This book is moving to the top of my list as my favorite book I've read so far. What an amazing true story. This book is appealing because it is the story of a man who seems like an ordinary person, but is so full of love and compassion that is able to accomplish unthinkable tasks. I love the story of his path. How he wants everything to happen in a moment, but is required to exercise patience. Mostly I love that although the path is hard, it seems as though divine providence is guiding him. Just when it seems that all is lost, the way opens. It is a beautiful story. I am now in the part of the story when he is building 3 schools each spring. The year is 1998. Knowing what is coming in history, I am worried that terrorism and Islamic radicalism is about to destroy his efforts. Sometimes I forget that in these warring nations filled with men seeking to destroy our freedoms, there are beautiful people and children. It is too easy to forget.
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson has been on my list for a while. I have heard great things about the real changes this man has been able to make through education. I became even more excited after Mr. Mortenson presented at BYU. His stories of the value of education, particularly the value of educating girls, drew me in. I have a firm belief that education is the way to change the world. I am excited to read this one and I am hopeful there are some more of you out there who have read this as well. Let me know what you think.
I loved this book! It was recommended by my friend Camille and I would highly recommend it as well. I read the description a few months ago and I wasn't that interested. Sometimes reading about civil rights, just makes me feel guilty for things I had no control over. This book is more than a depressing story about the African American plight. It is about people. It tells the stories of all kinds of relationships and choices and consequences. It makes you realize how things can seem so important in the moment, but in the eyes of history, when you know the world is changing, how ridiculous important things can become. It also tells the story of how inhuman, humans can behave. It made me think about how I respond to people, not just to people who are of a different race, but to all the people in my life. I hope you will love this book, but if not, I hope at least this book makes you think.
I finished The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and I would definitely recommend this to adults, but not to kids. It is young adult fiction, but I found the violence to disturbing for anyone under 15ish. We have grown accustomed to pretend violence among kids in books like Harry Potter and recently in the vampire series Twilight. But something seems more real about this story. It is a bit of a cross between The Giver and Lord of the Rings. With that said, I liked the book and it is definitely a page turner. I was much more interested in the action than the love story, which is strange for me, but the love story felt a bit false. Then ending leaves you hanging and hungry for more. I haven't picked up the sequel yet and I am excited to read it, but I better get in line. These books are tough to get at the library. I might have to get a little violent myself, if I want to get a copy in the next decade.
I started reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins because it came in from the library and I only have it for a couple of weeks. I have been anticipating this book because so many friends told me how good it was. I am not going to disagree with them. It is a compelling story. It has been tough to put down and I have almost finished the 300 page book in 24 hours. But I have to admit that I am shocked by it's casual portrayal of violence. Am I the only one out there who feels this way. I believe that this was the authors purpose. To show us how numb we could become to human life. I kept thinking that things would work out and that no one would actually die, but that has not been the case. It reminds me of the shock I felt in The Giver when we discover that the father's job was to basically kill children that did not "belong" in their society. So what are your thoughts on this one. And please don't tell me the ending. I am on pins and needles to discover it myself.
Yes, making homemade chicken broth takes 5 hours. Yes, you have to wait two hours for it to cool before you put it in the fridge. Yes, I requires you to touch a whole raw chicken. But there is no comparison in the flavor of your soups and stews. The other advantage is that in the process of making broth, you cook a whole chicken which you can use in other dishes. The breasts turn out so delicious.
Here's how it goes. Get a really big pot. Put the whole chicken in the pot. Pour in 1 1/2 gallons cold water. Bring it to a boil and then turn the heat down to low. Skim off the foam but leave the fat. Add a whole carrot, a halved onion, head of garlic, a celery stalk, salt, black peppercorns, and a bouquet of fresh herbs. After 1 hour, remove the chicken breasts and return the rest of the chicken to the broth. Simmer for 4-5 hours. Strain. Allow to cool before you put it in the fridge or freezer.
The next day I made chicken noodle soup with onions and oil, broth, carrots, turnips, and the left over chicken. I added noodles to the broth and let them cook during the last 20ish minutes. It was so yummy!
So, I got a little behind on my posts this week. Sorry about that. The next section of The Art of Simple Food covers sauces and vinaigrette. Although, I haven't tried making it yet, I learned that aioli is a fancy word for mayonnaise. I did make the simple vinaigrette which is so easy to whip up and delicious on everything (I ate it on tacos). Here's how it goes...start with 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, add salt and pepper, whisk in 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil. That's it. You can add fresh garlic if you want, but then it will need to be eaten quickly or refrigerated. It tastes delicious on salads with fruit or vegetables.
The next section is about salads, which you make think is odd because who needs to learn to make a salad, but I loved the info she shared. First of all she encouraged you to salt each of the vegetables you will add to the salad before you add them to the greens so that their flavors come out in the salad. Also, you should dress the greens with dressing (she suggests you toss them with your hands) and then add the other items to the top of the greens and add more dressing on the top. Do not toss again or all your additions go to the bottom. It is amazing how much better a salad tastes that is prepared this way.
I am going to skip the next section which is about bread because I am not much of a bread eater. In my next post I will fill you in on the wonders of making fresh chicken broth. Yummy! I know you can hardly wait.
A note before I start my commentary on this book. This is not a cookbook; it is a cooking book. Although you will find recipes in the book, the book if filled with instruction about how to cook. I told my roommate yesterday that I feel like as I read the book, I am actually taking a class. I have been applying the things I am learning, and enjoying some delicious meals. This makes me even more excited about the book. I hope some of you are able to locate a copy, so that we can learn together.
The first two sections of the book teach you about the ingredients and tools you should keep on hand. Most of the food items were not a surprise and were things I already like to use. I did feel envious of people who have windows were they can grow fresh herbs all year (I live in a basement apartment). One ingredient that surprised me was canned anchovies. I have never cooked with anchovies and would not consider them a staple for my kitchen, but maybe I will have to try them.
One thing I appreciated from this section is the information on eating what is in season. I am beginning to understand the rhythm of what you find fresh in the grocery store during various seasons, but I am definitely still learning. It is difficult to know what is in season, because we can get strawberries from South America in early fall, but does that mean they are actually nice and yummy? I am trying to pay attention to what actually looks delicious and fresh. Right now it seems like apples and squash are the thing to eat.
She also gives some good information on pans. She likes cast iron and earthenware pots and pans because they are thick and distribute the heat well. She also teaches about various cutting techniques, which was new to me. This is good info, but I am still too impatient to cut up anything fine. A rough chop is always quick and easy.
This was a good place to start. Next post I will comment on sauces and salad dressings.
I am in love with Alice Water's The Art of Simple Food. I got this book from my friend Camille for my birthday (Thanks, Camille!) If you want to learn how cooking works, this is a book that you are going to want to buy. This is a great read for this season of great eating. Alice Waters has started a Delicious Revolution that is centered in the principle of using simple, fresh, ingredients that are in season and sold or grown locally. The result is amazing flavor. Here is my favorite quote from the introduction.
Good cooking is no mystery. You don't need years of culinary training, or rare and costly foodstuffs, or an encyclopedia knowledge of world cuisines. You need only your five senses. You need good ingredients, too, of course, but in order to choose and prepare them, you need to experience them fully. It's the many dimensions of sensual experience that make cooking so satisfying. You never stop learning. (p. 4)
I am so excited about the things I am learning. The book is set up in sections and I plan to share a little tidbit from each section so you can learn with me. By the way I made the most amazing chicken noodle soup tonight with homemade chicken stock. It was amazing. I will share more when I write about the soup section. Stay posted!
Nathaniel Philbrick's Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War is a must read for the Thanksgiving season. I picked this one up because I have been feeling that my education had been somewhat inadequate and I had many gaps in my understanding of American History. I decided to start at the beginning with some of the first settlers in America.
The first half of this book told of the voyage on the Mayflower, the selecting of a place to live, and the beginnings of a settlement in Plymouth Harbor. I was drawn in to the stories of how the residents of Plymouth made alliances with the Indians, which allowed some of them to survive those first brutal winters. This is the reason we celebrate Thanksgiving, but you might be interested to know what was the same and what was different at that first feast. For one thing, the main dish was not Turkey!
I'll have to admit that the second half of the book was rather long and less interesting to me. It told of a war that was started by King Phillip, an Indian, and killed a large percentage the early settlers and Indians that were living on the east coast of America at the time. I appreciated learning about a part of history that I was unaware had happened, but I found the details about the war less interesting than the stories of the early settlement.
If you have read this book, let me know what you thought. If you have not, this is a great book to pick up as we are approaching Thanksgiving.
I decided this final post should be in letter format to align with the theme of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I hope you all have picked up this book and have fallen in love with the jumble of characters living in Guernsey. I have to say I enjoyed the simple story line, with hints toward the serious topic of World War II. I was curious to see if the author could really tell the whole story through letters. I assumed the idea would break down eventually, but she (they) proved me wrong. Every detail was included by carefully selecting who was writing the letter and to whom they wrote. Very clever idea! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. And this book made me think I need to take a real trip so I can write letters about my adventures. Or, just have a new adventure. Happy Reading!
My favorite Dr. Suess book is called And To Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street. If you haven't read this one, it is about a boy whose dad always asks him what he saw on the way home from school. As he is walking home, all he sees is a horse and a wagon, which of course is not very exciting. So he spends his walk home, imagining all the exciting things that he could tell his dad that he saw on Mulberry Street. When he gets home, his dad asks him what he saw today, and instead of sharing all the amazing things he imagined, he simply reports that all he saw was a plain horse and wagon. I love this story because I feel such a kinship with this boy. I feel like my life is full of interesting moments, events, and activities. Whenever I get on the phone with someone and they ask the dreaded question, "What have you been up to?", my mind goes blank. I usual reply is, "Not much." I even find myself sometimes preparing for the question during the week by carefully keeping note of all the exciting things that happen, but too often, like the boy in the story, all my careful planning causes me to see nothing more than a plain horse and wagon on Mulberry Street.
I am so excited to have all of you reading with me! It's so fun to read your comments. I added some rules to the sidebar. They aren't really rules, just some ideas for making this blog work. You can read them to the right of this post.
I am excited to keep reading with you. Or at least reading and having some people to talk with about my books!
So I am still in the middle of letters coming and going from Juliet and the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. This seems to be a group of hodge podge people who, for various random reasons, came together to read books on a small island off England during World War II. They are all coming to life and I find myself wanting to know who Dawsey will turn out to be, he is the one who first contacted Juliet, and Elizabeth McKenna, her sorted past has me wondering, but don't even get me started on Adelaide Addison, if you have read this book, you know what I am talking about. There are so many characters now, I feel like I am going to need a chart to keep them all straight. Anyone out there reading this book with me?
I am going to try something new on this blog and try posting as I read. You can see on the sidebar that I am currently reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. This book was recommended by my sister-in-law Thomalee (Thanks Thomalee!). I wish I could tell you what this book is about, but I am really not sure yet. I opened it up last night and started reading it and I was surprised to find that is a series of letters between lots of people. In fact you really have to pay attention to know who is talking about what. I am intrigued with the story. Is it a love story? And if so, who is in love? Is it Juliet and Sidney or Juliet and the guy sending her flowers? And how does this literary society even fit in to the story? You can see I have a lot of questions so far, but I think I am going to like this one. If you have read this you are welcome to comment below, but the rule here is that you or I can never leave a spoiler, so please play by the rules. And if you haven't read this one, pick up a copy and join me.
I have decided to also post anecdotes about reading on this site because it is fun to think about the pleasure of reading. I think I was too young to remember when my love affair with books began, but I do have early recollections of the way reading made me feel. My favorite series growing up was the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I don't know how many times I read this series as a girl. I can still recall vivid images of Pa playing his fiddle as the wolves howled in the distance, I remember Laura and Mary throwing the pig's bladder back and forth after the family hog was slaughtered, but mostly I remember Almonzo coming to pick Laura up to bring her home for the weekend when she was teaching school. I always thought I was like brown haired, slightly naughty, Laura, while my sister Michelle was like blonde haired, always perfect, Mary. I feel like I lived those years with Laura and if I met her today, I would expect that we would sit down and visit like old friends.
Book #2 is The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian. I have mixed feelings about Bohjalian's writing. I read Midwives years ago and the story still comes back to my mind occasionally which for me is a sign of a good story. It brought me in and kept me interested throughout the book. I also read Before You Know Kindness which made less of an impact on me. The story was slow and I didn't feel as strongly as the topic. So when I saw The Double Bind on the library shelf, I thought it would be worth a try. The book is about a girl who survives a brutal attack that occurred in college while she was riding her bike. We meet her a few years later after she has graduated from college and is now working as a social worker in a homeless shelter. She meets a mentally ill homeless man who had been carrying around a box of photos for years. After he dies, she takes the photos and begins some research to attempt to uncover the story of the man's life. The story doesn't really get more exciting than that. Throughout the book I caught myself asking, "Who cares?" more than once. The book is redeemed by it's ending which is clever and unexpected. If you know the ending, please don't leave any spoilers in your comments, just in case someone wants to pick this one up. One thing I liked about the book is that Bohjalian had gotten the idea from the story from an actual homeless man who had been a photographer and left behind a box of photos when he died. These photos were included throughout the book which gave the story some reality. So if you have picked this one up or read any of Bohjanlian's other stories let me know what you think. On another note, I am finding it hard to check out and read books from the library. Most of the books I want I have to put on a waiting list and when they come in I am usually reading another book and I don't have time to pick the new one up. So then a few weeks go by and the book is due at the library. I am grateful for the library system, but it is a bit tricky to create a system of picking up, reading, and returning that actually works. Anyone else have this problem?
This book is the first book I read as I began my project. I found it on the New York Times best seller list and it had an interesting premise. A man loses his young daughter in a horrifying kidnapping and murder crime and struggles to deal with his feelings of guilt, anger, and loss. God invites him to come back to the shack where the crime takes place and spend the weekend with him. So far it sounds pretty interesting, right? Things get a little strange when he gets to the shack and God the Father is represented by a large black woman, Jesus is represented by Jesus, and the Holy Ghost is represented by an Asian woman.
Although the strange portrayal of God didn't appeal to me and I grew tired of the long sermons on how things really are, I still liked the story. We all have demons in our lives that haunt us for years and the truth is we need God, maybe not God as a large black woman, but God Himself to help us work through them.
Let me know if you have read this book or have any insights to share.
A few months ago, I decided to make a list of 100 books I want to read. I consulted many lists. Lists of the best books of all time, lists of books you should read before you die, lists of best sellers, and friends list's of their top reads. I currently only have a list of about 50 books, but I am confident by the end of this experiment I will find my list of 100. Although I selected books that looked good to me, I am not claiming that this is a list of 100 books you should read before you die or 100 of the best books of all time. Instead, it is a list of 100 books that looked interesting to me and I hope it will be a list of 100 books that other people will share comments about. I am not sure how long this project will take, but I am guessing it will keep me busy for a long time. So I hope you will come along with me and maybe will read a few books together.
Please leave ideas of books to read on any post Feel free to make comment on old posts as you read the book No spoilers! Happy Reading!
What Am I Reading Now?
Let's read together...here is the book I am currently reading.
What am I Planning to Read Next?
A List of Heidi's Picks
-The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shafer -The Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick -The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters -The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins -The Help by Kathryn Stockett -Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson -Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler, MPH -The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt -The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield -How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer -1776 by David McCullough -Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford -Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman
