My daughter has declared lime & lemon icebox pies a summer tradition. ☀️🕶 Works for me, even if we‘ve started a tad early.

Getting back to my morning nature reading AND it‘s finally greening up here in earnest! 🌲🌳🍃

Super cute - if a dastardly crime(?) can be cute. 😄

Elizabeth challenges all notions of what women “should” be in the 60‘s. While I could have used far more of the cooking show element (says the foodie me), it was still a very enjoyable novel with memorable strong characters.

Says Elizabeth, there is no “average” housewife. 😁 Shed the monoliths!

😂 I had a giggle over Lucy scoffing at Decorum. This was a funny scene!

Charming little tiptoe through the tulips. 🌷🌷 Perfect period escapist fiction.

#furrowedmiddlebrowclub

“Cooking isn‘t fun, it‘s serious business.” 😂

I was happy to find this in Half Price today. I am excited to dive in after reading the intro! It‘s sort of like being able to have a conversation after reading a short story. 😄

Waiting for my Tom Yum to arrive. 😋

Isn‘t this so true? Old houses are full of romance, but…..

#furrowedmiddlebrowclub

Still love the layout of this book. The miso dressing is so delicious! 😋 Devoured it on a salad for lunch.

Just a tad too twee in parts and given what‘s potentially happening to women‘s reproductive rights in the US it wasn‘t a good time for me to read it. That isn‘t a fault of the writer or writing.

The name of the narrator!

I enjoyed this on audio. 4⭐️ I didn‘t fall in love with the characters, but it was an engaging historical novel with taboo breakers. I appreciated the end because I had completely forgotten the foreshadowing.

I would say Aunt Edie deserves her own spin-off!

😂👌🏾

#furrowedmiddlebrowclub

Cluny Brown! 😄 Definitely a woman finding her own place in a changing world.

The end was unexpected!

I‘m really am making an effort to resist purchasing this book, but when I see anything like this I get weak…..

There are a number of delicious looking dishes in it. 😅

Back in my happy place again! Glorious! 🤓

Life is still conspiring against reading in long stretches though.

Totally not book related, but I‘m celebrating our first really genuinely nice day of the year with flowers! 😁 It‘s a big deal after 6 months of brown & gray & white. 😝

Feeling like Habesha food for dinner tonight! 😋 I tend to get stuck in a rut and make the same dishes, so I‘m looking for inspiration.

I enjoyed the quintessential quirky village characters! The end was a bit odd though, a mix of fairytale & injustice.

It fit the bill when my brain was drained and I needed a few minutes of entertainment before drifting off. 😴

I won‘t be purchasing this book for my own collection, but I love the end papers! I can‘t do visually busy spaces in my own house, but I enjoy the vibe in others‘ homes & shops.

I‘m sneaking in some fun reading! Woot! I‘m currently sitting amidst a deafening trampoline park, but I‘m so happy to be dipping into this I don‘t care. 😁

I definitely marked this TBR as it seems to fall into my reading wheelhouse! 😁

Next week is the last for my class. While it‘s been interesting & thought provoking, I‘m definitely running on motivation fumes. 😅

As sweet and fun as everyone is saying. Fay & editors didn‘t make the mistake of trying to extend the story beyond its limits.

Marinated flank steak with Lime, Chile, and Basil Slaw for Sunday dinner. 😋

This vibrant slaw is in perfect contrast to the dismal wind and clouds that blew in this afternoon.

My afternoon with Mead and the seeds of rethinking gender norms.

The sun is shining and 50F! 🌞A welcome change!

Didn‘t care for the end, but I enjoyed the ride getting there. Walsh kept enough of the plot points a mystery to keep my attention.

Sadly my fiction reading has been reduced to a few minutes of listening in bed each day. 😭 Boohoo A complete first world “problem.” Can you hear the world‘s tiniest violin playing? 🎻

Book mail! Because a little Litsy bird said I should. 😉

Pulling books based on certain ideologies is not her “first focus” when she‘s looking for books to be removed from public school libraries. 🤔 Exactly where does it fall on her list of priorities then?

Checking out any book from the library is a win over the content those same students watch, listen to, and play online that she claims to be protecting. 🙄

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b5RMZMrdIgs

Picked this up today because A. from the reviews I know it contains prose best lingered over in print and B. I had a gift card burning a hole in my purse. 🔥

This is not a traditional cookbook, rather it‘s more a guide to inspire and cook to your taste. I love the conversational style between Chang and Krishna. Krishna writes Chang‘s voice, but she tried all of his recipes and offers her own two cents on a number of them. Home cooking and restaurant cooking are two very different creatures and the former can be more a lot more creative and fun. Please yourself!

Gritty is the adjective to describe this novel. I liked it, but didn‘t want to like it, sort of the same way you do & don‘t want to see a train wreck. 😒 Life is really tough and when you start out behind the 8 ball it takes exponentially more effort to cultivate a comfortable life. There are no guarantees of success.

There is a sincerity, generosity, and curiosity of spirit in James‘ analysis here, which was unexpected given he was a professed nonbeliever.

This work was far more engaging than the Gerth & Mills Max Weber essays on sociology I had to read last week. 😐

I always feel like I need a shower after reading novels like this one, a la Gone Girl. It was compulsive, but predictable. It would have been more impactful had it been edited down to a novella or short story.

😆 I didn‘t know this was fiction until I finished listening to it. The content & style is so convincing I thought it was a memoir. However, it is apparently based on the author‘s experiences and she also lives in the Twin Cities, MN where it‘s set. No wonder!

I‘ve always wanted to keep chickens IN THEORY. 😜 The reality is I‘d be an unhappy cluck having to care for them in subzero temps.

Writing is beautiful in places.

Sound familiar? 😆 #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

@Cathythoughts @rubyslippersreads @LeahBergen @quietjenn @CarolynM @batsy @Ruthiella @erzascarletbookgasm

My reading list for the next 8 weeks. 😶 Reserving judgement.

I will be living vicariously through Litsy friend posts. 💙

Such a soul satisfying film! I get something new out of it with every viewing. I read the short story long ago, but I think this is one of the rare instances in which the movie rivals the written word.

In the US you can rent or buy on Amazon Prime.

Who are the players and who are the played? There isn‘t a clear answer. This is a novel about self-interest, self-fulfillment, and the delusions we indulge about ourselves and others.

I didn‘t like any of the characters, but that‘s likely intentional on Blackwood‘s part, and the pace is quite slow going until about the last quarter. Then it takes off and makes for a worthwhile read.

My husband said he‘d better buy bigger pants.

If a book can be a happy place, this is one of them! 😋🍕

While my breakfast is simple, the characters and relationships in this novel are not! Fraught is the word.

High marks for creativity! The characters were fun and Wallace was the perfect asshat employer in the beginning! 😳 The “manager” was intriguing, especially playing with the idea of free will & order.

The twee aspects weren‘t for me though and got to be repetitive.

I‘m 55% into this audio and I don‘t have a clue where it‘s going. 😯 That‘s a good thing indeed.

Wow, what a strange ride. I‘m at the point the “manager” has appeared on the scene.

Only cat related, but anyone who knows cats will see why this pic of mine is funny and iconic! 😹

Muster the courage to make your happiness, take the leap!*Fine print reads: “A leap by its nature is not without risk.”😬

I am going to order Sherriff‘s The Hopkin‘s Manuscript now. 😊

#PersephoneClub
@LeahBergen @Cathythoughts @rubyslippersreads @CarolynM @elkeOriginal @quietjenn

Because I need another cookbook like I need a poke with a sharp stick. 😏

I do use Tila‘s “101 Asian Dishes” so I don‘t feel too badly. Plus it‘s THAI food. Enough said.

Up next! I devoured Great Granny Webster and came very close to rereading it immediately. Hope this one is as entertaining.

I disturbed the Sun God for this photo. 😼

This novel has the same life reflective quality that I loved in Fortnight in September. 😊 Lots of quotable passages in it.

I‘ve finished, but I don‘t want to write more until others have wrapped up and we can chat.

#PersephoneClub

@Cathythoughts @quietjenn @LeahBergen @CarolynM @rubyslippersreads @elkeOriginal

Son gives this one a thumbs up! 👍🏾 I think I‘ll read it too. I didn‘t know Takei was an internment victim until recently, certainly not as a child during the heyday of Star Trek. I bet few knew it.

“It was funny how Tom seemed to think that because he has retired, she had retired,too.” Edie

I keep coming back to this quote from chapter 4. Conveys so much in so few words. 💙

I‘m not doing a very good job holding back on this gem. Reading with toast & tea.😅

#PersephoneClub

So, what is up with these initials every so many pages at the bottom left of right hand pages? They are in alphabetical order. Is this a Persephone trademark? 🤔

#PersephoneClub

@rubyslippersreads @quietjenn @LeahBergen @Cathythoughts @CarolynM @elkeOriginal