Silly Little Mischief

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Featuring Travel In Some Way

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

Today's Topic: Top Ten Books Featuring Travel In Some Way

Five Books I've Read Featuring Travel

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour

I adored the road trip feature of this book. Made me want to get in the car and drive.

Across The Universe

An epic trip to a new world.

My Life In France

Not only does Julia talk about getting to France but her and Paul take trips around France and move around Europe in My Life in France.

Threads and Flames

Even though the bulk of the story takes place in New York City, I remember the journey from Poland to America the most when I think of Threads and Flames.

Eat Pray Love

Ah, the book that made me want to forget everything and just travel. Still one of the books I think about when I hear travelogue.

Five Books About Travel I Want To Read

Wild

Wild's been on my tbr list since I first heard about it. Since a lot of it takes place in my own backyard, I'd love to read it.

Burning The Map

A young woman on the cusp of getting the job, having the life she's suppose to have runs off to Rome for one last hurrah. Sounds fun.

Wanderlove

Backpacking through Central America? Sounds fantastic.

The Grapes Of Wrath

I've never read this classic but I think I would enjoy it.

I Woke Up In China

This memoir about a woman who moves China sounds excellent.

Monday, June 3, 2013

May Book Tally

Sever by Lauren DeStefano (371)
Trapped by Kevin Hearne (320)
Forever A Lady by Delilah Marvelle (384)
The Bungalow by Sarah Jio (290)
Meat Eater: Adventures from the Life of an American Hunter by Steven Rinella (256)
Aida Mollenkamp's Keys to The Kitchen by Aida Mollenkamp (448)
Black Wings by Christina Henry (295)
The Mighty Avengers vol 1 by Brian Michael Bendis (168)
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (642)
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson (175)
Iron; Or the War After by Shane-Michael Vidaurri (160)

Another good month reading wise but I wasn't good about posting my thoughts on a lot of the books. So here's my one sentence remarks on a few of them.
Sever: glad the trilogy is over, liked the last book a lot more than the second.
Meat Eater: Interesting story, a lot of stories about killing animals.
Black Wings: Really good urban fantasy, very enjoyable.
The Emperor's Soul: Sanderson is a master, fantastic novella.
Iron; Or the War After: Strange story but interesting, enjoyed the grittiness of it.

Stats:

Fill In The Gaps YTD: 0 (None this month)

Historical Reading Challenge YTD: 8 (Forever A Lady, The Bungalow, and The Historian)

Mammoth Book Challenge YTD: 4 (The Historian)

Let Me Count The Ways Book Challenge: Pages read this month (3509), Pages read this year (15314)
Total books to date: 48

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Weekend Cooking: Spicy Honey Roasted Almonds #pinitdoit

More almonds! After making the Sriracha and Brown Sugar Almonds, I still had half a bag of plain almonds. I knew I had more almond recipes lurking on my food Pinterest board. After a little digging, I found these Spicy Honey Roasted Almonds. Again, the combo of sweet, spicy, and salty was a winner.
The original pin:

Mine:

Incredibly tasty and a huge hit. I'm going to have to remember both this almond recipes around the holidays. They would be great to take to potlucks or have out as snacks.

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Friday, May 31, 2013

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

I'd always wanted to read The Historian because it deals with Dracula, the ultimate vampire. I love vampire stories so I was eager to read The Historian. I put it off since it's 642 pages. But since this year, I'm reading longer books, I decided it was time to pick up The Historian.
A young girl lives with her father (Paul) in Amsterdam in the 70's. Her mother died when she was a small child. The girl's father was an academic but now runs a worldwide organization helping spread peace. The girl has few friends and spends hours reading in her father's library. One day, she comes across a stack of letters, addressed to My Dear and Unfortunate Sucessor. The girl is intrigued and begins to study the letters. After a while, she asks her father about the letters. Flashback to 1950's (?), Paul is in college, finishing his graduate degree. One night, at the library, a strange book appears in Paul's carrel. Paul shows it to his advisor, Professor Rossi, who has his own story to relate. Both Professor Rossi's story and Paul's story are about Vlad the Impaler or Dracula.
I was unprepared for the amount of history that laid out for the reader. I know nothing about 1400's/1500's Eastern Europe. Much of the book is about the policial, religious, and economic times of that era. It was interesting but it was a lot. Even with all of that, I still was able to connect to the young girl, Paul, and Professor Rossi. It takes a while for the story to get going but once it does, it's well paced. You'll want to know what's going to happen next. My only gripe was that once the story got going, it stayed with Paul in the past, rather than focusing on the girl in the current time. I enjoyed her journey slightly more than Paul's original journey but understood why Kostova stayed with Paul's story more than the girl's.
I have a confession. I do not like big books. They are hard to read on the bus. I liked The Historian but I hated lugging that huge book around. Made a real case for ereaders. Or audiobooks.
I enjoyed The Historian. It was suspenseful and creepy. Others who shared their thoughts on The Historian: Bookish Comforts, Scrambled Books, Book Rhapsody, and The 3 R's Blog.
This is my ninth read for the Historical Reading Challenge.

And this was my fifth read for the Mammoth Reading Challenge.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Pin It and Do It: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

I decided to give myself a break from granola and yogurt for breakfast. I wanted to make some sort of healthy muffin or breakfast cookie but I didn't want to go to the store. I wanted to make something with what I had on hand. No blueberry muffins or pecan breakfast cookies since I had no blueberries or pecans. Finally I stumbled on these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins. Oatmeal is healthy right?
Here's the original pin:

Here's mine:

Yum! Ok, I made 2 substitutions. I used coconut milk (I had some for another recipe) and I used sour cream in place of applesauce. Yeah, I made them even healthier! Anyhow, they are delicious and I would make them again.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Library Loot

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries.

Loki's Wolves

Two of my favorite authors (Kelly Armstrong and Melissa Marr) wrote a book? Yeah I need to read that.

Portlandtown

Zombies and it's set in Oregon. Yeah I need to read that.

Ashes In The Wind

Someone had posted a list of favorite historical fiction and Ashes In The Wind was on it. It sounded good so I added it to the queue.

What did you get this week?

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: Phrases or Words That Make You Pick Up/Buy A Book

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is a freebie so I'm going with a topic I wish I would have done: Top Ten Phrases or Words that Make You Pick Up/Buy A Book

France or Paris
I'm a sucker for anything French. If it's set in France, I want to read it.

Historical

I love historical fiction and historical romance. I'm a sucker for anything with a historical setting.

Adventure

If our hero or heroine is setting off for an adventure, sign me up!

Food especially if it includes recipes!

Not just cookbooks but food memoirs or food related fiction.

Werewolves

I love books featuring werewolves.

Faeries especially dark fey

I'm always looking for more books on faeries. I like dark faeries best but will read most faery books.

Dystopian

After The Hunger Games and Divergent, this will guarantee I'll at least take a look at the book.

Robin Hood

I love Robin Hood legend and will always at least check it out if it references Robin Hood or Will Scarlet in anyway.

Struggling 20-something/30-something

This is popular on chick lit covers. Another genre I tend to like.

Magic

If there's magic, I'll take a look at it.

What words and phrases cause you to give a book a chance?

Monday, May 27, 2013

Pin It And Do It: Basil-Peach Chicken

I pinned this Basil-Peach Chicken recipe nearly a year ago. I had some basil decaying in my fridge and Full Circle delivered peaches this week so now was the perfect time to make this recipe.
The original pin:

Mine:

Mine looks a little sad compared to the original one. And while that chicken looks pretty pink, I guarantee that it was fully cooked! Again, I overcooked the chicken slightly, but it tasted yummy with the sauce. I would make this again. Next time I'll try it with chicken thighs.

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Weekend Cooking: Nutella times two #pinitdoit

Tai loves Nutella so a weekend that includes two Nutella dishes was a great weekend for him.
Tai's work was having a potluck the following week. I wanted to make these 3 ingredient Nutella cookies but wanted to make a test batch. While I pulling out the Nutella to make the cookies, I started thinking about breakfast. I wanted to make french toast, but could I incorporate the Nutella in the french toast. Pinterest to the rescue.
So my first pin is the Nutella french toast:

Here's mine:

I had some leftover rolls from Ezell's (local fried chicken place) which worked perfectly. The french toast was very decadent and delicious. I will make these again.

So my test batch of Nutella cookies.
Here's the original pin:

And here's mine:

I took my test batch to my work and people raved about them. No one believed me that that there were only 3 ingredients. I made them small since they were very rich.

What's your favorite recipe to use Nutella in?

Friday, May 24, 2013

Pin It and Do It: Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops

I pinned the recipe for Ranch House Crock Pot Pork Chops over a year ago. We don't eat a ton of pork so I never got around to making them. But I was at the grocery store buying bacon when I noticed the pork chops were on special. So I of course picked some up. I was trying to think how to make them when I remembered seeing this recipe. And since I just picked up a new crock pot (my old one died), dinner was born.
The original pin:

Mine:

I did sear the pork chops before I put them in the crockpot. You don't have to. I just had a hot pan with bacon grease so I decided to give it a shot. Also I served mine over fauxtatoes (mashed cauliflower). Delicious. Everyone enjoyed it. I will make this again.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Awesome and Awkward Thursday

Awkward

- My new addiction to Fruit Mania, Bubble Mania, and Jewel Mania. I'm glad that it takes an hour to gain more life. Forces to me to do something else for an hour.
-I'm still reading The Historian. It's so long. I'm halfway through and enjoying it but the length is daunting. Also hard to hold on the bus. Seeing the appeal of an ereader for longer books.

-Blogger has been a pain lately. I was having trouble embedding pins. That got fixed. But now I'm having trouble loading pictures. Grr.

Awesome
-Three day weekend on its way!
-The new season of Arrested Development drops on Sunday. Marathon time!
-Super excited for all the new movies coming out. Planning on seeing Star Trek this weekend. Saw Iron Man 3 last weekend.

What's been awkward and awesome for you this week?

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Library Loot

A Beautiful Disaster

Honestly, I love the title of this one. I hope it good.

Ender's Game

Yes, I've never read Ender's Game. Yes, I'm reading it because a movie is coming out.

The Happiness Project

I spend a lot of time wondering why I'm not happier or what what would make me happier. Hopefully this book will help.

My Cooking Class: Seafood Basics

I like seafood but my experience is limited. I'd love to cook with seafood more. Hoping to find some good advice and recipes.

Crazy Sexy Kitchen

When I spotted Crazy Sexy Kitchen on the library shelf, I remembered Christine's post about Crazy Sexy Diet last year. Another one with a great title.

The Elite

I was in the crazy long queue at the library waiting for The Elite. My normal library usually gets new releases and those copies aren't added to the queue. So it's possible to find brand new books on the shelves. I've been stalking the YA section for The Elite for weeks now. This weekend I was able to find it!

What did you get this week?