About four years ago, as the world was still dealing with the effects of the COVID pandemic, I started a blog. I’ll be honest now. I wanted it to become “big.” I wanted it to be popular, similar to the food blogs I read and visit online often.
It didn’t take me long to realize that running and maintaining a food blog of that caliber is a full time job. And unless I was willing and able to put in the work, that it would be a long shot for me to achieve that goal. I guess I assumed that it would happen overnight. How delusional I was!
Hi there! I’m still spending most of my time reading. I’m currently working my way through the largest book I’m attempting to read so far this year. It’s Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. During my drives, I’m chugging along with Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth. I’m really enjoying both so far. Is it spring yet?? It sure doesn’t feel like it. Even though it’s supposed to be.
I cannot believe that we are now only days away from the start of spring. What a ride winter was! This winter was a lot like last winter, when we didn’t see that much snow. And the few storms we did get, ended up being just the right amount of snow and inconvenience that I didn’t hate it all too much. That said, I cannot wait until the Earth makes its turn towards Spring for real and we can have longer days and warmer weather.
I did not intend to take such a long hiatus from the blog. However, after the New Year my life, once again, became quite busy since I entered production on another community theater show. Having next to no time in the evenings for a solid seven weeks was really difficult and I found myself getting burnt out. I couldn’t even use the blog as an escape because I just didn’t have the energy to bake anything, or even write anything. (Honestly, I didn’t really have the time to do it either.) Even though I really wanted to. I thought about blogging a lot over the last couple of months and I realized that I did miss it.
Instead of turning to blogging, which I do enjoy but can be time-consuming, I decided on a much more relaxing activity. I think, in a way, I used it as a coping mechanism for dealing with the stresses of the show and work. The activity: Reading. And boy, did I “read hard.”
So far in 2024, I’ve read seven books! Now that may not sound like a lot for “seasoned” readers, but just for perspective, I read a total of 9 books in 2023 and in 2022 I read 8. I intend to meet the 2023 goal by the end of the month. Actually I should reach 8 books read by the middle of this week.
It is often a misconception that people who work in libraries spend a good chunk of their free time reading. Heck, some people even think that librarians read on-the-job. That is a false assumption. Yes, we might read the occasional news article, but sitting behind the desk, reading a book, while we wait for patrons is not something that is allowed. In any library. Anywhere.
While we may not read at work, we do read outside of work. For most of my library career, I jumped between print book and e-books, reading on occasion and really struggled with the “so many books, so little time” mentality. A few years ago I branched in audiobooks and that help me to knock out a few additional books a year.
It wasn’t until this January that I made the conscious decision to devote more time to reading in 2024. And so far, I think I’ve done that. I was so excited to start my reading journey that I joined a new reading community app called StoryGraph. It is both similar and different to Goodreads. It’s similar in the sense that it tracks your TBR, currently reading, read titles and your reading challenges, as well as offers suggestions for books you may like. It also has a social network aspect. However, I find StoryGraph to have a lot more “nerdy” features such as charts that analyze your reading, a buddy-read function, and more. I really love the fact that StoryGraph seamlessly integrates both audiobooks and ebooks into the platform. This was something I found Goodreads to be lacking in, especially in the digital era. Also StoryGraph is an indie company, so if that is something you like to support, and you’re a reader, give them a look. I’m personally loving it so far!
I do still update my Goodreads account, for now. But I will probably migrate fully to StoryGraph by the end of the year. I decided to add Goodreads to my website and you can view the widget at the bottom of this page, if you’re interested.
Books I’ve Read in 2024 So Far
So far, 2024 has been a boon for me in the reading department. I will soon finish my 8th book for the year and March isn’t even half over! Here’s a list of the books I’ve read so far.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett (Take a trip back to the early 1900s and a join an academic as she conducts research for her next assignment. A perfect winter read!)
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (Return to the Cosmere with this stand-alone work that takes readers on a wild sea-faring adventure through oceans made of deadly spores.)
Sanctuary of the Shadow by Aurora Ascher (I read this originally because my friend wanted to buddy-read it, but I ended up beating them through it. This book is romantasy as its finest, where the story is definetly more romance than fantasy. An interesting concept, but not really my cup of tea.)
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (Where have the Shadowhunters been all my life?! This first foray into the world of the Shadowhunters has made me a huge fan and I can’t wait to read more! I’m just sorry that I arrived to the party a little too late. Cassandra Clare has announced that there is only going to be one more Shadowhunters trilogy.)
A Court of Thorns and Roses – Adapted Audiobook (As a librarian, we often get roped into reading some things that other people we work with are reading. Sometimes it’s because a book is very popular and we want to see why for ourselves. I started this series since Sarah J. Maas is really hot right now and I wanted to see what all the fuss is about. Since I was doing a lot of driving with the show, I opted for this adapted audiobook and it made the story so much better!)
City of Ashesby Cassandra Clare (I couldn’t stay away from the Shadowhunters for very long. This book was so much better than the first one. And I’m aching to dive back into this series. Perhaps the third one will be the next book I read.)
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. (Okay, this book is big. Like 620+ pages big. And I read it in 2 weeks. That’s with skipping a day. So basically I read this book in 13 days! Yes, it’s that good. And the twist at the end…I’m still stunned.)
My Currently Reading List
At the moment, I am reading two books. One is technically an audiobook. As you might have noticed from the list above, I’m a big reader of fantasy. So I decided to start one of the longest and most popular fantasy series of all time: Discworld by Terry Pratchett.
While I do regret starting with The Color of MagicI’m so close to finishing, I think I can stick it out. I am finding the book a little confusing and boring. But I’ve been told that this might not have been the best book to start with and I do plan to give other books in this series a chance. There’s a whole sub-series about Witches. That in and of itself piques my interest more. So here’s to keeping my fingers crossed.
The audiobook I’m listening to is Ken Follett’s masterpiece The Pillars of the Earth. Set during the Middle Ages (a time period I studied extensively in college), it follows the story of a man who dream it is to build a cathedral. Follett does an excellent job of accurately portraying monastic life as well as the life of commoners. While the story is a big slow-moving, it is beautifully written and I wish I was able to devote long stretches of time listening to this story.
Books on the Horizon
After I finished A Court of Mist and Fury I started the third book in the series, A Court of Wings and Ruin. But I think I needed a break from it, because the drive to continue to story wasn’t there. At least not at this moment. I think it has something to do with how the second book ended. I’ll get back to it eventually, just not right now.
Finish Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon. This is the second book in the Outlander series. I started it last summer, but shortly after starting my new job, I stopped reading it and haven’t picked it up since. I was about a third of the way through and suddenly I’m having the urge to return to the story of Clare and Jamie.
City of Glassby Cassandra Clare. The third book of the Mortal Instruments series is still calling my name. I really want to see where this story goes, especially once we visit additionally locations and time periods.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas. Thanks to another buddy read interested friend, this may be the next book I start. Will I beat my friend with this book like I did last time? Probably. Especially since I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while.
If you’ve read this far, thank you for sticking with me. Recipes posts will return soon, I promise. Or maybe this blog will slowly become a books and reading blog. Booktok, anyone??
For the first time in nearly two years, Connecticut is going get a snow storm. And a snow storm it will be. They’re predicting anywhere from 5 to 12 inches for the state. Though my area may see more like 4-8.
You may think that snow storm may be the perfect time for me to settle in and bake something earthy and homey like bread or chocolate rolls. But I decided that I’m not going to bake this weekend. Instead, I plan to enjoy the snowfall, curl up on the couch with a hot beverage and read a nice book. It just so happens that the book I’m currently reading is set in winter, too. My current read is a romance-fantasy entitled Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. It’s a pretty light read, perfect for a snowy Sunday.
How I plan to spend my Sunday.
Perhaps if I’m utterly bored after reading for three hours, or more likely 23.6 minutes, I’ll whip something up in the kitchen, though my ingredient options will be limited. Unfortunately, I’m working Saturday before the storm and plan to head straight home after the library closes. Any shopping that is needed for baking or otherwise will be left to the Chemist to sort out. May the Gods be ever in his favor!
Even though this is an Ina Garten cook-through blog, I have been broadening my recipe stash and blog posts since the beginning of 2021. Every so often I take a break from Ina’s recipes and when I do, I try to go plant-based. Over the years, I’ve toyed with going vegetarian or full-on vegan. As of yet, that has yet to happen…just look at a few recipe reviews posts.
However, I am still trying to include more plants in my diet on a regular basis. Thus, I have amassed a collection of cookbooks — both in print and on my Kindle e-reader — that have come in handy over the last couple of months.
Below, I have included photos of some of my favorites. You’ll notice that many of them are “general cookbooks.” The huge tomes that cover the gambit. Think Joy of Cooking but for plant eaters!
This book was one of the first vegetarian cookbooks I purchased! It is still a great reference and resource for me. Plus with Bittman’s extensive knowledge of all types of culinary escapades, I feel good making one of these recipes since I can trust them.
This book has a much different tone than that of Mark Bittman’s book. The author’s humor and love for food easily comes across on each page. There are some great recipes in here, and Dragonwagon’s approach to plant-based meals is much more loosey-goosey than other authors. This makes it a great book for beginners!
I call this one the “Vegan Bible.” It literally has every recipe you could ever want as a vegan. I highly recommend this book, especially since many of the recipes are approachable, even for those starting out on a vegan journey. If you are looking to buy a vegan cookbook, make it this one!
Some books that I have on my Kindle e-reader include:
Love Real Food by Kathryne Taylor, the creator of the food blog Cookie + Kate. It has many wonderful recipes that are whole food and plant-based. One added benefit is many of them include ways in which to make the recipe vegan or gluten free.
American’s Test Kitchen The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook by the Chefs at America’s Test Kitchen. While I know that the Mediterranean Diet is not vegetarian or vegan, it is plant-based. It uses animal protein to supplement the plant-based proteins. Even if you ignore the meat-based chapters, there are still some wonderful, tried and true recipes in this book!
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I hope you enjoyed this peek into a small section of my cookbook shelf.
