Ah, I finished such a good book!
I mentioned it last week. The main character, Jake, finds a portal that takes him back in time to 1958, and he has a plan to prevent the assassination of JFK, which would obviously alter history for the better. OR WOULD IT?
This book was so engaging. Will Jake actually be able to prevent the assassination? (As it turns out, the past doesn’t want to be changed.) If he does succeed, what then? Will he go back to his “present day” (2011)? And just how will the future look then- because as we know, if you change one thing, everything changes.
My only complaint about this book is- without giving anything away- the ending made me sad. But my sister said she wasn’t sad when she read it- just fascinated at how the story played out. Highly recommend!
It’s hard to finish a long book that was so absorbing. I felt like I needed to read something light and easy after that. I looked through my books… Iris Murdoch, no…. Nevil Shute, not quite right either…. Oh, I know!
This book wasn’t initially easy, because it’s translated from Japanese, which meant all the characters had- obviously!- Japanese names. In spite of a cast of characters list in the beginning, it was hard to keep them straight (my son happens to be reading a sci fi book translated from Chinese right now, and he has the same problem- we agreed that when these books are translated they should translate the names as well. “Fuginuma Issei” could just be “Joe.”)
In spite of that minor stumbling block, I really enjoyed this book! It was eerie, suspenseful, and had a great twist at the end. I ONLY recommend it if you’re a fan of the “locked room” mystery genre though. I liked it so much, I got another book by the same author out of the library.
In eating news, I discovered a brilliant new way to cut up watermelon from Diane!
Easy to hold, easy to eat, and you don’t get the sides of your mouth all sticky from gnawing on the usual wedge-shape piece of watermelon.
Next up, a question:
WHY is it impossible to find organic corn on the cob? I mean, literally impossible, not even at Whole Foods or Sprouts. I can buy frozen, organic corn kernels, which presumably came from… a cob? So where’s the organic corn on the cob? Hrumph.
Lastly, I did make a pretty good dinner! “Cincinnati Chili” from Brand New Vegan. I made a couple changes to the recipe- used tempeh instead of bulgar, and to my son’s, added Impossible meat.
This was possibly the most flavorful chili I’ve ever tasted. I initially questioned the ingredients- allspice? Cloves? But it all worked. The only thing I did cut back a bit was the liquid, because it seemed like a LOT. But my son said he thought it was a little dry- so next time I’ll make the recipe as written. So good!
Have you ever had Cincinnati Chili?
What are you reading right now?
28 Responses
I have never wanted to read that book before, Jenny, but you make it sound so appealing! I think we have it floating around our house somewhere; perhaps I should give it a try.
My husband loves Cincinnati chili but I can’t get behind it. The cinnamon or whatever flavor in it makes it taste too sweet and I just don’t find it appetizing. What a fun thing to try, though, and it sounds like it was a success!
Suzanne, I thought it would be too sweet. My daughter especially doesn’t like it when things that aren’t supposed to be sweet are sweet (I mean, she likes desserts but doesn’t like it when regular food is sweet.). But she liked this! I guess it does have a distinctive taste though.
Diane is a watermelon genius!
I just finished Loving Frank, thanks to Birchy, and I started something that I think I’m just going to DNF (Happy And You Know It). I have so many books on my stack that I just don’t want to waste time, you know?
Yes, I’m really bad about DNFing books. Luckily I haven’t had to face that situation lately- all my books have been great.
What a smart way to cut up watermelon! I usually just cut it into small cubes and eat it with a fork haha.
I’m intrigued by that Cincinnati chili but I might try it with a different chili recipe since I prefer my chili to be spicy!
Yes- this chili is NOT spicy. You could probably add spice though and it would be good.
Even with that way of cutting the watermelon into “sticks,” there were still some random pieces left that I just cut into little pieces to be eaten with a fork.
I’m a big mystery kick. Just finished The Divide.
I just discovered salads because it’s too hot to cook.
Beets olives cottage cheese and everything I can think of.
Plus ice cream to balance things out. Lol.
Ha ha… yes, if you have a salad for dinner you deserve some ice cream to balance it out!
I have been eating watermelon every day this week and it is sooooo good. I’ve been cutting it up into sticks for years, but my mom always cubes it up and stores it in the fridge that way. It’s good…but requires a fork. And, as you may recall, I’m the weirdo that will only eat watermelon if I sprinkle salt on it. Yup. That’s a food habit from my mom’s side of the family and it spans multiple generations…
Yes, the stick method is great if you’re going on a picnic or something, where you don’t want to use a fork. And- I’ve never put salt on my watermelon but my favorite flavor of LMNT (electrolyte drink) is salted watermelon! So I can see how they go together.
Yay for watermelon hacks!
I worked in Cincinnati one season and was introduced to Cincinnati Chili there. When my co-workers first explained it to me, I thought – “What? No that sounds gross!” But then they took me to Skyline Chili and I tried it – with ALL the toppings, of course – and I thought it was pretty good! I’d also never eaten chili over spaghetti before, and that was really novel.
I feel like I’m 3/4 of the way through 3 books right now – I like them all, but haven’t been carving out the time to read them. I did finish The Ministry of Time last week, and I thought it was fantastic.
Yeah, Cincinnati is unique! I’ve never had it in a restaurant, but we liked the version I made.
I’ve heard of The Ministry of Time and am intrigued! I’ll add it to my TBR.
I will definitely read 11/22/63 and circle back! I’m about to finish another of the Linda Castillo Amish murder books, and next up I’ll be reading Margo’s Got Money Troubles and Real Americans.
I’m intrigued by the chili spices. When we have chili, I make a bland version for the fam and then I add a ton of hot sauce to mine, so I’ve always wondered if there’s a more flavorful way to make “not spicy” chili.
You should try this one! It’s definitely not bland. Oh… I think I may have forgotten to mention that I probably added some salt to the recipe? I guess these are things I should say if I’m going to recommend something!
I’ve been thinking about getting the second Linda Castillo book. Right now my policy is not to repeat authors (since there are so many books I want to read) but I think I’ve let enough time go by- I deserve another one of hers!
“A nice plate of pesticide-laden, GMO corn on the cob- yum!” I literally laughed out loud when I read that. SAME!! Yeah, japanese novels can be hard, actually any novel that is in translation- agh, hard work for me. My chili is always very bland.
I’m still trying to figure out the answer to the corn on the cob issue! And- if you like bland chili, you might not like this one.
Cincinnati chili is a fav in my house. I cook up huge batches in the crockpot and freeze them! I actually get characters confused a lot when listening to books, so I’d probably be completely lost in that book you read. At least I often have the advantage of different voices usually, but still, it’s a struggle sometimes!
I think this book would be VERY confusing to listen to- I had to keep flipping back and forth to check the cast of character list.
I make Cincinnati Chili almost every super bowl 🙂 We love it!!!
That book sounds awesome (the King, not the closed door thing -that sounds too stressful!)
Ooh… maybe Cincinnati chili could be our new Superbowl dinner.
I liked 11/22/63 a lot, too. I kept pestering my husband with hypothetical questions when I was reading it. I don’t always love time travel stories because I get caught up in logistics, but I thought this was well done. And it was riveting!
Sweet corn in on the Clean Fifteen list, so I don’t worry about it too much. I’ve had Skyline Chili before and it was not my cup of tea, but I say more power to those who like it!
Oh really? Then I won’t worry about corn on the cob anymore!
Yes, time travel can be iffy for me- but I agree, he handled it well.
I started 11/22/63 and never finished it! I need to get back to it. I wonder how I’d feel about the ending.
Let’s just say the ending was thought-provoking!
I really want to read 11/22/63! I will get to it eventually. I had long been obsessed with the Kennedy family, even when I was in elementary school. I must have been influenced by my parents talking about that era.
I just finished a WWII novel about how the US Treasury was involved with the war by doing things like cutting off trade between Germany and other nations. It was interesting but then became a slog at the end. I was almost tempted to abandon it at 80%!! Next I will read a memoir called ‘wavewalker’ which is about a family sailing around the world for a couple of years. It’s my July bookclub book. Hopefully it’s good!
I have not had Cincinnati chili but I rarely eat pasta. I don’t live GF pasta. It’s great fresh but kind of terrible reheated. And I need things to be good as leftovers!
I actually didn’t eat this chili over pasta- I figured I didn’t need more simple carbs in my life. That’s why I took a photo of my son’s- he had it the “right” way.
If you’re interested in the Kennedy’s, I think you’ll like this book. It was also really fun to read about life in the early 60s.
Just found your blog via SHU! Hi 🙂
Is your son reading the three body problem? Would love to hear his thoughts bc it’s been on my list for a while but seems a bit long and I’m not usually a sci fi person!
Okay, you’ve convinced me to give 11/22/63 a try. I’ve wanted to read it but the length intimidates me. But it feels like you read it pretty fast?! Maybe I’ll give myself a 2025 goal of reading one book a quarter over 500 pages… hmm.