read by me, and thus are not eligible for a Queenie. My apologies to all the books I didn't get to read. 

2020 was a banner year for reading. In the years since I actually started keeping a reading list (in 2014), the previous winner for most books read was 2018 with 150 books. For a number of reasons, 2020 has passed that record number and we now have a new record: 174 books read. These are the books I will be choosing from today. (No. I have absolutely no plans to type out the titles of all of the books. The last several months worth are already listed here on the blog. The months before that, well... Sorry. You'll just have to take my word for it this time. My wrists thank you for your understanding.)

Without further ado, I present to you the 2020 Queenie Awards:

Favorite non-fiction book: The Ravenmaster- Christopher Skaife      This book combines two of my favorite things- stories about the  Tower of London and stories about ravens. (Yeah, I'm weird. We all know that.) 

Favorite fiction book: Confessions of a Shopaholic- Sophie Kinsella      I've heard about this one for years. Finally got around to actually reading it.

Favorite romance book: The Happy Ever After Playlist- Abby Jimenez     Continuing the story from Friend Zone, sort of, so this was an easy pick.

Favorite middle-grade/ young adult book: A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking- T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon)     My daughter and I both really enjoyed this. And if Ursula Vernon happens to stumble onto this post, we need more! Lots more. (And also more Castle Hangnail. Also Harriet Hamsterbone! Please??)

Favorite science fiction book: Network Effect- Martha Wells         I may have mentioned before that I love me some Murderbot. This is the most recent entry, and the first full length novel, of the series. Man, it's taking too long for the next one to come out...

Favorite fantasy book: The Bear and the Nightingale- Katerine Arden        This one has a slightly different feel to it. Most fantasies are set in a standard medieval England type setting. This one has an eastern European feel, set in Russia. It reminded me of Naomi Novik's recent works (Spinning Silver and Uprooted) and I really enjoyed that.

Favorite graphic novel: Roller Girl- Victoria Jamieson     This one was a hard choice. I read a lot of great graphic novels in 2020. But I've settled on this one as the winner. I think.

Favorite cookbook: The Adventurous Eater's Club- Misha and Vicki Collins           I read a lot of cookbooks last year and I don't really remember much about any of them. But this one sticks in my memory. So, I guess it wins. (Although Anne McCaffrey's two cookbooks were highly entertaining also.)

Favorite book I read with my kids: Stink and the Attack of the Slime Mold- Megan McDonald     This was a hard category. We read a lot of fabulous books, but most of them were re-reads for me. My younger kiddo has recently discovered Judy Moody and her brother Stink (toward the end of the year) and they have just edged out Miranda and Maude for the win here.

Favorite series of books: The Wayward Children series by Seanan McGuire         This one has to win, hands down. Plus, I read all of them for the first time in 2020 so it definitely qualifies for a win. (Don't you just love it when you discover a fabulous new author and have so many new books to read? That hasn't happened in ages and I'm loving every second of it.)

Favorite poetry book: Dear Mother- Bunmi Laditan            I didn't get to read too many poetry books in 2020 (mostly because my nerves couldn't take it) but this one was really good. There is a lot of truth to these poems. 

Favorite audio book: The Martian- Andy Weir, narrated by Wil Wheaton        I don't listen to a lot of books, mostly because my mind tends to wander away from the story. But this is a favorite book of mine, so when I heard that Wil Wheaton was the one doing the reading, I went for it. And it was so good.

Most anticipated book that I finally got my hands on: Solutions and Other Problems- Allie Brosh    I've been waiting for this book ever since I finished reading her first one, named after her awesome blog, Hyperbole and a Half.  I've had to wait years, but it was worth it. Now I need more!

Favorite book of comic strips: Strange Planet- Nathan W. Pyle       I like these little alien dudes and it always cheers me up when I stumble across one of these comics online. I was so happy to find actual books. (2 of them!) This is the first collection.

Favorite crafty type book: Craft Fail- Heather Mann        I didn't read many craft books this year. With my wrist acting up, I find it too sad to dream of all the pretties that I could be making. But this book I did read and it was great. It's much more fun to watch other people fail spectacularly. (Not so much fun when it's your project, though...)

Favorite biography/ memoir: Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come- Jessica Pan       

Favorite science-y book: Packing For Mars- Mary Roach           

Oh, what the heck? Let's do one more:

Favorite re-read: Good Omens- Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett       I adore this book. I've always liked it a lot (because Terry Pratchett was brilliant and is terribly missed) but since the mini-series came out, I'm just a tad obsessed. In 2020, I read the book (again), the TV Companion book, and the script book! And I can't even count how many times I watched all or part of the series. (Seriously. I did not even attempt to count it. I don't want to know.)

Okay, that's all the categories I can come up with right now, so our 2020 Queenies come to an end. Congratulations to all the winners. 

I'm off to work on next year's nominees.  

My Reading Log- January 2021

January 2021

It was a pretty normal reading month, I suppose. Although, it was pretty heavy on the non-fiction. I think it has to do with being the beginning of the year. I like to read inspirational books that will give me, at least briefly, the illusion that I might finally get my act together. (Probably also the root of my obsession with planners and such, now that I think about it...) Anyway, without further ado, I present the list:

Fiction:

Discount Armageddon- 

Across the Green Grass Fields- both by Seanan McGuire 

Well Played- Jen DeLuca

Non-fiction:

100 Days of  Real Food Menu Planner- Lisa Leake

The Millionaire Next Door-  Thomas J. Stanley & William D. Danko

The Next Millionaire Next Door- Thomas J. Stanley & Sarah Stanley Fallaw

The Index Card- Helaine Olen & Harold Pollack

James Madison- Garry Wills

Girl, Wash Your Face- Rachel Hollis

Undetermined:

(I really want to call this one non-fiction because of the message, but she repeatedly used the word fiction in the book, so fictional non-fiction? Whatever you call it, it was pretty good.)

A Room of One's Own- Virginia Woolf

Bread

 This has absolutely nothing to do with books. This is mostly just random babbling. You have been warned.

I'm baking bread again today, and I'm remembering (although I have no idea why I'd want to) last spring when everything first closed down. I was running low on yeast and hadn't gotten around to restocking. Hadn't actually shopped for any staples in a while, truth be told. Suddenly, yeast was impossible to find. I had everyone I know looking for it. None of us was successful for months.

I'm still not clear on why there was such a sudden rush on yeast. I know the internet was full of Instagram pictures and blog mentions of bread. Baking bread was supposedly everyone's new hobby. Fancy loaves, plain loaves, flavored loaves... It didn't seem to matter what bread you were making, everyone was supposed to be making it. 

But the yeast shortage is still baffling to me. Most of the pretty pictures and posts I ran across were loaves made with a starter, not yeast. So, where exactly did all the yeast end up? My guess is sitting in a cabinet somewhere, purchased in a panic (like all the toilet paper) and then forgotten when the promised apocalypse never materialized. 

I could be wrong. Maybe I just missed all the yeasted loaves. Maybe everyone made them and refused to take pictures of them. Maybe sourdough is just a lot more photogenic (which it most likely is, honestly).  Maybe a lot of things.

But just in case, I wanted to talk to you about bread. Not fancy, photo-worthy, special effort loaves made to impress. No, this loaf is just your plain, everyday sandwich workhorse.

The bread I make most often is a simple- very easy- white sandwich bread. It only takes about ten minutes actual effort if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook, although you do have to be at home for a few hours in a row to make it. And it can easily be made by hand if you don't have the mixer. It just might take slightly more hands-on time. This is the loaf of bread I throw together after I get home from working a full eight and a half hour shift at my job every day. It's that easy.

Have I mentioned yet that my children told me to never buy sandwich bread at the grocery store ever again? Because they did. They say this bread is a million times yummier than store bread. (They're not wrong.) 

I wish I could remember exactly where I got this recipe. It is wonderful and I really want to give proper credit and thanks. If anyone happens to recognize it, please let me know.  But I want to share with you in case you happen to have a lot of yeast sitting around. There really isn't an easier recipe I've stumbled across that works this well. This will make one loaf of sandwich bread.

Take:

2 teaspoons yeast (or one packet, if you have the strips)

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1/2 cup warm (but not hot) water, approx. 100-110F

Combine these three ingredients and let the yeast bloom. It should take about 5 minutes or so and you won't even notice because you'll be gathering the rest of the ingredients. When bloomed, you'll have a lovely, frothy goo floating on the water in your mixer.

Next, dump in the following:

3 cups of flour (I use bread flour, but all-purpose will work also)

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 cup (half stick) melted butter

Just pile it all up on top of the yeast froth. I try to keep the salt from directly touching the yeast, always putting in the flour first, then dumping everything else on top. Turn on your mixer and let the dough hook do its work.

As the dough mixes, slowly pour in:

1/4 cup milk

(If the dough is too sticky, it may need another 1/4 cup or so of flour. Add slowly!)

The dough should come together easily and start to clump up and climb up the dough hook. When it does this and the sides of the bowl are mostly clean, it's ready. Turn off your mixer, pull your dough out and grease your bowl (mixer or otherwise, depending on your mood) with some nonstick spray. Plop your dough ball in, cover it with a towel, and walk away.

Leave it alone until it doubles in size. This will take anywhere from 30-60 minutes, depending on how warm your kitchen is. Then, grease your bread pan with more nonstick spray, squish your dough ball to get rid of any big air bubbles, shape it into something that looks like a loaf, and plop it in the bread pan. Cover with your cloth again and walk away. 

Preheat your oven to 375F. When the dough has again doubled in size, throw it in your preheated oven and set your timer for 30 minutes. When the bread is done, it should sound hollow when you thump the top. Immediately dump it out of the pan and onto a wire rack to cool.

This next part is the absolute hardest part of the whole process: You have to leave it alone until it cools completely! This is a test of wills, and I fully admit that we don't always manage it. Sometimes, you just have to slice off the heel of a still warm loaf and slather it with butter. And devour it instantly. And sometimes that's an okay thing. There is nothing better than fresh baked bread, still warm enough to melt the butter all on its own. But if you can restrain yourself (and if you make it regularly, you will eventually get to this point), your loaf will be much easier to slice and have a moister, better crumb for your sandwiches. (Or, at least, that's the way it seems to me. Experts' opinions may vary.)

(Note for beginners: Flour is weird. Some days it soaks up all the moisture instantly and needs to drink more, some days the amounts here will be too much and you'll need to add a lot more flour. It has something to do with the humidity of the surrounding air. Or something. I've noticed, now that it's winter and the air is a lot drier, I'm needing to add more liquids to this recipe when, earlier in the year, these were the perfect measurements. So, what I'm saying is: don't freak out if your dough looks too wet or too dry! Just slowly- and I mean slowly- add more of whatever it looks like it needs. It should end up slightly tacky but not sticking to everything in the world. The first sign is, as mentioned, it will clump up and climb around your dough hook, making a weird thumping noise as it spins. When you pull it out, it will feel sticky and you may get a little on your fingers, especially when scraping it down off the hook. But it should not be a slimy mess that clings to the bowl, you, the counter,... You get what I'm saying?

 Also, it's hard to ruin this completely. A little dry, a little sticky, doesn't really matter too much. It will still be tasty once you bake it. The only way to really ruin it is to kill your yeast. If you're afraid of getting the water temperature right, grab a kitchen thermometer and see what your tap water runs at. Anything too hot for you to comfortably hold your hand in is probably too hot for your yeast. Don't go above 115F!)

So that's it. If you happen to have a lot of yeast sitting around and no real idea of what to do with it, I hope you'll give this a try. It's the easiest way I know of to get a loaf of homemade bread. Enjoy!