Hello and welcome to Kim and Zenaida’s Tuesday Topics! Or, to be more precise, where I link with these ladies, take their Tuesday topic and go off on my own strange tangents. Thanks to Kim and Zenaida for putting up with me!
I’ve read some great books lately. In a recent post, I shared that four library holds came in at the same time.
I loved two of these books. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was so good! I also read Zevin’s The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, and liked that one- but I liked this one even more. I loved the world of video game creation, and the relationships between the characters. There is a very upsetting event in this book (if you’ve read it, you know exactly what I’m talking about) which unfortunately seems relevant to our times. I thought the writing was beautiful.
If you love Jane Austen, then you’ll probably love The Murder of Mr. Wickham. I thought the idea behind it was brilliant. The main characters from Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and Sense and Sensibility arrive at Emma’s for a house party (the daughter of Catherine Morland from Northanger Abbey is also included.). The diabolical Mr. Wickham shows up uninvited and is satisfactorily murdered, but we don’t know who did it.
It was a combination of a fun murder mystery, plus a reunion of favorite characters. I found myself thinking, “Oh, so that’s how Emma’s marriage turned out!” or “So Marianne is happy after all.” Then I would have to remind myself that this was all from the imagination of Claudia Gray, so it wasn’t “really” happening. THEN I had to remind myself that none of the original stories really happened either- they were from the imagination of Jane Austen. So I just let myself enjoy the characters all over again. I thought Gray did a good job of keeping things true to Austen’s style and time period.
The Cartographers was interesting, but I can’t say I loved it. And tragically, The Alice Network was due at the library before I could read it. I couldn’t renew it because there were other holds on it, so I reluctantly returned it, but it remains on my TBR.
Up next:
Remember how I loved Time Management for Mortals so much that I wrote an entire blog post on the first chapter? Strangely, after that I kind of forgot about it. I just picked it back up and am continuing to love it. I’ve been reading a chapter a night before moving on to The Help. I love a book where you easily get engrossed in the lives of each character, but life in the deep south in 1962- YUCK.
Let’s move on to eating. Living with 19-year-old boy who is constantly trying to GAIN weight is interesting. During the month he spent in Tennessee at his summer music institute, my son Paul lost thirteen pounds, which he blames on the fact that he was “only” able to eat three meals a day.
Now he’s trying to gain the weight back. Strangely, the rest of the people in the family are NOT trying to gain thirteen pounds, so we can only observe this incredible weight-gain journey from afar.
The other night Paul decided to make a smoothie before bed. I watched in astonishment as he mixed oatmilk, blueberries, protein powder, peanut butter, chia seeds, and OLIVE OIL in the blender. His smoothie was gigantic, and he offered some to me- NO! Get away from me with that gut-bomb! I really draw the line at the olive oil.
Anyway, as you can imagine, mealtimes are interesting. The other night, in honor of my recent trip to see my sister, we ate “Chicago Style” hot dogs. Other than the fact that we were of course eating veggie dogs, I tried to make it as authentic as possible: yellow mustard, relish, tomatoes, onion, peppers, a pickle spear ,and even a sprinkling of celery salt. The only thing I didn’t have was a poppyseed bun. Where in the world are you supposed to get a poppyseed hot dog bun???
The frosty beverage pictured was a Hop Tea. I really like them, but when I let my son try mine he said it tasted like a little bit of beer with a lot of fizzy water and “a tiny spritz of mosquito repellant.” WHAT??? When I protested, he said “Just try it again with that in mind.”
Thanks a lot.
Two weeks from today he’ll be on his way back to school, which should prevent us from taking out a second mortgage for the grocery bills. I think the reason Baylor had to raise their tuition this year is that my son eats in their dining halls.
So that’s it! Have you read any of the books I mentioned? Are you reading anything great right now?
Have you ever had a “Chicago Style” hot dog?
27 Responses
Wait, “The Murder of Mr. Wickham” is just a continuation of all the main characters Jane Austen’s books written in Jane Austen style but not by Jane Austen? Brilliant indeed!! I’ll have to look out for that book.
Right now I’m reading “Never Split the Difference – Negotiating as if your life depended on it” by Chris Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator. It is fascinating!
I’ve heard of that book! It definitely sounds good. And yes, that’s exactly what “The murder of Mr. Wickham’ is. Basically a dream for Jane Austen fanatics.
Those teenage boys are able to consume a lot of calories! I was always amazed by how much food the lacrosse team would eat when my son brought them over in HS. I have lots of veggie burgers I like but have not found a good hot dog substitute yet-what kind do you like? Read the help many years ago
I’m laughing at the thought of trying to feed an entire lacrosse team- at least my son’s friends are musicians. I don’t think they eat as much as a sports team.
Honestly, we eat pretty much any veggie dogs but I think the best one (according to an article we read recently) is supposedly made by Field Roast.
I’ve never had a Chicago style hotdog IN Chicago, but my mom used to make them pretty regularly for us (down south in Champaign when I grew up). Great memories! Poppy seed buns sound wonderful, but I can’t remember ever having one.
I live with two teenage boys and some days it feels like grocery shopping is a full time job. A loaf of bread lasts about 5 minutes in our house.
I read The Alice Network a million years ago and it was good but forgettable so I think you picked the right book to run out of library check out time on.
Okay, that’s good to know- I was kind of wishing I had read that one and not The Cartographers.
If only I had ore time to read…
I definitely am adding the Zevin book to my list. Thanks for the reviews.
Funny story about the Alice Network. I don’t buy books but I do own that book. I was traveling and ran out of books to read and so I bought that one.
I also wish I had more time to read! I try to read one book a week (and sometimes succeed and sometimes not) but then I see how much some of these other bloggers read and I feel inferior. I want to read more but so many other things get in the way, sigh.
I am excited to read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow but the wait for me is soooo long! But I will get to it eventually!
The teenage boy eating is nuts. Oh to have that kind of metabolism. My husband easily loses weight, too. He lose 5 pounds when our first son was born since he missed a few meals! He has to work to keep weight on and I think our Paul is going to be the same way. But he does not have a voracious appetite yet. His toddler brother out-eats him much of the time which I think its pretty typical. Our grocery bill is so cheap right now but I know it probably won’t always be like this. I was 1 of 5 and I remember my mom buying a ridiculous amount of milk each week! That’s what stands out in my memory. It was not for me, though, as I’ve always hated milk but everyone else seemed to love it and drank so much of it.
Ho ho… I would say with your husband and the two boys, you’re going to be seeing some pretty big grocery bills. But you’ve got a few years of “normal” meals first.
My husband is constantly trying to put on weight and I am not and it can lead to some pretty amusing differences in meals. We read The Alice Network for book club and everyone liked it pretty well, so maybe you should try to get it again someday! I am interested in what you think about The Prettiest Star. It was sad, but I thought it was powerful, too.
Yep, The Prettiest Star is next on my list! I’ll let you know.
Yeah, I’ve never had a problem putting on weight so I cannot relate to that lol. It must be interesting to watch him eat and drink a bunch of different foods, especially that smoothie! I would never think to add olive oil.
It actually makes my stomach hurt to see how much he eats sometimes.
Well, it’s no secret I do not do much book reading, due to all the blogs in my life. I have read The Help, though, and LOVED it (and the movie was excellent as well). Of course, both of those happened “a few” years ago, and we’ll just leave it at that. Our son, now 25, has a major appetite. We don’t see him often these days, given his Florida residence, but when he’s here visiting he’s like a human garbage disposal. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a poppyseed hotdog bun, LOL
Oh great! You mean I’ll still be dealing with this food issue when my son is 25? His metabolism has to slow down sometime!
I’m actually re-reading Time Management for Mere Mortals. Very, very slowly because life feels currently horribly off-kilter with summer schedules (or lack thereof), heat waves, and constant renovation limbo. I am so excited for fall and returning to a more normal routine and also restarting more reading. I usually cut WAY back on books in the summer, but this year is a whole new level and I’m more than ready to get back to regular reading.
Also this: “I think the reason Baylor had to raise their tuition this year is that my son eats in their dining halls.” made me laugh SO hard. I can only imagine what will happen with L gets older. He is tall and thin and when he’s hungry can eat SO much food. I cannot imagine what the grocery bill will look like in 5 years!!
Oh, you’re in for a treat- teenage boys eat SO MUCH.
Yes, I’m always happier when I’m reading. I think you’ll be happy when you get back to it!
LOL, I remember how much my sons ate when they were in college. Every time I reloaded their food card, I wondered how much cheaper it would be to have girls. Of course, girls come with their own set of expenses. We ate at Portillo’s once while visiting Chicago, but I ordered a more traditional chili dog.
I haven’t read any of the books you reviewed, but from your to-read list, I read The Help and loved it. As soon as I finished it I watched the movie.
Yes, everyone seems to love The Help and I can see why- I’m really enjoying it.
That’s true, girls do have a whole other set of expenses. Good thing I have one of each so I can compare, ha ha.
Who me, a Chicago style hot dog? Maybe…. :p And now there’s HopWater…which I really like! My favorite is the Citra Hops.
My oldest doesn’t eat so much but my youngest? Lol Neither of them live here anymore but when they come, they do eat a ton. Call me jealous…
I’m on the waiting list for Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow
Ooh! I’ll be interested to hear what you think of the book.
I’m going to look for the HopWater. I really do like the Hop Tea (not sure if I’ve had the water, but I’m sure they’re similar.) I like them better than n/a beers- it’s a great alternative.
Haha, you are too funny. Nothing wrong with writing about something different. I love reading everyone’s post. Plus reading and eating are two of my favorite things to do. 🙂 That smoothie does look good! I just remembered that I need to add chia seeds to mine, but definitely no olive oil. I like hot dogs but only with mayo and hot peppers. I know, weird but still yummy. Enjoy the rest of the time with your son!
When I was growing up I only got hot dogs when I went to a Cubs game, and then I just had it with mustard. I usually didn’t like meat, but for whatever reason those hot dogs were delicious!
Wow on your son losing that much weight in a month – was he HUNGRY at camp? I would draw the line at oil in my smoothie too.
I read The Help years ago. I liked the Cartographers but wasn’t ready for the “magical” twist.
Yes, he said he was getting really hungry by the time the next meal rolled around. He likes snacks in between!
I didn’t exactly mind the magical part of The Cartographers. I just didn’t think the book was great overall. But- I did read the whole thing so it kept my attention. It definitely wasn’t a bad book.
Olive oil in a smoothie?? Ewww, no. I’d refuse.