I’ve been doing a lot of reading and eating lately! I read two books I really enjoyed (and had one “meh,”) and may have partially solved the “what the hell is for dinner?” problem. Let’s start with the books.
I didn’t love this book about people going through doors to different worlds. Actually, I couldn’t even decide if I liked it at all, but I was intrigued by the fact that I couldn’t figure out where it was going. Usually when I read a book I have a good idea what’s going to happen, or at least I can guess it’s going to be one of several outcomes. I kept reading this one mostly because it was different.
In the end, I didn’t like the characters. I know it’s fantasy, but even in fantasy I like the characters to behave in a believable manner so I can relate to them. The plot was weird but interesting, but the one-dimensional characters killed it for me.
Wrong Place Wrong Time was even better than I thought it would be! It got a lot of rave reviews that convinced me to read it, but I was afraid it would be too gimmicky. The premise involves a woman who witnesses her son committing a murder and then travels back through time to figure out why he did it. Now, I have an issue! I hate how, in stories about time travel, the reader knows what’s going on but the character doesn’t, so there’s a long boring section where the character is trying to figure out what’s going on. I want to shout “YOU WENT BACK IN TIME, GET ON WITH THE STORY!” Of course, if the character woke up in a different time and said “I knew immediately I had gone back in time” then I would be criticizing it for being unrealistic, so I guess there’s no way around it.
ANYWAY, once we got past that, I really, really enjoyed this book. Even with the time travel, it all made sense. It was a fun mystery, and I liked the main character. I could totally relate, having a son of my own. It’s also a fast read. I basically read the entire second half one evening, sitting on the couch while my husband and daughter carried on around me- I barely noticed them as I sped through the book.
My husband gave me two books for my birthday. He started reading one of them, The Lost Art of Running by Shane Benzie, and I read The Rise of the Ultra Runners. I LOVED IT! It recounts two years of the author’s life, where he dives into the world of ultra running, with the goal of accruing enough points (by running various ultra races) to run UTMB (one of the most prestigious trail ultras in the world.). The book alternates between his race recaps and sections where he gives the history behind different races, and also talks about some of the legends (and lesser-known runners) of the sport. In one section he talks about meeting Shane Benzie, which was pretty funny since I’m reading his book soon.
I highly recommend this book IF you’re at all interested in ultra running. If not… don’t read it.
Okay, onto the food! Two weekends ago, when University of Miami was in the basketball playoffs (sob- still sad about how that turned out!) my theme dinner for the night was “Cuban.” I made this recipe for Cuba Black Beans, which were delicious! I made a lime-cilantro rice to go with it, and the first night we had it with plantains and steamed kale (I bought the plantains frozen from the store and just baked them in the oven.)
But this dinner didn’t stop there! We had it again the next night with avocado instead of plantains.
Then I had it a third night! My husband was over it at that point, but I don’t mind eating the same thing over and over again. I was scraping the bottom of the barrel, vegetable-wise, and had it with a salad of romaine lettuce.
This whole Cuban bean thing made me realize that cooking a huge pot of beans on Sunday is a GREAT idea. This past weekend I made a double recipe of this bean and vegetable burrito filling. I was going to put in some vegan cheese, but in the end left out the cheese entirely, and it’s delicious! (Side note- if you make this, watch the salt. I put in two teaspoons for a double batch and it was plenty.) Muahahaha…. we’ll be eating a lot of burritos this week. I wonder how my husband will like that.
Next up reading-wise, Exposure by Helen Dunmore. I’ve only read the first chapter, but I already love it.
Have you read any of these books?
Do you mind eating the same thing for several nights in a row?
31 Responses
Unsurprisingly, I’ve read Finn’s book and I liked it a lot – more than his other two books, where he was quite sniffy about “slower” runners by which he means even half-decent club runners. But here he learnt he had to go slow, didn’t he! I have quite a detailed review here https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2021/04/06/book-review-adharanand-finn-the-rise-of-the-ultra-runners/ if you’re interested. Those dinners look super, too. I cook up batches of tomato and veg / tomato mixed beans and veg sauces and keep them frozen in portions to have during the week.
I am interested! I’m sure your review is much more coherent than mine. I’ll check it out.
I’ve read “The Rise of the Ultra Runners” and loved it, too!
While reading it, I always thought that Finn had an Indian background because of his first name. Then it turns out that his parents were hippies and just gave their sons Indian names.
Considering he’s a journalist and not a professional runner, he’s a really decent ultra-runner, too!
Yes, and his brother’s name is “Govinda?” His parents really were hippies! It’s funny because I spent the book thinking he was Indian as well. And yes, he’s a good runner!
I read Wrong Place Wrong Time and liked it more than I thought I was going to as well! I was not really excited about the time travel aspect of it, but that ended up working for me in the end. I even made my brother read it afterward! I have not read either of the other books, or the one that you are reading now, but the running one sounds interesting. I have read a few running books and some of them are okay, but I found many of them to be a little too narcissistic, although I find most memoirs to be a little narcissistic, I guess.
I also often eat the same thing every day. In fact I generally make a meal on Sunday and then portion it out to at least five portions and that will be my lunches for the week. If it is more than five, I will either eat it for dinner some days too, or put some in the freezer for the next time I do not feel like cooking. Actually your meal would work great as a freezer meal! It sounds boring, but I often get three or four different options in the fridge and so actually have some variety later on if I want it!
Yes, I should also make something on Sunday that I could eat for lunch. I still struggle with lunches, and my husband eats lunch at work so I could definitely make whatever I want and eat it every day.
Yes, I guess memoirs are a little narcissistic. There were times when I almost thought this guy was a little too entitled, but then he would save it by telling some sort of embarrassing story… I liked him.
First, love the post title. Reading and eating are two of my favourite things to do!
I read and enjoyed WTWP, but didn’t love it as much as so many others around the interwebs did. I am so darn picky about modern fiction that I don’t think I should be able to rate things – haha.
I love, love, love eating the same thing over and over. I find most foods taste better in leftover form and I also love not having to think about dinner on consecutive nights. For several years I would make various food items on Sunday and basically didn’t have to think about cooking again until Wednesday and loved it. I got out of the habit, but have recently gotten back into this routine and it’s as amazing as I remembered it to be. Sunday afternoons are relatively quiet and relaxed at our house (we’re at church until almost 1:00 pm), and since I’m making food for other days there is so little pressure and I really enjoy the act of cooking in that open window of time (as opposed to scrambling to pull things together day-of).
Yes, cooking on Sunday for the next several days is definitely my new favorite thing! It helps if I can serve it in slightly different ways, like I did with those beans. That way I can semi-trick my husband into thinking it’s not the same thing, ha ha.
Thumbs up to WPWT. I enjoyed it so much that I deliberately slowed it down and took my time with it.
I always keep veggie burritos in the freezer. You just never know when you’re going to need a burrito besides ALWAYS. I like the looks of those beans. I usually don’t put cheese in the filling because then I don’t really taste it. I like to have it on top of the burrito where it can be large and in charge.
Once my husband gets a food crush, he can eat it FOR DAYS. I do a fair number of repeat meals myself.
Ooh, you just gave me a great idea! Maybe I’ll freeze some burritos- this recipe made a LOT (since I doubled it) and I’m not sure we’ll get through it.
That mystery looks intriguing. I’ll add that to my (long) list.
Your meals looks so healthy compared to mine lol
My meals do get repetitive but my hubby doesn’t care..
I wish my husband didn’t care! I can tell he’s already tired of the burritos.
Interesting! I really liked the strong female characters in Ten Thousand Doors of January. I liked Bad! I just thought the ending was…weird and rushed and had inexplicable vampirism? Eh. But I thought the main character in Wrong Place Wrong Time was absolutely insufferable! I just wanted her to have a personality that wasn’t just “I’m a mother.” Plus, the ending of that book rubbed me very wrong. Different books for different people, I guess!
Yes, that’s funny we had such an opposite reaction. But I’ll agree that I liked Bad (he was my favorite character) and didn’t really get the vampire thing? That was weird.
That time travel mystery book sounds good.
I don’t mind fixing a big pot of whatever and eating it all week. My husband will only eat leftovers if he’s desperate — or if it was take out Indian food. 😉
Ah, our husbands sound similar. I had a burrito tonight (for the third dinner in a row) but my husband made something else for himself- that’s okay, you can cook your own dinner!
That time travel mystery book sounds good.
I don’t mind fixing a big pot of whatever and eating it all week. My husband will only eat leftovers if he’s desperate — or if it was take out Indian food. 😉
I am totally checking out that Cuban beans recipe! I loooooooove black beans, but typically eat them the same way/s so it would be nice to try something different.
So glad you liked Wrong Place Wrong Time! It was really well done, in my opinion.
You should definitely try this recipe! There’s a long cooking time, but you don’t really have to do anything other than stir them every once in a while.
I did just read Wrong Place Wrong Time and I really enjoyed it! That was a bit of a surprise because I usually loathe time travel – but I thought it really worked in that book!
Yes, it works. This book was surprisingly good!
Ooh all those books sound interesting, but the ultra running wound have to be my first choice. I’m not much for speed, but I have plenty of endurance. I’ve maxed out at 60K (so far), but would like to take on a longer distance someday. And, I love me some leftovers:-)
Yes, I’m definitely more of an endurance person! The book is really good- I think you’d enjoy it.
I also LOVED WPWT. I think it’s very relatable for moms since we take ownership of our kids’ decisions/path in life. And I usually don’t like time travel either but it worked in this book. Like you, I didn’t care for 10k doors. I can’t remember why but I know the book felt like a slog and I did not understand why it was so buzzy.
I just finished a memoir about a woman who worked on Wall Street called Bully Market but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone unless they worked in finance. I found it appalling and interesting. She was treated so badly! Now I am reading another non-fiction book called ‘strangers to ourselves’ which about mental health. It’s too early in the book to say if it’s good or not but I have heard good things!
I love beans. I will have to try that recipe for Cuban beans. That’s right up our alley.
Yes, I remember that you didn’t like Ten Thousand Doors. Now I totally get why.
Try the beans! We really liked them.
I loved and reviewed The Rise of the Ultrarunners a few years ago. I read anything by Adharanand Finn–he is such a gifted wordsmith and could probably make anything sound poetic. Glad you liked it! I was looking at Wrong Place, Wrong Time but it is a Reese’s Book Club read and I’ve been so disappointed in her selections. Based on what you said, I may need to pick it up in the future!
Most people liked WPWT, especially moms, so I think you would like it.
Those two first books sound really interesting. I will try to get my hand on them.
And i would eat the beans and rice will all sorts of veggies on the side. More than once.
I just recently gotten into a bit more of meal prepping because I am just sick of figuring it out daily. And we have some tough times coming up and I don’t want to eat only junk food so I am stocking the fridge. Those beans could be a contender…
Hi Tobia!!! Yes, meal planning (a little) has been helping. Beans are so easy to cook, and they can last a long time! And you can add different things to them, like I did, to make it seem like a slightly different meal.
I tried reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January but I just couldn’t get into it. I abandoned it after 125ish pages. I just didn’t understand what the story was about, lol.
I am SO GLAD you loved Wrong Place, Wrong Time. I thought it was sensational. One of my favorite thrillers this year. I also really loved the way the author explored motherhood and the choices mothers have to make. So good!
Yes, it was a very weird book. I’m actually surprised it was so popular. But WPWT was really good!