It's Monday... or at least I think it is. The past week has been a 4th of July holiday blur! Twin A was home for the opening weekend, while Daughter #1 arrived Tuesday and returned to NYC yesterday. We had multiple family gatherings, spent time on the boat and in the pool, watched fireworks, shopped, celebrated birthdays, and even spent a few hours reading.
Finished this week//
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
Anne Tyler never disappoints! Book brief coming soon.
Current reading//
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
A read/listen combination, I'm completely immersed in this multi-generational family saga.
Up next//
The Wife by Meg Wolitzer
My plan is to read this before the film, starring Glenn Close, is released next month.
On the blog//
My Summer Reading List
Midyear Musings and a List of Favorites
In the kitchen//
During last week's heat wave, most of the serious cooking happened outdoors on the grill. For the 4th, I went with cold appetizers - Caprese Skewers with balsamic drizzle and shrimp cocktail.
I also prepared a couple of cold side dishes - Fresh Corn Tomato Salad (recipe from Food Network) and Chilled Lemon-Dill Cucumber Noodles from kitchen. Yes, I'm still using the spiralizer. I did heat up the oven for desserts - Classic Cherry Pie and Blueberry-Ricotta Cake. The original cake recipe from Bon Appétit Magazine calls for raspberries, but I often use blueberries instead.
The week ahead//
Another trip to the dentist... I have to have a crown replaced. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous, so I'd like to take a long walk or two in some of our nearby parks. I'm also hoping for a relaxing afternoon or two reading by the lake.
How was you week? What have you been reading?
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Sounds like you had a lovely holiday...and A Spool of Blue Thread was a book to love. I'm looking forward to Tyler's newest book, releasing tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, and here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES
Laurel-Rain Snow - My daughter finished A Spool of Blue Thread on the train back to NYC and she loved it, too. I'm already looking forward to her new one!
DeleteHaving the holiday on Wednesday made it a kind of crazy week, didn't it? I hired someone to cook pulled pork and brisket for us so all I had to do was make the sides. No tomatoes here, though - our nephew was visiting and that's the one thing he won't eat.
ReplyDeleteKathy - My BIL has a smoker, so he did pulled pork and chicken for the 4th. Making just sides and desserts was fun :)
DeleteI love that your Caprese salad still looks patriotic! It was so nice to have two fresh and pleasant days after (or, unfortunately, in the midst of) our heatwave. I took a couple of long walks while listening to The Provincial Lady Goes Further, by E.M. Delafield, and I've just started Adam Gopnik's Paris to the Moon for Paris in July (obviously), which I have been meaning to read for ages. Do you know, I have never read Anne Tyler? Should I start with this one?
ReplyDeleteAudrey - The patriotic Caprese salad was pure luck... my favorite round serving plate split in half and the blue one was a new replacement. I've had Paris to the Moon here for ages, but am never motivated to pick it up. Surprised you've never read Anne Tyler. I think you'd be fine starting with A Spool of Blue Thread... my daughter just finished it on the train yesterday. It was her first Tyler novel and she loved it.
DeleteSounds like you had a great holiday. I can understand losing track of what day it is. A holiday in the middle of the week just added to my confusion. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteKathy - The Wednesday holiday had us all pretty confused, but it was an excellent week nonetheless! Hope yours is off to a good start :)
DeleteI've heard great things about A Spool of Blue Thread.
ReplyDeleteThe food you made looks delicious!
Thanks, Angela. I really enjoyed A Spool of Blue Thread. It's been almost 5 years since I've read an Anne Tyler novel, but it won;t be that long before I read another!
DeleteI just must read an Anne Tyler book to see if I like her style of book. Is that a photo of your garden? I love those flowers. Stunning.
ReplyDeleteKathryn - I hope you give Anne Tyler a try... she never disappoints. Yes, that is one of my purple-themed pots that I put together for my garden this year.
DeleteYour July 4th food looks yummy. The Anne Tyler book looks really good. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteYvonne - It's always a treat for me to read Anne Tyler! Hope you have a great week, too :)
DeleteThose Caprese skewers look wonderful! It's been a while since I've made a Caprese salad and you've inspired me to get the ingredients tomorrow so I can make one to go with our steaks. Mmmmm.
ReplyDeleteI had a fun week meeting up with two bloggers. Kay (Kay's Reading Life) was visiting the Oregon coast with her hubby, so we had lunch one day and then we both headed inland a little ways and had lunch with Robin (A Fondness for Reading). We had a wonderful time talking about books, food, travel, etc. So much fun meeting up with blogmates!
Right now I'm reading My Life In France by Julia Child. I'm enjoying it, but I can't say that it's one I'll keep or read again. I find myself looking to see how many more pages I have left...
Les - How wonderful you were able to meet up with Kay and Robin again! I've met a few bloggers over the years and it's always so much fun.
DeleteI loved the audio version of My Life in France, but remember thinking it might have been a different story in print.
Now that was an awesome week of festiviousness! I really hope that’s a word!
ReplyDeletePatty - If that wasn't a word, it is now!! ;-)
DeleteSounds like a heavenly week! That corn tomato salad looks delicious, will have to keep that in mind for a BBQ we're having next month.
ReplyDeleteAngela Lawrence - I made that corn tomato salad in Florida last winter and have been waiting for a chance to serve it here. My family loved it!
DeleteYour 4th of July table spread looks lovely. You are quite the cook and entertainer - jealous. Looking forward to the new Anne Tyler book.
ReplyDeleteDiane - Thank you! I love experimenting with new recipes, then sharing the successes with family and friends :)
DeleteIt all looks and sounds wonderful! I listened to "A Spool of Blue Thread" on a car trip. I agree Anne Tyler doesn't disappoint. I just text a friend about her new release. I am the self appointed book alert person. I love doing it! I hope many hours of reading by the water. Hugs!
ReplyDeleteBonnie - I started listening to audiobooks about 15 years ago and Anne Tyler's were always so well done. Decided at that time she had become an "audio author" for me. A Spool of Blue Thread was a read/listen combination for me - it was great to read her in print again, but Kimberly Farr does a wonderful job narrating the audio, too. I've become the book alert person around here and agree - it is fun!
DeleteI like Spool of Blue Thread -- she's definitely one of my go-to authors. It's been horribly hot here too, though a bit better over the weekend.
ReplyDeleteBeth F - My daughter and sister both read A Spool of Blue Thread last week and they love it, too. I'm looking forward to her new novel, though still have a couple of older ones to catch up on.
DeleteI'm glad you told us that The Wife movie is coming out. The trailer of it looks good. Maybe I will get to the novel before then too. thanks!
ReplyDeleteSusan - The trailer looks great! The Wife would be my third Wolitzer novel this year. I'm on a quest to read her entire backlist.
DeleteThe Caprese skewers are too adorable! What perfect summery appetizers! I really want to read both A Spool of Blue Thread and Pachinko. I really enjoy a multigenerational immersive read. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteKatherine - I've reached a point where I don't want to put Pachinko down! Not even halfway through, but already have a feeling it will end up on my 'best of' list in December.
DeleteI'm so glad to hear of your wonderful Fourth of July week.
ReplyDeleteI would say that this year I've had 3 stellar audio reads.
The first is the one I'm reading now, Old in Art School by Nell Irvin Painter-- (an enlightening, very, very provocative read!)
The second is Educated: A Memoir. I listened to this "flying by the seat of my pants," it was that harrowing but so compelling.
The third was the audio version of the Prince Charles bio published in late 2017, written by Sally Bedall Smith, who also wrote a well-balanced bio, Elizabeth The Queen. I thought the narration was exceptional, and the bio offered no hero-worship of Charles, rather an honest, no holds barred view of his weaknesses, strengths, and peculiar oddities. He came across as a real person from a very old order. Princes William and Harry so far are living their lives and living as Royals without all that old baggage. Very long, but extremely interesting and well worth the time.
Judith - So happy to see this comment! I added Old in Art School to my list after reading your post, I'm next on the list for the audio version of Educated, and I've had Bedall's bio of Prince Charles on my list ever since it was published. Have been wondering whether audio might be the way to go... not sure I could get through that one in print.
DeleteVicki - Hooray! Read or listen... it's a very good book :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've had a lovely time with family, food and books. The last week has been another hot one. During which I was gripped by historical fiction Eleanor of Aquitaine by Christopher Nicole and I tried the yummy, new recipe, Chilli Salad Bowls from my Hairy Dieter's cookbook.
ReplyDeleteJessicabookworm - Our holiday week was just about perfect! I haven't read much historical fiction yet this year... hope read some in the second half. The Chili Salad Bowls sound delicious.
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