More Reading and Eating

I’m really on a streak of great books.  I enjoyed everything I’ve read lately, and that doesn’t always happen.  But this time, let’s start with food!  I’m going to rewind all the way back to Easter Sunday… After all my complaining about how I don’t like Easter, I actually ended up having a nice day!  We started the day off with pancakes.  Special strawberry Easter pancakes for my daughter… And for mine, I used a recipe from a website I won’t mention, because I don’t want to incriminate them.  Let’s just say I made some substitutions, and my pancakes looked a little strange (but still tasted good!)  If it were April Fools Day, I would have told my daughter that my pancakes were hers, ha ha… One of the reasons I thought I would be feeling down on Easter is that I miss my son.  But he texted me mid-morning to let me know the church service he was playing at would be live-streamed (all trumpet players have church gigs on Easter, even college students!)  So I was able to tune in and see him- it was so fun!  My sister also watched, and we texted back and forth during the service (‘Paul still has his beard!” “I wish there was more music!”)  So I got my family time after all, thanks to modern technology. In the afternoon, my daughter and I made carrot cake cupcakes, and it was fun to collaborate on a project. Dinner was lasagna!  I make a vegan lasagna using tofu ricotta. Fast forward to this week.  Suzanne posted about this chickpea bowl, and all it took was stopping quickly at the grocery store, opening a few cans, and we had this delicious dinner.  At the last minute I remembered we had naan from Trader Joe’s to go with it. Now for the reading portion of this post! Exposure was a great book that I almost DNF’d halfway through.  The story takes place during the Cold War in London, and a couple inadvertently gets involved in espionage.  At about the halfway point it was making me incredibly anxious.  I really cared about the characters and didn’t want what was happening to them to happen.  I knew it was the mark of a good book- the story seemed so real.  Luckily I kept reading, and when I realized that Lily was an incredibly strong woman who wasn’t going to let anyone walk all over her, I stopped being anxious and thoroughly enjoyed the story till the end.  I want to read more Helen Dunmore. This book probably isn’t for everyone.  I think you have to be a real fan of mysteries to enjoy it.  In the very beginning, the author lays out ten “rules” for mysteries: The solution can’t be anything involving supernatural agencies, or twins; the criminal must be someone introduced early in the story; all the clues must be available to the reader… as soon as I read that page, I knew I would enjoy the book.  Yes, the story was a little convoluted, but it was a solid murder mystery and was entertaining to read.  Once again, probably only recommended for true fans of the genre. And, one last book that I’m re-reading.  I read this book years ago and loved it.  Scott Jurek recounts his biggest races, talks about his training, and explains his vegan diet.  WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE???  It was the first book I read about ultra running, back in 2012 when it was published.  It’s a good book to read the week before my race.  Although Scott excelled at 100 mile races, I can take some of his wisdom and apply it to my 50k on Saturday.  Plus, I don’t know if I have the mental energy to read a new book this week, so a re-read is perfect. What are you reading now? Do you like Indian food? – If yes, try these chickpea bowls!