This week I finished The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada. It’s considered a classic in the genre, and while I appreciated the ingenious puzzle, the writing seemed kind of clunky. Maybe something was lost in the translation? Anyway, I’m glad I read it, but I think I’ll take a break from Japanese mysteries for a while.
Here’s my reading schedule for the rest of the week- finish The Whispers and the book club chapters of I Capture the Castle (if you need details for the Cool Bloggers Book Club, check out Engie’s post..) On Saturday I leave for Texas, and I only want to bring one book with me, and that’s Ken Follett’s Fall of Giants.
My son and I are driving there, then I’ll be flying back, and that will be a VERY long travel day. There’s only one thing we don’t love about Baylor University- it’s not convenient to fly in and out of Waco. For the return journey I’ll take a bus to Austin, and fly from there to Ft. Lauderdale.
Because of the bus schedule, I had the choice to take an earlier flight that would require a tense Uber ride from the bus station and then a frantic run through the airport; OR, a later flight that will mean spending the afternoon waiting at the airport. Er- I’ll take the second option.
It will be a day of reading! A 985 page book will be perfect.
Let’s move on to eating! Today will be all about food prep for the trip. We always bring breakfast and lunch for the two days in the car, but this year we’ve decided to bring dinner as well. Breakfast is always “breakfast tofu” (from the No Meat Athlete Cookbook) on bagels. Lunch will obviously be the Cool Bloggers Chickpea Salad, from Nora Cooks..
For the first day of driving, we’ll bring homemade pizza for dinner. On the second day- unless something goes horribly wrong- we’ll arrive in Waco and have access to a microwave, so I’m making the Marry Me Chickpeas, again from Nora. I guess that’s a lot of chickpeas. But that recipe looks delicious, and we love chickpeas. I’m excited for the trip, and lots of good eating and reading!
Are you participating in the CBBC? Have you started the book yet?
23 Responses
I’m not doing CBBC this time *sad face*
I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the reading pace and didn’t want to add unnecessary pressure to my hectic August. But I am really sad to be missing it and will follow along and enjoy it vicariously!
That’s how I felt about your Cool Bloggers Walking Club- I wanted to participate, then didn’t, and then felt very sad when I saw everyone posting about it. Oh well- it’s good you knew ahead of time that this wasn’t for you.
I’m so jealous of your road trip! Oh wait, I’m not because we’re headed out on an adventure of our own, though it’s only a 6 hour drive.
Um I need to make Marry Me Chickpeas STAT. I’ve never made Marry Me Chicken. Back when I was dating the hubs, that meant cooking a whole chicken which is on my “I’m never doing that” list – I guess I didn’t want to get married that badly. Now it looks like something that I would like, minus the chicken. I know that Nora’s spin on it will be good.
Ha ha, yes it’s not worth getting married if it means you have to cook a chicken. Nora’s recipes are always good! I’ll definitely report back.
Oh, I am 100% with all the books in your second pic, Jenny. And I’m excited to see how people respond to _I Capture the Castle_.
Also: SO impressed with all the food you’re prepping ahead of your road trip. I just cross my fingers for the Subway sign if we have to eat on the road. I love chickpeas too, esp. my chickpea salad that tastes like the beach snack you’d get in a paper cone when I was a kid (it has shavings of mango, coconut, cilantro, and a sprinkle of tajin and lime)
Safe and happy travels to you!
Wow, your chickpea salad sounds DELICIOUS!
Yes, there just aren’t a lot of great options on the road- we always switch off between Moe’s and Mod pizza- but sometimes it’s a hassle to find one and have the timing work out right. Plus we’ll be eating out a couple times while we’re in Waco, and too many restaurant/fast food meals make my stomach very cranky.
Safe travels on your road trip! I just got back from mine on Monday — two days of travel on either end which makes for a lot of days in the car, but I prefer that to a loooooong day in the car, and splitting it up meant we got to make side trips, stopping at Horseshoe Bend on the way up and Bryce Canyon on the way back.
The Marry Me chickpeas look really good so I’m adding those to my list of recipes to try!
I think your road trip was a lot more scenic than mine will be- we’ll be seeing a lot of highway, and driving ten hours a day. But we always have fun anyway.
I’ll report back on the chickpeas after we try them- they look delicious.
Ha ha ha. I guess I need to start I Capture the Castle! I need to read it and get a post up by Monday and then I’m going to be traveling, too, so I’ll also need to get the second week’s post up before I leave, but there are OLYMPICS to watch. *sigh*
Yes!! That Ken Follett book will be riveting and you won’t even notice all the time you’re spending in the airport.
i just read the first chapter of Castle and I love it so far! Yes, it will be hard to get all this reading done during the Olympics, but we can do it. And I can’t wait to start the Ken Follett.
I got busy in July and forgot to request the book from the library and was surprised to find there is a wait for both the ebook and audio book! But I am holding out for the audiobook to be available. I can’t bring myself to get the physical book because I just don’t enjoy reading physical books anymore! I just started “God of the Woods” by Liz Moore and it is very good so far but it’s about children going missing… I liked the author’s last book, “long bright river” and have heard nothing but great things about this book!
Oooh, I need to make the marry me chickpeas. Maybe I will make that while Kyria is here with us this weekend. That seems like something she would like, too. Plus we have some spinach that I need to use up. It’s always so satisfying when I can use up spinach!
I hope the road trip w/ Paul goes smoothly! I kind of don’t mind having long stretches at an airport. I would rather have a lot of extra time at the airport v running to the gate/feeling short on time. Some of that might have to do with my stage of life, though. I should caveat this comment and say I don’t mind long stretches at the airport alone/sans my kids. I would feel differently about a long stretch at the airport with Taco! Paul would be fine because he could probably be entertained by his iPad for like 10 hours…
Yes- a long day in the airport WITHOUT KIDS is actually relaxing.
I also kind of forgot book club was coming up so soon, but luckily my library had a copy of the book available, phew.
I hope those chickpeas are good! If you make them we can compare notes.
I will have to check out the Cool Bloggers Book Club. I’m not sure if I’m cool enough for it, though. I read I Capture the Castle for my neighborhood book club years ago and I just loved it!
I look forward to road trips, just for the reading, lol. We did a lot of back and forth to Wisconsin in July, which is why i got so many books read.
Oh, you’re definitely cool enough! Especially if you loved the book, you should check out the book club. I’ll send you the link.
I have a question about the Marry Me Chickpeas. Can you really just cook the chickpeas for five minutes and they’re done? We have a recipe in which chickpeas simmer for twenty minutes and my husband still complains sometimes that the chickpeas are too firm. Please discuss.
Okay so just to confirm we’re talking about CANNED chickpeas, right? I think it all depends on how they come out of the can- they should be soft enough to eat without cooking them at all, in which case five minutes is plenty. BUT, sometimes I open a can of chickpeas and they’re really hard, which makes me very angry. As long as your chickpeas are soft enough right out of the can, you’re good.
Wooo. you really plan well for travel meals. I need to learn that. I will definitely make the marry me chickpea, sounds divine.
road trip could be fun, husband is contemplating to come back to Bali driving from Jakarta, 18 hrs drive and 1 hour ferry. I wonder if we will be able to do it with the girls, the idea sounds fun and I could be in charge of food packing.
Road trips are a little harder with kids- but your girls are great travelers so it might be fun!
How beautiful is that cover for ICTC?!?! My copy is sitting on the holds shelf at the library, so I have to go pick it up, which I won’t get to do until Friday. Then I guess I’ll madly read it in time for Monday…. 🙂
An airport is not as cozy a place for a reading retreat as a cabin in the woods, but I think it would serve the same purpose in a lot of ways.
I should make myself a batch of that chickpea salad – we start onstage teching a show this weekend and it would be good to have easy filling food ready to pack. I tend to overpack food for roadtrips, but I’m always afraid of being hungry, so I’d rather overpack a little. And then we’ll always stop at a gas station and everyone gets to pick a road trip snack (Mine is usually dill pickle chips and sour gummy worms, or some such.)
I think you’ll be able to read the chapters in time for Monday- I just read the first one and it went quickly.
Since a cabin in the woods is not feasible for me right now, I’ll take a day in the airport!
Safe travels and good eats! I’m 2 chapters in to I Capture the Castle, and am enjoying it so far. I’m thinking I will read the other 4 chapters tomorrow. I bought a physical copy, because I wanted to stay with the schedule, and library loans are 21 days. That’s not enough, and if someone else wanted it I wouldn’t be able to renew.
So exciting that you get to do this road trip with your son again. I know it’s a long drive but I also know that you enjoy this time with him 🙂
Oooh, I will have to try the Marry Me Chickpeas for, you know, partnerless me. 😉 Thanks for linking! I also looked up Breakfast tofu and found some promotions from when the book was published where bloggers had permission to share that recipe. Clearly, it is popular! I want to try that mix of spices, too. Yum. Always looking for new protein options.
Hope the bus & flights go smoothly. I get quite anxious with air travel so totally get your preference for the later flight!