Tag: summer reading

Recently Consumed

LaurenLeave a comment

A list of things consumed by my head, heart, eyes, ears and stomach lately.

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It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

This was our August book club read and I honestly thought it was some beach read drivel and okay, parts of it definitely were, but in the end it was a really eye-opening and thought-provoking take on domestic abuse.  I am VERY interested to see what the other ladies in my group thought of it.

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Store Bought Booch

Between vacation and general summer busy-ness, I’ve had a few batches of kombucha that I’ve had to toss and re-brew.  This is totally fine and one of the best things about making your own booch is that your SCOBY is happy-as-a-clam just living in that fermented liquid for an extra week or two.  AKA zero guilt for neglecting your brew for a bit.  Also, not having a fresh batch in the fridge means getting a chance to see what’s on the shelf.  This seasonal flavor roped me right in AND inspired me to make a cherry-lime flavor of my own!

The Incredible Jessica James

Joey downloaded this for us to watch on the flight to Portland and even though we only made it through half and then it took something like three tries to finally finish watching it, I really enjoyed it.  I didn’t LOVE it and felt like it maybe hadn’t found that perfect balance between funny moments and moments with more emotional heft but the main character was a pure delight.  May we all have as much self-confidence as Jessica James!

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Spaghetti with Tomato & Walnut Pesto

Remember when Joey made this for me last summer?  He did it again!  I think it was even better this time around!  The pesto has tomatoes and walnuts obviously, but also lemon zest, anchovies and garlic and even though they’re blitzed together, you can taste every one of those ingredients shining through.  He dished me up a huge bowl and I scarfed the entire thing down in a very ladylike way.

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Young the Giant at Red Rocks

Joywave opened (pass), Cold War Kids followed (meh) and by the time YTG came on I was so over hearing other bands and the wind and rain coming down on us, but then Sameer was dancing and singing and the band was so into it and I was jumping all over and all was right in the world.  What a show and what a bright note to leave Red Rocks Concert Season 2017 on.

The Big Sick

I’d been wanting to see this film all summer, so when we found ourselves without any Friday night plans, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  I laughed A LOT during this movie!  Kumail Nanjiani is a comedic gem and support from Aidy Bryant and Bo Burnham didn’t hurt.  Again though, I didn’t LOVE it and couldn’t really place my finger on why.  It had a ton of heart and beautifully depicted just how difficult it is for second generation Americans to figure out their own beliefs in contrast to their parents’ beliefs but I just kept thinking that if I hadn’t known it was a true story, I would have found the plot very strange.

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The Eclipse!

I think of myself as a pretty on-top-of-it type of person, but I guess I didn’t fully realize how big of a deal this eclipse was.  Cut to Joey and I not buying eclipse glasses when we were JUST IN OREGON.  What were we even doing??  Luckily, we work for a construction company so we had welding shields and smoke glasses and made due.  On the one hand, the eclipse was kind of anti-climactic but on the other hand, how cool is it that we got to see it?  And even cooler were all those crescent-shaped shadows on the ground!!  Mark my words, I’ll be ready for 2024!

This 9-Minute Workout

Or did this workout consume me?  Our 15K training plan said we should “stretch and strengthen” on Monday so I found this “easy little workout plan” for us and 2 minutes in, we realized it was NOT going to be easy.  Going to simultaneously feel dread and determination every Monday for the next five weeks.

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Affogato

A couple of months ago, Joey and I finally made it to Dio Mio and were blown away by that hand-made pasta and sun-drenched community table so when I realized they had affogato on their dessert menu and I could kill two birds with one stone by going back, we jumped at the chance.  Verdict: We still loved it!  It’s not what I’d call cheap, especially for an order at the counter place, but the drinks were still delicious, the pasta was still cheesy and plentiful and I think I could drink that bagna cauda sauce underneath the broccoli rabe.  As for the affogato… tasted like vanilla ice cream and espresso.  Can you imagine?  Also, caffeine at 7 PM was a terrible terrible decision.

The Light of Paris by Eleanor Brown

I borrowed this from my mom, who borrowed it from client, who had it signed by the author!  It was a sweet little story that included scenes from the most beautiful city I’ve ever visited and, though I’m usually more into stories from the past than the present — nothing pulls you out of a book quicker than mention of Starbucks or Siri — this one included both and I actually liked both.  No Starbucks or iPhone talk, thankfully!  Definitely an enjoyable read.

In other news, it’s cabin weekend and there’s going to be tacos and peach galette, so I’ll be off in my happy place.  Wishing you the same (tacos and galette included)!

Recent Reads

Lauren2 Comments

My new thing is carrying a book around with me — to the couch, to the hammock, to bed — then playing on my phone instead.  It still counts as reading, if you have a book near you, right??  The writing just enters your brain via osmosis, I think.  Okay, but in all seriousness, I have still been a lunch break/before bed reading machine and I finished these two books recently and wanted to share my thoughts with you.

As always, SPOILER WARNING!

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The Unseen World by Liz Moore

A lot of times, I think I have my mind made up on a book and then I go to book club, hear so many good points made by the other ladies in the group and re-think my whole opinion.  That was the case with this book.  I originally rated it four stars but after discussing it, I came to the very real conclusion that it had way too much going on plot-wise.  I went home and tried to give Joey a quick synopsis and 10 minutes later, I was DEAD SURE this book had too much going on.

It’s about a young girl (Ada) and her single father (David) who, very bright himself, raises her to value intelligence over everything.  He home-schools her and every day she works alongside him and his team in the computer science lab he runs, until Ada discovers her father has Alzheimer’s.  Suddenly, all sorts of questions about David’s past (that he cannot answer) come up and it turns out his name and all the stories he’s told Ada about his life before she was born were a cover up.  Factor in a secondary plot line about a virtual reality program, a love story and jumping back and forth between time periods and you have the makings of a unnecessarily complicated story.  Just writing that paragraph was stressful!

If this book had just been about a socially inept single father raising a daughter who had to navigate the real world once her father developed Alzheimer’s, I would have liked it so much better.  That being said, the relationship between Ada and David was really beautiful, the character development was well done and the writing was enjoyable so it really wasn’t a pain to get through this one.

The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales by Kirsty Logan

One of my Read Harder Challenge tasks was to read a collection of stories by a woman and this one was only a few dollars on Amazon so I went with it and ended up LOVING it!  They’re all short stories so I could get lost in one over lunch and WHOA, did I love that.  I just kept thinking “why don’t I read more short stories?!”  The format is so approachable and I’d end up blown away by the plot/emotion that could come through in just a few pages of writing.

They’re, as the title suggests, somewhat like a fairytale, but also jarring and heartbreaking and delightful and never what you expect.  I didn’t love every single story, but I can genuinely say they were all interesting and some of them I straight adored.  Favorites were “The Rental Heart,” “Underskirts,” “The Broken West,” “Coin-Operated Boys,” “The Gracekeeper” and “The Light Eater.”

What are you reading right now?

Have you ever read a collection of short stories?  I’d love another recommendation!