Reading and Eating!
Yes! I have finally moved on from my race, and have-gasp- other things to talk about. First up- I FINALLY finished The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. I had a love/hate relationship with this book. The story is interesting, the writing is great, it was compelling; but it takes place in the Middle Ages, and boy, were things terrible back then. I could hardly get through ten pages without some new horrific incident occurring. And by “horrific” I mean- detailed descriptions of rape, murder, towns being burnt to the ground… it was a little too much for me. I kept reading because I really did want to find out what happened, but about 2/3 of the way through, as if things weren’t bad enough already, one of the good characters made a decision that was so poor, something just snapped in me. “Fine!” I thought. “I wash my hands of you and your terrible choice! Enjoy your life, which will be horrible from now on!” I just had to detach myself from the story a little, and read on as if I were a neutral observer, rather than someone deeply invested in the outcome. I will say the ending was great. I finished it with relief- but now I find out it’s the first book of a TRILOGY. No! No, no, no. You can’t make me read any more of this- my mental health can’t take it. For something completely different, my next book was: This was the polar opposite of Pillars, which was just what I needed. I’ve read a lot of Anne Tyler, and figured this would be a quick and light read- I didn’t expect to love it. But I did! As usual with her books, I could really relate to the main character. I’m too young for this, I thought. Not too old, as you might expect, but too young, too inept, to uninformed. How come there weren’t any grownups around? Why did everyone just assume I knew what I was doing? Yep, I know that feeling. This is a woman around my age who’e dealing with her daughter’s wedding, a job upheaval, and her ex-husband (AND A CAT!!!) It was an easy read, and the ending was so touching, it brought tears to my eyes. Now I’m reading this: This book came to my attention because it takes place in Waco, Texas, where I have been many, many times over the last four years, because my son is in college there. I picked it up now because I’ll be in Waco very soon for graduation. The story takes place in 1993, and revolves around two teenagers- one the son of the sheriff, and the other a girl living in the Branch Davidian compound. It’s told from their alternating points of view and well, I’m pretty sure it’s not going to end well! But I’m enjoying it- the author is from Texas, and the book has an authentic Waco-ish feel. It’s also interesting to read about Waco in the 1990s, long before Chip and Joanna Gaines took it upon themselves to gentrify the town. Lastly, I cooked! I made the Ultimate Vegan Chili from Nora Cooks, which we enjoyed. My family tends to be lukewarm about leftover chili, so I turned it into chili cheese fries for the second meal, which received an enthusiastic thumbs up. Now, I feel like all my meals have an “I can explain” aspect, and this is no exception. I used Miyoko’s vegan liquid mozzarella, and guess what- if you heat it up in a saucepan, it’s no longer liquid. It gets very thick and gloppy. The texture was off, but the whole meal was really delicious! Even my daughter liked it, so you know it was good. What are you reading now? When was the last time you had chili cheese fries?- I highly recommend it! Top photo by Blaz Photo on Unsplash