This post has been sitting in my in my draft box for a month! I have been working so much that the last thing I want to do is be on the computer at the end of the day. But I really do miss writing and this little old blog of mine, so I’m hitting publish on this one today! Hopefully, I’ll garner up the time and energy to share little tidbits about what’s been going on these parts this summer.

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My reading lists (aka Five for Friday: What I’ve Been Reading) are the easiest posts I can get out these days. I may need to take a different approach with this blog… I want to share more… especially on my travels… especially because we won’t be a for a while… but after being on the computer all day for work, I need to step out of my office and get OFFLINE. This is just how it is right now.

In any case, here’s what I’ve read recently.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain (fiction, audiobook) – worth a listen

After listening to Pride and Prejudice on the Audible app for free with my Amazon Prime subscription, I felt like it was time to listen to Tom Sawyer, a classic book of which most of us know the story; but I’ve never read. Bonus: the narrator of this version is Nick Offerman – a comedian {you may know him from Parks and Rec} whose voice is perfect for this story, in my opinion.

I love the insight during the fence whitewashing scene is that nothing is fun if you get paid for it, but if you have the “privilege” of doing something instead of getting paid, the more likely you are going to want to do it for fun. Perspective!

Also, either it was common in literature use and write the word “presently” often during this time period, or this was a favorite word of Twain’s to use. So frequent, that you may find yourself getting drunk easily if you turned it into a drinking game.

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Cocaine Blues
by Kerry Greenwood (fiction) – worth a read

I learned about this book/series from Mel Joulwan, author of the Well Fed cookbooks that I adore. She did a post on Reading Day {which is somewhat like the unplug day Rob and I try to have a few times a year} and this was one she listed. I liked the fact that the story takes place in Australia during the 1920s. I tried to picture Melbourne during this time!  It’s a nice little mystery with a likable heroine. {No correlation with the title there! HA!} I liked the feminist themes, too.

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One Pot Paleo:
Simple to Make, Delicious to Eat and Gluten-free to Boot
by Jenny Castaneda (non-fiction, cookbook) – worth a flip

For those of you who eat Paleo, this book is not 100% Paleo. This doesn’t matter to me. I’m just a sucker for one-pot recipes with fresh ingredients! The author eats Paleo most of the time, but does also include some things in her diet such as rice. She is of Fillipino descent, so there a many interesting adaptations from that. What I didn’t know all this time, but learned from this cookbook is that there is much Spanish influence on Filipino cuisine!

I didn’t cook any recipes from this book, but still enjoyed flipping through it.

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Trout Caviar: Recipes from a Northern Forager
by Brett Laidlaw (non-fiction, cookbook) – worth a read

I found this book doing a trout search on my library website because I was in search of more trout recipes. {I have yet to post on our Lake Superior fishing trip earlier this summer!} This cookbook is great for the stories! {And you know how I love to read a cookbook like a novel!}

I enjoyed reading about how the author and his wife moved out to land to live in pretty much a shack in the middle of the woods, right here in the good ol’ Midwest! They do a lot of foraging and tend to eat off the land as much as possible. I didn’t find a trout recipe I would actually make but I did get a popcorn appetizer recipe that has me so intrigued!!!

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The Breakdown
by B.A. Paris (fiction) – worth a read

After reading Paris’s Behind Closed Doors, I put myself on the library waiting list for the her next book to hit the shelves. While I did not love it as much as Behind Closed Doors, I did devour this semi-thriller in a day while Rob was out of town. Her books are just hard to put down! I also liked reading this interview with the author. She didn’t start writing novels until she was 50!

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What’s been you favorite summer read this year?

 

Cheers~
Carrie